THE CONNECTION BETWEEN YOGA AND CLIMBING
There are these special moments where everything seems
deep interest towards the inner approach, without exclud-
easy, when movements are fluid and solutions come
ing someone who practiced it only as a tool to increase
without thinking, when we are dancing almost
flexibility, breathing skills and concentration...
effortlessly on the wall. This is flowing following
These reactions both came from the idea that Yoga is not
your intuitions. This is Yoga.
simple physical training, but it is a discipline with a signifMartina Cufar
icant spiritual and meditative component. As such, either it was hated disdainfully (maybe due to fear) for its intro-
The fusion of Yoga and climbing is natural. Climbing, as
spective nature, or it involved deeply.
Yoga, shows you who you really are, allows you to
However, during the past five years, there has been a wide
find yourself. Both disciplines reveal your fears and
diffusion both in the practice of Yoga and climbing: media
show you how to overcome them. On the wall as
played a major role, in a world more and more influenced by
well as in life.
social media and the cult of shallowness and appearance. Christian Core
This boom has introduced a certain simplification of their meanings in both disciplines.
That’s what’s so amazing about climbing – it’s not just a
Plenty of Yoga courses of many different kinds appeared
sport. It’s a lifestyle, it’s a way of being creative, of
everywhere, often led by teachers trained in intensive
connecting with yourself and with nature.
courses of one month, or even less.
Chris Sharma
Ideas have been even more messed up by social media, where “yogic rockstars” have spread: young people with an
INTRODUCTION
excellent physical preparation (often coming from previ-
In the previous edition, the first chapter started with the
ous sport activities) presenting themselves in extremely
following remarks:
complex positions, thus becoming points of reference.
«What is the reason to write a book connecting Yoga and
However, reading their posts is enough to realize that their
climbing? What do these two disciplines have in common,
knowledge of the discipline is definitely restricted, limiting
which might look quite different in terms of objectives and
themselves to the citation of a few aphorisms or pseu-
context? This might be the reaction of many people, may they
do-spiritual remarks of bewildering simplicity. The prob-
be climbers or Yoga practitioners, while reading this hand-
lem is that they often raise thousands of followers,
book, maybe with some hesitation. However, Yoga and climb-
strengthening even more the misunderstanding that Yoga
ing have more in common than we might believe, as long as we
is only an athletic exercise aiming at performance and that
go through them with the right spirit and with the right men-
physical preparation is enough to be a teacher.
tal and cultural attitude». In a few years Yoga has passed from being considered as a Actually, when I started writing this book in 2010, Yoga
vague form of Eastern discipline mixing body exercise with
was not so popular as it is now and even less in the climbing
spiritual and meditative practices, to be seen mainly as a
context, where reactions were essentially two: repulsion or
form of advanced gymnastics aiming at performance.
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