How to handstand - Simon Borg-Olivier

A good friend recently asked me about handstands.

Simon Borg-Olivier - lifting to handstand

Handstands aren't something I tend to engage in much these days. Personally, lolasana and my shoulderstand and headstand variations feel quite sufficient ( I should probably practice forearm stand more often). That said, Jessica Walden's videos of slow, seemingly effortless floating up into handstand on the breath as well as equally slowly lowering into postures fills me with awe. I can see the point of exploring them.

On Simon's online courses, his excellent Fundamentals course as well as the superb Yoga Therapy course I'm currently following, he mentions (and includes video of) handstands and how to approach them through diaphragmatic breathing, "a firm but calm", seemingly effortless lift into handstand. I've tried it and it's true, even with my lack of arm balances and loss of arm and shoulder strength of late I was able to pretty much float up.

Yogasynergy Fundamentals course
https://yogasynergy.com/online-courses/advanced-yoga-fundamentals-essentials-teaching-yoga/

Yogasynergy Yoga Therapy course (note in the context of the Yoga Therapy course, Simon is discussing breathing into the abdomen, the handstand demonstration is more an illustration
Video 70: Case study – Lower back and sacroiliac joint pain 3.
In this section, Simon explains how to release a stiff and painful lower back by breathing into the abdomen, and how to stimulate the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system
to help the healing process.

Quote from the video
Simon: "Did I ask you to lift up to handstand?
Attendee: "(with the biggest grin) It just happened naturally.... because I was pushing down..."

Direction
Simon: "Put the hands on the floor, bring the shoulders forward, push the sitting bones down, lift the top of the hips up, bend less at the hips, lift the ribs up, bend more at the spine, push the belly button down, push down on my hands (simon has his hands beneath her belly), push down on my hands, push down on my hands from there (L5), push the sitting bones down, top of the hips up, push the belly button down, now breathe in.....(and up she goes)".


https://yogasynergy.com/online-courses/yoga-therapy-therapeutic-applications-posture-movement-breathing/

Here then is as much as Simon's presentation of his approach as I can find freely available, outside his course, on Youtube and his blog, I hope it helps.

Demonstration

This is a similar demonstration to the one I've described above from the Yoga therapy course

Prerequisites

See this post on pre-requisites for headstand

http://simonborgolivier.com/pre-requisites-headstand/


"To be adequately prepared for the Headstand (Sirsasana) you have to have first mastered  the ‘Shoulderstand posture’ (Salamba sarvangâsana). To be adequately prepared for the ‘Shoulderstand posture’ (Salamba sarvangâsana) and variations of the ‘Plough posture’ (Halâsana) the following postures should have been mastered first:

‘Legs up the wall posture’ (Salamba urdhva prasarita padâsana)
‘Unsupported arms-up bridge posture’ (Niralamba urdhva hasta setu bandhâsana)
‘Back-spinal-lengthening forward-bending posture’ (Pascimotanâsana)
‘Toes-to-floor unsupported half sit-up two-knees-to-chest posture’ (Padangustha niralamba uttana supta pavan muktâsana)
‘Front-spinal-lengthening backward-bending posture’ (Purvotanâsana)

Also to be safe to be able to do headstand I believe it is important to recognise that in many more traditional sequences, such as the ashtanga vinyasa sequences  taught by Sri K Pattabhi Jois (Guruji), headstand was taught last, and one thing that Guruji was very big on was that you should not attempt any posture in his sequence till the ones before that posture were mastered. Hence to really be safe in headstand (sirsasana) you should first have mastered shoulder stand (sarvangasaana), and to be safe in shoulder stand you need to have mastered full forward bends and backbending postures too. In fact to be really fair one needs to acknowledge that the first postures in a sequence like the ashtanga vinyasa practices taught by Sri K Pattabhi Jois are those in the Salute to the Sun (surya namaskar) and the third posture is the preparation to a handstand (lolasana) that comes just before the smooth transition to the ‘push up’ posture (chataranga dandasaana). Lolasana is fact such an important posture that it should in fact be practiced twice for every vinyasa (‘up-dog’ to ‘down-dog movement) in the traditional series of ashtanga vinyasa yoga. Hence, I believe  it is therefore fair to say that a really important pre-requisite of being able to do a safe headstand is lolasana, and if for some reason the wrists are not able to do this arm balancing posture then at least you should be able to have the abdominal (core) control to do similar supine postures such as a half-situp (similar to ardha navasana in BKS Iyengar’s ‘Light on Yoga’)"

Hand, harm, shoulder stability

Simple Tips to help to Arm Balancing Postures and Push-up positions: from this post

https://yogasynergy.com/tips-for-developing-arm-and-core-strength-for-arm-balancing-postures-and-push-up-positions/

(note that every position that takes weight on the arms has specific details that may not be mentioned here)

- have the palms flat on the floor but grip with your finger tips
- press more on the inside (thumb-side) of the palms for better force transfer from the forearms to the wrists
- squeeze the heel of the palm inwards (as if trying to turn the palm out) in order to stabilise the elbow
- tighten the underarm muscles by pressing the arm pits in the direction they are pointing
- generally bring the shoulders over the over the finger tips (for most arm balances)
- spread the shoulder blades and lengthen the skin between the shoulder blades in the upper back
- push the sitting bones and lower trunk toward the same direction the navel is pointing until the front of the abdomen becomes firm without sucking the navel to the spine
- breathe into the firm abdomen to give you relaxed inner power that can be maintained for a long time without stress
- don’t do anything that feels painful or is potentially dangerous for you

Instruction

How to lift to handstand

See this post

https://yogasynergy.com/spinal-movement-sequence-15-how-to-lift-into-handstand/

from the notes
"The same principle is used in things like handstands. So if I bring my arms up in the air initially and lengthen the spine, slightly extending the spine as well, and then bring my hands to the floor, as I moving towards the floor I am pushing the hips forward throughout. I lean onto the hands and lift the head up. Lifting the upper back and pushing the sitting bones towards the hands firms the front of the abdomen. Simply breathing into my abdomen (firmed by posture), or rather breathing with my diaphragm into the abdomen causes an increase in the intra-abdominal and intra-thoracic pressure which straight away puts strength into my arms. Here I simply breathe into the abdomen as my legs are lifting and the instant strength comes to the body. It doesn’t feel like a strain to lift the body. Whereas you can lift up to a handstand with just brute force.

A lot of weightlifters will do lifting exercises using what’s called a Valsalva manoeuvre. Where you make an in-breath then hold the breath and then tense all the muscles of exhalation. In so doing you also increase intra-abdominal and intra-thoracic pressure and intra-cranial pressure as well. This gives you more strength in the arms but the problem is that a weightlifters blood pressure has been shown to go up from a normal level of 120/70 to extreme levels of 380/360. And so there’s a risk then that if you use the Valsalva manoeuvre for strength exercises such as lifting weights or handstands that you risk bursting a blood vessel in your head, or your heart, have a heart attack or a stroke and just increase a lot of stress at the same time. So the trick is to remain very calm and breathe with your diaphragm into an abdomen firmed by posture (as opposed to tension)."

Explanation

see this post

https://yogasynergy.com/spinal-movement-sequence-14/

from the notes

"USING YOUR BREATH WITH STHIRA SUKHAM ASANAM (TO BE FIRM BUT CALM)

Of course you can get away with doing this if you harden the abdomen with the muscles of exhalation. So if I breathe in here [See demonstration of breathing into the abdomen], and then exhale gently and relaxed as I’ve done there [See demonstration of relaxed exhalation] with the abdomen soft the lungs are not fully empty. Also, to exhale fully you are required to tighten the muscles of exhalation. These are circular muscles that go all around the bottom of the trunk. So you see my fingers in my abdomen now, if I tighten my exhalation muscles, the trunk moves inwards away from my fingers. So it’s like I’ve wrapped a belt around my lower waist. This gives a certain amount of abdominal firmness and protects my back if I’m doing a lifting exercise or a straining or stretching exercise.
But the problem is because I’ve used the muscles of exhalation to tighten my abdomen that straight away reciprocally relaxes or inhibits the main muscles of inhalation which is the diaphragm. So it means then with the diaphragm inhibited there is an inhibition of the organs that the diaphragm helps to control and stimulate, including the reproductive system, the immune system, and the digestive system.
Also with these belt muscles contracted and pulling the whole spine inwards it blocks the energy and information from the trunk to the legs. So then to pump the blood to the legs the heart has to work a lot harder, the lungs have to work a lot harder. So, the movements that I am trying to do should not have to tighten all of these things if I want to stay calm. In the Hatha Yoga tradition of India there is only one description of physical exercise. It’s only one sentence. It says “Sthiram Sukham Asanam”. It means physical exercise should be with firmness but with calmness. It’s learning how to do stressful things in a relaxing way. So to protect the back I need to be firm. But to keep calm diaphragmatic breathing and stimulation of the para-sympathetic nervous system is important. The funny thing is that once you learn this you will not only be protected but it will give you tremendous strength. So if someone is just tightening the abdomen like this [See demonstration of pulling the abdomen inwards] they cannot breathe from their diaphragm. So, then what tends to happen is that their chest expands. When the chest expands it makes the body weaker. If the abdomen expands it also makes the body weaker. So when you see adept practitioners of eastern forms of exercise including the Chinese Martial Arts or the Indian Hatha Yoga – there’s also Indian Martial Arts and Chinese Yoga as well, but they all relate – you never see adept practitioners expand their abdomen or their chest. You can use the analogy of the balloon which a child blows up as opposed to the tyre of a car, when you blow a balloon up it gets bigger but the walls actually get thinner and less strong. Whereas when you add more air to a car tyre the walls don’t get any larger but actually the more air coming into the tyre allows it to become much stronger. So you can actually put a ten tonne truck on a hard walled tyre filled with air but something which expands like a balloon will just burst if you put more air into it. So the chest and the abdomen are the same. An in-breath which expands the chest will only make the spine weaker. An in-breath which expands the abdomen will only make you weaker. So in the Martial Arts, in Hatha Yoga it’s always said that you should breathe diaphragmatically but with firmness. So if I breathe diaphragmatically standing normally the abdomen puffs out. But if all I do is push the sitting bones forward the front of the abdomen automatically goes firm and the sides are relaxed. Then if I breathe into the abdomen it doesn’t move but because it’s a diaphragmatic breath I stay calm".

NOTE

I was asked about the "push down the sit bones", how do you do that when upside down. I think it's easier to make sense of it when the right way up, see this post
https://yogasynergy.com/spinal-movements-part-5-lengthening-the-spine-and-bending-forward-spinal-flexion/


Video Transcript:

“Now I do four movements to help lengthen the spine using the hips and the arms. With the fingers interlocked I push the sitting bones down and forward and the armpits up and forward and traction the spine. Raising the heels helps firm around the knees and squeezing in the thighs helps firm knees and spine. Now I flex (forward bend) the spine first tilting the spine forward, flexing from the middle and pushing the shoulders down and forward. Now the front of my abdomen becomes firm and the sides are relaxed. Front firmness causes reciprocal relaxation of the back of the spine. Breathing into the abdomen using the diaphragm, an inhalation muscle, causes reciprocal relaxation of the exhalation muscles. So the back of my spine is relaxing while the front is firming.”

"This is a simple explanation. Ideally in reality you should move the spine one vertebra at a time starting from the base of the spine up".

UPDATE from Simon

It may be a surprise to some that the common household ‘triangle posture’ has surprisingly so much in common with how to lift up slowly into a handstand, starting by leaning into the palms with your elbows straight, your shoulders over your fingers, with your heels raised and your toe tips initially on the floor.
Some tips to begin both postures:
* Push the sitting bones down
* Move the top of the hips backward to lengthen your lower back
* Move your lower front ribs inwards and lengthen the upper back
* Inhale into the abdomen
For detailed instructions see my friend Anthony Grim Hall’s brilliant blog on handstand here. In it he refers a lot to how Bianca Machliss and I teach many postures to become firm and strong but remain calm and energised.

Appendix

Below: back when I used to indulge.

Iyengar includes a handstand in his demonstration in the Krishnamacharya footage video Mysore 1938 suggesting Krishnamacharya taught them.

Ramaswami also includes a handstand in his group of arm balances in his Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga based on his studies with Krishnamacharya. 

In a recent Chuck Miller interview he suggests that Pattabhi Jois encouraged them for a time before later discouraging them.

A couple of old posts on handstands

Handstand in the old text Yogāsana-Jaina

Updated draft: Handstands, backbends and Saganaki in Rethymno - Pattabhi Jois led handstands and Derek Irelands handstand after every 2nd series asana.

Did Krishnamacharya teach arm balances? plus arm balances by BKS Iyengar, Krishnamacharya's wife, Pattabhi Jois and Jessica Walden

Review: Mysore Yoga Tradition (documentary) and the inclusion of Surya Namaskara (sun salutation) in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga

Reposting from this time last year

UPDATE Oct 9th 2018

Looking forward to attending this...

Mysore Yoga Traditions Retreat and Conference
February 8-22  2019
https://www.mysoreyogatraditions.com/mysore-retreat

The blog post Includes several 1941 Life magazine photos of T.R.S. SHARMA, one of the boys Krishnamacharya was teaching at the time in Mysore ( Note: 1941 was also the year Krishnamacharya published Yogasanagalu which contains Krishnamacharya's 'Table of Asana', divided into three groups, Primary, Middle, Proficient, which became the Ashtanga sequences we know today http://grimmly2007.blogspot.com/p/yogasanagalu-translation-project.html ). The post also includes a clip and some screen shots of T.R.S. Sharma from the documentary. I'm very much looking forward to meeting him on the retreat.

I like the thought of broadening our perspective of Ashtanga vinyasa out from one scene, one teacher, one family to that of Mysore itself, to the practice, practitioners and teachers the city has inspired, to the philosophical traditions from which it derives. This is, for me, personally at least, perhaps a way back to a practice I loved for so long after the upheaval of the last year.

It's no coincidence that Ashtanga vinyasa arose in that city and at that time, we can look to the Royal family and their patronage of Krishnamacharya, we can look to the Sanskrit college where Krishnamacharya and later Pattabhi Jois, taught. Ashtangi's know their practice is a Mysore practice but If you practice Iyengar yoga be reminded that Iyengar learned his yoga here, Iyengar yoga is as much Mysore as Pune. The Vinyasa Krama of Ramaswami, Mohan, Desikachar? We can see in Krishnamacharya's inversion vinyasas, in the 1938 Mysore documentary footage, the same vinyasas that these students of Krishnamacharya would later teach (we also see Krishnamachrya practicing Acroyoga with his kids in the same documentary).

Attending the retreat (https://www.mysoreyogatraditions.com/mysore-retreat),  and watching the documentary are two ways to support that work too long neglected by the Ashtanga community, another is to donate directly here https://www.mysoreyogatraditions.com/manuscript-preservation

T.R.S. SHARMA (Mysore 1941), the year Krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu was published (available HERE)
More photos of TRS Sharma's set of photos from the 1941 Life magazine shoot in the appendix as well as a ling to the rest of the photos and magazine article.

"And by the time I got to 16, I was able to do some 300 asanas with all the variations of course, because Sri krishnamacharya believed in a kind of innovating. There was nothing like a set, fixed kind of postures. So he would not insist that everyone has to follow the same regime, the same series of asana. One thing is , he was very particular about surya namaskara, you start your yoga with surya namaskara, after that the world is free. You are free to sort of innovate on postures. But Surya namaskara is an important thing. IT's kind of an introduction to the entire thing." 

T.R.S. SHARMA Mysore Yoga Tradition 2017

https://www.mysoreyogatraditions.com/

This quote by T.R.S. SHARMA in the excellent new documentary Mysore Yoga Traditions, released last month, was a bit of a game changer for me. Up until now I had tended to think that Krishnamacharya was perhaps somewhat dismissive of the practice of Surya namaskara, perhaps considering them little more than a fitness fad of the time (see my earlier post http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2012/05/balasahibs-original-1928-suya-namaskar.html ). And that it was Krishnamacharya's young student Pattabhi Jois (said to have been asked to teach a three or four year course at the Sanskrit college) who added the Surya namaskara's to the beginning of the practice of the asana we find in Krishnamacharya's table of asana (Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941). That Surya namaskara practice, along with practicing Krishnamacharya's table as fixed series rather than flexible groups that constituted Pattabhi Jois' main contribution to the formation of Ashtanga Vinyasa. I was mistaken, T.R.S. SHARMA is clear, Surya namaskara WAS important for Krishnamacharya. After their inclusion we are free to choose our practice, as well as to innovate, what is appropriate for us that morning.  This of course ties in with how Krishnamacharya continued to teach throughout his life, how Ramaswami , who encountered Krishnamacharya soon after the later left Mysore, presents his studies with his teacher.

Note: As much as I love and respect Manju, I strongly disagree with him here when he argues in the movie that it was his father Pattabhi Jois who researched and constructed the sequences of asana that make up Ashtanga Vinyasa. We have Krishnamacharya's table of asana in his Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941) 

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/p/yogasanagalu-translation-project.html, the first two series of Ashtanga closely follow the layout of asana in the table, with only minor reordering. The difference, as T.R.S. Sharma points out, is that for Krishnamacharya the practice of the asana was flexible, for Pattabhi Jois more fixed (See this recent post http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2017/09/manju-jois-new-workshop-video-q-and.html). 

Manju stresses that there were originally only three series, Primary, Intermediate and Advanced, I would argue that it is with the advanced asana that Pattabhi Jois had the most input, arranging Krishnamacharya's jumble of proficient group asana into first one series 'Advanced', then two, 'Advanced A and B' and then finally four advanced series 3rd to 6th series (note: We can see most of the Advanced asana found in Ashtanga's 3rd to 6th series demonstrated by Iyengar in the 1938 documentary footage of Krishnamacharya, his family and students).

Of course Pattabhi Jois also mentioned that advanced asana were merely for demonstration, just as Krishnamacharya had suggested they were unnecessary for most but that some should practice them if only for the sake of preservation.

Ashtanga Vinyasa, it's origin and continuation is but one part of the story the documentary Mysore Yoga Traditions has to tell, I strongly recommend watching it, it is no coincidence that Ashtanga vinyasa evolved in Mysore, this is a city that has a long tradition of of investigating, preserving and teaching the history of yoga and it's texts through, among others, the venerable institution of the Sanskrit college and Mysore library.

Below. the trailer for the movie along with some info from the website and some more clips, the 

Mysore Yoga Traditions Official Trailer 

"Mysore Yoga Traditions! It is a tale to tell. Our original intention was to make a film about the life and teachings of our teacher Sri BNS Iyengar in honor of his 90th birthday. I had been asking for 3 years. But at the last moment, he changed his mind and flatly refused. An important part of his teachings has always been about rejecting fame and fortune, self-promotion and the egotism that goes with it. We knew better than to press the issue. But we went to Mysore anyway to see Guruji and see what would happen with the documentary idea. What happened totally blew our minds! Through luck, chance, good fortune and the tireless efforts of Kanchan Mala we were able to interview Her Royal Highness Sri Satya Pramoda Devi, the Queen of Mysore, as well as Bhashyam Iyengar, the principal of the Maharaja's Sanskrit College in Mysore (the college where Krishnamacharya and Pattabhi Jois taught) several of the professors there including MA Alwar, Gangadhar Bhat, Satya Nariana, Jayashree and Narasimhan of the Ananta Research Institute,TRS Sharma, Yamini Muthana, Sri Laxmi Thathachar the President of the Samskrti Institute, and many others. Guruji finally agreed to an interview in the end - he just didn't want to make a documentary only about himself. Becuase of this our documentary broadened exponentially and we owe it all to him! That level of detachment is why we call him Guruji.

What we came up with was a deep look into the yoga tradition in Mysore, how it has evolved and the philosophy that it rests upon. Our documentary will be an unbiased collection of statements from the intellectual community in Mysore about how they see their own yoga tradition. We were able to ask the questions that have always been in the back of our minds such as....How old is the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga we are practicing in the west today and how did it evolve into it's current state? How do they feel about the idea that western exercise systems have influenced it? And how do they feel about the way yoga is being taught and practiced around the world today, among many other topics.

We left Mysore with our hearts full and tears in our eyes at the warmth, generosity, astounding level of knowledge, and deep sincerity of the great men and women we interviewed. We are extremely grateful to all of them! These interviews could never have happened without the help of Kanchan Mala who worked tirelessly to arrange them and convinced people who normally would never be interested in such things to give us interviews.

Also, I have to express my deep gratitude to Dallos Paz, our video man, Joey Paz who did nearly all of the long tedious job of transcribing these interviews, Kelly O'Roke who has been extremely generous and took so many amazing still shots, and Bryce Delbridge who supported all of us with utmost sincerity. Without these beautiful souls, this documentary could never have taken place".

MYSORE

Pattabhi Jois: Asthanga finds its Way to the West

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois was certainly the person who communicated Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga to the west. Without even speaking English fluently, he managed to create huge enthusiasm and dedication in his students. In my eyes, he was a creative genius. He systematized the asanas in a way that made sense and that many people could practice and memorize. To this day, his sequencing and approach is very influential in many forms of yoga throughout the world. His method of teaching turned out some of the finest western practitioners ever, and really ignited a fire in many people. And true to his culture, the way all good Indian teachers do, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois handed all the credit back to his teacher and the tradition that he came from. He never said a word about any of his own contributions.

I think that is where the confusion comes in. He insisted that yoga is ancient, that he was teaching a good method, and that his students should stick to it. What’s wrong with that? There is a lot of humbleness and dedication expressed there. To me, it is endearing! Especially in the yoga scene of today where everyone is trying so hard to think of any possible new twist to put on yoga. The moment anyone thinks of a good idea to add to yoga, they will usually try to brand it, copyright it, and take it to the bank! We have every kind of yoga imaginable now. We are so attached to the material aspects of the practice that we miss the point of the whole thing. We bicker and quarrel about asana sequences that are very modern in light of yoga’s long history, and fail to see the deep, beautiful community and culture that gave them to us.

 As David Williams used to say “Before practice the theory is useless, and after practice the theory is obvious.” Theory and practice: “Before practice the theory is useless, and after practice the theory is obvious.”

'Never changed anything' (said to be Krishnamacharya and Pattabhi Jois's reply when asked about the 'system they taught): Why does every teacher insist on having been giving precisely this sequence from his teacher, who received it from his teacher (and from his teacher and from his teacher…)?

Not every teacher does. My teacher, Sri BNS Iyengar, who just turned 90, teaches a slightly different sequence of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. He can be very innovative when working with advanced students. In fact, no two teachers teach every nuance of yoga exactly the same. No matter how hard we try, it is impossible. I think there is a good reason for fixed sequences. Having an underlying system in common is a brilliant thing and has had a very positive impact on yoga, in my view. The fixed sequences are like the scales a classically trained musician must learn. Anyone trained in the Ashtanga sequences of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois or Sri BNS Iyengar has a particular grace and competency gained through repetition of movement that is very noticeable. I think Sri K. Pattabhi Jois may have made a bigger contribution than anyone else in this regard. When the sequences are fixed, the practice becomes much more concentrated and the standard goes up exponentially.

So in my view, the asanas we are practicing do come from a long tradition. And the yoga community  they come from is very old indeed. They just happen to be a little more recently formatted than we would have liked to think. Yoga has been around forever and taken many forms.

https://www.ashtangayoga.info/ashtangayoga/tradition/170314-tradition-vs-innovation/

Appendix

Here are some screenshots of the scene with T.R.S. SHARMA quoted above.

A short introduction to TRS Sharma from a recent workshop

"Ashtanga Yoga Studio is very honored to host a Skype lecture with TRS Sharma! This is an amazing opportunity to hear the thoughts and views of someone who studied extensively with T. Krishnamacharya during his early days in Mysore. TRS Sharma began to practice yoga with Krishnamacharya at the age of 12. Krishnamacharya is considered by many to be the father of modern yoga. Mr. Sharma grew up in the heart of the yoga tradition in Mysore. He comes from a long line of Sanskrit scholars and priests. Experts are now saying that at least half of the yoga postures practiced outside of India have been directly influenced by Krishnamacharya. Because he was educated in America, Mr. Sharma has a unique insight a very articulate view of how yoga has unfolded into Western culture. Mr. Sharma is particularly interested in the way Indian and Western culture have blended together, and the parallels as well as the stark differences in our views. He will be speaking about the history of the yoga we are practicing today, as well as the cultural and philosophical background that it has come from. There will be time for questions and answers at the end.

Have you have ever been curious about the origins yoga we are practicing today? Just who are the keepers of this knowledge? What do they think about the way we practice yoga today? Mysore holds those secrets. This is a rare and special opportunity!

Everyone is welcome!"

https://www.ashtangayoga.info/ashtangayoga/tradition/170314-tradition-vs-innovation/

*

More photos from the Life magazine photo shoot, see this post for the full series of photos of Krishnamacharya's students. http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2017/02/krishnamacharyas-mysore-yoga-students.html

Set 3

T R S Sharma

Note: TRS Sharma is interviewed in the upcoming documentary 

'The Mysore Yoga Tradition', see at 1:48 in the movie's trailer 

at the end of post.

 

I like the thought of broadening our perspective of Ashtanga from one scene, one teacher, one family to that of Mysore itself. It's no coincidence that Ashtanga vinyasa arose in that city and at that time, we can look to the Royal family and their patronage of Krishnamacharya, we can look to the Sanskrit college where Krishnamacharya and later Pattabhi Jois, taught. We can also make ourselves more aware of the great work being done in Mysore to preserve ancient texts and palm leaf manuscripts. If the fabled Yoga Korunta ever existed, these may well be the people to discover, digitise, translate and preserve....., as well as other equally fabulous works.

Preserving palm leaf manuscripts

Attending the retreat (https://www.mysoreyogatraditions.com/mysore-retreat), purchasing ( https://www.mysoreyogatraditions.com/purchase ) and watching the documentary are two ways to support that work too long neglected by the Ashtanga community, another is to donate directly here https://www.mysoreyogatraditions.com/manuscript-preservation

*

प्रत्यय pratyaya (State of Mind) - October 2017 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami—

In September 2017 I taught an extended weekend program on Samkhya Karika at Chicago Yoga Center.

I will be teaching a text योग याज्ञवल्क्य

yoga yājñavalkya next September at Chicago Yoga Center.

I am planning to go to India towards the end of this year and stay there for a few months. I am scheduled to teach Samkhya Karika for 5 days at Yoga Vahini in Chennai between Jan 3 to Jan 7 in 2018 and then 100 hr Teacher Training program in Vinyasakrama yoga (60 hrs Vinyasakrama asanas 20 hr pranayama and yoga for Internal Organs and 20 hrs yoga sutras) from Feb 15^th for 15 days again at Yoga Vahini Chennai. I will also be teaching Bhagavatgita for 10 days (50hrs) at Om Yoga at Vasanth Vihar in New Delhi from March 6, 2018. The links for details and registration are available in my website

www.vinyasakrama.com/Events

I am also likely to do a weekend program in Germany, May 2018 to be confirmed.

*****

Summer 2015 I taught a 25 hr Bhagavat gita program in Los Angeles during which I covered about 10 of the 18 chapters. It was organized by my yoga friends Sara Mata and Arun Deva. The whole program was video-graphed by my friends Lisa Leeman, Kija Manhare and Neerad Reddy. Now my friend and yoga teacher Jacquelin Sonderling has painstakingly edited and produced two videos of the II chapter running for about three hours total. I was able to add it to my You Tube Playlist and here are the links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF1XRiJgQoY&index=1&list=PLN9tS6ehGx58DBkTboNm7gYHuUsw6rSJF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbvxndP1G1I&index=2&list=PLN9tS6ehGx58DBkTboNm7gYHuUsw6rSJF

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प्रत्यय pratyaya (state of mind)

The term pratyaya is found in Patanjali's yoga sutra in sutras I-10,I-18,I-19, II-20,III-2, III-12,III-17, III-19 and III-35,IV-27 . Pratyaya or pratyayam is prati + ayam or ayam prati pratyayam. While prati itself has different shades of meaning it is here 'to' or 'towards' and ayam is 'this'. Since this word is used in the context of the mind or citta many scholars refer to pratyaya as a state of citta or mental state at a given moment. Some scholars relate pratyaya to cittavritti itself. In YS II-20 referred to above, while describing purusha or drashta the consciousness/Self, Patanjali explains it as prataya anupasyah or one who completely sees the pratyaya. We know purusha or cit follows the cittavritti. According to Patanjali the innumerable cittavrittis are grouped into five. However a detailed interpretation of pratyaya can be found in Samkhya especially samkhyakarika. Samkhya is a sibling (philosophy) of yoga and both are said to derive their inspiration from the vedas. Samkhya is a thorough and unique evidence based philosophical system and yoga develops on the samkhya framework.

Let us see what the Samkhyas have to say about pratyaya. We must recognize that the classification of pratyayas by Samkhyas is to help recognizing those favorable pratyayas that help to understand the whole samkhya tatvas (25 panca vimsati) especially the important purusha or jnaH, which is the means of overcoming the three types of grief (duhkha) referred to by both yogis and samkhyas. The pratyayas according to Samkhyas as enunciated by Iswarakrishna in his Samkhya Karika are 50 in number ( as against the five groups of cittavritis of Patanjali) which itself is grouped into 4 categories. Again out of the 4 categories only one is favorable to the spiritual aspirant like samkhyas and yogis. What are the 4 categories?

First of all is the group known as viparyaya pratyayas. Viparyaya as is known from patanjala yoga is believing falsehood as true, a la believing fake news as factual or the classic mistake that the body mind complex is the self -- a universal misconception berated by samkhyas, yogis and vedantins-- and not the consciousness/purusha. . Viparyayas are klesas as avidya and its four off shoots, asmita (I -feeling with the body mind complex) raga (intense attachment) dvesha (enmity) and then abhinivesa (fear especially of death). The five viparyayas are explained differently by other darsanas and scholars as tamas (darkness 8 shades), moha (delusion 8 shades), mahamoha (intense delusion 10) , tamisra (gloom 18 fold) andhatamisra (panic also 18).

The next group of pratyayas is known as tushti. It is a state of complacence, compromise or a mental state of 'rising with the tide and rolling with the punches'. Even having heard of the nature of the Self by listening to samkhya yoga or vedanta one may not be proactive. That state of mind or pratyaya is of nine types, four internal and five with external objects. Having a second hand knowledge of the self (paroksha) one may make no further efforts to know directly (aparoksha) through appropriate efforts like antaranga sadhana as in Rajayoga. The attitude that I have heard about the nature of prakriti and purusha and prakriti will bring about kaivalya in due course is called prakriti tushti. This can be extrapolated to mundane activities. as well. The second tushti is called upadana or trying to pay attention only to the external means for kaivalya. Having understood that the external universe is full of pain as mentioned by samkhya yoga and vedanta, one may decide to become a renunciate or a bairagi (vairagi) taking on the life of a sanyasi. Here there is no further attempt to get to know the atman by antaranga yoga but following the niyamas of a recluse like wearing orange or other color robes, leaving home and becoming a nomad, and showing other external signs as having a staff, shaving the head (mundi) or the other opposite, having long matted hair (jati) or having a tuft (shikhi). The belief that merely becoming a recluse and following the niyamas will somehow get one to kaivalya is the second internal complacency. Next is the complacency that kaivalya will happen in due course. “Time will solve all the problems”. With this tushti pratyaya one may remain content. The fourth adhyatma tushti (internal contentment) is depending on luck or bhagya. If I am lucky I will get Kaivalya, one day I will hit the spiritual jackpot.

The contentment with the outside universe is of five types. Once the bookish knowledge of the atman and prakriti takes place in an individual one may become complacent with the activities to be done. Different scholars explain these differently. One approach is to look at the duhkha the external world produces to the individual and deciding to put up with it, grin and bear it. One example given is this. Finding that earning the means of livelihood like money and possession is strenuous one may stop working to earn money and decide to live in poverty. (arjane duhkham) Then even if you earn and save, protecting it is duhkha (rakshnae duhkham). Once you save and start using it it becomes depleted and that also is a source of sorrow (jirne duhkham) Wastage or loss due to theft or taxes is another duhkha and finally acquisition usually causes injury to other beings. Some scholars refer to the five senses and developing dispassion towards the objects of the five senses as they do not produce permanent satisfaction and require more and more efforts for the same satisfaction. These nine pratyayas called tushti pratyaya do not per se lead to the ultimate goal of kaivalya state where the three types of duhkha (adhyatmika aadhi daivika and aadhi bhoutika) are permanently and definitively removed. These tushti pratyayas are impediments to achieving the goal- spiritual or even mundane.

The next set of pratyayas are the favourable ones to remove the three groups of pain or sorrow. There are called siddhi pratyaya or those mental states conducive to leading one to kaivalya or freedom from three types of duhkha definitively and for ever. Yogis are familiar with Siddhi and Patanjali explains a number of siddhis in his yoga sutras. The mother of all siddhis however is the direct perception (yougika pratyaksha) of the unwavering consciousness the Purusha or self. Here also siddhis refer to the mental states that lead to that kaivalya and also the very state of the mind in kaivalya. So the eight siddhis are divided into the principal (mukhya) and contributory (gaunya). The principal ones are three the state of kaivalya in which the three duhkhas—duhkhas due to one's body/mind, those due to other creatures and then those caused by acts of god. The means of attaining everlasting freedom are according to samkhyas five more. One is 'uha' or reasoning and contemplation. This would also include the whole group of internal practises the yogis are familiar with. Once an aspirant gets all the information, one has to thoroughly analyze and internalize. There is the classical example of Bhrugu the son of Varuna in the Taittiriya upanishad which contains the pancha kosa vidya which again yogis are familiar with. Bhrugu who came to know about the Brahman the ultimate reality sought his father's help to completely understand it, know it, directly experience it. The father gives a leading definition of Brahman as the one from which everything is created by which everything is sustained and finally into which everything merges. This is called tatasta lakshna or path showing instruction. Here the father, Varuna acted truly as an Acharya or one who is showing the path rather than carrying his son/disciple on his shoulders. The well known story is that Bhrugu in five steps realizes the true nature of Brahman by rejecting the five layers of the physical self of body, prana, mind (indriyas), intellect and emotion as not the real self. Thus it could be seen that the individual yogic mental effort called 'uha' by the Samkhyas is absolutely necessary to reach the ultimate sorrow free state of kaivalya. It may be said that the mental states of complete individual efforts, independent reasoning—sometimes not even found in texts-- would come under Uha. The other helpful mental states in this direction would be sabda or basically hearing the exposition of texts like Samkhya. Adhyayana is study of the vedas especially the philosophical portions like the upanishads and texts like samkhya . Dana is paying appropriate guru dakshina and studying with a competent teacher. Suhrit prapti is the right samkhya knowledge obtained from friends including family tradition. These nine pratyayas are favorable pratyayas or mental states for the one who is looking for a way to overcome the three types of perennial pain that the samkhyas yogis and vedantis urge one to permanently and definitively eradicate within one's lifetime.

The remaining 28 pratyayas are termed asakti or depravity / weakness pratyayas. Of these, pertaining to indriyas are 11. Since the weakness or impairment of indriyas also affect the intellect or state of the mind these are considered 11 weakness pratyayas of the mind or states of mind. If the mind is not in a state of tushti (nine as detailed earlier) or sidhhi (eight listed above) they are also considered to be weakness of the mind. So in all we have 42 states of mind --5 viparyayas ( faulty understanding), 28 asaktis (infirmities) and 9 tushtis (complacent) which are considered unfavorable states of mind or pratyayas and considered impediments (ankusa) for the development of pratyayas that are favorable to removing the three fold miseries which have been described as siddhi pratyayas.

As mentioned earlier Patanjali uses the term pratyaya in his yogasutras. He defines the purusha or the 'subject' as drashta or seer who merely sees (drisimatrah), suddha is untarnished by any of the gunas

द्रष्टा दृशिमात्रः शुद्धोपि प्रत्ययानुपश्यः

draṣṭā dṛśimātraḥ śuddhopi pratyayānupaśyaḥ

And then it always sees the object in the form of pratyaya or mental state. We consider the physical person as the self and the outsides things as objects. But according to Patanjali the subject is not the body mind complex but the unchanging consciousness called purusha and the object is one pratyaya at a time, one of the 50 states of the mind (No object of the outside world is known directly. Everything is reduced to a pratyaya or cittavritti which is overseen by the subject purusha). Of these 8, the siddhi pratyayas or mental states are favourable (from the viewpoint of samkhyas and yogis). The other 42 pratyayas made up of 5 viparyaya (incorrect understanding), 9 tushtis (complacency) and 28 asaktis (infirmities) are impediments for spiritual pursuits..even for mundane pursuits.

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