Practicing Yoga while carrying a little extra weight

I remember a picture in Kausthub Desikachar's The Yoga of a Yogi, which showed Krishnamacharya teaching a rather large gentlemen. In the picture the student appears to be struggling to even raise his legs, the caption to the picture on page 69 reads

"Krishnamacharya teaching yoga as cikitsa (therapy) to one of his students".

Yoga of the Yogi is, as it happens, is one of my least favourite books on Krishnamacharya, it seems a little too concerned with positioning Kausthub as the heir apparent for my tastes.

I prefer TKV Desikachar's Health Healing and Beyond

...and the excellent Krishnamacharya His life and teaching by AG Mohan

However, one still waits in hope for the first objective and scholarly biography of Krishnamacharya, .

But back to that picture. Oscar just sent me a link to a slideshow video on Youtube (Thank you Oscar) that includes more pictures of the the same student and Krishnamacharya. it seems the student knew his way around a yoga mat, that's a fine lotus he has there, and perhaps he wasn't struggling to raise his legs after all, check out his headstand, I like his practice.

 As the saying goes...

Anyone can practice yoga, except the lazy, the lazy can't practice Yoga

Actually I don't know if I agree with that completely, practice can develop discipline, the will is like a muscle, but then of course once you develop that discipline perhaps you're no longer considered lazy, in which case it still follows.

STOP PRESS:  It appears , according to the Daily Mail that somebody has left beside the Library computer, that Camila, future Queen of England ( have we said she can be Queen yet?) practices Yoga.

Now if you're carrying a lot of extra weight you might not want to begin with a full on Ashtanga practice but a Vinyasa Vrama practice in the style of Krishnamacharya's later teaching might be a good place to start as well as perhaps preparing you for a more vigorous practice later, if that's something that takes your fancy.

It should also be pointed out that Krishnamacharya suggested an  alternative approach to the breath which may be more suited to somebody overweight, switching around the inhalation and exhalation in certain postures, so from Brahmana to Langhana.

Here's a nice story from TKV Desikachar

Health Healing and Beyond p.127 TKV Desikachar 

from Yoga beneath the surface p.70 Srivatsa Ramaswami and David Hurwitz

"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...." 
from Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda p28

from Yoga for the Three stages of Life Srivatsa Ramaswami

 Some examples of postures in which the breathing pattern may be switched

Makrasana

from The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga p.138. Srivatsa Ramaswami

Cobra pose

from The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga. Srivatsa Ramaswami

Viparita Salabhasana

from The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga p.143 Srivatsa Ramaswami

Dwipadapitam (desk pose)

from The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga p.109 Srivatsa Ramaswami

 Salabhasana (locust pose)

from The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga p.142 Srivatsa Ramaswami

Throughout his Complete book of Vinyasa Yoga, Ramaswami gives indications where Langhna breathing may be an option to consider if you are attempting a posture while significantly overweight.

As it happened, I myself carried a little extra weight when I started practice in , what 2007, not knowing any better I pretty much threw myself straight into Ashtanga.

Here I am back then in one of M's favourite pictures.

And here's a link to some videos from when I first started practice 

http://youtu.be/jyXzayu2wZ0

The video Oscar sent me also has a nice middle section where some old asana drawings are cut in with I'm guessing, one of Krishnamacharya's sons practicing the same asana.

And here's the video which also has some nice chanting