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I've had a post floating around in my head for the last few weeks (years probably), the last week has brought it back to mind.
Ashtanga terminology that I have no interest in
or seemingly much use for.
or perhaps....
Ashtanga terminology that I could quite happily live/practice without
The list seems to get longer every time I sit down to write it but high on the list are...
Parampara
Isvara-pranidhana ( albeit fascinating)
Surrender
Lineage Lineage holder A clumsy expression at best
tradition
should I go on.....
With the terminology above I'd probably throw in...
Tantra
If the yogi's managed without tantra for a thousand years or so (at least) then so, I suspect, can I (don't worry yogi makes it on the list later)
hathayogapradipka
hatha texts in general come to think of it
fascinating but can do without them
I 'm quiet happy with good old fashioned, bread and butter terminology like
teacher(s), yep more than one,
respect for teacher(s),
....enough to engage with and question anything/all they may teach but respectfully
philosophy
but mostly I prefer to employ....
practice,
just practice, my practice, which really has nothing whatsoever to do with yours, or yours with mine for that matter.
I love that you have a practice too but don't think for one moment that mine should reflect yours or how you happen to conceive it or yours reflect mine.
As it happens my practice outwardly resembles somewhat the Ashtanga vinyasa taught by Pattabhi Jois and his family ,which isn't surprising as I originally developed my practice through the books and videos/dvds etc. of the early students of Pattabhi Jois. It's convenient to employ that term, Ashtanga, as well as occasionally Ashtangi but to be perfectly honest I seem to have less and less use for those terms too so lets put those on the list....
Ashtanga
Ashtangi
and also....
Authorised
Certified
It doesn't interest me whether you are or aren't, whether on this list or that, who you've studied with or for how long, if drawn to you, lists don't come into it....
And why not lets chuck Yoga and Yogi on the list also,
Yoga
Yogi
More tired terminology that is perhaps past its sell by date, more a hindrance than a help.
Tear off the title page of your Patanjali and just write practice sutras instead, and for god sake throw out the commentary.... just practice and worry about making sense of it as you go along....
just as Vyasa did.
We can quite happily get on with our practice day in day out and let it take care of itself, work itself out without straitjacketing it with such terminology.
Motto of the week
Keep out of the way of your practice
Bumper sticker
Keep out of the way of my practice
Damnit
let it take care of itself.
Terminology is mostly there for those who make a living out of using it, for us who practice I suspect it just gets in the way.
Nope.....
Do your practice and all is coming
is on the list as well, as is...
1%theory,
95% practice
oh and ....
Mysore
as a concept, as terminology rather than a place name.
and for heaven sake, put
Advanced
and
instagram
on the list as well
After learning that approach to practice generally referred to as Ashtanga, I turned to Pattabhi Jois' own teacher T. Krishnamacharya. It's the study and practice of Krishnamachaya's early work (consistent with his later) that currently most informs my own practice although I tend to pretty much keep the 'Ashtanga vinyasa' form of the practice that I began with and am most familiar and comfortable with. But I certainly don't consider Krishnamacharya sacrosanct, I don't consider him my guru, how could I, Guru is on my list of Ashtanga terminology that I have no use for.
Guru
I tend to see Krishnamacharya as a teacher in the same way perhaps as I saw/see Heidegger as a teacher , the philosopher who most fascinated and intrigued me and whose approach to thought most inspired my own at Uni and after. I put 'thought' in italics because Heidegger questions what is thinking just as Krishnamacharya perhaps questions what is practice. Both are very much tied to their traditions and yet questioning, exploring the nature of that tradition, perhaps seeking to overcome it ( damn, I used tradition), to find elbow room within it certainly.
But of course I've had many teachers, many inspirations and influences on my thinking and I question them all just as I question Heidegger and Krishnamacharya however inspiring and influential I may currently find them.
hasta vinyasa options during a long stay in Baddha Konasana
Krishnamacharya often recommended long stays in certain postures, perhaps he passed this along to Pattabhi Jois, whose son Manju mentions that his father would often stay for a long time in some postures. Baddha Konasan may well have been one of these long stays as Pattabhi Jois recommended staying in the posture for up to fifty breaths.
See also the Ashtanga Rishi Series 'Then, once one has mastered all of the asanas, one can practice "the rishi series", the most advanced practice. One does the 10 postures that one intuits will be the most beneficial and appropriate for that day, holding each posture for up to 50 comfortable breaths'. David Williams loosely quoting Pattabhi Jois.
I tend to rotate postures in my practice that I stay in for an extended period, given the time I'd stay ten minutes or more in Baddha Konasana every practice. I often bring it into my later Pranayama prep. practice which tends to consist of a sun salutation, maha mudra, baddha konasana, padmasana, sidhasana kapalabhati, japa nadisodhana pranayama and a sit.
This vinyasa is good for the kidneys supposedly
Simon talks about coming into the posture (ideally almost any posture) hands free and only as far as is comfortable. spend some time there and allow the posture to come along in it's own time which could take years. Your knees may never touch the floor, which is perfectly fine, they don't have to for the posture to count as the asana. Richard Freeman would suggest you're one of the lucky ones in that you get to feel the effects of the posture at an earlier point.
Here I'm following Simon Borg-Olivier's tips, suggestions and recommendations ( I'm currently following his YogaSynergy Fundamentals online course), entering the posture as hands free as possible. I find nutating the tailbone in helps as well as thinking move the sit bones towards the feet and bring the belly button forward. I'm also practicing abdominal breathing. These are all tips from Simon that I've been exploring in this posture.
We still have Krishnamacharya count to and from the posture but once there we hit the pause button, explore the vinyasas, the longer stay, here Krishnamacharya's later hand and arm variations (hasta vinyasas that Ramaswami introduced me to on his TT) as well as the kumbhaka's t(he breath retentions after inhalationa and/or exhalation and udiyana kriya that Krishnamacharya writes of in his early Mysore text Yoga Makaranda). In the later text formally known as Salutations to the teacher, the eternal one, that AG Mohan has rearranged and referred to as Yoga Makaranda Part II Krishnamacharya mentions padmasana as being a pratkriya, a counter posture, to baddha konasana.
The video below is ten minutes long, at times it looks like it's frozen or come to the end, unfortunately there are too many shadows to show up what's happening with the abdomen, the uddiyana bandha kriya indicating the kumbhakas.
Appendix
Krishnamacharya's baddha konasana instructions, Yoga Makaranda and Yogasanagalu
Baddhakonasana
This has 15 vinyasas. The 8th vinyasa is the asana sthiti. The 1st to the 6th vinyasas are like the 1st till the 6th vinyasas for pascimottanasana. In the 7th vinyasa, just like the 7th vinyasa for pascimottanasana, keep the hands down and bring the legs forward in uthpluthi. But instead of straightening them, fold the legs and place them down on the ground. Folding them means that the heel of the right foot is pasted against the base of the right thigh and the heel of the left foot is pasted against the base of the left thigh. When the legs are folded in this manner, the soles of the feet will be facing each other. Hold the sole of the left foot firmly with the left hand and hold the right sole firmly with the right hand. Clasping the soles together firmly, do recaka kumbhaka, lower the head and place it on the floor in front of the feet. After practising this properly, press the head against the top of the soles of the feet. While keeping the head either on the floor or on the soles of the feet, make sure that the seat of the body does not rise up from the floor and remains stuck to the floor. This sthiti is baddhakonasana. After this, from the 8th until the 15th vinyasas, practise as in upavishtakonasana and then return to samasthiti.
Benefit: Coughing, urinary diseases (constant dripping of urine, burning urine), genital discharges, collapsing of the navel inward — such diseases will be cured.
If women practise this especially during menstruation, it will cure all men- strual diseases and will clean the uterus. It will be very helpful for women who wish to conceive.
BELOW:Later pictures added to the 3rd (1970s) edition of Yogasanagalu (originally published in Mysore in 1941).
Earlier long stay video
I've explored fifty breaths, also twenty-five long slow ones for the Rishi series of posts, this time ten slow breaths with recheka Kumbhaka ( retaining breath after exhalation) with deep uddiyana. I added Gomukhasana as a counter, here holding the bottom knee rather than the top.
Krishnamacharya writes about exploring the breath this way. See blog post,http://tinyurl.com/mqbw2kf
People don't seem to see this as a big deal but it feels like the end of an era. Perhaps it was naive of me but I'd held on to the idea that the Mysore Shala and Sharath, as Pattabhi Jois' grandson, represented everyone who practiced Ashtanga, whatever period and with whomever they began their practice be that in a shala or in their bedrooms with Yoga Mala, as well as whatever form their practice happened to take. I'd hoped all would be welcome. I guess we still have Manju Pattabhi Jois for that and hopefully Saraswati.
I can't help but feel that Sri K Pattabhi Jois would have been as saddened by this as I am.
Home Ashtangi's may well feel a bit excluded by the new rule change.
Well, we all knew he would have to do something about the numbers visiting Mysore.... but this?
"4. Students who are applying for Sharath’s class must have studied at least 2 months with any of our Certified/Authorized teachers( mentioned in our teachers list) before coming to study with Sharath in Mysore Shala."
I'd heard sometime ago that this rule change was proposed and expected, I've held off until it became an actuality to comment on it. Although Mysore is not high on my own priorities writing this blog for so many years has exposed me to many stories of practitioners for whom this change will be of serious concern.
Ashtanga tourism has been referred to as justification for supporting the rule change, a short while ago the same writers were insisting that visiting Mysore was a pilgrimage and that ever Ashtanga practitioner, if they considered themselves serious about their practice should make the effort to practice there, Sharath too from Conference notes seems to have been of that opinion (note: I stress several times in this post that's it's still currently possible to come practice with the excellent Saraswati as a beginner and without having practiced with an authorised instructor).
It's also been stated that Sharath just doesn't have the time to spend with beginners and yet, a short while ago when commenting on the numbers in the shala and how little attention students are able to receive from Sharath, considering the the trouble and expense of visiting the shala, many have glowingly referred to how Sharath will spend time with a beginner and besides, these authorised teachers will explain, it's about the experience rather than the adjustments, the pilgrimage argument.
Many who happen to fit this new criteria will no doubt welcome it as meaning less competition for places and thus improving their chances of being accepted into the shala for their preferred dates.
I'm not convinced this was the best response, surely there were other options (see links at the end of the post).
“No one owns Yoga,” said Sharath Rangaswamy, the grandson of the late Ashtanga Yoga guru, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois.
Sharath paused comfortably, sanguinely sitting in lotus. He looked around the room, and then continued, “You don’t own it. I don’t own it. No one owns it.” LA Yoga
"No one owns Yoga...." and yet Ashtanga practice feels a little more controlled this morning, a little more corporate. Only those who visit Mysore and practice with Sharath for an extended period may become authorised and only those who have studied with an authorised teacher may practice with Sharath in Mysore.
Bit of a bugger of course if you have no authorised teacher near you but are a committed Ashtanga practitioner and have been dreaming of making the trip.
I know of several students who practice at home and travel down to London to practice at the weekends with authorised teachers, sure there are similar stories for all the major towns/cities with Ashtanga schools, people who visit when and where they can.
Does the odd weekend, when you can manage it, over a two month period count or do you need to show evidence of two, month long six-day a week passes, it's a little unclear, slightly vague.
How long before it becomes six months or a year or six months within the last year?
It's been mentioned that Sharath is considering asking for a letter of recommendation from an authorized or certified teacher, this however isn't currently in the new guidelines and may just be an option under consideration.
Some teachers may welcome this as they may prefer it to not knowing who is using their name.
However, should the 'covering letter of recommendation' be introduced some time in the future we may find some teaches reluctant to give letters to students they feel may reflect poorly on their own teaching and reputation, some students progress more slowly than others, some have a more.... independent temperament, some may prefer to split their practice between home and the shala which some teachers may see as lack of commitment. Some might also end up charging for the letter or introducing policies where they only give letters to students who buy monthly passes, the letter could be promotional but we'll worry about this if and when it's introduced.
Before his passing BKS Iyengar asked for students to have practiced with one of his authorised teachers for 8 years.
Think mums juggling kids, work and home,....some can miraculously swing it if they have a shala nearby and a very understanding and helpful partner but then of course chances are they might not have the opportunity to visit Mysore till the kids are grown anyway. But then chances are they might not be able to swing a full month in Mysore, Saraswati is an option and who better to take you back to scratch.
Saraswati - see Bio at end of post
See the quotes from the end of the post lifted from Ashtangaparampara, recently authorised and certified teachers who went to Mysore without having practiced with authorised teachers.
And what if your teacher is no longer on the list ( I just checked somebody who was on and then off is back on again and somebody else now off, one can't keep up) or never on the list in the first place, or never bothered to become or seek authorisation ( Manju seems less concerned about authorisation, you learn the practice and then pass it along. I've never liked the idea of authorisation personally, my understanding was that it was not really Pattabhi Jois' idea/intention either but was somewhat pressed upon him by certain early teachers). And several very senior and long term Ashtanga teachers are not on that list although on the original Ashtanga.com list. Not naming names but it's ridiculous to think that somebody who has studied for years with a senior teacher who studied with Pattabhi Jois for decades isn't invited/welcome.
Is Manju on the KPJAYI List ? (Yes)
I've been asked many times over the years why I have never been to Mysore to study with Sharath, never quite sure why exactly so the answer has probably changed each time. Now at least I have an easy answer, I haven't studied with an Authorised teacher for the required two months so am not welcome in the big shala ( it's currently still possible to study with Saraswati however).
Typically, around this time of year I've been thinking about making the trip (it was Krishnamacharya's city after all), but to practice with Saraswati rather than Sharath ( no slight on Sharath but I'm unlikely to stay for the full month, prefer a small shala and from interviews and I have a soft spot for Saraswati) as far as I can tell this proscription only applies if you want to practice with Sharath (for now at least).
Saraswati
Unfortunately it may mean that demand to practice with Saraswati may go up and it might be harder to get into her shala, as demand increases we may lose the possibility of visiting her for less than a month.
We really must try and persuade Manju to stay in one place somewhere for a month.
No doubt the concernover this will lead to it being changed and more enlightened solution to the numbers applying will be sought, my preferred option is the visiting no more than once every two years idea.
Somebody needs to set up a petition perhaps.
Of course there are several other excellent options for practicing Ashtanga in Mysore, I've featured several here in the past and will ad some post links later.
I also strongly recommend you take one (or more) of Pattabhi Jois' son Manju's workshops/intensives/teacher trainings (http://www.manjujois.com/). I've been to two of his TTs and a workshop day and desperately wish I could make it to his Intermediate TT in Athens later this year too, as well as asana you'll get to practice pranayama with him and chanting too ( even if you sit next to somebody loud and just open and close your mouth - did that the first time but was into it by the 2nd). It's old school, just like his father taught him and Saraswati back in the 50s.
As well as attending one of Manju's workshops you could also 'Keep calm, grab a frappe and visit Greece).
The video below was filmed while I was visiting Kristina's shala for Manju's teacher training (that's me in the bandana) 2013, Hyon Gak Sunim, a monk in the Korean Zen tradition was also there and offering chanting in the morning at Kristina's house.
*
Just home from work, now that's out of my system I'm jumping on the mat for my 1/2 primary 1/2 Intermediate.
Appendix
I'm reminded of a couple of the Ashtangaparampara interviews where some of the interviewees talk about being taken through the whole sequence from scratch by Sharath..... here are just the first couple I found before I had to run out for dinner.
Feel free to add your own story of visiting the Mysore Shala with less than the new criteria in the comments. "It wasn't until I made it to Mysore, India, in February of 2004, that I had the full experience of practicing in an actual “Mysore class.” So my first real Ashtanga teachers were Guruji and Sharath. I guess I’m one of the fortunate ones to have made my way to Mysore early on in my experience with the practice. I showed up in Mysore with very little prior teachings or influences, so it was easy for me to take in every little bit of detailed information I received from Guruji or Sharath without question."Ashtanga parampara - Harmony Lichty Certified Ashtanga teacher
"Did you learn the Mysore practice at KPJAYI when you visited India with your daughter? Can you please share that experience with us? "I can honestly say I learned the Mysore practice in depth. I was very green and stiff, so stiff I could not do Marychyasana D without assistance, the second day practice, I got tapped on the shoulder, and told to go upstairs, where we did finishing postures. I remember tossing and turning all night wondering if I should go home, my ego was bruised. I stayed. That was in 1999, when Guruji and Sharath were in the small shala, sometime after that Guruji would sit in front of me and take me through the rest of the postures of primary series, I was meant to stay a month, and stayed for 7 weeks, and have been back 11 times. It is something one never forgets, his consistency, compassion, love, and energy. What more can one say!" Ashtangaparampara . Lynne Pinette. Authorised
"I learned Ashtanga at a non-traditional studio, where we had one Mysore style class per week and all the other classes were taught as Led Primary. My initial trip to KPJAYI was literally my first foray into daily Mysore practice - what a way to start! But it was the getting there that I think really had the largest impact. When I went to Mysore I only knew one person who had gone before. She was incredibly helpful and got me connected so that I could set up accommodation and taxis, but otherwise, I was kind of flying blind. I had no idea what to expect". Ashtangaparampara. Anna Muzzin Authorised
"I went to Mysore in 2004, where I met Guruji and my current Ayurvedic doctor (Anil Kumar). At that time, I was still not strong enough to practice the recommended 5-6 days a week. We decided I would practice 4 days a week. Guruji told me which days to practice and he and Sharath began teaching me second series within a week or two. They taught me the series pretty quickly. It was shocking, as I had only practiced primary up to that point." Ashtangaparampara. Magnolia Zuniga Authorised
These are just relatively recent stories, revisiting the GURUJI book will remind us of many several stories of students coming to Pattabhi Jois either as complete beginners or from other disciplines and teachers. This is the history of the practice.
Final thoughts
“No one owns Yoga,” said Sharath Rangaswamy, the grandson of the late Ashtanga Yoga guru, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois.
Sharath paused comfortably, sanguinely sitting in lotus. He looked around the room, and then continued, “You don’t own it. I don’t own it. No one owns it.” LA Yoga
No one owns Yoga.... and yet Ashtanga practice feels a little more controlled this morning, a little more corporate. Only those who visit Mysore and practice with Sharath for an extended period may become authorised and only those who have studied with an authorised teacher may practice with Sharath in Mysore.
Alternative solutions ? My personal favourite solution to increased numbers applying to practice with Sharath in the big Shala in Mysore is to restrict those visits to once every two years, problem solved.
See also perhaps my earlier posts on the board of trustees and Ashtanga training centres idea (perhaps headed by certified teachers, why certify them otherwise).
Saraswathi was born in 1941 and practiced steadily under the guidance of her father Sri K. Pattabhi Jois from the age of 10-22.
She was the first girl ever to be permitted admission to the Sanskrit College in Mysore where she studied the basic Sanskrit works and learnt yoga from her father.
At the age of twenty-two her mother fell really sick and got admitted to hospital. Saraswati naturally took on all household responsibilities and cared for her mother as well as her younger brothers. Her asana practice suffered a little, but she grew strong in other areas of Yoga.
At the age of twenty-six she got married and then moved to Jamshedpur, close to Calcutta to be with her husband. Her husband was busy working and traveling around India, but she looked after his family as well and gave birth to hear daughter Shammi in 1969 and Sharath in 1971.
After moving back to Mysore in 1971 she started teaching yoga on a regular basis.
In 1975 she started teaching at the back portion of the Venkateshwara temple in Vantikopal. She was paid twenty fives rupees a month and a Yoga teacher in those days was treated no different than the cleaners and sweepers of the temple grounds. But Saraswathi persisted due to her love of Yoga and her experiences born out of the practice.
“In 1975, my father taught me to teach. I also took examinations with my father's guru Krishnamacharya, and received a certificate. When my family first went to America, I stayed home and cooked”.
http://www.yogacitynyc.com/articles/WeeklyDetails/255
For eleven years she would only teach ladies, but then in 1986 she allowed men and women to mix.
Many people were criticizing her for making such a radical change to the common norm in India of always keeping the two genders separate. But Saraswathi did not care and decided to teach Yoga in the best way she found proper.
In 1984 she constructed her own house in Gokulam and started teaching out of her own home to the locals.
When Guruji moved his Yoga Shala from Laxmipuram to Gokulam in 2002 Saraswati once again started teaching together with her father.
Now every morning she is the steady presence in the shala from 5am. After helping her father for two and a half hours she teaches her own class from 8 – 9.30 every day.
Saraswathi teaches her own class in Mysore.
Monday to Friday 5.30 – 8.00 Saturday 6.30 (led primary)
For details and registration, send a letter or call the number below between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m or 4 p.m and 8 p.m Indian time.
Reading Ramaswami's post on legs together backward-bending this afternoon reminded me of giving these a trya few years back, (videos below) disconcerting but doable although I quickly went back to the more stable knees apart approach. Looking forward to week nine of the Yogasynergy Fundamentals of Yoga Course when we look more closely at backward-bending, may come back to this post then with more to add. UPDATE: I asked Simon Borg-Olivier for an Anatomy and Physiological perspective on backward-bending with the feet/thighs/knees together, he came back with some advantages and disadvantages.
"re backbends with feet together - I used to do them - but less so now and the advantage is that it gives a deeper backbend
However the disadvantage is that it tends to go into your back at the weakest point and then if there is no weak point in your back but your back is stiff it can go into your sacroiliac joint or more likely into your knees.
I prefer to keep the legs about hip width apart and have the feet slightly turned out and then they are in a position that allows you to try to turn thighs inwards - this is like what you are meant to do in the back leg of virabhadrasana - many people teach that the feet should be turned inwards in backbends but in fact you should position them turned outwards and be trying to turn them inwards - if you turn them inwards as many people teach this disallows the activity of the internal rotators and adductors of the hips - also in this case if the back bend is strong in the lower back many people engage the buttocks muscles to protect the lower back, but these muscles (gluteus maximus in particular) are also external rotators of the hips and so they will be trying to turn the thighs out and so if the feet are turned in then this could cause pain and injury in the knees
All of these problems could also occur if the thighs are together as well I think but I am always of the opinion that there is no wrong or right in yoga or life and there is just an effect".
My own feeling is that may not be one right in yoga or life but there is still plenty of wrong, if it throws your knee out or buggers your back.... then I'm going to go with a wrong for that one ( in that particular case at least)
Here's Ramaswami's original fb post.
"....To involve the entire spine including the sacro-coccygeal portion, it may be good to keep the legs (thighs) together in back bends like urdwadhanurasana, bridge pose, dhanurasana, ushtrasana and several others. Keeping the legs/thighs together helps to open the pelvis and not the hips. In several back bends my guru would ask us to keep the legs together". Ramaswami Srivatsa
There is also the suggestion of a feet together drop back and return in Ramaswami's book, interestingly, coming back up on the exhalation. I remember this scared the bejesus out of me
The above video comes from this post on one of my other sister blogs
In Ramaswami's Sept 11 Newsletter, on Spinal exercise, he writes about performing backbends with the feet, knees and thighs together. He doesn't mention Kapotasana or the dropback back I wonder if the same reasoning applies.
The relevant section is below, the full newsletter can be found HERE and an illustrated version of the Spinal exercise article including the exercises HERE
'For the back bending exercises it is necessary to protect the lumbar spine. Towards that, the flexibility and the strength of the sacro- coccygeal region is to be necessarily cultivated. The pelvic push is efficiently facilitated by a simple but effective asana called dwipadapeetam (pages109-115) or desk pose . This posture which is casually practiced with the feet apart and thighs spread out leaves out the the spine in the pelvic region. Hence it is necessary to keep the feet together, tighten the gluteal muscles, draw in the rectum and gently push the tailbone/sacrum up and feel a healthy stretch at the bottom of the spine. Any back bending done without fully involving the sacro coccygial region is a less efficient back bend and tends to put more strain on the lumbar spine. Again my Guru used this posture to teach to almost anyone. This upward pelvic push is to be done on inhalation generally but, it can be done while exhaling smoothly by the elderly, the obese, the pregnant, the highly strung etc. Because the feet and back of the head are well anchored it becomes easy to control the back bend very well and one can improve the stretch step by step. Other poses that are in this group would be catushpada peetam or Table pose ( page79 ) and Purvatanasana or the anterior stretch pose (pages78,79). The other back-bends in the prone poses such as Bhujangasana, dhanurasana and salabhasana (pages 138-145) also may be done with the thighs and feet together to keep the sacrum and tailbone engaged and stretchered. To ensure this condition, the teacher may ask the student to keep the feet and thighs together by placing a piece of paper between the feet and not let the paper drop to the floor while raising the legs up in asana like Salabhasana. In these prone exercises keeping the legs together enables to exercise all parts of the spine, especially the oft neglected sacro-coccygeal area.'
I may have changed the title of this blog from Ashtanga Jump back, to Ashanga Vinyasa Krama to Krishnamacharya's 'Original' Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga to.... what is it currently, Slow Ashtanga but one thing that has remained constant is that I've always kept '.....at home' tagged on the end, This is a home practice blog.
Delighted then to see this post from a senior, long term and indeed Certified Ashtanga teacher, David Garrigues, recognising, even perhaps encouraging home practice. Thank you for this David and also Joanne Darlington for designing the poster.
"Greetings,
I know that many of you who follow me are home practitioners and so I made this poster to help you maintain a strong home practice. I hope it helps!
Is there a bigger version of this poster anywhere?
Home practice can come to us all.
In my case it's a personal choice that I relish, for many though there is no choice, nowhere to practice nearby or maybe you move house, far away from the shala, or your teacher's ambitions lead them elsewhere, perhaps we become teachers ourselves setting up our own shala having to practice alone at home before opening up.
Sharath himself of course practices home alone before opening the shala, just as his Grandfather Pattabhi Jois did for many years, as Krishnamacharya did, as Iyengar did.....
David: Also, you aren't going to believe it, but practicing alone, by myself, does inspire me in its own way. It is a very different inspiration than attending a class with a teacher. But, as I often point out to many students who have a home practice, the sacred texts say that yoga is to be practiced alone. I take that to heart because I have to, and it does suit me.I can tell you this: you wouldn't want me as your student. Ha! All joking aside, I do genuinely like practicing by myself. I find that important things happen for me when I practice in solitude, without anyone else around. - See more at: http://davidgarrigues.com/articleinspiresme.html#sthash.5INB4FJT.dpuf
David Garrigues is the director of the Ashtanga Yoga School of Philadelphia. He is one of a few teachers in the US certified to teach Ashtanga Yoga by the late world renown yoga master Sri K Pattabhi Jois. As an Ashtanga Ambassador he bases his teachings on the idea that 'Anyone can take practice', a core idea in the teachings of Sri K Pattabhi Jois.
More and more I'm been thinking that the Yama and Niyama's, the Yoga guidelines for life and practice, cango a long way in helping us to maintain the.... physical, mental, emotional environment for practice (home or otherwise).
Perhaps we need to consider putting some or all of them in place, to lesser and greater degrees, early rather than later, while still in the first flush of excitement for practice so as to offer support later.
Post includes Krishnamacharya on yama/niyama, Ramaswami, Pattabhi Jois...
Every now and again I feel obliged to write a..... confessional post, practice has been good for many years but I know many of readers of the blog struggle at times with their practice, so if and when I do hit a bump in the mat I kinda feel I should share, not really fair not to.
So practice at the moment is a struggle, it's easy to blame the season, the cold, disruption in routine but this practice, after this amount of years, shouldn't be dependent on such things, should it?
It's revealing though. I wrote recently that the practice sets the routine that leads to discipline, that the discipline is tapas and thus preparation for yoga. We might slip occasionally but the presumption is that we just go back to the routine, to the mat, reforge the discipline and off we go again, however many times we may slip.
I'm starting to think I was mistaken or at least missing or rather forgetting a step, two of them in fact, the yamas and niyamas.
It used to be said that you should work on the yamaniyama and then, as they become established, move on to asana and pranayama practice.
Current thinking in the Ashtanga vinyasa tradition is that you begin with asana and as you develop some discipline the yamaniyamas will automatically begin to blossom.
That may be so, but they need tending and it strikes me that if you do tend to them then they may also offer support for your discipline in return.
If you don't tend them however then it can be more disruptive than all the other external factors or rather the external factors are free to reign havoc upon your practice.
So yes, start with Asana and as that practice becomes established, while in the first flush of excitement and fixation on the practice start looking to the yamaniyamas, play with the different descriptions we may find for them and consider how they reflect the ethics of our own cultural traditions, that we could perhaps be paying more attention to.
And then tend them.
That's the practice after we step off the mat, and we say that don't we, that we should carry the practice off of the mat into our daily lives. That doesn't mean popping out back at lunchtime to practice navasana ( although a little pranayama won't go amiss), it means we continue to work with yamaniyamas.
And at the end of the day as we lay in bed my teacher Ramaswami suggested we reflect back on the day in relation to them not to judge but just to notice, tomorrow is another day.
I could have done better recently, with all the disruptions of the year, the parting from loved ones, the restlessness I could have tended them more and perhaps I would have been less restless, practiced more discrimination and that may have offered more supported to my physical practice.
As it it I feel like I'm starting all over again, minimal maintenance practice has been minimal too often this year and hasn't maintained the practice that well. I feel heavy, sluggish, restless, impatient, breath and bandhas have suffered as a result.
And so it's been back to basics, to the sequence, the count, to each breath, each stage of the breath and to bringing yamaniyama back into the time off the mat and with more resolve.
