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At the end of 2015 we moved to Shiga prefecture in Japan, two minutes from Lake Biwa (the largest lake in Japan and four million years old give or take). This rural life at the lake, has been an exploration of.... serenity (from the latin serenus - 'clear'), the word that most comes to mind. When the lake is calm, which is most of the time, and in the late afternoon especially I experience a feeling of completeness, fulfilment. The question arises, how to maintain this state away from the lake, on to the mat and cushion and throughout the day in general, in my dealings with others. The Yama/niyamas can help, they too are a practice of course, whether those of the Yoga sutras or of our own tradition(s), seeking to live in accordance to them can help simplify our lives and allow us to see more clearly. Ramaswami suggested once that each night, before we sleep, we reflect for a moment on the day, not in judgement of ourselves so much but merely noticing, in the morning we begin our practice once again.
Lake Biwa
Below then some photo's from here along with some highlighted posts from each month.
A year in posts 2016
The highlight of the year for me, as far as the blog is concerned, has been the completion of the Krishnamacharya Yogasanagalu project (Available for Free Download here ). In 2010 I was sent photos of every page of a copy of Krishnamacharya's, long out of print, second book Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941) in the original Kannada. At the time I was on Ramaswami TT course in LA. I showed the book to Ramaswami and he mentioned that Krishnamacharya had given him a set of the photos contained in the later editions of the book but that he had never been able to read the text as it was written in the Kannada language. A reader of the blog and Kannada native speaker, Satya Murthy, came forward and offered to translate the text, a few pages at a time. Satya translated the final chapter in October and I was able to format it and send over to my friends in Spain who printed out a copy as a thank you present to Ramaswami at the end of his 100 hour Vinyasa Krama intensive in Madrid that month.
▼ 2016 (89 posts - which I've just noticed is the same number of posts for 2008 although I didn't start posting until July of that year)
Note: The first couple of words of each post title below should contain a link to the post.
In January 2017 I am scheduled to teach a 50 hr 10 day program on Bhagavatgita for Yoga Practitioners at Yaga Vahini, Chennai starting Jan 2nd. Then I will be teaching a 33 hr Core Vinyasakrama asana and pranayama program by the end of the month at OmYoga in New Delhi.
Yoga 2017
January 1 of every year is Yoga Day for many people. It is a priority in the list of new year resolutions. Some yoga schools encourage many to start yoga by offering introductory yoga classes for free or at an attractive discount. Many people who either left yoga or yoga had left them, restart yoga on this informal yoga day. What about those for whom 'Everyday is Yoga Day?' Can January 1 be a different yoga day?
Many diligent yoga practitioners who faithfully follow a standard routine all along may start looking for more or modifications of the yoga practice. Many practice a standard routine of a few vinyasa sequences and asnans. They may consider slowly introducing a very important aspect of yoga which is acclaimed by both Hatayogis and Rajayogis and that is pranayama. Those who have been practising yogasanas for a period of time say a few years and those who have been teaching for some time the same set of asanas and sequences may consider introducing pranayama into their practice and teaching. In fact Pranayama is a very important part of both Hata yoga and Rajayoga. Pranayama is hatayoga according to some old time experts. While asanas and vinyasas are generally very useful for the skeletal system, pranayama is especially useful for cardiac and pulmonary functions. Specific pranayama have unique benefits. Nadishodhana helps the upper respiratory portion, ujjayi directly helps the trachia and bronchial portions of the respiratory tract, then bhastrika is a robust exercise for the lungs. Kapalabhati helps to improve the tone of the diaphragm and also improves vital capacity. It helps to lower tamas in the system and makes the mind clear and fit for finer aspects of yoga practice. If one is already doing Pranayama with asanas, learning the bandhas and mudras may be considered. They add to improve the functioning of the abdominal and pelvic organs. Pranayama and mudras bring about significant physiological improvements.
If one practices complete hatayoga—asana vinyasas, pranayama and mudras then for the new year one may consider setting foot on antaranga sadhana as described by Patanjali. Choose a simple dharana practice, a mantra, an icon or chakra meditation if you and your teacher are upto to it. A good hatayoga preparation will be helpful in achieving siddhi in antaranga sadhana. Then those who merely practice meditation without hatayoga preparation may learn a few asanas and a good pranayama practice so the system is better equipped for meditation. There is enough to learn in yoga so that one may maintain interest in yoga day, everyday.
May be you would like to get into the theory or philosophy of yoga during the new year. It is a powerful unique philosophy that some find really liberating. Learning the Yoga sutras sutra by sutra could be a very absorbing one in the year of yoga. Learning to chant the sutras could be an additional effort in Yoga Sutra study. After one learns to chant yoga sutra and also learn the meaning of each sutra word by word, it may be a rewarding practice to chant each sutra and contemplate on the meaning of the sutra, as Patanjali says about Japa on pranava. There he suggests chanting “OM” and follow it by contemplating on the meaning of pranava as he himself describes in the sutras. In a similar fashion in Sutra Study, the chanting and contemplation could be an absorbing new Yoga year.
If you have already done all these you may want to study the sibling philosophies especially Samkhya, its text Samkhya Karika. It opens the door for the Yogi to comparative study of all the various sibling vedic philosophies especially vedanta as enunciated by the upanishads, the gita and the brahma sutras. One can start with yoga day, extend it to yoga year and then possibly yoga life
Sri Krishnamacharya was a life long Yogi.
He taught Yoga that would last a lifetime.
In my review of Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor's new book The Art of Vinyasa last week I think I failed to mentioned the section on the yama and niyama's. I expected these to be discussed at length in the book but the discussion is actually quite succinct, treated beautifully actually and perhaps my favourite section in the book. I might add a couple of quotes here later.
In the book Richard and Mary stack the yamas one on top on the other, one leading to the next, all of them based perhaps on Ahimisa which is ultimately described as being nice.
"Ahiṁsā, the first of the yamas, means to not kill or harm. On a simpler level, ahiṁsā just means to be nice. This refers to being nice to ourselves as well as to other beings. Because of the nature of biological life, we are largely unaware of the efect of our actions on many species, so we do the best we can, seeing ourselves in all beings and acting accordingly."
It's not THAT succinct, there's a lot more.
We should always hesitate before saying 'X is all about Y 'and think perhaps of another approach but I'm going out on a limb here to suggest that Richard's teaching is all about...., ok, so much about, ahimisa, about kindness, being nice. Being kind to ourselves in our practice, be nice to ourselves and to others, compassionate, whether to those we practice beisde, those we may teach, influence, or just come in to contact with.
My own response to Trump's win was to read Gandhi's autobiography and from Gandhi I moved to his great influence,Tolstoy and the roots of the non-violent protest movement. Tolstoy starts from the airbrushed out (he would argue) gospel precept '...do not resist evil (with evil)'. It's a tough precept to even imagine following but for Gandhi it began perhaps with not hating his the enemy but loving them, compassionate resistance
See Tolstoy's book 'What I believe'. If you're not much a Christian (which includes myself but it was the worldview I was born into so figure I should try and make as much sense of it as I can ) it can be a heavy read at times ( but not that heavy, it's Tolstoy after all) but there are some wonderful passages, my favourite is where Tolstoy suggests that Science is coming from the same place as church dogma. Thinking it is in rebellion against religion, science, Tolstoy argues, is based on the same view of the world, that it's pretty crap and there can be a better world. For christian dogma it's the next world, for Science perhaps a world created here by science and later by technology which takes me back to my old mate Heidegger (The Question Concerning Technology).
"However privileged science, with her philosophy, may boast of being the judge and the guide of intellect, she is, in reality, not its guide, but its slave. The view taken of the world is always prepared for her by religion; and science only works in the path assigned her by religion. Religion reveals the meaning of life, and science applies this meaning to the various phases of life. And, therefore, if religion gives a false meaning to life, science, reared in this religious creed, will apply this false meaning to the life of man.
The teaching of the church gave, as the basis of life, the right of man to perfect bliss – bliss that is to be attained, not by the individual efforts of man, but by something beyond his own control; and this view of human life became the basis of our European science and philosophy.
Religion, science, and public opinion all unanimously tell us that the life we lead is a bad one, but that the doctrine, which teaches us to endeavor to improve, and thus make our life itself better, is impracticable". Tolstoy: What i believe p41-42
That may be being unfair to science but it's a wonderful characterisation to chew over. Tolstoy argues that what we should be really doing is following who he refers to as the Greeks, the Hindus, Confucius, the Hebrews, Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus and rather than creating another world, work on learning how best to live the life we have, in the world that we have. For Tolstoy Christ gives us the key for that, do not resist evil (with evil)... ahimsa.
I was reminded of this because in the YogaGlo class of Richard's that I was following along with this morning he mentioned that in baddha konasana, for some who are flexible, folding over might be an option. For those who were blessed with being less flexible, they might follow vicarious yoga. and watch, with affection, those who can and take delight in their practice.
Something along those lines.
Vicarious yoga
: )
I thought this was a good lesson too for those who get tapped out of one of Sharath's led intermediate classes, vicarious yoga.
The class was the one above, Vinyasa Wave: Pause and Reverse. I particularly enjoyed it because Richard is talking about, the un-named postures between postures. In a post a few years back (see below) I wrote about the hidden asana. How there are perhaps an infinite number of asana between one asana and the next. At any point we might stop, pause and notice that the position we are in is a posture with opposing forces and might be treated as an asana,.... that we might breathe there.
This is important I think because for many marichiyasan D, say, may not be available to us, the variations David Swenson gives us say in his book the Ashtanga manual may be considered asana themselves rather than variations. Krishnamacharya certainly saw it that way, we have only to look at all the variations of asana his long time student Ramaswami presents in his book The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga.
But also, the extra breaths we might take as we work our way towards an asana. Rather than force our way into a complex posture on the count like Marichiyasana D, or in the class above, Baddha konasana, we can take as many breaths as we wish as we work a little close towards it (but make each breath formal, complete see my previous post). At each breath we might consider the point at which we are, an asana, a hidden asana, unnamed.... but as Richard mentions, all the best asana are unnamed.
Thinking of all these hidden postures is perhaps a way to beat ourselves up a little less, to be kinder, nicer to ourselves ( and our students), ahimisa.
*
Re the snow monkeys.
See David Attenborough's Life for the BBC. Episode 10, 8 minutes in,
Off to see the snow monkeys, long ten hour journey via local trains.
I hope to be waving at this live-cam at 10am japan time on the 23rd Dec.
I can imagine that some might be dismayed at all those tourists ( soon to be us included) giving the monkey's no privacy during there bath.
As it happens the Monkey's used to come and stare at the locals in a hot spring further down the valley, one money eventually plucking up the nerve to try it him or herself, others followed. It was decided that the monkey's would get their own hot spring built, the one you see above.
And as David point's out in the BBC documentary, these monkeys are hierarchical, only those at the top of the pecking order get to enter the bath the others stand around shivering along with the tourists but with one might suppose somewhat less delight. Not much ahimisa among the Nihonzaru, the Japanese macaques
*
Perhaps this was the earlier post I was thinking of...
Hidden Asana: The Asana before the Asana
Notice the bhrumadhya-drishti above, one of the' vital' marma points, an internal drishti employed here during kumbhaka....another Rabbit hole
Asana having been perfected, suspension of either of the processes of drawing in external air and exhaling internal air constitutes a pranayama.(Yoga Sutra: 2.49)
Now this could mean that after perfecting ALL the asana, all 84,000 of them...
But it could also mean that after you have perfected, mastered or to use Krishnamacharya's term, become proficient in an asana you can begin to explore the suspension of the breath in the asana.
It can of course also mean both and more besides.
Is this what Krishnamacharya was up to in Yoga Makaranda (1934) with his stress on the kumbhaka's within the asana?
Uttanasana
"Following the rules for tadasana (yogasana samasthiti krama) (Figure 4.1, 4.2), stand erect. Afterwards, while exhaling the breath out slowly, bend the upper part of the body (that is, the part above the hip) little by little and place the palms down by the legs. The knees must not be even slightly bent. Raise the head upwards and fix the gaze on the tip of the nose. While doing this, draw in clean air through the nostril, hold the breath firmly and maintain this position. This is called sahitha kumbhaka...." p51 Yoga Makaranda
One of the things Krishnamacharya does a lot in Yoga Makaranda is to explore the pose before the pose, the posture before the posture.
In uttanasana above, before folding all the way down into the full expression of the posture he will raise the head up, fix the gaze and at the end of the full inhalation , suspend the breath, kumbhaka.
The asana before the asana.
And this happens a lot, in purvottanasana too, before the fold, there's the full inhalation and kumbhaka.
Paschimottanasana, the janu sirsasana's in fact any forward bend there could be another asana before the asana, no wonder there were 84,000+.
We know this of course in Ashtanga, we transition into each asana through upward and downward dog, at each stage the breath is full. In the David Robson Primary with drums I explored recently there was no escaping it, each movement, each breath for the same regular cycle of the beating of the drum.
Ashtanga Vinyasa may have misplaced Krishnamacharya's kumbhakas but we shouldn't be in such a rush to get into the next posture. Savour that preceding inhalation, milk it for all it's worth, let it lead the body whether it's helping us to stretch up off the heads of our femurs and out of our pelvis in preparation for a forward bend or perhaps in a twist, lifting and twisting with the breath opening up ever further on the chariot of Vayu.
Hint: Those tricky postures that we struggle with, 9 times out of 10 the secret is in the preceding breath, the preparation.
In exploring Yoga Makaranda I've been paying more and more attention to those preceding inhalations and their kumbhakas, staying three five, ten breaths sometimes in that posture before the posture....
the asana before the asana.
And why not, the Sanskrit vinyasa count is intended to focus attention on the inhalations and exhalations, the matching stages of the vinyasa, The count is put on hold as we move into the full expression of the asana, that's why Pattabhi Jois, Sharath, your teacher etc. switch to English to count the number of breaths you stay in the posture before picking up the Sanskrit count as you exit the asana.
There is NO reason why you shouldn't put the count on hold at any stage of the vinyasa, because each of those stages is an asana in and of itself. That's perhaps why, in Yoga Makaranda Krishnamacharya breaks down each stage of the lead in and out of an asana and treats them as stand alone asana.
You might not feel happy about exploring kumbhaka in asana but there's no reason why you can't explore a couple of extra breaths at different stages of the vinyasa. Done absentmindedly, or while distracted or in hesitation it's just faffing about...but done mindfully it's the hidden asana.
I thought the first one, a call and response of the Ashtanga vinyasa Sanskrit names, an excellent idea.
Learning the names of the asana along with the vinyasa count can help maintain focus, especially in the early years.
Pattabhi Jois' son Manju has a video out that is a call and response Led class of all the names as well as the vinyasa count in the Ashtanga Primary Series.
UPDATE: just noticed this fb post from Stu Girling
"Sneak Peak!!
I have been working on a on-line video based Ashtanga Primary Series Intensive with the amazing Joey Miles since April and its now beginning to come together. Designed for students that really want to explore their practice in greater depth. There are over 130 videos and the idea is it will take about 4-6 months to complete. Aiming to have it all finished in the next few weeks, so more info coming soon. Couldn't think of a better xmas pressie!!!"
***
Below, an old post of mine from 2014 on learning the sanskrit count.
which can be useful, a nice point of attention when struggling to maintain focus.
Note on the count: Think of the count as perhaps akin to the formal definition/representation of Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga...., usage is something else altogether. The practice can be modified, asana dropped or replaced with a more suitable variations for you personally ( see David Swenson's Ashtanga Manual), props might be employed ( see Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor's new book The Art of Vinyasa). You can practice full vinyasa, I.E. coming back to standing after every posture or half vinyasa I.E. jumping back between postures or between sides or even perhaps between groups of asana (although you might want to introduce some form of counter pose perhaps lifting the seat up off the floor in a posture as in Vinyasa krama). You can practice a full series, half series, half Primary plus half second etc. The list of practice options is seemingly endless, yet there is much to be said for the traditional method, of building the formal practice slowly, adding on postures when it feels appropriate, sensible, to do so, employing variations perhaps, while flexibility and fitness grows.
Most important of all is the breath. Whether we know the names of the postures, the vinyasa count or the drishti (gaze), inhale and exhale calmly, fully, and keep the attention there, let the breath be a guide for whether you are doing too much or perhaps need to employ a variation, modification or employ a prop.
If you do choose to use a prop or take extra breaths ( at any point) outside of the count make those extra breaths formal, exhale and reach for your prop, inhale as you pick it up, exhale fully, formally as you place it, if you need to get a prop from a cupboard, keep the breath the same as if you were moving through the series. The same goes for walking across the room to use the wall for your headstand, should you prefer to, make it a short walking meditation, attention on the breath, on the movement of your body as you move across the room... or to the bathroom for a loo break ( which btw can be an excellent investigation of bandhas).
John Scott recommends that we learn the Ashtanga Vinyasa count, not just Teachers but all of us, for him the count is a mantra, it focuses the mind.
"The Vinyasa Count, how did the Vinyasa Count come to mainstream Ashtanga?"
"So what happened... In the early days of practice at the Lakshmipuram Shala (the original Mysore Self-Practice), we didn't know what Guruji was saying or meaning when he directed to us "Catvari!". We thought "Catvari" meant 'jump back', because Guruji would say "catvari - jump back". So we took that translation as 'jump back'. We took 'Panca' as upward facing dog. We took 'Sat' as downward facing dog, 'sapta' as jump through - We thought 'Sapta' meant jump through! It took us to Wake UP! To begin listening! To realise Guruji was actually counting in Sanskrit -4,5,6,7. So it took a little student research to start the enquiry into Vinyasa. What did vinyasa actually mean. Guruji called vinyasa "Counted Method" . When my good friend Lino Miele was in France and witnessed Guruji counting the whole class through as One, he saw it all come together, and he took this counting on as a research project to document the Vinyasa. Lucy and I became involved with Lino's project and became very much part of Lino's book. From that point onwards I made it my focus to learn Guruji's Vinyasa Count. In Guruji's own book 'Yoga Mala' referring to the practice as a mala, a garland of postures, he refers to every posture having a 'State' and every state or 'Asana' has a specific number of counted vinyasa to enter and exit all choreographed to the Breath. "The Vinyasa are all like beads, Choreographed breath/body movements, all to be counted and meditated on and it is the students requirement to learn this Counted method as a mantra for their own personal practice" John Scott, Winter, 2013 Stillpointyoga London
So it doesn't matter whether we ever intend to present a Led Ashtanga Vinyasa class in Sanskrit it can be rewarding in and of itself. If nothing else there is no surer way to stop our faffing about than trying to stay on count.
A note about staying on count. The vinyasa count does not mean we have to rush in and out of a posture, wrenching our leg quickly into half padmasana for Marichiyasana D, so as to to keep up with the rest of the class. The count doesn't actually count each and every breath, there are 'official' extra inhalations and/or exhalations built in, found/taken throughout the practice, this means that we can ourselves choose take extra breaths to get in and out of a posture, paying attention to our breath as we do so, keeping it long and full as long as we pick up the vinyasa count at the right place, at the right vinyasa.
Example. In Marichiyasana B we jump through on SUPTA inhale and are then supposed to bind in the posture before exhaling ASTAU into the state of the asana, staying for five breaths. There is no reason that I can think of why we can't step through, take two or three extra breaths as we bind into the posture and then, when we are ready, exhale into the state of the asana mentally chanting Astau. It may mean we are behind everyone else in a led room, they may be on their third or fourth breath count, that's OK we take just the one breath in the posture and then come out with everyone else. At home we can take our time to bind and take the full five breaths, or perhaps just three if we like to keep them long.
UPDATE more clarification at the bottom of this post
So here's an approach to learning the count.
One Approach to learning the Ashtanga Vinyasa Count. The count here is based on John Scott and Lino Mile's books, Lino lists the count nice and clearly but John Scott seems to go into more detail about each vinyasa as well as the extra inhalations and exhalations in a more detail while still keeping it concise and clear. Full vinyasa is a wonderful practice, I don't find it any more exhausting than half Vinyasa and if time is a concern just do half primary one day the second half the next. Practicing full vinyasa helps make sense of half vinyasa. I have a post to come that goes into more details of how we go from one to the other. this should of course not be considered authoritative there is no final authority on this other than the systems own internal logic, the relationship between that and our own practice. There may well be some discrepancies between this and the version taught by other senior teachers, whether it be Manju, Sharath or the certified, authorised (whatever list) and unauthorised teachers. These discrepancies/differences should be a source of interest rather than conflict. Feel free to point out any discrepancies between this and Sharath in comments, I am myself exploring variations in the count between Krishnamacharya, Pattabhi Jois, Manju Jois Lino Miele/John Scott and Sharath for my upcoming Easter retreat.
1. First learn to count up to thirty in Sanskrit ( see the table below), actually, up to twenty-two will do you for most of the vinyasa. In fact, start with 1-9, that will allow you to work through Surynamaskara A.
1 = ekam
2 = dve
3 = trīṇi
4 = catvāri
5 = pañca
6 = ṣaṭ
7 = sapta
8 = aṣṭau
9 = nava
2. Practice some Sury's, mentally chanting the count (skip the five breaths in down dog so you don't forget where you are).
Then, for a week of practice, mentally count yourself through all of your Sury's A and B.
Notice how we tend to go up on the inhale and down on the exhale, this is obvious perhaps but it will help locate us in our count, it's like GPS Also we generally tend to inhale on odd numbers and exhale on even, more GPS
ekam - Inhaling, arms go UP
dve - Exhaling we fold over DOWN
trīṇi - Inhaling we flatten the back effectively coming UP
catvāri - Exhaling we jump back to Chatauranga ( kind of DOWN )
pañca - Inhaling we come through and UP
ṣaṭ - Exhaling, backside comes up and we effectively fold in to look at the navel (DOWN)
sapta - We jump our feet to our hands and Inhaling flatten the back as in DVE so UP
aṣṭau - Exhaling we fold over so DOWN
nava - Inhaling the arms come back UP This is the end of the vinyasa, we drop our arms back down to Samastith, it's not counted.
3. Learn the number of vinyasas for each posture as well as the state of the asana ( see the table below) often these are the same.
EG. Ardha Baddha Padmottānāsana to Marichiyasana C all have 22 * vinyasa, each with the actual state of the asana being 8 and 15 (representing both sides of the asana).
4. We know the Sanskrit count now, we just need to know on which count we have to be for the actually state of the asana.
We know how to count our way through our vinyasa ( from our Surynamaskara practice) and we know the state of the asana we want to be in, any discrepancy means there has to be an extra breath or part of a breath thrown in somewhere.
EG. In the Prasarita's we want to be in the state of the asana for TRINI, Jumping the legs apart is EKAM (inhale) but if we fold straight over then we would be in the state of the asana on DVE not TRINI, that means there has to be an extra vinyasa in there. DVE (exhale) would be folding over and putting our hands on the floor. We can't fold in on the exhalation so there must be another extra inhalation, there is and it's not counted, we look up, flatten the back and then TRINI (exhale) our head towards the mat and take our five long full breaths.
HALF VINYASA: Below is the full vinyasa count, half vinyasa is a short-cut version of the practice but the full count is still implied. If we choose to do a half vinyasa practice we might not come all the way back to standing samastithi after the some/all of the seated postures, only going back as far as Adho mukha svanasana (downward facing dog). Despite this we would still begin the next count on SUPTA as we step or jump through for the next seated posture just as if we had gone all the way back to standing and back.... we're kind of pretending. Learning the number for the state of the asana helps us to understand where the short cuts of contemporary half vinyasa Ashtanga are.
5. Work in groups, so just learn the vinyasa and state for the standing sequence for a week, then the next week add on postures up to navasana, the following week work up to the end of primary and finally add on finishing.
6. Explore a couple of tricky vinyasa outside of your regular practice, just running through the count, perhaps in the evening, so you don't disrupt your practice too much.
A book will help. John Scotts Ashtanga Yoga book is probably the best for outlining the vinyasas and explaining what happens as clearly concisely as possible, but Sharath's book works well too, it'll help you work it out at least. Both have a clear quick to check presentation for those practices when you still working it out and need to check. Pattabhi Jois' own Yoga Mala will make it even clearer away from the mat.
7. Practice along to some led CD's and DVD's. these help but really you have to work it out yourself. John Scott's New app is good for this. Sharath's CD is excellent, just the postures and the count, no explanation, Maju's DVD is of a led where every body repeats manju's count, excellent.
First number followed by * is the number of vinyasas
The numbers after the star are the states of the asana
So Jānuśīrṣāsana A - C 22 * 8 , 15 signifies that all three versions of
Jānuśīrṣāsanahave have 22 vinyasa each and that the states of the asana for each versions are 8 and 15 ( IE. Both sides) I've grouped asana that have the same vinyasa/state code to aid in memorising.
Pattabhi Jois doesn't talk about drishti much in yoga mala, nor does Krishnamacharya, mostly nasagra drishti [the gaze on the tip of the nose] or broomadhya drishti [the gaze between the eyebrows] is implied. however Pattabhi jois does have this to say in relation to the 7th vinyasa of Surynamaskara B that holds for his whole system. Manju Jois says nasagra drishti is a kind of default drishti but that we are also free to close out eyes.
"SECOND SURYA NAMASKARA, 7TH VINYASA This is the method for the first Surya Namaskara, which is often practiced while chanting mantras. For this, meditation is very important, as are the drishti, or gazing places, which include: nasagra drishti [the gaze on the tip of the nose] for samasthiti; broomadhya drishti [the gaze between the eyebrows] for the 1st vinyasa; nasagra dristri for the 2nd vinyasa; the gaze between the eyebrows for the 3rd vinyasa— in other words, for the odd-numbered vinyasas, the gaze should be focused between the eyebrows and, for the even- numbered ones, the gaze should be on the tip of the nose. In addition, for the even-numbered vinyasas, rechaka should be performed and, for the odd, one should do puraka. On the whole, the method for doing rechaka and puraka is the same for all the vinyasas and asanas ahead. A sadhaka [spiritual aspirant] should learn it with patience".
Pattabhi Jois Yoga Mala 1999 p46
A note on breathing.
The breath is long and full and slow, "...like the pouring of oil". We seek to feel the breath at the back of the throat, the slightest of constrictions to make the soft hissing sound or the sound of waves. Some refer to it as ujjayi breathing others argue ( Sharath in particular) that it's not ujjayi because ujjayi implies kumbhaka (retaining the breath in or out) and thus is a pranayama. It's argued that there is no kumbhaka in Pattabhi Jois' Ashtanga vinyasa therefore it should only be referred to as 'breathing with sound'. Krishnamacharya however, Pattabhi Jois' teacher/guru, employed the appropriate kumbhaka in most asana and it could be argued that there is always the hint of a kumbhaka between the inhalation and exhalation and the exhalation, the slight pause between the stages of the breath, like throwing a tennis ball in the air there's a moment where it seems to hover before dropping back into your hand. Either way the breathing is long and slow and full.
During the count in the state of the asana there is free breathing, Krishnamacharya wrote about inhaling and exhaling ( long full and slow) as much as possible. In most seated postures the teacher leading the count will tend to count to five ( it used to be ten supposedly and then eight, now it's five). You can take five short breaths in this time depending on the speed of the count or, as I like to do, three long, slow, full breaths.
Remembering the names of the asana
Writing a blog helps
So does knowing what the different parts of the name means
NOTE: As far as we can tell Krishnamacharya developed the vinyasa count, it may have been a way to manage a large class of young boys or it may be something he inherited from his own teacher or perhaps a lost text, we'll probably never know. He did appear to drop the count in his later years however Ramaswami told me that although Krishnamacharya would link together postures if he was teaching one posture on it's own then it would begin and end from standing or perhaps a seated samastithi, perhaps the count was always implied in his teaching.
Does focusing on the count distract from the breath, not necessarily, after a while the count disappears into the background, it is perhaps the horizon of the breath.
Can you explain further: "So Jānuśīrṣāsana A - C 22 * 8 , 15 signifies that all three versions of Jānuśīrṣāsana have have 22 vinyasa each and that the states of the asana for each versions are 8 and 15 ( IE. Both sides)?"
Does this mean Jānuśīrṣāsana A has 11 vinyasa for right and 11 for left side, Jānuśīrṣāsana B has 11 vinayas for right and 11 for left and Jānuśīrṣāsana C has 11 for right and 11 for left side, with the sides done alternately? Does "8" mean right side and "15" mean left side?
Anthony Grim Hall28 February 2014 19:00
Hi Anon, I'm actually writing a post on How Full Vinyasa becomes half Vinyasa, looking at every posture in detail, showing were all the extra inhalations and exhalations come in to make the system 'fit' the count. I'm doing it because I'm not there in Japan with my wife to answer her questions about the count when they come up. This is should be stressed is my own explanation as I seek to make sense of the development of the vinyasa count historically, trying to expelling how it's been made to work, with it's extra uncounted inhalations and exhalations snuck in here and there.
No it doesn't mean each side has 11 vinyasa, doesn't work that way. If you were to separate the sides up and come back to standing after each side then they would both have 13 vinyasas. Confusing. Here's what I've written for janu Sirsasana, all three are the same even though C is more difficult to set up, it's all done on one inhalation whether A, B or C.
The count and the process is the same for all three Janu sirsasanas.
As with Ardha baddha pachimottanasana and Triyangmukha ekapada paschimottanasana the first six postures of the surynamaskara are implied ( as if we really had worked our way down from standing samastithi). We are in Downward facing dog exhaling (from the previous posture) which now becomes SAT we then jump through inhaling on SUPTA and immediately, still on the inhalation, bring the right foot into our groin, heel to perineum, and take hold of the toe of the other foot and look up, that’s all done on SUPTA. We exhale ASTAU (8) down into the state of the asana, traditionally head to knee (it’s in the name) but these days chin to knee or head to knee and then slide on to the chin. After our five breaths we sit up inhaling NAVA then take an extra uncounted exhalation allowing us to lift up on the next inhalation DASA while crossing our legs. We Jump back EKADASA and exhale into Chatuaranga. Up dog inhaling DVADASA, down dog exhaling TRAYODASA and then we are ready to Jump through again for the other side inhaling CATURDASA setting up to lower into the state of the asana, again all on on PANCHADASA (15). Now we repeat the exit, sitting up inhaling SODASA, the extra uncounted exhalation again so we can lift up inhaling and crossing our legs SAPTADASA and jump back exhaling into caturanga on ASTAUDASA. UP DOG inhaling EKONAVIMSATAHI (19) Down dog exhaling VIMSATAHI
BUT VIMSATAHI now switches back to become SAT ready for the next posture.
If we were doing full vinyasa after VIMSATAHI we would jump the feet to the hands inhaling while looking up and flattening the back EKAVIMSATAHI then fold over exhaling DVAVIMSATAHI (22) which completes the 22 vinyasa, we just stand back up into samastithi (uncounted).
As with all these postures we notice extra uncounted inhalations and exhalations as we make the vinyasa ‘fit’ into the sequence of breath and movement, remember we want to inhale up, exhale down.
Janu Sirsasana is quite straight forward but Janu C can be tricky, I have a dodgy knee and like to take a couple of breaths while setting in preparation for the state of the asana. That’s OK, jump through on SUPTA and take a couple of calm, steady, unrushed inhalations and exhalations while setting up all but the while saying to yourself SUPTA SUPTA SUPTA. When you ready to lower, take a final inhalation saying SUPTA to yourself one more time and then lower ASTAU into the state of the postures.
Coming out is the same come up inhaling NAVA and then take as many inhalations and exhalations as you need to allow your knee to come comfortably out of the posture, all the while saying NAVA NAVA NAVA mentally to yourself. When your ready take your exhalation, then back on count, lift up inhaling DASA crossing the legs and jumping back.
Your Jump back might not be fully developed, that’s OK go through the motions preparing to step back while inhaling on DASA then step back while exhaling EKADASA.
Does this mean Jānuśīrṣāsana A has 11 vinyasa for right and 11 for left side, Jānuśīrṣāsana B has 11 vinayas for right and 11 for left and Jānuśīrṣāsana C has 11 for right and 11 for left side, with the sides done alternately? Does "8" mean right side and "15" mean left side?
The Ashtanga Vinyasa Count: How it actually works - A Love Letter