[at-l] yoga

[janl2@mindspring.com (Jan Leitschuh)]

Hi Pat!
Welcome back to the list, girlfriend!
I can share (hand waving madly)!

"Villeneuve, Pat" wrote:
> I took
> up yoga a few months ago, and it's been a wondrous thing for me. I'm curious
> about how yoga may impact a long-distance hike/hiker. I'd like to hear from
> any yogis out there who have done significant trail time.

I wouldn't call myself a yogi, but I do yoga with a first-rate teacher.

Of course, the stretches and strengthening exercises are good for any
muscular activity and general health and well-being. Big-time.

But it's been in the mental area that I have found the most profound
effects. I'm delighted to talk about them, since you asked.

Some of the hiking benefits, to me, of yoga:

1) A deep reacquintance with my physical body - a paying attention to what
it has to say and giving that serious weight.

I've noticed hiking does this too - increases my awareness of, say, my FEET.
;-)

Seriously, thanks to yoga AND hiking, I pay close attention to moment to
moment temperature control, heart rate in climbing, limb surety and
dexterity (does dexterity apply to feet?) when descending, balance, the
effects of diet, etc.

For example, I found I just hike better with some protein in each meal:
tuna, whey, TVP, cheese, jerky, soy granules, etc.  Others are not this way,
preferring straight carbs.

Or, I've learned to keep my heart rate pretty even while climbing, by
settling down into "trudge mode," a granny gear that allows me forward
progress yet recovery. This way, the lactic acid doesn't build up to
leg-dragging proportions, and I keep moving.
I think hiking would have taught me all this without yoga, but yoga helped
me recognize it WAY faster.

2) Then, the reverse benefit!
After paying heed to what my body tells me, I can also choose to IGNORE it.
In the past, if it whined, I just gave up.
I might may beg my body's forgiveness and push it along anyway - as I did on
the Long Trail and this weekend's Art Loeb, since my partners had home
deadlines.
Or, I might hear it whining in the morning - "no, no, not the pack! Not the
pack!" and say, to myself, "oh yes, there is is again, pack-whining. Not to
be believed."
;-)
But - the point is, I first LISTENED to what it had to say, and THEN I made
a decision - and lived CONSCIOUSLY with the consequences, monitoring things
as I went along.

3) The attention to breath - a big one. I had no idea correct breathing was
so critical to health. I mean, won't ANY old breathing DO?
;-)

Now that I have lived it, through direct experience and observation, I would
unequivocally say correct breathing, from the belly, is vital to not only
good health but mental steadiness..

I also didn't know how to use the breath to make it work FOR me.

This weekend on the Art Loeb Trail, we were struggling up yet another
incline, pushing to make a deadline (I WILL learn, one day), when I suddenly
remembered to use the image of a "fire in the belly."

I started feeding the imagined "fire" in the lower belly ( or, hara, as the
martial artists call the area) in a conscious, deliberate way. I focused
mostly on that, and let the climb just happen by itself.

As I pushed the exhale, I imagined the flames burning brighter, just as if
someone was blowing on them. I forgot about top, bottom, how much further,
all the mental struggle, about getting anywhere but the next step.

All of a sudden, I realized I was right behind my far stronger 6'7" giant of
a partner, who turned around surprised to see me there. This was going up
Pilot Mountain, for any of you who have done the Art south to north. A
butt-kicking stretch.

I kept that up for the good half hour it took us to ascend. He was amazed -
no woman had ever kept up with him on an upgrade, he said, and certainly not
one for that long. He bikes every day, and runs besides hikes, and is very
fit. I am not that fit right now. But I could use what I had to the max, and
that was enough for the job. (of course, my BUTT hurts today!)
;-)

But, neither believe nor disbelieve. It's easy enough to try it, honestly,
for at least five minutes the next time you find yourself pushing
(straining?) your margins.

4) Being present.
I didn't know WHAT the hell that meant or why one should make the
(seemingly) enormous effort to remain "in the moment" and not drift off into
thought-land.
In my academic world prior to that, I was rewarded for my thoughts (or so it
seemed). I took pride in my thoughts. I had never heard such a thing as
"metal noise" or "the conversation in the head" because I never observed my
thoughts separately from "me". I thought it was all one thing.

So, I really resisted the idea of being present. I LIKED my mental chatter.
But, of course, I wasn't paying attention to what was around me at the time
- reality - although I would have argued strenuously that I was.

Now, I try to catch myself when I am arguing with someone in my head instead
of soaking in the fall leaves, feeling the shaggy bark of a tree unknown to
me, observing the lay of the rocks as I carefully place my feet so as not to
fall, watching the birds flitting from tree to tree.

I have always loved the natural world, but I feel so enriched by it now, as
I have learned to identify the "mental noise in the head" and deliberately
set it aside for awhile.

5) Meditation/relaxation. Also a part of classic yoga.
I probably know of no better "centering technology" available to the human
race than this. There is nothing to believe or disbelieve. It's
non-denominational. It's not even religious. It is a powerful means of
focusing oneself for better clarity and insight.
It's so simple, the smarter you are, the more you will resist! lol.

  How often have we heard the thru-hikers tell us that the AT or any
long-distance hike is 90 percent mental? That is, that one's mental
attitudes will make or break their hike. We defeat ourselves.

Meditation is the best way I know of getting one not to take oneself so
seriously, at least over the long haul. People who meditate with regularity
are some of the lightest, most fun people I know because the DON'T take
themselves seriously. They are less reactive. Stuff isn't so "personal."

In America, we think of yoga as exercises - and that's a valid branch, hatha
yoga. But true yoga is everything - life - and more. The art of mindful
living. It's way more than exercise.

And I just wanted to learn some stretches...
;-)

I have been seriously blessed with a GREAT teacher, however, the real deal.
They are out there, if one looks. But any yoga at all, even from a book, is
of benefit. There is a fun book I just saw "Yoga For Dummies." My kind of
read!
Ha! Thanks for the chain-pull, Pat.
Jan
Long Trail 2002
Art Loeb, yea! 2002
AT 2003?
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    	Jan Leitschuh Sporthorses Ltd.

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