The Autistic Yogi Reflects on Yogic Non-Breathing, Tapas and Ahimsa, Mudita and Comparing Ourselves to Others....

Review and Rebuttal on http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/01/yoga-moves-to-avoid-mistakes-fails_n_4137583.html

1. Yogic Non-Breathing.
  We often hear that it is not ok to hold your breath while we are moving through our asana. I am going to agree and disagree.
  I agree in so far as that it is very important to be breathing but one factor is that we tend to breath a lot more then we actually need to. And it is a part of yoga to train longer breaths and breath retention. To see that holding the breath is in fact not harmful, stand in your tadasana and take a breath in and hold for as long as is comfortable while paying attention to your posture. Release and try the same on exhale. If you stayed within your comfort of breath retention than you probably were able to maintain a strong posture and maybe even concentrate a little stronger then if you were to be focusing on your breathing pattern. If your a beginner I recommend to not get caught up in the breath and just allow yourself to breath as you naturally do.
  The breath has a purpose and reason and its very testable in when to do breath retention, as you will see in this video by Simon Borg-Olivier

  Be aware of when your holding your breath and why you are doing so. Work within the confines of your capacity without pushing the edge to far. There are many supporting evidences that training your breath holds can be an advantage.
  Yoga is very much about learning how to use the breath in different manners.

2. Tapas (determination, heat, austerity, dedication) and Ahimsa (non-harm, acceptance)
  As we navigate our personal practice through the many different styles of yoga we will all come to a rather differing realization of what is our current tapas and/or ahimsa. To one person tapas will be just getting to the mat and being there, to another tapas is going to be doing the simple variation of a posture, and yet to another its going to be getting through the most grueling yoga class that can be offered.
  Ahimsa is no different. And I firmly believe that if I impose my personal ahimsa upon you than I am not acting within the bounds of ahimsa. If pushing yourself to your edge constantly is what you find your focus in then so be it. I need to accept that and if injury results than I still need to accept that without going into a blaming attitude 'maybe you shouldn't have pushed yourself so hard', 'he is always taking everything right to the edge','she doesn't know when to quit'. How many people like to hear 'I told you so'. I sure don't.
  There is a thin line between tapas and harm if your the type who does push the edge, but when you play on the edge you are going to learn a lot about your personal ahimsa and tapas in a different way then a person who chooses to do the gentle variations of every posture. Life is living and living is loving.
  There is also a different between pain and intense feeling. It can be very beneficial for people to learn the difference between taking a posture or movement to intense feeling compared to pain. Pain we want to avoid, intense feeling can be very beneficial. Only the individual moving through their personal practice can make the judgement where that line is. (of course the obvious can be judged, they pressed so hard into the posture that they tore their ligament)

3. Mudita vs Comparing Yourself
  We all have looked at another person while they did something or obtained something and felt that tinge of jealousy or excitment. Some of those times we felt down on ourselves and sometimes we did not.
  The Buddhists have a mediation practice called Mudita.  This is to start cultivating the values of Mudita, which means to have joy for others in their health and accomplishments. Live vicariously through those others for that moment and feel happiness for them. You will have ample opportunity for someone to return that love.
  I don't think pushing down our feelings is beneficial in anyway, but I do think evolving our emotional states is of all benefit. Envy, jealousy, resentment can all evolved to become sympathetic, vicarious, joyous, accepting, and happy.

The Autistic Yogi Reflects on the S.a.i.d principle...

S.a.i.d. principle
 Specific adaptation to imposed demand.
 When giving the body specific stressors its inherit behavior is going to be to adapt. The more often that the same stressor is imposed on the body than the more likely the body will adapt to it. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing.
  Adaptation in of itself does not necessarily mean better over all but implies something more specific.
  If I adapt to a sitting posture for 50% or more of my waking hours then my other activities may very well suffer as I adapt to being a sitting entity.
  I would figure that the more time that we spend doing something over a long period of time than the greater the adaptation our neural and musculoskeletal system will adapt to accommodate or strengthen the activity (yes I am saying the act of sitting is an activity). It would make sense for the hip flexors to become shorter so that the position can be maintained longer.
 To try and undo the results of 8 hours of activity in 1 hour (even if working harder in that 1 hour then in the 8) the biology of our being is going to favor the 8 hour activity for adaptation rather than the 1 hour.  This is one of the reasons that I feel that yoga doesn't just constitute what I do when I go to the studio and onto the mat and say move this foot here and this hand there, bend here and do this and that, but its about what I do throughout the whole of my day:

•   How do I choose to stand in lineups or at a counter? 
• Do I favor leaning to one leg and jutting my hip out? 
• Do I lean predominantly onto one side of my body?
• When I find myself standing straight do I chronicaly turn one leg out to the side further than the other?
• Do I have an easier time looking left or right?
• How do I lift objects that are on the floor?
• Do I attempt to be conscious of my thoughts?
• How am I breathing?
• Can I scan my whole body for sensations? or am I fairly numb to the sensations going on within my body?

Take a few moments to consider what demand your imposing on your body. Working harder in a shorter range of time will not make up for less effort over a greater amount of time. Explore balance. Try new things out. Find your edge and see if over time you can push the edge further away. Above all make sure that in all of this that you find fun!

Metta