achieving yoga through floating, yes. floating yoga – no
I was browsing sound photosynthesis for Lilly material and noticed something titled “Floating Yoga” by Jack Scarfatti. I googled around for floating yoga and ran across a site by a relative of the Perry family. Her definition of asana is at odds with mine. Asana is simply a posture in which you can remain still for a long time. However she says that asana is “the practice of body exercises.” Also, she thinks that pranayama involves breathing. Actually pranayama has to do with controlling the prana and only uses breathing in certain cases.
I tried a few postures anyway in the spirit of experimentation.
They did open up my body in a gross way very quickly. Normally the water works gently and slowly. Adopting postures as a form of intervention got things stretching quickly. But without the wisdom of gravity and water combined. And I certainly was not stilling my mind but rather constantly focused on the sensation of trying to pull my body into a position.
Near the end, I tried for a fetal posture. I fell over onto my side and water shot into my nose, creating a lot of pain.
Conclusion:
Yoga is about stilling the body and mind. It is not about twisting into elaborate positions. The default “posture” in the tank is analogous to shivasana, the last posture in almost any physical yoga set and the place where the real relaxation begins.
For me, the yoga of floating involves adopting shivasana and allowing the body and mind to die and the ever awake Atman to shine forth.
I have no interest in ever trying those poses again.
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