Krishnamacharya's alternatives to Headstand in his third son Sri Sribhashyam's book Emergence of yoga

One of the challenges I found teaching Ramaswami's Vinyasa Krama regularly in Rethymno this summer was what to do about Sirsasana (headstand), especially in a mixed class where several of those attending are perhaps unable to practice the inversion with or without a wall (and were also perhaps only in Rethymno and only in town for classes for a couple of weeks). This is especially troubling given the importance of Sarvangasana (shoulder stand) and Sirsasana (headstand) in Vinyasa Krama. These asana are considered two of the key postures in any daily Vinyasa krama practice and are both usually held for a minimum of ten minutes each.

Link to one of Ramaswami's excellent newsletter on Shoulderstand and Headstand and why they are considered so beneficial
AUGUST 2009 NEWSLETTER FROM SRIVATSA RAMASWAMI—HEAD AND SHOULDERS 
ABOVE……

from the newsletter...

"What is equally important is that Sirsasana helps improve circulation 
of the cerebro spinal fluid, which is helpful to the brain and also 
for the spinal nerve bundles—the chakras. Because of the increased 
pressure in the brain due to this fluid, the pituitary secretions 
increase helping the better functioning of the sympathetic nervous 
system which will help in many ways including the dilatation of the 
bronchial tubes giving great relief to asthmatics. There is draining 
of the bronchial tubes, giving some welcome relief for those with 
chronic chest congestion.  Many feel increased memory power and 
general better brain capacity. There are cases of even some correction 
of the eyesight. The vinyasas like the twists, Akunchanasana, the 
backbends like Viparitadandasana in Sirsasana and Uttanamayurasana in 
Sarvangasana help the spine considerably, by not only maintaining the 
flexibility of this structure but also nourish the nadis and chakras 
or nerve fibers and nerve bundles in the spinal chord".  Srivatsa Ramaswami

Which may make us question the purpose of some of these alternatives physiologically, personally I'm looking at the breath.

Notice the heavily pregnant woman in the first picture which ties in nicely with my previous post on Yoga and motherhood

I was especially delighted then to come across the headstand alternatives in Sri T.K. Sribhashyam's Emergence of Yoga. Sri Sribhashyam is Krishnamacharya's third son and working through his book I've started to think of the text as applied Vinyasa Krama. Ramaswami gives sequences of types of asana, Bow, Asymmetric, On one leg etc. but instructs us to chose asana and subroutines from those longer sequences when constructing our daily practice built around a number of key asana. Sri Sribhashyam gives around 70+ examples of how one might go about doing this.

In the book they are presented as complete practices, personally I tend to use them as a frame work and add a couple of extra asana around those mentioned in line with Ramaswami's subroutines but then I have extra time for practice.

Another nice aspect of Sri Sribhashyam's book is that it's laid out pedagogically, the level of difficulty of the asana builds up but more importantly so does the pranayama, the length of stay and number of repetitions and introduction of kumbhaka into certain asana and Mudra. At the end of the 58 general practices one might turn to examples of Krishnamacharya's own personal practices to explore how the practices are taken even further.

Here then are the five alternatives to Sirsaasana that Sri Sribhashyam introduces in the book and in the context of the practice. I know some will want to try out the whole practice so have included the outlines for practice as well as the internal drishti focal point sheet.

See this post as accompanying my more extensive review of the book found at the link below

Emergence of Yoga by Krishnamacharya's 3rd son SRI T K SRIBHASHYAM now available in English translation

I tend to practice my Krishnamacharya Original Ashtanga (see outline beneath the kapo at top of page) in the morning and then turn to one of these practices in the evening, for the Ashtangis' amongst you these practices might constitute a gentle Saturday (rest day), Moon day, Ladies holiday practice (with the sirsasana alternative)  or something to turn to if injured (wrists). They also give a nice progression for building a pranayama practice.

For those practicing Vinyasa Krama and wondering how to move from the full sequences to a daily practice they can give a general framework perhaps.

Unfortunately I don't have a scanner here in Japan so the picture quality isn't good and don't do the book, which is beautiful, justice but then this is supposed to be an introduction to the book, hopefully you'll be tempted to buy it especially as it's available in translation thus far in English, Spanish, French and German.

Here it is on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Emergence-Yoga-SRI-T-K-SRIBHASHYAM/dp/2954485523

I've added a video example of one of Krishnamacharya's own personal 'Life saving' practices from the book at the bottom of the post.

Alternatives to Sirsa asana (headstand)

Alternative: Supta Pada Angusta Asana

Alternative: Maha Mudra

Alternative; Viparita Karani

Alternative: Utthita Pada Angusta Asana

Alternative: Savanga Asana

Alternative: Tatka mudra

The alternative asana and mudras

Example of Krishnamacharya's life saving practice, from the book.

An excuse to try out my new Super 8 app for iPhone and some of it's filters. This is the Krishnamacharya, so called, Life saving sequence from the movie Der Atmende Gott, The breathing God. See this blog post http://tinyurl.com/8gzqqe9 
Nice little app, very easy to import the videos from the iPhone/itouch via iTunes