Available from here http://www.blurb.fr/b/6565494-om-the-world-of-ashtanga-yogis

The nine questions

1 — How did you start practicing yoga ?

“Krishnamacharya was my very first guru then Patthabi Jois. Together we discussed every day, experiencing and practicing. 
In this way, we studied for seventy years. 
I actually started at the age of thirteen.” B.N.S. Iyengar


2 — Could you please tell us how the yoga 
has changed your life ? 

“Yoga has changed my life in every way conceivable and became a constant but evolving presence in my daily life” Louise Ellis


3 — What does it bring to you presently ? 
Could you tell us what your actual practice is ?

“   Yoga continues to help me see myself as I am now. Still trying to re-
turn to my found mantra : Be Here Now ! Thank you Ram Das !” Chuck Miller


4 — Would you ever stop practicing ?

“Would you ever stop practicing ?” is a strange question to me and 
I am not sure now what it means ! Some great person said when you 
first find yoga you have to practice yoga. After you become a yogi everything you do is yoga. That resonates with me. Practice takes so many different forms for me now ! I still maintain a regular meditation practice, an asana practice and a pranayama practice because they help me feel more comfortable and help to keep my mind sharp. And, just realizing I am drifting out of the present moment and then returning with my breath back to the here and now is also my practice, as far as I am concerned !” Chuck Miller

5 — What do you think about the fact that Westerners are getting more and more interested in, and involved, with yoga ?

“Yoga is very young in the West and we approach it from a western psychology. We, in the West, are very extroverted, we are competitive. We need to be seen. It is about achievement, ambition. In the East, people are more introspective. They are more community minded. We are more individualistic, in that way needing to be seen, but also mainly people have the same basic needs, desires and challenges. I think it is maturing because yoga is so young in the West, people are ready and I’m seeing it. People want the psychology, they want The Yoga Sutras, they want to understand it. They feel how it works, they want to know how it works and to understand the psychology. In the East, Hatha Yoga is just a very little piece of it but it makes sense that in the West we are attracted to it because we are physical, we are in the body, we are in the world in a different way.” Bhavani Maki


6 — What is your opinion about Westerners’ practice and of the practice of yoga in your country ?

“I do not have an opinion about ‘Westerners’ or ‘Not Westerners’. I am glad for anyone who has found a practice, whatever that 
practice may be and however it supports them in their lives.” Lucy Scott

7 — According to you, how does yoga transform people and why does it help to change the world ?

“ I think yoga has the power to give you much more clarity, to become more and more aware, awake. And the main problem we have is that 
the individual is deeply asleep, we are an irresponsible, unconscious and childish society, and most of our problems have to do with that.” Jose Carballal

8 — In which way is yoga important to you ? 
How does it affect you ?

“One takes the Great Vow of yoga to observe the Yamas and Niyamas, then one has a pattern of how to conduct oneself as an individual and as a member of society. Practicing asana and pranayama brings not only physical and mental quiet ; they strengthen the bodymind complex to permit moving more fully disciplined into the areas of pratyahara - withdrawal of the senses, dharana - concentration, dhyana - meditation and samadhi. Being so involved in these pursuits makes one more conscious of his or her actions and their effects on their family, their community, and their world. ”
David Roche

9 — What is your dearest wish ?”

“I am pretty content as I am, I think that if you have a wish it becomes a desire and I don’t think desires are very good for spiritual practice.” Mark Darby

“My dearest wish is to hurt less the people I love,”Tim Feldman


And my own answers to the nine questions - you can tell perhaps that I started to find the questions quite tedious. But then, really, what questions would I ask that are any better other than why think about it when I could be practicing more.

1 — How did you start practicing yoga ?

See my series of posts Developing a home practice. Basically I was burgled, had seven vintage saxophones stolen ( I'm also a repairer), was angry about it but more angry that I was angry. Decided to start meditating again, picked up the most manly book on yoga in the library (just happened to be Ashtanga) and started practicing on a towel in my pants in the hope it would help me sit more comfortably while meditating.

2 — Could you please tell us how the yoga has changed your life ?

It hasn't, I'm still attached to the world, perhaps a little more focussed... and there are moments in those short kumbhaka in asana when the world drops away and there is just perhaps awareness of awareness. Occasionally that happens for little longer while sitting.

3 — What does it bring to you presently ?
Could you tell us what your actual practice is ?

When the above happens.... peace. In general my asana practice brings me more discipline, hopefully it helps keeps me healthier. My current approach to practice is outlined in this post Slow Ashtanga

 4 — Would you ever stop practicing ?

I practice less asana, no longer stick the the series, see this post Slow Ashtanga, it's debatable whether I still practice Ashtanga, Krishnamacharya's early Ashtanga or Vinyasa Krama But I can't imagine not practicing some asana as preparation for and a support for my yoga practice

5 — What do you think about the fact that Westerners are getting more and more interested in, and involved, with yoga ?

Purusha doesn't have brown skin, nor a dialect, language, culture or history, so....

6 — What is your opinion about Westerners’ practice and of the practice of yoga in your country ?

As # 5

7 — According to you, how does yoga transform people and why does it help to change the world ?

It doesn't.....few if any of us are actually practicing yoga, mostly we're just playing at it.

8 — In which way is yoga important to you ?
How does it affect you ?

Hope

9 — What is your dearest wish ?”

To do less no harm

Last week I was asked about the girl in Kurmasana in Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda, this time I've been asked if the boy demonstrating chakrasana ( or Triyangamukha Uttanasana) might be the young BKS Iyengar.



Yoga Makaranda was first published in Mysore in 1934 and in the text Krishnamacharya directs the reader to study the photos carefully. Either the photos were taken for the book, which seems most likely or some had been taken previously, a possibility as some of the photos seem to have been taken separately.

It seems unlikely that BKS Iyengar is the boy in any of the photos, Krishnamacharya did supposedly bring his brother-in-law BKS Iyenger to Mysore in 1934 but he was said to be a sickly, unhealthy boy at that time.

Krishnamacharya's Mysore School has been described by BKS himself, I believe, as a school for yoga asana demonstrators, think modern Shaolin Kung Fu and the international Kung Fu demonstrations the kids and young men present around the world. Krishnamacharya was charged by the Maharaja of Mysore with the promotion of yoga throughout India and he used the boys of the palace to grab the attention while he gave his lectures on Yoga. This perhaps explains why Krishnamacharya was said to be so strict in the Mysore period, he was not so much teaching yoga as perhaps running a factory, churning out asana demonstrators for the presentations put on in Mysore by the Maharaja or the demonstrations he would give around the country. Pattabhi Jois was one of those young demonstrators and also, later, one of Krishnamacharya's assistants running the young boys of the palace through their asana drills.

The demonstration tradition has continued to this day of course, Pattbhi Jois seeing benefit perhaps in the discipline they engendered, preparation for yoga, taught those same drills in his slight reordering of Krishnamacharya's early asana lists, teaching them as fixed sequences rather than flexible groups of asana, this is what has come to be known as Ashtanga Vinyasa.

It was the jumping from asana to asana that first caught the young Pattabhi Jois' eye on seeing Krishnamacharya give a presentation in Hassan in the 1920s and it was Pattabhi Jois' own demonstrations of asana that led to him being given the yoga class at the Sanskrit college. Years later it was Pattabhi Jois son Manju giving an advanced asana demonstration in Rishikesh, jumping from asana to asana that caught the eye of David Williams and Norman Allan and brought them to Mysore and no doubt what brought their own students to study with them when they returned to the US. It is the asana demonstrations on YouTube and instagramme that continue to bring students into the Shalas  and later perhaps to make the trip to Mysore to study with Pattabhi Jois grandson Sharat, who it is said on his website is the only person to be able to do all six series of asana sequences.

This focus on the public demonstration of asana at the Mysore palace yoga school may well explain why Pattabhi Jois failed to carry over elements of practice Krishnamacharya stressed in his early Mysore works Yoga Makaranda (1934) and Yogasanagalu (1941) such as kumbhka, longer stays in asana and long slow breathing. Pattabhi Jois' son Manju has said however that in his own practice his father would practice long stays in asana with long slow breathing.

Krishnamacharya was passionate about yoga, he would give lectures in his home and the young Pattabhi Jois and no doubt other students would come to hear him talk, he would stress the study of the yoga sutras and entreat his students and young family to practice the other limbs of yoga, not just asana. While Pattabhi Jois would perhaps run the young boys through their asana drills Krishnamacharya would often teach privately in a side room, treating patients, giving individual lessons in yoga as well as presenting palace lectures on different aspects of the subject.

Pattabhi Jois would also offer lectures in Yoga philosophy although few would turn up, Sharath, today in Mysore, encourages the study of chanting, the yoga sutras and awareness of yama and niyama as does his uncle Manju who also teaches Pranayama.

Who then was the young boy demonstrating chakrasana in the Yoga
Makaranda photo? It may have been Iyengar's friend at the school and Krishnamacharya's "star" or "pet" student, Keshava Murthy.

BKS Iyengar tells a story in which he mentions that Krishnamacharya's pet student Keshava Murthy had disappeared one morning forcing Krishnamacharya to use the young Iyengar for a demonstration of Hanumanasana, an asana Iyengar had never attempted before. Iyengar tried to get out of the asana by saying his shorts were too tight, Krishnamacharya just called for a pair of scissors forcing Iyengar to successfully perform the asana but tearing his hamstring in the process.

Pattabhi Jois also mentions Keshava Murthy, when the Mysore Palace school finally closed due to lack of funding and support from the new government after the British left, he says that only two of Krishnamacharya's students remained, himself and Krishna Murthy.

We will probably never know who the boy in the photo actually was but it is unlikely to have been BNS Iyengar.

Other possibilities are perhaps TRS Shama (although surely he would have been too young in 1934), Srinivasa Rangacar and Mahadev Bhat who along with Krishnamav Murthy, BNS Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois were all known to be students of Krishnamacharya in Mysore.

In Krishnamacharya's Mysore books, written in the period he was teaching the young Pattabhi Jois Krishnamacharya gives instructions for introducing short kumbhakas (breath retentions) during the practice of asana. This was an option that for some reason was never carried over into Pattabhi Jois's teaching of Modern Ashtanga vinyasa, perhaps Pattabhi Jois considered it an advanced option.

The possible health benefits of Kumbhaka is something I discussed with Simon Borg-Olivier at the Yoga Rainbow festival we were both teaching at in 2014 ( see this interview).

Holding the breath in and out in a relaxed way (which is quite safe for most people in its simplest form) for significant periods (once minute ventilation is less than about 5 litres per minute) can be therapeutically very helpful as this builds up internal levels of carbon dioxide (and carbonic acid), which the been shown to:
* increase blood flow to the brain and heart
* increase broncho-dilation and thus increase oxygen transfer between the lungs and the blood
* calm the nervous system
* reduce appetite
* increase the entry of oxygen into the cells via the Bohr effect and thus potentially increases your energy levels by up to 18 times
* increase stem cell production 
Simon Borg-Olivier

Simon's original academic background was in Molecular Biology, he is well placed to consider the cellular effect of the breath but Simon also holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Anatomy and Physiology and has been practicing and teaching yoga for decades.

Here is an excellent new video then from Simon that explains succinctly the effects of Kumbhaka in asana. Below that is the YouTube information Simon provides including a links to Simon and his business partner Bianca Machless' excellent blog and website. I recently attended one of Simon's online courses and can highly recommend it as well as his book ( links sit permanently in this blog's right sidebar).



The video (below) includes
(1) inhalation, which is initiated diaphragmatically (from the abdomen)
(2) holding the breath in while remaining relaxed
(3) holding the breath in while activating the muscles of forced exhalation from the abdomen and from the chest (which increases internal pressures and creates a type of Valsalva manoeuvre)
(4) exhalation from either chest then abdomen or form abdomen then chest (that massages the internal organs and enhances circulation)
(5) holding the breath out while remaining relaxed
(6) holding the breath out while activating the muscles of chest inhalation (which decreases internal pressures and creates a type of Mueller manoeuvre)
Simon Borg-Olivier

If you find Supt Vajrasana a little too advanced for you to explore these breathing options you might like to try tatkamudra (below), being a mudra you can explore it as part of your asana practice (slipped in before Shoulderstand perhaps) or practice separately from your regular asana practice. I have a video below on tatkamudra from my workshop in Moscow.

There is more from Simon on holding the breath (kumbhaka) later in the post as well as some advanced backbends built on supta vajrasana that serve as a companion piece to the first video below.

I will also add links to a few of my posts that give Krishnamacharya's Instructions for introducing the kumbhaka option into your practice whether Ashtanga vinyasa or otherwise.

The health benefits of Yoga have always been stressed, however many of the claims for Yoga may well be related to the kumbhaka option, an option that seems to be airbrushed out of modern yoga.

Proficiency in Yoga asana isn't about whether we can get ourselves into ever more impossible and photogenic promotional asana, the most seemingly basic of asana/postures can be explored with several levels of proficiency. Krishnamacharya wrote that we didn't need to practice all the asana (how could we, there are as many as the birds and beasts of the earth he said) but a few of us should but for the right reasons, to preserve them but also perhaps to explore the physiology of them as Simon does in his second video on advanced backbending further down the post.

But there's more, the kumbhaka is perhaps the soul of asana practice, what transforms a posture into yoga. In the Kumbhaka everything stops for just a few moments. For a few seconds our attention to our inhalation or exhalation ceases, the world drops away, there is perhaps just awareness of awareness, moments only but these moment join up throughout our practice, the end of every inhalation, every exhalation, asana after asana.

Krishnamacharya believed that in the kumbhaka we see god but it might also be the absence of god.


NB: I say a glimpse, a hint, because for Krishnamacharya and indeed Patanjali yoga, is an integrative practice. Krishnamacharya stressed that asana belongs within a practice that includes pranayama and the meditative limbs. The yama and niyama, the moral teaching too can give our lives the balance and discipline to work on the other limbs, Just as our asana practice can be a life long project so too are pranayama and meditation, they take years of practice, perhaps lifetimes and we should perhaps begin working on each limb now, today, however humbly, developing proficiency in all.


Here's Simon.


From the Youtube information
"In this two minute video Simon Borg-Olivier, physiotherapist and director of Yoga Synergy, demonstrates and describes the process and effects of, holding the breath in and holding the breath out, in the a supine posture (known in yoga as Supta virasana), where hips are extended and the knees flexed. This posture gives a really good lengthening and release of the psoas muscle and other hip flexors at the front of the hips that can really prevent and relieve lower back pain.

This posture also tensions (lengthens) the femoral nerve, which can enhance the strength and control of the lower limbs, and the stomach acupuncture meridian, which can help to relieve many digestive and reproductive system disorders as well relieving any feeling of fullness after a big meal. This posture is not suitable for everyone and is not recommended unless you can easily do it without feeling any sense of stretching in the front of the hips, and any sense of compression in the lower back, ankles or knees.

In this practice Simon describes how he is doing a advanced breath-control exercise (while patting his dog Max!) that can really help to improve the physiology of the body. In this complex breathing practice he uses 6 main stages of breathing:

(1) inhalation, which is initiated diaphragmatically (from the abdomen)
(2) holding the breath in while remaining relaxed
(3) holding the breath in while activating the muscles of forced exhalation from the abdomen and from the chest (which increases internal pressures and creates a type of Valsalva manoeuvre)
(4) exhalation from either chest then abdomen or form abdomen then chest (that massages the internal organs and enhances circulation)
(5) holding the breath out while remaining relaxed
(6) holding the breath out while activating the muscles of chest inhalation (which decreases internal pressures and creates a type of Mueller manoeuvre)

Holding the breath in and out in a relaxed way (which is quite safe for most people in its simplest form) for significant periods (once minute ventilation is less than about 5 litres per minute) can be therapeutically very helpful as this builds up internal levels of carbon dioxide (and carbonic acid), which the been shown to:
* increase blood flow to the brain and heart
* increase broncho-dilation and thus increase oxygen transfer between the lungs and the blood
* calm the nervous system
* reduce appetite
* increase the entry of oxygen into the cells via the Bohr effect and thus potentially increases your energy levels by up to 18 times
* increase stem cell productio

However, when the more advanced practice of applying muscle co-activations around the trunk (known in yoga as mula bandha and uddiyana bandha) is performed as demonstrated in the video, this can significantly alter the physiology of the body. If done correctly then the inhalation retention with exhalation muscles active can give a type of autogenous hyperbaric oxygen therapy that has shown to have many important benefits including improving wound healing and increasing local partial pressure of oxygen thus bringing more oxygen to the cells. Similarly, if done correctly then the exhalation retention with the chest inhalation muscles active can give a more powerful type of autogenous intermittent hypoxic therapy than passive exhalation retention alone, that has shown to have many important benefits including increased stem cell production and increased oxygenation of healthy cells. Additionally the changes in pressure invoked by muscle activations during both breath retentions can massage and move the internal organs, and can assist in their function by enhancing blood flow and relieving organ prolapse. To do these practices safely, and prevent potentially dangerous pressure changes in the head you need do a apply positive pressure to the region of neck using co-activation of the neck muscles by bringing the chin in towards the throat at the same time as pressing the neck gently backwards in towards the floor (jalandhara bandha). These are advanced breath-control exercises and should be attempted by the untrained practitioner".
Simon Borg-Olivier

If you want to find out more about the anatomy and physiology of posture, movement and breathing then please join one of our live or online courses at http://yogasynergy.com/training

You can read more the information presented in this video at the related blog at http://blog.yogasynergy.com/2015/12/t...




Tatkamudra as perhaps a more approachable posture to explore these breathing options.

Being a Mudra tatkamudra can be practiced anytime, as part of our asana practice or outside our practice.


Tatkamudra and downward facing dog are excellent postures from exploring bandhas and kumbhakas. A short Tadasana routine may be another good place to explore bandha and kumbhaka options, I include this short sequence before my first Suryanamaskara each morning.



More from Simon Borg-Olivier on holding your breath for increased strength, flexibility and health

Although there are many benefits to learning how to use all the muscles of breathing, and to learn to breathe in many ways, in the more advanced stages of yoga it is the art of breathing less than normal (hypoventilation) that gives the most physiological benefits. The less you breathe in and out the more you will build up carbon dioxide inside your body. Contrary to popular belief carbon dioxide and the carbonic acid it becomes in your blood has many benefits inside the body.

Carbon dioxide and carbonic acid build up inside you from breathing less than normal (mild hypoventilation):

*** brings more blood to your brain and heart (vasodilation)
*** allows more air to enter your lungs (bronchdilitation)
*** calms your nervous system
*** reduces your need and craving for heavy, processed and acid food

For a beginner the best way to do get the benefits of a build up of carbon dioxide is to try to maintain relaxed abdominal breathing as much as possible and in as many activities as you can. A great activity is to go for a brisk walk and try to keep your breath as natural and relaxed as possible. You will find this easier to do if allow your abdomen to relax more than you may normally do and allow you hips and spine to move more freely like and olympic walker. However, for more advanced practitioners there are several other things you can do with your breath that can increase carbon dioxide once your body is adequately prepared.

In this 5 minute video clip, which is an extract from the Yoga Synergy Yogic Nutrition DVD (http://yogasynergy.com/main/nutrition...) the benefits of holding your breath both in and out as an advanced yoga practitioner are elaborated and demonstrated.
In the first part of this video physiotherapist and research scientist Simon Borg-Olivier demonstrates how to use the Valsalva manoeuvre to lift into a handstand do a backward flip (without warming up). Simon explains that the Valsalva manoeuvre is essentially the act of breathing in almost fully then holding your breath in and performing a moderately forceful attempt at exhalation (without actually exhaling) against your closed airway. Although this is a relatively commonly used technique for increasing strength via increasing intraabdominal and intrathoracic pressure in sports such a weightlifting, it is not recommended for most people as it can dangerously increase blood pressure and if done incorrectly can cause stroke in some people. Simon uses the Valsalva manoeuvre to slowly lift his body into the air into a handstand and then using what is essentially a chest lock (a compressive uddiyana bandha) and an abdominal lock (expansive mula bandha) (see http://blog.yogasynergy.com) protects his lower back enough to drop into a full backward arch posture and then complete a backward flip to standing (viparita chakrasana). Here the Valsalva manoeuvre helps improve both strength and flexibility while protecting the lower back as well as other joints in the body.
WARNING: The Valsalva manoeuvre is potentially dangerous done in normal positions, but it is especially potentially dangerous when done in the exercise and movements shown in this video unless your body is highly trained in physical yoga and pranayama or at least similar Western exercise techniques. DO NOT do this exercise if you are prone to irregular blood pressure (high or low), headaches, nausea and/or circulatory system problem. You must not let any pressure come to your head during the lifting movements of handstand and the backward flip. Pressing and keeping the tip of your tongue on the roof of the mouth can help to prevent excessive pressure going to the brain and helps to replace the standard chin-lock (ha-jalandhara bandha in pranayama), which is hard to do while lifting into handstands.


In the second part of the video Simon talks about the benefits of holding your breath out. Here he demonstrates holding his breath completely out and practicing nauli (rectus abdominis isolation) and lauliki (abdominal churning using rectus abdominis as well as the oblique muscles) while expanding the chest as if inhaling to the chest but not actually inhaling. This practice, which is sometimes likened to the Mueller manoeuvre in Western medical science builds up carbon dioxide even more rapidly than the Valsalva manoeuvre and is less dangerous to attempt. It is really great for improving digestion by massaging the internal organs. You can read more about this technique in one of our earlier blogs at http://blog.yogasynergy.com.


'THE ADVANCED CAMEL TRAIN': In this 3 minute video I demonstrate and describe what you need to be aware of to safely come into postures such as the 'Camel posture' (Ustrasana) and related postures such as Laghu vajrasasana, Bhekasana and Kapotasana. I call this advanced sequence 'The Camel Train'. It is from the Yoga Synergy Advanced Water Sequence and it is lots of fun!

*** Ustrasana
*** Kulpha Laghu Vajrasana
*** Janu Laghu Vajrasana
*** Supta Virasana
*** Supta Bhekasana
*** Kapotasana
*** With Hamsasana between each posture.

In each of the 'Camel' postures the emphasis (for reasons I describe below) is to activate the spinal flexors (mainly the abdominal muscle rectus abdominis) to become active in order to reciprocally relax the back muscles. To balance this activity I practice The 'arm-balancing swan posture' (Hamsasana), which activates the the spinal extensor (back muscles) and thus reciprocally relaxes the abdominal muscles and frees the internal organs. Hamsasana is similar to Mayurasana but uses the more challenging forward pointing hand position.

(Caution: Please note that is an advanced practice is not a practice for most people, but the principles I give here can all be used in simple backward-bending component of the spinal movements sequence Bianca Machliss and I have already described in our Yoga Synergy blog ( http://blog.yogasynergy.com/2014/08/a... )
**********
You can learn more about how to work like this by joining our live or online training.

It would be great if you can join Bianca Machliss and I in our 200 hour live course in Goa India from 19 March to 17 April 2016 ( http://yogasynergy.com/training ) (Both our online courses below are included with this training).

In our award winning online course 'Teacher Training Essentials: Yoga Fundamentals’ (http://fundamentals.yogasynergy.com/ ) you will learn how to teach yourself or other how to do safe and effective practice for strength, flexibility, vitality and longevity in a comprehensive ashtanga vinyasa-based practice developed with the understanding of the body that that Bianca Machliss and I have acquired as physiotherapists and yoga teachers.



See this post on why and how Krishnamacharya introduced kumbhaka ( short breath holding options) into his practice

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2013/10/why-did-krishnamacharya-introduce.html

and this post perhaps to put it all into context.

How to practice Krishnamacharya's early Mysore Ashtanga


Along with the interview perhaps my favourite post on Simon

How Simon Borg-Olivier made me fall in love with the breath all over again


Link to Simon's website
https://anatomy.yogasynergy.com/


ALSO

Krishnamacharya exploring kumbhaka in Virasana, Screenshot  from the 1938 film footage

Simon's breathing exercises in the first video are based on vjrasana and virasana, there are some excellent  Vinyasa krama vajrasana and virasana sequence

Vajrasana
http://vinyasakramayoga.blogspot.jp/2011/01/meditative-sequence-poster-and-practice.html




post http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2011/11/day-55-meditative-virasana-hero-pose.html which includes a video.

"The Gita is considered one of the three basic texts for Brahma Vidya or Vedanta along with the Brahma Sutras and the Upanishads. Several renowned philosophers have written commentaries on them like Ramanuja, Sankara and several others following their own orientations. But Gita is also a yoga sastra. It is common to find that at the end of each chapter the subject matter is referred to as in Brahma Vidya and in Yoga sastra (Brahma vidyayam yoga sastre  ...). My Guru Sri Krishamacharya would say that the Gita is a yoga treatise as well and there is a lot of common ground between Patanjali's Yoga sutra and Lord Krishna’s Bhagavat Gita. He would point out that the Bhagavatgita refers to two levels of yogis, the one who is desirous of becoming a Yogi and the other the consummate yogi marching towards the goal well saddled in yoga". 
From Ramaswami's Newsletter article on Karma below

A long intro to this newsletter from Ramaswami concerning the recent floods in Chennai that Ramaswami was caught in while teaching one of his Vinyasa Krama workshops. 
Ramaswami's Newsletter article on karma is halfway down the post

Warm Greetings from Chennai. Wish you a prosperous and peaceful new leap year. Here is dasa santi mantras (10 peace chants from the yajur veda) that can be chanted at the beginning and end of an activity (purva and uttara shanti)--  In the beginning of a new year too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA6YguVYJ0c
I learnt this chant from my guru Sri T Krishnamacharya

I am in Chennai now. Early October when I was planning a four month visit to India, I was told that Chennai was experiencing unprecedented drought (anavrishti).  I was told that there was no corporation (Municipal) water flowing to my home in Chennai. The 75 year old well in my house had become dry for the first time ever. I was advised to remove silt from the well and deepen it and get a more powerful electric motor.  Desperate. I spent a small fortune to have these things done. But then it rained as never before. When I arrived in mid November, the city had received in a few days time the entire year’s normal rainfall. I had difficulty engaging a taxi in the airport as the taxi owners refused to ply the cabs as many areas in the city were flooded. I managed to get one, assuring them that the place I was going to was not very bad.
Then I started teaching the 100 hr  Vinyasakrama Yoga program organized by my friend, Saraswathy Vasudevan--a senior teacher of the Krishnamacharya tradition at her Yoga Vahinni in Chennai. Then the torrential rains came beck with more ferocity (ativrishti). It was raining heavily for almost a week. The city was completely inundated. Part of the city floated and  some other part was sinking. The reservoirs which were virtually dry just a few weeks back surplused abundantly. Huge quantities of surplus water were let out of the reservoir amidst torrential rains-- a sad script for disaster. Water entered into the homes--some up to 15 feet-- of many, forcing people to go to terraces of the buildings or use boats to get to safer places. Many unfortunate souls were not that lucky. Water entered and filled sometimes three stories of buildings.  A few were caught unawares and drowned in their own homes. Massive dislocation and distress resulted. The city is now limping back to normal, still  mass rehabilitation work  is going on. We in our house escaped with minimum disruption. The program went on with just one day’s cancellation. Towards the end of the program a few from other cities left for home recalled by panicking relatives in far off cities and some who were marooned in their own homes ( marooned in one’s own home?) could not make it to the classes. But the program went well thanks to the perseverance of the participants and the organizers.

I did not send the usual monthly letter for December as I had no electricity at home for almost a week. Could not work on my computer and was busy lifting bucketsful of water from the well and sump as there was no electricity.
 I had  earlier decided to suspend the 200 hr TT program and substitute with the shortened 100 hr program as I found that many were finding it difficult to come for 5 weeks at a stretch. I am scheduled to repeat the program I did in Chennai  in several places during 2016. The first one is in New Delhi in January 2016. Then one in Canada in April and at LMU in August 2016. I may do the same program in Madrid in September  and also perhaps in New York City if I can find some housing during the program for 15 days-- maybe in March.

My friend Ravi Shankar a senior teacher of Krishnamacharya tradition attended my program in Chennai. With his permission I am reproducing his message about the program hereunder
“It was hugely rewarding experience to undergo the 100 hour Vinyasakrama Program under your guidance. I learnt something new  and important during every hour of every one of the 14 days. The explanation of the Yoga Sutra was so clear and lucid and consistently linked all through that my doubts were dissolved even as you spoke. The pranayama sessions were even more useful as this is an area where not much authentic information is available. To have the analysis of the work done when doing the different pranayama techniques together with the teachings of SRI Krishnamacharya was invaluable. The Vinyasayoga sequences, your stories, the reference to Upanishads and not least the chanting were all wonderful to experience. Your patience in answering all the questions was another standout feature of the whole program. It felt so appropriate to chant and practise ’dingnamaskara’ sequence, as we had all come from different parts of the world to listen to and learn from you, in the tradition of your great teacher, T Krishnamachari”
With thanks
Ravi Shanker
Yoganidhi


I also taught a two day workshop “Yoga for Internal Organs” at Yogavahini in Hyderabad in December 2015.
For January 2016 I will be doing the following programs

1. A five day program in Dubai at 136point1 Yoga Studio from January 3rd to 7th--20 hrs of Vinyasakrama yoga  asanas, 5 hrs Pranayama and 5 hrs of Yoga for Internal Organs
Here is the link

http://136point1.ae/dt_catalog/the-art-form-of-vinyasa-krama/


2. 100Hr Advanced Vinyasakrama Yoga Program at Mini Shastri’s Omyoga from January  16th to 30th  2016 Here is the contact e mail
omyogastudio@gmail.com
Phone: +91 9891580147

In 2016 in addition to 100 hr programs I am scheduled to teach a few shorter programs as well. A five day workshop in  Valerie Schneiderman’s
The Yogashala  at Ridgefield CT (May 9 to 13, 2016)

http://www.theyogashalact.com/ 

and at Sara Doyle’s Blue Point yoga in Durham, North Carolina (May 23 to 27, 2016)

http://bluepointyoga.com/workshops
I may also go Germany for 4 or 5 days in August  2016

And in September (Sep 16 to 18 2016) I will be teaching two texts 1. Kathopanishad and 2. Hatayoga pradipika at Suddha Weixler’s Chicago Yoga Center in Chicago
http://www.yogamind.com/index.shtml#schedule


Karma
The Gita is considered one of the three basic texts for Brahma Vidya or Vedanta along with the Brahma Sutras and the Upanishads. Several renowned philosophers have written commentaries on them like Ramanuja, Sankara and several others following their own orientations. But Gita is also a yoga sastra. It is common to find that at the end of each chapter the subject matter is referred to as in Brahma Vidya and in Yoga sastra (Brahma vidyayam yoga sastre  ...). My Guru Sri Krishamacharya would say that the Gita is a yoga treatise as well and there is a lot of common ground between Patanjali's Yoga sutra and Lord Krishna’s Bhagavat Gita. He would point out that the Bhagavatgita refers to two levels of yogis, the one who is desirous of becoming a Yogi and the other the consummate yogi marching towards the goal well saddled in yoga. Lord Krishna uses the terms yogaarudha and yoga aarurukshu in this context.
आरुरुक्षोर्मुनेर्योगं
कर्मं कारणमुच्यते।
योगारूढस्य तस्यैव
शमः कारणमुच्यते॥
ārurukṣormuneryogaṁ
karmaṁ kāraṇamucyate|
yogārūḍhasya tasyaiva
śamaḥ kāraṇamucyate||

Yoga Arudha is the one who has the skills to mount the horse of Yoga to reach the goal of yoga, Kaivalya or Brahmanirvana. But those who do not have the yogic capability of say Samadhi or Samyama should develop the skill. Such yogis who would like to ride the horse of yoga should learn first to mount that yoga horse. While the vedantins usually refer to the Bhagavat Gita as made up of three sections, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga, the classification of yogis as per their preparations or Adhikari Bedha is equally important. The yoga sutras elaborately deal with this difference in the capabilities of yogis and give different means to develop the appropriate yogic skills. So we have Kriya yoga and Ashtanga Yoga for the yoga sadhakas and samadhi yoga for the accomplished  yogi--similar to yogaarurukshu and yogarudha of  Krishna’s Gita
All Rajayoga students know that the means of attaining cittavritti nirodha the ultimate goal of yoga is  by abhyasa or practice (on the 24 prakritik tatvas) and vairagya or developing dispassion towards all the prakritic tatvas.
 अभ्यास वैराग्याभ्यां तन्निरोधः।
abhyāsa vairāgyābhyāṁ tannirodhaH

In the Bhagavat Gita, Arjuna expresses his reservations about controlling the mind. He says that the mind surely is restless, turbulent, strong and obstinate. To restrain the mind, therefore is deemed impossible as controlling the wind.

चञ्चलं हि मनः कृष्ण प्रमाथि बलवत् दृढम्।
तस्याहं निग्रहं मन्ये वायोरिव सुदुष्करम्॥
cañcalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa pramāthi balavat dṛḍham|
tasyāhaṁ nigrahaṁ manye vāyoriva suduṣkaram||


The Lord in reply would agree with Arjuna about how hard it is to restrain the restless mind. However it is not impossible. Echoing the teaching of Patanjali, the Lord would say that by practice/abhyasa (of appropriate Yoga) and developing desirelessness (vairagya) the mind could be restrained.

असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम्।
अभ्यासेन तु कोन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते॥
asaṁśayaṁ mahābāho mano durnigrahaṁ calam|
abhyāsena tu kounteya vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate||

Then both the Gita and the Yoga Sutras deal with action or karma. Karma is life. Karma is usually divided into two classes, one good the other bad, or good actions and bad actions. Good activities are known as sukrita and the other group is known as dushkrita. All scriptures and puranas encourage one to do good karmas and eschew bad karmas. Why so? Obviously because good activities give good and favorable (anukula) results and bad activities lead to disagreeable (pratikula) results. Good  and bad activities are also known as dharma and adharma, or white and black actions or punya and papa karmas. The scriptural activities (like doing Ashwamedha or Vajpayee yagnyas or rituals) and  actions meant to  help other creatures (like giving charity, digging wells, planting tress for public welfare and constructing free rest houses for pilgrims) are punya karmas or dharma and those that are forbidden (nishedha) by the Vedas ( the five heinous crimes the mahapatakas and lesser sins)  and those activities that harm others are known as papa karmas. Further doing one’s duties or Sukrita is considered good and not doing one’s duties is considered papa. Scriptures add that prescribed activities in the scriptures are dharma and those that are forbidden as papa karmas. And it is generally said dharma leads one to reach more happiness in this life and move upwards to different heavens and better births in the life after. Patanjali succinctly puts it  “the results of action will be happiness or unhappiness (hlada paritapa) depending upon the accumulation of good or bad activities/karmas (punya apunya hetutvaat)”

There is a beautiful mantra in the yajurveda extolling the virtue of doing punya karma and eschewing papa karma

यथा वृक्षस्य संपुष्पितस्य दूराद्गन्धोवात्येवं पुण्यस्य कर्मणो    दूराद्गन्धोवाति यथासिधारांकर्ते अवहितामवक्रामे यद्युवेयुवे हवा विह्वयिष्यामि कर्तं पतिष्यामीत्येवं अमृतादात्मानं जुगुप्सेत्॥
yathā vṛkṣasya saṁpuṣpitasya dūrādgandhovātyevaṁ puṇyasya karmaṇo    dūrādgandhovāti yathāsidhārāṁkarte avahitāmavakrāme yadyuveyuve havā vihvayiṣyāmi kartaṁ patiṣyāmītyevaṁ amṛtādātmānaṁ jugupset ||

Paraphrasing. Just as the fragrance of a tree in full bloom is wafted by the breeze from a distant place, the sweet fragrance of meritorious deeds (punya karma ) --the good name that accrues-- spreads to a great distance, even up to the heavens.
 Then there is this illustration of the opposite karma. The razor edge of the sword is placed across a pit. “ I  am placing my feet on it, I am treading over it, so saying, if I walk over it, I will be extremely perturbed by the thought of deep hurt or falling  into the pit.” In the same manner if a person is exposed to overt and covert sins, that person will suffer doubly. Pain while committing the forbidden activity like walking on razor and the undesirable consequences (phala) like falling into the pit.--, therefore one must endeavor to guard oneself from both, in order that one may attain immortality.

This mantra commends the merits of doing dharma or white deeds, and censures doing black or adharmic deeds. The vivid and poetic imagery is simply arresting. Good deeds are their own recommendations. They cannot be hidden for they will declare themselves as the strong fragrance reaches distant places because of its nature of being carried by breeze’ It is the puranic belief that a man remains in heaven as long as the good deeds done by him on the earth are not forgotten by the people around. This analogy can also be found, it is said in Dhammapada, a Buddhist classic. The second chilling analogy stresses the need for being aware of the nature of adharma or black deeds. Wrong deeds are to be abjured for twin reasons. Attempts to conceal adharmic deeds will be hazardous as walking on razor’s edge. Even if one could thrive on hidden wickedness, his fall into the pit of papa consequentially  is certain. The good path of dharma alone is the right path. So one should do dharma activities and eschew adharmic deeds says the above Vedic mantra.

But then many activities do not fall fully into the category of good deeds or bad deeds. Patanjali and several Upanishads refer to activities that may be considered as misra or mixed. Some good deeds do good to some and harm some others. Patanjali says that the normal activities people do may be classified into three groups, dharma or white (shukla), adharmic or black (Krishna) and then white and black or mixed (shukla-krishna). Most of  us in our lives experience ups and downs as our prarabdha karma is a mixed bag of good and bad deeds done earlier on--even as the proportion of each may vary. Here is puranic story where a deed is both white and utterly black. Those under 14 should not read this story!



 “ Renuka was known for her chastity and devotion to her husband. Such was her faith, that she was able to fetch water from the river in a pot of unbaked clay, with the pot held together only by the strength of her devotion.
One day while at the river, a group of Gandharvas (celestial handsome rock stars) in a chariot passed by in the sky above. Distracted a bit  with desire for only a moment, the unbaked pot she held dissolved in the river. Afraid to return to her husband, she waited at the river bank, uncertain of what to do next. Meanwhile, Jamadagni. (her sage husband) noticed his wife had not returned. Through his yogic powers, he divined all that had taken place and was enraged. The rishi called his eldest son, handed him an axe and asked the boy to behead his mother. Horrified, the boy refused and so Jamadagni turned him to stone. He then asked each of his sons and as they refused, one by one, he turned them to stone. Finally only his youngest son, Parashurama was left. Ever obedient, the boy beheaded his mother--filial piety.
Pleased Jamadagni then offered two boons to Parashurama. The boy asked that his mother be brought back to life and his brothers  be returned from stone to flesh. Impressed by the affection for his mother and brothers on one side and devotion to his duty of  a son, Parasurama, Jamadagni granted his request, considering that both his wife and disobedient children had paid for their indiscretions and disobedience.”

When I heard the above rather gruesome story of Parsurama, when I was young it was disturbing. How can one harm one’s own mother? I was told that it was just a story, and I should look for any message. It  is an instance of mixed activity. Doing the father’s bidding is a duty a white karma. However killing especially one’s own mother is a heinous crime, an utterly black deed, a papa. So this activity of Parasurama is an example of a mixed deed, papa and punya. In fact most of the activities that we do is a mixed bag  of good and bad aspects .as explained earlier.

Well, the message is that one should endeavor to do good or dharma deeds and eschew adharmic or bad karmas. Almost all the religions say this even though there may be difference in the list of what constitutes good deeds and bad deeds among them. The Vedas say that doing dharma helps one reach the various heavens and avoid going to the other less desirable places. It also says good karma helps one to  attain more happiness in the following rebirths. Patanjali says good and bad deeds lead respectively to happy or unhappy future lives
ते ह्लाद परिताप फलाः पुण्याप्ण्य हेतुत्वात्।
te hlāda paritāpa phalāḥ puṇyāpṇya hetutvāt|

 The discussion of karma should end here, but the Lord, Lord Krishna demurs

He would advise his disciple Arjuna to eschew both good and bad karmas, and engage in Yoga.

After all this discourse about doing good deeds, Why so? Because engaging in good activities leads to favorable  reincarnation, and birth after birth--  an endless cycle. Both good deeds and bad deeds are binding and lead to rebirth. All activities good, bad and mixed bind and compel one to be born again and again. This cycle has to be broken and one should endeavor to liberate oneself from this endless vicious cycle of birth and death and accumulated karma bundle is the cause. Every creature some time or other in the seemingly endless life cycles would desire to break out of this vicious cycle and be free, moksha.

All the three karmas, white, black and mixed are cause of endless rebirth. Is there any other kind of karma which will not lead to rebirth

Lord Krishna urges Arjuna to engage in yogic activity (yogaya yujyasva).. Why so?  Because Yoga is the best of all activities and is non-binding. The 50th sloka in the II chapter of the gita urges Arjuna to engage in Yoga and Yogic activities. Patanjali in addidion to the three types of karma enunciated earlier adds the fourth perhaps the most importanat one as follows.

1 White or dharma or punya activities leading to heavens and happy future birth
2. Black or sinful activities leading to non-heavenly abodes and pitiable future births
3 Black and white or mixed karma leading to future births of variable experiences
4. Neither black nor white which are yogic activities. What are yogic activities? They are those enunciated in the most authentic and authoritative yoga texts, the Yoga Sutras.

These yogic activities do not lead to future births, nor to heavens or other places but lead to immortality, the very nature of oneself. In that state there is no activity, no karma. This is variously mentioned in nivriti sastras like yoga and Vedanta as kaivalya, nirodha, naishkarmya, nirvana, brahma nirvana, moksha, nirvikalpa samadhi etc

The Gita sloka under reference is given below (BG II 50)
बुद्धियुक्तो जहातीह उभे सुकृत दुष्कृते
तस्मात्योगाय युज्यस्व योगः कर्मसु कोशलम्॥
buddhiyukto jahātīha ubhe sukṛta duṣkṛte
tasmātyogāya yujyasva yogaḥ karmasu kouśalam||

With focused intellect (buddhiyuktah) give up both good and bad activities (sukrita dushkrita).
Then engage (yujyasva) in Yoga (Yogaya). Of all activities( karmasu, 4 types of activities) Yoga is the superior (kausalam)

Krishna while giving the discourse on Samkhya to make Arjuna understand the true nature of himself commends him to give up (ultimately) both good and evil activities and concentrate on Yoga so that he would ultimately achieve kaivalya and break the cycle of birth and death for ever which the other types of activities sukrita and dushkrita (and the mixed) will not be able to achieve

The above sloka especially the last quarter ( yogah karmasu kausalam) is more popularly translated as “yoga is efficiency in action“. While it conveys a great message, taking the whole sloka into context it is clear that Krishna wants Arjuna to ultimately give up all activities (sukrita and dushkrita) and use karmasaya free yogic activities. Efficiency in action alone may not be  yoga. Doing bad karma efficiently will not be yoga. The terms sukrita and dushkrita can also means fruits of good and bad actions and one may argue that Lord Krishna is suggesting giving up the fruits of action. Again the fruits of action will always follow action at the appropriate time- I may not escape the consequences or fruits of my good and bad actions. Further if that were possible I can do horrific crimes, but can not escape the consequences even if I mentally renounce the results which is not what karma theory is about.

Then where can we find  activity being divided into four groups? Here is the sutra from Patanjali in YS IV


कर्माशुक्लाकृष्णं योगिनः
त्रिविधमितरेषाम्॥
karmāśuklākṛṣṇaṁ yoginaḥ
trividhamitareṣām||

It says “For all non yogis the activities may be divided three ways, White, black and mixed (trividham itareshaam), but yogi’s activities (karma) are neither white nor black. But what are yogic activities? Patanjali has written about it in his Yogasutras succinctly and beautifully and comprehensively.

Among all the karmas done in this universe yoga karma is alone wholesome and nonbinding.

And the Lord advised his friend to become a yogi.
तस्मात् योगी भवार्जुन।
tasmāt yogī bhavārjuna|
“Therefore, Arjuna, become a Yogi.”

• 
  

Our mountain, yesterday Shiga.

There was a point in November when My Hard drive was grinding to a halt when I thought I might as well stop blogging altogether, besides it's not as if I'd blogged much that year....

Turns out I had blogged more than I'd thought, 150 posts (although previous years were 250-350, what did i find to write about?). Below I've chosen one a month that I'd like to read again myself.

Below that list is a list of Ramaswami's monthly newsletters/articles

Also a list of 23 posts with Krishnamacharya in the title, there are probably other posts concerning krishnamacharya but I was just going by the title.

There is also a list of 13 posts on Pattabhi Jois


Best wishes for the new year.

Grimmly

Jan.

• Being Interviewed by Claudia for the Yoga Podcast ...

New year daikon (giant raddish) at a temple in Kyoto

Feb.

• Pattabhi Jois' ongoing relationship with Krishnamacharya

practicing in winter in a paper house, Osaka

Mar.

• The breath: Simon Borg-Olivier made me fall in love with the breath all over again...

I like this post concerning my friend Simon Borg-Olivier whom I had met a couple years back and had interviewed at the Yoga Rainbow festival. I joined one of his excellent Online course later in the year. See also the Ohmme yoga video post in October

Koya san mountain temple

Apr.

• Handstand in the old text Yogāsana-Jaina

tetsugaku no michi, Kyoto ( the philosopher's path

May.

• Where are they now? (mostly) Recent Videos/interviews with students from 1993 Sri K. Pattabhi Jois led Yoga Works Ashtanga demonstrations

Saigyo's hut, Yoshino (Saigyo was a hermit and haiku poet. Basho came here to visit him)

Jun.

• The Govt. of India's 35 min. Common Yoga Protocol,..

See post: Krishnamacharya's Mahavedha (lotus lifted, spun, dropped)...

July.

• Ashtanga terminology terminology I have no use for.... and find frankly irritating (for now).

NOH - Tenjinbashi summer festival, osaka

Aug.

• Did Pattabhi Jois practice some or all of the Series

first visit to Shiga prefecture, we ended up moving here in november,

Sept.

• Updated draft: Handstands, backbends and Saganaki - Derek Ireland

Rice

Oct.

• Pattabhi Jois' 1989 'extreme' regular Led Ashtanga video

Kyoto

Nov.

• November 2015 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami--Illusion

We moved to Shiga prefecture (Japan) from Osaka in November,my Mac's HD had been playing up for sometime, it ground to a stop in Novemebr thus the lack of posts. It's still playing up but seems to be working better in the mornings of late.

Shiga is beautiful, rural japan, between the mountains and lake Biwa, there is a post in December on the new practice space.

Lake Biwa from the Ski Resort biwako valley, we live down to the right just off the beach

Dec.

• Yoga, Ashtanga -The Source, Parampara, lineage

first snow, Shiga

Jan 2016......

first sunrise of the new year.

Ramaswami stusdied with Krishnamacharya for 33 years

• Vairāgya (वैराग्य) January 2015 Newsletter from Sr...

Anthony's Nudge - February 2015 Newsletter from Sr..

• Namaskāra नमस्कार (salutation)

• Yoga Sutras: Word (śabda) शब्द Srivatsa Ramaswami...

• Dogpose (श्वानासन) - May 2015 Newsletter from Sriv...

• June 2015 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami—Events...

• July 2015 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami--Review..

• SPINE - August 2015 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramas...

• Guna ~ Srivatsa Ramaswami September 2015 Newslette...

• -आनन्द (ānanda) Bliss - October 2015 Newsletter f...

• November 2015 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami--Illusion

• कर्म (Karma ) January 2016 Newsletter from Srivats...

• DRISHTI : Krishnamacharya didn't seem to turn his head in certain asana that we might expect E.G Suptaparsva paddanguthasana, Trikonasana, utthita parsvakonasana...
• Krishnamacharya's 10 minutes in Suptapada Parsvangushtasana (Suptapada Padangushtasana B)
• Krishnamacharya's own asana and pranayama practice...
• Krishnamacharya seems to have practiced along with his students...
• Krishnamacharya practicing at 84

• Encountering T. Krishnamacharya

• INVERSIONS: Krishnamacharya's head and shoulderstand...

• 1970s Article titled 'About Sri T Krishnamacharya,...

• Krishnamacharya's tricky ekapada sirsasana...

• More on Krishnamacharya's breath, two students 30 years apart, Indra Devi 1930s and Yyvonne Millerand 1960s
• Krishnamacharya's Mahavedha (lotus lifted, spun, dropped)...

• Krishnamacharya on how to breathe in asana (1941) ...

• Pattabhi Jois, Krishnamacharya and the Yoga Korunta...

• Krishnamacharya and Burmese Buddhist meditation:...

• An interview with Krishnamacharya's 3rd son T. K. Sribashyam ...

• How to practice Krishnamacharya's Early Mysore Yoga...
• How Pattabhi Jois learned Yoga from Krishnamacharya...

• Krishnamacharya: "We need some who are demonstrators...
• Krishnamacharya's Chakras as places in the body where the mind gets hung up

• Convince me Krishnamacharya are there any serious benefits in practicing Advanced asana...

• Corrected Version of the Krishnamacharya Yoga Makaranda book...

• Re the young girl in Kurmasana in Krishnamacharya'...

Q. Was the boy in Chakrasana (or Triyangamukha Uttanasana) in Krishnamacharya's 1934 Yoga Makaranda, BKS Iyengar?

• Pattabhi Jois' ongoing relationship with Krishnamarya...

• "Why then has Pattabhi Jois presented the practice of asana/vinyasa differently from what his teacher taught"?

• Pattabhi Jois, Krishnamacharya and the Yoga Korunta...
• Pattabhi Jois, " That's Me"....... from yoga Unvei...

• Patanjali vs. Pattabhi Jois - What are the actual similarities? Alex Medin Plus The Old School of Ashtanga Yoga. Pranidhi Varshney

• 'Pattabhi Jois recommended up to fifty breaths in baddha konasana' - Kino Macgregor

• What does Pattabhi Jois' Advanced A/Third series Visvamitrasana photo tell us about the development of his Ashtanga Vinyasa syllabus.
• Did Pattabhi Jois practice some or all of the Series he created and if so for how long?
• Pattabhi Jois : Long breathing "... inhalation, ten second exhalation

• How Pattabhi Jois learned Yoga from Krishnamacharya...

• Pattabhi Jois Early Asana Photos
• Should it matter if and how long Pattabhi Jois may have practiced the Ashtanga 'methodology' himself

• Pattabhi Jois' 1989 'extreme' regular Led Ashtanga...

• Being Interviewed by Claudia for the Yoga Podcast ...
• Janusirsasana : Examples of kumbhaka in Krishnamac...
• 1:14 Practice continually.... but what exactly
• Ashtanga Vinyasa is how old?
• " The word Guru has become a doubtful concept" TKV...
• Connecting Ashtanga and Vinyasa Krama,
• Turning Ashtanga's KPJYI into KPJYF, a charitable ...
• Confessional, Note to self, Yama Niyama
• Outtakes: Ashtanga Parampara with Magnolia Zuniga...
• When to introduce the 2nd series leg behind head e...
• DRISHTI : Krishnamacharya didn't seem to turn his ...
• Krishnamacharya's 10 minutes in Suptapada Parsvang...
• INVERSIONS: Krishnamacharya's Head and Shouldersta...
• 2014 My year in posts, an insane year
• Vairāgya (वैराग्य) January 2015 Newsletter from Sr...

• ▼  February (19)
  • Krishnamacharya's own asana and pranayama practice...
  • Krishnamacharya seems to have practiced along with...
  • Krishnamacharya practicing at 84
  • What does Intermediate and Advanced Series Standin...
  • What practice feels like: John Cage ASLP ( As slow...
  • Pattabhi Jois' ongoing relationship with Krishnama...
  • Encountering T. Krishnamacharya
  • "Why then has Pattabhi Jois presented the practice...
  • INVERSIONS: Krishnamacharya's head and shouldersta...
  • Where to place the head in Sirsasana ( headstsnd)
  • The Yoga Podcast - Fancy new graphics and slidesho...
  • Passing beyond justifying not going to Mysore
  • But what if I practice my Ashtanga FAST and then.....
  • Ashtanga legitimacy, to practice, to teach....
  • Kumbhaka studies: Breath holding and heightened ar...
  • Angela Jamison Interview Ashtanga and Meditation, ...
  • Questioning the relationship between the Samkhya i...
  • 1970s Article titled 'About Sri T Krishnamacharya,...
  • Anthony's Nudge - February 2015 Newsletter from Sr...

• ▼  March (19)
  • Spring, first drop of sweat on the mat, state of a...
  • Krishnamacharya's tricky ekapada sirsasana ( or ek...
  • A blog's loss of purpose.... Plus a glitzy (Love) ...
  • Updated: Yoga's loss of purpose.
  • Mysore Dream: How many 'yogi's' does it take to ch...
  • More on Krishnamacharya's breath, two students 30 ...
  • Krishnamacharya's Mahavedha (lotus lifted, spun, d...
  • Summary of the Yoga Sutras.... in plain English. U...
  • Asana consumerism: Did Series kill asana? Plus Dav...
  • Krishnamacharya on how to breathe in asana (1941) ...
  • Old screenshots of blog design on the Internet arc...
  • Ashtanga Certification: Includes a list of Certifi...
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Picking my sax back up along with my Ashtanga practice.

A short post while the practice room warms up.

So New Year morning with three days left of my holiday from work and no plans or commitments, M. and I had the chance to practice together for a change.

And it wasn't planned but as we raised our hands for the first sun salutation I thought why not and decided to practice Ashtanga Primary matching vinyasa for vinyasa kind of like a Led but with nobody leading.

Mostly I just let M. get on with her own practice, give some suggestions if asked and occasionally, if we cross in the practice room and I notice something that might be harmful, I'll mentioned it but mostly I let her get on with working out her own practice, finding her own way

In this practice on New Years day I noticed a few things that had carried over from when I first introduced her to a simplified version of the practice I'd made up for her a couple of years back, something along the lines of David Swenson's short Primary. There were a few omissions, a few asana I'd suggested she hold off on, I took this practice together to mention them and that she was at a point where she might comfortably introduce them.

Nice practicing side by side, reminded me of practicing with a friend in the UK just before leaving, nice comfortable practice together.

And so we did it again the next day and again the next, three days of pretty much by the book Ashtanga Primary, It had been awhile.

I say by the book, I tend to take two long slow breaths and short kumbhaka in asana to M.'s regular five short ones, a couple of postures I stay a little longer perhaps but otherwise, KPJAYI kosher.

Yesterday I was back to work so practiced on my own and why not, the same as the  previous three days, straight Primary, a delight actually, it is a lovely practice.

Certain asana have suffered a bit from neglect recently with the shorter practice, with the longer stays I've been doing but they'll come back, they are already coming back, Mari D, Supta kurmasana, garbha pindasana which came back yesterday.... it's like welcoming back old friends.

Oh and M. mentioned that she had practiced full primary in the afternoon after I had left for work including the extra asana I had suggested she included to make up the full series.

Four days, just four days, not even a week, hardly woth mentioning but it's nice to revisit the practice, like an old friend comfortable to be around and nice too talking Ashtanga and Yoga in general with M.

Perhaps in a week or two and I'll start asking myself why I'm not staying in this posture for ten minutes rather than one or three, or practicing my asana for one hour rather than two giving more time for my pranayama and sit but for now......

Time for practice.

Loving Kindness is one of the four Immeasurable in Buddhism and it's there in the Yoga Sutras, 1:33. This sutra is the first of seven contemplation techniques or approaches to meditation.

The final meditation option of the seven is the 'fast track' option of contemplating Ishvara ( the Lord... God, which may mean 'merely' the boundless cradle of awareness in which we reside).

The most seemingly straightforward perhaps (but challenging) of the seven, and no doubt the most familiar, is following the breath.

However, concentration on the four immeasurable, including loving kindness is the first listed. Not the first as in we begin with it or that there is an order or that we have to practice all of them, they are surely options, anyone should be able to find an approach to meditation (Yoga) that works for them (and Patanajali goes into more depth and detail later), but I find it interesting that Patanjali placed it here, right at the beginning.


Brahmavihāras, the four immeasurables in the Yoga Sutras

Yoga Sutras 1-33

maitrî-karuñâ-muditopekæâñâä sukha-duïkha-puñyâpuñya-viæayâñâä bhâvanâtaå citta-prasâdanam

maitrî = friendliness
karuñâ = compassion
mudita = delight
upekæâñâä = equanimity
sukha = happiness
duïkha = distress, pain, suffering puñya = good, virtuous

apuñya = bad, evil
viæayâñâä = object (of experience)
bhâvanâtaï = radiating, projecting
citta = consciousness
prasâdanam = calming, tranquilizing, clarification

Consciousness settles as one radiates friendliness, compassion, delight, and equanimity toward all things, whether pleasant or painful, good or bad.
Chip Hartranft translation

Consciousness settles....

Ronald Steiner has the full Yoga Sutras along with his commentary on his excellent Ashtangainfo.com

Here's the link to 1:33, I've quoted a couple of sections from his treatment of this sutra below.

MAITRI KARUNA MUDITO PEKSHANAM SUKHA DUHKHA PUNYA APUNYA VISHAYANAM BHAVANATAH CHITTA PRASADANAM ||33||

मैत्री करुणा मुदितोपेक्षाणांसुखदुःख पुण्यापुण्यविषयाणां भावनातः चित्तप्रसादनम् ॥३३॥
maitrī karuṇā mudito-pekṣāṇāṁ-sukha-duḥkha puṇya-apuṇya-viṣayāṇāṁ bhāvanātaḥ citta-prasādanam ||33||

All that is mutable in human beings (chitta) is harmonized through the cultivation of love (maitri), helpfulness (karuna), conviviality (mudita) and imperturbability (upeksha) in situations that are happy, painful, successful or unfortunate. ||33||


"These four basic traits nurture each other, which means that developing one helps to develop all the others.

I always try to accept other people in a loving fashion (maitrī), and particularly when time is at a premium.

If someone needs my help, I try to be there for them (karuṇā). This is part of my job as a yoga teacher and physician. In some cases, this help takes a very concrete form, e.g. when I prescribe a drug or therapy. However, when it comes to personal problems I rarely provide specific answers, but instead try to help the student find their own solution.

mudita means conviviality, which is an important trait for me as a yoga teacher and physician. When I have to give a patient bad news, I nonetheless try to be as upbeat as possible – because after all, how can he be expected to believe in his own recovery if I rob him of all hope from a medical standpoint?
Of the four key traits, I have the most difficulty cultivating imperturbability (upekṣa) – for example being accepting when a close friend lights up a cigarette. I need to exhibit this same kind of acceptance in cases where a patient refuses to undergo therapy that I feel he needs. This ability to accept a person as they are is a sign of a good relationship".
Ashtangainfo.com


For me this seems to be treating 1:33 kind of like yama/niyama, a general approach to daily life and while I agree completely, cultivate loving kindness, the four immeasurable in all your interactions, I want to go further and remind myself that Patanjali has placed this sutra here among the approaches to contemplation, the meditation techniques and he places it first.

Here's Aranya but notice Vyasa's commentary, "...the mind becomes pure. A purified mind becomes one-pointed, eventually attains serenity"

....and the last line of Aranya's commentary

"These fours practices are called Brahmavihāras by the buddhists and these, they say, lead to the brahmaloka" (Theravāda Buddhists hold that rebirth in the brahma-loka is the reward enjoyed by an individual who has accompanied great virtue with meditation)".


Here's the sutra and Vyasa's commentary along with that of Aranya.

• immeasurable love (byams-pa, Skt: maitri, Pali: metta),
• immeasurable compassion (snying-rje, Skt: karuna, Pali:karuna),
• immeasurable joy (dga'-ba, Skt: mudita, Pali: mudita),
• immeasurable equanimity (btang-snyoms, Skt: upeksha, Pali:upekkha).

 

part of the original asana table from Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941) in kannada language

Krishnamacharya seems to have been a one man University, he taught Philosophy, Medicine, Music, Classics, Literature, Theology, Languages and Philology... oh and he taught asana too.



Sri Krishnamacharya my Guru was a well known Yoga Master teaching the well organized comprehensive vinyasakrama yoga system. Equally important was his teaching of many other subjects. He was a well known vedic scholar. He had received diplomas and titles like Veda Kesari (Lion of Vedas), Vedanta Vegeesa (a master exponent of Vedanta philosophy), Samkhya Siromani ( crest-jewel of Samkhya), Nyayacharya ( Master teacher of Nyaya philosophy), Yogacharya (Master teacher of Yoga) and several others. He had learnt chanting of the Krishna Yajur Veda. In addition to teaching yogasana to several students in its art form (vinyasa), therapeutic application (cikitsa krama) he also taught several yoga texts like Hatyogapradipika, Ghrerunda Samhita, Siva Samhita, Yoga Yognyavalkya, several yogopanishads, Suta Samhita, Yoga Rahasya and others. He taught several chapters of yajusrveda chanting. The vedic philosophy texts he taught included the Bhagavat Gita, Yoga sutra, Samkhya Karika, Nyaya Sutra, Brahma Sutra, several vidyas from major upanishads like Taittiriya, Mandukya, Brahadaranyaka, Chandogya and others. As a Vaishnavite scholar he not only practiced Vaishnavism but also taught several works of great visishtadvaita gurus as Ramanuja, Desika and others. He was a bubbling university of vedic subjects. Picture by my nephew Prof.Radhakrishnan
Srivatsa Ramaswami

See also Ramaswami's article for Namarupa magazine.

My Studies with Sri Krishnamacharya



Below is the biography of Krishnamacharya on his third sons, Sri T. K. Sribhashyam's, website



A symbolic figure of Traditional Indian Culture.

The number 108 is a sacred number in Indian Culture. According to the Veda, when the universe was created, the Creator made 108 divinities to manage the created world. In later mythology, the Gods and Goddesses each had 108 names.

This tradition of Shatanama or garland of names, continues and today this Shatanama is offered on the 108th anniversary of a spiritual Master. In Indian culture, centenarians achieve the status of a God 108 years after they were born because of their experience of life. This 108th anniversary is often celebrated by their descendants who, together with others, join to pay them homage.

This is the case of Sri T. Krishnamacharya, a symbolic figure of traditional Indian Culture and a founding father of the teaching of Yoga to Europeans. Born in southern India in 1888, Sri T. Krishnamacharya belonged to a family of philosophers and spiritual Masters. He was the eldest of five children.

The majority of his studies were done in Varanasi (Benares) and Calcutta, strongholds of traditional Indian philosophy where he quickly obtained the highest distinction in all the branches of Indian Philosophy. He mastered Hindu Yoga in the Himalayas and Buddhist Yoga in Burma, then part of India. Later, he went to Cashmere to study Sufism. He taught Indian philosophy at the Benares University and Calcutta University before accepting the King of Mysore’s invitation to teach Indian philosophy at Mysore Sanskrit College. Like his forefathers, he taught the King and was appointed a philosopher of the Royal Court.

As a Master of Philosophy, Sri T. Krishnamacharya was invited by many Indian Royal Courts and Monasteries to participate in the Philosophical Debates, characteristic of Indian Culture since time immemorial. He emerged victorious, not only in his arguments, but in his ability to explain the application of Indian Philosophy, to the general public in a simple and convincing way. In addition, he had mastered 15 Indian languages, was an astrologer, musician, sportsman and refined cook.

In the 1920s, Sri T. Krishnamacharya began teaching Yoga to the Royal Family and residents of Mysore. With time, he gave increasing importance to the teaching of Yoga. He always integrated the philosophical aspects of Yoga when practising or teaching. Around 1935, Sri T. Krishnamacharya taught his first non-Indian students. These were Europeans, and as their numbers increased, he taught himself English in order to teach them in English. He lived in Mysore till 1954 when he moved to Madras where he lived until his death in 1989.

Sri T. Krishnamacharya had six children, three sons and three daughters. His wife, Srimathi Namagiriammal as well as his children were taught by him. Although his eldest son, Sri T.K. Srinivasan, was well-versed in Yoga, he chose to specialise in Indian Philosophy. Today he is one of the authorities on Nyaya and Mimamsa, two philosophical standards which feature among the most important in Indian tradition. His other sons, Sri T.K.V. Desikachar and Sri T.K. Sribhashyam, gave up their professions to devote themselves to teaching Yoga. Sri T. Krishnamacharya’s second daughter Srimathi Alamelu is one of the first women to whom he taught the Veda.

Sri T. Krishnamacharya taught Yoga to his wife’s brother, Sri B.K.S. Iyengar (born in 1918), when the latter was still a child. Following the ancient tradition, Sri B.K.S. Iyengar lived in his Master’s house. At the age of 15, he started teaching Yoga. Sri T.K. Sribhashyam, born in 1940, was also taught by his father from the very young age. In 1956 he began teaching Yoga with his father in Madras, while still undergoing university studies. Sri T.K.V. Desikachar, completed university before studying under his father in the 1960s. Sri T. Krishnamacharya continued to teach his family until his death.

Sri T. Krishnamacharya never abused his position. He refused the rewards offered by the King and the Royal Courts and lived on the modest income earned as an inspector of a coffee plantation, carrying sand and stone for construction projects and practising Indian Medicine (Ayurveda). He even conceded his rich inheritance to his brother and sisters in order to remain true to his philosophical principles.

He refused distinguished positions offered by Courts and Monasteries in order to maintain his liberty and freedom in teaching. His wife, Srimathi Namagiriammal followed his example and shared his simple life. For Sri T. Krishnamacharya and his children she represented a living philosophy.

While Sri T. Krishnamacharya, was a strict practicing Hindu, he had great respect for all religious, traditional or contemporary thoughts.

His open-mindedness brought him to meet many Spiritual heads of other faiths. Many religious chiefs, head of states, yoga masters and philosophers came to learn under him. He respected their need for confidentiality and never used these relations for his own personal benefit or advantage.

He participated in family life, including domestic activities. For him, everyone was equal and deserved the same attention.

Sri B.K.S. Iyengar, Sri T.K.V. Desikachar and Sri T.K. Sribhashyam are Master’s most intimate disciples. They have been invited the world over to transmit the teaching of Sri T. Krishnamacharya.


All facts about Sri T. Krishnamacharya are based on information furnished by Sri T. Krishnamacharya himself, Smt T. Namagiriammal and the elder members of Smt T. Namagiriammal's family.

In a recent post I mentioned that I started the new year practicing pretty much straight Ashtanga alongside M. I speculated at the end of the post how long that might last. I think it ended up being around ten days. With M. no longer on the mat beside me for a couple of days I slipped back into my usual slower practice, fewer asana with longer stays, slowing the breath.... exploring internal drishti, pranayama before and after practice.... a Sit. 
It's the same practice and yet not.


One asana I've become fascinated with lately ( I seem to go through phases, baddha konasana, bharadvajrasana, mudras like maha mudra...) is Krishnamacharya's Ardha Matsyendrasana 'no1'. I love this Ardha badha padmasana matsyendrasana version and especially the pictures of Krishnamacharya presenting it at the age of 84. 

In Ashtanga we tend to be more familiar with 'no2'. were one leg is bent rather than straight. This first version then seems simpler but is actually quite challenging, notice how deeply Krishnamacharya is twisted into the asana with his hand on his shin. I find the experience of practicing this version quite profound, was this perhaps the original. 

Sri Sribhashyam in his book Emergence of yoga indicates Krishnamacharya would employ Ujjayi breathing and Kantha (back of throat) or nasagra (top of nose) as the internal focal point (drishti?) in his own practice.
Instructions below from Yoga Makaranda part II ( Salutations to the teacher the eternal one ) Photos from the fourth edition of Yogasanagalu ( Krishnamacharya aged 84).

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. ( see end of post).

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.

Instructions for the counter posture mentioned, baddha padmasana, at the end of the post.

Purna Matsyendrasana

Pattabhi Jois Late 1930s-40s

Purna matsyendrasana on right

On Ramaswami's 2010 Vinyasa Krama TT, unfortunately this was just after a very large lunch.

Baddha padmasana and Yoga Mudra

Krishnamacharya mentions above that baddha padmasana is a counter to Ardha Matsyendrasana

from Yoga Makaranda Part II

35. BADDHA PADMASANA

This asana is the counter pose to the ARDHA MATSYENDRASANA - Section A, and should be done immediately after that asana.


Technique:

1. Sit upright, with both legs stretched in front. Bend one of the legs, say the right, at the knee and place the foot on the left thigh as high as possible. The heel should be as near the navel as possible. Now bend the left leg at the knee and place the left foot on the right thigh as high as possible, and the heel as near the navel as possible. The knees should be as close as possible and touch the ground.

2. Take the left arm around the back and catch hold of the toes of the left foot by the right hand. Next, take the right hand behind the back and catch hold of the toes of the right foot by the fingers of the right hand.

Note: Which hand is taken round first is important. In the position described above, it will be observed that the LEFT leg is crossed over the right leg, and it is the LEFT arm that is taken round the round back first, to catch hold of the toes. When the asana is repeated on the other side, the right leg will be over the left leg and right arm will be taken round the back first.

3. Chin lock, chest forward. In the case of those who are married, the gaze should be to the tip of the nose, and in the case of the others the gaze should be to the midpoint of the eyebrows.

4. Take deep breaths. The deep breaths in this asana can with advantage be with control both after inhalation and after exhalation i.e., both ANTHER AND BAHYA Kumbhakam. The retention of breath, in the beginning stages, should not be more than 5 seconds after inhalation and not more than two seconds after exhalation. The breathing in and breathing out should be as thin and as long possible, with rubbing sensation in the throat. The number of rounds can be as many as it is conveniently possible without strain. 5. Get back to the position in step (1) and repeat on the other side.

This is one of the asanas specifically recommended for doing Pranayama. When a large number of Pranayamas are done there is a feeling of hunger, but it is a false sensation. Benefits: This benefits all parts of the body, reduces the waistline, strengthens the lungs and the blood vessels.

I started with home practice, picked up a book from the library and just got on with teaching myself at home on a bath towel, going to a class wasn't something I even considered. The library book just happened to be Ashtanga, it might just as easily been something else but perhaps Ashtanga suited my temperament. By the time I moved on from books to videos I was quite settled in my home practice with no desire to practise any other way. But there are many reasons practitioners come to home practice. Some move house, to an area where there are no classes, no teachers, in other cases it's the teacher who moves away leaving the students behind and of course teachers themselves more often than not seem to end up having to practice alone at home when they set up their own shalas, Sharath Jois is now of course practicing home alone.

Setting up Home practice

Routine is the mother of discipline and we want to set up a routine early on when still in that first flush of enthusiasm. It seems to help to practise in the same place and if possible at the same time. Ideally we would keep the space just for our practice or at least try and choose somewhere separate from the rest of the house or at least an out of the way corner where we are less likely to be disturbed. Kids of course make a mockery of all that but parents often survive on routines, treat your yoga practice like the laundry, do it where and when you can.

Building our practice up gradually helps as does practicing several times a week, again to help build the routine. Three days a week is a good start then perhaps add an extra day so we end up practicing two days in a row, work towards two day on, a day off perhaps then two more days practicing. After time we might like to give up the day off between practice days and end up with five days in a row. Traditionally Ashtanga vinyasa has tended to be six mornings a week with a day off at the weekend but I've always practiced seven days a week. If for some reason I've been unable to practice in the morning I've made it up in the evening.

Maintaining Home practice

Ideally we want to try and stick to the routine of stepping on the mat at the same time and in the same place each morning even if only for a couple of sun salutations. More often than not those couple of sun salutations will turn into all of the standing sequence and then we often feel we might as well do half primary series at least which more than likely turns into a full practice.

One of the benefits of a sequence is that helps support the routine, one posture leads to the next and then the next and so on.

I mentioned that Ashtanga suited my temperament, the practice can be challenging in and of itself, it's quite long and we keep adding on those postures, always another posture to keep motivated.
And then there are the extra challenges at the level of individual asana. All the asana can be challenging in different ways but some especially so. Rather than working intensively on all the different asana in each and every practice it can help to pick two or three to give extra attention to for a week or two before moving on to another two or three. Give working on jumping back a degree of attention for a few weeks and then leave it alone and work on your marichiyasana's say or your kurmasana, come back to the jump back again a few weeks down the line and see how it's been coming along on it's own.

As well as the the routine we've built up, support can also come from the sangha, the community. We may practice on our own at home but we are not necessarily alone, there are many home practitioners out there, some with blogs, perhaps youtube videos showing their progress, these can give encouragement to our own practice and then there are the teachers who post tutorials which can be helpful and the beautifully shot videos of fancy postures or regular practice in beautiful locations, these can be inspirational for some, a turn off for others.

Questioning Home practice

At some point we may find ourselves questioning the practice. We started off soaking up all the information we could, taking on board the myths and dogma surrounding the practice, we've read the blogs and opinions about what is and isn't correct practice and flip flopped back and forth between the extremes and finding ourselves perhaps in a Foucauldian panopticon of fear and guilt that the Ashtanga police might know how we practiced that morning.

Most of it is nonsense of course, and the practice stands up beautifully by itself without any of it, question all the myths and dogma and see to what degree any of it is consistent with itself, how logical it is, put it all to the test of your own experience of the practice. Question, every opinion you've heard repeated or held, question every teacher from the top down and the bottom up, we are all most likely deluded to lesser and greater degrees. And yet this practice is beautiful in it's simplicity, it works, again trust to common sense and our actual experience.

You may wish to 'tweak' your practice, I recommend not tweaking the whole practice in one go, the integrity of the practice can collapse and there can be a loss of routine, practice descends into chaos. It seems to work best when we only adapt change in one or two areas of the practice at one time. Add a couple of extra postures here, take a couple away there but try to maintain the overall structure of the practice, it's our support. And if we become so disillusioned that we want to give up the practice altogether and practice Zumba instead I highly recommend keeping hold of half primary at least, perhaps on a Friday. You might not think so now but more likely than not you'll come back the practice after your first or eighth period of disillusionment has past, it WAS a nice practice wasn't it.

Progressing and deepening Home practice

One of the things I noticed when I began practicing Advanced series was how perfect the standing sequence that I had for so long taken for granted prepared me for those advance postures, as it happens this actually led to my losing interest in advanced postures altogether and returning to the supposedly basic postures and exploring ever more subtle approaches to them.

Likewise exploring pranayama feeds into the practice as does a pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses) and meditation practice. It's said that the practice incorporates a hint of pranayama in the focus on the breath and that pratyahara is included in our use of drishti, that the practice is essentially meditative. That may be true but only up to a point. Put it to the test of your own experience, sit and practice pranayama, just six rounds focusing on just the breath and nothing else and see if it's the same. Take the same approach with pratyahara, with meditation,  sit on a cushion for twenty, thirty, forty minutes and see if for you it is any different from your experience of the practice. I suspect that it will be but don't take my word for it.

When should you practice pranayama, when meditation? Whenever you feel ready and or inclined to, ignore the dogma, the nonsense that has sprung up. Assuming you don't have any medical condition to prohibit it, explore  a simply, gentle, pranyama practice....begin to sit. I was taught to practice pranayama, pratyahara and meditation after my asana practice but some practice before asana, before their yoga towel gets too soggy.

If time is an issue, rather than speed up your asana consider practising half a series to leave more time for the other limbs,  practice the second half the following day.

Surrendering Home practice

At some point we may feel inclined to surrender our home practice altogether, this could be as a result of injury whether related or not in which case we can perhaps modify our practice. The Ashtanga practice is linking the breath to the movements it's not the sequence of specific asana, the sequence was most likely a pedagogic accident rather than derived from some ancient text or teaching. Practice non attachment and just let it go, practice just as much or as little as is beneficial.

Some practice through pregnancy, others modify their practice other give it up altogether, it's your body, your choice, listen to the arguments but trust you instincts guilt free. Likewise as we get older, in fact Pattabhi Jois in his book Yoga Mala, gives us Carte blanche  to adapt our practice pretty much as we see fit once we reach fifty.

Or perhaps our pranayma practice and/or even just sitting will grow in importance to us such that we want to give more time to our sit, a few simple movements, the odd round of breathing practice may be enough preparation for approaching our cushion and more likely than not in line with the most ancient of teachings.

We may however also feel that we wish to support a fledgling or struggling local practice room by surrendering our home practice one or more days a weeks and just turning up to support the room.

Available from LULU.com

My Vinyasa Home Practice Book is flawed, it was intended as a companion to my teacher  Srivatsa Ramaswami's Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga (highly recommended) by employing an easier to visualise layout of the different subroutines and sequences that Ramaswami describes. As such, rather than descriptions of the asana it is made up of notes; tips, hints... cautions for the actual practice of those asana, how to work towards them, to actually get into some of the more advanced vinyasas... hopefully more safely. There are however links to free youtube videos in the book for all the asana, subroutines and sequences. For the print edition use the link list on the book support page http://vinyasakramayoga.blogspot.jp/

I should probably revise the whole thing but have a soft spot for the book and how closely linked to practice it was, the notes written within half hour of practicing the asanas.

It's a large book approx 450 A4 pages, thus the cost of the print edition. The ebook is a big file and downloads better to a Mac/PC than directly to the Ipad, better to transfer it to your devise via the likes of ibooks.

I highly recommend Lulu.com if you are considering self-publishing, they make the whole process pretty painless, give you control a lot of over pricing by allowing you to offer large discounts and take care of all the logistics, delivery etc.

My friend Joelle's is offering an arm balancing workshop in Maidenhead (where I was living before moving to Japan), 20-40 minutes by train from London Paddington, 5 minutes walk from the station.

Joelle's teacher is David Garrigues, she knows her stuff.

I went off arm balances for a time, however, they can be interesting in that while they may seem to be all about the fancy stuff they actually allow you to move through your regular practice more subtly, a better sense of your body in space. Moving efficiently to and from a point of balance can allow us to employ less effort in our practice (after all, subtle implies cleverly, without brute force), they are all about getting the physics right. To practice them safely arm balances demand mental focus, if your head is all over the place throw one in early on in your practice and you may, ironically, feel more.... grounded. I rarely practice intermediate advanced series arm balances any more but having spent time with them in the past my practice requires less effort and is perhaps more efficient, probably safer too in that they require you to think about your hand placement, your wrists, shoulders, back... making for a less gung ho jump back and through.

Joelle https://www.facebook.com/NelumboYoga/?ref=br_rs

Wish I could be there, details of the workshop can be found here









instruction from Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1938)


"This has 15 vinyasas. Vinyasas 1 through 6 are like pascimottanasana. With- out allowing the feet to touch the floor, jump very carefully from the 6th vinyasa to the 7th vinyasa and hug the shoulders with the legs as shown in the picture. In the 8th and 9th vinyasas, take the legs back in between the shoulders, keeping them centred, and remain in this position using the strength of the shoulders. The hands must not move from the place where they are initially placed. The 7th, 8th and 9th vinyasas must be done only in recaka. While taking the legs towards the back in the 11th vinyasa, make sure that they do not touch the ground. The other vinyasas are like those for pascimottanasana.
Benefit: Not only does it give extraordinary strength to the shoulders, it removes various diseases of the heart and the brain. It maintains proper blood circulation in the neck and creates an easy and clear path for the susumna nadi.

If women practise primarily this asana doing times of menstruation, the dis- turbances and problems related to menstruation will disappear. This is a definite and easy way to obtain relief from problems of the stomach".



from Yoga Makaranda Part II

"Technique:
1. Kneel on the ground. Now place the forearms on the ground in front parallel to each other and about 12 inches apart. The elbows should be about 12 inches in front of the knees. The palms with fingers stretched and close together should be touching the ground. 2. Raise the head. Lift the knees slightly from the ground. Inhale deeply, hold the breath, jump and take the legs above, so that the body is balanced on the forearms. Spread the legs. The legs are bent backward so that the leg is in the form of a bow.
3. Cross the legs as in Padmasana. Take one or two deep breaths. There should be no retention of breath. The eyes should gaze at the midpoint of the eye brows.
4. Unlock the crossed legs, bend the legs and body backwards so that the feet touch the ground and the body forms an arch. Lift the elbows and stretch the arms.
5. From this position, by jumping, bring the legs over the head and place the feet so that they lie midway between the palms. Stretch the legs, bend the head so that the forehead may touch the knees.
6. While inhaling, life the trunk and arms and reach the standing posture.
This combines both the asana and its counter pose, as doing the counter pose immediately after the asana is very important."


41 Mayurasana


from Yoga Makaranda part I 

"This has 9 vinyasas. The 5th vinyasa itself is the asana sthiti. This asana has two forms. One form is called sampurna mayurasana. The second is called one-handed mayurasana. The picture included here depicts only sampurna mayurasana. In this asana, both hands should be firmly pressed down on the ground and with the strength of the arms, the whole body should be balanced like a bar in a balance scale with both sides at the same level.
In the other type of mayurasana, keep only one hand on the ground and balance the body on this hand as mentioned above. Ordinarily, most people cannot do this type. So it is alright to just do sampurna mayurasana. Study the picture carefully to learn how to place the hands.

This asana must be done before eating (on an empty stomach). Wait a min- imum of four hours after eating before practising this asana. This asana sthiti should be held from 1 minute up to 3 hours according to the practitioner’s capa- bility. It is good to practise this regularly and to remain in this sthiti for longer periods during the winter or colder months rather than in the summer.

If we make it a habit to practise this asana every day for at least fifteen minutes, we will attain tremendous benefits. First, it will not allow unnecessary flesh or excessive impurities to remain in our body — it will expel them out. It will increase digestive power. It will protect us from every disease and keep these diseases from approaching. We can say that it is the death of all respiratory diseases, all paralytic diseases — all such dangerous diseases. No disease will approach the people who practise this asana."



Krishnamacharya also taught arm balances to his wife



and of course to his student Iyengar, here's BKS Iyengar in the 193mostotage.









Mayurasana, considered by Krishnamacharya to be one of the most important asana, one we should perhaps practice everyday.

Iyengar's jump to lotus

I couldn't resist trying to learn it....

Krishnamacharya

Krishnamacharya, sirsasana variation, all the headstand variations we see in the 1938 film footage Krishnamacharya was still teaching to his students like Ramaswami who taught them to us in his Vinyasa krama TT.

below Krishnamacharya's wife, same 1938 film footage.






Srivatsa Ramaswami, Krishnamacharya's student of 30+ years ( 1950s-70s ) includes a section on arm balances in his Complete book of Vinyasa Yoga.

Pattabhi Jois's sone Manju

Krishnamacharya's wife Namagiriammal in urddhva kukkutasana

While reading through yesterdays post on Krishnamacharya and arm balances, I was surprised to come across the above quote regarding the practice of Bhujapidasana, an arm balance, and menstruation. At first I thought Krishnamacharya was perhaps talking in general terms, that the asana may be beneficial in the long term but no, he actually writes about practising the  asana during 

menstruation.

As we can see below Krishnamacharya taught asana to his wife (as well as to his young daughters), Krishnamacharya's wife Namagiriammal was by all accounts quite an advanced asana practitioner. 

Krishnamacharya's writing on the benefits of certain asana for menstruation as well as the teaching of asana to his wife and daughters questions the long held theory that Krishnamacharya was not prepared to teach Yoga to woman until pressured into teaching Indra Devi by the Maharaja of Mysore. It seems more likely that Krishnamacharya was not at first convinced of the seriousness of Indra Devi's desire to learn Yoga from him, once convinced he seemed more than happy to teach her and supposedly encouraged her to pass on his teaching. Indra Devi studied with Krishnamacharya in 1938, the same year as the video above and four years after Krishnamacharya wrote Yoga Makaranda.

Below is the full instruction and photos for Bhujapindasana as well as the referred to benefits. 

I also went through Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda Part I and II to see if he mentioned any other asana with similar benefits, he does.

NOTE: Krishnamacharya  mentions primarily practicing Bhujapindasana during menstruation, this shouldn't perhaps be seen as a green light to get on with ones regular practice during menstruation, ignoring what is ghappening in the body, especially if that practice happens to be Ashtanga Vinyasa. 

Practicing a full, unmodified Ashtanga series is not perhaps advisable during menstruation and much is written on this topic, advice can be taken from a doctor, one or more experienced teacher as well as exploring through the laboratory of ones own body. In the beginning the Ashtanga series can be physically demanding, less so perhaps as we become more flexible and more energy efficient in our transitions. An experienced practitioner may say that they still practice during menstruation, but their practice may have become be less demanding and experience may have led them to leave out certain asana, to modify their practice as well perhaps their employment of bandhas.

Krishnamacharya had a more flexible approach to asana than his student Pattabhi Jois. Krishnamacharya employed groups of asana, primary, middle and proficient from which he would, it appears, direct students to choose appropriate asana for practice. Pattabhi Jois took those groups, mostly it seems as they were laid out in Kriashnamacharya asana table (see this post for the Krishnamacharya's 1941 Yogasanagalu table of asana), and turned them into mostly fixed sequences, Primary, Intermediate, Advanced A and Advanced B. I say mostly fixed sequences because Pattabhi Jois would still of course modify the practice if he deemed it necessary for individual students. 

Manju, Pattabhi Jois' son mentioned in a workshop I attended that his mother, an advanced asana practitioner herself, would take a week of practice during menstruation.

Krishnamacharya was an Ayurveda practitioner.

For a perspective from another Ayurveda practitioner and Ashtangi who is also a woman and thus able to explore this question through her own body listen to Christine Hoar podcast interview with Peg Mulqueen starting at 7.18  until around 11.46

http://www.ashtangadispatch.com/christine-hoar/

Asana in which Krishnamacharya mentions  menstruation

 Instruction from Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1938)

These are the only asana in Yoga Makaranda in which Krishnamacharya directly mentions menstruation.  Krishnamacharya taught hundreds of other asana and variations not mentioned in  this text. I've included a section from Yoga Makaranda part II ( Salutations to the teacher the eternal one) at the end of the post on Menstruation and also preganancy.

19 Bhujapidasana

3 Prasarita Padottanasana (Figure 4.10)




Stand in tadasana krama. Jump the legs apart, placing the feet 3 mozhams apart on the ground. 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. This asana should not be practised by women after beginning menstruation. In the same way, follow the rules while practising the various forms of uttanasana. (This has 5 vinyasas).


11 Janusirsasana (Figure 4.33, 4.34)





This form follows the hatha yoga principles. Another form follows the raja yoga method. The practitioner should learn the difference. First, take either leg and extend it straight out in front. Keep the heel pressed firmly on the floor with the toes pointing upward. That is, the leg should not lean to either side. The base (back) of the knee should be pressed against the ground. Fold the other leg and place the heel against the genitals, with the area above the knee (the thigh) placed straight against the hip. That is, arrange the straight leg which has been extended in front and the folded leg so that together they form an “L”. Up to this point, there is no difference between the practice of the hatha yogi and the raja yogi.
For the hatha yoga practitioner, the heel of the bent leg should be pressed firmly between the rectum and the scrotum. Tightly clasp the extended foot with both hands, raise the head and do puraka kumbhaka. Remain in this position for some time and then, doing recaka, lower the head and place the face onto the knee of the outstretched leg. While doing this, do not pull the breath in. It may be exhaled. After this, raise the head and do puraka. Repeat this on the other side following the rules mentioned above.
The raja yogi should place the back of the sole of the folded leg between the scrotum and the genitals. Now practise following the other rules described above for the hatha yogis. There are 22 vinyasas for janusirsasana. Please note carefully that all parts of the outstretched leg and the folded leg should touch the floor. While holding the feet with the hands, pull and clasp the feet tightly. Keep the head or face or nose on top of the kneecap and remain in this sthiti from 5 minutes up to half an hour. If it is not possible to stay in recaka for that long, raise the head in between, do puraka kumbhaka and then, doing recaka, place the head back down on the knee. While keeping the head lowered onto the knee, puraka kumbhaka should not be done. This rule must be followed in all asanas.
While practising this asana, however much the stomach is pulled in, there will be that much increase in the benefits received. While practising this, after exhaling the breath, hold the breath firmly. Without worrying about why this is so difficult, pull in the stomach beginning with the navel, keep the attention focussed on all the nadis in and near the rectal and the genital areas and pull these upwards — if you do the asana in this way, not only will all urinary diseases, diabetes and such diseases disappear, but wet dreams will stop, the viryam will thicken and the entire body will become strong.
Whoever is unable to pull in the nadis or the stomach may ignore just those instructions and follow the instructions mentioned earlier to the extent possible. Keep the nadis in and near the rectal and genital areas pulled up, the stomach pulled in and hold the prana vayu steady. Anybody with the power to practise this will very soon be free of disease and will get virya balam. Leaving this aside, if you follow the rules according to your capability, you will gradually attain the benefits mentioned below.

Important Observation:
After practising the asana for just one or two minutes, do not whine that you did not receive any benefits. However little effort there is, if you keep practising the asana daily for at least 5 to 10 minutes, you will start experiencing its benefits in a few days. There is no doubt about this. If you keep practising it from half an hour to an hour following the given rules, you will get the benefits mentioned below.
1. Diseases of the spleen will be removed.
2. People suffering from a low-grade persistent fever in the stomach will notice that the fever, the resulting anaemia and other such dangerous diseases will be wiped out. Continuous and recurrent cough, bloated stomach, flatulence and the first symptoms of tuberculosis will disappear. As a result of these intestinal doshas being removed, the digestive power increases and one feels hunger at the appropriate time. When you are very hungry, it is essential to eat sattvic foods cooked in pure ghee or cow’s milk or goat’s milk. Rice avul, kara boondi (fried peanut flour), kara vadai, peanuts, chickpeas — these tamasic foods should never be eaten. Eating high-quality fruits and kanda mulam is very beneficial.

When they are hungry, some people will eat terrible things without thinking about it. This is a despicable matter. Because of this, they keep catching various diseases and suffering as a result.
If one keeps practising janusirsasana according to the rules described above, then whatever diseases cause blocking of urine and faeces, increase the heat in the nadis, cause an increase in vata, if any such acute diseases occur, they will be destroyed from the root and the practitioner will be in good health very soon.
Heavy head, burning eyes, weakness of the body, burning in the urinary area, fever caused by toxins built up due to indigestion and constipation, loss of ap- petite and sense of taste in the tongue due to a spoilt tongue, laziness or lethargy — all these will be removed by practising the asana in the highest standard. That is, all diseases caused by weakness of the nadis nearby will be removed.
It is important to always remember that it is necessary to practise such asanas like janusirsasana on both the left and right sides. The reason for this is that the strength of the body should be the same on both the left and right sides. Nowadays, modern games and physical exercises give strength to only one side of the body without developing proper blood circulation on the other side. This will result in paralysis and other such diseases. Therefore, every asana must definitely be practised equally on both the left and the right side.

Janusirsasana 2nd Krama


Whichever leg was folded and placed such that the back of the foot was between the rectum and genitals, place the back of the sole of that foot instead against the top of the thigh of the outstretched leg, firmly pressing against it. Now practise according to the rules described earlier. But the benefits of this will be received very slowly. Some people will not be able to place the head on top of the knee on the first day. But one should not abandon the effort thinking that this is impossible. If one keeps practising this for one or two months daily without fail, following the prescribed rules, then it will become possible. It will be very difficult for those who have allowed excessive flesh to grow in the stomach and hips to practise this. By practising this regularly over a period of time, all the excessive flesh that has grown in or near the stomach and hips will melt, the joints of the bones and nadis will clear up, the stomach will grow thinner and eventually the head will touch the knee. The deposits of excessive flesh are the main cause for the lack of flexibility in the body. All this can be melted away with asana abhyasa.
Many people who have a protruding stomach like a pumpkin believe that they are healthy. Others think that they have correspondingly as much more strength as their arms, legs and thighs are excessively huge, and they keep trying to enlarge the girth of the body. One can clearly say that this is a result of their stupidity. Being blessed with good health is not in the plumpness of the body. The limbs of small children are soft and supple — to lift and bend them is easy. The limbs of adults should be similarly soft and supple and strong and there should be no obstruction to the prana vayu and the blood circulation. Everybody knows that people who have overly large stomachs or who are obese often have excessive breathlessness and bloating of the stomach.
But they have not realized that the vayu sancharam is not proper in any part of the body. When there is no proper movement of air in the body, mounds of excessive flesh will collect in the body forming a barrier. Without proper air circulation, how will the dust fly away? Without water, how can the earth become soft? Similarly, in our bodies, if we want the blood to circulate and the prana vayu to flow properly without obstruction, we need to first knock down and remove the bad deposits of flesh (durmamsam) which appear like a wall. Only prana vayu has the capacity and power to completely destroy the excessive blobs of flesh that exist here and there in the body. This cannot be done with any other medicine.
The stomach is the only cause of an untimely death. There is no other reason. The dwelling place of death in the body is only the big stomach and nowhere else. Even though we desire long life and good health, why do we make our stomachs very large and leave room for death in them? Is this not a terrible thing? Therefore, by practising janusirsasana following the krama with correct instructions, one can melt away the stomach, no matter how large it is. You can definitely believe that as the stomach reduces in size, the death dwelling in it will leave the body. There is no doubt about this.
It is superior to regularly practise this janusirsasana before becoming pregnant. One should not do it after becoming pregnant. If women who have stomach pain during menstruation practise this asana following the instructions mentioned above, in one or two months, all the germs that cause the stomach pain will be removed from the blood channels and will be expelled out of the body through the urinary tract.
This has 22 vinyasas. The 8th and the 15th vinyasas are themselves the asana sthiti. The benefit is correspondingly as great as one’s capacity for recaka.

My very first post on this blog was about jumping back, the blog was originally called Ashtanga jump back at home when I started it in July 2008.

I think I miss those old posts consisting of a couple of pictures, a video and a line or two or paragraph at most, (b)logging progress (or not) in an asana and/or how we might be working towards it, 'we' because there was the cybershala, others blogging about their own work on asana, growing our practice.

I remember I started the blog because there were very few videos around back then and those we had were so far ahead of us that while perhaps inspirational they were actually unhelpful, a hinderance almost. I remember Lino Miele's jump back and trying to copy it and thinking that floating up was what was required not seeing the years he put in before he achieved that. I bought John Scott's DVD, still inspiring today but perhaps discouraging to the beginner, they were too far ahead of us.

That was part of the problem of trying to grow a practice at home rather than in a shala.

This blog then was intended to show the progress, the hope was that in one of the many videos I took of my fledgling practice, one would capture that first jump back and we could see what actually made the difference which step, which missing piece. As it happens it turned out we all start the jigsaw in a different place, add different pieces and so all have a different last piece of the jigsaw....

My Jump Back Feb 08 to Present

For  some it's the shooting of the legs back.

This video has turned up on fb by Aey Komonlasu, (it's not on youtube unfortunately or I would share it here) you can search her name and probably find her fb page, I think her video will show up, we're not friends and it showed up for me. Alternatively you can go to my blog fb page and find it shared there https://www.facebook.com/AVKYatHome/?ref=hl scroll down for todays date 25/01/16

I shared it on my page and the like's are coming in non stop, many seem to think it may be helpful, I felt I should link to it here. It's an excellent video from Aey and she has others on her page.

I like how this video addresses the second part of the jump back, particularly step 3 and shooting the legs back, would love to hear from anyone in comments who tries this and finds it made the difference.

here are three screenshots but hunt down the video which has instructions/tips/hints below it on what she's up to.

I was looking at the original Ashtanga (diploma) syllabus given to Nancy Gilgoff and David Williams in 1974 yesterday (I have a poster of it in my practice room) and focussed in on the theory section mentioned at the end of each year, it makes up an interesting reading list. the original post on the syllabus including the full syllabus can be found at the end of the post.

As far as I can tell the Serial Samakritha Shikshaka mentioned in the first and 2nd year seems to be a Sanskrit course

Here's the reading list and below that the same list with links to editions either free pdf an/or perhaps on Amazon.


We can see that Pattabhi Jois begins the course by introducing his students to Sanskrit in the first and 2nd year but also in the first year we see he includes the first part of his Book Yoga Mala, this section of his text outlines the Yama and Niyama, the moral guidelines of Patanjali's Ashtanga.
In the second and third year Pattabhi Jois covers the classic Hatha yoga texts, The hatha yoga pradipka in the second year, the Gheranda in the third and Siva Samihita in the fourth as well as Yogasanagalu in the third year from which much of the hatha material is said to be originally taken and is a full treatment of the Ashtanga 8 limb methodology. The fourth year gets deeper into yoga philosophy with the yoga upanishads the bhagavad gita and at last Patanjali's actual yoga sutras, perhaps following the sanskrit course in the first two years read in the original sanskrit. Adi Sankara's text Aparokahanubhuti is also included in the fourth year. Pattabhi Jois belonged to the Hoysala Brahmin caste, a subset of the popular Smarta Brahmins whose root teacher was Adi Shankara.

Ashtanga was always a spiritual/philosophical practice/enquiry, the classic yoga texts taught alongside the asana just as Krishnamacharya would lecture on yoga philosophy while his students presented their asana demonstrations. We lose focus perhaps when we approach our asana practice in isolation. However it was the yama and niyama that was taught right from the beginning the principles of the practice in the hatha texts and the philosophy grounding the practice taught in later years.

or this recent Sanskrit course from Zoë Slatoff-Ponté who is also an Ashtanga teacher.  I haven't seen a copy but have heard good things about it UPDATE: Full Review of this text coming in a couple of weeks.

Pattabhi Jois' original text, still the ONLY* Ashtanga vinyasa 'method' book you really need

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

LINK to pdf on post

Amazon.com

Thirty Minor Upanishads

tr. by K. Narayanasvami Aiyar

[1914]

Free pdf LINK

I've added the above post to my Sri K. pattabhi Jois resource page that sits at the top of the blog
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.com/p/old-ashtanga-videos.html
See also perhaps this earlier post with links to texts in Krishnamachary's Yoga Makaranda bibliography

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






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

"In fact, David and I had no idea that there were two separate series until the end of that first four-month trip, when we were leaving, at which point Guruji gave us a sheet of paper with a list of the postures, which were listed as Primary, Intermediate, Advanced A, and Advanced B. At this point he told us to practice one series a day, and only once a day".
 from Ashtanga Yoga as it was (The long and the short of it )  Nancy Gilgoff





many thanks to Anon for passing it along and especially to Nancy for giving permission to post it this morning and share with the community at large.

Available as pfd download from googledocs
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B7JXC_g3qGlWRzZWOUltVnh3RFU

See my earlier blog post on Nancy's article
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/dear-nancy-yoga-as-it-was-nancy-gilgoff.html

also here
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/dear-nancy-breath-in-73.html

and here
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/dear-nancy-head-updown-jalandhara.html

With M starting a new job today, chosen partly to allow for a regular morning practice ( no shift work) it felt a little like a grand opening this morning.

Up at 5am, fresh coffee then into the home shala for full Primary (my Primary probably requires more tidying up than hers).

Currently Ashtanga Yoga Shiga has space for two mats and both are currently taken but perhaps this is a beginning of sorts.

view from out the frount of the Apartment, no end of rainbows here

another one from out the frount

the beach 1 minute away.

Lake Biwa

Mountains from the station platform, 2 minutes away or 5 via the beach.

Ashtanga yoga Shiga ( over on the right of the picture).

Another view from the platform, this time with last weeks snow.