I used to have a photo behind the blog title of my best ankle grabbing Kapotanasana, a while back I took it down, I no longer wanted to promote extreme backbends. I replaced the kapotasana with a Paschimottanasana, my body flat as a pancake along my legs.... but then it struck me that trying to replicate a representation of a paschimottanasana that I'd practiced and deepened for years could be just as dangerous as the kapotasana I had removed previously, "...there go the hamstrings, there goes the lumber spine"....., so that had to go too.
I like the photo of my lake and mountains much better.
Removing the photo header is one thing but what about all the blog posts on working towards advanced postures, all the leg behind head work, the deep twists and binds, the dropback and coming back up, the countless attaining and then deepening kapotasana posts? Deleting the blog, the whole blog is one option and I may go that way at some point but I've always tended to feel that this blog belongs to the readers and those who have commented over the years as much as to me ( UPDATE: Upon reflection on comments and messages received in response to this post I am no longer considering delete the blog ). I know it's also used as a resource by some although that worries me too. I'm not an historian, there is a lot of highly questionable conclusions here, many that I've gone beyond others that I perhaps should have and you probably should too. I suggest you don't trust a single post as read, question everything, treat every statement as a starting point in forming your own conclusions....., then don't trust them either, you're probably wrong too.
Despite barely able to touch my knees when I started yoga I was able to end up practicing all four of the original Ashtanga series, Primary to Advanced B (who knew that under my extra twenty kilo I just happend to have a body that would allow me to do pretty much anything).
It might not have been pretty at times but then Sharath and Pattabhi Jois' own asana probably kept Iyengar awake at nights. Take a look too at the old videos of the early practitioners practicing Advanced series with Jois in a garage, like me, most there probably shouldn't have have been exploring those intermediate and advanced postures. Personally I don't think Pattabhi Jois ever had much of a clue what the hell he was doing, he kind of made it up as he went along, just as his teacher Krishnamacharya had before him, However, when sexually abusing his students in his classes, I am convinced that Pattabhi Jois knew exactly what he was doing, even going so far as touching his male students in similar ways to make it seem perfectly acceptable, it never was.
These days I practice more modest asana and practice them modestly, I don't seek to enter postures that deeply, even Primary postures. I mentioned in my previous 'After Ashtanga' post that once I get past Simon Borg-Olivier's Spinal movements my practice resembles an Ashtanga half Primary. But even here I modify, simplify, back off and substitute. If I'm going to continue to practice asana then I seek a safe (for my bodies future as well as for the present), gentle practice. And yet there are still postures I feel I should probably drop, I suspect I shouldn't practice my beloved baddha konasana, certainly not as deeply as I practice it, shoulderstand and headstand are equally questionable (sigh).
It's your body, your bodies future, practice what you want as you want, you probably will anyway but be warned, Yoga IS...., can be, dangerous, you can do some serious damage to your joints and spine. I got away with it, you might not be so lucky. And most teachers don't have a clue what they are doing, I suspect, Sharath, Pattabhi Jois, even Krishnamacharya never opened an Anatomy or Physiology book in their lives. They and even Krishnamacharya's teacher and teacher's teacher took their asana from sketchy descriptions in old ant nibbled texts, from paintings and sculptures and reliefs on temples, made by artists who probably never practiced themselves, often these teachers made postures up themselves as well as the questionable benefits claimed to be obtained by practicing them.
But even that warning probably doesn't justify keeping this blog active.
Those who fall in love with asana practice will explore and take photos videos and share them with friends on social media, nothing wrong with that, sharing work in progress, it's what we were doing with these blogs. Clearly we didn't know what we were doing, we blindly trusted teachers, and that no doubt comes through. But when teachers present these Advanced postures to promote themselves and their workshops then that is something else altogether. In fact don't trust a single teacher, most have been brainwashed, either by themselves or others into thinking that what they practice and teach is perfectly safe, it's probably not but then neither is walking down the street or sitting at a computer all day, practice at your own risk. If you do seek a teacher, sit in on a class first, make sure they have more than the yoga alliance anatomy minimum, find out how long they've been teaching, if they are respected by their peers, check the policy of the studio who hired them, do they seek experience over Instagram followers and even then be prepared to walk away.
Do not do this.....at home...... or anywhere else.
And yet...., should you still choose to (after much reflection just as you would hopefully before diving with great white sharks), then a simple, gentle meditative practice can be quite profound. Despite the potential risk to my joints I still like to wave my arms about, take a simple posture and sit with it, I still like to explore simple breathing patterns, I still like to practice..... at home.
Below, a class with Simon Borg-Olivier, perhaps the only teacher I've encountered personally who I have confidence in that what he offers, along with the caveats he gives, is likely safe enough for most. There are others of course, you just have to hunt around a bit...., a lot.
Appendix
Current practice
If strapped for time I'll cut the asana rather than the Pranayama and Sit (priorities), perhaps a fifteen to twenty minute version.
...followed by Pranayama, I've been enjoying Simon' Borg-Olivier's approach for some time https://yogasynergy.com/2015/10/01/breathing-part-2-passive-seated-pranayama-generate-internal-energy-by-doing-less-than-nothing/
I like the photo of my lake and mountains much better.
Removing the photo header is one thing but what about all the blog posts on working towards advanced postures, all the leg behind head work, the deep twists and binds, the dropback and coming back up, the countless attaining and then deepening kapotasana posts? Deleting the blog, the whole blog is one option and I may go that way at some point but I've always tended to feel that this blog belongs to the readers and those who have commented over the years as much as to me ( UPDATE: Upon reflection on comments and messages received in response to this post I am no longer considering delete the blog ). I know it's also used as a resource by some although that worries me too. I'm not an historian, there is a lot of highly questionable conclusions here, many that I've gone beyond others that I perhaps should have and you probably should too. I suggest you don't trust a single post as read, question everything, treat every statement as a starting point in forming your own conclusions....., then don't trust them either, you're probably wrong too.
Despite barely able to touch my knees when I started yoga I was able to end up practicing all four of the original Ashtanga series, Primary to Advanced B (who knew that under my extra twenty kilo I just happend to have a body that would allow me to do pretty much anything).
It might not have been pretty at times but then Sharath and Pattabhi Jois' own asana probably kept Iyengar awake at nights. Take a look too at the old videos of the early practitioners practicing Advanced series with Jois in a garage, like me, most there probably shouldn't have have been exploring those intermediate and advanced postures. Personally I don't think Pattabhi Jois ever had much of a clue what the hell he was doing, he kind of made it up as he went along, just as his teacher Krishnamacharya had before him, However, when sexually abusing his students in his classes, I am convinced that Pattabhi Jois knew exactly what he was doing, even going so far as touching his male students in similar ways to make it seem perfectly acceptable, it never was.
These days I practice more modest asana and practice them modestly, I don't seek to enter postures that deeply, even Primary postures. I mentioned in my previous 'After Ashtanga' post that once I get past Simon Borg-Olivier's Spinal movements my practice resembles an Ashtanga half Primary. But even here I modify, simplify, back off and substitute. If I'm going to continue to practice asana then I seek a safe (for my bodies future as well as for the present), gentle practice. And yet there are still postures I feel I should probably drop, I suspect I shouldn't practice my beloved baddha konasana, certainly not as deeply as I practice it, shoulderstand and headstand are equally questionable (sigh).
It's your body, your bodies future, practice what you want as you want, you probably will anyway but be warned, Yoga IS...., can be, dangerous, you can do some serious damage to your joints and spine. I got away with it, you might not be so lucky. And most teachers don't have a clue what they are doing, I suspect, Sharath, Pattabhi Jois, even Krishnamacharya never opened an Anatomy or Physiology book in their lives. They and even Krishnamacharya's teacher and teacher's teacher took their asana from sketchy descriptions in old ant nibbled texts, from paintings and sculptures and reliefs on temples, made by artists who probably never practiced themselves, often these teachers made postures up themselves as well as the questionable benefits claimed to be obtained by practicing them.
But even that warning probably doesn't justify keeping this blog active.
Those who fall in love with asana practice will explore and take photos videos and share them with friends on social media, nothing wrong with that, sharing work in progress, it's what we were doing with these blogs. Clearly we didn't know what we were doing, we blindly trusted teachers, and that no doubt comes through. But when teachers present these Advanced postures to promote themselves and their workshops then that is something else altogether. In fact don't trust a single teacher, most have been brainwashed, either by themselves or others into thinking that what they practice and teach is perfectly safe, it's probably not but then neither is walking down the street or sitting at a computer all day, practice at your own risk. If you do seek a teacher, sit in on a class first, make sure they have more than the yoga alliance anatomy minimum, find out how long they've been teaching, if they are respected by their peers, check the policy of the studio who hired them, do they seek experience over Instagram followers and even then be prepared to walk away.
Do not do this.....at home...... or anywhere else.
And yet...., should you still choose to (after much reflection just as you would hopefully before diving with great white sharks), then a simple, gentle meditative practice can be quite profound. Despite the potential risk to my joints I still like to wave my arms about, take a simple posture and sit with it, I still like to explore simple breathing patterns, I still like to practice..... at home.
Below, a class with Simon Borg-Olivier, perhaps the only teacher I've encountered personally who I have confidence in that what he offers, along with the caveats he gives, is likely safe enough for most. There are others of course, you just have to hunt around a bit...., a lot.
Simon Borg-Olivier is very much of the Krishnamacharya 'tradition'. He studied with B.K.S Iyengar, K. Pattabhi Jois and T.K.V Desikachar and spent almost two decades studying intensively with Natanaga Zhander (Shandor Remete). Since 2007 he's continued his training with Master Zhen Hua Yang, who teaches what his family learned in Tibet and at the Shaolin and WuDang temples in China.
Simon has a Bachelor of Science in human biology, a research based Master of Science in molecular biology and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Physiotherapy. He is the co-founder and owner of Yoga Synergy and has over 33 years experience teaching yoga,
See this blog perhaps http://activemovementyogaathome.blogspot.com for posts I've brought together that go back a number of years on exploring Simon Borg-Olivier's approach to practice, it took some time to come around to the 'arm waving' as you will see.
Appendix
Current practice
I seem to have gravitated back to the approach to asana that I came to enjoy practicing so much, a Simon Borg-Oliver influence Vinyasa Krama followed either directly or perhaps later in the day by some Qigong and Tai Chi.
I may include a short Vinyasa Krama tadasana sequence, five to ten minutes or go straight to Simon's spinal movements.
These videos are from October 2017 and are a fair enough representation of my current practice
There's a lot of flexibility built into this approach, I might include more sun salutations, more or less standing postures, different Vinyasa Krama subroutines, stay longer in different postures, include more or less variations and or transitions (jump backs) but the videos below gives an idea of the overall shape.
Speeded up version
Actual speed
If strapped for time I'll cut the asana rather than the Pranayama and Sit (priorities), perhaps a fifteen to twenty minute version.
...followed by Pranayama, I've been enjoying Simon' Borg-Olivier's approach for some time https://yogasynergy.com/2015/10/01/breathing-part-2-passive-seated-pranayama-generate-internal-energy-by-doing-less-than-nothing/
perhaps Suizen (blowing Zen)
or a more formal Sit ( or Standing - Zhan Zhaung ).
