Ramaswami's in town : ( Home shala Workshop

"...so as to transfer from our inward nature a human interest and a semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith". Coleridge

Part of me feels that 'breath is nice' (see previous post) would be a great line to go out on , still...

(not that I have plans to quit posting just yet, lets say not until after the first visit to Mysore however many years off that may be).

Ramaswami is in Town!

I say 'in town', I mean in the UK

and unfortunately I have to work.

Understaffed/overworked

Had hoped to make the three days on Hatha Yoga Pradipka at least ( Ramaswami on the HYP, he studied it with Krishnamacharya, how incredible would that be, kicking myself) but not to be, not this year.

The little town/city of Wells ( feels more like a village) is, unfortunately, a little (lot) out of the way if you don't have a car, would have been nice to gate crash on my day off at least.

Can't a studio/shala in London host him for a few days next year?

Wasn't always that way of course, Wells used to be on the main coach road/trade route between Portsmouth and London I believe, thus the magnificent cathedral. The Bishop of Bath and Wells was one of the most powerful in the country.

Wells Cathedral

Still, if I cant  attend his workshops this year I can at least have a Ramaswami fortnight here in the home shala and explore my Ramaswami resource page

ASANA

Currently I'm practising Ashtanga Intermediate series in the morning and a shorter asana practice in the evening of a few, less often practiced, Vinyasa Krama subroutines followed by my main pranayama practice. Be nice to work through the full sequences Ramaswami presents in his book The complete book of Vinyasa Yoga again, always good to review those and put the asana in context. These sequences give you a vast tool box with which to work, for modifying or building towards more challenging asana as well as if/when faced with injury. They can be practiced as subroutines, full sequences or dipped into to add preparation or extension to the asana you already practice. There are also the most charming variations of asana that allow you to access all areas of your body, areas neglected perhaps in your regular practice.

I say I'm practicng Ashtanga 2nd in the mornings but the edges between Ashtanga, Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda and Vinyasa Krama seem to have blurred recently, it's all Ashtanga, all Vinyasa krama.

For example, I start my practice with a Yoga Makaranda version of 'Suryanamaskara' ( it really isn't a sun salutation practiced this way), stopping at each stage for a number of breaths including the appropriate kumbhaka, before moving on to some regular ashtanga sury's and the standard Ashtanga standing sequence. The only difference is that it's taken much slower, 8 seconds inhalation and 8 seconds exhalation with mantra/prayer on both. I aim to maintain that breath rate throughout my asana practice.

I tend to work my way into the Ashtanga krouchasana via the krouchasana VK subroutine. I used to practice the VK Bow and Meditative sequences in the morning but I've pretty much switched to the standard Ashtanga backbend sequence ( very close to VK and Meditative sequences anyway) except I enter Ustrasana via the VK approach to vajrasana. Vajrasana is such a wonderful asana that it seems a shame not to savour it.

Coming up to the leg behind head asanas I throw in Janu sirsasana as well as the akrarnadhanurasana (archer) and Kraunchasana (heron) postures, nice bit of extra prep. I can get my leg behind my head without them but this way I can get a little deeper and settle more comfortably.

Because my breath is so slow time becomes an issue so I'm tending to go with the standard Ashtanga sequence after Yoga nidrasana. If I'm running behind I might cut some of the standing postures (common with 2nd series) and trim the last third of 2nd series, whichever postures I may cut out I'll make sure to include the next day... or the next. I tend not to cut to karandavasana or mayurasana. 

In a nod to Krishnamacharya's Yoga makaranda I like to include one extended stay in a suitable asana. 

PRANAYAMA

I sandwich my morning practice with a little pranayama following Krishnamacharya's Son's Sri T.K. Sribhashyam model in Emergence du yoga. He starts with 108 kapalabhati followed by six rounds of an Ujjayi nadi shodana pranayama without kumbhaka before asana and then 60 rounds of basti and a standard nadi shodana pranayama with kumbhaka (again only six rounds) after asana practice.

On the whole I've managed to retain my pranayama practice but I remember that Ramaswami got very excited that most of us ended up practising  80 rounds on the course. I've let that slip to 40 rounds most days so it would be good to work back up to 80 over the next two weeks.

I follow that with a short sit.

MEDITATION

"...so as to transfer from our inward nature a human interest and a semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith". Coleridge

Recently I've switched from mantras and chants to prayers. I find that although I love the sanskrit it lacks... resonance for me. Revisiting my Anglo Catholic roots, for good or ill, certainly resonates... uncomfortably a lot of the time. I employ the ancient Jesus prayer ( have been for six months or so) throughout my practice, on the inhalation and exhalation, right there along with effulgence in the heart (chakra? - The similarities in practice are remarkable), nothing jolts an old philosopher into presence like mentally saying God, Jesus and Sin twice a breath. I replace the Pranayama mantra with the Creed (both take 20 - 30 seconds on the retention following the inhalation) in my pranayama practice. There was a tendency for the mind to wander with the Sanskrit, nothing lulling about professing belief, again uncomfortable. I keep reminding myself it's a mystery religion, it's not supposed to make rational sense, that's the point, the ultimate willing suspension of disbelief, to allow something like this to be live in your practice and it does focus the attention ( good excuse to visit the old Christina Mystics again too, smart wonderful stuff on experiencing the divine). In place of Japa mantra mediation I say the Rosary, Sanskrit IS wonderful but ahhh Latin, again it resonates, thunderously. I conclude the practice with a quiet 10 minute sit with the focus on effulgence in the heart.

Heidegger once began a translation of the Tao with a Chinese student of his but concluded it made more sense to work within his own philosophical tradition, his own organic world view. He also once said of the Tannisho that if he had encountered it sooner he would have studied Japanese rather than Ancient Greek ( some classicists probably think that wouldn't have been such a bad idea). 

In Ashtanga we begin where we are.

However there is something powerful about listening to Ramaswami's chanting in Savasana, there's resonance there too somehow, what layer is that speaking to I wonder.

STUDY

I was privileged enough to share some of Ramaswami's teaching with somebody who is attending the first part of Ramaswami's workshop this weekend, he's already let me know that he is finding it "inspiring". This section is on Chikitsa Krama and based on the Yoga for Internal Organs module material that Ramaswami presented on the TT course I attended at LMU in 2010. Much of this material can be found buried away in Ramaswami's Newsletters ( will find the links to those newsletters if anyone is interested).

So I can revisit this material for a start.

For the Hatha Yoga Pradipka  I can reread Ramaswami's recommended version, the Jyotsna, commentary on Hatha Yoga Pradipka by Brahmananda on Svatmarama's Hatayogapradeepika

12. He who practices Hatha-Yoga should live alone in a small math (monastery) situated in a place free from rocks, water and fire to the extent of a bow's length and in a virtuous and well-ruled kingdom.

13. The math should have a small door, and should be without any windows; it should be level and without any holes; it should be neither too high, too low nor too long. It should be very clean, being well smeared with cow dung (a natural antiseptic) and free from all insects. Outside it should be attractive with a small hall and a raised seat and a well and surrounded by a wall. These are the characteristics of a yoga-matha as laid down by the Siddha-s who have practiced hatha-yoga.

14 living in such a monastery (the Yogin), being free in mind of all cares, should practice only yoga all the time, in the way taught by his Guru.'
The Hathayoagpradipka commentary by Jyotsna of Brahmananda

Ramaswami is also teaching the Yoga Sutras in Wells so I can read and chant through

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras: Based on the Teaching of Srivatsa Ramaswami by Pam Hoxsey
Book and CD by Pam Hoxsey

as well as a close reading Ramaswami's little booklet 

The Basic Tenets of Patanjala Yoga by Srivastsa Ramaswami (Cambridge Yoga publications).

also...

A Brief Introduction to Yoga Philosophy: Based on the Lectures of Srivatsa Ramaswami [Paperback]

David Hurwitz (Author), Srivatsa Ramaswami (Contributor)