I was asked in a comment to expand on my minimum morning practice, outlined here, where I've reduced the asana as much as possible to allow more time for pranayamama.
This is how I laid it out
Current Morning practice
Asana (about an hour)
Tadasana 10 mins
Surynamaskara
Trikonasana
Utthita hasta padangusthasana
Maha Mudra 5 mins each side
Paschimatanasana 10 mins.
Mayurasana,
Baddha konasana
Baddha padmasana
Sarvangasana (shoulderstand), 5mins.
Shirshasana (headstand), 10 mins.
Savasana
I'm also exploring this later Krishnamacharya approach with the inversions earlier on.
ASANA
10 Minute tadasana sequence
Trikonasana
Utthita hasta padangusthasana
Shoulderstand prep
Shoulderstand 5 minutes
Sirsasana ujjayi pranayama - 24 rounds (2 breaths per minute) 12 minutes 2 minute rest
Shoulderstand ujjayi pranayama - 24 rounds 12 minutes
2 minutes rest
Salabhasana and/or Urdhva Dhanurasana (counterpose)
Paschimottanasana
Purvottanasana
Parighasana
Maha mudra
Badha Konasana
Badha padmasana
Pranayama (80)
,Suryabhedana,
Kapalabhati /Nadishodana,
Vilouma ujjayi shodana
Bhastrika/Sittali
Pratyahara
yonimudra (inner gazing)
trataka (outer gazing)
Concentration/Meditation practice
Loving kindness, effulgence Japa.
Savasana (10 minutes - Ramaswami's chanting)
Focusing on the first approach, it includes the key asana that Krishnamacharya mentions in his Yogasanagalu as ideally being practiced everyday.
Paschimatanasana
Mayurasana,
Baddha padmasana
Sarvangasana (shoulderstand),
Shirshasana (headstand),
Savasana
So what of the extra postures/elements that I've included
Tadasana : Because Ramaswami would always start with this 10 minute shortened version of the On your feet sequence. I've been including it in my practice ever since whether I'm practicing Vinyasa Krama or Ashtanga ( Video at end of post).
Surynamaskara : I still need a couple of these to wake my body up in the morning. I'm currently practicing them Yogasanagalu style, staying longer in each position especially in downward dog
Trikonasana : because I somehow can't imagine a practice without it. I've called it trikonasana but I might include a different triangle posture, (see triangle sequence poster below).
Utthita hasta padangusthasana : because I still hate it and find it more challenging than anything in Advanced A or B, good for me to keep plugging away at it
Maha Mudra : This is like janusirsasana without the forward bend. Ramaswami said that Krishnamacharya recommended an extended time in it daily.
Baddha konasana : because it's my favourite posture and I'm still working on my Kandasana. Nice prep too for the long sits to come in pranayama and meditation.
-----------------------------------
And in practice.......
Now you can practice the above postures has a kind of shortened Ashtanga sequence, not unlike David Swenson's shortened Ashtanga practices at the back of his book. It has much the same framework as Ashtanga Primary series. You could jump through and back from each posture for example.
I tend to practice it in a more Vinyasa Krama way. I've been practicing Vinyasa Krama for a couple of years now and so am perhaps more able to adapt the subroutines.
There's the Tadasana sequence which is pure Vinyasa Krama (video below).
Surynamaskara again, taken slower, similar to the Suryanamaskara with mantra approach.
Trikonasana
Utthita hasta padangusthasana
I practice these as mini 'Triangle' (VK Triangle sequence poster below) and 'On one leg' subroutines
Maha Mudra I practice as the short subroutine in Ramaswami's book (see my subroutine practice shhet below) or just stay for a few minutes each side in Maha mudra , focusing on the breath and including kumbhaka.
I've also shifted this to later as prep for badha konasana.
Paschimottanasana. Again I might do it as a long stay or do some of the different hand/arm variations Ramaswami has in his book, including the twists (see my subroutine practice sheet below). This morning I split it between paschimottanasana and upavista konasana
Mayurasana. Krishnamacharya recommends fifteen minutes daily in this! I'm only doing it for a couple of minutes, 10 breaths. I do it horizontal, like a plank, for the first five breaths as Krishnamacharya has it but then take the legs up like a floating shalabasana as a counter for the long paschimottanasana.
Badha Konasana. Here I just work at getting deeper into the posture and focusing on the breath. I include deep kumbhaka (breath retention) after the inhalation here.
Badha padmasana. There are a couple of Vinyasa Krama variations of this, as well as the more familiar forward bend I also bend to both the right and left side (see subroutine practice sheet below).
Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) : I do a quick prep for this that Ramaswami recommends in his book, tatkamudra, Apanasana, Urdwaprasaritapadahastasana and dwipadapitam. When I shoulder stand I'll do some simple vinyasas ( see the second half of the Supine sequence poster below for options). The variation options are similar to headstand so I'll split the variations between the two inversions.
Ramaswami recommends a counterpose here, I'll tend to do a shalabhasana or urdhva dhanurasana
Shirshasana (headstand), Five minutes just focused on the breathing, the other five practicing Vinyasas, something I didn't cover in the shoulder stand. Viparita dandasana is a favourite here (see inversion sequence poster below).
There are several options there for each posture that I include in my minimum practice I most likely wouldn't include all of them but change it around a bit. This morning for example, I wanted to spend more time on baddha konasana so included less variations in baddha padmasana. The main thing for me at the moment is to keep it down to an hour so if I want to spend longer on one posture/mini subroutine then something else gets trimmed back which could then get made up for the following day
Here are some practice sheets from my practice book that show some of the Vinyasa Krama options for the above postures. These are a mixture of subroutine practice sheets and Sequence posters.
Re getting in and out of the postures. I tend to jump in and out subroutine by subroutine, transitioning back to standing, rather than after each posture.
Re getting in and out of the postures. I tend to jump in and out subroutine by subroutine, transitioning back to standing, rather than after each posture.
10 Minute tadasana sequence
Triangle options
Maha mudra
paschimottanasana options
badha padmasana options
Shoulderstand options
Headstand options
My vinyasa krama practice book can be downloaded for free here in pdf
or on Kindle Here for a couple of dollars. I don't think it works well on Kindle itself but works well enough on the Kindle app on iPad with the larger screen.
3 comments:
This was quite a breakdown of your routine. Sadly, while I'm on orders for the military until next weekend I only have about an hour and a half during lunch to get both my yoga practice in and whip up a smoothie for lunch. I've done well, so far, to keep up with my Ashtanga practice, but your asana practice seems interesting. Makes me wish I had longer during my lunch to experiment with some things. Shoulder stand and headstand are out for the count until I'm finished with my pregnancy but the others seem doable.
I may incorporate a bit of pranayama in my practice today though. I'll snag ten extra minutes and then beg for forgiveness later. :) Thanks for putting this information up on your site. I also look forward to going over your book as soon as my senior seminar is over this month!
Brianna
I think you mentioned on the other comment that you've been practicing Ashtanga just under a year Brianna. Makes sense to stick with it until you feel your practice is settled and comfortably established before looking too closely at other approaches, can get confusing. That said once your practice feels grounded I think Vinyasa Krama can complement Ashtanga , allows you to adapt/modify your practice. fit it to you rather than you to it.
Do you have David Swenson's book Ashtanga Yoga. It's excellent as well as covering both primary and 2nd series it has simplified variations of every posture to help in working towards them, handy if you don;t have a teacher. At the back it has some shorter versions of Primary, 10 minute, 30 minute and 40 minute versions of the series, ideal if your having to practice in your lunch hour. I practiced his 40 minute version for about six months.
Yes, I have his book as well as Gregor Maehle's book as well. I'm trying to get through Yoga Mala right now along with school and military training. It's a slow but steady process.
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