Yoga, Yoga Therapy, Massage

Life Health & Fitness
1

Hi folks.

I just got back to Taiwan again after another training trip to India.

If anyone’s interested in learning some top-quality yoga or needs some good serious massage, please reply here with any questions or send me a PM.

Last year I did a 4 month live-in course at the Bihar School of Yoga, in north india. On this most recent trip I studied for 6 weeks full-time with A.G. Mohan, who was a student of T. Krishnamacharya for the last 18 years of his life before he died at age 100. Krishnamacharya was the teacher of the very famous B.K.S Iyengar and K. Pattabhi Jois (founder of “ashtanga yoga”), both of whom studied with him for 2-3 years when they were teenagers. the Mohan’s website is http://www.svastha.com and some information about the courses I took and the style I now teach can be found at http://www.svastha.com/programs/sayoga2007-features.html

the Svastha Yoga system is based around the concepts of “personalized practice” and Yoga Therapy (the sanskrit word “Svastha” literally means “health”). That is, each person should develope a personal yoga practice designed according to their specific needs: the condition of the back and spine, imbalances between the left and right sides, any injuries or chronic stiffness or weakness, or any medical conditions.

Flexibility is developed slowly and safely, while the main emphasis is on developing very deep, powerful and relaxed breath and a strong back. For this a specific breathing method is used to simultaneously develope strength and flexibility in the spine and give a deep massage to the internal organs, the asanas are then used to further develope the breath and greatly strengthen the back, and each session finishes with pranayama. each student will receive a simple personal practice program which can be revised as they learn and progress.

this stuff is by far the best yoga i have come across in many years of searching. anyone who has done any yoga before will see straight away the depth and level of detail in this system. Krishnamacharya was the man, basically!

also - massage!

I have studied chinese medicine, shiatsu and tuina full-time for 2 years (in australia), worked full-time as an intern -treating patients all day - in the tuina department at yue yang hospital in shanghai for 6 months in 2005. I have been studying Thai Massage with the sunshine network of ashokananda http://www.thaiyogamassage.infothai.com/ since 2002, completing the 12 day (90 hour) beginners course 3 times, assisting the teaching of the same course two more times, and completing a 5 day (35 hour) advanced/side position course, and an 8 day (60hour) advanced course.

the tuina is particularly good for specific problems - back, neck, shoulder, knee, digestion, etc. and usually about 45minutes-1hour is plenty long enough.

the shiatsu is chinese-medicine (5 element) based, and always full-body. 1 hour to 1.5 hours.

the thai massage is also always full-body, and needs at least 1.5 hours, 2 or up to 2.5 hours.

depending on who you talk to, all 3 of these types of massage might have a reputation of being too hard, too painful, etc etc. this is rubbish! - each massage should be according to the condition and needs of the patient, whatever the style.

so if anyone needs some good massage, or wants to learn massage, shoot me a PM!

2

I’ve recently started studying yoga with “slymon” and it’s great. This yoga is by far the most detailed I’ve ever run across. I thought that Iyengar was pretty detailed but the svastha yoga is far more into the breathing and alignments right from the start. In some ways, the spine movements remind me of the kundalini yoga I’ve studied but the svastha yoga is gentle and the motion comes from the breath. Not like in kundalini where the movement is more (perhaps too) dynamic.

His tuina is also great. He was able to find my problem right away and work on it. His description of my problem also matched other tuina professionals that I’ve had work on it. Unlike some Chinese tuina massage therapists, slymon will ease up if the pressure is too much and let the patient’s body dictate the amount used.

Great stuff. Give him a try.

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hey thanks man.

(simon)

4

I’m starting to study yoga too, please let me know if there are any good yoga classes or private lessons.

Thank you,
Sonam

5

I’ve been doing yoga via this guy:

30 Days of Yoga: The Beginner Series with Ritesh Sheth

on Amazon Prime.

I’m on day 28. It’s low impact, and as I have rheumatoid arthritis, the combination of breathing, meditation and stretches and poses works well for me.

My core and lower back are significantly stronger, and I find myself doing ujjayi breathing when I’m outside doing yardwork. :banana:

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I’ve completed the 30 days with Ritesh, and have now moved on to this nice young lady:

image

Same but different and she actually made me tremble and sweat!

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7

My sister’s a registered massage therapist. She gave me a diagnostic and then a set of stretches and poses geared towards my specific problems, works wonders. Especially hitting middle age aches and pains from living an unhealthy life, 100% agree to recommend some yoga.

I’m also happy to be back in Asia massage-wise, looking forward to more of that!

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Darn. Not on Amazon prime in Taiwan. I do have yoga workouts on a free Apple fitness subscription that expires in a few weeks. Really need to try it.

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He’s on YT.

I like the way he slow walked me into it. My breathing is good to go, so jumping to Julie was harder in that she did different poses and held them longer, but the breathing and core I got from Ritesh got me through it relatively unhumiliated. :wink:

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Yeah, I’m done with Julia. She never shuts up and it’s very hard to tell what she wants you to do because most of the time you’re in forward fold or on your belly.

Back to Ritesh I guess.

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