Have been working on Coordination in my jump back the last week or so. Had a really bad practice (see post My jump back Stinks ) where everything felt so uncoordinated that I started to think that better coordination might be where it's at.
So many things to think about in the jump back. There's the hand position, pulling the knees up, feet in, tucking in the pubic bone, trying not to over round the back, lifting sternum, engaging the bandhas, timing the breath...
Think I began to get it right in this mornings practice. The main thing seems to be timing the breath and the bandhas with the lift. This is what worked for me this morning.
Before jumping back I always lift my legs up into Navasana, inhaling, (Just became a habit that's probably good for the core, but I find it just helps to realign and focus me). Now beginning to exhale bring the Legs back, knees to chest, feet crossed and tucked in close to my backside. Lift sternum, bend the head foreword and now as your running out of breath start to engage moolah bandhas (seems to be easier at the end of the exhale), start setting up uddiyana bandha sucking in the stomach and lifting up to the ribcage as if preparing for Nauli pranayama and trying to hook the two bandhas together while pushing out the very last of the breath. Place your hands in front of your hips and as you push down on your hands Inhale Ujjayi forcefully focusing on your uddiyana and lift up and before you reach the top of your lift begin pivoting at your shoulders, sternum forward, hips back, swinging yourself back through and up and kicking your legs out and back.
Notice the long exhale pushing out every last ounce of breath and as you engage Uddiyana there's almost a vacuum, your almost gasping for breath so when the Ujjayi inhale comes ,and because it's focused on/at uddiyana, there seems to be extra energy and focus to the lift. or perhaps because your so desperate for that breath and you've linked it to your bandhas so clearly there's much clearer focus and coordination and less lost action.
This seemed to come together at the end of my practice this morning and I managed to completely clear the mat for the first time all morning. Given that I should have been tired by this point and perhaps struggling a little I think it definitely helped.
Perhaps this seems a little too aggressive an approach but figure once you have the coordination nailed you'll be able to approach it less forcefully
Sunday, 16 August 2026
Jump Back: Improving lift off
I think I worked out why I was having such a problem with my lift off and not getting the height I wanted/needed. I tended to try and lift straight up, my legs seemed so heavy and almost impossible to lift high enough to jump back through (picture on the left is how I used to approach it. Notice my arms marking a straight line from my hips to my shoulders and even my head with my legs stuck out front).
However in Utpluith (Tolasana in Swenson) I seemed to be getting so much more height. Same thing when I worked on my Lolasana. I noticed that in these two postures my shoulders were further forward counter balancing in lolasana and with my weight more central in Tolasana.
I checked the literature, Swenson has the the straight up lift in his book and I think that's where I got my original approach to the lift from. However if you look at John Scott's book,http://www.ashtanganeworleans.com/Old%20Website/StudentSection/Jump-Back-JS.htm he stresses leaning forward to lift up. This seems to make much more sense, especially for the beginner as the weight of your legs is further back closer to your arms where they are much easier to lift.
This is how I'm doing it at the moment. I'm finding it much easier to lift up allowing me to jump back through but perhaps I'm still not getting my shoulders far enough forward which might explain why I still tend to brush my toe along the mat.
Intermediate: all you need is a manduka mat
I should have waited. Wednesday I did Intermediate. Had done it up to Bakasana several times but never gone through start to finish. I admit to looking down on it a bit, I mean I LOVE primary, It's perfect, such balance. Intermediate seemed like a poor relative a bad book or movie sequel. It didn't seem that strenuous, a mish mash of half hearted jump backs and jump throughs, no flow to it.
How wrong I was! I'm still aching and I never ache from Primary. I sweated so much I was slipping and sliding all over the place, and the Jump backs! How the heck are you supposed to jump out of Matsyendrasana without veering off to the left or right and crashing through your arm or get your leg off your shoulder in time in Eka pada sirasana. Oh and one leg jump backs from Vatyanasasna, do I love THAT idea. Vatyanasana, what is that about anyway and how can you do Titibhasana C without falling over in a fit of giggles...grown yogis are not supposed to giggle.
Anyway I could hardly walk yesterday but have realized my error. Intermediate can not be attempted on any old mat It's the Manduka sequence and come tuesday morning i'll be flying effortlessly through it. My only concern is that my nine drishti's will be replaced by one, the loving gaze to my manduka drishti.
Comparing Screenshot of my Jump back with Sharath, Shelly, Derek, Idoru and Rob.
I've been looking at this screenshot of my Jump back and comparing it with shots from other jump backs on you tube. this is the point where my feet brush the top of the mat. If the mats not sweaty then it will stop me dead, pull up the mat or I'll have to add an extra little hop to get through.
If I look closely I notice that I'm curled up tightly into a ball, my back is rounded and my knees up high and close to my chest. My shoulders are forward of my hips and my legs are crossed at the ankle, the right a little higher up the shin. And are my elbows pointing outwards?
Now if I look at Sharath the posture is completely different. For one thing he looks relaxed, his whole jump back appears almost effortless. This screenshot is of the same moment in the jump back, just before the feet pass the arms and go on through. His feet are higher, obviously, crossed at the ankle but closer to his backside. However his knees aren't as close to his chest as mine. His back is straighter,perhaps because of this and his whole posture less scrunched up
Similar postures from Shelly and Rob Lucas below.
However, if we look at john Scott his knees appear higher and closer to his chest like mine, but again, his back appears longer. If the above four where on a horse we might say they sit tall in the saddle
The final two shots I looked at, Derek and Idoru are in many ways closer to mine in that they appear more rounded, tighter and yet they're clearing the mat completely and I'm not.
One thing I noticed though in all these shots are the feet. They all seem closer to their bottoms at the expense of the knees being closer to the chest and I think this might be where my difficulty lies. I've tried hard to bring my knees up higher and close to my chest and that kind of locks the feet. it's hard to pull them in closer when your focused on your knees. But if you relax your knees a little and drop back slightly it becomes easier to pull the feet in.
So try this. Lift your knees up high to your chest as you lift up with your arms but then relax the knees a little as you pull your feet in closer to your butt which begins the pivoting motion taking your hips back your shoulders forward and hopefully your feet through. This is what I'm working on at the moment, tricky getting the coordination right but think I might be on to something.
That and trying to sit taller in the saddle.
Sharath
Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series DVD w/R. Sharath
John Scott
Yoga - Ashtanga - The Primary Series John Scott
Rob Lucas
Derek Koh
(youtube video seems to have disappeared)
Idoru
September Jump Back on new Manduka mat ( Jump back specific Review )
Have decided to post a new Jump back video in the first week of every month. Should be a good way to judge any progress and gives me something to work towards. I also want to set up a slide show, perhaps at the bottom of the page, with the last six months Jump backs embedded from Youtube. That way anyone visiting this page should be able to find one that comes closest to their own jump back and can see how mine developed from that point.
My Manduka mat arrived yesterday afternoon and the video is taken following this mornings practice, my first Manduka jump back video. Think i'll do a snapshot comparison with last months video later in the week.
As you'll see in the full review, slipperiness is an issue with the Manduka and I had to wipe my hands and the sides of the mat a few times throughout the practice. However, with other mats once the sweat starts seeping into the mat there's not a lot you can do about it but with the Manduka the sweat just sits on the top of the mat and will wipe away. Besides I kinda feel that if you're slipping on your mat then your doing something wrong, in that perhaps you haven't shifted your weight correctly or your stretch is too wide for your current muscle development. That said you do have to be careful with your hands slipping in Jump through but don't have to worry about rubbing and blistering your feet as you pass through allowing you to approach it With more confidence and more able to concentrate on your bandhas or keeping your knees up, feet tucked in etc.
I've also noticed on my other mats that, with my bony backside, it can be a bit hard on my coccyx, same in Navasana, but on the Manduka, because the mat is so much firmer and gives much more support, I didn't feel a thing.
My Manduka mat arrived yesterday afternoon and the video is taken following this mornings practice, my first Manduka jump back video. Think i'll do a snapshot comparison with last months video later in the week.
I'll publish a full review of the mat tomorrow as I'm tending to do Intermediate on Wednesdays and want to see how it holds up. However.......
Manduka mat Jump Back review: Jump back specific.
I already love this mat! My toes still tend to brush the top of the mat in my Jump backs and on my other mats at the beginning of practice this will tend to stop me dead until the the mat becomes a little sweaty. However with the Manduka I went straight back through. As it picked up a little moisture I was just gliding across the top, both jumping back and jumping through allowing me to focus on other elements.As you'll see in the full review, slipperiness is an issue with the Manduka and I had to wipe my hands and the sides of the mat a few times throughout the practice. However, with other mats once the sweat starts seeping into the mat there's not a lot you can do about it but with the Manduka the sweat just sits on the top of the mat and will wipe away. Besides I kinda feel that if you're slipping on your mat then your doing something wrong, in that perhaps you haven't shifted your weight correctly or your stretch is too wide for your current muscle development. That said you do have to be careful with your hands slipping in Jump through but don't have to worry about rubbing and blistering your feet as you pass through allowing you to approach it With more confidence and more able to concentrate on your bandhas or keeping your knees up, feet tucked in etc.
I've also noticed on my other mats that, with my bony backside, it can be a bit hard on my coccyx, same in Navasana, but on the Manduka, because the mat is so much firmer and gives much more support, I didn't feel a thing.