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On Yoga & Meditation: Q&A with Yoga Instructor, Ralph Craig

yoga questions answered Photos by Aya Tanaka[/caption]

Earlier this week you may have witnessed my laughable attempt at practicing Bikram yoga after a two-year hiatus. That’s why I consulted brutally honest friend, Ralph Craig, whom you may remember as Kim and Kourtney Kardashian’s notorious yoga teacher. When I asked Ralph if I was posing correctly, he assured me that I was just stretching and not really doing yoga (yeah, thought so). A New Orleans native, Ralph has been studying under various yogis in India since he was just 15-years-old. Needless to say, he is my go-to person for anything and everything yoga-related. This week he answered a few of my pressing yoga questions, including the best yoga poses for beginners and which ones to avoid. Read on.

What’s the best time of day to do yoga and why? Is there anything wrong with doing yoga at night? 

Traditionally, yoga practice follows the rhythms of the day. The best time to practice is between 3 and 6 a.m., before the sun rises. The mind and the environment are considered to be most serene during this time. It is also easier to enter and sustain deep concentrated states during this time.

Between 4 and 6 p.m. is considered good because it is after the largest meal of the day (It is recommended that the largest meal be consumed at noon) has digested and the mind is in a state of calm before the evening dullness sets on.

A restorative yoga practice; deep meditation; or calming breathing practices (Pranayama) are the only kinds of yoga practice to be performed at night. Vinyasa, Flow, Power, Hot yoga etc. are NOT good for the night time.

 

What’s the best pose for strengthening the back? 

The best poses for strengthening the back are poses that strengthen the abdominal muscles. Navasana (Boat pose), Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-limbed Staff Pose/Push-up like position), and Tolasana/Lolasana (Scale/Pendulum pose) are some of the best.

It is important to realize that the body does not work by isolation. If there is a problem in the back, you must look at the front. If there is a problem in front, look at the back. If there is a problem on the left, look right. If there is a problem on the right, look left. Same goes for top and bottom.

 

Are there any poses that you would advise against for beginners? If so, which ones? 

I would advise beginners to start with Sun Salutations and standing postures to develop endurance and strength in the legs while ironing out the kinks in the spine. Anything else is presumptuous for a beginner.

 

How can yoga enhance our mental state? Is it similar to meditation? 

The answer to this question is determined by how you are defining yoga and how you are defining meditation.
A classical text on yogic theory and practice, “The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali”, defines a path of yoga practice which is comprised of eight aspects. The last three aspects are comprised of focusing the mind on one-point, holding the mind on that one-point without distraction, and the complete concentration of all mental faculties on that one-point.
The above is how the classical yoga tradition defines meditation; it is a process of deepening concentration of the mind. All other yoga practices -such as physical postures or asanas – are to serve the required aim of deepening concentration.
We should define yoga as it is defined in yogic traditions. The classical tradition (represented by the above mentioned text) defines yoga as: the state in which the mind-body complex is stilled, the result of which is clarity of perception.

So, meditation can be said to be included within yoga.

 

How do you know you’ve reached a theoretical understanding of yoga? And how does it affect the practice? 

Theory gives context to the practice and practice brings insight into the theory (since the theories in yoga are theories about reality, practice brings insight into reality).
To reach a theoretical understanding of yoga, you must study the texts of the yoga traditions and study them with teachers who have studied and practiced the texts intensively. A student should settle for nothing less. The quality of instructions and instructors is very dubious in today’s yoga world. So, to test the quality of your teacher, you should ask them specific questions and ask them for textual and practical support to their answers.
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Have any pressing yoga questions for Ralph? Leave them in the comments.
Ralph is an instructor at YogaWorks. You can visit him on Facebook. 

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