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| Durvasana |
A series of posts exploring the the 'Ashtanga Rishi Series' mentioned at the end of Nancy Gilgoff's Article (see link below) and outlined in a reply by David Willams on his forum below ( the headings in block capitals are mine.
I'll be starting each of these posts with this same introduction/reminder of the the context.
'Originally there were five series: Primary, Intermediate, Advanced A, Advanced B, and the fifth was the “rishi” series'.
Ashtanga Rishi Approach
'...Doing a practice of 10 postures for up to 50 breaths is a method of preparing for "advanced series" after one has learned 1st and 2nd. It can be done once or twice a week. One does the "salutations" and then starts going thru the series, holding each posture for as long as comfortably possible. Notice which postures could be held for 50 breaths. The next time you practice this way, the postures which you could hold for 50 are omitted and new ones are added at the end. One gradually works thru the series, dropping and adding asanas, still doing 10 asanas per session. I have gone all the way thru 1st and 2nd this way several times over the years and have found it beneficial.
Ashtanga Rishi Series
'Then, once one has mastered all of the asanas, one can practice "the rishi series", the most advanced practice. One does the 10 postures that one intuits will be the most beneficial and appropriate for that day, holding each posture for up to 50 comfortable breaths'.
The Ashtanga Rishi approach, Fourth Day
Yesterday I stopped at Badha konasana
FourthDay
Sury A x3 / Sury B x3
Paschimottanasana (50 breaths). Included Paschi to warm up the hamstrings, didn't want to go straight into konasana
Upavishta konasana A (50 breaths). Familiar from Vinyasa Krama where we do long stays but with less prep here it took 25 breaths before my shoulders dropped to the mat.
Upavishta konasana B (50 breaths). Have had trouble with my coccyx in the past so put a folded equal towel underneath. Toes feel a bit strained halfway through, stretching up through the heels helped
Supta konasana (50 breaths). Again, familiar from Vinyasa Krama, drawing the belly in, the inhalation shorter than the exhalation, comfortable.
Supta hasta padangustasana (25 breaths each side). I did these 25 breaths on each side,in this and Supta Parsvahita below, in the usual order. SHP is the tricky one as there's a strain on the neck, really need to engage the bandhas and stretch on down through the trailing leg to take the pressure off.
Supta Parsvahita (25 breaths on each side). See above
Ubbaya padangusthasana/Urdhava mukha paschimottanasana (50 breaths, 25 in each changing hand position). Again an extra towel beneath to protect my coccyx as there is a bit of waving back and forth as you try to keep the balance for such a long time. Changed hand position after 25 breaths.
Supta Bandhasana variation ( 25 breaths) This seemed insane to even consider such a long stay but I remembered a vinyasa krama variation where the elbows are on the floor and hands on the thighs so less pressure on the neck, 25 seemed plenty.
Sarvangasana (50 breaths).
Ushtrasana (25 breaths ). As a counterpose to the shoulder stand.
Sirsasana (50 breaths).
Nice practice, not as tough as the section of Primary I practiced last night. Was thinking how useful Vinyasa krama is for the prep poses in the subroutines these postures appear, especially as they are taken out of the context of the full primary series.
Tomorrow it's on to the 2nd series, Pasasana to Dhanurasana, pasasana is the one I'm worried about.
Re the Breath
I can see the arguments for simplifying the breath from Krishnamacharya's Ujayii of the Yoga Makaranda to the 'medium' breath with sound of Ashtanga. It seems to make sense for the series for the particular style of Ashtanga but I wonder with regard to the Rishi series. This is supposed to be an advanced practice and without the jumping about perhaps there's no need to simplify the breath. I wouldn't like to do the long ujaii breaths in every posture perhaps but there are some, upavishta konasana to name just one from this morning, where the more sophisticated breathing patterns can be explored, that's how I learned it in Vinyasa krama.
Ramaswami posted this on FB this morning
'VINYASAKRAMA ASANA BREATHING: In Vinyasakrama asana practice, breath synchronization with slow movements is an essential element. One would start the movement with the beginning of inhalation or exhalation and complete the movement with the completion of that breathing phase. The time taken in actual practice may be between 5 to 10 or 12 seconds depending on one's capacity and control. If it goes below 5 seconds one would stop the practice and rest to regain the vinyasa krama acceptable breath. My Guru, Sri T Krishnamacharya would say 'breathe with hissing sound '(a la cobra, refer to ananta samapatti in YS) or 'with a mild rubbing sensation in the throat'--. Some hints about breathing in asanas as per vinyasa krama will be discussed in my Teacher Training program in July/Aug 2012 at LMU.
http://registration.xenegrade.com/lmuextension/courseDisplay.cfm?schID=1430'
I'm reminded too of this from Ramaswami and an advanced Vinyasa Krama approach to the long stays in postures. It's a different approach from the Ashtanga Rishi series, In Rishi we're aiming to stay for more breaths (Fifty) but in the VK approach below the idea is to stay for some length of time but to take perhaps a fifth of the breaths, slowing them right down.
'When one is able to stay in the posture (utkatasana) for three to six breaths, then one should slowly increase the time to complete a stipulated number of breaths. Thereafter, one should remain in the posture for a predetermined number of breaths chosen by the practitioner or teacher, or for a fixed period, say three to five minutes. Then one's practice should be aimed at reducing the number of breaths while remaining in the posture for the same duration. for instance, one may take a total of twenty breaths while in the posture. Later on, it may be possible to remain in the posture steadily and comfortably (sthira and sukha) for five minutes with perhaps only ten breaths. This is one method for attaining asana siddhi (perfection in posture) that one can test of oneself. Having achieved this level of comfort in the posture, one can then introduce the band has, which will increase the time taken for each breath'.
Ramaswami Yoga for the Three Stages of Life P 127
Re the Breath
I can see the arguments for simplifying the breath from Krishnamacharya's Ujayii of the Yoga Makaranda to the 'medium' breath with sound of Ashtanga. It seems to make sense for the series for the particular style of Ashtanga but I wonder with regard to the Rishi series. This is supposed to be an advanced practice and without the jumping about perhaps there's no need to simplify the breath. I wouldn't like to do the long ujaii breaths in every posture perhaps but there are some, upavishta konasana to name just one from this morning, where the more sophisticated breathing patterns can be explored, that's how I learned it in Vinyasa krama.
Ramaswami posted this on FB this morning
'VINYASAKRAMA ASANA BREATHING: In Vinyasakrama asana practice, breath synchronization with slow movements is an essential element. One would start the movement with the beginning of inhalation or exhalation and complete the movement with the completion of that breathing phase. The time taken in actual practice may be between 5 to 10 or 12 seconds depending on one's capacity and control. If it goes below 5 seconds one would stop the practice and rest to regain the vinyasa krama acceptable breath. My Guru, Sri T Krishnamacharya would say 'breathe with hissing sound '(a la cobra, refer to ananta samapatti in YS) or 'with a mild rubbing sensation in the throat'--. Some hints about breathing in asanas as per vinyasa krama will be discussed in my Teacher Training program in July/Aug 2012 at LMU.
http://registration.xenegrade.com/lmuextension/courseDisplay.cfm?schID=1430'
I'm reminded too of this from Ramaswami and an advanced Vinyasa Krama approach to the long stays in postures. It's a different approach from the Ashtanga Rishi series, In Rishi we're aiming to stay for more breaths (Fifty) but in the VK approach below the idea is to stay for some length of time but to take perhaps a fifth of the breaths, slowing them right down.
'When one is able to stay in the posture (utkatasana) for three to six breaths, then one should slowly increase the time to complete a stipulated number of breaths. Thereafter, one should remain in the posture for a predetermined number of breaths chosen by the practitioner or teacher, or for a fixed period, say three to five minutes. Then one's practice should be aimed at reducing the number of breaths while remaining in the posture for the same duration. for instance, one may take a total of twenty breaths while in the posture. Later on, it may be possible to remain in the posture steadily and comfortably (sthira and sukha) for five minutes with perhaps only ten breaths. This is one method for attaining asana siddhi (perfection in posture) that one can test of oneself. Having achieved this level of comfort in the posture, one can then introduce the band has, which will increase the time taken for each breath'.
Ramaswami Yoga for the Three Stages of Life P 127
Ashtanga Rishi Blog post series
Ashtanga Rishi Approach, first day Paschimottanasana to Janu sirsasana A
Ashtanga Rishi Approach, second day Janu Sirsasana B to Navasana
Ashtanga Rishi Approach, third day Bhuja pindasana to badha konasana
Ashtanga Rishi Approach, fourth day Upavishta konasana to Supta bandhasana
Ashtanga Rishi Approach, fifth day Pasasana to Kapotasana
Ashtanga Rishi Approach, sixth day Supta vajrasana to Ardha Matsyendrasana
Ashtanga Rishi Approach, Seventh Day Eka pada sirsasana to Tittibhasana C
Ashtanga Rishi Approach, Eighth day to seven headstands
Rishi series made from asana named after Rishi An alternative take on the Rishi series
See also Srivatsa Ramaswami's December 2012 newsletter for more on the Rishis
5 comments:
I find this fascinating and I'm tempted to practice rishi series working through primary.
Did you ever find out if there was truth behind any earlier comment about a book stating that holding a pose longer than 12 min will stretch ligaments, tendons etc...?
Also, do you think pranayama practice in ashtanga was individual to the student or was it a set sequence? I can't find much on how Guruji taught it, but I believe it isn't taught until after the third series.
I think manju jois teaches chanting and pranayama on his workshops. Maybe I'm wrong.
DTW, Gregor Maehle does discuss muscle stretching in his intro book, which I highly recommend reading, a better discussion can be found in Mel Robin's highly recommended book: A Physiological Handbook for Teachers of Yogasana. Among his long and detailed discussion, Robin suggests "that spending a prolonged time in the yogasanas works both to disarm the muscle spindles and also allows viscous flow of the connective tissue to occur, again leading to an extended muscle in the long term." This discussion can be found on page 224 of his book. Highly recommended reading for any yogi, I say. Best!
dtw, you're in luck. You can read the full content of Robin's discussion here on Google Books. You'll have to scroll down and find page 224 in the scanned document:
http://books.google.com/books?id=xyJEDt9LrGsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=PHYSIOLOGICAL+HANDBOOK+FOR+TEACHERS&hl=en&sa=X&ei=mt8hT8vrKcHliAKV_pHDBw&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=PHYSIOLOGICAL%20HANDBOOK%20FOR%20TEACHERS&f=false
Thanks. I've been thinking that longer times in certain poses might help my quest with eka pada sirsasana left side, it feels like a spring is fitted to my left hip.
I've heard similar things about the stretching ligament thing, don't know to what extent that's tru i have Paul Gilley's DVD somewhere. Will have a look at the book Anon links too, thanks for that. I do know that doing the kurmasana's were getting easier as i went along yesterday with those long stays. Rishi is a nice practice and of course I'm familier with the long stays from Vinyasa Krama.
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