Yoga - Questions about yoga

Author

Questions about yoga

C. McIntosh

2005-04-13, 4:43 pm

Dear Sir and Madam:

I am a student at the university of Northern Iowa, and I am very
interested in yoga because many of my friends have intrigued me about
it; and I am writing a journalistic report about this topic. I would
appreciate it if you could provide your insights about this topic
answering the following questions. Please note that by providing me
your insights, your responses remain confidential and your identity
remains anonymous. Also, if you wish to receive a copy of this report,
please indicate so in the last question, and you will receive a copy
when the report is completed. Please send your response to my email
address at codymc@uni.edu by Wednesday, April 20, 2005. If you have
any questions about this inquiry, please feel free to contact my
instructor Dr. Sarina Chen at sarina.chen@uni.edu, TEL: 319-273-6021.
Thank you.

What aspects of yoga interest you?
Which school or schools of yoga do you follow?
What do you know of the history of yoga?
How did you begin to practice yoga?
What benefits have you received after practicing yoga?
Do you believe that yoga is a religious experience?
Do you wish to receive a copy of this report?

Sincerely,

C. McIntosh
Dept. of Communication Studies
Univ. of Northern Iowa

Sarina Chen, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Dept. of Communication Studies
Univ. of Northern Iowa

omjaram

2005-04-14, 8:42 am

OK, let's go! I like quiz's :-)

>What aspects of yoga interest you?
All... That was easy!

>Which school or schools of yoga do you follow?
There are thousands (just like American colleges!). Perhaps you meant
which path/s do I follow.I am a Jnani. I also study and practice
aspects of: karma, bhakti, raja, and hatha yoga.

>What do you know of the history of yoga?
A great deal.

>How did you begin to practice yoga?
While recovering from alcohol addiction, I realized there was God and
in my search for some means to connect with him I was drawn to yoga as
the most systematic and rational way.

>What benefits have you received after practicing yoga?
Each particular yoga confers its own benefits. For me, I would say the
greatest benefit I have received is a context in which to approach God.
In addition I have received numerous physical, mental and spiritual
benefits.

>Do you believe that yoga is a religious experience?
Yes (careful about asking yes/no questions.)

>Do you wish to receive a copy of this report?
Yes. I hope you will do/share your whole report right here in alt.yoga
for all of us (and many others) to benefit from. Besides more then a
few of us went to college and I for one would have loved to have done a
report/research like this had I been smart (intrigued) enough.

Namaste

omjaram

2005-04-14, 8:42 am

omjaram

2005-04-19, 10:49 am

In article <1113416849.066495.288230@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>,
"C. McIntosh" <codymc@uni.edu> wrote:

> Dear Sir and Madam:
>
> I am a student at the university of Northern Iowa, and I am very
> interested in yoga because many of my friends have intrigued me about
> it; and I am writing a journalistic report about this topic. I would
> appreciate it if you could provide your insights about this topic
> answering the following questions. Please note that by providing me
> your insights, your responses remain confidential and your identity
> remains anonymous. Also, if you wish to receive a copy of this report,
> please indicate so in the last question, and you will receive a copy
> when the report is completed. Please send your response to my email
> address at codymc@uni.edu by Wednesday, April 20, 2005. If you have
> any questions about this inquiry, please feel free to contact my
> instructor Dr. Sarina Chen at sarina.chen@uni.edu, TEL: 319-273-6021.
> Thank you.
>
> What aspects of yoga interest you?
> Which school or schools of yoga do you follow?
> What do you know of the history of yoga?
> How did you begin to practice yoga?
> What benefits have you received after practicing yoga?
> Do you believe that yoga is a religious experience?
> Do you wish to receive a copy of this report?
>
> Sincerely,
>
> C. McIntosh
> Dept. of Communication Studies
> Univ. of Northern Iowa
>
> Sarina Chen, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor
> Dept. of Communication Studies
> Univ. of Northern Iowa

Hey big C,
Why haven't you answered any of the posts (mine of course) to your
request? Not that important? Or what?
Namaste (it mean "I bow to the divine in you", in sankrit.)

sikkh_del@del_wp.pl

2005-04-19, 10:49 am

omjaram wrote:
> Hey big C,
> Why haven't you answered any of the posts (mine of course) to your
> request? Not that important? Or what?
> Namaste (it mean "I bow to the divine in you", in sankrit.)

If you feel Divinity inside, you should feel Complete, then why do you still
need external stimuli (in this case command respect from others, isn't it a
weakness)?

--
Brachman alone is Real. Om, Om...

Sevenhundred Elves

2005-04-19, 10:49 am

On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 00:04:16 -0700,
omjaram wrote:

> In article <1113416849.066495.288230@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>,
> "C. McIntosh" <codymc@uni.edu> wrote:
>
>
> Hey big C,
> Why haven't you answered any of the posts (mine of course) to your
> request? Not that important? Or what?
> Namaste (it mean "I bow to the divine in you", in sankrit.)

It seems C. McIntosh was expecting to receive answers by mail ("Please
send your response to my email address"), so he wouldn't have to come
back to the NG to get them..

If it's any comfort, I liked your answers.

S.

omjaram

2005-04-19, 10:49 am

Hi Piotr,

Nice to hear from you.

Of course you are correct. There is no such thing as respect or lack of
to command or not. There is only God.

The intention of my post was to benefit the young person who had
requested help with their project. I was (I hoped) ever so gently
chiding them for requesting something of a group of strangers,
receiving a positive response and then not following through. I suppose
it's the house holder (father) in me. I have a couple of teenage boys I
am responsible to provide feedback for :-)

I have to admit I was/am a bit disappointed that they haven't followed
through. I thought a little youthful energy directed towards inquiring
into the meaning of yoga, might just be the thing to bring a little
life into the group. I love learning and I love to teach, so the
prospect of some discovery going on was attractive.

Hopefully we will see if it is a real inquiry or just troll/spam.

Namaste

omjaram

2005-04-19, 10:49 am

Thank you Sevenhundred Elves for your kind words. I like your nic,
perhaps you would tell me where it came from and/or what it means :-).

Yes it was me who suggested the change of protocol to incorporate the
NG into the process of developing the study/article. But then this is a
NG and that's the nature of how NGs work. To provide this person with
the information they seek would require a whole lot of work. So if I
were to invest any significant amount of time in trying to help them I
would prefer to do it in public and with the help of the other
knowledgeable participants of alt.yoga. Besides as I mentioned to
Piotr,
I think it would be a shame to take a wonderful inquiry like the one
proposed off-line and private. I would take it a step further and
suggest that if it needs to be private for some reason then there is
something "wrong" with it.

As I think about it, I am a little surprised no
one else has stepped up and answered the questions in the thread :-(
Perhaps they are following the prescribed plan and emailing. But then
you see, I can't know that. I have in the past posted "quizzes" of
sorts
to the group. Most of these were of a more personal nature, deeply
important to me, so I could understand if few or no one answered. These
questions posed by the university student are fairly general and so
should be easily answered. I for one would love to hear the answers.

Over the years there have many who have posted questions, to which
people responded and then they never acknowledged the answers. There
can be a million different reasons why someone might do that. However
in my value system, anything short of death or incapacitation would
lack
class ;-)

Namaste

Sevenhundred Elves

2005-04-19, 10:49 am

On 17 Apr 2005 20:11:44 -0700,
omjaram wrote:

> Thank you Sevenhundred Elves for your kind words. I like your nic,
> perhaps you would tell me where it came from and/or what it means :-).

Hehe, thanks! I think it's the coolest nym on Usenet, with the possible
exception of Archimedes Plutonium. It's from an old English folksong
called "Seven Hundred Elves", about some poor elves who had their
habitat destroyed by deforestation just because some greedy farmer
wanted more land for his crops and cattle. I like that song.

> Yes it was me who suggested the change of protocol to incorporate the
> NG into the process of developing the study/article. But then this is a
> NG and that's the nature of how NGs work. To provide this person with
> the information they seek would require a whole lot of work. So if I
> were to invest any significant amount of time in trying to help them I
> would prefer to do it in public and with the help of the other
> knowledgeable participants of alt.yoga. Besides as I mentioned to
> Piotr,
> I think it would be a shame to take a wonderful inquiry like the one
> proposed off-line and private. I would take it a step further and
> suggest that if it needs to be private for some reason then there is
> something "wrong" with it.

Perhaps he thought email would be better for some people for reasons of
privacy, so he'd get more answers? After all, *I'm* more or less
anonymous here, not totally hidden, of course, but not immediately
recognizable to my employers and other real-life characters, which is
good in case I ever lose my calm and make a fool of myself in public.

I guess if I'd answer the quiz in email, I could keep in touch with the
student, and ask to be notified when the results of the study was
published.

> As I think about it, I am a little surprised no
> one else has stepped up and answered the questions in the thread :-(

Ok, I'll do it.

> Perhaps they are following the prescribed plan and emailing. But then
> you see, I can't know that. I have in the past posted "quizzes" of
> sorts
> to the group. Most of these were of a more personal nature, deeply
> important to me, so I could understand if few or no one answered. These
> questions posed by the university student are fairly general and so
> should be easily answered. I for one would love to hear the answers.

I agree that the result, at least, should be posted here, since most of
us surely are curious about what others think of yoga (that's why we are
here, after all).

> Over the years there have many who have posted questions, to which
> people responded and then they never acknowledged the answers. There
> can be a million different reasons why someone might do that. However
> in my value system, anything short of death or incapacitation would
> lack
> class ;-)

Ouch! I'm sure I've often forgotten to acknowledge some replies! Sorry.
I'll try to do better.

Namaste

S.

Sevenhundred Elves

2005-04-19, 10:49 am

On 13 Apr 2005 11:27:29 -0700,
C. McIntosh wrote:

> Dear Sir and Madam:
>
> I am a student at the university of Northern Iowa, and I am very
> interested in yoga because many of my friends have intrigued me about
> it; and I am writing a journalistic report about this topic. I would
> appreciate it if you could provide your insights about this topic
> answering the following questions. Please note that by providing me
> your insights, your responses remain confidential and your identity
> remains anonymous. Also, if you wish to receive a copy of this report,
> please indicate so in the last question, and you will receive a copy
> when the report is completed. Please send your response to my email
> address at codymc@uni.edu by Wednesday, April 20, 2005. If you have
> any questions about this inquiry, please feel free to contact my
> instructor Dr. Sarina Chen at sarina.chen@uni.edu, TEL: 319-273-6021.
> Thank you.
>
> What aspects of yoga interest you?

The spiritual parts, mostly. My asana practice has deteriorated.

> Which school or schools of yoga do you follow?

Iyengar. Hatha yoga. I also learn a lot from Patanjali.

> What do you know of the history of yoga?

Probably far less than most scholars on the subject.

> How did you begin to practice yoga?

I must decline to answer.

> What benefits have you received after practicing yoga?

I'm still flexible in mind and body, in spite of being fairly, uh,
'middle-aged'.

> Do you believe that yoga is a religious experience?

Yes, I think the experience that can be gotten from yoga is the same as
what religious mystics of all religions sometimes get.

> Do you wish to receive a copy of this report?

Post it here. I don't do email.

>
> Sincerely,
>
> C. McIntosh
> Dept. of Communication Studies
> Univ. of Northern Iowa
>
> Sarina Chen, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor
> Dept. of Communication Studies
> Univ. of Northern Iowa
>

sikkh_del@del_wp.pl

2005-04-19, 10:49 am

Hi Omjaram wrote:

> The intention of my post was to benefit the young person who had
> requested help with their project. I was (I hoped) ever so gently
> chiding them for requesting something of a group of strangers,
> receiving a positive response and then not following through. I suppose
> it's the house holder (father) in me. I have a couple of teenage boys I
> am responsible to provide feedback for :-)

:-)

I see your aim is high, I was hoping it is such.

--
Brachman alone is Real. Om, Om...

omjaram

2005-04-23, 8:54 am

Sevenhundred Elves

2005-04-24, 11:00 pm