I received a letter last night asking if I would be prepared to teach some Vinyasa Krama, over a month or two, here in Japan, to a visiting Ashtanga practitioner (who practices Ashtanga Primary series). Below is my response, I thought it might be useful for others interested in Vinyasa Krama as I (currently) understand/view it.
Mtyresponse in Courier font, additions in Times.
Dear XXXX
Thank you for your mail and your interest but I'm really not a yoga teacher, though I may have taught a few workshops in the past.
Given that you live in the States I believe it would be so much more beneficial to spend a week or ten days with Ramaswami on one of his workshop/intensives (Ramaswami's schedule). You are so lucky to have him there in the US.
Perhaps if he was no longer with us I might consider teaching more.
I don't live in Osaka but in a small country village and travel into Osaka to my job as an English teacher.
'VINYASA KRAMA ASANA'
Note: In Vinyasa Krama we don't tend to practice the Ashtanga Suryanamaskar so much, perhaps the mantra version, or possibly with the 2 hour surya namaskar chant on Sundays.
I though, still practice my Ashtanga sun salutations out of habit and for general fitness given the fewer jump back and throughs in Viyasa Krama
We generally begin practice with some simple movements in tadasana. I tend to include a few of these before my sun salutations. Below a video of a ten minute version, I may do a few less movements, five minutes worth say. On my Youtube channel there is the full fifty minute Vinyasa Krama Tadasana sequence https://youtu.be/EEHx32PUfdY.
One of the things I've tried to communicate in my book and on my blog is that if you are practicing Ashtanga then you are already practicing Vinyasa Krama. The Ashtanga Primary series is made up of Vinyasa Krama subroutines.
For it to 'look' more like Vinyasa Krama all you need to do is cut out most of the jump backs and through ( perhaps just between each subroutine) and breathe much more slowly (around 8-10 seconds for both inhalation and exhalation, perhaps take three breaths if required to enter a posture rather than folding straight in. Stay for longer in certain key postures, paschimottanasana, maha mudra, sarvangasana, sirsasana. There are some movements/variations options in head and shoulder stand that are a little different from Primary but otherwise Primary series makes for an ideal Vinyasa Krama practice, except that breathing more slowly and occasionally staying longer in a posture will likely mean you will have to divide a Primary series over two or even three days.
On another day you might practice those first few back stretching postures from Ashtanga 2nd series, Salambhasana,Urdhva dhanurasana, ustrasana, which is also a Vinyasa krama subroutine.
The sequences Ramaswami presents in his workshop and book are for teaching and training purpose only, once you have an idea of how the asana relate to each other, build up to, and then extend beyond the key asana you would then just choose the appropriate asana and subroutines for you each morning. Pattabhi Jois (perhaps Krishnamacharya) has already done that for us with Primary and Second Ashtanga series.
For me, with the occasional modifications, and perhaps partly due to familiarity and affection, I find the Ashtanga series appropriate. They of course closely match the order the asana as placed in Krishnamacharya table of asana in yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941).
An integrated practice
Perhaps the biggest difference is that Vinyasa Krama is more of an integrated practice.
Although some more experienced Ashtanga practitioners do include Pranyama, Sitting etc. Actually many beginner Ashtanga practitioners already have a Sitting practice from another tradition, Zen, vipassana etc. I have a Zen monk friend Hyon Gak Sunim who has only recently come to Ashtanga
Mirror of Zen /// A Day in the Moment of a Modern Zen Monk from Christine Schmitthenner on Vimeo.
So after your slower, modified, half Primary and perhaps 36 or 108 rounds of kapalabhati breathing, practice, 6, 12, 20 rounds of nadi shodhana with the pranayama mantra on the kumbhaka ( see my pranayma page for the mantra), sit for five minutes in Shanmukhi Mudra turning the senses inwards and then sit and meditated on a mantra, say Om hrim namashivaya, for 10, 20, 30, 40 minutes.
Of course if you haven't practiced pranayama before you will need to build up to it, 3-6 months of nadi shodhana without kumbhaka just as Sharath suggests, then (perhaps after discussing it with your doctor)start to introduce a kumbhaka after the inhalation - checking your pulse for any dramatic increase in heart rate.
'VINYASA KRAMA' PRANAYAMA
So start with
nadi shodhana
4s inhalation, 8s exhalation
then
5s, inhalation 10 exhalation
finally after a few months or when twelve rounds of that is comfortable, introduce kumbhaka
4s inhalation, 4s kumbhaka, 8s exhalation
5s, inhalation 5s kumbhaka, 10 exhalation
5s, inhalation 10s kumbhaka, 10 exhalation
at this point, if the pranayama mantra interests you you could split the mantra into three, spread over each stage
5s, inhalation 15s kumbhaka, 10 exhalation
mantra chanted quickly on the kumbhaka
finally
5s, inhalation 20s kumbhaka, 10 exhalation
which is the standard pranayama Ramaswami teaches.
6/12/20 rounds of that after asana each morning
or twenty rounds four times a day if committed and traditional.
'Vinyasa Krama' Pratyahara (5 to 10 minutes)
Shanmukhi Mudra is pretty much automatic, once you engage the mudra the mind automatically turns inwards, to internal sounds for example.
'VINYASA KRAMA' MEDITATION
As for Sitting. Ramaswami teaches Japa, with the mantra
Om hrim namashivaya
But you could use any Samatha (calm abiding) approach, sitting with the breath, Zen....
If and when Samadhi ever arises THEN, it gets tricky and you have to start applying your samadhi to different objects. See Patanjali.
That's basically Vinyasa Krama, it tends to be practiced at home rather than in a studio or with a teacher, no need to stress about fancy techniques to attain postures, visualisations, and/or be obsessed with alignment, just let the breath align you, choose an easier variation of an asana from Ramaswami ( or my) book if required.
YAMA/NIYAMA
Reflect on the yama/niyama as much as possible or the cultural moral/ethical codes of your own upbringing and perhaps each evening before falling asleep, with compassion, reflect on how far your day fell within them.
This is Patanjali Ashtanga Yoga, Hatha is something else altogether with different goals and objectives, hatha deals with bindu and/or kundalini and/or prana, Patanjali is concerned with developing focussed concentration that can then be applied to gain knowledge of the self.
VINYASA KRAMA RESOURCES
Hope that helps, I really hope you manage to make it to Ramaswami at some point, all of the above will make a little more sense but if you practice Primary, have seen my book, have read closely Ramaswami's book(s) and or seen some of my videos or those with Ramaswami teaching I would suggest you have all you need, the rest is practice.
Ramaswami's Yoga Beneath the Surface answers any questions you might possibly have,
his book
Yoga for the three stages of Life is an absolute treasure,
his Complete book of Vinyasa Yoga is excellent as a reference for choosing modified postures to Primary.
Best wishes for you practice and travels
Sincerely
Anthony
PS. As this reply has become longer and more detailed than I expected when I started, I think I might turn it into a blog post. Hope that's OK
Mtyresponse in Courier font, additions in Times.
Dear XXXX
Thank you for your mail and your interest but I'm really not a yoga teacher, though I may have taught a few workshops in the past.
Given that you live in the States I believe it would be so much more beneficial to spend a week or ten days with Ramaswami on one of his workshop/intensives (Ramaswami's schedule). You are so lucky to have him there in the US.
Perhaps if he was no longer with us I might consider teaching more.
I don't live in Osaka but in a small country village and travel into Osaka to my job as an English teacher.
'VINYASA KRAMA ASANA'
Note: In Vinyasa Krama we don't tend to practice the Ashtanga Suryanamaskar so much, perhaps the mantra version, or possibly with the 2 hour surya namaskar chant on Sundays.
I though, still practice my Ashtanga sun salutations out of habit and for general fitness given the fewer jump back and throughs in Viyasa Krama
We generally begin practice with some simple movements in tadasana. I tend to include a few of these before my sun salutations. Below a video of a ten minute version, I may do a few less movements, five minutes worth say. On my Youtube channel there is the full fifty minute Vinyasa Krama Tadasana sequence https://youtu.be/EEHx32PUfdY.
 |
| Example of subroutines in Ashtanga primary Series. |
For it to 'look' more like Vinyasa Krama all you need to do is cut out most of the jump backs and through ( perhaps just between each subroutine) and breathe much more slowly (around 8-10 seconds for both inhalation and exhalation, perhaps take three breaths if required to enter a posture rather than folding straight in. Stay for longer in certain key postures, paschimottanasana, maha mudra, sarvangasana, sirsasana. There are some movements/variations options in head and shoulder stand that are a little different from Primary but otherwise Primary series makes for an ideal Vinyasa Krama practice, except that breathing more slowly and occasionally staying longer in a posture will likely mean you will have to divide a Primary series over two or even three days.
On another day you might practice those first few back stretching postures from Ashtanga 2nd series, Salambhasana,Urdhva dhanurasana, ustrasana, which is also a Vinyasa krama subroutine.
 |
| Vinyasa Krama Bow sequence subroutines, similar to the first half of Ashtanga Intermediate series |
The sequences Ramaswami presents in his workshop and book are for teaching and training purpose only, once you have an idea of how the asana relate to each other, build up to, and then extend beyond the key asana you would then just choose the appropriate asana and subroutines for you each morning. Pattabhi Jois (perhaps Krishnamacharya) has already done that for us with Primary and Second Ashtanga series.
For me, with the occasional modifications, and perhaps partly due to familiarity and affection, I find the Ashtanga series appropriate. They of course closely match the order the asana as placed in Krishnamacharya table of asana in yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941).
An integrated practice
Perhaps the biggest difference is that Vinyasa Krama is more of an integrated practice.
Although some more experienced Ashtanga practitioners do include Pranyama, Sitting etc. Actually many beginner Ashtanga practitioners already have a Sitting practice from another tradition, Zen, vipassana etc. I have a Zen monk friend Hyon Gak Sunim who has only recently come to Ashtanga
Mirror of Zen /// A Day in the Moment of a Modern Zen Monk from Christine Schmitthenner on Vimeo.
So after your slower, modified, half Primary and perhaps 36 or 108 rounds of kapalabhati breathing, practice, 6, 12, 20 rounds of nadi shodhana with the pranayama mantra on the kumbhaka ( see my pranayma page for the mantra), sit for five minutes in Shanmukhi Mudra turning the senses inwards and then sit and meditated on a mantra, say Om hrim namashivaya, for 10, 20, 30, 40 minutes.
Of course if you haven't practiced pranayama before you will need to build up to it, 3-6 months of nadi shodhana without kumbhaka just as Sharath suggests, then (perhaps after discussing it with your doctor)start to introduce a kumbhaka after the inhalation - checking your pulse for any dramatic increase in heart rate.
'VINYASA KRAMA' PRANAYAMA
So start with
nadi shodhana
4s inhalation, 8s exhalation
then
5s, inhalation 10 exhalation
finally after a few months or when twelve rounds of that is comfortable, introduce kumbhaka
4s inhalation, 4s kumbhaka, 8s exhalation
5s, inhalation 5s kumbhaka, 10 exhalation
5s, inhalation 10s kumbhaka, 10 exhalation
at this point, if the pranayama mantra interests you you could split the mantra into three, spread over each stage
5s, inhalation 15s kumbhaka, 10 exhalation
mantra chanted quickly on the kumbhaka
finally
5s, inhalation 20s kumbhaka, 10 exhalation
which is the standard pranayama Ramaswami teaches.
6/12/20 rounds of that after asana each morning
or twenty rounds four times a day if committed and traditional.
'Vinyasa Krama' Pratyahara (5 to 10 minutes)
Shanmukhi Mudra is pretty much automatic, once you engage the mudra the mind automatically turns inwards, to internal sounds for example.
 |
| I chose Shanmukhi Mudra for the cover of my book rather than a fancy asana |
'VINYASA KRAMA' MEDITATION
As for Sitting. Ramaswami teaches Japa, with the mantra
Om hrim namashivaya
But you could use any Samatha (calm abiding) approach, sitting with the breath, Zen....
If and when Samadhi ever arises THEN, it gets tricky and you have to start applying your samadhi to different objects. See Patanjali.
That's basically Vinyasa Krama, it tends to be practiced at home rather than in a studio or with a teacher, no need to stress about fancy techniques to attain postures, visualisations, and/or be obsessed with alignment, just let the breath align you, choose an easier variation of an asana from Ramaswami ( or my) book if required.
YAMA/NIYAMA
Reflect on the yama/niyama as much as possible or the cultural moral/ethical codes of your own upbringing and perhaps each evening before falling asleep, with compassion, reflect on how far your day fell within them.
This is Patanjali Ashtanga Yoga, Hatha is something else altogether with different goals and objectives, hatha deals with bindu and/or kundalini and/or prana, Patanjali is concerned with developing focussed concentration that can then be applied to gain knowledge of the self.
VINYASA KRAMA RESOURCES
Hope that helps, I really hope you manage to make it to Ramaswami at some point, all of the above will make a little more sense but if you practice Primary, have seen my book, have read closely Ramaswami's book(s) and or seen some of my videos or those with Ramaswami teaching I would suggest you have all you need, the rest is practice.
Ramaswami's Yoga Beneath the Surface answers any questions you might possibly have,
his book
Yoga for the three stages of Life is an absolute treasure,
his Complete book of Vinyasa Yoga is excellent as a reference for choosing modified postures to Primary.
Best wishes for you practice and travels
Sincerely
Anthony
PS. As this reply has become longer and more detailed than I expected when I started, I think I might turn it into a blog post. Hope that's OK
3 comments:
Grim, if you don't teach, why the meticulous syllabus above? Bit ironic. Is it just that you don't have the time to teach physically?
I'm not sure where sharing practice ends and teaching begins Anon. I don't teach yoga, regularly, currently. The blog has always been about sharing my own practice, experience(s).
My inclination is always towards solitary home practice..., as a teacher I would be kicking everyone out of the shala after a couple of weeks and telling them to check-in a year or so later, the shala would be bankrupt in a week.... or my thinking would change which perhaps worries me the most and perhaps why I resist teaching.
Money/livelihood and yoga don't/shouldn't mix, in my mind.
That said, I understand that not everyone can practice at home (circumstance, kids space etc.), or that some may require the little extra motivation,the company of others can bring..., in the beginning.
The problem I feel is that many (most?) 'teachers', whether intending (realising? ) it or not, tend to try to hold on to their students, suppress the awareness that one could and perhaps should be practicing yoga alone and at home.
Even right at the 'top', the inclination/motivation is to preserve a system of asana.
Ashtanga Vinyasa, by accident perhaps, is almost designed to keep students coming back for asana practice...., deepen the asana, improve alignment, the next asana, the next series ( and the next for those whose bodies are flexible enough). Support the community, don't miss a practice, go to Mysore, go again... and again.
Then we have the 'international yoga teachers' who promote themselves and their workshops/merchandise, through asana, maintaining the focus on asana, the next asana, the next series.
And of course, if one IS interested in pranayama, feels ready for pranayama (despite being told more and more asana first), then the one pranayama is not enough for a teacher, you need pranayama workshops, intensives, books, dvds to teach all these other marketable hatha pranayama's, to make it worthwhile, you need a pranayama series.
What did those Raja yogi's do/practice before hatha came along.
Yoga?
Continued...
If the class was half a series worth of asana followed by twenty minutes of pranayama, forty of sitting, and given that the asana are always the same in ashtanga... would students keep coming back six days a week or would the system collapse, would they just practice at home? Come once a week say, once a month, would that support a shala, a teacher.
I would be/am tempted to teach a class once a week, once a month and encourage home practice the rest of the time, success for me would be marked by a mostly empty class.
The 'meticulous syllabus' I share above is so one can practice at home without me teaching because I don't believe you need a teacher, practicing the above teaches itself, deepens itself.
Sit on the edge of your chair, breath in, breathe out twice as slowly, follow the breath with your mind.
That is surely all you ever REALLY need to teach/suggest, everything else follows from this, it's practice teaches itself.
After a time the breath will slow further, you will notice the breath more as you move about your day, movements align with the breath and you might try some other simple, more formal, movements... with the breath. You might find ways to sit more comfortably, for longer, practice for longer, you might try breathing through one nostril and out the other.... or not. You might notice the natural pause between the inhalation and exhalation and attend to that as much as the inhalation and the exhalation, sit and focus on that stillness, the infinite between inhalation and exhalation, or you might focus on one point that feels natural, comfortable to you, you might forget about the breath altogether and focus more on that point. The feeling of peace and calm, of contentment perhaps that comes from this, from just sitting might make you realise that this is sufficient and as attachments drop away compassion might arise for those who are as wrapped up in their attachments as you were. Samadhi might arise within you, a profound contentment and experience of sufficiency. As it becomes stable, consistent, it might naturally direct itself at the objects of the senses, at the senses themselves, at the mind, all dropping away until all that remains is awareness itself.
It's Euclid.
That said I know there are wonderful Ashtanga vinyasa teachers out there who aren't really teachers at all perhaps but service providers, maintaing a space, giving a little guidance where necessary and letting the practice teach itself, deepen itself.
There are 'teachers' (enablers, facilitators?) who encourage, give guidance and support in meditation, who make moving on to meditation as natural an option as the next asana/series.
Some wonderful teachers in Yoga therapy, who have studied the body deeply and can give relief. Yoga culture teachers, chanting teacher, sanskrit teachers.... I'm none of these.
I see benefit in welcoming somebody for a day or two who wants to explore such an approach to practice, benefit in offering a workshop occasionally to share this perspective. I feel an obligation to pass along the approach to practice That Ramaswami shared with me from his teacher Krishnamacharya as well as my own research into his life and my practice of his Yoga Makaranda instruction, I hope I fulfil that obligation here on the blog to some degree.
I also see people, the elderly especially, who might benefit from what little I do know about moving the body and am considering sharing some of that knowledge, teaching some movements if I can learn enough not to do more harm than good.
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