Exploring Kumbhaka ( breath retention) in Krishnamacharya's Intermediate 'series' inc. Practice Sheets primary- 2nd series

For much of last year I found myself exploring Krishnamacharya's asana descriptions in Yoga Makaranda, culminating in a reordering of the asana from that text into Ashtanga Primary series order. That allowed me to follow, in my own practice,  the regular sequence with which I'm so familiar and yet bring in other elements of Krishnamacharya's approach, the longer stays, slower breathing and in particular his employment of kumbhaka (breath retention).

For the coming year the plan is to take a similar approach to Ashtanga 2nd series. So what we have below is a slight reordering of the table from Krishnamacharya's 1941 book Yogasanaglau to bring it into line with current Intermediate series. ( I've also included the reordered table for Standing primary and Finishing sequences).

Looking forward to exploring second series again, have missed it. I've often included in my practice this year the backbend section from 2nd series whether in an Ashtanga context or Vinyasa Krama but pretty much abandoned everything after that. My lotus comes down in Karandavasana still but is reluctant to go back up.

I added most of this post to the previous one as an update but want to make it available as a separate post so anyone else wants to play can.

The beauty of this approach I think is that you can introduce as much or as little of Krishnamacharya's approach into your own practice as you wish. Explore the kumbhaka option perhaps in one or more asana, or better, explore the kumbhaka option in, say, a different group of five postures each practice. Choose perhaps a similar group of five postures and explore slowing the breathing right down, we do something anyway with our standing and finishing postures where the breathing is often slower. And we can choose to explore longer stays in certain postures, choose a different posture or two and stay for ten full breaths rather than the usual five. All options to explore and approaches that Krishnamacharya chose to present in what was essentially a manual


For me, approaching my whole practice this way, it'll be a case of splitting the series into two allowing me to take it slower and include the longer stays and kumbhaka's, perhaps with a longer full 2nd on Tuesdays and full Primary on Sunday.

In the rediscovered Pattabhi Jois Yoga Therapy article Vamana's use of Vinyasa is translated as 'inhalation and exhalation' in keeping with the current presentation of Ashtanga in which no Kumbhaka is employed.

Pattabhi Jois also states in the article

'This method can be learnt only from an experienced yogi well versed in Yoga Shastra'.

Breath in the arms come up, 

breath out the arms go down, 

breathe in - come up, 

breath out - bend forward....

It's actually quite intuitive, how about the breath

'equal but otherwise, free breathing'.

Why do we need an 'experienced guru well versed in the shastras' to teach us something that appears so intuitive?

I have theory (what, another one)....

This year I've been exploring, through practice, Krishnamacharya's approach to asana, in particular, his employment of kumbhaka. I've slightly reordered the Primary Group asana from the table found in Krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu (1941) to bring it more in line with the current Ashtanga primary series sequence. I'm presently doing something similar for the middle group also, bringing the Yogasangalu table order in line with current Ashtanga Intermediate series. The plan is to explore this approach to 2nd series in my practice this coming year. 

Krishnamacharya doesn't seem to have followed a fixed series although clearly there are sequences and subroutines that closely follow sections within the current practice of Ashtanga, that's to be expected of course much of it is intuitive, one asana often logically follows another. The Primary group asana table in Yogasanagalu is almost exactly the same as we find in the current Ashtanga Primary series, the Middle group is close, very close, however the Proficient group is more 'lumped together'. 

The story goes that when Pattabhi Jois was invited to teach at the Sanskrit college he came to Krishnamacharya with the asana he had been taught by Krishnamacharya grouped into Primary, Intermediate, Advanced A and Advanced B. Krishnamacharya is said to have given his approval.

I'm familiar with the Ashtanga series having practice Primary to Advanced series for a number of years, it makes sense to me to practice Krishnamacharya's instructions for asana in an order I'm familiar with as well as allowing me to offer it to others as an option to explore in their own practice.

Looking at this section of the 2nd series table that I'm currently working on, with it's employment of different kumbhaka depending on the asana, we can probably agree that this is significantly more complex. 

Actually it's even more complicated than the table suggests. In Yoga Makaranda Krishnamacharya gives instructions for different kumbhaka at different stages of the vinyasa of a single asana. We can see perhaps why the assistance of a guru well versed in the shastras ( here I read those related to pranayama practice) is advised particularly as there is an intimate relationship between kumbhakam and the employment of the different bandhas. I have been fortunate in that my teacher, Srivatsa Ramaswami, Krishnamacharya's student of 30 years still teaches, to some extent, the use of  kumbhaka in certain asana vinyasas, within the Jois Ashtanga lineage however this element of the tradition seems to have been misplaced. Manju Jois went so far as to tell me recently that Krishnamacharya was mistaken in his use of kumbhaka in asana, perhaps he is right. However we are not talking about one reference in passing to kumbhaka. Yoga Makaranda is all about the breath, each individual element of the breath, we find kumbhaka's described in almost every asana. 

Perhaps the employment of kumbhaka is something that Krishnamacharya didn't teach to his student Pattabhi Jois, and yet we find it detailed in Yoga Makaranda (1934) written while Patabhi Jois was Krishnamacharya's student and even in some cases teaching assistant (It is thought Pattabhi Jois, being a senior student, would have led the Mysore boys in their classes while Krishnamacharya would, on occasion, teach a more Vinyasa krama approach on a one-to-one basis in another room). Perhaps kumbhaka was not intended for the young boys of the palace or beginners.

Yet kumbhaka is everywhere in Yoga Makaranda (1934), in almost every asana description detailed instructions are given, likewise in Yogasanagalu (1941) and its presentation within the form of a  table. These were texts Krishnamacharya was instructed to write as pedagogic manuals for schools and elsewhere. Krishnamacharya wanted to share this approach to asana, he wanted us to practice asana this way.

Section of the 2nd series table I'm presently working on 

Krishnamacharya Yogasanagalu (19410 table in Ashtanga 2nd series order

Number in                                                                                        Asana

yogasanaglu        Asana                                      Vinyasas            position                       Breathing notes

table                                           

1.            Pasasana                            14             7-8              Bhaya kumbhaka

2.            Krounchasana                     22        7-8-14-15        Bhaya Kumbhaka

6.            Shalabasana A and B          10            5-6              Antah Kumbhaka

10.          Bhekasana                            9               5                Antah Kumbhaka

3.            Dhanurasana                        9               5               Antah Kumbhaka

4.            Parshva Dhanurasana         12           6-7-8            Antah Kumbhaka

9.            Ushtrasana                          15           7-8-9            Antah Kumbhaka

12.          Lagu Vajrasana                    15           7-8-9           Ubhaya Kumbhaka

15.          Kapotasana A and B            15              8               Antah Kumbhaka

11.          Supta vajrasana                   18            9-11            Ubhya Kumbhaka

*

FIRST DRAFT

Note - Length of Kumbhaka's
Extend the natural/automatic mini kumbhaka between the inhalation and exhalation or between the exhalation and inhalation to 2-5 seconds in the postures indicated, certain more 'meditative' postures the kumbhaka might be extended to those employed in regular pranayama.

*

See previous post for a look back over my posts this year, favourite posts as well as new resource pages on Ashtanga History, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, Manju Jois and Srivatsa Ramaswami.

2013 A year in posts - New Ashtanga Vinyasa resource Pages, favourite posts of the year

We're all Yogi's - Yoga for the Three Stages of Life - how to practice Vinyasa Krama from Ramaswami's Sept 2009 Newsletter

Making Timpano toaday, try and find two recipes the same..

In the previous post on the new Vinyasa Krama Practice manual from Harmony Yoga I mentioned that Ramaswami's  Sept 2009 Newsletter was included at the back of the book. Reading it again it's an excellent newsletter, it lays out a clear, modifiable, daily Vinyasa Krama approach to practice as well as introducing the idea of Yoga for the three stages of life.

I've come across a few comments/posts/rants recently where somebody, quite pompously it has to be said, raves about people calling themselves 'Yogi's'. One can perhaps imagine the idea of the yogi these guys have in their head, ash and loincloths come to mind, perhaps a meditative renunciant .

Below Ramaswami mentions how Krishnamacharya would talk about 'Yoga for the three stages of life' (Ramaswami used this for the title of my favourite book of his), the youthful yogi would have a very much asana based practice, the midlife yogi would still have quite a bit of asana but perhaps less acrobatic and more pranayama, also a little meditation. In the final stage of life the yogi would have some simple asana for health but a more meditative, spiritual practice.

So you see, by this reckoning, we're all yogi's if we practice any of the elements of yoga, any of the limbs, sincerely and with commitment.

I probably have the same image of a yogi as those who rant so don't tend to refer to (except occasionally out of convenience, same with 'Ashtangi') or even think of myself as a yogi but I practice, I'm on the path, working on the limbs and so are you, so perhaps we are Yogi's.

But then of course that means that if we have yogi's we have non yogi's and we end up with a them and us situation. But I have no idea what the guy on the other side of the train is practicing, no doubt he's working at whatever moral (yama/niyama) code he has, perhaps he has a devotional practice, trying to come to terms with, understand, make sense of, the world and his place within it. Perhaps he has a physical practice of some kind which he is committed to or an art he practices, perhaps before falling asleep he reflects for a moment on his day..... perhaps we are all yogi's, all on the path, stepping back on and off, Descartes thought we are defined by the fact that we think, I'd narrow it down and suggest that we are that which questions.... sooner or later. Questioning is Yoga, questioning everything, one tatva at a time....., employing the mind to overcome the mind.

The path of Yoga is one of radical enquiry

There's a point in the newsletter where Ramaswami is critical of a fixed practice...

"Hence, to suggest a practice of a set of asanas or a routine for everyone
irrespective of the age, condition, temperament and goal is incorrect"

I can imagine my Ashtangi readers prickling at that somewhat, "Is he talking about us"?

But of course there is no fixed Ashtanga, we all  practice it differently, our teachers if we have them are aware of where we each struggle in our practice and give us assistance, at home we make allowances for old injuries or areas of difficulties, either we do the best we can and move on or stop there move to finishing and try again tomorrow. Our breath is different one mat to the next, a little slower a little fuller all working towards consistency. We all focus a little more a little less on different asana in the series, we know what our bodies need that morning. Sometimes we might add an extra asana, cut one or more out (if the reason is good enough) or spend a little longer, breath a little slower in one we neglected the day before or that we have a particular asanacrush on and we have a LOT of asana to play with.

Ashtanga has a count but so does Jazz, we can make as much or as little space for our runs as we need, we all improvise, to some extent (if you can listen to Mingus and how he now slows, now speeds up the beat).

Notice too how our Ashtanga practice, including  the Krishnamacharya Yoga Makaranda Primary series I'm currently practicing/exploring fits within the model of the Modified Vinyasa Krama practice in the sheets below, surprised, we shouldn't be, it's all Krishnamacharya.

*

Here then is part of Ramaswami's Sept 2009 Newsletter, I've cut it about a bit and reformatted the paragraphs to focus on certain elements, the full untangled newsletter can be found here, as well as in Harmony Yoga's practice manual.

And if Christmas is your thing, have a wonderful day today, a very Merry Christmas, if it's not your thing, then have a great practice (which is just what I'm off to do, Ramaswami's Modifiable VK practice below).

VINYASA KRAMA PRACTICE from Ramaswami Sept 2009 Newsletter
(my reformatting and titles)

Adapting yoga to individual requirements is an art by itself. We must
understand that there is no one standard practice that is suitable to
everyone. In medicine you have to give different treatment to
different patients; what is suitable to one suffering from digestive
problem would be different from the one that is suitable for one who
is suffering from some low back pain. According to an important motto
of Krishnamacharya, yoga for children and the adolescents (growth
stage) is different from yoga practice in their midlife which again is
different from the practice in old age. The body, mind and goals
change during different stages of life. Sri Krishnamacharya’s teaching
is based on this principle as we could discern from his works, Yoga
Makaranda and Yoga Rahasya.

Yoga For the three stages of life

Yoga for the young
Basically yoga for kids and young adults will have a considerable
amount of asana vinyasa practice -- many vinyasas, difficult poses,
etc. It will help them to work out the considerable rajas in their
system and proper growth (vriddhi). Of course they should also
practice some pranayama and meditation or chanting.

Yoga for the midlife Yogi
For the midlife yogi, the practice will still include some asana, but specifically
some of the health giving  and restorative postures like the
Inversions, Paschimatanasana, Mahamudra, etc., in which poses one may
be required to stay for a longer period of time. There will be more
emphasis on Pranayama and then more meditation, chanting, worship etc.
When I started studying with my Guru I was 15 years old. During the
beginning years of my study it was mostly difficult asanas and
vinyasas. Swing throughs, jump arounds, utplutis etc and other fun
filled unique sequences were the order of the day. As I grew up, my
teacher slowly but surely changed the mix, focus and direction of my
yoga practice. On the last day I was with him (I was close to 50 then)
it was just chanting of Surya Namaskara (Aruna) mantras for the entire
duration with him.

Yoga for the third stage of life
During the third stage of life, the old age, the
emphasis is usually spiritual and/or devotional even as one is
required to do some simple movements and pranayama.

And within the group, the daily practice can be varying depending upon
the requirements and goals set forth by the yogi for herself/himself.

For instance, for the midlife yogi, the main goal will be to maintain
good physical and mental health, rather than being able to stand, say,
on one leg or even on one hand (Of course the child in me wants to do
that). He/She would like to avoid risky movements so that the practice
would be safe and does not cause injuries—immediate or cumulative. Too
much exertion (kayaklesa), like several rounds of continuous,
breathless Suryanamaskaras again should be avoided, says Brahmananda
in his commentary on Hatayogapadipika. A few may be more inclined to
have some spirituality thrown in. Many would like to develop the
ability to and the habit of visiting the peace zone of the mind daily.
There are some who are more rajasic or tamasic in which case the mix
of asana and pranayama should be properly adjusted, sometimes taking
care of even the day to day variations of the gunas. It requires some
careful attention in deciding a particular day’s practice.

Hence, to suggest a practice of a set of asanas or a routine for everyone
irrespective of the age, condition, temperament and goal is incorrect.

Such an approach does not take into consideration not only the
versatility and richness of orthodox, traditional vinyasakrama yoga
practice but also does not take the varying factors of individual
requirements. Sri Krishnamacharya’s yoga can appropriately be termed
as ‘Appropriate Yoga’.

However, as a general rule, for the serious mid-life yogi, a daily
practice of about 90 mts to 2 hrs will be necessary and sufficient.

A Modifiable VINYASA KRAMA PRACTICE .

Everyday before the start of the practice the yogi should take a

minute and decide on a definite agenda and as far as possible try to

stick to the agenda. What asanas and vinyasas, which pranayama and how

many rounds and other details should be determined before hand and one

should adhere to it. It brings some discipline and coherence to one’s

practice.

short prayer

Tadasana 

doing the main vinyasas two or preferably three

times each. It should take about ten minutes.

Triangle subroutine

One may do a subsequence of Triangle pose like warrior pose and /or one sequence in one legged

pose.

Asymmetric

Then one subsequence in the asymmetric could be taken up, say Marichyasana or Triyangmukha or

the half lotus. The choice may be varied on a daily basis.

Paschimottanasana

Five minute stay in Paschimottanasana and the counter poses may be practiced.

Sarvangasana Preparation

Sarvangasana

Sirsasana

Sarvangasana

Then one may do preparation of Sarvangasana and a brief stay in it,

followed by headstand stay for about 5 to 10 minutes or more and then

staying in Sarvangasana for 5 to 10 more minutes, if one can do

inversions.

Paschimatanasana, Sarvangaana and Headstand are to be

practiced preferably daily for their health benefits.

If time permits one may do few vinyasas in these inversions.

Maha Mudra

Mahamudra for about 5 minutes each on both sides can then be

practiced.

Kapalabhati, 

say for about 108 times

Pranayama,

Ujjayi, Nadisodhana or Viloma with

or without mantras for about 15 minutes

Shanmukhmudra

to be followed by five minutes

Shanmukhimudra

Meditative practice

chanting or meditation of about 15 minutes.

Peace Chant

It is customary to end the practice with peace chant.

If interested, one may allocate an additional 30 minutes (or practice

at another time in the day, say, in the evening) during which time one
may practice a few subroutines from the other scores of sequences that
have not been included in this core yoga practice.

*

Handy print out version

HD version of Krishnamacharya Ashtanga and Vinyasa Krama practice - Why so slow

I managed to upload the HD version of the video I posted yesterday, I'm posting it again because it's been playing on my mind, I was a little shocked watching it back. Oscar mentioned in a comment that in the speeded up x4  version I posted yesterday he's moving quickly but it looks as if I'm practicing at regular speed. I am practicing excruciatingly slowly, if not for Oscar the video would be unwatchable, like watching grass grow or paint dry.....

And yet it doesn't feel that slow when I'm practicing, I mean, I know it's slow but I'm stunned watching this back how slow it actually is. It makes Oscar's Vinyasa Krama look brisk. I thought it would have been nice to have one of Oscar's Ashtangi's practicing along with us in the middle.

Why is it so slow?

Krishnamacharya writes about long slow breathing, like the pouring of oil, he writes about full breathing, my inhalations are around 8-10 seconds, I try to keep my exhalations the same.
Krishnamacharya includes 2-5 second Kumbhaka (breath retention) in his asana descriptions, if the head is up in a posture or perhaps before going into a posture then more often than not there's puraka kumbhaka, if the head is down then rechaka kumbhaka. In the second version of dandasana with which the video opens I'm employing puraka kumbhaka, holding the breath in for around five seconds. In the book krishnamacharya seems to include coming up out of forward bending postures for the full inhalations.

Krishnamacharya's asana practice becomes a pranayama practice.

Krishnamacharya describes full vinyasa in the Yoga Makaranda descriptions, so there's a coming back to standing, that makes sense to me in such a slow practice, I want to stretch the posture out with the vinyasa after staying so long. It's intense, the kumbhaka certainly keeps you warm

What to make of this, who would want to practice this slowly, it's limiting. If you only have an hour you won't get through many asana (not necessarily a bad thing, practice half a series). The full practice took around two and a half hours and I had to cut back on my pranayama but then perhaps there had been enough pranayama in the asana practice already, perhaps half an hour of nadi shodana,  rounds it off nicely. Krishnamacharya includes a chakra focus in asana in Yoga makaranda that I'm only just beginning to explore so perhaps a little Japa meditation to close and I'm good to go. Three hours? Cut back a few asana to bring it down to two?

Watching this I wonder if anyone else would want to practice this way and yet I feel strongly somebody at least should. I've been exploring it off and on ( more and more on recently) for a year and a half, I'm settling in to it. This is such an intense practice and shouldn't be buried away in an old text, a museum piece, it should be a living tradition.

Did Krishnamacharya actually practice like this himself, we know he only had an hour lesson with the boys of the Mysore palace, it's unlikely it was this slow, Vinyasa Krama as we can see is faster, again perhaps because of the time limitations of a lesson. In the 1938 demonstration the asana flow into one another but then that was a demonstration.

But surely he must have practiced this slowly, at least for a time, otherwise why write Yoga Makaranda in this way, why want to share the practice in this way. Yoga Makaranda was Krishnamacharya's first book, as far as he knew it might have been the only book he would publish and there is at times a non compromising attitude to the text.

Watching this back I feel ever more strongly that Mark Singleton is mistaken regarding the influence of western gymnastics on Krishnamacharya's practice. It's not the international fitness movement influencing Krishnamacharya here but traditional pranayama practice brought into asana, surely it's that which most characterises this approach to practice.

Below is the Youtube description.

Video Description
Oscar and I practicing alone in his studio Yoga Centro Victoria in Leon, Spain, recorded on my Krishnamacharya workshop last weekend. Oscar is on the left practicing Vinyasa Krama along the lines of that taught to Ramaswami in the 1950's-80's. I'm on the right practicing excruciatingly slowly employing kumbhaka's (breath retention) following the asana instructions found for the Primary group of asana in Krishnamacharya's 1934-38 'Mysore book' Yoga Makaranda, written while Krishnamacharya was teaching the young Pattabhi Jois. The Video is of part of the seated section of our practice.