half agree, half disagree. theres really nothing spiritual in the yoga i've done, even traditional styles. most the techniques have a lot in common with with relaxation and stress management technique than anything "spiritual" even the old rishis from vedic texts didnt consider yoga itself as spiritual but rather as a way of showing devotion to god by keeping themselves healthy there are styles like ashtanga that chant things in sanskrit that refer to god but thats really only in a few classes. http://www.ashtangaworkshop.com/ashtanga_chants.php but at the end of the day, they might be praying to a demon but its probably the same demon every religion prays to. also consider two things: A). the yoga teacher at your local yoga group is most likely a Caucasian christian and has no problem with yoga and probably wont use any religious elements but rather keep it as a health class. B). no matter what mobility work you do, it most likely takes movements and techniques from yoga so its most likely you'll do some derivative of yoga anyway, so you might as well do the full thing
I've done ashtanga (or 'Madonna yoga' as my friend calls it) we didn't do the chanting. There was no religious aspect to it either. To the OP - There is no alternative to yoga...It's that awesome (IMHO). I went for a very short time, and got a lot more flexible (it's all relative), felt loads more relaxed and les stressed and the constant back pain that I had disappeared. Ashtanga could be considered a lot more physical than some of the other styles and you might find it worth checking out. It develops a lot of strength as well as flexibility. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu9Sq1RvuoA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu9Sq1RvuoA[/ame]
Ive done anusara, ashtanga(hard for me!),bikram, "health club variety", power vinyasa, Hot bikram, and tonight we are doing a full moon salutation on the beach. NEVER once have I had anyone, try to tie anything religious in it. For me its all about strengthening/lengthening/stretching. Im tall and have tall people back issues. To me yoga is just exercise. Great exercise, that beautiful women partake in, nothing wrong with that.:Angel: try it.
