Lino Miele's book finally arrived from Yogamatters via Amazon, or is that the other way around. Turned out they didn't have any in stock and had to wait for the next delivery. Bit annoyed because they didn't bother to tell me what was going on. But....may Yogamatters be happy, may Yogamatters be safe etc....
Wasn't able to find any previews of the book, no sample pages on Amazon. And to be honest had I had a look inside it I probably wouldn't have bought it. iIwas expecting something along the lines of Swenson's book but from Lino's perspective on Ashtanga. That said, while I wouldn't have bought it myself I would have loved to have received it as a present. It's nicely bound and laid out and I have and will use it.
So what do you get. Well a nicely bound and produced hardback. It's pretty much just first and second series vinyasa. Each page has a picture of Sharath, not Lino, in an Asana. Beneath that the supposed benefits (never really convinced by all that). On the opposite page is the point of the book, the corresponding vinyasa count.
IN 1 EKAM Hands up
EX 2 DVE Uttanasana
and so on. At the end of the book there's a couple of pages on Pranyama and the Chakras. Oh and at the beginning of each sequence you have the whole sequence laid out in John Scott's cool line drawings.
I've found it useful a few times to double check the breathing sequence and it's lay out makes that quick and easy. If you don't have Lino's DVD I'd recommend spending your money on that instead. But if you have loved one who practices Ashtanga and they don't have it, well next birthday or Christmas .......
2 comments:
I'm so inspired by your blog. I've been practicing Ashtanga for 7 or 8 yrs but only once a week. I admire your dedication and commitment. I'm hoping your blog will inspire me to be more diligent about my own practice, as I would like to find the time to practice every day.
Can I ask...what time of day do you practice? Also- one other question- are you this ambitious with all of your hobbies, or was it something in particular about Ashtanga that incited such diligence?
Thanks :)
Hi Lady. Thanks for your comment. Being told you inspire someone is itself inspiring.Inspires me to keep up this blog and to get on the mat these cold winter days too.
Timing is everything. I was lucky to find Ashtanga at a time when I didn't have a job that was taking over my life. Also no kids. I lived 5 mins away from work and started at 9:30 so I had plenty of time in the mornings to practice. I used to do David Swensons 30 min and then his 40 min short form practice (find it in his excellent book if you dont have it already). Sharaths Primary video goes quite fast and i found i could do the whole practice in an hour, that was a big step forward.) recently i moved further from work and have some other commitments that make it hard to practice in the morning. My practice was getting disrupted so i shifted it to after work. I get in at 6pm crank up the heating and practice from 6:30 till 8pm. I'll still often do Sury A and B in the morning just to get my body started.
I guess I've always thrown myself into things. In Japan, when i was teaching, I used to go down to the river and practice playing my Saxophone under the bridge every morning, rain snow or shine.
But there is something special about Ashtanga. You can get wrapped up in so many different aspects, whether it's individual asanas you struggle with or the meditation aspect, the jump back of course or just the breath and that addictive rhythm.
Good luck with building up your pracice. I really think the David Swenson book and his short forms are a good idea. He has a short form DVD (15, 30 and 40mins) as well. Do you practice the full Primary your one day a week and is it at a Shala or at home? Try short form three days a week and see how that goes. you can mail me at grimmly2001@yahoo.co.uk
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