Yoga Studios decline in US

[Thought Art]

It’s better to develop an integral perspective on mind body spiritual practice including yoga, Qigong, various meditations, breathwork, exercises than demonize a specific branch. These names of the practices are labels of branches on the mindbody spirituality tree of relativistic spirituality , health and baseline state/ consciousness work. There is deep depth here and as you study the relationship between healthy body, meditation, breath, Qi/ prana, spirit, consciousness etc you begin to see the value of each branch in spiritual and holistic development, personal mastery and wellbeing.

My ashtanga yoga teacher used to tell me that the movement practices and intensity of ashtanga (very good for you and good for working your overall health and baseline state) is for preparing for sitting yoga. Having a strong healthy body is ideal for krya, kundalini, pranayama, vappassana, etc even your job at work. 
 

Shoalin Buddhist Qigong was developed to counter the unhealthy and weak bodies developed by sitting monks. Those monks were highly developed internally, but weak in their body and qi. The movement practices helped them be healthier, stronger and as a result go deeper internally. 

Actually, some history suggests a lot of sitting meditation branches of Buddhism came from only having access to partial documents that came from Qigong.

 

If you can go very deep into spirituality sitting still, you can also do it through movement. Ancient masters did both.
 

For sober spirituality, various kinds of sitting, standing, massaging, stretching, flowing, breathing, observing, intention, visualizing, laying, etc etc can be used for deeper spiritual development and internal mastery.

There are deep spiritual sciences in yoga, Buddhism and Toaism which are not much discussed here but are legitimate and worth exploring.

Integral Somatics or mind body map needs to be developed and modernized into something whole than these individual schools of practice. 

Edited 11 hours ago by Thought Art

[aurum]

3 minutes ago, Thought Art said:

My ashtanga yoga teacher used to tell me that the movement practices and intensity of ashtanga (very good for you and good for working your overall health and baseline state) is for preparing for sitting yoga.

Ashtanga might be the worst possible yoga for your overall health.

It is peak yogic obsession with stretching.

There are far better ways to go about achieving a healthy body.

[Thought Art]

@aurum Nah, but I’ve left you a good perspective. If you grasp what I’m saying you are given a free gift.

I literally just provided a high level integral perspective of which you can explore in your own way,with your own biases and preferences. 
 

Don’t make make feel I’ve cast pearls to swine by arguing over your preferences and beliefs of a particular practice. I can tell you that as a teenager I was strong as fuck compared to most people my age. Ashtanga was a core reason. Ashtanga is an intense yoga that requires a high fitness level. It is high risk for sure. But, that’s why I shared this integral map with you. Maybe, something like tai chi, qigong, yin yoga, krya, pranayama, mindfulness walking, etc is more for you. I always felt good, relaxed and grounded by the end of ashtanga when I was younger. Regardless, zoom out. Zoom way out from one practice.

Ashtanga is far more than just stretching. Have you ever even done it? If not, you know that’s first mistake in this. 

Edited 10 hours ago by Thought Art

[Schizophonia]

People have less money these days, are in general a bit less social, and the hype has died down

Edited 11 hours ago by Schizophonia

[Thought Art]

@Schizophonia There are so many reasons right now… tonnes of free yoga online, less money for spending in health cuz of rising cost of living, etc also should be considered. 
 

I agree. 

Edited 10 hours ago by Thought Art

[Jodistrict]

Yoga becomes even more important as you get older.  It can make the difference between hobbling around on a cane or taking long hikes in your old age.  This is a huge difference in quality of life.  It also strengthens the health of the spine (due to the many spinal twists).  The spine houses the nerves connecting the brain to the body so it is not hard to see how this can alter your mental state.  I also have grown over an inch due to the spinal decompression and stretching.    

Edited 7 hours ago by Jodistrict