You may have a vague idea what the yopada approach is about by now.
Yes, the “dancing with the walls” subheading is somewhat self-explanatory.
Also the yo as in yoga, pa as in parkour and da as in (ecstatic) dance abbreviation gives you a glimpse into the main influences that formed it.
Yet how does yopada work actually? Does it at all? What is it for?
Can it really help you individually? Why? Let me explain below!
Moving despite weakness
So after discovering the yopada approach I trained it myself.
I did yopada for a few weeks while still awaiting my second (and then third) jawbone surgery.
After the first one my jaw got cleaned of the two biggest inflammation herds that were literally poisoning my whole body.
So I regained like 60% or 80% of my previous energy.
That already felt divine in comparison to my previous state of CFS-like debilitating fatigue.
Yet life wasn’t perfect either yet. I was still weak and drained.
- I wasn’t ready to train full-fledged parkour yet most of the time.
- Plus my dog got sick with a huge ulcer on his back so she had to wear a funnel like protection that made almost all movement a challenge for her as well.
- Last but not least I somehow overextended my leg and my shoulder did hurt due to sitting too much at the screen after being able to work for the first time after more than 6 months.
Long story short I had a lot of opportunities to take the yopada approach into practice!
This way I could see whether and how it works plus how it helps to deal with the somewhat still not perfect circumstances.
After literally being a zombie for so long and being free of
- migraines
- brain fog
- fatigue
most of the time now I was very eager to move again!
I also wanted to work frantically and catch up on at least half a year of tasks.
As I wasn’t at 100% it was hard to determine when to stop.
I could never know how long my energy would last.
My body did not know anymore what my reserves were.
They were much larger than previously yet not as big as during my heydays.
So training – sometimes with, sometimes without my ailing best friend – was a challenge by itself.
What are the benefits of yopada?
What are the actual benefits of yopada then? Why try yopada at all? Is it only something for sick people?
I decided to skip the conventional warm up and just do yopada from the start:
It’s like “dancing with (the) walls” to
- stretch
- warm up
- for fun
I didn’t know whether I would be able to move for
- 5 minutes
- half an hour
- or a full 2h session
I’d usually undertake before NICO and his CFS crew debilitated me.
Yet it didn’t matter how long I could move anymore!
So I just moved, enjoying myself and every moment from the start!
That was liberating again!
- no matter how many reps
- no matter whether the move was right or wrong
- no matter whether I was ready
I was moving intuitively
- as far as I could go
- as long as I could go
- as hard I as I could go
and not more than that.
as long as it felt good I did it.
When it stopped I stopped.
Joy and pain became my inner compass.
I stopped stressing and frustrating myself for not being good enough or strong enough.
I did as much, as far and as hard as I could while enjoying it wholeheartedly from the very first minute.
Usually I was self-conscious while doing warm up stretches on the way to the actual “training spot”.
With the yopada type of fluent movement I was in the flow from the start and not afraid of being seen and judged anymore.
So the direct benefits of the yopada approach to movement training are clear:
- more joyous exercise
- increased self-confidence
- embracing the flow
Do you want more? Move with me!
You can literally be flow!
You stop thinking and return consciously to your essence.
You forget about the carefully made up “person” (or mask) you show to the world.
You literally escape the prison of
- thoughts
- concepts
- and ideas
that run your life for you usually.
You just move intuitively and use your body as a conduit for universal energy flowing through you!
Escape your person prison now! Move, be flow, be one with the universe!
Not ready yet? Then I recommend doing some “conventional” yoga, parkour or ecstatic dance!