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A little about flexibility and yoga in general.

Writer's picture: Sagi SavarieogoSagi Savarieogo

 

Have you ever wondered why yoga "got a name" that mainly links it to flexibility?

What do you think is the first thing that comes to someone's mind when they find out that you practice yoga (assuming the other party doesn't really know much about the subject)?... We're not talking about responses like "Shanti Banti" and the like, but rather slightly more intelligent statements...

You're likely to hear the phrase "Wow, you must be flexible, otherwise..."

So yes, one of the things most associated with yoga is the issue of flexibility. And indeed, in most streams and in a large part of the images, figures are certainly seen with a range of joint motion that, to the eyes of the person in the street, seems abnormal, painful, and even a little frightening and physically unpleasant..and in response, statements such as: "If I were to do that, they would have to pick me up in pieces..." and such..


And yet, why then and in the first place did the connection between yoga and flexibility arise? Why does the practice of Hatha Yoga in particular seek to reach "exceptional" places in this respect, and how relevant and essential is flexibility really (or not) and what role does it play in the "why" of yoga?


The truth is that there are several explanations. Should we say that they convince us? It depends...maybe yes, maybe less so...decide for yourself...

Let's move from easy to hard:


A. The physical context

 

1. At a basic level, it can always be assumed that physical stiffness, with all that it implies in terms of a "general feeling," constitutes an obstacle to the ongoing conduct of life.

 

We are all familiar with situations where movement is limited, an area of the body is painful or restricted, a tight back or neck, and in particular how this completely disrupts our ability to conduct our daily lives in general, especially when the condition becomes chronic and ongoing.

 

Therefore, at the most elementary level, and since at the end of the day yoga asks us to observe our internal states for a long time and in depth – the ability to remain for a long time without feeling physical discomfort – requires a loose, spacious, and non-compressed body, and flexibility is a fundamental component to achieving it


2. In sutra number 1.30, the author refers to 9 "distractions" that he believes the practitioner may encounter during his practice...

The first one he mentions is

 

Today in particular, it is clear that basic flexibility is essential, especially as we age. Stiffness of various kinds naturally occurs. The positive health implications of body flexibility in preventing "physical illnesses"

 

3. Finally, flexibility can also be considered in the context of another central component of the yogic "language," which is

 

What is meant: For beginning students, basic asanas and especially the transitions between them are extremely difficult, mainly because the degree of manipulation they are required to perform, being limited in movement, is infinitely greater and more demanding than that required by a skilled and "open" body. Countless adjustments are sometimes required, to make a change that is easily possible if a joint or range of motion in the pelvis, leg, or back is present and more accessible. In other words, and in short, flexibility is required in order to make balance and ease of movement accessible, and not necessarily only in the practice itself.

 

B. The mental context


It is quite clear to each of us that there is something that can be understood as a mental component.

Not all of us, especially the "materialists" among us, are willing to accept that there is a real mental "entity," whose existence is real on the same level of existence as the physical body - what is commonly called "soul or mind."

However, it is not necessary to assume a separate "real" entity for it to be clear that body and soul are clearly distinguishable, even in the sense that one is physical while the other is not.

Even if we assume that thoughts and mental states are exactly the same, and mental states are just electrical and temporal events in the brain and nothing more in any sense, still the experience, the emotion, the sensory perception as such, and in particular the knowledge that is clear to us without the need for confirmation, that there are two planes - the mental and the physical - is intuitive to all of us and very difficult to refute, at least at the level of experience. And yoga is about experience.

*(There are philosophers and researchers who are what is known in academic jargon as "

 

On the other hand, and in parallel to everything we have seen above, and in a certain sense as a complement, cognitive sciences are turning to a holistic perspective.

The clear distinction that previously prevailed between body and brain, or more precisely, between a peripheral nervous system that is subordinate to the higher system and serves it in both directions, is losing its position in favor of an approach that sees a much closer, two-way functional connection between the body and the central nervous system.

Hence the increasingly common connections between physical exercise or physical states and mental functioning. The assumption is that the effect of physical exercise on the mind is unequivocal, it is clearer and more acceptable to assume - at least now - that physical flexibility radiates in a variety of ways on ways of thinking, that a certain physical sensation will also create similar or derived emotional and mental states.

All of this is true in the neurochemical sense, of course, but also beyond that – that is, in the sense of the initial inseparability between the two.

Therefore, the adaptability obtained from physical flexibility and the physical freedom of movement that emerges during a period of practice (both in a specific practice and over a period of many years) may have a direct impact on mental flexibility

 

C. The symbolic context

 

The mental context - the previous one - has another dimension that is of course not separate from it but complements and expands - and it is

In a certain sense, when we are unable or prevented from describing an experience in language because of its depth, breadth, or simply because we do not have the tools to communicate it, we reach the symbolic "world."

Dreams, for example, are symbols or representations, metaphors or types of poetry are also symbols or connections between layers that perhaps cannot be connected otherwise.

It is precisely in this sense that physical flexibility has symbolic connections

 

Physical flexibility may merely indicate non-attachment (Aparigraha)

 

The concept of aparigrah appears in Sutra 2.39. (This is one of the 5 yamas or somewhat abstractly "recommendations for life in front of ourselves that will facilitate our yogic path..."). Contrary to what is usually thought of, which is the concept itself "non-attachment, non-holding, non-attachment" the Sutra also emphasizes the implications of what is beneficial from this and how it should be done (again, it is not possible to expand too much here). The Sutra emphasizes that one must be steadfast in non-attachment or in other words, in "letting go, letting go.... releasing fixations and clingings." Is it possible to stay in the present when we are holding on to fixation or anything in general? Of course not, because we are in achieving a goal or, alternatively, in preserving a situation.

Try to imagine for a moment a physical movement aimed at "flexibility," meaning the feeling you feel... the spacing, the removal of the restriction, the release from a previous state - the expansion. Physical flexibility symbolizes or illustrates in this sense that apheresis is a state of being in a state of release or non-holding.

 

This is just one example, but there are countless other examples of the very clear and functional

 

D. The energy context

 

And finally, physical flexibility has energetic implications. Here too, as with the question of body and mind, anyone who chooses not to accept the energy approach as simple (the fundamentally Tantric) with all its symbolism is certainly exempt and not obligated. In this case, the energetic image can be converted in a certain sense and for the sake of the matter to the nervous system if we wish. The nervous system is an electrical/biochemical system, in this sense it is energetic just as a 1.5 volt battery is or as the pranic body is. Therefore, the pranic and nervous images essentially overlap. (Except for different symbolism and perhaps different processes, of course, but this is not significant for the purpose of this comparison).

 

In one sentence: Physical flexibility is a catalyst for the free flow of prana in the body. In this sense, flexibility is also a stimulation and activation of the nervous system. On the back, for example, and the spinal vertebrae, which sometimes suffer from excessive compression and therefore create actual nerve pressure on neurons that exit from them and pass through them. Spacing the back and vertebrae is key to reducing pressure buildup and therefore actually increasing the balance and energy flow in the entire body.

 

 

In conclusion: We have reviewed here - very briefly - at least four ways in which flexibility is an essential and central component of the practice. Most of all, in a certain sense, it is part of the practice itself. The ever-present connection between yoga and flexibility appears here on at least four levels, and you will undoubtedly find many others. Interestingly, however, this is perhaps the component most "linked" to laypeople in this yoga and the "Shantivanti" one above.... Of course, flexibility alone does not exhaust the matter, but it is still perhaps the one most closely linked to "what yoga is" or at least to its familiar characteristics.

 

In the following articles, we will delve into much more practical topics in the field:

Understanding flexibility:

· How to work properly, the different types of flexibility (static versus dynamic) and what their benefits are and what can and should be expected.

· Why is it difficult for us to flex our bodies? What are the mechanisms that create or prevent flexibility - how should we work to flex our bodies before and during exercise?

· Is flexibility compatible with strength or endurance training and more, and how to combine...



 


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