Wednesday, 28 February 2018

Trikonasana , past, present and future.

"Trikonasana (Figure 4.48)
First, stand following the instructions for tadasana krama. Then, keeping the legs spread no less than 3 mozhams apart, take either arm and lift it straight up, lower the other arm while keeping it straight and bring the hand down and place it on top of the foot. Study this carefully in the picture. The inhalation and exhalation of breath must be equal and slow. Practise this on both sides as described here. This asana must be practised for a minimum of 10 minutes. However slowly and patiently we practise this, there is that much corresponding benefit." Krishnamacharya Yoga Makaranda. ( Mysore 1934)


Krishnamacharya teaching Yvonne Millerand , 1960's a few years after leaving Mysore





Krishnamacharya 1970s in his 80s.




My own practice of Trikonasana.


So hard to find a photo of my practicing Trikonasana, it's as if we are terrified of Iyengar judging us.






Below, one of the only photo's I can find of my practicing trikonasana with my foot to the frount 



And here,following my studies with Ramaswami with my feet facing more forward



Later, after focussing more on Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda instruction, including the longer stays I went back to a more Ashtanga approach but with my hand resting lightly on my foot Yoga Makaranda style.


Moving forward......



More recently I'm questioning whether to do trikonasana at all, or rather, whether to include the traditional presentation of the posture in my practice.  Simon includes an active movement version in his spinal sequence where the principles of trikonasana are still included. In the video and article below Simon is presenting a version of trikonasana that can act as a preparation/training for a more traditional approach but it has me wondering.... Is it necessary or indeed that beneficial to stay in trikonasana for a significant period as Krishnamacharya suggested or indeed only for  a few breaths as Jois presented. Is passing through the activation of the posture in a spinal movement sequence sufficient. Simon teaches both but he seems to be moving more to this "...more of a movement than a stretch" approach. 


"Active movements are the traditional way to come into yoga postures. These are movements that are done by the muscles that would be used to enter a posture without the assistance of external forces such as gravity, momentum, or one limb pulling on another limb..... Active movements can give you strength without stress, flexibility without painful stretching, and improved circulation without increasing your heart rate". - from the above article

Are the benefits of trikonasana available without staying in the posture for five breaths or ten minutes, by merely passing through an activation of the posture, and if so is passing through the posture once sufficient or is more than one visit required, or perhaps including several variations of related movement/activation. And if this is the case for trikonasana, then what of something like paschimottanasa, where again Krishnamacharya would recommend a long stay and Pattabhi Jois three or four variations of between five and ten breaths each. Is it possible to achieve the same benefits, perhaps more benefit and less possible strain or negative effects by taking a more ....revolutionary approach - every time I see a new video from Simon of his Spinal movements I'm wondering "...where are you taking this?" It seems radical, exciting and yet perhaps there is nothing really so new, perhaps these movements only appear new from the perspective of the static approach to yoga we have now (we may think of Ashtanga as flowing, a moving meditation, but it's still a quite static approach), in other traditions (China?), such movements are perhaps not so strange or revolutionary but rather, quite traditional.











A full presentation of a more traditional approach to  trikonasana from Simon and Bianca at yoga Synergy


"Saucha is to clean..., or  for me it's to remove the obstacles that block the movement of energy inside us , we need to tense less, stretch less, or move our bodies more balanced...., breathe less...".



A full class with Simon from Love yoga Anatomy

https://loveyogaanatomy.com/tag/simon-borg-olivier/

from 13:57 - replicating trikonasana

from 3:00 trikonasana 

The video below from Yogaanatomy.com includes instruction





Simon's movements in standing remind me of the vinyasas Krishnamacharya presented back in 1938 in his Mysore documentary footage. I'd always assumed Krishnamacharya was just rushing through the movements as a demonstration, but Ramaswami would teach them in a similar way, a ten minute static sirsasana and then another ten minutes of vinyasas/variations....active movements? 





Wednesday, 20 December 2017

Learning the 'Original' Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga

This has been sitting in draft for some time, finally finished it off.



To reclaim the 'original' Ashtanga vinyasa yoga we need just two texts, published and provided freely by the Mysore Palace (free downloads of both texts on my free download page above)

Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934)

Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941)

Both texts were written by Pattabhi Jois' teacher T. Krishnamacharya


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I say 'original' but really we have no idea if Krishnamacharya invented his approach to asana or carried it on from his teacher who possibly received it from his own teacher turn indeed or from an old text, the 'Yoga Korunta'. Krishnamacharya said he received it from his teacher and going by reports ( by Pattabhi Jois 1924) of an early demonstration Krishnamacharya was supposedly jumping from asana to asana shortly after he says he left his teacher. Anyone who 'jumps through' will tell you it takes a couple of years perhaps to become accomplished at it. It seems likely to me that Krishnamacharya received much if not all of his approach to asana from his teacher. However Krishnamacharya's texts are our earliest Primary sources other than possibly the texts he refers to in his bibliographies.
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Yoga Makaranda provides us with instruction on how to practice asana. It's basically how we already practice them in Ashtanga, Pattabhi Jois replicated the instruction format in his book Yoga Mala.

There are three significant differences however.

- Yoga Makaranda contains full vinyasa as does Yoga Mala, these days we tend to practice half vinyasa, jumping straight through between asana and sides of an asana rather than coming back to standing each time.

- Kumbhaka: Yoga Makaranda tends to indicate holding the breath in after the inhalation or out after the exhalation depending on the asana. This might be considered optional. We can skip it altogether and continue to practice without it as most do now, employ it on certain asana, employ it while taking less breaths in an asana or employ it on every asana but practice less asana, perhaps half a series.

- Yoga Makaranda contains a selection of asana, Primary Intermediate and Advanced asana and not in any particular order. See the second text Yogasanagalu.

Yogasanagalu includes a table of asana, three groups of asana, Primary Middle and Proficient. The asana in the table corresponds to lesser and greater degrees to Pattabhi Jois' Primary, Intermediate and Advanced Ashtanga series. Jois' Primary series follows quite closely the order the asana are presented in Krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu table, the Middle group in  the Yogasangalu will be quite familiar to those who practice Jois' Intermediate series, the Proficient group is completely different, just a collection of advanced asana although we can see from the 1938 Mysore demonstration video that Krishnamacharya was teaching the asana found in Jois' later advanced series.

- It appears that Krishnamacharya didn't tend to follow a strict sequence and took a more flexible approach

- Krishnamacharya did include surynamaskara before moving on to standing asana.


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As ashtanga grew in popularity Pattabhi Jois' presentation of his teacher's teaching become more strictly codified. It's a convenient approach.

However, we can reclaim Krishnamacharya's Original Ashtanga whenever we wish by freely downloading the original texts.

If we want to look to authority then we have only to look to those texts, we have no need to go to India, to Mysore or to practice with any members of the Jois family, the original, texts, the practice, is freely available.


On looking for a teacher.

Teacher's authorised by the Jois family have tended to practice the method daily for a number of years, as such they can be an excellent resource, they can occasionally however  be perhaps too strictly aligned with the approach as they were taught it at a particular time.

Update: Sharath has taken control of the KPJAYI list and is authorising and de-authorising, certifying and decertifying as he sees fit on shifting criteria. Teachers who have spent thousands of dollars going to Mysore again and again, paying thousands more for the actual authorisation certificate as well promising to return regularly and continue paying fees for a month or more as well as perhaps 'offering' to assist for free in the shala are having their authorisation revoked resulting in a possible loss of livelihood as they return their authorisation certificate. Likewise several teachers who have gone on to pay shala fees in Mysore over twenty years or more, as well as thousands more to be certified on top of their authorisation are also having their certification revoked for not showing loyalty. As all authorised and certified teachers are asked to sign yet another Authorisation Code, many have no idea if they will remain on the list one month to the next.

See my post Authorisation 1980s to present.

Many of those de-authorised and decertified teachers are still on the 'other 'list of Ashtanga teachers held by Ashtanga.com. These teachers have gone onto the list at the written recommendation of senior teachers, a fairer system perhaps that holds in trust the lineage of the practice in a meaningful way.

There are other Ashtanga teachers who have never been to Mysore, are not authorised by the family and not on either list but have nevertheless practiced daily for a number of years, as long perhaps as some of those certified by the Jois family. They often, but not always, can have a more flexible approach to the practice.

There are other yoga teacher who also happen to teach Ashtanga, they may have practiced several styles and have less commitment to Ashtanga, they can still be an excellent resource for learning the series however.

The ideal perhaps is a teacher who has practiced the Ashtanga method for a large number of years but is also flexible to the needs of the student rather than preserving a shifting ideal of the practice. More important than any of the above is perhaps a teacher with good anatomy and physiological awareness who is unlikely to harm you or bring you to harm yourself in anyway. There is no evidence as far as I can tell that that Sharath, Saraswati, Manju, Pattabhi Jois or Krishnamacharya ever opened an anatomy book in their lives, Iyengar however surely did, to what degree he took it into account is another matter.

Personally I mostly learned my Ashtanga from books, videos, dvds, YouTube and finally a close reading of Krishnamacharya's texts. (I did however, later attend Srivatsa Ramaswami's TT as well as workshops and trainings with Manju and Richard Freeman as well as spend three months at Kristina Karitinou's wonderful shala in Rethymno Crete).

There is then no need of authorisation, of traveling to Mysore, of lineage and parampara. We have the original texts that explain the practice, stage of breath by stage of breath (Yoga Makaranada and Yogasangalu see above). Learn the Primary asana where we will, in a sequence if we wish (It's a convenient approach) but deepen our understanding through exploring the texts. But all that is really required to deepen the practice is to actually practice it, daily if possible, that is where the learning and any transformation actually takes place.

Krishnamacharya was clear, we look to our own traditions, our own texts, pray in our our holy tongues, for me I take that to  imply looking to Greece and Rome, to Greek and Latin.

Patanjali and the Gita will do us no harm however, they all say the same thing after all.

Krishnamacharya was clear on one point, the practice goes hand in hand with a moral code of behaviour, they support each other. For Krishnamacharya that was the Yama/Niyama, we can look to our own tradition, mostly it involves treading kindly and lightly and looking inwards to look outwards.

Should we learn the count?

It can be beneficial, it gives us something to focus on rather than myriad distractions that float through the mind. However the tyranny of the count probably can be blamed for many an ashtanga injury as we try to throw ourselves into an asana on the count.

It's important to remember that the count can be paused anywhere we wish and then taken up again. So, for example, in Marichiyasana D we might pause the count at the bind and take extra breaths while we  take as much time as we require to bind safely before taking the count back up again, likewise when unbinding.

It can be useful to learn the count in your native tongue first. Just count the stages of the breath, start with the sun salutation A then later count through B and so on adding on asana until you can count through the whole practice. By counting in your own tongue you will quickly see the patterns, how similar movements happen on the same count.

At some point you will see that there are a couple of inconsistency in the ashtanga system, an extra uncounted inhalation seems to be taken occasionally, this doesn't happen often but can be confusing, most can't agree on why this happens, a quirk of the system.

If you wish to learn the sanskrit count, start with Sury A then with Sury B, that will give you most of the sanskrit numbers you need for most of the asana. I have a post on learning the Sanskrit count here.

One approach to learning the Ashtanga Sanskrit Vinyasa Count..... Sanskrit Numbers and Vinyasa chart with states of asana indicated plus 'meaning of asana'

The Ashtanga Vinyasa Count: How it actually works - A Love Letter

Once you've learned the count and practiced that way for a time forget it and just worry about the breath..... and then forget that too.




Thursday, 21 September 2017

Manju Jois - New Workshop video Q and A PLUS - what was Pattabhi Jois' contribution to Ashtanga?



Always nice to come across a video of Manju that I haven't seem before (this one from last year, posted By Natasha ) especially after recently reading Manju's new book.

Still no LOOK INSIDE on Amazon for Manju's new book so see perhaps my review

Yoga Therapy: Review Manju Jois' new book, Yoga Chikitsa



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The first fifteen minutes, Manju's led chanting of shanti mantras followed by Q and A.




Here's a quick rundown of the questions and Manju's answers, the questions and answers are paraphrased NOT quoted.

At 14.40 Manju was asked...

Q: How long to stay in one posture?

Manju: Ten breaths

Note: This ties in with Manju's first book where most of the postures have ten breaths indicated up until the longer stays through 'Finishing'.


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Q: How can we tell when, where to stop someone?

Manju: (Practitioners) Should always be working on something. If they are struggling with a posture then perhaps a posture from elsewhere in the series, even second series might help.

18:50
Q: What to do about injuries?

Manju: There are no injuries in yoga, just injuries from bad teachers. Everybody should know their limitations

Q: Do we have to complete one series before moving on to the next or can we combine series depending on students needs, ie therapy

A: Yes, you can mix...... eg. some people can do backbends without doing anything else

Note: This seems to be a focus of Manju's recent 'Yoga Therapy' themed workshop and new book, written in conjunction with a couple of his students - Manju has always seemed to suggest that his father, Pattabhi Jois, never intended us to get hung up at one posture in the series for too long, at Marichiyasana D say, but rather to continue on through the series (and indeed into the next). That doesn't mean we should stop working on Marichiyasana D however, it'll come....eventually. Manju suggests substituting an alternative twist, bhardvajrasana perhaps or ardha matsyendrasana both from the Intermediate series.


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23:30

Q: What do you think about meditation, sitting

An interesting section where Manju is asked about meditation, it's hard to hear his answers clearly and I hesitate to paraphrase but he seems to be suggesting that there are many approaches to meditation, that the practice of the asana can be a meditation just as sitting can. he seems to be suggesting that practicing daily affects, changes our mind over time....., just as sitting does.



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25:07

Q: Breathing, different lengths, breath holding?

Manju: You're not supposed to hold the breath, it's pranayama, not in asana.

Q: Some people are teaching this.

A: Some teachers make up things. It's what I learned, it makes logical sense, from Krishnamacharya, to Pattabhi Jois, don't change anything

Note: I take issue with Manju's answer here. While it's true that Manju's father Pattabhi Jois stressed, on a several occasions, that there should be NO breath holding (and of course he may have been indicating the tendency to accidentally hold our breath when struggling with a posture rather than an intentional kumbhaka while settled in an asana), it's equally true that Pattabhi Jois' teacher, Krishnamacharya indicated that it was an option to be encouraged (see Appendix 1 below). In Krishnamacharya's book Yoga Makaranda, written in Mysore in 1934 when Pattabhi Jois was his student, Krishnamacharya indicated Kumbhaka, holding the breath in or out, for almost every posture he described and gave clear instruction for.
A teacher who suggests, recommends or introduces kumbhaka in asana as an option in their teaching isn't 'inventing something' but rather, RECLAIMING possibly the most significant element of Krishnamacharya's approach to asana. Continuing on beyond the Intermediate asana without exploring kumbhaka certainly doesn't strike me as 'Advanced practice' whatever the later series may be called. Six series without kumbhaka is still, to my mind, a beginners practice


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Q: I know it's supposed to be 99% practice, 1% theory. What's your suggestion for that 1%?

Manju: No clear answer here

34:20

Q: Did the series come from Krishnamacharya, your father ( Pattabhi Jois), before?

Manju: Actually It was my father did the research, he put all the postures together, it wasn't in order.
The asana were there but the sequences were not there.


NOTE 1: Manju also seems to say here that his father didn't want to say it was fixed series but that you could do anything within that (sequence?) later they (students) became strict about the sequence.... and stopped smiling, became very serious. Practice is supposed to release the stress but ended up creating a lot of stress

NOTE 2. Manju and I have argued about this in the past. I even took out my ipad and showed him Krishnamacharya's 1941 table of asana from Yogasanagalu and how the order in which the postures are listed is almost exactly the same for the Primary group as in Pattabhi Jois' Primary series. Likewise that the Ashtanga Intermediate series closely resembled the asana, and in most cases the order, of the asana listed in krishnamacharya's middle group. Krishnamacharya's table even included the same vinyasa count for each asana. Manju wasn't having it and pointed out a couple of cases where there were differences in order. We agreed to disagree on this, Manju still cooked me dinner : )
I had thought that Pattabhi Jois introduced the surynamaskara practice, that this was something krishnamacharya left out but I've since learned from one of krishnamacharya's students interviewd for the new Mysore yoga Traditions movie, that Krishnamacharya included the sun salutations, indeed, everything else after that seemed to be optional. Krishnamacharya's groups of asana were flexible rather than the strict sequences presented by Pattabhi Jois.




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Note: I was recently asked by an Authorised Ashtanga teacher what I thought Pattabhi Jois' contribution to the (Ashtanga) practice was. 

We can see, in Krishnamacharya' Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934), the same instruction for the practice of asana that Pattabhi Jois passed along to us. We can see the same vinyasa, the same focus on the breath, bandhas and drishti that Pattabhi jois carried over to his own book Yoga Mala. later pattabhi jois switched to half vinyasa rather than full and introduced nine drishti rather than the two he presented in Yoga Mala and that Krishnamacharya outlined in Yoga Makaranda ( although krishnamacharya seemed to suggest in that text that there were other drishti).

We can see in the Krishnamacharya's table of asana from Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941), three groups of asana, Primary, Middle and Proficient. Manju says that his father originally taught three series, Primary Middle and Advanced, the Advanced series later split into Advanced A and Advanced B as we can see in the 1973 Ashtanga syllabus given to Nancy Gilgoff and David Williams. Pattabhi Jois' Primary sequence closely follows Krishnamacharya Primary group. Most of the asana in the Ashtanga Intermediate series are the same as in Krishnamacharya's Middle groups but with some reordering. Pattabhi Jois' Advanced A and B are much more fully developed as sequences than the list of proficient asana Krishnamacharya provides in his third group although we can see the same asana Pattabhi Jois includes in the 1938 Mysore demonstration By Krishnamacharya and his student BKS Iyengar.

We find the same focus on breath, bandhas and Drishti in Krishnamacharya's teaching that we see in Pattabhi jois.

I had thought that it was Pattabhi Jois who had Introduced Surynamaskara A and B, although having taken them from elsewhere. I'd believed Krishnamacharya to have been dismissive of the contemporary surynamaskara fitness trend, however following a recent interview with one of his early Mysore students Krishnamacharya does seem to have taught suryanamaskara, in fact it was said to be the only constant, everything else being more flexible.



Pattabhi Jois' contribution then seems not so much to have been content as organisation.

Asked to Present a four year syllabus for the Sanskrit college Pattabhi Jois taught, after some minor tweaking of order, Krishnamachary's Primary and Middle groups as sequences rather than flexible and introduced two more sequences Advanced A and B based on Krishnamachary's approach advanced asana.

Pattabhi Jois passed along Krishnamacharya focus on vinyasa, breath, bandha and Drishti.


In the 80s Pattabhi Jois introduced half vinyasa rather than krishnamacharya's full Vinyasa.

Pattabhi Jois later taught nine drishti points rather than two

Pattabhi Jois left out Krishnamacharya kumbhaka instruction (found for almost every one of the asana Krishnamacharya gave instruction for in Yoga Makaranda), to my mind, omitting the soul of Krishnamacharya's teaching.

This simplification of Krishnamacharya teaching  (whether we consider this a good thing or not) along with his good humour, work ethic and generosity in sharing the practice are to my mind Pattabhi jois' contribution.


As well as asking the contribution Krishnamacharya's student Pattabhi Jois made to the practice we might also ask about the contribution Pattabhi Jois's students and student's students have made...., another post perhaps.


42.50
Q: What about feeling?

I was unclear as to Manju's answer here.

Pattabhi Jois certainly brought a generosity of spirit, an inclusiveness in his teaching. 



***

My Manju Jois Resource



below

Appendix 1 - Krishnamacharya's employment of Kumbhaka, omitted by Pattabhi Jois
Appendix 2 - Side by side - 1973 Ashtanga Syllabus and Original 'Yogasanagalu Asana table 1941




Appendix 1

Krishnamacharya and Kumbhaka





















photos from
Available here for free http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/just-published-new-book.html

printed book available from Lulu.com
http://www.lulu.com/shop/anthony-grim-hall/krishnamacharyas-original-ashtanga-yoga/paperback/product-21545878.html
Based on the public domain translation from the Tamil.


"While practicing yoga with reverence, one can offer their essence to God during exhalation and during inhalation, imagine/suppose that God is entering your heart.  During kumbhaka, we can practice dharana and dhyana.  Such practices will improve mental concentration and strengthen silence/stillness.  Eliminates agitation and restlessness".  Krishnamacharya: Yogasanagalu (1941)

"While practicing yoga....


Here Krishnamacharya appears to be referring to yoga asana and that would tie in with his unique approach to asana as found in his book Yoga Makaranda (1934) written a couple of years earlier than Yogasanagalu (1941). In Yoga Makaranda he describes kumbhaka while in asana and not just padmasana but almost all asana that he describes.

"When practising asana, the breath that is inhaled into the body and the breath that is exhaled out must be kept equal. Moreover, practise the asana with their vinyasas by breathing only through the nose". p27

"Brahmana kriya means to take in the outside air through the nose, pull it inside, and hold it in firmly. This is called puraka kumbhaka.
Langhana kriya means to exhale the air that is inside the body out through he nose and to hold the breath firmly without allowing any air from outside into the body. This is called recaka kumbhaka".
p27-28

"In each section for each particular asana, we have included a description and an enumeration of its vinyasas. The vinyasas in which the head is raised are to be done with puraka kumbhaka and the ones in which the head is lowered must be done with recaka kumbhaka. Uthpluthi (raising the body from the floor with only the support of both hands on the floor is called uthpluthi) should be done on recaka kumbhaka for a fat person and on puraka kumbhaka for a thin person...." p28

2 Parsvottanasana
"...Standing in tadasana krama, draw in clean air through the nose and practise kumbhaka...." p59

11 Janusirsasana
"...This form follows the hatha yoga principles. Another form follows the raja yoga method. The practitioner should learn the difference. First, take either leg and extend it straight out in front. Keep the heel pressed firmly on the floor with the toes pointing upward. That is, the leg should not lean to either side. The base (back) of the knee should be pressed against the ground. Fold the other leg and place the heel against the genitals, with the area above the knee (the thigh) placed straight against the hip. That is, arrange the straight leg which has been extended in front and the folded leg so that together they form an “L”. Up to this point, there is no difference between the practice of the hatha yogi and the raja yogi.
For the hatha yoga practitioner, the heel of the bent leg should be pressed firmly between the rectum and the scrotum. Tightly clasp the extended foot with both hands, raise the head and do puraka kumbhaka. Remain in this position for some time and then, doing recaka, lower the head and place the face onto the knee of the outstretched leg. While doing this, do not pull the breath in. It may be exhaled. After this, raise the head and do puraka. Repeat this on the other side following the rules mentioned above.
The raja yogi should place the back of the sole of the folded leg between the scrotum and the genitals. Now practise following the other rules described above for the hatha yogis. There are 22 vinyasas for janusirsasana. Please note carefully that all parts of the outstretched leg and the folded leg should touch the floor. While holding the feet with the hands, pull and clasp the feet tightly. Keep the head or face or nose on top of the kneecap and remain in this sthiti from 5 minutes up to half an hour. If it is not possible to stay in recaka for that long, raise the head in between, dopuraka kumbhaka and then, doing recaka, place the head back down on the knee. While keeping the head lowered onto the knee, puraka kumbhaka should not be done..." p79-80



See this post for more examples from yoga makaranda 



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Appendix 2

Side by side

1973 Ashtanga Syllabus and Original 'Yogasanagalu Asana table 1941













Appendix 2 - Notes

"In fact, David and I had no idea that there were two separate series until the end of that first four-month trip, when we were leaving, at which point Guruji gave us a sheet of paper with a list of the postures, which were listed as Primary, Intermediate, Advanced A, and Advanced B. At this point he told us to practice one series a day, and only once a day".
 from Ashtanga Yoga as it was (The long and the short of it )  Nancy Gilgoff

many thanks to Anon for passing it along and especially to Nancy for giving permission to post it this morning and share with the community at large.

Available as pfd download from googledocs
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B7JXC_g3qGlWRzZWOUltVnh3RFU



See my earlier blog post on Nancy's article
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/dear-nancy-yoga-as-it-was-nancy-gilgoff.html

also here
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/dear-nancy-breath-in-73.html

and here
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/dear-nancy-head-updown-jalandhara.html