Aerobics Vs Yoga
I have been doing some reflections on my students' practice as well as that of my own for the time i was away on a short leave, and for students that have become regulars to my class and have adopted their practice as means to better themselves, healthwise and 'lifewise'.
Before i started getting serious in my yoga practice, i was an avid aerobics & steps fan. Give me a good instructor and great music to sweat it out anytime and im your girl. I wasnt much of a runner so 'gymming' wasnt for me as i was without self discipline and wanted an instructor to tell me what to do. I lived and sweared by the aerobics classes i went to. It was during a trip to Singapore that i decided to be a little bit curious about Yoga. Yoga shalas and studios were fast sprouting then and i wondered what the fuss was about. Little did i know then that my first class at Gaia Yoga provided me the path in my discovery of this ancient practice.
It was also during my few classes after that i discovered more about what yoga was doing to myself and started comparing the strength i had in an aerobics class to that in a yoga class.
1. I could lift 4kg of dumbells in an aerobics class into repetitions but could not lift myself, yet alone my upper body when i first attempted the staff pose or chaturanga dandasana.
2. I could do high kicks during a taebo class but could not open my hips and straighten my legs in Padangustasana (standing, finger to toe) or sit with ease in baddha konasana (butterfly)
3. I could do sit ups with a smile and with ease and if you dared, 100 of them but could not lift my legs up in an arm balance like Bakasana (crane) and salamba sirsasana (headstand) where you need considerable amount of strength in your abdominals.
4.With all the strength that i thought i had through those aerobics training, i had developed tightness in my upper back and struggled (still) into Kapotasana pigeon , that too in urdhva danurasana, upward bow.
5. With all the jumping i did in aerobics, i struggled hard during my 1st yoga class to reach for my toes in a standing forward bend, Uttanasana, paschimottanasana (seated forward bend) or hanumanasana ( monkey)
6. I could still talk half through an aerobics class, with all the stamina i gained but almost cried in my first yoga flow class.
7. In those aerobics classes, my ego started to become bigger and bigger as i got better (and so i thought) in my stamina, strength and coordination. I grew more competitive and dreaded beginners coming to the class. During my 1st few yoga classes, the only battle i had on that yoga mat was with myself.
8. I needed good loud music and instructor's encourgement to feel good about myself. I struggled with this in yoga. Silence was just too unbearable.
I didnt understand what i was going through then, but the stark contrast made me even more curious and with it made more self discovery within myself. There've been so much lessons that i have learnt (and still learning) through my journey and though i dont say that much in class and talk about them, i do know that there are some students in class who have discovered this as well.
Before i started getting serious in my yoga practice, i was an avid aerobics & steps fan. Give me a good instructor and great music to sweat it out anytime and im your girl. I wasnt much of a runner so 'gymming' wasnt for me as i was without self discipline and wanted an instructor to tell me what to do. I lived and sweared by the aerobics classes i went to. It was during a trip to Singapore that i decided to be a little bit curious about Yoga. Yoga shalas and studios were fast sprouting then and i wondered what the fuss was about. Little did i know then that my first class at Gaia Yoga provided me the path in my discovery of this ancient practice.
It was also during my few classes after that i discovered more about what yoga was doing to myself and started comparing the strength i had in an aerobics class to that in a yoga class.
1. I could lift 4kg of dumbells in an aerobics class into repetitions but could not lift myself, yet alone my upper body when i first attempted the staff pose or chaturanga dandasana.
2. I could do high kicks during a taebo class but could not open my hips and straighten my legs in Padangustasana (standing, finger to toe) or sit with ease in baddha konasana (butterfly)
3. I could do sit ups with a smile and with ease and if you dared, 100 of them but could not lift my legs up in an arm balance like Bakasana (crane) and salamba sirsasana (headstand) where you need considerable amount of strength in your abdominals.
4.With all the strength that i thought i had through those aerobics training, i had developed tightness in my upper back and struggled (still) into Kapotasana pigeon , that too in urdhva danurasana, upward bow.
5. With all the jumping i did in aerobics, i struggled hard during my 1st yoga class to reach for my toes in a standing forward bend, Uttanasana, paschimottanasana (seated forward bend) or hanumanasana ( monkey)
6. I could still talk half through an aerobics class, with all the stamina i gained but almost cried in my first yoga flow class.
7. In those aerobics classes, my ego started to become bigger and bigger as i got better (and so i thought) in my stamina, strength and coordination. I grew more competitive and dreaded beginners coming to the class. During my 1st few yoga classes, the only battle i had on that yoga mat was with myself.
8. I needed good loud music and instructor's encourgement to feel good about myself. I struggled with this in yoga. Silence was just too unbearable.
I didnt understand what i was going through then, but the stark contrast made me even more curious and with it made more self discovery within myself. There've been so much lessons that i have learnt (and still learning) through my journey and though i dont say that much in class and talk about them, i do know that there are some students in class who have discovered this as well.
