Had a week off Bikram Yoga this week due to grandchildren minding duties, went back this morning and really struggled with the heat for the first time since I started doing it. I do feel better for it now though.
Gym & Misc Anyone into yoga?
- Thread starter darklake
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Yep, it was good, I tagged you into a post I did the day I got back about it in the "Nobody has anything new to say about God" (SRP Board) thread ie. page 202 post #5043. There was a little bit of discussion about it after that post as well.
These are the few posts I made on the subject on SRP, the latter ones may be a little out of context as they are answers to questions, I didn't want to quote anyone else's posts onto another board without their OK.
Wow, it is a great achievement. How have you found your post vipassana experience? Do you feel calmer?
Were you ok with the silence?
How did you feel about breaking the silence? Did you feel overwhelmed when you could talk again? Typically i do not enjoy it when everyone starts talking, people are too loud.
Do you think you would do another one in the future?
In terms of Goenka talking about quantum physics, i always take that kind of thing with a grain of salt. I have done other meditation courses like transendental meditation and they bring up quantum physics as well. Some of what they say i know is bullshit however i dont know enough about quantum physics to discern if they are talking complete s**t.
Are you planning to continue meditating using the vipassana technique? What did you think about the meditation? My mind was blown when i first learnt it and i had very powerful experiences?
Were there things about the experience that annoyed you? There are a couple of things that bother me but the positives outweigh the negatives, for me.
Remember that striving for enlightenment is still craving.
Having said that i highly recommend combining this DMT and psilocybin. I remember you saying you didn't "go under" when you tried DMT. I reckon you have multiplied your chances of having some very powerful experiences now that you have all that meditation in the bank. Vipassana has completely changed psychedelics for me.
Anyway good on you. It is no easy feat to do this.
I have done sensory deprivation tanks a few times. They have nothing on a 10 day silent vipassana. Did you notice how quiet your monkey mind went? It takes me five or six days to get to that. Laying in a tank for an hour or two is like meditating. 100 hours of meditation is way more powerful than sitting in a tank.
Were you ok with the silence?
How did you feel about breaking the silence? Did you feel overwhelmed when you could talk again? Typically i do not enjoy it when everyone starts talking, people are too loud.
Do you think you would do another one in the future?
In terms of Goenka talking about quantum physics, i always take that kind of thing with a grain of salt. I have done other meditation courses like transendental meditation and they bring up quantum physics as well. Some of what they say i know is bullshit however i dont know enough about quantum physics to discern if they are talking complete s**t.
Are you planning to continue meditating using the vipassana technique? What did you think about the meditation? My mind was blown when i first learnt it and i had very powerful experiences?
Were there things about the experience that annoyed you? There are a couple of things that bother me but the positives outweigh the negatives, for me.
Remember that striving for enlightenment is still craving.
Having said that i highly recommend combining this DMT and psilocybin. I remember you saying you didn't "go under" when you tried DMT. I reckon you have multiplied your chances of having some very powerful experiences now that you have all that meditation in the bank. Vipassana has completely changed psychedelics for me.
Anyway good on you. It is no easy feat to do this.
I have done sensory deprivation tanks a few times. They have nothing on a 10 day silent vipassana. Did you notice how quiet your monkey mind went? It takes me five or six days to get to that. Laying in a tank for an hour or two is like meditating. 100 hours of meditation is way more powerful than sitting in a tank.
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I've always been a relatively quiet, calm person so not much of a difference there.
I had zero problem with the silence, actually enjoyed it and like you was blown away by how loud it was when everyone was chattering away, I loved getting away from "society" and not knowing what was going on in the outside world.
I would do another one but not for at least a year or so.
I enjoyed Goenka, the way our reality was described made a lot of sense to me, he's quite a funny guy as well.
I am trying to continue using this technique but am finding it very hard, I'm not getting the same affect back in civilization. I did not have powerful moments or liberation but it was eye opening. The only thing that I found hard/bothered me was finding a comfortable position for the long periods of meditation, wasn't till the 4th day that I found a comfortable arrangement for my cushions that did not result in bad back pain. I also find it extremely hard to believe that anyone could live a life totally devoid of craving and aversion.
Yep, I'll be giving DMT another try once I can find a trustworthy supplier, I don't mix in that sort of scene so I imagine it is going to be difficult to source.
Re : DMT, if you live in Qld take a roadtrip down to northern NSW sometime. You will find psychedelics there with little effort. Lol, just ask a few people there.
I had the same issue with comfort but found learning the vipassana technique on day 4 helped with this. Now i have no problem sitting for hours plus i do alot of yoga these days compared to when i forst tried vipassana.
Yes agree about breaking the silence, i could do without all the loud small talk.
Goenka is very funny. I have done a few vipassanas now so have listened to his discourses a few times. I used to think that given he died in 2011 all the centres strictly follow the program, this is a bit of a problem because the assistant teachers dont use any discretion when answering questions. Like i had chakra openings the first time i did vipassana. It was an incredible experience amd the teacher approached me about something else so i told her about it and her reaponse was "obviously you've studied chakras which has effected your experience, just forget about this because you wont know what practise is giving you benefit "
I had a few problems with this. First was that i had never studied chakras.
Second was the experience was so incredible i couldn't just "forget about it"
Third was who cares where you're getting a benefit. This is one thing about vipassana that annoys me. They have this "either do vipassana and only vipassana or don't do it at all".
Given that Goenka isnt alive anymore i cannot see how the course will ever be updated. When you think about the logistics it would be impossible to update. If the centres are around in 100 uears they will be identical to what they are today.
These issues are so insignificant to me though now because i feel so blessed that we have the opportunity to do these courses. The positives far outweigh any issues i have... speaking of issues i find a bit of contradiction in Goenkas discourses. Like he is very empowering in the way he talks about enlightenment however quite prescriptive in what enlightenment will be like for everyone, eg. Wont be eating meat. If this is the case then let us find out when we are enlightened.
The first time i did the course i didn't think i would ever do it again. I did one in july/august and would do one tomorrow if i could. I have met people that have done heaps but have walked out of courses. The first time i did it a lady had done 20 before and walked out on day 2. I find this amazing. I think you can get to a point where you go scarily deep and your mind will manifest anything to get you out of doing such intense work.
There are weekly group meditations which i find better than meditating on my own. There could be one close to you.
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PoopingHindi
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i think i've finally grown bored with yoga.
every class is the same. they're all called different things and claim to have different goals but there's very little difference.
sun salutations
standing poses
standing balance
floor poses
arm balance
stretch
rest
rinse and repeat. day after day after day. sure there are some differences in poses or sequencing or intensity but essentially its all the same stuff.
plus i feel like i havent made any improvements in 12 months or more. i know thats not the point of yoga but its still frustrating.
maybe its time to take a break.
every class is the same. they're all called different things and claim to have different goals but there's very little difference.
sun salutations
standing poses
standing balance
floor poses
arm balance
stretch
rest
rinse and repeat. day after day after day. sure there are some differences in poses or sequencing or intensity but essentially its all the same stuff.
plus i feel like i havent made any improvements in 12 months or more. i know thats not the point of yoga but its still frustrating.
maybe its time to take a break.
I'm having the opposite experience, been doing the Bikram version mostly 3-5 times a week for over a year now. I love the sweating and the challenge of doing the poses with the correct technique. I have had noticeable improvement over time and really miss and feel it if I go more than a couple of days without doing it.
PoopingHindi
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oh god Bikram would be even worse. my understanding is that its the same exact poses in the same exact sequence (done twice) every class.
plus the heated room is not for me.
VijoMorganstein
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I believe the politically correct term now is Hot Yoga, not Bikram after the Bikram guy it was named after got "Me Too-ed".
Aeglos
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Anyone who names something after themselves is probably a w***er anyway.
PoppedCorn
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???
Harsh
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Harsh
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I've tried yoga couple of times. I'm not particularly skilled at it - my muscles are so tight, I'm majorly inflexible, and my balance is laughably bad. I need to find time to get to class again and have another go.
