Day 39 : SEATED : Chatushpadapeetam ( table pose) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

VIDEO LINK

I find these a hip raises a nice counter to the forward bends for 'straightening' the spine out.

Plus the activate all the muscles that cross the knee thus developing more support for the knee in postures where the knee is exposed, On one leg postures, Lotus, Vajrasana etc.

the focus on raising the hip is helpful for working on advanced backbends like Kapotasana where we want to get the hips as far forward as possible.

Reminder 
There is a little 'nudge' to the lower back, as Ramaswami puts it, at the end of the raising of the leg which stretches the small of the back and lifts the leg a little higher.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS
I find it helps to think o fit e raising of the leg as coming from the hip rather than thinking of raising the other end, the foot, the leg

Rather than thinking about straightening the leg think more of stretching through the leg which helps to straighten it.

Leg raises come up in some of the other sequences.

Leg raise, Inversion sequence

Leg raise, Supine sequence

leg raise, supine sequence

leg raise from urdhva danurasana

Sometimes in my shorter evening practice I like to focus the leg raising vinyasas. Here's a link to a video of some of those found in Vinyasa Krama http://youtu.be/dsHWEHRaIAs

NB: These are practice notes that will be tidied up and put into the new edition of my Vinyasa Yoga Practice Book along with the current sequences and subroutines. The book can be freely downloaded HERE. There is a page on Facebook HERE with all the latest sheets and updates. This book is in no way a substitute for Ramaswami's Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga.

Day 38 : Purva tanasana (anterior stretch) and Vashitasana (after the sage) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

VIDEO LINK

These postures make excellent counter postures to the long pashimottanasana, kurmasana and konasana subroutines from the seated sequence.

Stay in each purvatanasana  for three breaths but vashitasana for three to six breaths,

The challenge is to raise the hip(s) a little further on each exhalation.

As well as exercising the full range of the motion of the hip (along with the forward bending postures subroutines above) these postures are excellent for exercising the front back and side muscles of the legs that cross the knee joint. Exercising these muscles will give more support to the knee in the On one leg subroutines but also to advanced postures in which the knees are heavily involved.

VASHITASANA SEQUENCE
Towards the end of Ramaswami's Complete book of Vinyasa yoga there is a chapter tittled Visesha Vinyasa Kramas, the sun salutation sequence with mantras is found here along with some other dynamic sequences. One of these sequence based on Vashitasana incorporates purvotanasana and vashitasana above but also the ardha-baddha padma vasitasana or Kashyapasana from Asymmetric. I thought it might be interesting to look at the full sequence here and especially at the last eight postures that pass back and forth between purvatanasana and vashitasana, it's a mini sequence I like to practice after the above postures.

Here's a link to a video of the short vasishtasana sequence http://youtu.be/fA4FHPTxSlg

And here's the full sequence. We are encouraged to stay at each stage for three breaths, it's a tapas sequence that I find makes a nice short evening practice to burn off a few of the days rajas before settling down to some pranayama and meditation.

VIDEO LINK

NB: These are practice notes that will be tidied up and put into the new edition of my Vinyasa Yoga Practice Book along with the current sequences and subroutines. The book can be freely downloaded HERE. There is a page on Facebook HERE with all the latest sheets and updates. This book is in no way a substitute for Ramaswami's Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga.

Day 37 : Kurmasana (turtle pose) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

VIDEO LINK

On the Video link above Kurmasana is at the end of the paschimottanasana video beginning at 6:55

Also in the video I enter kurmasana via Dwi pada sirsasana (both legs behind head) this is an advanced entry to the posture that allows you to get deeper into the pose. 

Before attempting the Dwi pada entry be sure that your comfortable with eka pada sirsasana (one leg behind head) from the Asymmetric and Supine sequences as well as perhaps Yoga nidra from the Supine sequence.

In the video I also raise my heels off the mat this too is an advanced version of Kurmasana. To be able to raise the heels the legs need to be high up above the elbow. Push the backside back engage the bandhas and stretch the legs which should cause them to straighten and the heels to lift. this gives an intense stretch to the hamstrings so they need to be nicely warmed up before hand with for example a long five minute Paschimottanasana or uttanasana.

It is sufficient to enter the posture from the mat, keep the heels down and focus on the breath as in paschimottanasana, short inhalations and long slow exhalations.

TIPS/HINTS/SUGGESTIONS

To get the legs over the head in akuncha kurmasana (pic 3) from the mat one trick is to shuffle the left foot as far over to the right as possible so it meets the right foot. Use the outside of the top half of the right foot to lever the heel up and over the left foot to hook them together, then you can move both feet to the center of the mat and curl your head in. here's a link to a post and video from my blog. 

http://tinyurl.com/cqfynlu

Here's the video of the shuffle.

NB: These are practice notes that will be tidied up and put into the new edition of my Vinyasa Yoga Practice Book along with the current sequences and subroutines. The book can be freely downloaded HERE. There is a page on Facebook HERE with all the latest sheets and updates. This book is in no way a substitute for Ramaswami's Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga.

Day 36 : Paschimottanasana (posterior stretch) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

VIDEO LINK

Paschimatanasana is one of the 4 Key Vinyasa Krama Asana that Ramaswami recommends we spend a considerable time in every day, the other three are Maha mudra ( day ) Sarvangasana ( shoulder stand) and sirsasana ( headstand).


' Yoga texts recommend vaseth, which means one should stay in this posture for for a long time. Even a stay of five minutes has a tonic effect on the posterior muscles, the abdominal muscles and the pelvic organs, because of the rectal and abdominal locks'.
Srivatsa Ramaswami Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga p 75


Paschimatanasana is one of only two asana that I remember Ramaswami giving hands on adjustment, he would push forward our sacrum as we folded forward into the posture (the other adjustment was in tadasana where he would grip the pelvis and lift and hold up while we would do the hand arm variations).

Tips/Hints/Suggestions

In dandasana (pic 1) stretch fully as in standing tadasana, lifting up out of the pelvis, fold forward from the pelvis, imagine pushing your backside back as when we practiced uttanasana (standing forward bend).

The slight bend you may find in the knees is GOOD, this is protecting your hamstrings, eventually, over time your legs will be able to stay flat.

It took me about a year before my legs would stay flat on the mat, there was always a slight bend of my knees.

Caution
Forcing the legs to flatten could damage your hamstrings, this is not fun and even a tweak of the hamstrings will take weeks if not months to pass completely. It's the pelvis we're most interested in working anyway in this posture, be kind to your hamstrings.

As you become more comfortable in the posture, a gentle way to work towards getting your legs a little flatter ( not necessarily all the way) is to spend a minute or so in the posture then shuffle your sit bones backwards this will gently lengthen your hamstrings and allow them to flat them a little more. Settle for another minute and then shuffle back a little further.

Engaging mula bandha ( drawing up the anus ) helps to protect your hamstrings, it seems to activate the gluteus maximus taking some of the stress off the hamstrings.

Engaging uddiyana bandha, sucking in the belly creates space for you to deepen your forward bend.

In Vinyasa Krama, in an extended stay in paschimattanasana we may lengthen the exhale and even hold the breath at the end of the exhalation and engage the bandhas strongly.

Inhalation 3-5 seconds, exhalation 5-10 or even 15 seconds.

In vinyasa Krama the chin is tilted to the chest and in an extended stay we may engage jalandhara bandha, the throat lock more strongly.

Occasionally I find tatkamudra a useful pre paschimottanasana posture, here's a link to a post concerning this http://tinyurl.com/6egyxoy  Here's the gist of the post.

The other week, while practicing Primary series I was trying to settle into paschimottanasana but was feeling a little stiff. I laid back on the mat for a moment and figured while I was there I'd get my bandhas warmed up, better to engage them in the forward bend ( I tend to spend five to ten minutes in paschimottanasana, Vinyasa Krama style). So I raised my arms over my head for tatakamudra stretched and at the end of my exhale stopped the breath and drew up and back mula bandha, connected it to uddiyana, drawing my abdominal muscles inward and backward and bringing the small of my back onto the mat. A few long slow breaths and I went back to paschimottanasana, low and behold, the stiffness was gone and paschi felt comfortable enough for a long deep stay.


NB: These are practice notes that will be tidied up and put into the new edition of my Vinyasa Yoga Practice Book along with the current sequences and subroutines. The book can be freely downloaded HERE. There is a page on Facebook HERE with all the latest sheets and updates. This book is in no way a substitute for Ramaswami's Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga.

Day 35 Asymmetric subroutine breakdown

VIDEO LINK

Day 34 : Matsyendrasana ( half and full Kingfisher) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

Day 33 : Bharadwajasana (after a sage ) and Mahabandha (great lock ) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

Day 32 : Ardha-padma marichiyasana ( half lotus sage ) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

Day 31 : Tiryang mukha Marichiyasana (Backward facing foot marichi) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

Day 30 : Triyangmukha ( bent back leg) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

Day 29 : Eka pada sirsasana ( leg to head ) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

Day 28 : akrarnadhanurasana (archer) and Kraunchasana (heron) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

Day 27 : Maha mudra (great seal) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

Day 26 : Ardha padmasana (half lotus) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

Day 25 : Marchi (after the sage) subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

Day 24 : Dandasana (Staff pose) lead in, subroutine practice notes from Vinyasa Krama On one leg sequence

Practicing Asymmetric Subroutines

This was for a long time my favourite sequence of subroutines from Vinyasa Krama, it was familiar enough to a large section of the Ashtanga Primary series I was familiar with and yet encapsulated all I came to love about Vinyasa Krama. I loved how postures would grow out of the ones that had preceded it, developing and extending a theme. Without the Jump back that comes between each posture in Ashtanga I felt as if I was settling ever further into alignment and could relate the subtle differences of the postures of the subroutine more within my body. I liked how you would enter a posture gently, exit and then enter again a little more deeply and how you would then stay for a longer time  sinking deep within the pose. The effect of the Asymmetric subroutines when practiced together is cumulative, it is advised to practice all the postures on one side as opposed to switching sides after every pose. Both approaches have their benefits but there's something, if not hypnotic, then certainly meditative about the flow of these postures one into the other. What else struck me powerfully was how the ground for more challenging postures, the leg behind head poses say or purnu matsyendrasana, was being prepared, this is perhaps even clearer in the Lotus sequence where we're led through some of the same Asymmetric subroutines we find here towards full lotus.

However this is a long sequence when practiced together, ten subroutines that need to be practiced on both sides, practiced slowly, mindfully it can well over an hour to practice them all.

In my daily practice I like to include an asymmetric subroutine or two before seated subroutines.

As a rule I tend to save the mama mudra subroutine for late in my practice perhaps just before badha konasana from Seated, I like to stay in mama mudra for quite some time before settling down to pranayama

Whenever I practice leg behind head postures whether in Ashtanga or Vinyasa krama I always include the archer and heron subroutine from Day 28

Here's Ramaswami from this months newsletter writing about how the Asymmetric sequence and subroutines work the full range of movement of the hip joint.

'Yoga, especially vinyasakrama yoga, tends to work with almost all the articulation of all the joints especially the ankles, knees, hips, the spine and arms. Take the asymmetric sequence, in which one leg is kept in one position and the other leg kept in several positions, and in each subroutine several movements are done. Take for instance Marichyasana, the hip joint is kept in one position in which the inferior bone of the joint, the femur, is kept in the fixed position of Marichyasana and all the

vinyasas are done by which the superior bone structure viz. the pelvis is moved around and manipulated. In other words, the ball in the socket is kept stationary and the socket is moved around. When you move on to the next subroutine, mahamudra/janusirsasana, the femur head within the socket takes a different stationary position and in the vinyasas the pelvis is moved around. In the third subroutine, the half lotus, the femur head position is again altered, but keeping it stationary a number of movements are done in the subroutines— akarnadhanurasana, kraunchasana, ekapadasirsasana, vajrasana, matsyendrasana, bharadvajasana and any others-- in which the pelvis is moved around. In fact in the series of vinyasas within those asanas, all the possible movements of the marvellously engineered hip joint are done in a short time giving a complete treatment for the hip joint.'

From Srivatsa Ramaswami's Nov 2011 Vinyasa krama Newsletter

NB: These are practice notes that will be tidied up and put into the new edition of my Vinyasa Yoga Practice Book along with the current sequences and subroutines. The book can be freely downloadedHERE. There is a page on Facebook HERE with all the latest sheets and updates. This book is in no way a substitute for Ramaswami's Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga.