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Photo: Indra Devi teaching Marilyn Monroe Yoga 1960 ALSO Indra Devi in Mysore

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Indra Devi teaching Marilyn Monroe

I just came across the picture above of Indra Devi teaching Marilyn Monroe Yoga ( thank you Agnieszka for posting it this morning), I'd seen the Marilyn yoga pictures before (see the Eric Shaw link below) and knew of course that Indra Devi had taught in Hollywood, Greta Garbo, Gloria Swenson etc. but hadn't come across direct evidence of her actually teaching Marilyn. Nice picture. 

Eric Shaw mentions that the first pictures we have of Marilyn Monroe practicing yoga are from 1948, the one above seems to have been from Nov 1960.

See the complete Marilyn Yoga photo's at Eric Shaw's website
"The first evidence of her practice appears near the time of her first acting contract (’46).  Of the 21 pictures below, the 5 stark black-and-white ones in the same white outfit are from a set of promotional photos sent out  in 1948.

Orienting these pictures in local yoga history, they appeared the same year Krishnamacharya‘s student, Indra Devi  open a yoga studio on LA’s Sunset Boulevard.  (She arrived in ’47 after a brief trip to Shanghai. Devi had been in India in ’46, teaching yoga and writing her first book).

Devi soon had Olivia de Haviland, Ruth St. Denis, Gloria Swanson, Elizabeth Arden, Greta Garbo and other famous players in LA’s movie-making community as devotees". Eric Shaw

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I hunted around my blog for a link to an earlier post on Indra Devi but only came across the draft below that I'd intended to put up for her birthday. 

Better late than never.

Here's indra Devi in a picture taken on krishnamacharya's 100th Birthday Celebration and below an account of her early years in Mysore being taught by Krishnamacharya in 1937.





In Mysore Yoga Shala from A portrait of the First Lady of Yoga

"One time a friend staying with the couple suddenly started experiencing heart trouble. Indra recalled how Indian yoga masters demonstrated their healing methods and concentrated all her thoughts on curing her ill friend. He recovered, but the following day she herself experienced chest pains and had to stay in bed. A local doctor diagnosed her with heart failure, but the prescribed treatment did not help. European doctors proved helpless, too. She thus spent the subsequent four years rocking back and forth between getting better and worse.

A friend of hers, who himself studied yoga for many years, said: “You applied a yoga method. Why won’t you discuss your illness with yogis? This would be logical.”

Indra heeded his advice and came to the legendary guru Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya. She decided to take a course in yoga to recover and adopt a healthy lifestyle, but the guru looked her up and down with an ironic glance and said that yoga was for Indian men only. Indeed, only young Kshatriyas studied at the Mysore Yoga Shala in 1937.

“It would be impossible for me to take on a woman, especially a foreign one. It cannot be done,” the guru insisted. “He could work miracles, such as stop his heart and turn the lights on and off at a distance. But he could not get rid of me,” Indra Devi said. Yet, Krishnamacharya did relent after Maharaja of Mysore interfered by putting in a word for Indra. Indra was admitted to the yoga shale, but Krishnamacharya was not going to take it easy on her. The diplomat’s wife had to comply with strict discipline and observe a strict diet, avoiding any “dead” products, including not just meat but also white sugar, flour, rice, and preserves. Root vegetables, such as potato, onion and carrot, were also excluded. She was allowed to eat only whatever the sun shined on. The students got up before dawn, and they had to go to bed before 9 at night. It was also forbidden to use a stove to warm oneself up. “I have no special classes for women,” Krishnamacharya told her right off the bat; she had to keep up with the male students.

Things were very difficult for Indra at first, but, little by little, she got used to everything, losing weight and completely recovering from her strange disease. Appreciating her zeal, Krishnamacharya began working with her individually.

“He said I was ready to move on to the next stage of training. The next day he asked me to come earlier and locked the door. He sat on the floor and began to show me special secret exercises to control my breathing and told me to write everything down,” Indra Devi recalled.

In 1938 she became the first foreign woman among dedicated yogis. When Krishnamacharya learned that her husband was to be transferred to China, he called her again: “You are now leaving us, you will teach yoga. You can do it, and you will do it.”

Indra thought this was unbelievable: as a newly dedicated yogi, she could not grasp that she, too, would be a guru one day. In India, however, people don’t argue with their teachers. On a ship to China she realised that, for the first time ever she no longer wants to dance, wear jewellery and expensive clothes. It was then that she put on a light sari, which became the only clothing she recognised hereafter".

from Indra Devi's Legacy

"Movements in yoga are harmonious, slow, soft, plastic, relaxed, always conscious, and require a permanent and active mental participation. The whole work rests on the dialectic tension-relaxation. It's important to stimulate, turn elastic, tonify, to make oneself conscious of limbs, superficial and deep muscles, joints, and spine, achieving a gradual and progressive limb decontraction, loosening and relaxation.

"Nonviolence is one of the keys of yoga, and we should begin it by ourselves. Learning to recognize and respect our own peculiar rhythm and working on that base is essential".

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Below from Yoga Journal
Krishnamacharya's legacy By Fernando Pagés Ruiz ( the section on Indra Devi )


'Even as Krishnamacharya taught the young men and boys at the Mysore Palace, his public demonstrations attracted a more diverse audience. He enjoyed the challenge of presenting yoga to people of different backgrounds. On the frequent tours he called "propaganda trips," he introduced yoga to British soldiers, Muslim maharajas, and Indians of all religious beliefs. Krishnamacharya stressed that yoga could serve any creed and adjusted his approach to respect each student's faith. But while he bridged cultural, religious, and class differences, Krishnamacharya's attitude toward women remained patriarchal. Fate, however, played a trick on him: The first student to bring his yoga onto the world stage applied for instruction in a sari. And she was a Westerner to boot!

The woman, who became known as Indra Devi (she was born Zhenia Labunskaia, in pre-Soviet Latvia), was a friend of the Mysore royal family. After seeing one of Krishnamacharya's demonstrations, she asked for instruction. At first, Krishnamacharya refused to teach her. He told her that his school accepted neither foreigners nor women. But Devi persisted, persuading the Maharaja to prevail on his Brahmin. Reluctantly, Krishnamacharya started her lessons, subjecting her to strict dietary guidelines and a difficult schedule aimed at breaking her resolve. She met every challenge Krishnamacharya imposed, eventually becoming his good friend as well as an exemplary pupil.

After a year-long apprenticeship, Krishnamacharya instructed Devi to become a yoga teacher. He asked her to bring a notebook, then spent several days dictating lessons on yoga instruction, diet, and pranayama. Drawing from this teaching, Devi eventually wrote the first best-selling book on hatha yoga, Forever Young, Forever Healthy. Over the years after her studies with Krishnamacharya, Devi founded the first school of yoga in Shanghai, China, where Madame Chiang Kai-Shek became her student. Eventually, by convincing Soviet leaders that yoga was not a religion, she even opened the doors to yoga in the Soviet Union, where it had been illegal. In 1947 she moved to the United States. Living in Hollywood, she became known as the "First Lady of Yoga," attracting celebrity students like Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Arden, Greta Garbo, and Gloria Swanson. Thanks to Devi, Krishnamacharya's yoga enjoyed its first international vogue.

Although she studied with Krishnamacharya during the Mysore period, the yoga Indra Devi came to teach bears little resemblance to Jois's Ashtanga Vinyasa. Foreshadowing the highly individualized yoga he would further develop in later years, Krishnamacharya taught Devi in a gentler fashion, accommodating but challenging her physical limitations.

Devi retained this gentle tone in her teaching. Though her style didn't employ vinyasa, she used Krishnamacharya's principles of sequencing so that her classes expressed a deliberate journey, beginning with standing postures, progressing toward a central asana followed by complementary poses, then concluding with relaxation. As with Jois, Krishnamacharya taught her to combine pranayama and asana. Students in her lineage still perform each posture with prescribed breathing techniques.

Devi added a devotional aspect to her work, which she calls Sai Yoga. The main pose of each class includes an invocation, so that the fulcrum of each practice involves a meditation in the form of an ecumenical prayer. Although she developed this concept on her own, it may have been present in embryonic form in the teachings she received from Krishnamacharya. In his later life, Krishnamacharya also recommended devotional chanting within asana practice'.

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And in Indra Devi's own words, written in 1966, an account of her year in Mysore with Krishnamacharya from Yoga the technique of Health and Happiness ( a huge thank you yet again to my friend Ryan Leier for passing this text along to me)







Chapter four is Indra Devi outlining  the origins of Yoga




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Book review: Teaching Yoga, Teaching Asana based on the Ashtanga Primary Series by Melanie Cooper.

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Melanie Cooper  (website http://melaniecooper.co.uk) got in touch recently and I  asked if I'd be interested in reviewing her book Teaching Yoga Adjusting Asana. Melanie teaches in London, runs the Ashtanga self-practice 'Mysore' class each morning at the Life centre in Islington, London. We've never met but I had recently come across the book on Amazon, 'soon to be published', I'd put it on my wish list to have a closer look when it actually came out, I'd hoped for an Amazon LOOK INSIDE.

I've mentioned Amazon twice but it was actually Yogamatters (www.yogamatters.com) who ended up sending me a copy, so if your in the UK and would like a copy, here's the book on Yogamatters website. Yogamatters carry a wide range of stock, if you get the chance to make it up to their warehouse/shop, you'll be there for hours, browsing through their bookshelves, I was ( see my earlier post Inside Yogamatters UK Shop. Biggest yoga Bookshop in the UK?).

You should go, you really should because you can't seem to browse this book online, no preview on Yogamatters, no' Look Inside', as yet, on Amazon.

You get the cover...



and the brief outline from the publisher...

Leading yoga teacher trainer Melanie Cooper brings you the essential 
handbook for teaching yoga and adjusting asana (yoga poses). 

The first part explores fundamentals of teaching in a simple, clear, accessible way. Melanie covers how to teach crucial concepts such as breath, bandha and drishti, as well as more general topics including injuries, ethics and the spiritual aspects of yoga. 

In the second part of the book there are helpful techniques for deepening common yoga postures and a complete guide to hands-on adjustment for the Ashtanga Primary Series. 

With a wealth of information, clear writing, and fresh, detailed 
photography, this is an invaluable resource for qualified yoga teachers, 
student teachers, and yoga students who want to take their practice to 
the next level.

Author: Melanie Cooper
Ringbound
Pages 244
£16.99

UPDATE
According to Amazon.com   
9.1 x 6.5 x 0.7 inches
weight 1.2 pounds
$22.54

in English, Amazon.uk and Yogamatters
23.2 x 16.6 x 1.8 cm
350g
£16.99 
but also offered on Amazon for £12.00 inc. postage

And that's it, oh wait, a little bio about Melanie herself.

Melanie Cooper has been teaching yoga for 16 years, and training yoga teachers for eight years. She divides her time between London and Goa, practicing and teaching yoga. She currently runs the morning ashtanga self practice at The Life Centre in Islington and runs an annual teacher training at Brahmani Yoga in Goa, She has practiced and assisted at Ashtanga Yoga London for many years, and has also studied with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Melanie lives in North London.

Before I part with £16.99 I want to have a flick through a book, sit in the aisles and have a read..... I miss bookshops.

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Anybody remember the recent Ashtanga opening chant  article on Elephant Journal that seemed to be 'liked' and linked to all over fb earlier this month?

That was Melanie Cooper


and it there's a companion piece.

The Ashtanga Closing Chant - Elephant Journal

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So lets have a look inside, here's the contents, some surprises...



So far so good, straight forward teacher training material here, and it should be Melanie is an experienced teacher trainer. It's all clearly laid out with an intro to each section, 'Benefits', 'How to teach' it etc. If you were just beginning to teach and were looking for good clear explanations of these topics or more importantly how to communicate them without getting carried away, without saying too little too much and losing your students then this could be your teaching manual, it's ring bound too.

But now it gets, curious, Sanskrit count for Primary Series, a long section with pictures on deepening the Primary series and a long section on adjustments for Primary series. 

This is a teacher training manual based on Ashtanga. 



And that's curious because Ashtangi's don't do Teacher Training's (or do they), traditionally you keep going to Mysore, India in the hope that Sharath might give you the nod and then you can teach (although I believe there is money involved).

I've never really understood how that works, if Sharath says you can teach do you then just go and teach without any other training? No adjustments training ( Ashtangi's love to adjust), nothing on actually communicating the practice. Is it just assumed that you'll be able to teach Ashtanga? 

Doesn't Sharath teach a few small workshops in Mysore for authorised Ashtanga teachers now?

I guess, in general, to be invited to teach by Sharath, you would have been practicing for seven to ten years, most likely at a shala and have been assisted/adjusted yourself throughout that time, you would have noticed what goes on in the Shala, watched your teacher, been on some workshops perhaps and watched those teachers too. You would have lived and breathed Ashtanga, studied your yoga Sutras, talked for hours about bandhas and Ujjayi, honed your yamas and niyamas...... And of course if your lucky you would have been offered a teaching assistant gig and received hands on training from an experienced Ashtanga teacher.

Melanie comments on this actually in the Introduction

"Before I go any further I want to state clearly that this is not about Ashtanga Yoga as it is traditionally taught in Mysore, and I'm not trying to give 'the correct Mysore point of view'. I have the utmost respect for Pattabhi Jois and Sharath and their teaching methods...... I do not pretend to speck for them and they have not endorsed this book.

I think that there is no doubt about the authenticity and integrity of Pattabhi Jois and Sharath. their teaching method has produced some of the most accomplished, knowledgable and sincere yoga practitioners around today, but the reality facing most new yoga teachers is that most of their classes are in gyms where it is not possible to teach in the Mysore style. Most of these classes are only one hour long and are open to all levels. Most of the students are practicing only once or twice a week. In this situation a new way of teaching Ashtanga has emerged - a general led class - and this is what teaching yoga, Adjusting Asana is about. But it is my hope that this book will be useful to many different categories of yoga practitioner". 

On a side note, I can almost imagine Pattabhi Jois saying something similar on his first day teaching Yoga at the Sanskrit college, on why his presentation of Ashtanga was a little different from his teacher Krishnamacharya's presentation.

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How useful is this book, should you buy it?

"...But it is my hope that this book will be useful to many different categories of yoga practitioner". 

Whether your planning on teaching or not the book outlines, and in bullet points, many tricky concepts, bandhas, breathing, drishti, useful for the beginner perhaps and for anyone trying to explain these concepts in a way that works, by just saying enough. There is an good section on injuries and how to avoid them as well as onovercoming them, there's a section too on teaching the spiritual/philosophical aspect of the practice.

Drishti

There is a section on the sanskrit count, handy if you've just come out of a led class, got confused in a few places but would like to go again next Friday, you can brush up.

Sanskrit Count 

Sanskrit Count  

I really liked this section on 'Deepening the Primary series', warm up exercises. I often include some extra Vinyasa Krama postures into my own Ashtanga practice at home to give myself a little extra work where necessary. There's also a section on some ideas for Workshops see the Contents screenshots above p169

'Deepening the Primary series'


The Adjustment section 

This may well be one of the main reasons for your buying the book, it gets joint billing with Teaching yoga. 

Teaching Yoga 
Adjusting Asana

Before getting into the actual adjustments there are suggestions for trying them out on a friend, an old student perhaps, starting with simple corrections etc. Melanie outlines the types of adjustments , corrections, guidance, adjustments and which kind of students to use which type of adjustments on. There's are sections on when to adjust, safety considerations etc. 

It's still problematic though isn't it. When I attended Manjus' teacher training course in Crete, there was a demonstration by Manju, then we were put into groups led by somebody who had already taken a course, all working ashtanga teachers actually. We would try the adjustments on each other, describe how they felt, get guidance form our more experienced group leader. Kristina would be working the room along with Manju, available for advice, suggestions, the slapping of hands and re demoing the assist. We would revisit the same assists the the next day and again the next, constantly re enforcing the teaching. Actually the assists too were mostly different from what I've found in this book, something to come back to in another post perhaps as I look more closely and try them out.

A book is no substitute for that. I imagine it's assumed that you would be attending an Adjustment workshop, perhaps one that Melanie takes herself, that this book is seen more as an accompanying manual to a course.

For the student it's nice to understand why your teacher is adjusting you in the way that they are, especially as there isn't a lot of verbal communication in a shala, this section would act as a good reminder too. For the home Ashtangi it gives us a way of looking at our own asana, we can use it to imagine what a teacher might be seeing, looking out for if they were there in our home shala. 



 Conclusions?

 It's a good book, a lot of work gone into it, it's smart, you'd find a lot of stuff in here that you would use, whether your just starting teaching, going to a shala or practicing at home.

And best of all you can discuss/argue for hours it's basic premiss and whether Ashtanga should be taught in this way, the future of Ashtanga, whether it can survive in the gym scene or up against the gym scene for that matter....  or if everything beautiful about this practice becomes diluted and loses it's value.
Melanie is clearly an Ashtanga practitioner who loves her practice and devoted to it's communication. It's clear from reading her book that she believes Ashtanga can be taught in gyms and stay relevant and of value to those who come for practice however many times a week that may be.

BUT if Ashtanga can make the transition into gyms wouldn't this make it even harder for the smaller more traditional, Ashtanga six days a week, shalas to survive?
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Melanie Cooper's website
http://melaniecooper.co.uk


Update on the Solo Chakra Bhandasana in a month challenge end of 2nd week.

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Tuesday tapas Update
Relates to the one month to chakra bhandasana project

Another update/progress report on One month Chakra Bhandasana challenge - Missed the boat?

and here
Backbends - Progress report One month to Chakra Bhandasana challenge plus 108 drop backs.

and here, the original post
Chakra Bhandasana - Grab heels in a month backbend challenge

If you remember, this project came about from seeing this video by Jen René Peg Mulqueen and Michael Joel Hall.


Watching this back I'm thinking, Michael isn't dropping back any closer than I am here


I think I might even be coming in a little deeper...


and yet he's still managing to reach in and grab his legs....although with a little help


My plan is to face the wall and rock forward and use that in place of Peg and friend

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In the second part of the video Peg drops back to a full yoga block then spider walks her fingers towards her ankles and grabs them that way.


I've been working on dropping back much closer to the wall, looks like I'm still a couple of inches out...perhaps (wishful thinking she has a wider block than the books I'm using). I'm slightly amused by the part of my movie below where I put my feet nice and close to the block but by the time I've actually dropped back I've somehow shuffled them forward to where they are in this picture





Solo Chakra Bhandasana - Peg Mulqueen

So this is the end of the second week, two more to go. I ordered a full yoga block so more work on that this coming week and perhaps the facing the wall experiment.

Pattabhi Jois' Pranayama in Lino Miele's 'Ashtanga Yoga'. Clearer layout and practice sheets.

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Pattabhi Jois' Ashtanga Pranayama as found in Lino Miele's book, 'Ashtanga Yoga'.
Pattabhi Jois
Unlike the asana vinyasa descriptions, I've tended to find the presentation of the Pranayama instructions in Lino's book confusing and difficult to follow. I've been meaning to lay them out in a clearer, step-by-step, easer to follow form for years.

This was intended for my own use but thought I might as well share it with anyone else interested.

See the Pranayama page at the top of the blog for more on pranayama and different variations of the Ashtanga pranayama sequence, Derek Ireland's CD is my favourite.

My own Pranayama practice tends to be just as I was taught by Srivatsa Ramaswami, based on the use of a pranayama mantra.... but I still like to explore, especially the different variations of the Ashtanga pranayama sequence.

Print out practice sheets at bottom of post.
(please let me know if you pick up on any errors)

NOTES: Lino relates Pattabhi Jois talking about building up to 20 and 30 second kumbhaka's (breath retentions) here, this is a gradual process and should be undertaken over several months however easy it may seem at first (it's gets more challenging after a number of repetitions/rounds, as well as kumbhaka after both inhalation and exhalation). Start with 2 second kumbhaka's build upto five over a week (or four) and settle there for a month or so before adding on a second at a time. 

Pattabhi Jois mentions engaging Jalandhara bandha for the puraka kumbhaka ( after inhalation) , engage the neck lock fully and then swallow at the end of the inhalation.

In my own pranayama practice I include a 20 second kumbhaka after the inhalation while mentally reciting the pranayama mantra (see my pranayama page). My kumbhaka after exhalation is five seconds. I tend to do, 20, 40 or 80 rounds. Personally I've never felt the need to go beyond that.

If you have high blood pressure or any other condition that concerns you it is of course wise to discuss a pranayama practice with a knowledgable doctor.

Here's one interesting article to be going on with (another article/study may of course refute every point made).

Nisshesha rechaka pranayama offers benefits through brief intermittent hypoxia
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3361916/

Krishnamacharya (Pattabhi Jois' teacher) teaching pranayama

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The First Pranayama 
(Recaka-Kumbhaka- pranayama or Puraka-kumbhaka-pranayama

Sit in padmasana making spinal chord erect, 
expanding the chest 
sit facing the east.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preparation

Part I
Inhale (puraka) and exhale (recaka) both nostrils - slowly, fully

remember your teacher, your own personal God

Part II ( with bandhas)
Do full Puraka and full Recaka

afterwards one must do  mulabandha and Uddiyanabandha

maintain bandhas
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part III (with Kumbhaka)
Again do a slow and full (dirgha) Puraka and Recaka.

Then one must do Kumbhaka (retaining the breath) for as long as comfortable.

Recaka (exhalation) with Kumbhaka
Slowly Puraka
Slowly Recaka
Kumbhaka (20 seconds)

repeat three times

Puraka (inhalation) with kumbhaka (engage jalandhara bandha)

Slowly Puraka
kumbhaka (30 seconds)
slowly Recaka

repeat three times

Part IV 
reckaka and puraka (without kumbhaka

repeat five times

NB: In this pranayama if the recaka- kumbhaka is done for 20 seconds then puraka kumbhaka is done for 30 seconds i.e. 2:3 ratio

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The second pranayama 
Puraka-Recaka-pranayama (kumbhaka after both recaka and puraka)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preparation

Part I
Inhale (puraka) and exhale (recaka) both nostrils - slowly, fully

remember your teacher, your own personal God

Part II ( with bandhas)
Do full Puraka and full Recaka

afterwards one must do  mulabandha and Uddiyanabandha

maintain bandhas
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part III
slowly puraka
kumbhaka (as many seconds as comfortable)
recaka (slowly, comfortably)
kumbhaka

puraka- kumbhaka
recaka- kumbhaka

repeat three times

puraka-kumbhaka
recaka-kumbhaka

Part IV reckaka and puraka (without kumbhaka

slowly puraka
slowly recaka

repeat five times

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The Third pranayama
(nadi shodana)


Krishnamacharya
Samavrtti and Visamavrtti pranayama or Anuloma and Viloma pranayama
--------------------------------------
Preparation
Inhale through both nostrils

Do sankha-mudra ?
(does he mean vishnu mudra below, the usual mudra for nadi shodana)

close right nostril (with tip of thumb high up on nostril), exhale left nostril
----------------------------------------------
Part 1 - Samavritti pranayama

close left, inhale right
Kumbhaka 
( as many seconds as is comfortable)

close right, exhale left
kumbhaka 
(same length as in recaka-kumbhaka above)

inhale left- kumbhaka
(Same period of time)

exhale right - kumbhaka

inhale right - kumbhaka

exhale left - kumbhaka

inhale left - kumbhaka

exhale right - kumbhaka

inhale right  - kumbhaka

exhale left  - kumbhaka
---------------------
moving into
 Part II Visamavrtti pranayama

inhale right - kumbhaka
.
exhale right - kumbhaka

inhale right - kumbhaka

exhale right - kumbhaka

inhale right - kumbhaka

exhale right - kumbhaka

inhale right - kumbhaka

switch
.
exhale left - kumbhaka

inhale left - kumbhaka

exhale left - kumbhaka

inhale left - kumbhaka

exhale left - kumbhaka

inhale left - kumbhaka

exhale left - kumbhaka

inhale left - kumbhaka

finish with...
exhale right - kumbhaka

inhale right

exhale left

*

= 26 Recaka-Kumbhaka and puraka-kumbhaka
same number of both

bandhas as proscribed in first three pranayamas
One can increase the number of seconds by practice

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Bhastrika pranayama
(Bellows breath)

Sit in padmasana in erect position

inhale (fully), 
tighten Mulabandha, draw up diaphragm (uddiyanabandha)

5x long, slow, full inhalation and exhalation

full inhalation
hold feet (which are in padmasana ) such that the heels press both sides of navel

Krishnamacharya ( you could hold the feet from the front)
exhale rapidly and inhale rapidly ( like a bellows pressed by a smith)


When you feel tired or exhausted

exhale fully
then
inhale fully
kumbhaka ( as long as is comfortable)

exhale slowly
inhale deeply

Repeat bhastrika

When you feel tired or exhausted

exhale fully
then
inhale fully
kumbhaka ( as long as is comfortable)

Repeat bhastrika

When you feel tired or exhausted

exhale fully
then
inhale fully
kumbhaka ( as long as is comfortable)

after this, (the third time)

exhale
inhale


Practice sheets







Here are the original instructions from Lino Miele's book Ashtanga Yoga from which the instructions above are taken.






Lino's first book seems to be increasingly difficult to find (but see his website link below) however, Lino's new book, The Yoga of Breath covers Primary to 3rd series series and with much more besides. I'm assuming it contains this same treatment of pranayama.

The book is now available in Italian and English.
from Lino's website http://www.linomiele.com



This book is the result of Lino's more than 20 years of passionate Ashtanga yoga practice and the fruit of 10 years of profound research into the vinyasa method under the guidance of his guru, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. The 1st through 4th series are illustrated and explained in the vinyasa context. Approximately 360 pages with more than 200 photos Pages: 364 

and here on Amazon.com

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See also 
My Pranayama page inc. Srivatsa Ramaswami/Krishnamacharya approach as well as Tim Miller's presentation of the Ashtanga Pranayama sequence
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/p/pranayama.html

My post on Derek Ireland Ashtanga Led Primary CD and Pranayama CD
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/derek-ireland-ashtanga-led-primary-cd.html

My post on Manju Jois' pranayama videos- Pranayama techniques
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/manju-pranayama-techniques-and-some.html

My Preview / Review : David Garrigues' Vayu Siddhi, Pranayama DVD/book set
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/preview-review-david-garrigues-vayu.html

My post on Manju Jois' pranayama videos- Pranayama techniques
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/manju-pranayama-techniques-and-some.html

An introduction to pranayama from Sharath
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrKOGElIeUw

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Pattabhi Jois leading Richard Freeman in pranayama

David Garrigues’ workshop in London -The razor’s edge: a balance of opposites

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My friend Rachel attended David Garrigues workshop in London last week, I'd completely missed that he was coming, knew about Ulm but not London. Rachel is a Saxophonist, composer, improvisor as well as an Ashtangi and I think we got to know each other through my Vintage Sax Blog rather than this one. I asked her if she fancied doing a guest post on David's workshop and after sleeping on it here's what she sent me, I love it. I've added a little about Rachel at the end ( catch her playing in London, dates on her website) as well as a few other related links.

Guest post: The razor’s edge: a balance of opposites 
by Rachel Musson


David Garrigues at Bay Yoga Berkhamsted last weekend

There was nothing terribly unfamiliar about David Garrigues’ workshop this weekend at Bay Yoga Berkhamsted. Anyone who, like me, has play-stop-played through some of David’s online asana kitchens, or read his enthusiastic blog posts would have recognized the man who chirpily strode into Berkhamsted town hall as the same David. What was unfamiliar to me (alert for nerds – look away now - I’m a through my own personal experience kind of person, I’m an ashtanga newishbie and I’ve no grand insight into breath counts or that sort of mullarkey), however, was a subtle change in my actions over the course of the weekend. Let me be clear about two things: I don’t ever write blog posts and I never ask questions in yoga workshops. Ever. And yet, as I write this now, I’m surprised to feel a strong pull to follow up Anthony’s suggestion for a guest blog post, and with a similar sense of surprise I watched myself write on the asana kitchen question sheet on Sunday morning, ‘I’ve never tried chakrasana and don’t know where to start.’

A theme that seemed to crop up and resonate for me throughout the weekend was a theme of opposites. They were everywhere, and David their master. From talking about triangle (feel the femur bone push up into the hip socket and ‘whoosh’ the energy travels down the leg into the floor) to gravity: no sooner had he implored us to be ‘low riders’ (as in car) and feel the magnetic pull of the earth he was urging us to resist the pull and lift up and out. We were held for some time in downward dog and talked through feeling the opposing pulls of apana vayu and prana vayu.  And, on a few occasions, were urged to find that place of stability that lies between the danger inherent in a pose and the place of a kind of lethargic comfort. I’m paraphrasing here (am I correct in remembering him call it ‘the razor’s edge’?), and you’ll also have to imagine a few meaningful gestures – hands shaking in the air, the urgency of his voice increasing: this is evidently an important point.

The event was marvellously hosted by Cathy Haworth of Bay Yoga, Berkhamsted, in a great space in Berkhamsted Town Hall or in the yoga studio depending on the size of the groups. I attended four of the five weekend workshops (not including the extra Mysore session and teachers’ adjustment workshop). I was a bit disappointed that other commitments meant I missed the mulah bandha talk and the ‘chai and chat session’ (See Kevin's blog post David Garrigues comes to the provinces.). But the surya namaskar and jumping workshop, a primary series broken down workshop, led primary and the asana kitchen all lived up to expectations (and mine were high). There was enough of an introduction to pranayama to make me want to purchase his Viyu Siddhi but, of course, all three copies (that he began his European tour with only three copies of his most recent publication is perhaps evidence of how refreshingly uncommercial the whole event was) sold out before I knew they were there. The asana kitchen led us to look at a few different poses in depth – triangle, side angle, down dog – these all being taken from requests by workshop attendees. And the best thing was that David truly wanted us to get it. So how did I make my start with chakrasana? With a bank of blocks to throw myself back off of…and when my single tier didn’t work and second tier…and when my second tier didn’t work David looked decidedly despondent before brightening and telling me to keep trying.

There were more opposites… In schools we talk of ‘scaffolding’ learning – moving someone to a point just beyond where they are able to get to on their own – holding them in their learning process.  Of course, David’s adjustments served that purpose. They, too, presenting an opposite – a firm and hearty push in the right direction combined with a sense of safety and care. And the size of the group meant these were relatively plentiful. But another and perhaps more subtle scaffolding was David’s presence. And present he was. There was no cursory sweeping of the gaze across the room. He met and held our eye contact, sought it out, was there with us. Through a paradoxically judgment-free expectation that we would put our all into our practice with him over the weekend (it felt to me a demanding led primary!) yet at the same time holding the space with compassion and huge warmth he modeled how to approach our practice beyond Berkhamsted Town Hall.  The warm toughness isn’t an unfamiliar combination. It’s something I’m fortunate to have experienced in a similar approach to teaching from my own super teacher Charlie Taylor-Rugman. It’s a convincing push to make the practice my own and a demonstration of how to achieve this over a long-term commitment (“you’re all practicing these poses every day, right?” was said on more than one occasion with a smile.) Of course, two people doesn’t a scientific study make, but at some point over the weekend I was led to ponder whether this is what Pattabhi Jois has passed on, along with the system, the practice that David was so eager to share with us this weekend: a spirit…an approach to practicing that becomes an approach to living. This is what, more often than not, eludes me, but attracts me to continue. The ability to hold myself in this practice at that edge between fierce determination and a gentle tenderness is something that was scaffolded for me this weekend. That’s where we were all held for a couple of days. That’s how I came to ask a question in a yoga workshop. That’s how I came to answer Anthony’s suggestion of a guest post. I’m still feeling the fleeting sense of freedom of inhabiting that space somewhere between full-on determination and a softness that saps. A fun space, a fearless space, and a space that has a peculiar way of generating its own energy. To paraphrase again, ‘when two forces balance each other out a space opens up.’ It was a very nice space, that, while it lasted.
Rachel Musson

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"Musson screams and wails like a drunken ghost", Jakob Baekgaard, All About Jazz

Rachel is a saxophonist, improviser and composer living in London, UK.

Rachel is one of six composer/improvisers picked to work on the Sound and Music Portfolio improvisation residency in Cornwall in 2014 with Steve Beresford.

She is involved with a variety of improvisation-based projects, one of which, a trio featuring Liam Noble and Mark Sanders has just released an album on Babel Label. Rachel is also working on a trio project with Danish saxophonist Julie Kjaer and cellist Hannah Marshall, and a duo with bassist Olie Brice. She is a member of clarinetist Alex Ward’s new quintet, Atmospheric Disturbance, a large improvising free jazz band led by Eddie Prevost, and Loz Speyer’s Inner Space Music (with Chris Biscoe, Olie Brice and Simon Roth).

She has also written for and recorded with her own band, Skein, which released a highly acclaimed album on F-IRE Records at the end of 2010. She was picked by BBC Jazz on Three to perform at Cheltenham Jazz Festival last year, and in the same year was nominated for a London Jazz Award. She has performed with Alcyona Mick, Han Bennink, Liam Noble, Gail Brand, Eddie Prevost, Olie Brice, Federico Ughi, Mary Halvorson, John Russell, Adam Linson, Sebastian Rochford, among many others.


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LINKS

Rachel Musson
http://www.rachelmusson.com


David Garrigues

Charlie Taylor-Rugman

Also the day Rachel missed on Kevin's 'Journey of my practice' Blog
David Garrigues comes to the provinces

David's upcoming schedule in Europe ( so you don't miss anything like I just did)

Event: 35 Hour Germany In-depth Study
Dates: November 16th-November 22nd, 2013
Location: Frankfurt, Germany
Website: http://www.ashtanga-yoga-frankfurt.de/ashtanga-yoga.html (click here)
Study Type: In-depth Study
Email: contact@privateyogainstitute.de

Event: Yoga Shala Neu-Ulm
Dates: November 22nd-November 24th, 2013
Location: Ulm, Germany
Website: http://janoschs-turnstunde.tumblr.com/ (click here)
Study Type: Weekend Workshop
Email: workshopinulm@gmail.com

Event: Ashtanga Yoga School Amsterdam
Dates: November 28th-December 2nd, 2013
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Website: http://www.astanga.nl/home.html (click here)
Study Type: Mysore Intensive
Email: claudia@astanga.nl

Event: Ashtanga Yoga School Moscow
Dates: December 4th-December 8th, 2013
Location: Moscow, Russia
Website: http://www.ashtanga.su/workshop/david_garrigues_2013.html (click here)
Study Type: Mysore plus workshop (40 hour immersion of Primary Series)
Email: 0020308@gmail.com

- See more at: http://www.davidgarrigues.com/schedule.html#sthash.u4QBit1f.dpuf

Towards Chakra Bandhasana in a month project, a slice of brilliance from Michael Joel Hall. 'tag' this blog

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See this last update for the reasons behind all this.
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/update-on-solo-chakra-bhandasana-in.html

My fb friend Michael Joel Hall posted a video on my feed yesterday, thankfully he's uploaded it to youtube so I can share it.

Love that he did this, thank you Michael for encouragement, support, friendship and the shared tapas.

Michael you may remember was at the beginning of this video with Peg Mulqueen and...

and who is that with you guys, doing all the hard work of holding Michael upright while Peg and Michael get the glory? Just heard, that would be Jen René doing all the hard work and receiving none of the glory.




Here's his video, a stack of yoga bricks ( wouldn't be surprised if Jen René stacked the bricks too), I think he mentioned that this idea originally came from his teacher David Garrigues



and here's my attempt this morning  fishing out whatever I could find in place of bricks...I have two and a sponge block thing that arrived yesterday.


think I'm at my limit for now, need to hang out here for a week , work on some long stays.

See how the feet still shuffle away..

A Call for yoga bricks!

Here's a thought. I need 18 more bricks for this, if you feel like tagging my blog send me a spare standard size yoga brick you may have lying around (but really, only the one and only if it's spare), write you name large with indelible marker and with the country your from underneath ( on one side of the brick) and send it to my company address

Dawkes music
Reform Road
Maidenhead
Berkshire
SL6 8BT

If I end up with 20 on a future update you'll all get to see your bricks.

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Peg and Michael are running a Ashtanga and Surfing retreat in Costa Rica, here are the details from Peg's blog.
http://pegmulqueen.com/about/yoga-and-surf-retreat/

Costa Rica Retreat

the osa peninsula in costa rica

March 8 – 15th

as featured in Yoga Journal (June, 2012)



online registration hereyoga and surf retreat


 Join Michael Joel Hall and Peg Mulqueen, March 8-15 2014 as we pack and head to an enchanted and secluded forest on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica for a week of inspiration, adventure, yoga, and surf.
 What you can look forward to …
Welcome each day with an Ashtanga, Mysore style practice (open to ALL levels) -with led classes and exploratory classes including Yin yoga and Improv sessions, various afternoons.
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During your retreat, all your meals are included. Prepared on site with an emphasis on fresh organic produce, expect daily local specialties deliciously prepared by resident chefs.
Don’t forget to take time for yourself – indulge in a spa treatment, lounge poolside, or enjoy some mellow moments solo, or in the company of friends – both new and familiar.
Surf lessons available as well as Canopy tours, Zip lining, Horseback Riding and nature tours.  These are no included in package price but can be booked directly once you arrive.
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Of course, naps will be highly encouraged!
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Retreat Package includes 7 nights accommodations, all meals and yoga.  Costs* are per person.  Airfare not included:
Jungle Cabins:  Sleep to the sounds of the ocean in a tent platforms, complete with cozy porch, and open air showers.  ($1300 dbl – $1550 single)
Shared Houses: Two houses boast an open-air floor plan with beautiful thatched roofs.  Upstairs, each has two bedrooms (for two couples or close friends) and offer all the comfort and luxury you seek on your vacation. ($1800 per person)
Dorm-style House:  Open-air house with a spacious upstairs that allows room for 5.  Downstairs includes ample lounging space and opens to the pool with view of the ocean.  ($1700 per person)

*Save $200 by registering and paying in full by November 15, 2013

online registration here

or email  pegmulqueen(at)me(dot)com 

This retreat sold out last year – so please don’t delay registering!
A $300 non-refundable deposit will be required to hold your space.
 *
Two posts today, take a look at my post on Sharath from earlier this morning.

Sharath discussion on Ishvara, Japa Mantra Religion, God at Sunday Conference in Mysore

Sharath discussion on Ishvara, Japa Mantra Religion, God at Sunday Conference in Mysore

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image from http://joisyoga.com
I thought this was an interesting discussion/exchange with Sharath on Ishvara, Japa Mantra Religion, God etc. the whole shebang   at Sunday Conference in Mysore, picking up on questions five and eight here as they seem to go together well.  


I'm particularly interested in this as japa mantra is something Ramaswami encourages at the the end of practice after pratyahara, pranayama and of course your asana ( perhaps a shorter asana practice in the evening with more time for pranayama and  japa. I've also been including manta in my actual asana practice recently, it started with a kind of loving kindness mantra 'May I (she,he,they, Ramaswami, all living beings etc,) be safe, may I be well, may I be peaceful, may I be happy (different line of the mantra on each inhalation and exhalation throughout the practice) now I'm constructing mantra's based on Lamrim meditation, a different, meditation for each day, the asana practice as a kind of carrier for the mantra, it's an interesting approach.

The transcript is from Suzy's Mysore blog

Question 5
With surrendering to Ishvara, who is Ishvara?

Sharath– Ishvara is the existence, the nature, the energy who is making this world work.

Student– but how do we surrender to that energy?

Sharath– in your practice, by following yama and niyama. If you follow that, that means you are surrendering. Humans gave the name god to god. Humans see god as human. Tigers see god as tiger. Birds see god as a big bird, bigger than him. God means some energy, which is running this, the whole show.

How do you feel that? through your yoga practice. You have to apply yama and niyama to get to proper meaning, to understand what yoga is. If you follow that your mind gets very calm. If you follow ahimsa your mind gets very calm, there is no conflict with anyone.

Why everyone talks about spirituality? They need something to stop themselves to do bad things. So they go to a teacher, a master, he will guide you. If teacher says go and do anything, smoke cigarettes, go to party… he is spoiling you. It’s all fake the joy you are getting from outside. You have to get inner joy. When you get there’s nothing like that. Everything looks different. Everything looks joyful for you.

Now you want to see the internet, Facebook, Twitter, what this guy is doing… But instead if you sit for 15 minutes and try to understand how to bring inner joy. Do japa (mantra repetition) for 15 minutes, take one mantra – any mantra you want, chant it at home. Then you will see how this thing will change. Don’t think anything, just do japa.

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Question 8
If a person doesn’t have a religion, how do they go about seeking a mantra?

Sharath– you have to have something. What is your taste? You can’t say I don’t believe in that supreme energy, you have to believe in one.

Student– it’s not so much not believing in one, it’s just not having a preference.

Sharath– you should have one. How old are you?

Student– 24.

Sharath– [laughs] see this is the problem. Later, when you get wiser the things change. When I was practising 23 years back I was just bending my body. But when I got wiser then I realised that yoga is beyond asanas. Many things I had to discover. Maybe in ten years you will know.

Part of svadhyaya (self-study) is getting connected to one god. We have to believe in someone otherwise we won’t exist. Your mother, your father can be your god. Your teacher, your guru can be your god. You can feel that energy through your mother or your guru. Do you believe in this practice, what you’re doing?

Student– yes.

Sharath– so that belief can be god.
Someone asked me long back, in the old shala… my grandmother gave me a ring. I was wearing that ring. I was wearing here [indicates ring finger] so many people thought I was married. So one lady asked me, “are you married?”. I said, “yes”. “So where is your wife?”, I replied, “yoga is my wife” [laughs]. I was so involved in yoga. Your first wife is your practice.

Student– is your wife jealous?

Sharath– no, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.
But sometimes we can see something different in our teacher. Many people believed Guruji as their god. They felt some energy through him. Once I had back pain lifting too many students. My challenge from day one was practice and helping. When you lift students your body becomes stiff. I got this pain in my lower back. And everyday Guruji used to make me catch in back-bending here [indicates mid-thigh]. So I told my grandfather, “I can’t do today”. My grandfather he said, “just do it, just breathe”. He made me catch and after that all the pain was gone. That day it was a totally meditative practice.

That was the energy that he had within him.

That energy only comes from a proper sadhana (spiritual practice). Yogasadhana is not easy, it takes a lot of sacrifice. To master something you have to leave many things. If you are forced to do something it won’t be the same. When you like to do some work it is totally different. When you do something willingly the energy is totally different. And sometimes you need that push from your teacher.
We see many attitudes here also. When a student comes and thinks he knows everything, he wants to prove that. I say I have to learn so many things still. It doesn’t end. The person who knows everything he doesn’t say he knows everything.

You can only experience yoga through your practice. If I eat masala dosa that doesn’t mean you have relished masala dosa. You have to go and eat. Yoga is also like that. You have to do it.

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Review: Feetup headstand prop, hmmmmmmmm

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I  often get asked to review things on this blog, there was the underwear for men that makes your bottom looks... fuller, plumper? I don't know actually, never really understood the concept, or whether to feel flattered or offended at being asked, I passed on that one.

Books of course and if it seems relevant to the blog, my own interests or something I suspect readers of the blog might be interested in I'll say yes. Melanie Cooper's book for example that I reviewed last week.

I seem to be getting a more of these start up projects lately, the most recent being to promote a book project to raise $20,000 to publish a book on a series of emails between two friends, the email's however have already been written! Perhaps I'm missing something. Supposedly they want to raise the money to format the book and tidy it up the for publication and perhaps make an audio version. I don't get it self publishing is free or a couple of hundred if you your ego wants something glossier and musicians have been using garageband to produce whole albums, an audio book is easy there's even a podcast button.  I didn't like the reference to 'their careers as spiritual teachers' so passed on that one too.

Yoga Documentaries I'm more happy to support, this one for example looks interesting, a Yoga Documentary called Part and Parcel, BNS Iyengar is in it and they are seeking funds for post production.

http://www.pinknamaste.com/Part&ParcelDocumentary.html

I mention all this because in this instance I actually got in contact with Yogamatters and asked them if they would like me to review their Feetup headstand stool.


I'd seen an interesting review of the product by Genny Wilkinson-Priest (http://www.healthista.com/body/think-you-cant-do-a-headstand/)

"The new Feet Up is aimed at yogis who cannot lift into a headstand or hold one by themselves. But it looks like a grown-up’s potty and my 3-year old kept dragging it into the bathroom"

I wondered if it might actually help students of Vinyasa Krama yoga who struggle with headstand.

Krishnamacharya stressed to Ramaswami the importance of headstand and in Vinyasa krama we have myriad movement while inverted, still, I wanted to try it first before suggesting it, before recommending it.

It arrived ready made up in a huge box and without instructions, just a postcard. Now that might be because I was just reviewing in, if you were buying it new then perhaps it would arrive differently. Just heard that it arrives as a flatpack and you put it together, it looks a little Ikea actually, easy to put together I'm sure. Mine is probably a demo version from The Yoga show. I had it delivered to work and had to bring it home on the bike, tricky.


Turns out there is a nice manual booklet on Yogamatters website
http://www.yogamatters.com/cmscontent/documents/Files/feetup_booklet.pdf



First thing, it IS sturdy, well made, really don't think it's going to break on you although I do wonder, worry about what happens if you tip over to the side with your head stuck down the hole, have there been tests? Ouch.
german site http://www.feetup.de/startseite.html

I'm seriously worried about that actually, strikes me you could break your neck. Happy to be reassured on this.


I have to say I hated it the first time I tried it, I didn't like the feeling of the blood rushing to my head, my wife tried it too and thought she was going to get a nosebleed. I didn't like the way it was pressing down into the shoulders or rather my shoulders down into it, perhaps you get used to it. I tried it for a week and still haven't gotten used to it

So I  stuck with it all week, trying it everyday and I have to say I still don't like it, still can't get on with it. Perhaps in regular headstand having the arms at the same level as the head it affects the blood flow differently, equalises it somehow. I spend forty minutes in headstands sometimes, doing the full Vinyasa krama Inverted sequence and never get a headache. In the feet up it's just your head sticking down below perhaps that's why I get that feeling that my head is about to explode that I don't find with regular headstands.

I managed to practice some of the vinyasa krama movements in it, the arms were in the way but then you can also hold onto the legs which would move your elbows out of the way. Here's a short vinyasa Krama Inversions practice on the feetup.


Still, many seem to love it, there is a popular feet up Facebook page with people posting pictures of their feet up all over the place, saw one up the side of a mountain.



Putting personal feelings to one side, does it work?

I actually do think it is something every studio, and why not every teacher, should have or at least could use. It is easier to get up into headstand and I imagine if you've never been able to get into headstand then you probably would in no time with the feetup stool. So for the teacher you might be able to build confidence in your student and then after a few times move them on to regular headstands. It could bring about the breakthrough.

At £99.00 it's expensive, can't recommend anyone parts with that kind of money for home use when my own feeling is that you only use it in the beginning to gain confidence to actually get up into headstand and then wean yourself off it. Find a teacher, a school that has one and go there for a couple of weeks.

So apologies to Yogamatters but thank you for letting me try it, personally it's not for me and I'll be sticking with regular headstands...
but that doesn't mean it might not suit somebody else. I strongly recommend you try it for yourself before buying, and you might love it.

here's the link to the feet up page on Yogamatters website
http://www.yogamatters.com/product/717/prfeet/feetup-headstand-yoga-stool.html

Oh I did find another use for it...


See the latest Chakra bandhasana in a month challenge update post


this too perhaps


UPDATE
just found this feet up workshop video on Youtube

http://youtu.be/QgaiKGGpV5c

 And this one which scared the hell out of me from The Yoga Show

  

Krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu - the extra asana (descriptions taken from his other works).

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NOTE: Krishnamacharya wrote Yogasanagalu in 1941 while still in Mysore and while still teaching the young Pattabhi Jois. These extra asana seem to have been added in a latter reprint perhaps in the 1970's. However we know from Indra Devi's accounts and the video of Krishnamacharya in 1938 that he was practicing both the Ashtanga approach we are familiar with from Yoga Makaranda/Pattabhi Jois' teaching and a Vinyasa Krama approach familiar from Srivatsa Ramaswami's teaching. Both approaches to asana seem then to go hand in hand and may be considered to compliment each other.

I recently heard from Satya ( who is translating the Yogasanagalu 1941 for us), he mentioned that we are well into the last section of Yogasanagalu just a few extra postures and then nadishodana and that he planned on skipping the extra asana for now and moving on to the nadishodana pranayama.

He mentioned that we probably had outlines of the postures mentioned to be going on with. If you remember the other postures mentioned in Yogasanagalu are lifted directly from Krishnamacharya's earlier book Yoga Makaranda 1934.

Here's Satya's recent mail to me.

"I don't think I mentioned it when I completed the last segment.  The next section is descriptions of asanas in the order below (photos 1 - 16)
Dandasana 1
Dandasana 2
Pashchimatanasana
Poorvatanasana
Chatushtapeeta
Navasana
Ardabaddha paschimatanasana part 1
Ardabaddha paschimatanasana part 2
Matsyendrasana
Adhama matsyendrasana

Followed by last section on Nadhishodhana pranayama 

Nothing new in these sections that you haven't already seen in other works.   
Satya"

To mark Krishnamacharya's birth, he would have been 125 today, I thought I would fish out the descriptions we have for the postures Satya mentions that are added to the end of Yogasanagalu and see what we do actually have available from his other works.

Here are the pictures ( if I'm not mistaken krishnamacharya is in hi 90's in these), just the first sixteen mentioned above (plus two extras).





See here for our ongoing translation of Yogasanagalu page
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/p/yogasanagalu-translation-project.html

and here for the free downloads of Yoga makaranda parts 1 and 2 and much more besides
Free Downloads
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/p/free-downloads.html

Here are the descriptions I found. Most of these come from Yoga Makaranda part II, made available by AG Mohen (a different ordering of the text circulated by Krishnamacharya's students that had come to be known as Salutations to the Teacher).

Dandasana 1
Dandasana 2
Pashchimatanasana
Poorvatanasana
Chatushtapeeta
Navasana
Ardabaddha paschimatanasana part 1
Ardabaddha paschimatanasana part 2
Matsyendrasana
Adhama matsyendrasana

Dandasana 1



from Yoga Makaranda

DANDASANA: With the arms stretched and the palms flat on the ground by the side of the body. Six rounds of deep breathing with ANTAR and BAHYA kumbhakam of one second each, each round.

Dandasana 2 ?



Pashchimatanasana


from Yoga Makaranda

8 Pascimattanasana or Pascimottanasana (Figure 4.19 — 4.28)
This asana has many kramas. Of these the first form has 16 vinyasas. Just doing the asana sthiti by sitting in the same spot without doing these vinyasas will not yield the complete benefits mentioned in the yoga sastras. This rule applies to all asanas.
The first three vinyasas are exactly as for uttanasana. The 4th vinyasa is caturanga dandasana, the 5th vinyasa is urdhvamukhasvanasana, the 6th vinyasa is adhomukhasvanasana. Practise these following the earlier instructions. In the 6th vinyasa, doing puraka kumbhaka, jump and arrive at the 7th vinyasa. That is, from adhomukhasvanasana sthiti, jump forward and move both legs between the arms without allowing the legs to touch the floor. Extend the legs out forward and sit down. Practise sitting like this with the rear part of the body either between the two hands or 4 angulas in front of the hands. It is better to learn the abhyasa krama from a guru. In this sthiti, push the chest forward, do puraka kumbhaka and gaze steadily at the tip of the nose. After this extend both arms out towards the feet (the legs are already extended in front). Clasp the big toes of the feet tightly with the first three fingers (thumb, index, middle) of the hands such that the left hand holds the left big toe and the right hand holds the right big toe. Do not raise the knees even slightly. Then, pull in the stomach while doing recaka, lower the head and press the face down onto the knee. The knees should not rise from the ground in this sthiti either. This is the 9th vinyasa. This is called pascimottanasana. In the beginning, everybody will find it very di⇥cult. The nerves in the back, the thighs and the backs of the knees will feel as though they are being fiercely pulled and this will be extremely painful. The pain will remain for 8 days. After this, the pulling on the nerves will release and it will be possible to do the asana without any problem. This pascimottanasana has many forms. After first practising this asana with the face pressed onto the knee, practise it with the chin placed on the knee and then eventually with it placed 3 angulas below the knee on the calf. In the 10th vinyasa raise the head. In the 11th vinyasa, keeping the hands firmly pressed on the ground, raise the entire body o the ground and balance it in the air without touching the ground. The 11th vinyasa is called uthpluthi. The 12th vinyasa is caturanga dandasana. The 13th is urdhvamukhasvanasana. The 14th is adhomukhasvanasana. The 15th is the first vinyasa of uttanasana. The 16th vinyasa is the 2nd vinyasa of uttanasana. Afterwards, return to samasthiti. You should learn the intricacies of this vinyasa only from a guru.
Benefit: This will cure all diseases related to the stomach.
This asana can be done on the floor or on a mat according to the capabilities of one’s body. Learn some of the other forms of pascimottanasana krama by studying the pictures carefully. Pregnant women should not do this asana. But this can be done up to the third month of pregnancy. For men, there are no restrictions to practising this asana. If this is practised every day without fail for 15 minutes, all the bad diseases of the stomach will be removed.


from Yoga Makaranda part 2

40. PASCHIMATANASANAA Preliminary Exercise
While the exercise mentioned below, has not been prescribed in any of the old treatises on asanas, I have found, by experience, that a preliminary practice of this exercise makes it easy for the Paschimata and Purvatan asana positions being attained.


Technique:

1. Sit on the ground, with both legs stretched in front, knees together, and feet perpendicular to the ground. Sit erect and keep spine stretched.
2. Stretch the arms and catch hold of the toes by the thumb and forefinger of the hands.
3. While exhaling, bend the trunk as far forward as possible, keeping the spine
stretched.
4. While inhaling, lift the trunk and bring the body to the erect position of step (2).
5. Swing the stretched arms to either side of the body, till the arms are in a straight line
at the shoulder level. By a rotary movement of the stretched arms round the shoulder joint, first move them upwards, then forwards and then backwards and place the palms, fingers pointing to the front, above 12 inches behind the buttocks and about 18 inches apart. Keep the arms stretched.
6. While inhaling, lift the body, so that it rests on the palms and heels and is as straight as a plank. Bend the head backwards and stretch the feet so that the toes are pointed.
7. While exhaling, lower the body and reach position in step (5).
8. Bring the stretched arms to either side of the body, till they are in a straight line at
the shoulder level. Twist the arms so that the palms face upwards and rotate the arms first upwards till the arms are upright and then move them forward to catch hold of the toes by the thumb and forefinger of the hands and thus get into position in step (2).
9. Go through this cycle of movement and regulated breathing.


Note:
It may be difficult, especially in the case of those with fatty bodies, either to catch hold of the toes in step 2 & 8 or raise the body sufficiently high till it is as straight as a plank in step 6. No attempt should be made to reach these positions by unduly straining the body. It is enough to make these movements to the extent possible. In the case of step 6 undue strain will be indicated by the arms beginning to shake. By practice the body will become supple and the final positions reached in course of time.

41. PASCHIMATANASANA
Technique:

     
1. Sit on the ground, with both legs stretched in front, knee together, and feet perpendicular to the ground. Sit erect and spine stretched.

2.     Stretch the arms and catch hold of the feet, by making the palms of the hands rest on the toes of the feet, and the fingers of the hands touch the soles of the feet.
3. Chin lock the chest forward.
4. While exhaling, bend trunk forward at the hip keeping the spine straight, till the
forehead touches the knee.
Note: For beginners it may be difficult to catch hold of the feet by the hands. Even if this is possible it may be difficult to bend the trunk so that the forehead touches the knees. Every attempt should be made to reach these positions, but if these are not attainable, make these movements as far as possible, and avoid undue strain. With the breath regulation to be mentioned below, the positions will become easier as practice advances. When practice has further advanced, effort should be made when bending the trunk, to make the forehead ouch the shin as far away from the knees as possible.

5.    Take not more than 12 deep breaths. In the beginning one should start with 3 deep breaths and slowly increase it to the 12 mentioned above.

6.     While inhaling, life trunk.
Note: In the case of all TAN asanas it is important that the counter pose is done immediately after. The appropriate counter pose is given after each asana. TAN asanas are those which stretch the nerves e.g., PASCHIMATANASANA stretches and straightens up the nerves on the backside of the body, while PURVATANASANA the appropriate counter pose, stretches the nerves on the front side of the body.


A variation to the above asana which is somewhat more difficult is given below. This is attributed to Gorakshanath.


Technique:
1. This is the same as given under Paschimatanasana.
2. Place the palms with fingers to the front, about 12 inches behind the buttocks and
about 18 inches apart. Stretch the arms.

3. While exhaling, bend trunk forward at the hips, keeping the spine straight, till the forehead touches the knees or as low down on the shin as possible. The knees should be kept together and not raised from the ground.
4. Take deep breaths.
5. While inhaling, lift the trunk to the position in step 2.

PASCHIMATANASANA - Final pose

This can be practised only after mastering Sarvangasana. Halasana, Parsva Halasana Uttana Mayurasana, Paschimatanasana Purvatanasana etc.


Technique:

1. Sit on the ground, with both legs stretched in front, knees together, and feet perpendicular to the ground. Sit erect and spine stretched.

2.     While exhaling the trunk is twisted to the leg and bent forward at the hips. The right hand catches the left foot on the outer side and the left hand on the outer side of the right foot. Please note carefully the position of the hands in the illustration. In this position the right shoulder touches the right knee cap and the trunk gets a 90 degree twist to the left so that the line joining the shoulders is at right angles to the ground.
3. Take three deep breaths.
4. While inhaling, get back to position in step (1).
5. Repeat on the other side.

Purvatanasana


from yoga Makaranda part 2

42. PURVATANASANA

This is the counter pose to Paschimatanasana and should be practiced immediately after it.

Technique:

1. Sit on the ground, with both legs stretched in front, knees together and toes pointed. Sit erect and with spine stretched.

2. Place the palms with fingers to the front, about 12 inches behind the buttocks and about 18 inches apart. Stretch the arms.

3. While inhaling, lift the body supporting it on the palms and the heels. The body should be straight as a plank and kept stretched. Bend the head backwards as far as possible. This stretches all the nerves on the front side of the body.
4. While exhaling, lower the body to the position mentioned in step 2.
5. Do three rounds.
Note:
It may be difficult, especially in the case of those with fatty bodies, to raise the body sufficiently high in step 3, to make the body straight as a plank. Undue strain should be carefully avoided, and it is enough if the body is lifted to the extent that it is conveniently possible. Undue strain will be indicated by the arms beginning to shake. As practice advances the final position will become possible.

Chatushtapeeta ?



Navasana ?


from Yoga Makaranda

20 Navasana (Figure 4.59, 4.60)
This has 13 vinyasas. In this asana, we need to keep our bodies like a boat (look at the picture). In the 7th vinyasa, maintain the position observed in the picture. That is, only the seat on the back of the body must be on the floor and all the other parts of the body must be raised o the ground. Similarly raise both legs o the ground, keeping them extended. Extend the shoulders out in front, extend the arms forward and place the palms on each leg not quite touching the knees. This is called paripurna navasana (Figure 63).
In the 7th vinyasa, lie down just as in supta padangushtasana, raise the ex- tended legs o the ground. Join the hands and interlace the fingers behind the neck, placing the head on the palms and hold the head tightly with the clasped hands. Then, as observed in the picture, raise the upper body halfway using the back and stop. This is called ardha navasana (Figure 64).

Ardabaddha paschimatanasana part 1


from Yoga Makaranda part 2

43. ARDHA BADDHA PADMA PASCHIMATANASANA


Technique:
1. Sit upright on the ground.
2. Stretch the right leg in front of the body. The leg should be kept stretched, toes
pointed, the back of the thigh, calf and heel touching the ground. Knees should not be raised throughout this asana. This position of the right leg should be maintained undisturbed throughout this asana.

3.      Place the left foot on the right thigh as near the groin as possible, the heel should be to the right of the navel and as near to it as possible, the sole of the foot upturned, the toes pointed and the muscles stretched. The outer side of the left knee and the left thigh should touch the ground. The two knees should be as close as possible.

4.      While exhaling, stretch the spine, keep the body upright, and take the left hand round the back and catch hold of the big toe of the left foot with the thumb and forefinger of the left hand.
The trunk should not be twisted to the left but kept facing the front.

5.       Inhale and then while exhaling, stretch the right arm and catch hold of the big toe of the right foot with the thumb and forefinger of the right hand. If it is possible, and it becomes easy with practise, the fingers of the right hand may encircle the right foot.

6.      Throw the chest forward, chin lock, keep eyes closed, stretch the spine, and take two deep breaths with rubbing sensation in the throat. The breathing is done by both nostrils, and effort is taken to make the inhaling and exhaling as slow, thin and long as possible.

7.      While exhaling, slightly twist the trunk to the right and slowly lower the trunk by bending the body at the hips without arching the spine, till the forehead touches the right kneecap. As practice advances attempt should be made for the forehead to progressively touch the shin beyond the knee and nearer the ankles.

8.      Take two or three deep breaths. This is for beginners, as practice advances, the number may be slowly increased to not more than six. Normally no retention of breath is necessary. But as practice advances, breath may be retained after inhalation and breath may be kept out after exhalation for one second each.
9. While inhaling, lift the trunk and come back to the position in step (5).
10. Repeat on the left side.

Benefits:
This asana tones up the liver, spleen and the intestines by the internal massage of these parts during controlled breathing. The waist line is reduced and the spinal column strengthened. It gives relief to those suffering from chronic stomach ache and cures the disorder.

Ardabaddha paschimatanasana part 2 ?

Matsyendrasana

Adhama matsyendrasana


from Yoga Makaranda Part 2

31. ARDHA MATSYENDRASANA - Section A.

Technique:
1. Sit erect, with both legs stretched in front.
2. Bend one leg, say the right, at the knees, and place the foot of the right leg on the left
thigh, so that the heel of the right foot is as near the naval as possible. The tendency of the stretched leg to twist to the left should be resisted. The foot of the left leg should be perpendicular to the ground. The knees should not be more than 12 inches apart.

3.      Exhale slowly, and twist the trunk to the left, keeping the spine erect. Take the left hand behind the back so that the fingers of the left hand may catch hold of the right leg at the shin, just above the ankle.
4. Twist the head to the left so that the chin is above the left shoulder.
5. The right hand is stretched and the outside of the left foot is caught hold of by the
palm of the right hand. The fingers of the right hand should touch the sole of the left foot. In this position the shoulder blades and right arms will be in a straight line.

6. The eyes should gaze at the tip of the nose in the case of married people. In the case of those who are unmarried the gaze may be to the midpoint of the eyebrows.

7. Take deep breaths. Not more than three at the beginning stages. The number may be slowly increased to twelve as practice advances.

8. Repeat on the other side.


Note: It is important that the counter pose should be done soon after the above asana is completed. The counter pose BADDHA PADMASANA, will be described later.


32. ARDHA MATSYENDRASANA - Section B

Technique:
1.    Sit upright, with both legs stretched in front. Bend one of the legs, say the right, at the knee and bring the heel below the seat. The outside of the knee and the thigh should touch the ground. Bend the left leg and place the left foot by the side of the right knee and to the right of it. The left foot will be firmly placed flat on the ground and left foreleg will be perpendicular to the ground.
2.     While exhaling, twist the trunk to the left and bring the stretched right arms so that the armpit is above the left thigh and the left knee touches the outside of the right upper arms and fingers of the right hand catch hold of the left foot.
Note: It should be carefully noted that to avoid danger to the elbow of the right arm, the right elbow reaches a position below the left knee as low as possible. See the illustration and note the position carefully.
3.     The left arm is taken round the back, so that fingers touch the right thigh. Care should be taken that the spine is kept erect.
4. Turn the head to the left so that the chin is near the left shoulder.
5. Take three deep breaths.
6. Repeat on the other side.

Note: The deep breaths should be taken without retention of breath and without strain to the lungs.
As a variation, to make the asana somewhat easier, the heel of the right leg instead of being placed below the seat, may be placed a bit to the left so that balancing is easier in the final position.
Benefits: This is of special benefit to those suffering from stomach complaints. This rapidly reduces the waistline.

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Text only version : Interview/discussion with Certified Ashtanga Teacher Kristina Karitinou

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Kristina Karitinou is a certified Ashtanga yoga teacher, and has been teaching through the tradition of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois since 1991

Earlier this year I attended a Manju Jois' Teacher Training course in Rethymno, Crete hosted by Certified Ashtanga teacher Kristina Karitinou.  Since that training Kristina and I have exchanged some emails discussing her late husband Derek Ireland and the early days of Ashtanga in Europe as well as it's development. I recently asked Kristina if she would be interested in contributing to a post along the lines of an interview as I wanted to share and explore further those discussions and she kindly agreed. I sent her an absurd amount of questions, I think she's answered nearly all of them. Although there is much about the past here, there is more about the future, about how the past informs the present, the encounter of cultures and traditions, the embracing of heritage....

See also this post which includes accompanying photos, 
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/entelechy-interview-with-certified.html

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Interview/discussion with Kristina Karitinou

Anthony: How did you come to practice Yoga? Who were your first teachers and how did you come to practice Ashtanga?

Kristina: I was first introduced to yoga by a friend when I was about 14 years old. It was Akis Triantafyllou who gave me my first class in hatha yoga. Then a few years later at the age of 19 Linda Kapetaniou was recommended by a friend and thus I started attending her classes in Ashtanga yoga.

Anthony: Tell me about Derek Ireland?

Kristina: Derek was a truly charismatic teacher setting the foundations of teaching  and spreading  the knowledge of Ashtanga in Europe, by training teachers and evolving the methodology of the practice. He provided us with the right tools to make the practice understandable to our western mentality. He was an extremely generous, knowledgeable and compassionate teacher, who had great respect towards his students and greatly contributed to the formation of the contemporary yoga teacher image. He was a devoted practitioner himself and would always pay his respects to his guru Sri K. Pattabhi  Jois as he would always stress the importance of lineage. At the same time he was an exemplary father and unique husband always caring about his family, not to mention that he was absolutely gorgeous attracting admiration wherever he would appear. 

Anthony: How did you first meet him and what were your first impressions?

Derek Ireland in his Yoga Room, The practice place , Crete
Kristina: After practicing for two years with Linda till about Navasana she advised me to visit either  sri K.Pattabhi Jois in India to advance my practice or go to Crete and practice with Derek Ireland. As Pattabhi was on a summer tour at the time I chose to go to Crete. There I met Derek and started practicing with him. I was overwhelmed so much by his deep and thorough knowledge as well as by his presence as a whole.

Anthony: What was it like to be taught by Derek, how was he as a teacher?

Kristina: When I first entered his shala I immediately realized the truth and the power of his teaching and it became apparent to me that he had the ability to understand your potential and bring it all up on the surface. He was always keen on making you see the power and strength that lied within you and worked towards making you experience the true possibilities and nature that you might not have been aware of. Myself as a teacher have been shaped by these characteristics of him, and I want to believe that my work also involves some of his teaching style.

Anthony: Why was he important to the growth of Ashtanga in Europe?

Kristina: Derek's students were actually the ones who made Ashtanga so popular in Europe. It was with his help that they spread this method and popularized the practice mainly in the Uk. Now, retrospectively, it's hard to imagine how things would have been without his presence.

Anthony: Who were some of his students that we may of heard about.

Kristina: The list is long: John Scott, Gingi Lee, Alexander Medin, Lis Lark, Brian Cooper, Mathew Vollmer, Michaela Clarke ,Annie Pace, Jocelyn Stern, Petri Raisanen, Joseph Dunham, Ginny Dean, Hemish Hendry and many many more.

Anthony: Tell me about ‘The Practice Place’, the Ashtanga community in Greece at that time?

Kristina: The Practice Place, was the first Ashtanga community in Europe. Set up in the UK it had its shala in the South of Crete. This was the place where teachers and students had the possibility to study with Derek and Radha. Derek was the one working mainly with the Mysore advanced practitioners and helped them evolve their practice. The place combined three important features, good practice, good food and accommodation in great surroundings. Most of us had to work our way through our studies there in an effort to learn to offer to this community as this was part of a Karma yoga training. Derek made this possible for us in order to deepen our knowledge and shape a correct attitude towards a dedicated practice.

Anthony: You taught for some time in Brighton, one of the first Ashtanga classes in the UK I believe, can you tell me a little about your experience of teaching Ashtanga in the UK at that time?

Kristina: In 1998 I was the first to teach Ashtanga in Brighton at Evolution Center. In 1999 the first Ashtanga community was established in the Natural Health Center in Brighton where I kept teaching up until 2003. At the time there were only a few teachers in the UK and that was when Ashtanga actually started taking off. This was an extremely important period for me, as it set the foundation for my professional career as an independent Ashtanga teacher. It was the first time that I had to work by myself as Derek had only recently departed.

Anthony: Do you feel that there is a distinctive character to European Ashtanga, to Greek yoga in particular…., visiting your shala it felt like an extended family not just the shala itself but teachers, students of yours from other parts of Greece, returning for Manju’s workshop and even further afield, there seemed to be former students of yours from as far as Finland.

Kristina: The teaching we received from Derek had always been a way to accept the spiritual differentiation and mentality of each and every practitioner, making thus each member of the community unique and respectable. Our common goal had always been a beneficial and correct technique on the practice while leaving space for personal growth. This must have also influenced the way I teach Ashtanga, giving the feeling that the teacher is an equal part of the community and not just some leader. The feeling you probably got of a big family must have to do with this acceptance and respect for each member while working on a mutual goal of personal development and improvement.

Anthony: How was it to visit Mysore, tell me about your experience practicing with Pattabhi Jois?

Kristina: Sri K Pattabhi Jois was a truly wise man. He was a very generous teacher, as when you practiced in his yoga shala you could feel the intensity of his deep knowledge as well as the connection to the teachers of the past. He had the ability to transfer your practice to a deeper level of understanding the asana and all this would come through his own experience of life and all the hardships and strains he had gone through  which offered him a completely different awareness of the practice and the asana itself. He would always work through a deeper part of himself which had been shaped through the good and the bad times of life and had offered him a unique perspective of simplicity and substantiality. At the same time he was a very sincere man and truly industrious while all his students were made to feel part of his greater family and were always offered this knowledge generously. Through all his hard work he managed to contribute to the shaping of a universal consciousness towards a better world. 

Anthony: Do you feel that the practice of Ashtanga has changed, not so much the details of practice but rather the experience of the practice.

Kristina: The experience of the practice seems like a completely subjective issue, as each of us has his own experience while practicing with few common points. However it has become really popular within the last 20 years, with the help of all the senior teachers around the world. More knowledge has been involved with adding more teacher training courses and information in the method such as alignment, philosophy, reference to the past or even anatomy. The practice is getting enriched as more and more is added through further examination and deeper knowledge. As it spreads through cultures and civilizations it is getting richer in cultural elements since this technique has the ability to adopt to various contemporary elements without getting altered or influenced by globalization. It has the unique characteristic of becoming part of all societies, growing stronger and still keeping its core intact.

Anthony: Tell me about Manju.

Kristina: Manju is a truly strong Master having kept the technique of traditional Ashtanga yoga in him alive, knowing the preciousness of this jewel. His point of view and karmic position have not been affected from all these years living in the West, on the contrary he has shown a remarkable strength of character and faith to the method. He has also gone through many difficulties which have made him really strong and given him the unique characteristic of fearlessness. At the same time he is extremely optimistic, and this faith and love towards his ethics and virtues offer great bonding power to the community. He functions as a true spiritual father forging personal relationships with his students, standing close to them and inspiring them to further development.

Anthony: ...and Sharath?

Kristina: Sharath is a man who has also worked really hard and was well prepared by his grandfather. He has taken up a huge responsibility and manages to deal with things in the best possible way, bearing in mind how young he is. He is offering an immediate and true approach to the method while trying to maintain and spread the true essence of this practice, which is certainly not an easy task, and demands great amount of concentration, since our generation is constantly bombarded by huge multinational enterprises and commercialism. He has deep knowledge of both the practice and the way to teach it and I honestly believe that he has both the wisdom and the strength to maintain and convey the legacy of this truly big family.

Anthony: Recently you had Hyon Gak Sunim, a Korean Zen Monk, teaching Zen at your shala, an extended workshop. Can you tell talk about your current thinking regarding Ashtanga and Zen

Kristina: Three years ago, I had the honor to meet Hyon Gak Sunim and come in contact with Zen meditation. Sunim managed to awaken a deeper level of internal understanding as he has the unique gift to tune and transform the dynamics of the surrounding environment and the people within it. He reminded me the importance of sitting in meditation and use the potential of my existence through chanting with his charismatic presence and his powerful perspective. There is a bond between meditation techniques and Asana practice. The beauty of Ashtanga practice includes a freedom to choose your own spiritual path when practicing the Asana. You can experience more benefits of this technique when you first try to do your meditation and then do your practice. It is true that both the Asana itself as well as mediation on its own involve certain limitations, so much of the body as well as of the mind, therefore a  combination of the two can supplement each other and offer a more complete result. They both function through breathing and they both need the mind to focus on it in order for them to be successful and experienced to the highest possible level. Our body is made in such a way that it can be activated so much through motion kineasthetically, as well as when in absolute stillness, statically, When we practice a Zen or any other kind of meditation there is a need to be aware of the moment, free of sentimental charges. Through this state of self awareness the body gets well prepared to be able to decode to a higher level the information that each Asana and every single breath carries. Meditation and Asthanga practice are two intertwined elements and can offer a more complete result and a broader and deeper knowledge of reality, allowing the practitioner to get the most possible information at the time.

Anthony: I noticed on your alter a small bust of Socrates do you have any thoughts regarding Ashtanga as a philosophy, yoga sutras etc and Greek philosophy?

Kristina: It is of paramount importance for the practitioners to develop awareness of the cultural heritage of the place they are in. Being in Greece we bear great responsibility towards our ancestors and our roots, so having a small bust of Socrates triggers the energy that surrounds us and constantly reminds us why we actually practice. "Knowing thyself" is the epitome of knowledge, and it should always be there in our practice, in our breathing in our everyday life. "Practice and all is coming" incorporates the true meaning of knowing oneself as this is the only way given to us to actually manage and have some results. Greek and Indian civilizations appear to be connected on a spiritual level throughout the centuries, and they have both set the foundations for the development of philosophical thinking so much in the East as well as in the West respectively. Socratic inquisitive way of approaching discourse and the mental freedom he offers to human existence match uniquely the legacy of practice Patanjali has bequeathed us. Both of them have offered a means to free the mind from the conventionality of life as they give you alternatives and they both require freedom of thought so that man can reach the higher level of existence and the ultimate point of liberation and self - fulfillment. Freedom works as a prerequisite while it is the final destination of each of these two methods. Therefore the presence of both philosophies on my alter seemed like a natural thing to do.

Anthony: Tell me about your own practice how it has developed, changed over the years?

Kristina: The part of my practice that has remained completely unchanged through time is the sense of satisfaction and belongingness I get. It;s this point of reference either on or off the mat I daily have and it;s the place where I always return to meet myself. I used to approach practice with a sense of achievement but I have come to realize that these three sequences I have been given are enough for me to work for the rest of my life. The reasons I want to practice is the necessity for harmony, knowledge of my own being, wisdom, health and beauty. Through the practice I get all these elements and points of reference so much in my body as well as in my mind which actually help me do what I do in the best possible way. Practice is a lifelong partnership and friendship developing and adopting in the same way life is developing. I still feel excited and get fascinated by this method and it feels that there is so much to learn that it's too good to be true.

Anthony: Where do you feel you are now as a teacher and a practitioner?

Kristina: I feel grateful for all these things that have happened to me while at the same time I feel excited about what is about to come in the future.  

Anthony: What are your hopes for your own shala?

Kristina: The hope is that the shala becomes one more home for the Ashtanga community not just for my students and Derek's but as well for the students that love and respect the work of  Jois family.I want it to be a place which will continue to function based on the same principles, transmitting knowledge the same way we received it. The shala environment works as a place for practice incorporating the ancient notion of Gymnasium where the practitioners working on a physical level focused on purification and balancing both body and mind.

Anthony: What are your feelings about the future of Ashtanga in Greece, in Europe and in general?

Kristina: There is still great potential for evolution and expansion. We need to have more teachers around the world and not only in big cities;  teachers who will be well prepared and have acquired a great amount of practice. There is need for more trained Ashtangis with respect to the lineage and who have adapted the traditional methods of transmitting this knowledge. A strong  universal community setting the physical and mental awakening as their priority will keep commercialization at least in balance, allowing the development of freedom through this practice ,

Anthony: What would you most like to communicate regarding your experience of teaching/practicing Ashtanga or life in general…what would you most like to say/communicate to anyone reading my blog.

Kristina: Each one of us bears a personal responsibility to discover the different parts of ourselves and experience life through entelechy so that we can progress to mentally and physically healthy cells of this planet and offer useful elements to our environment through our existence.  Our status both as teachers but as practitioners as well reminds us of the necessity for purification and evolution, not just for our own sake but also in an effort to prepare our world for the next generations. In this method our teachers worked under Bodhisattva mind keeping all the human qualities active in order to  remind us that the strength of our existence lies in this life as it is.

Who am I? Know thyself!!


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About Kristina
Kristina is a certified Ashtanga yoga teacher, and has been teaching through the tradition of Sri K Pattabhi Jois since 1991.
She was qualified as an Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga teacher by Derek Ireland and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in 2002 and became Certified by Manju Pattabhi Jois in 2012. She has practiced intensively with R.Sharath Jois.
She teaches the Primary, Intermediate and Third Sequence and she offers classes, workshops, retreats and teacher trainings all year round in Greece, Europe and Asia. Kristina is happy to host workshops and teacher trainings with Manju Pattabhi Jois in Crete.

Kristina’s work is a continuation of Derek Ireland’s teaching principles. Her work is dedicated to him.

Kristina Karitinou - Ashtanga yoga Greece (affiliated with Yoga Practice London)


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Thank you also to Nikos Michos for his assistance with this post

pdf of the interview, text only, available found here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7JXC_g3qGlWMDJNVTAxa3Z4Q1k/edit?usp=sharing

Entelechy : An Interview with Certified Ashtanga Teacher Kristina Karitinou

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"Each one of us bears a personal responsibility to discover the different parts of ourselves and experience life through entelechy so that we can progress to mentally and physically healthy cells of this planet and offer useful elements to our environment through our existence...." Kristina Karitinou

entelechy,  (from Greek entelecheia), in philosophy, that which realizes or makes actual what is otherwise merely potential.

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Kristina and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois
Kristina Karitinou is a certified Ashtanga yoga teacher, and has been teaching through the tradition of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois since 1991



Earlier this year I attended a Manju Jois' Teacher Training course in Rethymno, Crete hosted by Certified Ashtanga teacher Kristina Karitinou.  Since that training Kristina and I have exchanged some emails discussing her late husband Derek Ireland and the early days of Ashtanga in Europe as well as it's development. I recently asked Kristina if she would be interested in contributing to a post along the lines of an interview as I wanted to share and explore further those discussions and she kindly agreed. I sent her an absurd amount of questions, I think she's answered nearly all of them as well as being so generous in sharing a large number of personal photographs. 


I think this collaboration is one of the things I am most proud of posting on this blog, Kristina's responses to these questions have moved me greatly as well as filling me with excitement for this practice, for a life of practice . Although there is much about the past here, there is more about the future, about how the past informs the present, the encounter of cultures and traditions, the embracing of heritage....

"Kristina: It is of paramount importance for the practitioners to develop awareness of the cultural heritage of the place they are in. Being in Greece we bear great responsibility towards our ancestors and our roots, so having a small bust of Socrates (on the altar) triggers the energy that surrounds us and constantly reminds us why we actually practice. "Knowing thyself" is the epitome of knowledge, and it should always be there in our practice, in our breathing in our everyday life. "Practice and all is coming" incorporates the true meaning of knowing oneself as this is the only way given to us to actually manage and have some results. Greek and Indian civilizations appear to be connected on a spiritual level throughout the centuries, and they have both set the foundations for the development of philosophical thinking so much in the East as well as in the West respectively. Socratic inquisitive way of approaching discourse and the mental freedom he offers to human existence match uniquely the legacy of practice Patanjali has bequeathed us. Both of them have offered a means to free the mind from the conventionality of life as they give you alternatives and they both require freedom of thought so that man can reach the higher level of existence and the ultimate point of liberation and self - fulfilment. Freedom works as a prerequisite while it is the final destination of each of these two methods. Therefore the presence of both philosophies on my alter seemed like a natural thing to do".

Interview/discussion with Kristina Karitinou

Anthony: How did you come to practice Yoga? Who were your first teachers and how did you come to practice Ashtanga?
Linda Kapetaniou 
Kristina:I was first introduced to yoga by a friend when I was about 14 years old. It was Akis Triantafyllou who gave me my first class in hatha yoga. Then a few years later at the age of 19 Linda Kapetaniou was recommended by a friend and thus I started attending her classes in Ashtanga yoga.


AnthonyTell me about Derek Ireland?


Derek Ireland, Crete
Kristina: Derek was a truly charismatic teacher setting the foundations of teaching  and spreading  the knowledge of Ashtanga in Europe, by training teachers and evolving the methodology of the practice. He provided us with the right tools to make the practice understandable to our western mentality. He was an extremely generous, knowledgeable and compassionate teacher, who had great respect towards his students and greatly contributed to the formation of the contemporary yoga teacher image. He was a devoted practitioner himself and would always pay his respects to his guru Sri K. Pattabhi  Jois as he would always stress the importance of lineage. At the same time he was an exemplary father and unique husband always caring about his family, not to mention that he was absolutely gorgeous attracting admiration wherever he would appear.

AnthonyHow did you first meet him and what were your first impressions?


Derek Ireland in his Yoga Room, The practice place , Crete
Kristina: After practicing for two years with Linda till about Navasana she advised me to visit either  sri K.Pattabhi Jois in India to advance my practice or go to Crete and practice with Derek Ireland. As Pattabhi was on a summer tour at the time I chose to go to Crete. There I met Derek and started practicing with him. I was overwhelmed so much by his deep and thorough knowledge as well as by his presence as a whole.

AnthonyWhat was it like to be taught by Derek, how was he as a teacher?


Kristina: When I first entered his shala I immediately realized the truth and the power of his teaching and it became apparent to me that he had the ability to understand your potential and bring it all up on the surface. He was always keen on making you see the power and strength that lied within you and worked towards making you experience the true possibilities and nature that you might not have been aware of. Myself as a teacher have been shaped by these characteristics of him, and I want to believe that my work also involves some of his teaching style.

AnthonyWhy was he important to the growth of Ashtanga in Europe?


Kristina and Derek wedding day
Kristina: Derek's students were actually the ones who made Ashtanga so popular in Europe. It was with his help that they spread this method and popularized the practice mainly in the Uk. Now, retrospectively, it's hard to imagine how things would have been without his presence.

Anthony: Who were some of his students that we may of heard about.

Kristina: The list is long: John Scott, Gingi Lee, Alexander Medin, Lis Lark, Brian Cooper, Mathew Vollmer, Michaela Clarke ,Annie Pace, Jocelyn Stern, Petri Raisanen, Joseph Dunham, Ginny Dean, Hemish Hendry and many many more.
Derek assisting Gingi Lee, The practice Place

Derek assisting in his Yoga Room 


Anthony: Tell me about ‘The Practice Place’, the Ashtanga community in Greece at that time?



Kristina: The Practice Place, was the first Ashtanga community in Europe. Set up in the UK it had its shala in the South of Crete. This was the place where teachers and students had the possibility to study with Derek and Radha. Derek was the one working mainly with the Mysore advanced practitioners and helped them evolve their practice. The place combined three important features, good practice, good food and accommodation in great surroundings. Most of us had to work our way through our studies there in an effort to learn to offer to this community as this was part of a Karma yoga training. Derek made this possible for us in order to deepen our knowledge and shape a correct attitude towards a dedicated practice.


The Practice Place Kitchen

Anthony: You taught for some time in Brighton, one of the first Ashtanga classes in the UK I believe, can you tell me a little about your experience of teaching Ashtanga in the UK at that time?
Exhibition in London
Kristina: In 1998 I was the first to teach Ashtanga in Brighton at Evolution Center. In 1999 the first Ashtanga community was established in the Natural Health Center in Brighton where I kept teaching up until 2003. At the time there were only a few teachers in the UK and that was when Ashtanga actually started taking off. This was an extremely important period for me, as it set the foundation for my professional career as an independent Ashtanga teacher. It was the first time that I had to work by myself as Derek had only recently departed.

Anthony: Do you feel that there is a distinctive character to European Ashtanga, to Greek yoga in particular…., visiting your shala it felt like an extended family not just the shala itself but teachers, students of yours from other parts of Greece, returning for Manju’s workshop and even further afield, there seemed to be former students of yours from as far as Finland.

Discussion with Manju ( I'm up there in front of the altar)
Kristina: The teaching we received from Derek had always been a way to accept the spiritual differentiation and mentality of each and every practitioner, making thus each member of the community unique and respectable. Our common goal had always been a beneficial and correct technique on the practice while leaving space for personal growth. This must have also influenced the way I teach Ashtanga, giving the feeling that the teacher is an equal part of the community and not just some leader. The feeling you probably got of a big family must have to do with this acceptance and respect for each member while working on a mutual goal of personal development and improvement.

Anthony: How was it to visit Mysore, tell me about your experience practicing with Pattabhi Jois

Kristina: Sri K Pattabhi Jois was a truly wise man. He was a very generous teacher, as when you practiced in his yoga shala you could feel the intensity of his deep knowledge as well as the connection to the teachers of the past. He had the ability to transfer your practice to a deeper level of understanding the asana and all this would come through his own experience of life and all the hardships and strains he had gone through  which offered him a completely different awareness of the practice and the asana itself. He would always work through a deeper part of himself which had been shaped through the good and the bad times of life and had offered him a unique perspective of simplicity and substantiality. At the same time he was a very sincere man and truly industrious while all his students were made to feel part of his greater family and were always offered this knowledge generously. Through all his hard work he managed to contribute to the shaping of a universal consciousness towards a better world.


Anthony: Do you feel that the practice of Ashtanga has changed, not so much the details of practice but rather the experience of the practice.
Kristina with Liam Ireland, Old Shala, Mysore
Kristina: The experience of the practice seems like a completely subjective issue, as each of us has his own experience while practicing with few common points. However it has become really popular within the last 20 years, with the help of all the senior teachers around the world. More knowledge has been involved with adding more teacher training courses and information in the method such as alignment, philosophy, reference to the past or even anatomy. The practice is getting enriched as more and more is added through further examination and deeper knowledge. As it spreads through cultures and civilizations it is getting richer in cultural elements since this technique has the ability to adopt to various contemporary elements without getting altered or influenced by globalization. It has the unique characteristic of becoming part of all societies, growing stronger and still keeping its core intact.

Anthony: Tell me about Manju.


Manju, Kristina's Shala, Rethymno, Crete
Kristina: Manju is a truly strong Master having kept the technique of traditional Ashtanga yoga in him alive, knowing the preciousness of this jewel. His point of view and karmic position have not been affected from all these years living in the West, on the contrary he has shown a remarkable strength of character and faith to the method. He has also gone through many difficulties which have made him really strong and given him the unique characteristic of fearlessness. At the same time he is extremely optimistic, and this faith and love towards his ethics and virtues offer great bonding power to the community. He functions as a true spiritual father forging personal relationships with his students, standing close to them and inspiring them to further development.

Anthony: ...and Sharath?

Kristina: Sharath is a man who has also worked really hard and was well prepared by his grandfather. He has taken up a huge responsibility and manages to deal with things in the best possible way, bearing in mind how young he is. He is offering an immediate and true approach to the method while trying to maintain and spread the true essence of this practice, which is certainly not an easy task, and demands great amount of concentration, since our generation is constantly bombarded by huge multinational enterprises and commercialism. He has deep knowledge of both the practice and the way to teach it and I honestly believe that he has both the wisdom and the strength to maintain and convey the legacy of this truly big family.

Anthony: Recently you had Hyon Gak Sunim, a Korean Zen Monk, teaching Zen at your shala, an extended workshop. Can you tell talk about your current thinking regarding Ashtanga and Zen
Kristina and Hyon Gak Sunim
Kristina: Three years ago, I had the honor to meet Hyon Gak Sunim and come in contact with Zen meditation. Sunim managed to awaken a deeper level of internal understanding as he has the unique gift to tune and transform the dynamics of the surrounding environment and the people within it. He reminded me the importance of sitting in meditation and use the potential of my existence through chanting with his charismatic presence and his powerful perspective. There is a bond between meditation techniques and Asana practice. The beauty of Ashtanga practice includes a freedom to choose your own spiritual path when practicing the Asana. You can experience more benefits of this technique when you first try to do your meditation and then do your practice. It is true that both the Asana itself as well as mediation on its own involve certain limitations, so much of the body as well as of the mind, therefore a  combination of the two can supplement each other and offer a more complete result. They both function through breathing and they both need the mind to focus on it in order for them to be successful and experienced to the highest possible level. Our body is made in such a way that it can be activated so much through motion kineasthetically, as well as when in absolute stillness, statically, When we practice a Zen or any other kind of meditation there is a need to be aware of the moment, free of sentimental charges. Through this state of self awareness the body gets well prepared to be able to decode to a higher level the information that each Asana and every single breath carries. Meditation and Asthanga practice are two intertwined elements and can offer a more complete result and a broader and deeper knowledge of reality, allowing the practitioner to get the most possible information at the time.


Hyon Gak Sunim teaching in Rethymno Shala, crete
Anthony: I noticed on your alter a small bust of Socrates do you have any thoughts regarding Ashtanga as a philosophy, yoga sutras etc and Greek philosophy?


Screenshot from Alessandro Sigismondi's 'Come Breathe With Us' ( below)
Kristina: It is of paramount importance for the practitioners to develop awareness of the cultural heritage of the place they are in. Being in Greece we bear great responsibility towards our ancestors and our roots, so having a small bust of Socrates triggers the energy that surrounds us and constantly reminds us why we actually practice. "Knowing thyself" is the epitome of knowledge, and it should always be there in our practice, in our breathing in our everyday life. "Practice and all is coming" incorporates the true meaning of knowing oneself as this is the only way given to us to actually manage and have some results. Greek and Indian civilizations appear to be connected on a spiritual level throughout the centuries, and they have both set the foundations for the development of philosophical thinking so much in the East as well as in the West respectively. Socratic inquisitive way of approaching discourse and the mental freedom he offers to human existence match uniquely the legacy of practice Patanjali has bequeathed us. Both of them have offered a means to free the mind from the conventionality of life as they give you alternatives and they both require freedom of thought so that man can reach the higher level of existence and the ultimate point of liberation and self - fulfillment. Freedom works as a prerequisite while it is the final destination of each of these two methods. Therefore the presence of both philosophies on my alter seemed like a natural thing to do.

Anthony: Tell me about your own practice how it has developed, changed over the years?


Kristina and son, Goa
Kristina: The part of my practice that has remained completely unchanged through time is the sense of satisfaction and belongingness I get. It;s this point of reference either on or off the mat I daily have and it;s the place where I always return to meet myself. I used to approach practice with a sense of achievement but I have come to realize that these three sequences I have been given are enough for me to work for the rest of my life. The reasons I want to practice is the necessity for harmony, knowledge of my own being, wisdom, health and beauty. Through the practice I get all these elements and points of reference so much in my body as well as in my mind which actually help me do what I do in the best possible way. Practice is a lifelong partnership and friendship developing and adopting in the same way life is developing. I still feel excited and get fascinated by this method and it feels that there is so much to learn that it's too good to be true.


Liam and Dennis Ireland
Anthony: Where do you feel you are now as a teacher and a practitioner?


Kristina practicing along with everyone else, Manju's Led Primary, Crete
Screenshot from Alessandro Sigismondi's 'Come Breathe With Us' ( below)
Kristina: I feel grateful for all these things that have happened to me while at the same time I feel excited about what is about to come in the future.  

Anthony: What are your hopes for your own shala?



Kristina: The hope is that the shala becomes one more home for the Ashtanga community not just for my students and Derek's but as well for the students that love and respect the work of  Jois family.I want it to be a place which will continue to function based on the same principles, transmitting knowledge the same way we received it. The shala environment works as a place for practice incorporating the ancient notion of Gymnasium where the practitioners working on a physical level focused on purification and balancing both body and mind.

Anthony: What are your feelings about the future of Ashtanga in Greece, in Europe and in general?
Kristina regularly Hosts Manju for his workshops and trainings in Rethymno Crete
(that's me jumping back in front of the altar)
Kristina: There is still great potential for evolution and expansion. We need to have more teachers around the world and not only in big cities;  teachers who will be well prepared and have acquired a great amount of practice. There is need for more trained Ashtangis with respect to the lineage and who have adapted the traditional methods of transmitting this knowledge. A strong  universal community setting the physical and mental awakening as their priority will keep commercialization at least in balance, allowing the development of freedom through this practice ,


AnthonyWhat would you most like to communicate regarding your experience of teaching/practicing Ashtanga or life in general…what would you most like to say/communicate to anyone reading my blog.

Kristina: Each one of us bears a personal responsibility to discover the different parts of ourselves and experience life through entelechy so that we can progress to mentally and physically healthy cells of this planet and offer useful elements to our environment through our existence.  Our status both as teachers but as practitioners as well reminds us of the necessity for purification and evolution, not just for our own sake but also in an effort to prepare our world for the next generations. In this method our teachers worked under Bodhisattva mind keeping all the human qualities active in order to  remind us that the strength of our existence lies in this life as it is.
Who am I? Know thyself!!
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Below: A short film looking at the encounter between Ashtanga and Zen, filmed this year at Kristina's Rethymno shala by Alessandro Sigismondi, on and around my own Visit to the Shala for Manju's workshop.



Kristina is a certified Ashtanga yoga teacher, and has been teaching through the tradition of Sri K Pattabhi Jois since 1991.
She was qualified as an Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga teacher by Derek Ireland and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in 2002 and became Certified by Manju Pattabhi Jois in 2012. She has practiced intensively with R.Sharath Jois.
She teaches the Primary, Intermediate and Third Sequence and she offers classes, workshops, retreats and teacher trainings all year round in Greece, Europe and Asia. Kristina is happy to host workshops and teacher trainings with Manju Pattabhi Jois in Crete.

Kristina’s work is a continuation of Derek Ireland’s teaching principles. Her work is dedicated to him.

Kristina Karitinou Ashtanga yoga Greece (affiliated with Yoga Practice London)


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Kristina and Irina 2013


Thank you Kristina for agreeing to answer so many questions and with such candour, for being so generous with your time as well as with the sharing so many of your personal pictures






Thank you also to Nikos Michos for his assistance with this post as well as in Pada Hastasana.

UPDATED (New Version) Early Krishnamacharya Ashtanga Resource Book

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One of the joys of Ramaswami's Teacher training course in 2010 was a week long module on Krishnamacharya. We read Yoga Makaranda and Yoga Rahasya line by line in the classroom with Ramaswami commenting throughout. In the mornings, in the practice room, we explored the asana sections. This exploration of Krishnamacharya's early writing is something I've continued to explore through posts on this blog and in my own practice, the translation of yogasanagalu (1941) has been part of that project.

This has gone hand in hand with my Ashtanga and Vinyasa Krama practice, to be honest I fail to see the distinctions between them that clearly anymore. I find a relatively fixed Ashtanga sequence useful for my needs but will modify when necessary, my breath tends to be slow, occasionally I'll explore longer stays and often take advantage of kumbhaka options. I include pranayama, pratyahara and meditation along with my asana practice.

With my workshop in Spain coming up next month (already booked up ) and another workshop in the pipeline I've been bringing together some of my posts on exploring Krishnamacharya's Ashtanga, a resource for my own use really.

Most of these posts reflect Krishnamacharya's early Mysore years, when he was teaching the Young Pattabhi Jois but are informed too, to some extent, by some of his latter writing and teaching.

Mostly it's based on Yoga Makaranda Parts I and II and Yogasanagalu but also with the 1938 film footage in mind.

I've uploaded it to my Google Docs page to make it freely available for personal study. This is the first version, so over time the plan is to rework/rearrange the material to make it all more coherent as well as a major edit to improve readability and a check that all the hyperlinks go where they should..

Here's the link, new, better versions added as I go.


UPDATE; NEW VERSION BELOW (better layout but the Nancy 1974 syllabus is scrambled)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7JXC_g3qGlWdloxTy1EU3hKeG8/edit?usp=sharing


Here are the older versions
Exploring Krishnamacharya's Ashtanga
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7JXC_g3qGlWWHpmTnZkZmdqZEU/edit?usp=sharing

This should be downloadable from a computer.

I've uploaded a copy to Scribd also
http://www.scribd.com/doc/185995559/Exploring-Krishnamacharya-Ashtanga-Expanded


Read and Download

Table of Contents
Read and Download

To get an idea of some of the content have a look at my other blog, much of this comes from there, the rest scatter around this blog over the last year or two.


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Below are the originals that I used as a source for most of the posts that make up the Resource book



previous post

Chapter Previews; My Early Krishnamacharya Ashtanga Practice Resource Book

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For some reason the earlier post where I introduced my Krishnamacharya Resource book has gone a little strange, the right side of the post seems to be missing.

So here it is again but this time with chapter previews.

I put the book through a Creative Space format that I'd been saving for the print version of my Vinyasa Krama Practice Book, but still haven't gotten around to doing it. I think it works quite well, where before I was a little embarrassed to put this up, now I'm feeling a little more pleased with it.
Link to Amazon

I'd brought together a bunch of my Krishnamacharya posts in preparation for a couple of workshops I'd been invited to present and have been reading through them, I think I still agree with most of it.

I still need to do some work editing the whole thing, getting rid of some of it's bloggyness and well as improve the layout but, for now, it's something to be going on with.

Here's the link to the epub version which is ideal for the iPad
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7JXC_g3qGlWZ1o1S1lQZ3FjUjQ/edit?usp=sharing

and this is a regular pdf version
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7JXC_g3qGlWdloxTy1EU3hKeG8/edit?usp=sharing

Below are the first pages of most of the chapters/articles/ex posts

Many of the 'chapters' first appeared on my Krishnamacharya blog
http://krishanamcharysaoriginalashtanga.blogspot.co.uk

Chapters

1. Yogasanagalu's (1941) 'Original' Ashtanga Primary Group/Series in Yoga Makaranda (1934)

2. How to practice Krishnamacharya's 'Original' Ashtanga Yoga.

3. Uddiyana kriya and asana in Krishnamacharya's 'Original' Ashtanga.

4. Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda extended stays.

5. Examples of usage of Kumbhaka (Breath retention) in asana in Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda! 24

6. Why did Krishnamacharya introduce kumbhaka (breath retention) into the practice of asana in Ashtanga.

7. Why did Krishnamacharya introduced kumbhaka into asana.

8. APPENDIX: Kumbhaka in Krishnamacharya's descriptions of asana.

9. Krishnamacharya's asana description in Yogasanagalu (1941).

10. Krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu - the extra asana (descriptions taken from his other works).

11. Krishnamacharya's 1941 Ashtanga Asana table.

12. In 1937 "Guruji was teaching a 4 year course in yoga... the same course outline (1974) that you received from Nancy" Eddie Sterne.

13.The 'Original' Ashtanga yoga Syllabus given to Nancy Gilgoff and David Williams by Sri K Pattabhi Jois in 1974 Mysore.

14. Posts related to Ashtanga history.

15. What did Krishnamacharya study with his Guru in Tibet- Yogacarya Krishnamacharya - The Purnacarya. Edited by Mala Srivatsan.

16. What would Krishnamacharya's Sun Salutation be like.

17. Krishnamacharya paschimottanasana, including transitions.

18. Krishnamacharya's Mysore HOUSE RECOMMENDATIONS (practice guidelines) from Yoga Makaranda (1934) and Yogasanagalu (1941).

19. Krishnamacharya and headstands, also Ramaswami's Inverted sequence and the Ashtanga ‘seven deadlies’.

20. Krishnamacharya own practice (An outline of Krishnamacharya's own practice).

21. Pranayama: Notes from Yoga makaranda ( Part II).

22. Krishnamacharya on CHAKRAS.

23. Krishnamacharya on Samyama in Yogasanagalua and Yoga makaranda ( part II) Chakras, Jivatma, Paramata. 

24. Krishnamacharya’s Interpretation of YS II-47 : “By making the breath smooth (and long), and by concentration or focussing the mind on the breath, the perfection of the posture is obtained”.

25. Notes on practicing Krishnamacharya’s yogasanagalu.

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Screenshots of first page of each (most) chapters....























Book Launch for Melanie Cooper's Teaching Yoga Adjusting Asana, The Life Centre , Islington, London. Fri 29th November.

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You may remember I reviewed Melanie Cooper's upcoming book Teaching Yoga Adjusting Asana in an earlier post (click on the link below).

Book review: Teaching Yoga, Teaching Asana based on the Ashtanga Primary Series by Melanie Cooper.

Melanie just invited book launch at The Life Centre in Islington London, next friday, what's that, the 29th November. There's food and drink supposedly and she said to pass the word around... ideally let her know your planning on coming so she can have a rough idea of numbers. I'm hoping to make it myself.


Below are a few things lifted from my review.




Leading yoga teacher trainer Melanie Cooper brings you the essential 
handbook for teaching yoga and adjusting asana (yoga poses). 
The first part explores fundamentals of teaching in a simple, clear, accessible way. Melanie covers how to teach crucial concepts such as breath, bandha and drishti, as well as more general topics including injuries, ethics and the spiritual aspects of yoga. 
In the second part of the book there are helpful techniques for deepening common yoga postures and a complete guide to hands-on adjustment for the Ashtanga Primary Series. 
With a wealth of information, clear writing, and fresh, detailed 
photography, this is an invaluable resource for qualified yoga teachers, 
student teachers, and yoga students who want to take their practice to 
the next level.

Author: Melanie Cooper
Ringbound
Pages 244
9.1 x 6.5 x 0.7 inches
23.2 x 16.6 x 1.8 cm
weight 1.2 pounds
350g
£16.99 
but also offered on Amazon for £12.00 inc. postage

Melanie Cooper has been teaching yoga for 16 years, and training yoga teachers for eight years. She divides her time between London and Goa, practicing and teaching yoga. She currently runs the morning ashtanga self practice at The Life Centre in Islington and runs an annual teacher training at Brahmani Yoga in Goa, She has practiced and assisted at Ashtanga Yoga London for many years, and has also studied with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Melanie lives in North London.

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"Before I go any further I want to state clearly that this is not about Ashtanga Yoga as it is traditionally taught in Mysore, and I'm not trying to give 'the correct Mysore point of view'. I have the utmost respect for Pattabhi Jois and Sharath and their teaching methods...... I do not pretend to speck for them and they have not endorsed this book.

I think that there is no doubt about the authenticity and integrity of Pattabhi Jois and Sharath. their teaching method has produced some of the most accomplished, knowledgable and sincere yoga practitioners around today, but the reality facing most new yoga teachers is that most of their classes are in gyms where it is not possible to teach in the Mysore style. Most of these classes are only one hour long and are open to all levels. Most of the students are practicing only once or twice a week. In this situation a new way of teaching Ashtanga has emerged - a general led class - and this is what teaching yoga, Adjusting Asana is about. But it is my hope that this book will be useful to many different categories of yoga practitioner". 

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How useful is this book, should you buy it?

"...But it is my hope that this book will be useful to many different categories of yoga practitioner". 

Whether your planning on teaching or not the book outlines, and in bullet points, many tricky concepts, bandhas, breathing, drishti, useful for the beginner perhaps and for anyone trying to explain these concepts in a way that works, by just saying enough. There is an good section on injuries and how to avoid them as well as onovercoming them, there's a section too on teaching the spiritual/philosophical aspect of the practice.

Drishti

There is a section on the sanskrit count, handy if you've just come out of a led class, got confused in a few places but would like to go again next Friday, you can brush up.

Sanskrit Count  

Sanskrit Count  

I really liked this section on 'Deepening the Primary series', warm up exercises. I often include some extra Vinyasa Krama postures into my own Ashtanga practice at home to give myself a little extra work where necessary. There's also a section on some ideas for Workshops see the Contents screenshots above p169

'Deepening the Primary series'


The Adjustment section 



 Conclusions?

 It's a good book, a lot of work gone into it, it's smart, you'd find a lot of stuff in here that you would use, whether your just starting teaching, going to a shala or practicing at home.

And best of all you can discuss/argue for hours it's basic premiss and whether Ashtanga should be taught in this way, the future of Ashtanga, whether it can survive in the gym scene or up against the gym scene for that matter....  or if everything beautiful about this practice becomes diluted and loses it's value.
Melanie is clearly an Ashtanga practitioner who loves her practice and devoted to it's communication. It's clear from reading her book that she believes Ashtanga can be taught in gyms and stay relevant and of value to those who come for practice however many times a week that may be.

BUT if Ashtanga can make the transition into gyms wouldn't this make it even harder for the smaller more traditional, Ashtanga six days a week, shalas to survive?
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Melanie Cooper's website
http://melaniecooper.co.uk

Ramaswami chant tutorials including the Yoga Taravali where the opening Ashtanga chant comes from.

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Yoga Taravali of Adi Sankara-Chanting by Srivatsa Ramaswami

Begins with the first part of the Ashtanga opening chant, if you'd ever wondered where it came from....


Some other wonderful chants from Ramaswami taught in the traditional way,

First one you may know already or have at least always wanted to learn.

Sahanaavavatu Peace Chant Tutorial- Srivatsa Ramaswami






This is one of my favourites

Trayambakam ( Mrityunjaya mantra) chant Tutorial-Srivatsa Ramiswami






Another favourites but this one is tricky.

I'm sure Ramaswami must have winced once or twice as we were learning this on his TT course at LMU in 2010. It was OK while he was going through it word by word, phrase by phrase but we would go back over all the chants we'd been working on and some of them were more of a a struggle than others, this one in particular. The funny part was that there is a last phrase that gets repeated throughout and whenever the class would get to that bit after stumbling through the first part we would all sing out strong and loud.

I needed more work on this and thankfully Josh has posted a recording of Ramaswami working through the mantra on the 2012 TT.








And here's the tutorial from Josh Geidel




Also my all time favourite

First, a Ganesa prayer ..A short Ganesa prayer in Tamil which I chant at the beginning of my yoga practice/class. It is the invocatory hymn from Tirumandiram a very old Tamil classic written by Tirumular, said to be a contemporary of Patanjali
http://youtu.be/8AwD2V-OFm8

And Peace chants

****Peace Chants from Yajur Veda
One of the meanings of the word Yoga is peace of mind, apart from 'union' (yoga yuktih samadhanam). Sri Krishnamacharya always used a peace invocation before and after any yoga, chanting and theory class. He taught me several sections of the vedas including chanting of them. Out of it, ten vedic peace chants can be found in this audio. It is about 15 minutes. One or all of them can be chanted with Yoga practice in yoga studios. Hope you like the chant. I chanted it several years back for my book. It is said these vedic peace chants create a peaceful environment and create in all beings a sense of peace-whether one chants them, meditates on them or merely listens to them. Feel free to share it with others or give it to yoga studios for use if you like them. Here is the link



See this post/page from Ramaswami's Chanting the Yoga Sutra tutorials



Previous post


David Garrigues Ashtanga Yoga Intermediate Series DVD

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I subscribed to David's newsletter a while back and just had this one come through with details of his new DVD. It struck me how Ashtanga video's/dvd's have changed over the years. We have the Led classes from Encinitas, Pattabhi Jois himself leading some of his early students through a straight series. There are the 'talking you through it' DVD's, David Swenson, Richard Freeman and later Mark Darby (my personal favourite for first Primary series) also the nothing but the count dvd's, Lino and John Scott come to mind, Sharath too of course. (Manju's DVD is a little different, and quite unique, with it's listen and repeat sanskrit count), and now more recently Kino and David Garrigues with their led series AND tutorials, the tutorials often on a separate disc.

I seem to be in synch with Kino, she brought out her second series while I was working on second series and her third series DVD around the time I was venturing more seriously into 3rd. I never got around to buying David Garrigues' Primary when it came but always liked the look of it, couldn't really justify another Primary series, when as a good home Ashtangi I already had all the others. Same goes for this his Intermediate, I already have my wrist bind in pasasana and my Kapo ( heel/ankle grab comes and goes), Dwi pada sirsasana, karandavasana.... I don't really NEED another 2nd series DVD do I? And yet I love David's Asana Kitchen's, love how he works with actual students, Kino does that to some extent in her Youtube Videos of course but not on her DVD's. David Garrigues' approach may well be the ultimate in Home Ashtanga DVD's.

That said I do have a soft spot for Richard Freeman, every time I practice along with one of his discs, whether Primary or Second series I discover things that I had missed the first time around, or the tenth for that matter, there is new awareness and delight, always delight with Richard.

If your new to Second series, David may well be the way to go but if you already have your second then pick up Richard's and as Paul Ricour might have said had he practiced Ashtanga '...rediscover it anew'.

Talking of 2nd, last day of my one month to chakrabhandasana challenge, I'm on the bottom step of the 'yoga block stairs' and might have a go at reaching for the ankle/leg today and see what happens. plan is just to do an extended first half of second ( extra backbends prep from VK plus some extensions) then move on to Urdhva Dhanurasana drop backs before moving on to finishing sequence. Post to come later today (master plan is to practice a little later, go for a walk, nice warm bath then practice, stack the odds in my favour), most likely though I'll change the title on all the previous posts to 3 months to Chakrabandhasana and  hope nobody notices , Shhhhhhh.

Greetings from Europe, 
For the past three weeks I have been touring around Europe teaching and sharing the lineage. By the end of my tour I will have met Ashtanga students from London to Moscow.  I am having an amazing time and meeting some wonderful Ashtangi's along the way. 

After one year I am pleased to offer you my new Second Series dvd.  It is a carefully prepared tutorial on the Intermediate Series as taught to me by its author Sri K Pattabhi Jois. All of the details and a list of content are listed below. 

I will also be teaching a special New Year's class, December 31st and January 1st at the Ashtanga Yoga School of Philadelphia.  These two days are filled with Mysore classes, pranayama, chanting, and lots of bhakti! I hope you can join me.

Jai!
David



I am happy to offer you this carefully prepared tutorial on the Intermediate Series as taught to me by its author Sri K Pattabhi Jois. 

 What is included?
The first pranayama called Ujjayi in the Ashtanga Pranayama Sequence.



Second Series, called Nadi Shodana, purifies the pranic channels of the body. Practice it and extend your breathing capacity, effect an energetic awakening that helps you access buddhi, the reflective, discerning, higher intelligence faculty of your mind. Become fit for dhyana, meditation, contemplative poise that yields dynamism, radiant health and Self knowledge. 

May we all continue to grow in Bhakti and Jnana.






See also this earlier post

Workshop Review: David Garrigues’ workshop in London -The razor’s edge: a balance of opposites

Tapas: Final update, One month Chakra Bandhasana Challenge. YES or NO....or Kinda

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So 'final' update on the one month Chakra Bandhasana challenge, first a recap....

 Here's, the original post
Chakra Bhandasana - Grab heels in a month backbend challenge

If you remember, this project came about from seeing this video by Jen René Peg Mulqueenand Michael Joel Hall.



30th Oct

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/chakra-bhandasana-grab-heels-in-month.html

6th Nov

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/backbends-progress-report-one-month-to.html

7th Nov

12th Nov


A slice of brilliance from Michael Joel Hall


My own attempt

15th Nov


Which brings us to today, I've been running this pretty much from Tuesday to Tuesday (my day off), so this would be a month.

drum roll....

26th Nov

Chakra bandhasana ladies and gentlemen, that's it right there, bound, solid, and secure...

Have you noticed that most hold the leg above the ankle, above the knee even, (scoff), BELOW the ankle that's what you should be after...and none of this hands wrapped right around the leg, that's just cheating, you want to be aiming at subtlety, the merest gesture, the ankle tendon gently held between the fingertips/nails.


What do you mean it doesn't count


no?


But.......!

Jeez

Anyone for a THREE month Chakra Bandhasana, challenge,.......anyone?

Here's the video anyway, it's coming, gradually, no rush really. I'm more interested at the moment in settling into that final step/brick and exploring the breath, want to get ten long slow breaths there and then twenty-five, worry about catching the legs later.


Moving back to Japan and yoga mat bags from recycled kimono's

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So the big news here is that M. and I are moving back to Japan. My wife is from Osaka, that's Osaka castle above. We actually met at University and after our studies went to live in Japan for a number of years, first in Osaka, later in Kyoto, we were married there in fact, in one of the oldest shrines in Kyoto, Shimogamo jinja. We came back to the UK ten years ago but now it's time to move back, to be closer to family, but also because we both just miss the place. 

Shimogamo jinja

M. will be going early next year and I'll be following around the end of May once Visa's are all sorted out. Hopefully we'll be moving back to Kyoto, just down the road from Osaka. Any readers want to give me the lowdown on the Kyoto/Osaka/Kobe Ashtanga scene?

Demachiyanagi, Kyoto. This is taken from the bridge just up from where we used to live. I played sax under this bridge every morning for a couple of years and in all weathers.
This morning I was reminded of something Kristina said in the interview post last week.

Kristina: "It is of paramount importance for the practitioners to develop awareness of the cultural heritage of the place they are in".

Kristina was talking about Greece but I'm looking forward to exploring the encounter between my own practice and the rich cultural heritage of Japan, of Zen and Shinto.... obviously but the Aesthetic concept of Wabi-sabi also comes to mind,  "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete", there's a definition for Ashtanga for you to chew over.

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My friend Esther lives in Japan, In Yamagata, mountain country. She's from the England and I had the pleasure of meeting her a couple of years back, took in some Art, coffee, lots of Ashtanga talk. Esther is an Ashtanga practitioner and teacher.
She also makes bags, mat bags....from up cycled Kimono's


I've been hassling Ester to send me a guest post on her mat bags, made from recycled kimono's, ever since I first saw one posted on fb. After much pestering and pinning she's come through with lots of pictures and a guest post, see the following blog post. I sent a few questions as a framework but it turns out that Esther had already answered some questions in a post on another blog, the much loved Small Blue Pearls/ The Runway project (send in your runway pictures)

Here's a taste but go to the link above perhaps for better questions than mine.

Q: How long does each bag take to make?
A: I have no idea how long the total process is but considering the amount of time each bag takes, they're probably under priced. I begin by taking apart the kimono, then washing, drying, ironing. Then the fun of matching fabrics, threads and zippers. The zippers are all made-to-order for me, so I have to wait 10 days for them to arrive. This is slow work! But I love every stage of it. I have a choice of 240 zipper colours, the choices are endless. I love thinking up colour combinations, the creative process is so stimulating. Then the cutting, stitching, ironing, lots of prep work. Making the bias tape, inserting the piping on the end pieces, finally the sewing. I find it a very peaceful, meditative act. Quietly working away, sometimes listening to podcasts (helps to keep my English active and feed my brain) and other times, embarrassing to admit, I listen to Indian chants, sutras, Bhagavad Gita—really puts me in a good headspace to create.

Q: Are there a lot of kimonos to choose from? Not being from Japan, they seem so precious to me...
A: There are lots and lots of kimono here, but most are very very very expensive. I root around the recycle shops looking for bargains. Old ones, some with stains or holes which may have very good fabric yet are worthless as kimono, so can be picked up fairly cheaply. I like the vintage fabrics best . . . getting harder to find those though. Right now I have quite a stock. I can make about 4 bags from a single kimono. I want to make one-of-a-kind pieces though. Mainly because this is more of an art project for me, I don't want to mass produce them— I enjoy making each one individually. Certainly not a great business model, but that's not why I'm doing it.

See the next post for Esther's responses to my own questions regarding her bags in her 'Guest post'

GUEST POST: Esther's AsobiGokoro Bags Yoga Mat Bags: Recycled Kimono




GUEST POST: Esther's AsobiGokoro Bags, Beautiful Yoga Mat Bags from Recycled Kimono

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My friend Esther lives in Japan, In Yamagata, mountain country. She's from the England and I had the pleasure of meeting her a couple of years back, we took in some Art, coffee, lots of Ashtanga talk. You may well know her blog Shanti Star , she has a new post up today in fact, Mysore Class with Matt Corigliano

Esther is an Ashtanga practitioner and teacher.
She also makes bags, Yoga mat bags....from recycled Kimono's

Here's a link Esther's recycled Kimono Yoga mat bag blog

AsobiGokoro Bags

http://asobi-gokoro-bags.blogspot.jp

I've been hassling Ester to send me a guest post on her mat bags, made from recycled kimono's, ever since I first saw one posted on fb. After much pestering and pinning down to deadlines here we have it. And pictures lots of pictures including some of the stages involved in making the bags, which I was particularly curious about. I sent a few questions as a framework but it turns out that Esther had already answered some questions in a post on another  blog, the much loved Small Blue Pearls/ The Runway project (PS. send in your runway pictures)
http://smallbluepearls.com/sbp-blog/2013/2/1/asobi-gokoro-one-of-a-kind-yoga-mat-bags-made-from-kimono-ye.html

Here's Esther's guest post/response to my questions
AsobiGokoro Bags Yoga Mat Bags: Recycled Kimono
Why make bags out of old kimono?  
Well, because I had a pile of kimono and other fabrics taking up space in my cupboard, and I love bags.  I needed to start making stuff with all the fabrics I’d collected.  I have a bit of a fabric fetish, and they were beginning to pile up.  I love the Japanese sense of colour and design expressed in the kimono and really enjoy pairing this with a surprising print inside.




Making yoga mat bags started when looking at a lovely yoga mat bag that was way out of my price range.  So, I thought I would make one instead.  However, I soon realized, that after I”d gone and bought the fabric, thread, zipper, etc it wasn’t actually much cheaper than buying one.  But, I loved it, and it was in my favourite colours and totally original.  I made a couple  more and gave them to friends, they were very homemade looking.
Through a process of trial and error, asking friends, relatives, shop assistants all kinds of questions I slowly learnt how to make them better and more beautiful.  It really was, and still is, quite a journey.  Always aiming to make a more beautiful bag than the last one.  
What are some of the problems and how did you overcome them?
There have been constant hurdles to overcome, mainly because I have been learning as I go along, and every piece is different..  Different combinations of fabrics produce very different bags.  Also I don’t want to waste any material so I take a while to plan out a bag in the most efficient way, I have very few scraps.  Every little piece is a treasure.
How strong are these bags?
They are pretty strong. Not cargo strength, but I’ve thrown mine around a lot as a tester, it’s still going strong. I use a fairly substantial cotton interfacing in them all now.   It may not be necessary, as the first ones I made didn’t have this and they’re still going strong, but just to be sure.

The silk ones will eventually wear thin I’m sure, but that’s part of the beauty of natural fabrics.
Which was the most terrifying material you cut up?
The most terrifying kimono material I ever cut up was the sleeves from a friends coming of age Kimono, that her recently passed away father had bought for her when she was 20.  When young the sleeves are long and later the sleeves are trimmed. She had kept the trimmings, she is now about 46, and asked me to make a bag for her. It was quite an honor and very precious, not only because it was in memory of her deceased father, but also because the original kimono cost around 18,000pounds! There wasn’t much material, so I had to be careful and piece together a bag.  I will probably never sew fabric that gorgeous again, and was so pleased with the result I kept it a few extra days to admire it in private.



Has it ever gone really really wrong?
Oh yes, I have made every kind of mistake possible.  My husband has a good eye (his mother is professional seamstress) and points out all the faults.  Sometimes this feels like a Japanese spiritual path of bag making.  I take them apart, and redo, aiming for simple perfection. 
Do you have any that you couldn't bare to part with?
Actually, pretty much all of them.  That’s the thing, I get very attached to these bags, this isn’t a business, it’s my art, little embarrassing to say that, but that’s how I feel.  I stopped painting, as I wasn’t terribly good and paintings were piling up in the house, but to make something practical and special…that’s more like it.  It’s something I love to do, to play with fabrics and colour combinations.  I can only make a bag I am excited about.  I never want to part with the one I”ve just made, but by the time I’ve finished the next, I’m ready.



When I’ve made one I have to sit with it a while before I let it go, I’m getting better now. I’m always most pleased with the most recent one.  

My students and friends have been very supportive and snapping them up, which is lovely as I get to see my bags all the time.  Some have gone overseas and I’m getting better with the practice of non-attachment, ha ha!
A good friend told me I must let them go, keep a flow of energy, to challenge myself to make them better and better and more beautiful. 

How long does it take to make one?
Not sure how long they take, as I work in spurts whenever I have the time and inclination. Sometimes more like a frenzy, forgetting everything else in my excitement to finish one.   I don’t want it to be a chore, to have that negative energy in the bags, it’s nice to relax and get into the process.  It is a process indeed.  From taking apart the kimono, and if necessary washing and ironing all the pieces.  Then trying out combinations of kimono and lining materials and zippers what style of bag would it suit, once I feel suitably inspired and can carve out some time I start to to make one.  It does take many many hours, but the time flies, aborbed.  Measuring, cutting, interfacing, making bias tape, lots of hand sewing, I like the details.  Actual time at the machine is minimal.  








You jokingly mentioned that you wanted to see sweat and pin pricked fingers, the blood sweat and tears of making mat bags from precious kimono.  Well, no joke there is sweat, and near to tears when I do something wrong. As for blood, at times blood had been shed! There is a lot of hand sewing, sometimes through 7 layers of fabric the occasional finger has been pricked!

Do you have pictures of your favourite?
So hard, as at one point every one has been my favourite.  I guess the one I really couldn’t let go is the one I’m using, this purple one is the newest one and so my current favourite, and these came a close second.


I just so enjoy this creative practice, and want to make beautiful unique pieces for someone to carry their little piece of sacred space around with them, a joy to open, and hopefully help inspire a practice.  Beauty I believe can inspire spirituality, actually I was just reading this morning in the “Tibetan Book of Living and Dying” about how meditation (or yoga) is an art and to do it in a richly inspired way, to inspire yourself.  So, this is my little contribution to help devoted yogi’s on their way.


If anyone is interested in any of the bags feartured here (link to blog) drop me a line on the AsobiGokoro facebook page.

Esther lives in Yamagata in the north of Japan and is also practicing and teaching Ashtanga yoga.

Krishnamacharya on jumping

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I've been looking closely at Krishnamacharya's descriptions of 'jumping' in his 1934 text Yoga Makaranda. This of course was written while Krishnamacharya was teaching the young Pattabhi Jois in Mysore.

First up is a description of jumping the legs apart into the likes of Parsvottanasama, Prasarita padottanasana etc.


But Pattabhi Jois was, I hear,  a jumper, Manju still is, Iyengar certainly is, Ramaswami also.

And so, it appears was Krishnamacharya.

Notice Krishnamacharya's use of kumbhaka ( holding the breath in or out) in the jumps and lifts (utpluthi)

puraka = inhalation
Rechaka = exhalation.

*See end of post for measurement conversion

These descriptions are all from yoga makaranda, I've taken liberties with the layout and the italics are either notes or bringing in an earlier description of some vinyasas.

3 Prasarita Padottanasana 



Stand in tadasana krama.

Jump the legs apart, placing the feet 3 mozhams apart on the ground. 


(Mozham: If I remember right it is equal to two jaans. A direct definition is the length of the forearm starting with the tip of the middle finger. Strung flowers are measured in mozhams (even today. The word has an English equivalent - cubit.) 
Practise jumping and placing the feet at the correct distance all in one jump. 

While jumping, either puraka kumbhaka or recaka kumbhaka can be done. 

There should be no noise while jumping and pressing the feet onto the floor. 

Now raise the arms and slowly exhale through the nose. 

While doing recaka, bend forward and lower the upper part of the body (above the hips) down towards the ground. 

Take the hands between the legs and moving them back step-by-step, place the palms on the ground. 

Lower the head down between the hands. 

At this time, the legs should not be even slightly bent. 

After remaining in this position for some time, raise the head, draw in clean air through the nose and 
slowly raise the body. 

After standing up, jump back to tadasana.  

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5 Caturanga Dandasana there are 4 vinyasas


Vinyasas 1, 2, and 3 are as for uttanasana. 

(1st Vinyasa - raise the arms above the head while inhaling.

2nd Vinyasa - 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. 

3rd vinyasa - 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). 

Press both palms down firmly while doing the 4th vinyasa from the 3rd vinyasa of uttanasana. 

Do only recaka and firmly hold the breath out without doing puraka. 

Keeping the weight balanced equally on both legs, jump backwards (keeping both legs parallel to each other) and holding the body straight like a rod, lie down facing downwards. 

At this time, only the palms and toes touch the ground. No other parts of the body touch the ground. 

That is, there must be 4 angulas of space between the body and the ground. 

In this position, if you keep a stick or rod on top of the body, the rod must touch the body completely. 

We need to keep our body this straight. But make sure to check gaps formed by the muscles and mounds of flesh to determine if all the adjustments are correct.

Remain in this sthiti for at least ten minutes and then return to samasthiti.

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8 Pascimattanasana or Pascimottanasana 


This asana has many kramas. Of these the first form has 16 vinyasas. Just doing the asana sthiti by sitting in the same spot without doing these vinyasas will not yield the complete benefits mentioned in the yoga sastras. This rule applies to all asanas.

The first three vinyasas are exactly as for uttanasana. 

(ie. stand erect. 1st Vinyasa raise the arms above the head while inhaling
2nd Vinyasa 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. 
3rd Vinyasa Raise the head upwards and fix the gaze on the tip of the nose). 

The 4th vinyasa is caturanga dandasana, 

The 5th vinyasa is urdhvamukhasvanasana, 


The 6th vinyasa is adhomukhasvanasana. 



Practise these following the earlier instructions. 

In the 6th vinyasa, doing puraka kumbhaka, jump and arrive at the 7th vinyasa. 

That is, from adhomukhasvanasana sthiti, jump forward and move both legs between the arms without allowing the legs to touch the floor. 

Extend the legs out forward (cross leg jump through?) and sit down. 

Practise sitting like this with the rear part of the body either between the two hands or 4 angulas in front of the hands. 
In this sthiti, push the chest forward, do puraka kumbhaka and gaze steadily at the tip of the nose. 

After this extend both arms out towards the feet (the legs are already extended in front). 

Clasp the big toes of the feet tightly with the first three fingers (thumb, index, middle) of the hands such that the left hand holds the left big toe and the right hand holds the right big toe. 

Do not raise the knees even slightly. 

Then, pull in the stomach while doing recaka, lower the head and press the face down onto the knee. 

The knees should not rise from the ground in this sthiti either. 

This is the 9th vinyasa. This is called pascimottanasana. 

This pascimottanasana has many forms. 

After first practising this asana with the face pressed onto the knee, practise it with the chin placed on the knee and then eventually with it placed 3 angulas below the knee on the calf. 

In the 10th vinyasa raise the head. 

In the 11th vinyasa, keeping the hands firmly pressed on the ground, raise the entire body off the ground and balance it in the air without touching the ground. 

The 11th vinyasa is called uthpluthi. 

The 12th vinyasa is caturanga dandasana. 

The 13th is urdhvamukhasvanasana. 

The 14th is adhomukhasvanasana. 

The 15th is the first vinyasa of uttanasana. 

The 16th vinyasa is the 2nd vinyasa of uttanasana. 

Afterwards, return to samasthiti. .

This asana can be done on the floor or on a mat according to the capabilities of one’s body. 
Learn some of the other forms of pascimottanasana krama by studying the pictures carefully. 

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On a side note, Ramaswami, who studied with Krishnamacharya for 33 years, refers to the his presentation of asana, as taught to him by Krishnamacharya, as Vinyasa Krama. I just noticed that under the description in Yoga Makaranda (1934) for 9. Ardhabaddhapadmapascimottanasana, Krisnamacharya writes...

"This has 22 vinyasas.The 8th and 15th vinyasas are the asana sthiti. 
Up to the 7th vinyasa, practise according to the pascimottanasana vinyasa krama...."

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INDIAN UNITS OF MEASUREMENT & ITS RELATION TO THE PRESENT METRIC UNITS

The art of konark sury mandir
One of the earliest surviving literature which talks about units of measurement is Chanakya’s Arthasastra.  He mentions the various units of space and time in his book.
1 Angula = 16.764 mm
4 Angula = 1 Dhanurgraha
8 Angula = 1 Dhanurmushti
12 Angula = 1 Vitasti
96 Angula = 1 Dhanus (1 Dhanu = 6 feet)
108 Angula = 1 Garhaptya Dhanus ( grihapati – carpenters..suggesting this unit was used by Carpenters at that time)
1 Yojana = 8000 Garhapatya Dhanus = 8000* 108*16.764 mm = 14.484 km = 9 miles exactly
1 Mile = 1000 Dhanus = 1000 * 96 * 16.764 = 1.609 km
Interestingly, the word, “mile” comes from a Latin word  , “milli” meaning a thousand.
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