Tuesday, January 07, 2003


another pro sport adopts yoga

first, the football players. then basketball, hockey, tennis, ice skaters. next, soccer, golf, and even snooker. now: poker.

as usual, this stuff is better than i can make up. "mental conditioning for poker" counsels the pro poker player to take up yoga to improve concentration and combat fatigue during marathon bouts at the table.

"a giant edge you can have on your competition is mental. the main thing that separates the great players from the merely good is mental preparedness." the yoga concept at work here is dharana, or single-pointed concentration.

this can be developed by focusing on the breath, either in the poses or through meditation in savasana. other meditative practices, such as the simple and pleasant trataka (candle-gazing) are also effective.

many yoginis i know who find normal seated meditation confusing or boring swear by a soft cushion and a lovely scented candle. . .they report even 2-5 minutes a day before bedtime not only improves sleep but noticeably improves daily concentration in just 8 weeks.

the problem is that large, beautiful candles are currently outrageously expensive. did you have any idea how easy it is to make your own attractive beeswax candles?

you don't even have to melt or mold the wax -- you can literally wrap the sheet beeswax around the wick! this and this (acrobat reader required) tells you how.

you can quickly scent these by soaking the wick in the scent oil of your choice before wrapping it in the wax. to buy the material for a nice 8-in. tall, thick, scented "pillar"-type candle can cost as little as US$7.

the scent oil price, enough for many candles, is also quite reasonable, and naturally varies by quality and rarity of scent. but considering that fancy tall scented candles can sell for as much as US$40, it's a bargain to make your own.

finally, we all know there's a lot of very bad yoga around. but that doesn't mean you should toss your down dog out with the mat!

avoid poor teachers and find good ones; that's all. yoga isn't about pain; it's about freedom. which means that sometimes you have to do a little work. . .be critical, self-critical, and take responsibility for your own actions! that means you have to go out and find a good teacher; to ask yourself why you are putting up with a yoga you know is wrong for you. . .

posted by fortune | 4:55 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments