It struck me a moment ago that there is perhaps a view, occasionally, of the yoga blogger as skipping around, hopped-up on the yoga cool aid or stomping about, rabid, consumed by angst and rage, envy and petty jealousies, a husk of a Yogi(ni) eaten up by bitterness and malice, all twisted out of shape. OK I exaggerate, nobody thinks we're that bad...do they? And not actually skipping or stomping around of course, because all we do all day is sit at our computers, plinking and plonking out our endless homages and/or diatribes ( because we switch seamlessly from one to the other). Blogging, (over)analysing our/the practice, it's all we do all day obviously.
Not quite. wish I could say we were that dedicated to the job .
So here's the day of one Yoga blogger, I've been thinking of doing one on this for a while, now seems as good a time as any.
I wake up a little before my alarm at 5AM...
I make my beloved her lunch, this morning there was a decision to make between the Potatas Praves I made last night, that she missed out on by coming home so late, or the Smoked Salmon I bought especially, a change from cheese, cheese and more cheese. I decide to go with the Salmon. I wrap it in cling film and then slide it into two cut off corners from a Pizza Express box for protection then tie a ribbon around, ( the ribbon from last Christmas' Pandoro). She also has a couple of stem ginger cookies wrapped individually in foil, so she can leave one for later, a small pot of grapes and a clementine.
This is one of my favourite time of the day.
I make an Nespresso, this morning it was a vivalto lungo, the blue one, and then have a quick look around the web while I sip my coffee. I check the BBC news website, go over to FB and have a quick look at some of the status updates, perhaps 'like' a couple that catch my eye and wish somebody a Happy Birthday....always tricky when you have a couple of people with birthdays the same day, you don't want to say the exact same thing twice but also don't want one to sound nicer than the other, tricky. I'll have a quick look at my YouTube Subscription page to see if anything interesting has come up to watch later (see below).
This one on headstands came in last night form Kino, the treasured patron saint of the Home Ashtangi's. I have a friend struggling with headstand, this one's for her.
I'll have a look at my blog list, usually I'll just glance at a couple of posts with the aim of coming back later to read them more carefully at another time. Something might provoke an idea for a blog post, connecting perhaps with something I've been meaning to bring up for a while, I'll sketch a couple of lines for the post or just a title and save it for later.
Some suggest that you shouldn't go online before practice, never really found it a problem. Practice is practice and the monkey mind is no different if I do or if I don't. I've been practicing long enough now to be able to mostly switch it off and get on with practice. If something comes up I'll use the Mindfullness trick, acknowledge it and mentally put it in the to think about later tray.
And besides I have osteoarthritus, I need a little while for my back to loosen up, someday's it takes longer than others.
So I'm on the mat usually around 5:30, maybe 5:45. Practice has tended to be, for the last three years or so anyway and whichever way I cut It, either a Vinyasa Krama approach to Ashtanga or an Ashtanga approach to Vinyasa Krama. There tends to be an Ashtanga shape to the practice with Standing series/Main Sequence/Finishing but I tend to bring out the Vinyasa Krama sequence from a posture of the Ashtanga series. So that first section of Primary up to Mari D gets the VK Asymmetric treatment. If I want to practice Seated then those seated Ashtanga postures from Primary get a VK overhaul. The first half or third of 2nd series is pretty much Vinyasa Krama Bow and Meditative sequence anyway, I just add in the extra postures. these days my breathing is so slow (8 sec inhalation/8 sec exhalation with kumbhaka's ) that I can only do about a third of an Ashtanga series or part of a VK sequence.
Around 7AM I'm probably starting on the finishing sequence, there are long, ten minute, head and shoulder stands in the Vinyasa Krama approach. Around 7:30/7:45 I'm on to Pranayama, M. might pop in and sit next to me for a moment in frount of the Halogen heater while I breathe, before heading off to work. I'll finish off with Pratyahara and some Japa mantra meditation. Either after asana or meditation I'll lay down in savasana for ten minutes and listen to a chant of Ramaswami's from the LMU course that I particularly like...I usually fall asleep for a couple of minutes.
Then (around 8:15/8:30) I'll either go back to the computer to write (or half write ) a post or read and comment on somebody else's post that I found interesting or stay in the home shala and chant for a little from the sutras or some of the other chants that Ramaswami gave us. Still hate the thought of chanting in public but quite like it at home when there's nobody in the house.
If I post it'll usually come out in around ten minutes (been doing this a long time now, can knock them out pretty quick, although this has been one of the longer ones, spent forty minutes on this), often it's picking up one of the posts I'd sketched out or worked on an and saved or perhaps somebodies comment provided a hook for a post I'd had in mind (if a long response to a comment or a blog post comes out of your comment it's really nothing personal but something I've been mulling over for a while, I'm thinking out loud). I tend to spend longer looking for a picture on a Google image search than I do writing a post ( I know, it shows). I usually have to rush out the post because I need to get ready for work. I read it through quickly and hit 'POST' with the aim of coming back to it at lunchtime in the library to edit.
I don't eat Breakfast, Lunch, or Snack during the day, just a small meal in the evening around 7:30/8.00, although I do grab a glass of juice in the morning before I head out the door.
I tend to manage a quick shower and get dressed and ready in ten minutes flat, heading off on the bike at ten past nine ( takes 10-15 minutes to cycle to work).
I'm a Woodwind Repairer in a medium size workshop at a Music shop that specialises in Woodwind and Brass Musical Instruments, there are usually three of us in at one time. We'll chat a little throughout the day but most of the time we're wrapped up with out own repairs. I have a particular interest in vintage saxophones so always try to grab those especially the vintage overhauls.
I have little notes stuck up on my pad draws in frount of me of chants, at the moment I'm trying to learn by heart the 12 suryanamaskara mantras.
We have customers who come in for emergency on the spot repairs but mostly I can quietly get on with my repair. It allows me to mentally chant to myself or I might set targets of half hour ujjayi pranayama with bandhas or Japa mantra while cleaning or padding at different times throughout the day. Often I'm having to work out how damage happened to an instrument in the first place, what it is that stoops it from working, strikes me as a similar process to working out why one's not getting into a posture.
I used to be a teacher, the change in career was supposed to leave my mind untaxed to allow me to study in the evenings but concentrating on padding fries my brain more than teaching ever did ( it was also to allow me to work and play with vintage Saxophones all day).
Bit worried this morning, shoved a large, rusty, tenor sax needle spring half an inch into my finger yesterday. Didn't bleed much once I wiggled it off the spring but it's puffed up a little this morning and is going to be painful to practice on, no jump back for me today.
Lunchbreak I tend to go to the library, commenting is difficult on the library computer for some reason but I'll tend to tidy up one of my posts and try to answer any of the comment that had come in. I tend to think of that half an hour in the library as blog gardening, taking care of business. I've been blogging for five years now, sometimes it does feel like a business (unpaid), a second job.
I leave work at 5:30, pick up some groceries on the way home and am usually back on the mat at 6pm for a short practice, some more pranayama and a little Japa. In the beginning I used to use this slot for working on postures that I was struggling with, thought of it as workshop time. Jump back's, Kapo, Karandavasana, tic tac etc. all worked out here. Later ( when I stopped giving a damn about new postures) I'd split my day between an Ashtanga and a Vinyasa Krama practice. Currently as my practice is a kind of Ashtanga Vinyasa Krama, in the evening I'm exploring a little Iyengar alignment with John Schumacher audio classes or practicing long Tikonasana's as I try to make sense of Prashant Iyengar's 'Alpha and Omega of Trikonasana' book.
Between 7 and 7:30 I'll tend to do some more blog gardening, perhaps put put down in sketch form some ideas for post, a little research. Currently I'm writing out an interview with Krishnamacharya from the old out of print biography.
7:30 I'm in the bath with my iPad, it's my favourite place to read. Just started Hugo's Les Miserables, I watched the musical/movie last week ( not really a fan of musicals ...except Fiddler on the Roof obviously) but it weas OK and reminded me of how much I loved the book as a kid, those candlesticks, so decided to reread it. Reading it on the ipad is OK but bought the penguin classic anyway, still prefer a good sized paperback, especially in the bath.
I'll make dinner at eight. Last night was Patatas Bravas (Thank You Enrique for the correct spelling), Roasted potato wedges with a thick, spicy smoked paprika tomato sauce, but I scoffed a bunch of the potatoes with salt and oregano before I'd finished making it. I only eat once a day now so try to make it nutritious, include an avocado perhaps, an egg... I don't know, I should probably make more of an effort to eat better (Potatas Praves is a little too rajistic no?.
At 8:30 I go up to the Chinchilla's room, in Winter all he wants to do is sit between my ankles under a blanket for two hours while I read. At the moment I'm doing a close reading of Mala Srivatsan's out of print biography of Krishnamacharya and making notes for future posts, to share as much of the good stuff as I can on the blog. I'm also reading the Taittiriya Upanishad with Sankara's commentary again on my iPad.
M. gets home around 10pm and we get to chat for a bit, usually with Nietzsche ( chinchilla) still under the blanket. 10:30 I put both him and myself to bed, reading a couple of pages of Jung's Red Book before falling asleep.
And that's my day.
Tuesday is different, day off so a later, longer practice - currently one of the long Vinyasa Krama sequences in full. Nice long pranayama, 80 rounds and a decent sit.
I'm studying along with AG Mohan's online yoga Sutra course with a couple of other YS commentaries, and getting stuck into the new (and better, more of his magic coming through) translation of Heidegger's Contributions to Philosophy, a few chores around the house, takes up much of the day.
I also found out that our local cinema is only five quid on a Tuesday, £3:75 with my loyalty card, so have started going to watch something, last week Les Mis', today it'll be Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty.
I try to cook something decent for M. on a Tuesday
What else.... Sunday, that'll be mine and M.'s day, you don't want to know about that although often we'll practice together or I'll give her a kind of Vinyasa Krama lesson, she never took to Ashtanga. Sunday is the one day I'll eat breakfast, lunch AND Dinner (often Japanese or Korean).
We have the chance to watch something together Sunday's, recently it's been the original version of The Killing, we started with the 3rd series, then the 2nd and now were on the 1st, working backwards. This weekend we did go and watch the Bolshoi's La Bayadere on the live feed from Moscow ( who knew watching ballet at the cinema rather than in the theatre could be SO good), Svetlana Zakharova just sublime.
And that's my day, my week, simple and dull perhaps looking at it like this and yet it feels ....rich.
Previous posts
5% theory, 95% practice ?
What did Krishnamacharya study with his Guru in Tibet- Yogacarya Krishnamacharya - The Purnacarya. Edited by Mala Srivatsan
What is Ashtanga? What is a Mysore Room?
Best Practice Dream Ever - My Mysore Room
Krishnamacharya on Samyama in Yogasanagalua and Yoga makaranda ( part II) Chakras, Jivatma, Paramata etc
Not quite. wish I could say we were that dedicated to the job .
So here's the day of one Yoga blogger, I've been thinking of doing one on this for a while, now seems as good a time as any.
I wake up a little before my alarm at 5AM...
I make my beloved her lunch, this morning there was a decision to make between the Potatas Praves I made last night, that she missed out on by coming home so late, or the Smoked Salmon I bought especially, a change from cheese, cheese and more cheese. I decide to go with the Salmon. I wrap it in cling film and then slide it into two cut off corners from a Pizza Express box for protection then tie a ribbon around, ( the ribbon from last Christmas' Pandoro). She also has a couple of stem ginger cookies wrapped individually in foil, so she can leave one for later, a small pot of grapes and a clementine.
This is one of my favourite time of the day.
I make an Nespresso, this morning it was a vivalto lungo, the blue one, and then have a quick look around the web while I sip my coffee. I check the BBC news website, go over to FB and have a quick look at some of the status updates, perhaps 'like' a couple that catch my eye and wish somebody a Happy Birthday....always tricky when you have a couple of people with birthdays the same day, you don't want to say the exact same thing twice but also don't want one to sound nicer than the other, tricky. I'll have a quick look at my YouTube Subscription page to see if anything interesting has come up to watch later (see below).
This one on headstands came in last night form Kino, the treasured patron saint of the Home Ashtangi's. I have a friend struggling with headstand, this one's for her.
 |
| Example of possible future blog post, some broad outlines sketched, may or may not turn into something |
And besides I have osteoarthritus, I need a little while for my back to loosen up, someday's it takes longer than others.
So I'm on the mat usually around 5:30, maybe 5:45. Practice has tended to be, for the last three years or so anyway and whichever way I cut It, either a Vinyasa Krama approach to Ashtanga or an Ashtanga approach to Vinyasa Krama. There tends to be an Ashtanga shape to the practice with Standing series/Main Sequence/Finishing but I tend to bring out the Vinyasa Krama sequence from a posture of the Ashtanga series. So that first section of Primary up to Mari D gets the VK Asymmetric treatment. If I want to practice Seated then those seated Ashtanga postures from Primary get a VK overhaul. The first half or third of 2nd series is pretty much Vinyasa Krama Bow and Meditative sequence anyway, I just add in the extra postures. these days my breathing is so slow (8 sec inhalation/8 sec exhalation with kumbhaka's ) that I can only do about a third of an Ashtanga series or part of a VK sequence.
 |
| Winter Runway- See SBP Runway project |
Then (around 8:15/8:30) I'll either go back to the computer to write (or half write ) a post or read and comment on somebody else's post that I found interesting or stay in the home shala and chant for a little from the sutras or some of the other chants that Ramaswami gave us. Still hate the thought of chanting in public but quite like it at home when there's nobody in the house.
If I post it'll usually come out in around ten minutes (been doing this a long time now, can knock them out pretty quick, although this has been one of the longer ones, spent forty minutes on this), often it's picking up one of the posts I'd sketched out or worked on an and saved or perhaps somebodies comment provided a hook for a post I'd had in mind (if a long response to a comment or a blog post comes out of your comment it's really nothing personal but something I've been mulling over for a while, I'm thinking out loud). I tend to spend longer looking for a picture on a Google image search than I do writing a post ( I know, it shows). I usually have to rush out the post because I need to get ready for work. I read it through quickly and hit 'POST' with the aim of coming back to it at lunchtime in the library to edit.
I don't eat Breakfast, Lunch, or Snack during the day, just a small meal in the evening around 7:30/8.00, although I do grab a glass of juice in the morning before I head out the door.
I tend to manage a quick shower and get dressed and ready in ten minutes flat, heading off on the bike at ten past nine ( takes 10-15 minutes to cycle to work).
I'm a Woodwind Repairer in a medium size workshop at a Music shop that specialises in Woodwind and Brass Musical Instruments, there are usually three of us in at one time. We'll chat a little throughout the day but most of the time we're wrapped up with out own repairs. I have a particular interest in vintage saxophones so always try to grab those especially the vintage overhauls.
I have little notes stuck up on my pad draws in frount of me of chants, at the moment I'm trying to learn by heart the 12 suryanamaskara mantras.
We have customers who come in for emergency on the spot repairs but mostly I can quietly get on with my repair. It allows me to mentally chant to myself or I might set targets of half hour ujjayi pranayama with bandhas or Japa mantra while cleaning or padding at different times throughout the day. Often I'm having to work out how damage happened to an instrument in the first place, what it is that stoops it from working, strikes me as a similar process to working out why one's not getting into a posture.
I used to be a teacher, the change in career was supposed to leave my mind untaxed to allow me to study in the evenings but concentrating on padding fries my brain more than teaching ever did ( it was also to allow me to work and play with vintage Saxophones all day).
Bit worried this morning, shoved a large, rusty, tenor sax needle spring half an inch into my finger yesterday. Didn't bleed much once I wiggled it off the spring but it's puffed up a little this morning and is going to be painful to practice on, no jump back for me today.
 |
| Conn 26 m check out the springs |
Lunchbreak I tend to go to the library, commenting is difficult on the library computer for some reason but I'll tend to tidy up one of my posts and try to answer any of the comment that had come in. I tend to think of that half an hour in the library as blog gardening, taking care of business. I've been blogging for five years now, sometimes it does feel like a business (unpaid), a second job.
I leave work at 5:30, pick up some groceries on the way home and am usually back on the mat at 6pm for a short practice, some more pranayama and a little Japa. In the beginning I used to use this slot for working on postures that I was struggling with, thought of it as workshop time. Jump back's, Kapo, Karandavasana, tic tac etc. all worked out here. Later ( when I stopped giving a damn about new postures) I'd split my day between an Ashtanga and a Vinyasa Krama practice. Currently as my practice is a kind of Ashtanga Vinyasa Krama, in the evening I'm exploring a little Iyengar alignment with John Schumacher audio classes or practicing long Tikonasana's as I try to make sense of Prashant Iyengar's 'Alpha and Omega of Trikonasana' book.
Between 7 and 7:30 I'll tend to do some more blog gardening, perhaps put put down in sketch form some ideas for post, a little research. Currently I'm writing out an interview with Krishnamacharya from the old out of print biography.
 |
| Krishnamacharya in Mysore |
 |
| Interview with Krishnamacharya |
7:30 I'm in the bath with my iPad, it's my favourite place to read. Just started Hugo's Les Miserables, I watched the musical/movie last week ( not really a fan of musicals ...except Fiddler on the Roof obviously) but it weas OK and reminded me of how much I loved the book as a kid, those candlesticks, so decided to reread it. Reading it on the ipad is OK but bought the penguin classic anyway, still prefer a good sized paperback, especially in the bath.
 |
| Now, that's a bath book. the 12 Suryanamaskara mantras in the background |
 |
| This time in wedges. |
At 8:30 I go up to the Chinchilla's room, in Winter all he wants to do is sit between my ankles under a blanket for two hours while I read. At the moment I'm doing a close reading of Mala Srivatsan's out of print biography of Krishnamacharya and making notes for future posts, to share as much of the good stuff as I can on the blog. I'm also reading the Taittiriya Upanishad with Sankara's commentary again on my iPad.
M. gets home around 10pm and we get to chat for a bit, usually with Nietzsche ( chinchilla) still under the blanket. 10:30 I put both him and myself to bed, reading a couple of pages of Jung's Red Book before falling asleep.
And that's my day.
Tuesday is different, day off so a later, longer practice - currently one of the long Vinyasa Krama sequences in full. Nice long pranayama, 80 rounds and a decent sit.
I'm studying along with AG Mohan's online yoga Sutra course with a couple of other YS commentaries, and getting stuck into the new (and better, more of his magic coming through) translation of Heidegger's Contributions to Philosophy, a few chores around the house, takes up much of the day.
I also found out that our local cinema is only five quid on a Tuesday, £3:75 with my loyalty card, so have started going to watch something, last week Les Mis', today it'll be Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty.
I try to cook something decent for M. on a Tuesday
What else.... Sunday, that'll be mine and M.'s day, you don't want to know about that although often we'll practice together or I'll give her a kind of Vinyasa Krama lesson, she never took to Ashtanga. Sunday is the one day I'll eat breakfast, lunch AND Dinner (often Japanese or Korean).
We have the chance to watch something together Sunday's, recently it's been the original version of The Killing, we started with the 3rd series, then the 2nd and now were on the 1st, working backwards. This weekend we did go and watch the Bolshoi's La Bayadere on the live feed from Moscow ( who knew watching ballet at the cinema rather than in the theatre could be SO good), Svetlana Zakharova just sublime.
And that's my day, my week, simple and dull perhaps looking at it like this and yet it feels ....rich.
Previous posts
5% theory, 95% practice ?
What did Krishnamacharya study with his Guru in Tibet- Yogacarya Krishnamacharya - The Purnacarya. Edited by Mala Srivatsan
What is Ashtanga? What is a Mysore Room?
Best Practice Dream Ever - My Mysore Room
Krishnamacharya on Samyama in Yogasanagalua and Yoga makaranda ( part II) Chakras, Jivatma, Paramata etc
21 comments:
Thanks for sharing more details of your life. It is inspiring to see how you work so much study and practice into your life. Are you ever hungry during the day? Do you ever hunger for the wild, for being outside?
-Elle
I'm a little spoiled in that my job is 9:30-5:30 and only ten minutes away by bike gives me lots of free time. Do I feel hungry, occasionally but it passes, you get used to that way of eating, I find I feel more present throughout the day if that makes any sense. I miss the sea and the mountains sometimes, spent a lot of years travelling, but would be quite comfortable as a shut-in.
Thank you so much for that insight ... it goes well beyond what most bloggers would offer, and it helps the rest of us to see that the practice really is attainable for a 'householder', even if it is a bit tricky to fit it in sometimes. Does my memory fail me, or did you once do a similar post of 'your day' entirely with pictures?
Thank you again!
-Barry
Was pitching it as a gentle reminder that a bloggers life is just as ordinary as anyone else's Barry, no rabid fruitcake to worry about here. Reading it back I was struck a little by how the yoga had worked it's way into every aspect of my day. I vaguely remember that picture post must try to find it it to compare. I do remember one post where I asked, When did yoga take over my life?...must try to find that one too. But as i was saying to Anon above, I'm spoiled with my job and the amount of free time I have. I'd leke to see a similar post from a mum with kids and a job who manages to weave the yoga into all aspects of their day too, that would be impressive, always amazed they manage to sustain any practice at all with all the demands on their time. And then there are those with a heavy job that requires overtime and bringing work home as well as a long commute and family life...I have it kind of easy.
Beautiful. I think the real essence of yoga is what we take off the mat and into the rest of our lives. In this way, I see it more as a lifestyle than an isolated practice. Of course, it helps if you're able to hit the mat more than once a day.
Hi Anthony, I struggle with chanting too. So, since I have learned to compose I created my own version of Ashtanga's opening chant. I use it everyday and so finally have learned the words to the chant. I too get up at five, have an expresso and then do Primary for about 2 hours. I sub in a routine towards the end of standing series, and try to take my time in preaparation for Mari D and Supta Kurmasana which are my work areas. I look at each posture as another unique opportunity to find breath. I have scored music for my entire practice including a buddhist text filled version of the closing chant. My other form of practice is Core Strength Vinyasa and attend an Anusara class on Tuesday, generally. I go to Mysore on Toronto every other week as it is a 2 hour drive. And I teach English in a high school https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sfsD5g7kJY
wrote you a long comment but lost it-call me anon 108. to come tomorrow. or soon. will recapture.
Yes Nick, that second practice frames the day nicely, tricky when you just have a morning practice and back in the world by 9am. With the evening practice, even a really short one, a couple of sury's and a sit, by the time the morning practice starts to feel a little distant your aware of the evening practice coming up. And of course an early evening practice sets you up nicely for the rest of the evening. Ramaswami would have us reflect on the yamaniyamas in the context of our day ( or is that the other way around) before falling asleep, again more framing.
I've been thinking about this some more Elle. I spent five years or so travelling pretty rough, was always very restless and wanting to be off again. Once walked out of a job in the UK and hitched to Switzerland on the handful of money had in my pocket and what i was wearing, picking my passport up along the way. At Uni the restlessness seemed to pass it was like i was still travelling but in the realm of ideas. Practice feels a little like that as if there's a whole world opening up such that i don't feel the need to go anywhere. Not sure if that makes any sense whatsoever.
Hate it when that happens.
Potatas Praves?
I guess you mean «patatas bravas», a popular Spanish recipe :-)
Thanks Enrique, took the spelling from a recipe (English website : ) will change it.
why don't you eat?You seem to live on the acid of coffee and tomato sauce. Are you not doing damage to yourself? To each hisown, but this seems curious to me. Not even water?
yes, lots of water and only the one espresso before practice. I don't eat patatas bravas/ tomato sauce everyday, this is just one day but your right I should be careful not to eat too much acidic food....so should we all no doubt.
Here's a posat where I discuss eating this way.
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/pandavas-like-yogis-were-eating-once.html
I'm feeling quite comfortable with it but thinking lots about how to make the most of the one meal a day i do have the patatas bravas was a one of, something M. had been craving.
Hi Anthony, nice entertaining post !
I'm curious about the single meal at dinner with an early practice. I've been in Kovalam practicing with Lino for two months and we ashtangis have been discussing diet a great deal. We start at 4:30 or 5 am and practice is usually 2 to 3 hours long and I have observed that most people either skip dinner completely or have a very light one. Lino seems to encourage that and says that a lot of your energy is used up digesting an evening meal and so it affects your morning practice. Most of the third series ashtangis with a long and hard practice seem to have a super light dinner such as banana or veggies soup.
Personally, although I always thought I needed food in the evening to sustain my energy in the morning, I have found on the contrary that skipping dinner is quite beneficial.
How do you find this once a day/dinner working for you? did you try lunch only instead ? Don't you get hungry during the day?
By the way, we're doing full vinyasa on our last day. I remember a discussion about this with you. Lino said he only practiced full vinyasa until he finished second series. Then Guruji told him to stop because you couldn't keep it up it with advanced practice, it just got too long. So Lino let go of it and never looked back. We only do full vinyasa on the last guided class, but everyone enjoys it.
In Kovalam Mysore is done at your own pace and breath length but the emphasis is on keeping the practice dynamic and energetic, so in guided class it's 15 min for suryas and 45 min for primary, then finishing. Full primary and intermediate until you finish intermediate.
The interesting thing about pace is that with the heat you think you need to practice slowly with longer breath, but in reality you can also end up using up your energy as you progress in the series. My best days in terms of strength and energy were achieved with a faster pace. Surely the heat factor affects people differently.
Hi Keni thanks for this, interesting stuff in this comment.
First thing I should say is that my practice is lower these days. For me (currently anyway) the most essential aspect of practice is the breath, I want it to be as long and slow as possible, 8-10 second inhalation and 8-10 second exhalation with kumbhakas where appropriate as indicated/suggested in krishnamacharya's Yoga makaranda, that's what I've been exploring anyway.
This means that because of time I can't do a full series ( not sure how much of this you've caught from my recent posts). So I do some Makaranda Sury's Most of standing although I skip a couple of postures changing daily which ones I skip so that I'm covering everything over the week. I tend to have time for about half a series. So one day is first half of primary the next day second half of primary, the next is first third of 2nd series (backbends) then the 2nd part of 2nd ( some asymmetric postures leading into the leg behind head work) and then the last day is the last third of 2nd series.
In reality I play with that a little, I do an extra couple of days of the first part of 2nd series and alternate it with all the other days so I'm doing backbending every other day. I'm also adding some Vinyasa Krama work in there, fluffing up the Ashtanga postures with a couple of the variations etc. Backbending days will also get some long paschimottanasana work to counter the backbending and forward bending days get extra UD's and drop backs.
So slower practice, heat kept up by the breath and the kumbhaka means I'm using less energy than in a full on ashtanga practice in a hot room. That's probably one of the reasons I can get away with eating less. When I tried this approach to eating before I was doing full fast Ashtanga and it was a bit much, needed two meals a day.
I think eating a late lunch rather than dinner is abetter idea, it would be my preference. I go for dinner out of convenience, i can be home and cook it myself rather than have make packed lunch or hit the supermarkets.
Don't feel really hungry, couple of times perhaps but it passes but quite quickly... do feel kind of ....'present' though. My workshop is full of cakes, sweets and biscuits but not really tempted.
Yes, went on about full vinyasa for awhile. Again it depends on if you want to do a full series or not, practice is all about compromise. I like to do it occasionally. nice that lino keeps it going even if just the odd day on a workshop.
there's another compromise do we go for the dynamic and energetic or the longer slower breaths. I think a dynamic energetic practice in the beginning is good, first year or two, the whole transformation thing but then move to the slower breath and longer stays.
...that's my current thinking anyway.
It's all exploration, research, love that aspect of Krishnamacharya.
Thanks again for the thought provoking comment.
Keni, if you feel like doing a guest post on these two months with Kino in Kovalam I'd love to post it, something along the lines of your comment above. you could post it here over a couple of comments, send it to my email, found on the 'About me' page or contact me through FB Anthony Grim Hall, couple of pictures might be nice. Just a thought, two months is such a nice amount of time to spend with a teacher on retreat, would be good to know more about what's that like.
Oh and have you heard anything about when Lino will have his book available in English?
Great article to read, it was really nice!
Thank you Olga, had forgotten all about this post, fun reading it again after all the upheavals of my mover to Japan.
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