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2016 - A year in blog posts. Serenity.

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The highlight of the year for me, as far as the blog is concerned, has been the completion of the Krishnamacharya Yogasanagalu project (Available for Free Download here ). In 2010 I was sent photos of every page of a copy of Krishnamacharya's, long out of print, second book Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941) in the original Kannada. At the time I was on Ramaswami TT course in LA. I showed the book to Ramaswami and he mentioned that Krishnamacharya had given him a set of the photos contained in the later editions of the book but that he had never been able to read the text as it was written in the Kannada language. A reader of the blog and Kannada native speaker, Satya Murthy, came forward and offered to translate the text, a few pages at a time. Satya translated the final chapter in October and I was able to format it and send over to my friends in Spain who printed out a copy as a thank you present to Ramaswami at the end of his 100 hour Vinyasa Krama intensive in Madrid that month.


At the end of last year we moved to Shiga prefecture in Japan, beside Lake Biwa. This rural life, the lake, has been an exploration of.... serenity, it's the word that most comes to mind.

The idea of buddha nature as I understand it is that we already have it, the lake tends to make me feel that this may well be the case or that there is at least a profound serenity beneath everything else which is perhaps the same thing. When I stand by the lake, when it's calm, everything seems to drop away, I like to think that the lake, this vast expanse of water just absorbs it all, leaving an experience of peace, tranquility, a sense of fulfilment if you will. Nothing else feels required and the challenge then becomes how to maintain this experience, to have this serenity always available. Away from the lake I guess we would call it equanimity..., poise.


It's this serenity I seek to cultivate in my Yoga practice, in my asana, pranayama, in my Sitting as well as away from the mat, away from the cushion, in my dealings with others and my day in general, one day at a time.

We slip, we lose it for, a day, a week, a month....., a year or two perhaps but it is I suspect now always there available to us. Hasn't yoga always been about letting go of the stories, of the attachments. At some point you let go of enough perhaps that you catch a glimpse of what a life without such attachments might be.

It's a constant work in progress.

The yamas and niyamas can help, reminders, a support for practice that we can keep coming back to, that we will need to keep coming back to again and again every time we slip.

Asana practice can be a support for the yama/niyamas, the discipline it engenders, the yama/niyamas can be a support for our asana practice.

And as my dear friend Kristina Karitinou reminded us we can also look to our own tradition, whichever that tradition may be, for me to the Greeks, the stoics perhaps and/or to our Christian heritage. We have our own myths, legends and stories, art , music (Bach, my god Bach!) and architecture, mysticism, philosophy, it's in the marrow of our world view.

Tolstoy suggests that religion isn't so much about metaphysics as ethics whether we believe in the metaphysics of Christianity or not he argues that the Christian doctrine is rational. It's our commitment to living in accordance to that doctrine that is actually Religion. It's a doctrine India looked to not so long ago, when Gandhi turned to Tolstoy and the Russian author's controversial reading of the gospels  'Do not resist evil with violence', the doctrine of non-violence, in the indian tradition, ahimsa. In turn America looked to India when Dr. King read Gandhi and no doubt before the next four years are up may need to turn to him again. The ethics, the doctrine or code by which we choose to live, aim to live, can provide perhaps a certain internal stability, it can make life less complicated, simpler. From this simple ground we can perhaps work.

Thank you to Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor and for their book, The art of Vinyasa, that came out last month ( see my review in December) and that has helped bring some serenity and perhaps poise back into my asana practice.

For a number of years I've been convinced that Ashtanga is a Vinyasa Krama, that we can approach Ashtanga as we might Vinyasa Krama, Richard and Mary's book make me question why I was ever in doubt or thought this might be the slightest bit controversial or surprising.


Below then some photo's from here along with some highlighted posts from each month.



A year in posts 2016












Why Meditation? Plus Yoga's Sister philosophy, Samkhya - Full text of the Samkhy karika

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Clearing out the 'draft post' drawer

Contents

1. From the Samkhya Karika
2. Why Meditation?  What is the goal for Patanjali of Yoga
3. The Complete Samkhya Karika
Appendix 1. Samkhya - Ramaswami's Newsletter
Appendix 2. DHYANA - from YOGA BENEATH THE SURFACE
Appendix 3. On Samyama - More from Yoga Beneath the surface -
Appendix 4. Video -Yamini Murthanna ( a long time student of BNS Iyengar ) dances 'Manas'.


Yamini Murthanna, Bharatanatyam dancer (dates back 1000 years) and  a long time student of BNS Iyengar see Appendix 4 below for videos ( Dancing 'Manas') and a link to my review of her book The power of yoga.

1. from the Samkhya Karika

I find this section of the Samkhya Karika beautiful, quite marvellous...


// 58 //
Just as [in] the world actions are performed for the purpose of removing [i.e. fulfilling] a desire, so does the unmanifest perform for the purpose of the liberation of purusa.

// 59 //Just as, having displayed herself before the gaze of the audience, the dancer desists from dancing, so prakrti desists, having manifested herself to purusa.

 // 60 //
She, being endowed with the gunas, moves without any benefit [to herself] for the sake of pums (i.e. purusa), who, being without gunas, does not reciprocate.

 // 61 //
In my view there is no one more tender than prakrti, who, saying ‘I have been
seen,’ never again comes into purusa’s sight.

 // 62 //
No one, then, is bound, nor released, nor wanders; it is prakrti, in its various abodes (afraya), that wanders, and is bound and released.

 // 63 //
Prakrti binds herself by herself with the use of seven forms; and, for the sake of each purusa, liberates herself by means of one form.

 // 64 //
Thus, from the assiduous practice of that-ness, the knowledge arises that ‘I am not,’ ‘not mine,’ ‘not I’; which [knowledge], being free of delusion, is complete, pure, and singular.



From Ramaswami's 'Yoga for the Three Stages of Life', the best secondary text on yoga I've come across


I remember Ramaswami telling this story on his 2010 TT, it's probably changed a little in my memory but I remember it going something like this.....

 ...the dancer dances for the king, but he seems disinterested, she puts ever more effort into her dance, leaping and spinning, at last she completes the dance looks up to the king for a sign of approval but nothing. As she leaves she mentions to the first minister that the king didn't seem to enjoy the dance. The minster smiles kindly and asks... "Did the king ask you to dance?".


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2. Why Meditatation? 
What is the goal for Patanjali of Yoga  



Our understanding of what constitutes yoga shifts and changes. After ten years of practice, this seems to be my current understanding...., it may of course like much else on the blog be mistaken.

These notes are more notes (reminders) to self than to anyone else.

Patanjali's yoga is Raja yoga. In the Yoga sutras, 'yoga' is not 'union' but (the path to) concentration, focussed one pointed attention, ekagrata. The goal is (permanent) liberation, which may or may not suggest 'union'.

'It can be seen that Patanjali's definition of Yoga does not suggest the usual connotation of Yoga as union. Yoga meaning union requires at least two separate principles to come together and ultimately unite, like prana and apana in Hatayoga, but in this sutra only cittavritti is dealt with and no union with another principle is suggested. Vyasa in his commentary says Yoga is samadhi, or a state of mind and not union. Sankara in his exposition of Yogasutras refers to yoga as samadhana or unalloyed peace. He says that Patanjali has used the word not in the meaning of yoga as union (yukti) but as samadhana or peace of mind. The word Yoga can be derived from two different roots yujir meaning yoga as in union and yuja as in samadhi meaning absolute peace of mind and the sutras use Yoga in the (second) sense,that of absolute peace'. Srivatsa Ramaswami April 2012 Newsletter
Patanjli's yoga is built upon Samkhya's metaphysics/model.

These days (perhaps even for the last thousand years) Raja yoga tends to be mixed up with and perhaps confused with tantra/hatha yoga. Where, we might ask, does one end now and the other begin. Hatha seems to have become enamoured with ever more asana, complex and challenging pranayamas, techniques, strategies....., it also seems to find itself in communities.

Meditation practice too often seems to become an end in itself, an opportunity for self 'home' psychoanalysis perhaps or merely to de-stress, it's intention lost (although overcoming stress and the pattern of it's causes is highly recommended) if it was every there in the first place.

Raja yoga's path is perhaps clearer, more straightforward, although the path long and difficult and no doubt solitary and few if any of us will reach it's conclusion (perhaps why tantra/hatha seek 'shortcut' after shortcut), and yet perhaps the path and what we may learn concerning our nature along the way, reason enough to embark however far we may travel.

In Raja yoga, fewer and perhaps less challenging asana are no doubt sufficient (enough to keep us healthy and reduce the rajas - agitation), less challenging pranayamas (sufficient for health, mental/emotional stability and reducing tamas - lethargy).

-personally I continue to practice Ashtanga vinyasa but these days mostly half Primary or Intermediate along with finishing, practiced more slowly with longer stays, a Vinyasa Krama approach to the subroutines that make up Ashtanga-






The asana and pranayama, prepare us (make us more satvic - balanced) for the journey itself, the yama/niyama give us the will, the discipline perhaps to stay upon or return (when we inevitably stray) to the path.

Most teachers are asana teachers, intentionally or not they promote and prolong students engagement with asana.

Most of those who come to Yoga  come for the asana and have little interest in the yoga of which asana forms a  part. Getting, fitter, healthier, having some fun, being a part of a community feels perhaps sufficient (and perhaps it is), whether they move on to other elements of Yoga, to yoga as a whole may depend on the teacher.

In the past Krishnamacharya promoted Yoga through asana, these days teachers are promoting themselves through asana rather than yoga.

Jumping back is just jumping back (ignore the first four years of this blog).

Yoga history is just that (ignore the second four years of this blog).

Anatomy of yoga is also (but beneficial).

We seem to do everything we can to distract ourselves from actually practicing yoga (eg. Blogging).

Krishnamacharya, Pattabhi Jois' teacher recommended twice as long spent on pranayama as asana and twice as long spent on Dharana as pranayama. Going by this If your asana practice is twenty minutes, pranayama should be forty and perhaps two forty minute sessions a day of 'Dharana'.

Note: It might (tenuously) be argued that our sun salutations don't count as asana, the standing sequence we might argue is preparation for asana and the finishing sequence... winding down.


The path.
For Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras, once achieving (a) samadhi (which may or may not take a lifetime itself) on one object ( the breath, a mantra, an image, a candle flame perhaps) we may then begin to work through/with each of the tattvas seeking to attain samyama (see appendix 3.) on each and in that state realising experientially that none correspond to the 'self', the seer, observer (purusha) each is discarded ('not that') until all that remains is Purusha. Purusha's nature is, it is said, merely to observe. Finally, with nothing left to observe purusha observes/knows itself and is supposedly liberated.
Samyama on Ishvara is considered a possible fast track option for those more religiously inclined
The yama/niyama and asana/pranayama support each other, they prepare us for and keep us in state to sit effectively.

Krishnamacharya said that asana and pranayama clean the room, why would we not then want to remain (sit) in it.

When to Sit
Being wrapped up in asana, in WHATEVER form that may take (assuming we are not injuring ourself) is perfectly fine - let nobody tell you it's not yoga (or better still just let it go) - it's part of the method. We are gaining, discipline, will, hopefully letting go of more attachments than we form. At some point, at a time in our life when this feels appropriate, we may wish to explore other elements of the method.
We may as well start the long job of working on developing concentration/one pointedness outside of asana sooner rather than later.



Srivatsa Ramaswami - Yoga for the Three Stages of life 


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3. The Complete Samkhya Karika


"Sri Krishnamacharya taught the text relying on Gaudapada's commentary word by word, verse by verse along with Gaudapada's commentary  http://www.universaltheosophy.com/sacred-texts/samkhya-karika/. The study of the text took about one year, we used to meet once or twice a week for an hour. At the end I realized why he was keen to teach this text to us. It made a lot of the yoga sutras accessible. Even though he had a degree in Samkhya called Samkhya Siromani (crest jewel) he was able to come down to the non scholarly students like us. I had read some books on sankhya karika by scholars and academicians and used to be overawed by their scholarship, but Krishnamacharya while capable of engaging scholars in an intellectual debate was able to breathe a lot of life into this rather abstruse text. I think all students of yoga who want to study or have studied yoga sutras may do well to consider having a look at all the Samkhya Karika verses. " 
Srivatsa Ramaswami Newsletter July 2014 - the full Samkhya Newsletter in Appendix 1 below.


Translation from the Appendix to Mikel Burley's excellent 'Classical Samkhya and Yoga'
The book includes includes the Sanskrit Devanagari and Roman script as well as the english translation below.

Note: the diacritical marks didn't transfer but are present in the text.






 // 1 //
Due to the affliction of threefold distress, the inquiry into its removal [arises]; [if said to be] pointless because obvious [methods exist], this is not so, for such methods are neither singularly directed nor conclusive.

// 2 //
The heard [method] is like the obvious, as it is conjoined with impurity, corruption, and excess. The superior and opposite of that [comes] from the discrimination of the manifest, the unmanifest, and the knower.

 // 3 //
Mulaprakrti is uncreated; the seven – ‘the great’ (mahat) and the others – are creative and created; the sixteen, meanwhile, are [merely] created; purusa is neither creative nor created.

 // 4 //
The attainment of knowledge is based on [certain] ways of knowing; the accepted ways are three – perceiving, inferring and reception of verbal testimony – as these cover all ways of knowing.

// 5 //
Perceiving is the discernment of particular objects; inference, which is said to be threefold, is the tracing of the mark-bearer from its indicating mark; reception of verbal testimony, meanwhile, is reception of Śruti.

 // 6 //
Inference by analogy ascertains what is beyond the sense-capacities; and what is unaccomplishable even by that is established by verbal testimony.

 // 7 //
[Something may be imperceptible] due to: remoteness, closeness, sensory impairment, instability of mind, subtlety, obscuration, suppression, similarity with something else.

 // 8 //
The non-apprehension of that [i.e. prakrti] is due to subtlety, not non-existence; it is apprehended by means of its effects. Its effects – mahat and the others – are both with and without the nature (rupa) of prakrti.

// 9 //
The [formally] existent [is] an effect due to the non-causation of non-being; the apprehension of a material cause; the non-production of everything [from everything]; the possibility of causation [only] from that which is capable; and the nature of the cause.

// 10 //
The manifest is caused, temporal, spatially limited, active, non-singular, dependent, a cipher, composite, conditioned; the unmanifest is the opposite.

 // 11 //
The manifest as well as pradhana (i.e. the unmanifest) are tripartite, undiscriminated, objectual, universal, non-conscious, productive; and puman (i.e. purusa) is the opposite of these.

// 12 //
Of the nature of gladness, perturbation and stupefaction; serving to illuminate, activate and restrain; the strands (gunas) subjugate, support, generate and combine with one another.

 // 13 //
Sattva is light and illuminating; rajas is impelling and moving; tamas is
heavy and delimiting; and their purpose is to function like a lamp.

 // 14 //
Undiscriminatedness and the other [qualities] are established due to the tripartition, and to the non-existence [of the three gujas] in the opposite of that. The unmanifest is established [as having the same nature as the manifest] due to the guna-nature of the effect being also that of the cause.

 // 15 //
Due to: the finitude of differentiated [objects], homogeneity, the procession from potency, the distinction between cause and effect, and the undivided form of the world.

// 16 //
– the unmanifest is the cause, productive due to the combination of the three gunas, and transformable fluidly in accordance with the specific abode [character?] of each of the gunas.
                           
// 17 //
Purusa exists due to composites [being] for another’s sake, the opposite of the three gunas etc., [the need for] a controller, [the need for] an enjoyer, and the process [being] for the purpose of aloneness.

 // 18 //
Due to various patterns of birth, death, and capacities, and to the disjunction of activities, purusa’s multiplicity is established; and also due to contrariety of the three gunas.

 // 19 //
And thus, due to [its being] the opposite [of prakrti], the witnessing, aloneness, equanimity, awareness and inactivity of purusa is established.

// 20 //
Due to the conjunction of those [two, i.e. purusa and prakrti] the non-conscious linga appears as though conscious, and similarly, owing to the activity of the gunas, the non-engaged appears as though active.

 // 21 //
For the purpose of perceiving pradhana, and for the purpose of purusa’s aloneness, the two [come together] like the blind and the lame; that conjunction is creation, emergence.

 // 22 //
From prakrti [comes] the great; from that, egoity; and from that, the group of sixteen; again, from five of those sixteen, [come] the five elements.

// 23 //
Buddhi is discernment, its lucid (sattvika) form [comprising] dharma, knowledge, non-attachment, [and] masterfulness, and its darkened (tamasa) form [comprising] the opposite.

24 //
The thought of self is egoity; from that, a twofold emergence proceeds, namely the group of eleven and the five tanmatras.

// 25 //
The lucid (sattvika) eleven proceed from the modified egoity; from the source of the elements, which is opaque (tamasa), the tanmatras [proceed]; from the fiery (taijasa), both [proceed].

 //26 //
Sense-capacities is the term for seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching; voice, hand, foot, anus and underparts are called action-capacities.

// 27 //
In this regard, of the essence of both is mind (manas), which is synthesis and is, due to its similarity, a capacity. Variousness and external differences are due to the specific modifications of the gujas.

//28 //
The operation (vrtti) of the five [sense-capacities] is held to be bare awareness of sound and so forth; speaking, grasping, walking, excreting and [sexual] pleasure are [the operations of] the five [action-capacities].

// 29 //
Each of the three is distinguished by its own operation, which manifests differently [from those of the other two]. Their common operation consists in the five vital currents, [namely] praja and the others.

// 30 //
The operation of the four with regard to what is present to perception is both instantaneous and progressive; while in the case of what is imperceptible, the operation of the three is preceded by that [i.e. by the perception of a present object].

 // 31 //
The respective operations are performed in co-operation with one another from a common impulse, the sole end being that of purusa; nothing else activates the instrument.

 // 32 //
The instrument, comprising thirteen parts, is grasping, holding and illuminating; and its object (karyam), which is tenfold, is grasped, held and illuminated.

 // 33 //
The inner instrument is threefold, the outer is tenfold [and] is held to be the domain of the three; the outer [operates in] the present moment [alone], the [inner] instrument in all three times.

 // 34 //
Of these, the five sense-capacities have specific and non-specific objects; the voice manifests sound-phenomena whereas the other remaining [action- capacities] have [all] five modes of phenomena.

 // 35 //
Because buddhi along with the other inner instruments is immersed in all objects, the threefold instrument is the chamber, the rest being the doorways

 // 36 //
These specifications of the gunas, distinct from one another, present the whole [world] to buddhi, illuminating it like a lamp for the sake of purusa.

// 37 //
[This is] because buddhi gives rise to every particular enjoyment of the purusa
and, furthermore, discloses the subtle [difference] between pradhana and purusa.

// 38 //
The modes of sensory content (tanmatras) are non-specific; from these five [come] the five elements; these are regarded as specific, and as tranquil, disturbing and delusive.

// 39 //
Subtle, born of mother and father, and elemental are the three specific types; of these, the subtle are permanent, [whereas those] born of mother and father are corruptible.

 // 40 //
The linga is already existent, unrestricted, permanent, comprising ‘the great’ and the rest, down to the subtle; wandering without enjoyment, endowed with dispositions (bhavas).

 // 41 //
Just as there is no picture without a support and no shadow without a post or suchlike, so the linga does not exist without the support of the specific.

 // 42 //
This linga, motivated for the sake of purusa, by means of the association of causes and effects, and due to its connection with the manifestness of prakrti, performs like a dancer.

 // 43 //
The dispositions, [namely] dharma and the rest, both natural and acquired, are perceived to abide in the instrument, and the embryo and so forth abide in the object (or effect, karya).

 // 44 //
By means of virtue (dharma) there is movement upwards, by means of non- virtue (adharma) there is movement downwards; by means of knowledge liberation is attained, and bondage is due to the opposite.

 // 45 //
Prakrti’s dissolution occurs as a result of non-attachment, wandering is due to attachment, which is impulsive; removal of obstructions is due to master- fulness, the reverse of that is due to the opposite.

t // 46 //
This is the emergence of mental phenomena (pratyaya), comprising delusion, weakness, contentment and excellence; and these are divided into fifty kinds according to the respective imbalance of the gunas.

 // 47 //
There are five kinds of delusion, and twenty-eight kinds of weakness due to
defects in the instrument; contentment is ninefold, excellence eightfold.

 // 48 //
There are eight kinds of dullness, and also of perplexity, ten kinds of great perplexity; depression is eighteenfold, as is intense depression.

 // 49 //
Impairments to the eleven capacities along with buddhi are said to constitute weakness; impairments to buddhi are seventeen, due to the opposites of contentment and excellence.

 // 50 //
Nine modes of contentment are distinguished; four are internal, concerning respectively disposition (or natural constitution, prakrti), acquisition, time and fortune; five are external, due to abstinence from [sensory] objects.

 // 51 //
The eight ways of attaining excellence are: reasoning, [reception of] verbal instruction, study, eradication of the threefold distress, friendliness, and generosity; the previous three are hindrances to excellence.

 // 52 //
Without the dispositions (bhavas) the linga cannot operate, and without the linga the dispositions cannot operate; therefore a dual emergence proceeds, distinguishable as linga and disposition.

 // 53 //
There are eight varieties of divine beings and five of [non-human] natural beings; mankind is singular; such, in brief, is the elemental realm (sarga).

 // 54 //
The upper realm is pervaded by luminosity (sattva), and the base is pervaded by opacity (tamas); the middle is pervaded by activity (rajas); [such is the case] from Brahma down to a blade of grass.

 // 55 //
Purusa, consciousness, acquires there the suffering created by decay and death until its deliverance from the likga; hence one’s own nature is associated with distress.

// 56 //
This prakrti-creation, from the great down to the specific elements, is for the sake of the liberation of each purusa, for the other’s benefit as though for its own.

 // 57 //
Just as the profusion of unknowing (ajña) milk brings about the nourishment of the calf, so the profusion of pradhana brings about the liberation of purusa.

// 58 //
Just as [in] the world actions are performed for the purpose of removing [i.e. fulfilling] a desire, so does the unmanifest perform for the purpose of the liberation of purusa.

// 59 //Just as, having displayed herself before the gaze of the audience, the dancer desists from dancing, so prakrti desists, having manifested herself to purusa.

 // 60 //
She, being endowed with the gunas, moves without any benefit [to herself] for the sake of pums (i.e. purusa), who, being without gunas, does not reciprocate.

 // 61 //
In my view there is no one more tender than prakrti, who, saying ‘I have been
seen,’ never again comes into purusa’s sight.

 // 62 //
No one, then, is bound, nor released, nor wanders; it is prakrti, in its various abodes (afraya), that wanders, and is bound and released.

 // 63 //
Prakrti binds herself by herself with the use of seven forms; and, for the sake of each purusa, liberates herself by means of one form.

 // 64 //
Thus, from the assiduous practice of that-ness, the knowledge arises that ‘I am not,’ ‘not mine,’ ‘not I’; which [knowledge], being free of delusion, is complete, pure, and singular.

 // 65 //
Then purusa, abiding [in itself] like a spectator, sees prakrti, who has returned to inactivity and retreated from the seven forms due to her purpose being complete.

 // 66 //
‘I have seen her,’ says the spectating one; ‘I have been seen,’ says the other, desisting; although the two remain in conjunction, there is no initiation of [further] emergence.

 // 67 //
Due to the attainment of perfect knowledge, virtue (dharma) and the rest have no impelling cause; [nevertheless,] the endowed body persists owing to the momentum of impressions, like a potter’s wheel.

// 68 //
Pradhana being inactive, her purpose having been fulfilled, [purusa], upon separating from the body, attains aloneness (kaivalya), which is both singular and conclusive.

 // 69 //
This esoteric knowledge of purusa’s goal, examining the existence, arising and dissolution of entities, has been expounded by the highest sage.

 // 70 //
The quiet monk first passed on this supreme means of purification, compassionately, to Asuri; Asuri, again, to Pañcasikha, and by him the teaching was widely distributed.

 // 71 //
Communicated along a lineage of disciples, this has been thoroughly expounded in arya metre by the noble-minded Isvarakrsja, attainer of ultimate knowledge.
                         
 // 72 //
The topics of the seventy [verses] are indeed those of the entire ‘sixty doctrines’ (sastitantra), though excluding illustrative stories and the consideration of opposing views.



NOTE: Meter (Wikipedia)
Each verse of the philosophical Samkhya-karika text is composed in a precise mathematical meter, that repeats in a musical rhythm of an Arya meter (also called the Gatha, or song, meter). Every verse is set in two half stanza with the following rule: both halves have exactly repeating total instants and repeating sub-total pattern in the manner of many ancient Sanskrit compositions. The stanza is divided into feet, each feet has four instants, with its short syllable counting as one instant (matra), while the long syllable prosodically counts are two instants.

Each verse of Karika are presented in four quarters (two quarters making one half), the first quarter has exactly three feet (12 beats), the second quarter four and half feet (18 beats), the third quarter of every verse has three feet (12 beats again), while the fourth quarter has three and a half plus an extra short syllable at its end (15 beats). Thus, metrically, the first half stanza of every verse of this philosophical text has thirty instants, the second has twenty seven.


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Appendix 1.

SAMKHYA,


I have mentioned earlier that in the 1970s Sri Krishnamacharya stopped teaching for a short while and asked his long standing students to study under his sons. I was asked to study yogasanas with Desikachar, whom as we all know was an excellent teacher. One day at the end of the class he said that he was going to start studying Samkhya Karika under his father. We had just completed studying Yoga Sutras with our teacher. My mind was already highly charged with the unusual thought process contained in the Sutras. I demurred. Desikachar continued and said “Father said that I should find out if Ramaswami would be interested” I said immediately yes and then joined the class the next day with Desikachar. Since I did not have time to get a book (Sankhya Karika books were not easily available and one has to order from a few publishers in the north to get a copy). Desikachar was kind enough to gift a copy of the text with Gaudapada's commentary in Sanskrit with no translation in Tamil or English. I still have that copy.

Sri Krishnamacharya taught the text relying on Gaudapada's commentary word by word, verse by verse along with Gaudapada's commentary. The study of the text took about one year, we used to meet once or twice a week for an hour. At the end I realized why he was keen to teach this text to us. It made a lot of the yoga sutras accessible. Even though he had a degree in Samkhya called Samkhya Siromani (crest jewel) he was able to come down to the non scholarly students like us. I had read some books on sankhya karika by scholars and academicians and used to be overawed by their scholarship, but Krishnamacharya while capable of engaging scholars in an intellectual debate was able to breathe a lot of life into this rather abstruse text. I think all students of yoga who want to study or have studied yoga sutras may do well to consider having a look at all the Samkhya Karika verses. The author Isvarakrishna is considered to be an avatara of Kalidasa an outstanding Sanskrit poet. Many people who study Ayurveda, vedanta philosophy find it necessary to study Samkhya. I do not know Buddhism but I have heard that HH Dalai Lama once mentioned that Samkhya would be a very useful text.

Each verse in Samkhya Karika is important as every sutra in Yoga sutra is. It is perhaps the first vedic philosophy to proclaim the immutability of the Atman or Self which is considered to be pure consciousness. It clearly distinguished between the ego which is commonly but erroneously considered to be the Self and the Atman or Purusha which should be called the Self. Even though there are differences among the three nivritti sastras, Samkhya, yoga and vedanata, in the nature of the Self they are in agreement even as they agree on the need to find a way to terminate the vicious cycle of repeated transmigration but differ on the unity or multiplicity of the selfs.

One of the outstanding features of Samkhya is the clear enunciation of the steps of creation of the Universe from the primordial mula prakriti. It is very interesting to see that according to them evolution took place in two streams from the mulaprakriti, the subjective and the objective streams, the microcosmic and the macro cosmic evolution. Life force is considered a vritti or activity of such a subtle body created in the microcosmic stream. It differs distinctly from the commonly held view that the first living organism, a single cell bacterium evolved after a long time of the original blast. Samkhya is the forerunner of the thesis that consciousness is distinct and different from and not a product of matter as is normally presumed.. It also lays down the framework of the powerful, even the contentious theory of transmigration, a corner stone of the vedic teachings. Its thesis is that a creature is made of several layers, a subtle body-- primordial body-- called the linga sarira, then the genetic body made from the parents called the matru-pitruja sarira (the embryonic Body) and then the physical or bhuta sarira made from the five gross elements. It also postulates the theory of the difference in the experiences of different beings due to the karma/dharma which gets accumulated, the bundle of karmas being responsible for ceaseless transmigration. It is perhaps the most logical explanation to the theory of transmigration.

As the name indicates Samkhya (samyak khyapayati) attempts to throw light on all one should know to transcend the otherwise endless migratory nature of the mundane painful existence . Correct knowledge of the 25 tatwas that make up the evolved universe and the distinctly different purusha the pure consciousness with which one should identify oneself as the real self is the means of overcoming permanently and definitively the threefold dukkha or pain/sorrow most creatures experience most of the time in the innumerable lives. Thus it is known as a nivritti-sastra or a body of knowledge that removes (nivritti)  dukkha or pain/sorrow. While Samkhya lays down the theoretical framework for duhkh nivritti, Yoga details the steps one has to take for such achievement. Vedanta harmonizes the few inconsistencies and the three vedic sibling philosophies are thus known as nivriti satras by old timers. 

Samkhya also details the need to develop a right attitude or pratyaya to take the path of nivritti. It recognize these pratyayas in the context of permanent release from duhkha, the goal of Samkhya and the other nivritti sastras. The first pratyaya referred to is viparyaya or the wrong convictions is an unhelpful state of mind. Patanjali refers to as the conviction which is not based on truth (a-tad-rupa-patishtam). Holding on to wrong conclusions or dogma even in the face of overriding considerations against one's beliefs is viparyaya, like the earth is flat or the body is the self . The second pratyaya that is not conducive to the permanent relief of duhkha or pain and sorrow is tripti or complacence. Taking no corrective action but hoping everything will be ok in course of time, or nature will take care of everything, luck and chance will do it or resigning to fate completely will come under this category of pratyaya. According to Samkhyas it will only perpetuate avidya and so will not deliver from the three fold pain of samsara.

The other unhelpful pratyaya is asakti or infirmity. Physical, physiological and mental weaknesses impede the aspirant in the spiritual progress. Then what is the helpful pratyaya? Samkhyas call it Siddhi pratyaya. How can one attain the spiritual goal? Dana or dispassion and purity of mind is one. Then svadhyaya or study of the appropriate texts is another helpful aspect of siddhi pratyaya. Sabda or study with a competent teacher is another helpful aspect of siddhi and then suhrit prapti or association with others who are also spiritually inclined and of course analysis and deep contemplation (uha). Then constant vigilance to avoid and overpower the basic causes of the threefold misery. In a similar vein. Patanjali talks about helpful and unhelpful cittavrittis which includes pramana or correct knowledge and viparyaya or wrong conviction, two opposite citta vrittis. Patanjali divides all the chittavrittis as helpful (aklishta) and unhelpful/harmful crittis (klishta )

Samkhya is said to be a vedic philosophy. How so?

The Mahanarayana Upanishad is the last chapter of Yajur veda. There is this beautiful mantra which succinctly describes the essential tenets of Samkhya. It is a colorful narration

ajamekam lohita suka krishnam

Bahvim prajam janayantim sarupam

ajohyeko jushamanonusete

jahaatyenam bhuktabhogamajonyah

There is one without birth (beginning) made of three colors (gunas) of red (lohita/rajas), white (sukla/satva) and black (krishna/tamas). It produces numerable objects similar in nature (consisting of the three gunas). There is a second one again without birth (a beginning) which interacts with and experiences the various products of the first (and is in bondage). Then there is the third one again without a beginning which keeps aloof from all the products of the first (prakriti) and hence is in Freedom.

This explains the nature of prakriti of three gunas, the individual self in bondage and the third an individual self completely free or in kaivalya. The whole purpose of samkhya is to help the innumerable individual selfs in bondage to attain freedom from the endless involvement with prakriti.

The Bhagavat Gita explains the basic tenets of Samkhya in the beginning itself if you consider the first chapter as just the preamble. According to several acharyas the main purpose of the Gits is to emphasize that the real self is consciousness immutable and all the concerns about oneself is misplaced.

Srivatsa Ramaswami

*

Appendix 2

DHYANA  from YOGA BENEATH THE SURFACE 
Srivatsa Ramaswami  & David Hurwitz 




DAVID: (YR I, 20) Can we practice dhyana? Or is this, again, something that may or may not happen after practice? Is mantra japa a way to practice meditation? We may repeat the mantra, but whether the mind quiets down and stays focused on the mantra, isn't this a siddhi, something we can't control?

RAMASWAMI: Dhyana, or what is translated as "meditation;' is, according to Patanjali, an aspect of antaranga sadhana (inter­ na! practice). So it is to be considered a practice. Dhyana comes  om the root word dhyai, "to think deeply:' The word dhyana is not used  r ali involved thinking. It is used to signify deep think­ ing of a sublime object, that meditation which will uplift the practitioner. According to my    and s era! experts on Bhakti yoga (yoga of devotion), the word dhyana can be used only with respect to thinking of the Lord, when it is also known as Bhaga­ vat dhyana. In fact, so e of the Bhakti yogis do not at ali recog­ nize  e higher stage of yoga, s adhi. Tuey would say that the ultimate goal ofthe individual is to be in dhyana ofthe Lord until death. Deep or obsessive thinking ofwordly objects or actions will normally be considered chinta, and not dhyana.

Does it happen to ordinary people? Mostly not, but  the causes of that nonaccomplishment are dealt with clearly by yoga texts. If one c  work it out correctly, dhyana practice and accom- plishments are possible. The mind, or chilla, being an aspee! of prakriti, is also made up of the three gunas: satwa, rajas, and lamas. Yogic dhyana is not possible until the mind becomes satwic. This is where many people  nd they are not able to do dhyana, basically because their minds are predominantly rajasic or tamasic. In the Gita, also, the Lord says that ifyou are tamasic, become rajasic; ifyou are rajasic, become satwic; and ifyou are satwic, go beyond the three gunas (nistrigunya). He does not give the procedures to be adopted to achieve this. But yoga sadhana clearly tells us how to proceed.
Basically our chitta is nothing but the remainder of our s ­ skaras, our past actions/habits: Samskara sesham hi chittam. So, unless the individual takes steps to replace the old, bad sam­ skaras with newer, wholesome samskaras, he/she will continue to operate on the path driven by the old samskaras. Yoga is the process or practice by which this transformation (pminama) is achieved. Since there are individuals and individu s, the set of practices that one can do may not work far another because he/she may not be    r that kind ofpractice. For instance, ifa person is tamasic, he/she tends to be disorderly, ignorant, sense­ pleasure oriented (aviraga), and usually is slavish. Most people  ll into this category. Rajasic people tend to be  ckle-minded, power hungry, possessive, and uneven tempered. Satwic ones are orderly (in their thinking and actions), knowledge oriented, and dis­ criminative (especially between selfand nonself), and become moral and spiritual leaders of mankind. People fall into these categories (this is only a gross generalization) mainly because tbe  past actions tended to develop tose samskaras.

In dhyana, we are concerned witb the chitta. Per definition, dhyana is the practice or activity of focusing easily on an object, gross or subtle, for any lengtb of time, without other thoughts inter­ vening in the flow of attention during the period of concentration. So e are able to do it easily, and for so e it is impossible. Yoga tries to help tbose whose minds get easily distracted to become ones    minds able to concentrate easily  r a length of time.

So it reduces to the question of mental transformation: a mind  at gets easily distracted is to be made into one that habitually is able to concentrate. How is this done?
Classical Ashtanga yoga does it. We have seen that dhyana becomes possible if tbe mind is satwic. lt is not possible if it is raja­ sic or tamasic. So tbe practice should be to make tbe mind pre­ dominantly satwic.

The yama niyamas help to reduce the rajas and tamas consid­ erably. That is why tbey are very important. Then asana practice helps to reduce tbe rajas (asanena rajo hanti). So, regular, classi­ cal vinyasa and asana (with breathing) practice  ll reduce  e rajas. When rajas is reduced, tbe space vacated in tbe mind can be occupied by eitber tamas or satwa. But we want only satwa to arise in tbe mind. So immediately after tbe practice of asana, Patanjali and otber classical yoga practitioners have prescribed practice of pranayama. According to Patanjali, pranayama destroys tamas (tatah kshiyate prakasa avarana [avarana = blinding, or tamas]). Therefore, by tbe practice of asana and pranayama, one is better prepared for the interna! practice. Traditionally, in India, you will  nd tbat tbe meditator, or one who does mantra japa or puja (worship) or tbe morning ablutions, will sit in a classic posture and do pranayamas befare embarking on any mantra japa such as the Gayatri. When one starts doing japa or meditation  thout object to  e exclusion of all o er , during  e  e period.    s requires practice, one starts with a mantra or an icon or a point inside the body. The  rst step is to repeatedly bring the mind to the object every time the mind wanders because of the previous samskaras. Here, so e willpower is needed, but you are not forc­ ing your mind. You have only to co  the mind back to your object every time you realize that your mind has gone off it. This aspect is called dharana, the anga (part) before dhyana or that leads to dhyana. Eve  time someone mediatates with a mantra, at the end of the meditation, he/she should r iewthe meditation practice: Did my mind wander too often? Was the time duration of my way rd mental activity predominant? With time, the mind will be with the object for a longer span of concentration and the frequency of the distracted state will go  own. Then the practitioner knows that he/she is making progress. There may be day-to-day variations. But what is to be seen is whether the qual­ ity of dharana is improving. Eventually, the practi oner will be with the object almost the entire duration of the meditation ses­ sion. Then he/she can conclude that he/she has achieved dhyana. So dhayana is the result of dharana practice. Furthermore, the advice of Patanjali in japa is very important. He says that the mantra japa should be as follows: First chant  e mantra and immediately think of the meaning or import of the mantra. Chant the mantra again and then think of the import (Tat japah tadarthabhavanam). In this manner, the involvement of the med­ itator with the mantra is more intense and the chances of the mind wandering are less. Un rtunately, many people chant the man as mechanically. reducing the tamas and rajas (that is, without doing  e asana and pranay a preliminaries), then during the time of dhyana , the mind either wanders because of rajas or goes to sleep because of t as (and so e mistake those petite episodes of sleep as trance).
Dhyana is there re the ef rt to keep the mind focused on one

When you continue with dhyana practice, the intensity of con· centration improves, and you reach the stage where only the object alone is remembered. You even farget yourself in the o ect, which is the state of samadhi. In essence, dhyana, preceded by dharana and fal!owed by samadhi, is a continuous practice, resulting in the trans rma on of  e mind. Born yo s do not need the preliminaries, but most do.

"" PRACTICE FOR MEDITATION '"

DAVID: A  friend writes: I have to teach a class on yoga and meditation. What is your advice far a class emphasising the meditative process?

RAMASWAMI: I suggest the following agenda far meditation class:

l. Begin with a short prayer.

2. Do a tadasan group: Choose about sixteen vinyasas. Do
each vinyasa about three times and rest at the end. It may
take about 10 minutes.

3. Do vajrasana or paschimatanasana vinyasas and rest at
the end. It may take about 8 to 10 minutes far this.

4. Do kapalabhati 108 times (36 times in each of the  three
positions of the hands).

5. Do ujjayi pranayama sixteen times using the ratio
5:5:10:5 with the bandhas in bhaya kumbhaka (about 10
minutes).

6. Do shanmukhi mudra far 5 minutes.

7. Do trataka (external gazing at a picture of sunrise or
flame of a candle or an oiil lamp) for 5 minutes. Gaze until the eyes start watering, and then close the eyes. Repeat for a total duration of 5 minutes.

8. Meditate on rising sun or flame. Image the object between the eyebrows or in the heart region. Then image the light dispelling the darkness/depression  from the heart or the mind--imagine the light dispelling the darkness or depres­sion like the dew disappearing in the morning with sunrise. Do  this alternately for 5 minutes. Open  the eyes  and review the quality of the meditation. How often the mind wan­dered from the object of meditation, how long were the dis­tractions? Repeat the exercise for the reminder of the time.

9. At the end, have a short review. Ask a few students to describe the quality of their meditation. Ask them to fol­low the routine for four weeks. They may change the asana routine, but the other aspects of the regimen may remain the same.

10. End the class with a short prayer.

I hope these ideas are useful. (Por the asanas and pranayama, you may refer to The Complete Book ofViny a Yoga and Yoga far the Three Stages of Life.)

OBJECTS FOR MEDITATION -  Jyotismati

DAVID: As we acquire deeper and deeper habits of ahimsa (nonviolence) and santosha (contentment), anger will diminish. Let me ask about another approach. 1 often think of anger and hatred and similar things as a kind of d kness in the heart. In YS !, 36, one of the suggestions Patanjali offers for dealing with an unsteady mind is jyotismati, meditation on a radiant light. So, 1 wonder if this could be helpful: to meditate on the Sun in the heart, a bright, radiant light in our heart, as a way of dispelling the darkness and reducing our anger.

RAMASWAMI: Yes, meditating in the heartwith a bright object like the sun is recommended in the Vedas. I have dealt with this subject in some detail in my book  ga for the Three Stages of Life, pages 58-59. But again, the question is: how well can a person meditate when his/her mind is distracted? (Please refer to my answer to the question on dhyana.) Again, the jyotishmati  itti practice is mentioned in the first chapter, which is for the highest adhikarai (  person). So unless one is basically highly satwic, this meditation may not work or may not be possible to do as the mind will always be wandering or showing signs of tamas. So in the scheme of things, we should say that the ability to do any high degree of meditation such as the jyotishmati has a prerequisite of reduced rajas and lamas. This can be achieved by the  ma, niya- mas, asana, and pranayama, as I have explained in an earlier answer. If a person is predominantly satwic, then he/she can do jyotishmati visualization easily, and possibly he/she need not prac- tice yama niyamas, as he/she was probably born as an ahimsaite, possessing ali the other traits as well. I would say for the general populace, yama niyama comes  rst; and then, adding asana and pranayama will enable a yogi to successfully meditate and visualize.
DAVID:   I using the word meditate correctly? Would it be more correet to say the bhavana (visualization) of bringing the sun into the heart?

RAMASWAMI: Yes, bhavana will be a better term for abstract­ object meditation. In fact, my    would say, "Image the rising sun between eyebrows" (the area known as bhrumadhya). He would use the English word "imagine."

Breath
DAVID: Is the breath considered an uplifting object to focus on?
RAMASWAMI: Yes, sir.

Patanja/i's Suggestions

DAVID: You've mentioned a few times that chapter 1 of the Yoga Su as is meant for the more advanced yogi, the one who is already capable of samadhi, a  cused and steady mind. Does this mean (as in your answer on jyotismati) that the su estions Patanjali gives for steadying an unsteady mind (YS !, 32-39) are really not of much practica! use for the average or beginning yoga student?

RAMASWAMI: Since we seem to be coming back to this ques­ tion, !et us try another approach. One who wants to meditate but  oes not care for all the preliminaries should start doing medita­ tion of jyotis in one's heart or middle of the eyebrows, focusing on the light principie  r, say, 15 minutes, both mo ing and evening,  r  ur weeks. As 1 mention in my answer to the question on dhyana, one should review one's experience of meditation peri­ odically. At the end of this four-week exercise, one should look back on the experience to see   the quality of one's meditation has improved. Is one's attention span greater? Are the distractions fewer? Does one feel refreshed at the end of the meditation? Or fall asleep during meditation? Do other thoughts intervene at reg­ ular inter s? If it is yes, and emphatic s for   answer, then this meditation is really good for the person. If there are no improve­ ments, if the student becomes less and less enthusiastic about the practice, if the student forces him/herself to do this in the hope that somehow it will work in the course of time, as if by a mira­ cle, then perhaps he/she can conclude that he/she still has to prepare himself be re practicing meditation.
In the preamble to his commentaryto the second chapter ofYS, Sadhana Pada (the chapter on practice), Vyasa is quite clear in helping to demarcate the levels of yoga. He says, "The yoga attained by a yogi with engrossed mind (samahita chitta) has been stated. This sutra (the first of the second chapter) starts to indicate how a devotee (yogabhyasi) with a restless mind can
also attain yoga."

So it is a question ofwhether the beginner or average yogi has the capabili  to be engrossed-s ahita chitta is the character­ istic of the yogi of  e highest order, described in the first chap­ ter. For such a yogi the means are abhyasa (practice) and vairagya (dispassion). The yogi who has the capability to remain engrossed in an object transforms himself into a yogi whose mind is com- pletely in a state of nirodha. This presupposes that unless a yogi has the capability to be completely in samadhi, he/she will not be able to progress to the leve! of kaivalya attained by vair a prac- tice. Such a yogi, even as he/she practices to trans rm his/her mind, may occasionally slip into a state of distraction due to so e remaining past karmas or carelessness. To prevent such slippage developing into a fall, the  rst chapter suggests a few well established yoga practices in YS !, 32-39, as you mention. It is vir- tually a safety net. In this is included the jyotishmati practice as well. O iously, a beginner-level practitioner will not be able to practice correctly and successfully. Conversely, if a beginning student is able to successfully practice these yoga meditations, one can conclude that he/she is actually a high-level yogi   for samadhi yoga as described in the  rst chapter.
Others should go through the sadhana detailed in the second chapter. Then  ey will see that, after ali these extemal (bahiranga) practices, the yoga practitioner is ab]e to be more focused, prac­ tice dharana and dhyana,  d then achieve samadhi. These are again described in the third chapter.
You will see that the s e jyotishmati practice men oned as a corrective device in the first chapter is described as a siddhi in the third chapter. In YS lll, 31, it is said that by doing s y a or jyotishi in the middle of   eyebrows,   yogi is able to see the siddhas (those who have attained extraordinary achievements).

Similarly samyama in hradaya (heart) (YS III, 33) will lead to understanding one's own mind. Likewise other practices men­ tioned in YS !, 32; maitri karuna (friendliness, compassion) and others mentioned as practices for siddhi in the third chapter, YS III, 23, Maitriyadisu (yogic contemplation on friendliness).

So I may summarize by saying that if a yo  does not have the capabilityto be engrossed or totally focused, then he/she has to do practices that will enable him/her to get the necessary capability. The entire second chapter with ali the externa! practice is to pre­ pare the yoga practitioner to become a yogi.

LINK to Amazon.com


Appendix 3

More from Yoga Beneath the surface on Smayama and the  tattvas






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The 25 tattvas

from HERE 

The Tattvas

In the Samkhya doctrine there are 25 Tattvas:

1. Purusha (Transcendental Self)

2. The uncreated (unmanifest) Prakriti (primordial nature)

3. Mahat/Buddhi (intellect)

4. Ahamkara (ego, consciousness of self)

5. Manas (mind)

6-10. The five sense-organs
11-15. The five motor-organs
16-20. The five subtle elements
21-25. The five gross elements

Tattvas 3-25 evolve from primordial nature. 

All of the Tattvas account for the totality of the unverse as a whole, and each individual human being.



Appendix 4

Yamini Murthanna is a Bharatanatyam dancer (Dating back to 1000 BC) and teacher 
and a long time student of BNS Iyengar

My review of her book, The power of Yoga 





Yamini Muthanna 

Manas




Yamini Muthanna presents her dance production Manas at Bangalore on January 26th. Manas is set to selected hymns and verses from the Bhagavad Gita, The Upanishads and the Vedas. Breaking the choreography into 5 sections, inspired by the hymns in the Taittiriya Upanishad where it is said that the human organism has 5 layers (Annamaya Kosha, Pranamaya Kosha, Manomaya Kosha, Vigyanamaya Kosha, Anandamaya Kosha).  She has explored this concept in the production ‘Manas.’ The slokas were selected by Dr. Girija Khanna and Prof. Balaji, English Professor and Sanskrit Pundit from the Mysore University. The music composition is combined with classical ragas rendering slokas, swaras and jathis".


Why take Savasana/rest at all?

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New blog header photo (seem to remember M. took this, she got up to find fast asleep in Savasana) in response to the suggestion that in Mysore currently, in response to increased numbers ("crowd control"), Savasana/taking rest has been cut to as little as "...90 seconds" and that this may be a trend spreading out to the shalas (Update: Just double checked with a source currently in Mysore and yep, a couple of minutes, although one is encouraged to go home and 'take rest') .


Even allowing for exaggeration we might consider the length quality and purpose of savasana or 'taking rest' after our asana practice. Why take it at all?

"While the aim of your yoga practice should be to remain as relaxed as possible during the practice, for most people at the end of each yoga practice it is important to take at least 5 – 15 minutes of relaxed sitting or supine relaxation (Savasana) with observation of the breath to further relax the body and brain. This relaxation is most successful if people have succeeded in getting out of their brain and into their body with physical practice of asana (static postures) and vinyasa (dynamic exercises) beforehand". p.265

I guess it depends if Savasana ( or "taking rest") is considered 'part of the practice' or not, Krishnamacharya suggested fifteen minutes (after asana and pranayama) 

"...After completing their yoga practice consisting of asana and pranayama, the yoga practitioner must rest for fifteen minutes keeping the body on the floor before coming outside. If you come outdoors soon after completing yogabhyasa, the breeze will enter the body through the minute pores on the skin and cause many kinds of disease. Therefore, one should stay inside until the sweat subsides, rub the body nicely and sit contentedly and rest for a short period. 
Krishnamacharya Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934) p34

...but then he also talks of three hours in mayurasana. I'm sure Pattabhi Jois insisted on an extended savasana but I can't find a quote. Twenty minutes in a busy shala does strike me as a tad inconsiderate, but then 90 seconds and kicked out the door suggests 'losing the plot' somewhat. It's also possibly dangerous, likely unhealthy. If we can't allow somebody to rest for five minutes after an over zealous asana practice in a hot room where you've sweat a kilo or more then perhaps you need a bigger room or to invite less through the door. We know this is a problem in Mysore, most shala's I understand aren't 'blessed' with that problem. And by the way, why is having a 'large' mysore program considered a good thing, surely smaller is better.... but I digress.

Simon Borg-Olivier is my go to for all things anatomical and physiological regarding practice, here he is on savasana from his book, Introduction to the Applied Anatomy & Physiology of Hatha Yoga, written with Bianca Machliss.

"The supine yoga relaxation (savasana) for 5-15 minutes at the end of each yoga practice is important for many people. Recent studies [Bera et al., 1998] have revealed that the effects of physical stress were reversed in significantly shorter time in savasana, compared to the resting posture in a chair and a supine posture. In savasana the muscles can be fully relaxed if they have been stimulated by either stretch or activation during the practice. However, if the nervous system was over-stimulated during the practice then relaxation will still be difficult. The brain can relax if it has been engaged throughout the practice in the process of either focusing on a particular type of breathing, or feeling the sensations of intelligently organised stretching and activation. If the brain was not engaged in the functioning of the body in the yoga exercises then it will be less able to relax and more likely to become either restless or sleepy".  p66 Introduction to the Applied Anatomy and Physiology of Hatha Yoga, Simon Borg-olivier and Bianca Machliss.


Personally I feel there should be time for pranayama, a sit and/or some chanting along with a decent savasana after one's asana exercise ( as in Rethymno for instance) but then if those elements are your thing then there is home practice and you can pass on going to a shala altogether.

Note: Pattabhi Jois' son Manju, in the intensives and workshops I've taken with him, will have you skip the final utpluthi/tolasana and have you lie down and take rest for ten minutes or so while he plays some chanting, then he will run through ten to fifteen minutes each of pranayama and chanting vedic mantras (peace chants). In his book, under Shavasana, he quotes the Hatha Yoga Pradipka

"Lying face up on the ground like a corpse in a clean position. Shavasanam removes fatigue and calms the chitum (mind). HYP 1:32

But then Manju doesn't have three hundred plus for practice each morning.

Of course one could practice more slowly, breath from the abdomen rather than the chest, practice less asana, sweat less, take a mini savasana if my heart rate builds up, turn the heat down or perhaps skip a couple of the later asana before finishing, if you want the extended savasana ( I tend to only practice half a series to allow me to practice more slowly and include pranayama and a sit).

I would argue that with a more subtle practice a five minute savasana should be sufficient. Pattabhi Jois appears to agree...

"Finally jump through the arms, lie down, and rest for five minutes. This concludes the practice".
Pattabhi Jois - Yoga Mala

If practice is taken more dynamically, more aggressively,  including short breathing to the chest then a longer savasana,  may be more appropriate.

"New practitioners of Patabbhi Jois’ astanga vinyasa yoga tend to hyperventilate during the entire physical part of their practice with deep relatively fast breathing. Although this type of hyperventilation confers several benefits – trunk strength, flexibility, cardiovascular fitness and mental focus – it can elicit many adverse reactions including emotional instability, excessive hunger and others listed above. These can usually be countered by a subsequent period of supine relaxation (savasana) of ten to thirty minutes in which natural hypoventilation (minimal breathing) is performed".  p.364 Introduction to the Applied Anatomy and Physiology of Hatha Yoga, Simon Borg-olivier and Bianca Machliss.

I wonder how long before Sirsasana gets a time limit. 

*

And this from from Richard Freeman and Mary Talyor's new book 'The art of Vinyasa -Awakening the body and mind through Ashtanga yoga" which links Taḍagī Mudra and Śavasana together nicely, one dissolving inot the other

"Depending on the intensity of the particular practice and non practice circumstances, it may be necessary to hold Śavsana for anywhere from ten to twenty minutes until everything has settled and has been integrated properly".


"Śavāsana - Corpse Pose
Sri K. Pattabhi Jois used to say that Śavasana is the most di cult pose. Many students thought he was kidding, but once you’ve been practicing for a while, this sentiment rings true.  The essence of the pose is to embody complete balance in all directions but also to  find equanimity between the state of being completely alert and that of being absolutely relaxed. In more advanced Śavasana, one does not fall asleep, but a calm and removed, yet alert, open feeling pervades the body and mind. In Śavasana, all of the residue within the body, mind, and nervous system has time to be assimilated. Depending on the intensity of the particular practice and non practice circumstances, it may be necessary to hold Śavsana for anywhere from ten to twenty minutes until everything has settled and has been integrated properly.

1. Lie on the back as if in Samasthitiḥ. Lightly stiffen the arms and legs. Roll the shoulders back and down to the  floor. Draw the lower tips of the shoulder blades up into the body as the kidney area falls back and widens. Lightly press the back of the head into the  floor with the chin a hair’s breadth lower than the eyebrows.

2. Gaze, with the eyes closed, down the line of the nose. Feel the seed of a smile to “empty” the palate, as the breathing pulls the Mūlabandha like a steady flame.

3.  This is the formal Taḍagī Mudra pose and should be practiced before dissolving into full Śavasana. Carefully arrange the body so it is symmetrical. Remain for one to five minutes in this position, breathing smoothly. Allow the breath to  fine-tune the subtle alignment of the body.

4. Now relax. Let the breath go. Leave everything alone and as it is in the present moment.  The mouth releases.  The hands and feet release.  The eyes soften.  The heart  floats up, bright and empty.  The palms of the hands and the soles of the feet soften. Let the ears relax into listening.  The tongue is silent, letting everything be, just as it is".


***


Below my previous April 2013 post on Savasana



I was talking with a friend about this ages ago and promised a post, better late than never (this post is a bit of a work in progress, feel free to add any notes in comments and I'll bring them into the main post perhaps).

This post starts with Savasana (or not) as mentioned in Sharath's book then looks at savasana as mentioned in Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda, the formal and take rest variety. Then I look at how there used to be a formal variety of svasana for a short while that some senior teachers continue with, this was practiced before inversions. I look at how formal savasana is similar to tatkamudra and bring in an old post. At the end of the post I bring in a newsletter article from Ramaswami where he writes about controling the breath and taking mini savasanas throughout the practice. there's also an update about the Yoga Korunta supposedly being in a vault in Mysore : )



Maria posted a couple of pictures from the inside of Sharath's new book, see here http://sereneflavor.com/2013/04/10/mini-update/

One of them was on Savasana and whether we do or don't do formal savasana in Ashtanga or just 'take rest'.

Here's Sharath's take on the matter from the book.

" It is important to take rest after the practice. many mistakenly call this Savasana but this is incorrect. No asana is being done here; one is only resting from the asana practice" Astanga Yoga Anusthana




and part of the discussion over at Maria's


Laura on April 10, 2013 at 3:52 pm said:
savasana is an actual asana and an advanced one where you stop your breath, hence ‘corpse pose’. What we do is ‘take rest’, or as the wondrous Swenson Bros liked to call it “The Sponge”

http://www.smallbluepearls.com/sbp-blog/2010/11/10/yoga-helps-it-really-does.html

grimmly on April 10, 2013 at 5:19 pm said:
Here's Krishnamacharya in 1934, same time as he was teaching pattabhi Jois of course


K. doesn’t actually mention “stopping the breath’ here but he tends to include Kumbhaka’s ( breath retention) throughout Yoga Makaranda’s asana descriptions/instructions, he does seem to be talking of the more formal variety.

“14 Supta Padangushtasana (Figure 4.38, 4.39, 4.40, 4.41)
The first krama for this has 21 vinyasas. Through the 6th vinyasa, it is exactly as for pascimottanasana. In the 7th vinyasa, lie down facing upwards instead of extending the legs and sitting as in pascimottanasana. While lying down, the entire body must be pressed against the ground. The toes must point upwards and the back of the heels must be stuck to the ground. This is also called savasana by other schools. This is the 7th vinyasa for supta padangushthasana. In the 8th vinyasa, slowly raise the right leg straight up. Hold the big toe of the right foot with the fingers of the right hand, do recaka kumbhaka and remain in this position for as long as possible”.
p86 from Krishnamacharya’s 1934 Yoga Makaranda

By this it would seem that in any supine posture where you lay down flat before moving into the actual asana proper there’s an opportunity for Savasana.

“While lying down, the entire body must be pressed against the ground. The toes must point upwards and the back of the heels must be stuck to the ground.”.
Seem to remember that Nancy and Richard were saying they missed savasana before or after Inversions, will check my notes.
Just checked Nancy’s 1974 syllabus and Savasana turns up as the last asana mentioned in Advanced B
Krishnamacharya’s ‘heart stopping’ asana anyone?

K. doesn't seem to mention savasana elsewhere but in Vinyasa Krama, Ramaswami would have us take a savasana whenever our heart rate would go up or our breathing less controlled. This would be more of a 'take rest' version than a formal savasana.
NB: See Ramaswami's Newsletter article on the breath at the end of this post for the argument behind mini savasanas.

We do have this 'take rest variety' idea in Yoga Makaranda, section 31 on page 36

"...After completing their yoga practice consisting of asana and pranayama, the yoga practitioner must rest for fifteen minutes keeping the body on the floor before coming outside. If you come outdoors soon after completing yogabhyasa, the breeze will enter the body through the minute pores on the skin and cause many kinds of disease. Therefore, one should stay inside until the sweat subsides, rub the body nicely and sit contentedly and rest for a short period.p34

I should add that for the longest time in my Ashtanga practice I never took much of a savasana (taking rest variety), a minute at most perhaps, received a lot of stick for that here in the past. You were all right i was wrong. I now love my ten minute savasana at the end of practice and tend to listen to Ramaswami chanting just as he used to while we were resting on his TT course. I put the chant as a backing to this slideshow from the course. The chant I'm referring to starts a few minutes in.

 

UPDATE
Came across this article by Tara Bray on her search for Savasana
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1578

Starts off with an quote from Iyengar I think on Savasana

Savasana. Which translates into "corpse pose." Dead still. This is the final posture. Practice your yoga, then lie flat on the floor and die to what you've done, feet falling open, hands turned palms up. B.K.S. Iyengar, the founder of the Iyengar system of yoga, says to place a black cloth folded four times over across the eyes. I say the body should grow long and still. The body should become weightless. The bones should sink to the ground as the torn heart opens so the sky dwellers may look down and see this world as it is, bloody and rhythmic. The breath should move without effort. The skin should open its tiny, hidden mouths and let the air stream through in small, silent gasps. Southern women were made for savasana.

Savasana is a position we know well, stretched out and lying on our backs as if sleeping, but it is said to be one of the most difficult of the poses. B.K.S. Iyengar says that "a perfect savasana needs perfect discipline. It is not only very uncomfortable to the brain, but it makes the body feel like a piece of dry dead wood."


there's another section in Tara's article that made me sit up a bit


"I began to worry that we Westerners have misunderstood and exaggerated the entire physical process. How will I ever trace the path back to savasana?
When I was still a child, my mother returned to me in dreams. She was always horrid in my dream world, dressed in dark capes or carrying small knives, and always with an angry glint in her eyes and a shaking fist. In my dreams I'd beg her to return to the world of the dead.
Finally I received the first response to my inquiry. Godfrey Devereux, in a thoughtful message, reminded me of what makes yoga so rich:
"Most of the transmission of yoga, like that of all esoteric practices, was oral and personal. The criterion of historical validation is therefore hardly applicable. Besides, many materials are kept hidden from non-Brahmins in special vaults. The Yoga Korunta, which contains over 250 postures, is over 5,000 years old; a copy made by Krishnamacharya is, according to B.K.S Iyengar, in an exclusive vault in Mysore, India-access restricted. It is for them a historical treasure, which they fear would be commercially exploited by mercenary Westerners. I agree. I am willing to accept the authenticity of the transmission from Krishnamacharya via Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois, on the basis of my experience of their potency and more."
Mystery. Perhaps that's the answer. Faith in what has traveled from mouth to mouth. Belief in what can't be written down. Trust in what cannot be completely known. Mystery. Savasana. Death". Tara Bray.

The Yoga Korunta, which contains over 250 postures, is over 5,000 years old; a copy made by Krishnamacharya is, according to B.K.S Iyengar, in an exclusive vault in Mysore, India-access restricted. It is for them a historical treasure, which they fear would be commercially exploited by mercenary Westerners.

In a vault in Mysore? Really?

UPDATE 2 (from comments)

"Another foreshadowing of modern yoga evinced by the texts of the hathayogic corpus
was in the way in which āsana became the rubric under which all physical practice of soteriological value came to be included. Thus the well-known śavāsana or “corpse pose”,
for example, was originally a samketa or “secret [meditational] technique” of layayoga, not an āsana; similarly the hathayogic viparītakaranī mudrā became sarvāngāsana; and the ancient
“bat-penance” in which the ascetic suspends himself upside-down became, in the 18th-century Jogpradīpakā, the tap-kar āsan." (site 2-3th)
/A Response to Mark Singleton’s Yoga Body by James
Mallinson //

http://www.academia.edu/1146607/A_Response_to_Mark_Singletons_Yoga_Body

and becouse Ramamohan Brahmachari was a Ramananda Swami (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj20TIyRHzI) - at 4.33. by Desikachar. So...I think, maybe the main/new direction for the searching for the origin of the "Krishnamacharya tradition" is the tradition of the Ramanandi Sect. One of the main expert in this topic is James Mallinson (http://www.khecari.com/)

A good site for the contemporary yogaresearch is: http://modernyogaresearch.org/

Best wishes
Gabor Takacsy


------------------

I was having an online conversation about this a while back, a formal Savasana like posture coming before inversions. the conversation moved back and forth between savasana and tatkamudra

"Darby in his video said finishing sequence started with Stiff Corpse Pose.. then shoulderstand etc etc".
-------------------
"Darby says that had forgotten. Richard includes stiff corpse pose too and I seem to remember Nancy saying she missed it...I must check her workshop on the confluence video, might do a post on stiff corpse pose".
-------------------
"Just a quick note . Nancy Gilgoff says that stiff corps wasn't there in the beginning, appeared for a short time but then was taken out again at 32 minutes into this video http://youtu.be/aGTOpcwf1kw "

"this posture was never in there in the beginning, it appeared for a short time and then was taken out again. I think it's really nice so i left it in. So it's five breaths, it's not rest time, it's a very stiff body. Feet together, tilt your pelvis back, there's a ollowness coming in the belly, chin down. 1....2....3...4...5....readjust yourself...and roll up into sarvangasana (shoulder stand). ....if you did that last posture with a lot of strength in it, you kinda float up". Nancy Gilgoff

UPDATE: In Petri Raisanen's recently translated book Ashtanga Yoga the definitive Primary series Practice manual, in which he mentions he verified the details of the practice over a two month period of daily meetings with Pattabhi Jois and Sharath, he writes that before sarvangasana (shoulderstand) we lay down and take 1-5 deep exhalations before going up into shoulder stand. These five breaths he writes, are not part of the vinyasa count.



"Thanks for Nancy's video, just watched it.. I will watch the whole video at some stage, looks like she gave some interesting tips
just browsing through Gregor's book, he mentioned Tadaga Mudra?"
http://scottpageazyoga.com/blog/?p=970



"Tadaga Mudra is only one of two madras (seals) in yoga chakitsa (the primary series of ashtanga vinyasa yoga). Yoga mudra is the other. Here was my response to her inquiry:

Tadaga Mudra is the seal that is done before salamba sarvanghasana (supported shoulder stand.) Tadaga means tank, lake, or pond- Gregor Maehle describes it as “the stillness of a pond after the activity of backbends that is emulated here. The mudra resembles samasthitihi lying on one’s back. Keep all of your main muscle groups engaged and your eyes open. Hold tadaga mudra for ten breaths or until your breath has returned to its normal resting ratio. The breath during the finishing asanas needs to be calm.” There is a strong engagement of uddhyana bundha. You take the calm of the breath, energy of the seal, and uddhyana bundha up into shoulder stand and through the finishing poses……. As far as I know, it has always been part of finishing. All of the Ashtanga instructors that I have practiced with have included it in the practice, and I always teach it in the ashtanga vinyasa tradition". from http://scottpageazyoga.com/blog/?p=970



--------------

oh, and this is what he( Gregor) wrote in his book

'Urdhva Mukha Shvanasana is an extremely important posture in the sequence, as it is the only real preparation for backbending in the primary series. It should be deeply experienced every time it occurs in the series to awaken the spinen for backbending. Take your time, with long, conscious inhalations rather than a short breath, moving quickly into and out of this posture'..
----------------

I read it, makes sense, and it kinda stuck in my brain..
and every time I do Parvottanasana, i had to smile, cuz I thought of what Richard Freeman said.. 'look affectionately at your second toe'.
---------------

And here's my old post on tatkamudra from MONDAY, 13 JUNE 2011




Tatakamudra ( pond gesture ) here for bandha focus and deepening forward bend.


I came upon this idea by accident. Tatakamudra, charmingly translated as pond gesture, comes up in the Supine sequence in Ramaswami / Krishnamacharya's Vinyasa Krama.

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



It's that cavity below the ribcage that's formed which supposedly resembles a pond, or lake according to M. on account of my weird ribcage. Ramaswami counts tatakamudra as one of the best postures for introducing the bandhas, along with ardho mukkha Svanasana, downward facing dog.

In Yoga beneath the surface, David Hurwitz asks Ramaswami,

'David: What is the purpose of bandhas in asana? Is it just to practice and perfect them for pranayama? or do they have a function in asana practice?
Ramaswami : Among other things, bandhas (locks), especially mula bandha (rectal lock), help to pull up the pelvic floor and also to pukk the pelvis off the hip joint. Uddiyana bandha (abdominal lock) helps stretch the lumbar spine and Jalandhara bandha ( chin lock) helps to stretch the whole spine, especially the thoracic spine.
     Of course there are several other advantages, but purely looking from the point of view of asanas, the bandhas help to perfect the posture'.
p71 Yoga beneath the surface ( Bandhas in Asana section )

Tatakamudra engages all three bandhas, but it is perhaps the engagement of uddiyana,  you can really go to town on it in this posture, and the stretching the lumbar spine that explains why I found it so good for releaving the stiffness I felt in my back and allowing a deeper and more comfortable paschimottanasana, (forward bend).

I now tend to slip into tatakamudra for a few breaths after backbending and before paschimottanasana as standard.

Here are Ramaswami's instructions forTatakmudra 

'Stay in the lying-down position for one or two breaths. Exhale completely. Anchor your heels, tailbone, arms and back; press down through your palms and draw in the rectum; pull the lower abdomen in and toward your back. Hold the locks for five to ten seconds. Your chin should be kept locked as well. When you draw the rectal and abdominal muscles inward and backward, the marks of the ribs and the pelvis bordering the abdominal cavity will be apparent. because this resembles a pond, it is called pond gesture, or tatakamudra
   These are actually the three locks in the lying-down posture. They are a very good way to start the practice of the bandhas. Inhale, and relax the locks. Repeat this exercise three to six times.'


Use of Voluntary Breath Control in Asanas - October 2012 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami

The very first instruction I received from my Guru in Asana practice
was “Inhale”. Sri Krishnamacharya had started coming to our house in
the mornings to teach my brother. A few days into it, I came to the
room to join my brother and father. All were standing in Tadasana
Samasthiti, and Sri Krishnamacharya with his default head down
position had given the first instruction. “Inhale slowly with a
hissing sound and a rubbing sensation in the throat and raise your
arms.“ he said (in Tamil and a bit of English) and raised his arms
slowly breathing in. The inhalation started when he started the
movement of the arms and the inhalation went all along the movement
continuously until he completed the upward movement, interlocked his
fingers, turned them outward and gave a good stretch to the body. We
followed suit. After a moment stay he instructed “Exhale”. He said
“Exhale and slowly lower the arms.”. He started the exhalation with a
hissing sound and synchronized the slow downward movement of the arms
with the breath. Follow the breath closely he added after a couple of
movements and thus completed the basic instructions regarding
breathing in asana vinyasas. He taught like that for the nearly 3
decades I studied with him and, as far as I know, he did  not teach in
any other way to others.
I was overawed by the smoothness,flow and fullness of his breathing.
His chest would expand like a balloon, an expansion I had never seen.
His face tucked against the breast bone would look like getting
smaller against  the background  of his expansive  chest movement
Likewise his exhalation would be complete, the stomach muscles going
deep into the abdominal cavity and the diaphragm into the thoracic
cavity. That was the first time I had ever seen a yogi doing movements
completely synchronizing with the breath and with  such unimpeded
fullness of the breath. I was reminded of an episode I used to read
when I was young. My mother had given me a tiny volume in Tamil of
Balaramayana (Ramayana for kids). In it there was reference to the
episode in which Anjaneya would prepare himself to leap over the
Indian Ocean to reach the shores of Lanka in search of Sita, Rama's
wife. To make that giant leap for the sake of Lord Rama, he would go
up a hill and breathe in deeply, expand his chest like an ocean and
control the breath in his chest. I used to imagine Anjaneya standing
on top of a hill with a huge hairy chest ballooning and that image
came to my mind looking at this extraordinary Yogi. (By the way, here
is short video of Anjaneyasana following the vinyasakrama performed by
Marina Boni, a participant of the 200 hr Teacher training Program at
LMU this Summer of 2012 videographed by another participant Josh
Geidel, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtrLY7dxbi8&feature=youtu.be

Whenever I mention about breathing in asanas and vinyasas, I feel that
generally people do not pay much attention to the breathing aspect.
There are a few who would say with tongue in cheek, “we always breathe
when we do asanas, don't we all do that?”. There are others who would
say that their breath is slow and not hurried. Some practice asanas
breathing heavily or bordering on 'breathless' and a few long standing
practitioners appear to develop the “second wind”.  Of course a number
of people who practice asanas vigorously leave the breath to take  its
own course. A few years back I was teaching a  weekend workshop , and
was teaching vinyasakrama. I was giving the participants intermittent
rest pauses as I found many were not able to control the breath or
were not paying attention to the breath perhaps as they were not used
to this. But one of them, sweating and breathing rather heavily,
objected to taking frequent rests saying that she had already warmed
up and does not want the system to cool down. She would rather be on
her feet doing a few suryanamaskaras  than rest while others were
savasana getting their breath back . But the point I want to make here
is that the breath in asana practice I learnt from my Guru involved
complete control of the breath throughout the practice.., The breath
always was following the movement, there being a perfect synch between
movement and the breath. Breath under involuntary control or autonomic
control between the sympathetic and parasympathetic  is known as
'swaabhaavika prayatna” or natural breathing. In this the body, or
more particularly the chitt's normal vritti (samaanya or
saamaanyakarana vritti) adjusts the breath rate depending on the needs
of the body. According to some commentaries on Taittiriya Upanishad
explaining the Prana maya kosa, it is said that the main forces prana
and apana , believed to be associated with puraka and racaka, are
controlled by udana.  But in vinyasakrama as taught by Sri
Krishnamacharya the breath is brought under voluntary control and kept
under this control throughout the asana practice. One may say  that
the Yogi maintains a good  control over udaana. So for about half an
hour to one hour of asana practice and then during Pranayama the
breath remains completely under yogabhyasi's control. The more the
breath is brought under voluntary control, the Yogi it is said, can
bring the chitta under more voluntary control. Of all the involuntary
functions, breathing lends itself to dual control. The Yogis take this
route to slowly bring the mind and the heart too under control. When
cortical higher brain control is achieved over one basic function
(here the breathing), it is possible to achieve control over other
basic functions like the heart .Thus a Yogi who uses voluntarily
controlled breathing in asana practice, and follows it up with a good
pranayama practice, has a much better preparation for meditation than
someone who practices asanas with involuntary breathing and no
pranayama.

There are other important advantages of use of breath in asanas
performed with variety of vinyasas. In vinyasakrama one can do about
5/6 vinyasa movements per minute and in a 30 minute stint one can do
about 150 movements. Doing each vinyasa twice one can probably do
about 70 to 75 vinyasas, much less if one has to take frequent breaks
to recover the breath. There are many experienced practitioners who
can do vinyasa practice for about half hour without having the need to
take rest breaks in savasana due to shortness of breath resulting in
the inability to maintain an acceptable slow rate of breath of about
minimum 5 secs each for inhalation and exhalation. By carefully
choosing appropriate vinyasas for one's practice, it would be possible
to reach almost every 'nook and cranny' (nook and corner) of the body.
The slow movement and stretch/contraction help to squeeze out used
blood into the venous system enhancing the muscle pump effect of the
various muscles and tissues. Simultaneously the deep breathing used
helps to accentuate the respiratory pump effect and suck in more
venous blood to the heart. Thus even as one practices asanas, both the
vinyasas and synchronized breathing help to improve the rakta sanchara
considerably reducing thereby the strain on the heart and
supplementing its work.
And Sri Krishnamacharya used breath very judiciously, altering the
kriya between brahman and langhana kriyas and interspersed with
occasional kumbhakas after rechaka (exhalation) or puraka
(inhalation). Generally forward bends, twists, side bends, back
rounding, knee bends etc. will be done on exhalation or langhana kriya
as it facilitates contracting the abdomen and doing these movements
more easily. Back bends, expansive movements like raising/stretching
the arms or the lower extremities, raising the head and looking up
will be done on synchronized slow inhalation or brahmana kriya.
Brahmana kriya on back bends and extensions also helps to  increase
the inter-vertebral space slightly of the thoracic spine and is very
beneficial to the spinal cord which contains an enormous nerve bundle.
But there are exceptions according to my Guru. People with elevated
blood pressure or those who are obese, tense, or generally older would
be encouraged to do these movements using langhana kriya. Several
years back, in the early 80s, I wrote a series of articles in an
Indian magazine called Indian Review. In one article. I think on
salabasana, I mentioned that the back bend in that asana should be
done on exhalation as I used to prefer that. When the article was read
to my guru, he asked me to change it to brahmana kriya as that was the
correct breathing for that movement and what I was doing was a
permissible exception. He was very clear about the use of controlled
breath in asana practice. He also modified the breathing to suit
individual requirements when people came to him for therapeutic help.
Breathing in asana movements was an important tool he employed while
treating patients.

Patanjali in his Yogasutra does not claim that his Yoga Sutra work was
his brainchild but was based on tradition and as per the Vedas
(anusasana). Likewise Sri T Krishnamacharya would mention that the
unique use of mindful breathing he advocated in asana practice was not
his innovation but was based on traditional and authoritative texts
like Vriddha satapata, Yoga Sutras. Further texts that support this
approach would be Navya Nyaya and also Vachaspati Misra's tatva
vaicaradi, Yogasutra commentary. I have written about it earlier but
repetitions are helpful.
In the yogasutra, the phrase of two words, prayatna saithilya (YS II )
means a lot. Prayatna is a word used to indicate effort, but the old
texts like (navya) nyaya explain effort as beings of three types,
pravritti, nivritti and jivana prayatna. Pravritti and nivritti are
activities that one does to get, respectively, what one wants or to
get rid of what one does not want or wants to avoid . Patanjali uses
the term chitta vritti and he groups them fivefold. But cittavritti
can also be classified as above. But in addition to the chitta vrittis
mentioned above (fivefold or twofold), the chitta incessantly is
engaged in another vritti which the samkhyas call as samanya vritti or
samanya karana vritti, which is the lifelong effort of maintaining
life. Hence the pranic activity is called samanya vritii and in nyaya
they call it  jivana prayatna or effort of life. So in the above
sutras, the word prayatna does not refer to pravritti or nivritti, nor
the normal bodily movement one does in asana practice, but samanya
vritti or jivana prayatna or simply put 'breathing'. Vachaspati Misra
in his commentary on Yoga Sutra, tatva vaicaradi corroborates this
interpretation of prayatna as pranic activity. He says ”samsiddhika hi
prayatnah sarira dharakah”. Here he says that samsiddhika or the
innate prayatna or effort (of the yoga practitioner) is sarira
dharakah or that of sustaining the body. What innate effort sustains
the body?  It is the breath. The root of the word dharaka, 'dhru' is
used to refer to the prana's function in an important major upanishad
called Prasnopanishad. In it there is an interesting episode. Once all
the organs of the body, eyes, ears etc. started arguing which among
them was the greatest. The disagreement reached a crescendo when the
innocuous and incessantly working prana stepped in to say that it, the
prana, dividing itself into five different forces, holds up and
sustains the body and it was the greatest. It uses the term
'dharayishyami (I sustain)' the same root (dhru to sustain or support)
used by Vachaspatimishra in the YS commentary, sarira-dharaka. The
sense organs thought it was incredulous and said so to Prana. Then
prana to prove a point collected its forces and started leaving the
body. Suddenly all the senses started losing their bearings and
realized how dependent they were on the main prana. They all fell at
the feet of Prana and beseeched it not to leave the body. Hence
according to my Guru the term prayatna mentioned in the sutra is not
the ordinary physical effort associated with the movements of the
limbs when one does asanas but the breath itself.

Having explained that prayatna in this context refers to Jivana
prayatna or that of the sariradharaka or prana/breath, Vachaspati
Misra proceeds to explain another important element of Patanjali's
teaching viz., saithilya, which means to make it smooth. Here the
instruction is that the breathing should be smooth which can only be
achieved by controlling the breath. There are two types of breathing
as we have two centers that can control breathing. One is under the
autonomic nervous system with only very limited voluntary override, in
which the sympathetic is involved  the inhalation and the
parasympathetic in the exhalation through the respective breathing
centers. But breathing can also be brought under the cerebral cortex
when we willfully take over the control of the breathing process . So
here we take control of breathing as we do the various movements or
vinyasas. The main message is that the breathing if involuntary will
adjust to the metabolic requirements-- slow while resting, hurried
under physical stress like weight lifting or doing Yoga as if like a
workout. But in asana practice as per this sutra it would be under
voluntary control, doing the movements with the breath under control
and voluntarily.

Vachapati Misra explains this beautifully. He says that the natural/
involuntary (swa-bhavika) prayatna or breathing will not be helpful in
attaining the posture, actually it would be a hindrance.
“upadeshta vyaasanasya ayam asaadhakah, virodhi cha swaabhavika
prayatnah)
Hence one should voluntarily control it and make it smoother
(saithilya) which is what Sri Krishnamacharya did. Here is the quote
from Vacaspati Misra
“tasmaat, upadhishta niyama asanam abhyasataya svaabhaavika prayatna
saithilyaatma asteyah, naanyata upadishta aasanam sidhyati iti|
swaabhaavika prayatna saithilyasya aasana siddhi hetuh|”  Therefore
when the intended  asana is attempted, the breath should be made
smooth/controlled, and in no other way the intended asana can be
perfected. Thus the cause of asana siddhi is indeed making the
natural  breath smooth (by controlling it).

To reinforce this concept, Patanjali adds that the mind should be
focused on the breath indicating that the breathing should be mindful
or in the voluntary mode and not allow the auto mode. Here he uses the
word ananta to indicate the breath. The word ananta can be split as
most people do as an+anta. The prefix 'an' meaning 'not' rhymes with
the English un used as 'not' in English. Anta means end or limit so
ananta would mean endless or limitless and hence ananta is usually
translated as infinity and many commentators recommend focusing the
mind on infinity. However the word ananta, here more appropriately
should be broken as a word derived from the root 'ana' to breathe
(ana, svase) like prana (pra+and, vyana vi+ana etc). The word ending
'ta' would indicate containing so ananta is containing or controlling
the breath. “prayatna saithilya ananta samapattibhyam” is the sutra
about how to use the breath in asana practice. The instruction loud
and clear is that one should bring the breath under voluntary control
while doing asanas and not allow it to be under autonomic control. And
Patanjali is the incarnation of Nagaraja or the cobra king also known
as ananta. And cobras are said to live on breath, of course a
mythological belief. So some say one could have the image of ananta or
Patanjali in mind while practicing asanasa-- a  symbolic way of saying
'focus on the breath'

Whenever one says that one practices Hatayoga, I have an urge to ask
if one does any yoga breath work like pranayama, because hata yoga is
pranayama as per Brahmananda, the Hatayoga pradeepika commentator. So
if one would have controlled breathing in asana practice as discussed
above and also does pranayama, it would mean that the yogabhyasi would
be in total control of her/his breathing during the entire period of
hatayoga practice, and after all hatayoga is activity under complete
control of the breath as can be seen from the yogasutras and the
definition of Hatayoga of Brahmananda. I . When the breath would get
out of control sometimes  Sri Krishnamacharya would ask the student to
lie down in savasana and regain the breath before continuing with the
asana practice. Some need more rest pauses and some less and some
hardly any. It was how Sri Krishnamacharya taught me Yogasanas for
decades--, to have complete control over the breath while practicing
asanas and apply the breath thoughtfully and well to different
individuals and different conditions and in different  movements/
vinyasas.

A long-winded article on 'breath' in asanas.!
Thank you
Sincerely
Srivatsa Ramaswami

https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#!forum/vinyasa-krama-announce

Review: Roots of Yoga James Mallinson and Mark Singleton

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Amazon.co.uk


What a wonderful job Sir James Mallinson and  Mark Singleton have done with their collection of PrimaryYoga sources for Penguin, Roots of Yoga.

It's highly readable and dip in'able. 

The kindle version is available now and it's ideal for this kind of a text. Each chapter has an introduction introducing elements of the topic within a chapter with hyperlinks that allow you to jump straight to selections as well as to the notes. Kindle allows you to jump back to where you were after reading the note or selected text. 

The publishers have also included page numbers on the kindle edition for reference.

I spent the better part of my morning reading through the introductions to each of the chapters dipping into selections along the way.  

Here's an example from the introduction to first chapter 'Yoga'


and  following the hyperlink 1.1.5 to the selection from Patanjali



Tap on the screen and it will bring up the page number as well as kindle location. Tap on the arrow that appears on the left and it will take you back to where you were in the introduction.


It's addictive.

It used to be such a pain going back and forth to notes and selections, kindle ( or in my case the kindle app for ipad) makes it easy.



I feared the text and selections would focus mostly on tantra/hatha but given the title it delves sufficiently into the roots of those practices by looking at the pre tantra/hatha texts from the 6th century, Patanjali,  his commentators and back even further to the Mahabharata, Upanishads, and even to early references in the vedas.



Best of all it's in Penguin so no doubt I'll pick up the paperback when it's released in April.

I'm sure to be quoting selections here all year ( as well as perhaps adding to this poast) but for now here's the contents page. 




If you go to Amazon.uk you can get a look at the introduction or download the sample which includes a nice timeline of texts.



Appendix

'Roots of Yoga' on you Mac or PC


You can also download Kindle for your PC or Mac and open the book there, this allows you to bring up your notes (and or highlights) side by side with the text



below I've followed the hyperlink above to the criticisms of hatha yoga in the Amanaskar.


The Amanaska, I see from the timeline was a 12th century text. The list of primary sources at the back of the book show me that this was translated by Jason Birch in 2013 as part of his Dphil.


 Type Amanaska into Kindle's search and it will bring up all other quotes from the text.


These features work on your regular kindle or Kindle app for ipad of course but they seem to come into their own on the larger screen.

*

Links


Modern Yoga Research 



Dr James Mallinson  




Dr Mark Singleton



The Hatha Yoga Project



THE LUMINESCENT

This is the blog of Jason Birch and Jacqueline Hargreaves. It contains articles on their historical research on yoga as well as their thoughts on contemporary yoga practice.

On 10 years of practice - Cultivate

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Coming up to ten years of practice....
 I've been asking myself what I think..., actually believe, this practice is all about....



Cultivate Compassion
for all, all.

Cultivate Contentment
that what I have is sufficient

Cultivate Discipline
tapas (asana)
practicing daily a little more than I wish to

Cultivate Serenity
emotional stability (pranayama)

Cultivate Non-attachment
withdrawal of the senses

Cultivate Fixation
attend, concentration

Cultivate Absorption
abide with

Cultivate Liberation
applied absorption





Posted mainly to see how my thinking may change over the next ten years... and the next





Brahmavit - February 2017 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami

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Brahmavit

Who obtains (aapnoti) the highest?
One who knows the Brahman
Who or what is that Brahman?
It is pure awareness/consciousness(jnana) unaffected by time (satya) and space (ananta)
Where can one find it?
In one's own lofty space in the heart cave, snugly residing.
What does one get when one finds It?
The satisfaction one may get by enjoying everything one desires/wishes...all at once, he being one with that Brahman.

How is that Brahman the greatest (Param)?
From that Brahman-- that Atman one is-- was born Akasa or space. Then came from that Akasa, Vayu or Air (or matter in the form of gas), thence came, agni or fire (or matter in the form of energy) thence came in succession, aapaH or water (matter in the form of liquid), then prithvi or earth (or matter in solid state). From earth evolved plants and from plants came food and then all creatures including the human being. So Brahman is the source of everything and the human being is the essence of food.

Well how to find and know the Brahman in this huge creation?

One can start with oneself. The human body has five parts or gross aspects. They are the head, the right wing or arm, the left wing or left arm, then the torso and finally the tail or the lower extremities. These are the five parts that are visible.

Ok Where is the Brahman in this body?
You have to get to the subtler levels of one's being.and transcend them.
Which one is next?
In the same mould as the physical body there is a subtler subsystem called the body/sheath of life force or Prana. This Prana sheath can be seen as made of five parts prana, apana, vyana udana and samana forming the five different parts of the life foce body.

Can you locate Brahman/Atman in this sheath?
No we have to get to a further inner sheath inside this life force or prana body. And that is the sheath of the mind. Or the body of the senses as mind controls all the senses. And subtler than that is the body of senses or mind is the body of intellect. Even that is visualized as having five parts or aspects. Firstly
earnestness/faith is the head, as one starts an inquiry with faith or sharddha . Then the right wing is what is right or ritam/dharma. Then the intellect has the left wing as truth as one finds truth only by employing buddhi or intellect. Then adesa or determination is the torso as that is the result of deep analysis and contemplation of buddhi. Then buddhi is based on or sustained by Mahat or universal intelligence.

So then we can determine the existence of Brahman and Atman by using one's intellect. Is it right?
Yes by patient contemplation and meditation.
Then one can realize the Brahman?
Yes and the Upanishad also explains the state of one's mind in that state
How so?
It gives an opportunity for the seeker to have a feel for the experience one gets after this determination.
The next subtle sheath referred to is the sheath of bliss/happiness. It has also five parts. In it Joy or priya is the head. When one reads about Brahman a certain joy arises in the mind of the sadhaka. It is called priya. Then understanding it with the intellect leads to two more endearing feeling, happiness (moda) and then extreme happiness (pramoda). And finally when the sadhaka realizes the Brahman one experiences unalloyed bliss or Ananda. Thereafter one loses the separateness from Brahman and becomes Brahman which is support of this sheath and every other sheath and everything else.

Can anyone achieve this. Has anyone attained this state?
Yes the Upanishad itself says that Bhrugu the son of Varuna with the prodding of his father was able to realize the Brahman. The Taittiriya Upanishad explains the step by step approach followed by Bhrugu with extreme concentration and how he realized the Atman/Brahman. And Brugu is venerated as one of the seven greatest vedic sages (sapta rishis)

Based on Taittiriya Upanishad.  ( LINK Taittiriya Upanishad pdf )

Srivatsa Ramaswami
http://groups.google.com/group/vinyasa-krama

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In January 2017, I taught a 10 day 50 hour program on Bhagavat Gita for yogabhyasis based on my study with my Guru Sri Krishnamacharya. It was organized by Saraswati Vasudevan under the banner of Yoga Vahini Chennai. Very dedicated and patient group indeed.


Then I spent 6 days at Mini Shastri,s OmYoga Shala in New Delhi teaching Core Vinyasakrama and varied pranayamas to some very dedicated yogabhyasis. They did 120 pranayamas one day 80 in the morning and another 40 in the afternoon. And then many performed 32 suryanamaskaras to the chanting of suryanamaskara (aruna) mantras from yajur veda. Very dedicated participants



In February I am scheduled to teach a 15 day 100 hour TT program in Vinyasakrama Yoga at Yoga Vahini Chennai. The same program I will be doing at Yoga Institute in Sydney in Australia in April/May 2017. The registration is still on for the Sydney program Here is the link

http://yogainstitute.com.au/april-22-2017-100hr-advanced-vinyasakrama-yoga-training-program/

Srivatsa Ramaswami

Shirsasana ('headstand') Krishnamacharya, also Lotus to headstand as prep for Karandavasana and Ramaswami's Inverted sequence.

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At the end of Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934) Krishnamacharya begins to look at sarvangasana (shoulderstand)...

"This asana and the next asana (sirsasana) that will be described must be practised very carefully and with great caution, remembering the earlier warnings". Yoga Makaranda 

Yoga Makaranda ends there although five photos of  Sirsasana (headstand) variations are shown, clearly Krishnamacharya intended to continue, the topic is taken up In Yoga Makaranda part II (Salutations to the teacher the eternal one). 


Padmasana to Shirsasana

Below: from the Shirsasana (headstand) section in Yoga Makaranda II
The full text can be downloaded from my Free Download Page at the top of the blog.


"Sayanacharya in his commentary on Patanjali’s YOGASUTRAS has given a lot of practical details to be observed in the practice of asanas. The main objective of SIRSHASANA and SARVANGASANA are not merely to arrange for a copious supply of blood to the head and upper part of the body but also to slow down the respiratory rate. When SIRSHASANA has been sufficiently mastered, the breathing rate which normally is about 15-18 a minute, automatically comes down to four a minute. The aim should be to reduce it to, two per minute. Thus at this rate, 24 rounds of breathing in SIRSHASANA will take 12 minutes.

It is laid down that SIRSHASANA should be done only in the mornings. This should always be followed by SARVANGASANA. The proper procedure is to do SIRSHASANA with 24 deep inhalations and exhalations. Take two minutes rest. Then do SARVANGASANA with 24 rounds of deep breathing. Take two minutes rest. Follow with some sitting asana. In SIRSHASANA the organs in the head and the brain get a copious supply of blood, the internal organs in the body get displaced upwards. The two minutes rest normalizes. In SARVANGASANA the blood supply to the head is restricted by resting the body on the neck and making the chin lock. The thyroid and the upper part of the internal organs of the body get displaced upwards. The two minutes rest normalizes. When a sitting asana is now done the internal organs regain their proper positions. This is the reason behind doing the asanas in this particular order.

Sayanacharya has mentioned six specific asanas for daily practice. He however prescribes that along with these some other asanas (this may vary each day) should be done.

In SIRSHASANA, normally no kumbhakam need be done (in the beginning), though about two seconds ANTHAR and BAHYA kumbhakam automatically result when we change over from deep inhalation to deep exhalation and vice versa. During the automatic pause, kumbhakam takes place. When after practice has advanced and kumbhakam is deliberately practised, ANTHAR kumbhakam can be done up to 5 seconds during each round and BAHYA kumbhakam up to 10 seconds.

In SARVANGASANA, there should be no deliberate practice of ANTHAR kumbhakam,but BAHYA kumbhakam can be practiced up to 5 seconds in each round.
These deep breathings along with the asana help in slowing down the breathing rate with a consequent elongation of life. Sayanacharya prescribes that the number of deep breaths one should practice per day should not be less than 320. This number could be spread out during the day-some may be done along with asana in the morning and evening, some along with pranayama, morning, noon, evening and at midnight, or whenever some spare time is found".
Krishnamacharya Yoga Makaranda Part II (Salutations to the teacher the eternal one).


Note: Sayanacharya - Krishnamacharya may be referring to a commentary by Sāyaṇa (Kannada; with honorific Sāyaṇācārya; died 1387) 

Note: see this earlier post on Krishnamacharya's key asana
Krishnamacharya recommended Four Key asana/mudra..... make that six..


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The Padmasana to Shirsasana and back variation might be considered useful preparation for Karandavasana. 

Note Karandavasana is outlined, pretty much as we practice in in current Ashtanga Vinyasa, in Yoga Makaranda Part II.



Appendix

Srivatsa Ramaswami's
Inverted Sequence/subroutines

Based on my studies with Ramaswami at LMU  in 2010 and his book The complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga.

Ramaswami presents these sequences to teach the relationship between asana and thier variations. in actual daily practice one may choose asana or subroutines from the sequence as is deemed appropriate. Ramaswami does recommend however, practicing the full sequence occasionally ( or as much as one is able) to remind oneself of this relationship of asana.


Practicing Inverted Subroutines

Towards the end of my morning asana practice I spend few minutes in the sarvangasana preparatory postures, anapanasana, urdhva prasarita pada hastasana and dwipadapitam.

I then spend at least five minutes in sarvangasana, the first three minutes with the legs relaxed.

Then I practice for headstands for ten to twenty minutes (ten minutes minimum).

For the first five minutes I don't practice any vinyasas but try to slow my breathing towards two breaths a minute and work on engaging bandhas.

The rest of the time in headstands I spend on Vinyasas, one or more of the inverted subroutines.

Coming down from headstand I'll stay for a few moments with my forehead on the mat, when sitting up I'll bring my head up last.

After a couple of minutes in savasana I practice another five minutes of Sarvangasana (shoulder stand), this time practising vinyasas, one or more shoulder stand subroutines

Finally I'll spend a period of time in Vajrasana, padmasana or mahamudra before moving on to my pranayama practice.


From my Vinyasa Yoga practice book

Ramaswami teaching Vinyasa Krama in Madrid in 2017. 
My good friend Oscar has done a wonderful job of weaving together Krishnamacharya practicing some of his variations back in Mysore in 1938 with Ramaswami teaching the same variations in Madrid in 2017.




Below: One of my favourite vinyasa that Krishnamacharya demonstrated in 1938






'...when sirsasana is mastered, the breath rate, which is normally about fifteen to twenty breaths per minute, automatically comes down', 

Work towards two breaths a minute over time.

'Sirsasana should always be practiced in the morning, as is laid down by the authorities on yoga.' 

'And, as a counterpose, it should be followed by an equal length of time in the practice of sarvangasana (shoulder stand)'. 

'The procedure is thus to do  sirsasanam for twenty-four breaths, followed by a two-minute rest in savasana. Then one should do sarvangasana for the equal number of twenty four breaths, followed by a sitting posture each as padmasana for a few breaths, until one feels normal and relaxed'.  

from Srivatsa Ramaswami Yoga for the Three Stages of Life p142


Below: Links to each of the individual subroutines on YouTube, below that the full forty minute sequence video and here a speeded up version https://youtu.be/FfzDvB2qG1U

Inverted: Subroutine Breakdown


Day 76 : INVERTED : Sirsasana (headstand) lead in from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

How Krishnamacharya taught Ramaswami pranayama plus Why Patanjali's Yoga?

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"My one-to-one studies with my usually lasted one hour. One day, at the beginning of the class, he asked me to do this pranayama for the entire duration of the session and left the room. At the end of one hour he walked in to the room, asked me to join the end-of-the-session peace invocation, and left the room. He did not say anything, but looked pleased. There were many other occasions when he asked me to devote the entire session to pranayama". Srivatsa Ramaswami


Below (from Yoga Beneath the Surface) is how Ramaswami would have us practice the approach to pranayama he learned from Krishnamacharya. Ramaswami however, would stay in the room and practice alongside us.


''" 1 :4:2 "'"

"DAVID: In YR (Yoga Rahasya ) II, 59, the pranayama ratio off 1:4:2 is spoken of as special. Is this ratio risky? Who can do it?

RAMASWAMI: In fact, almost all yoga texts mention or detail this particular pranayma. Because of the preponderance of antah kumbhak far a disproportionately long period, many people shy away  om this pranayama. The ratio you refer to is one time unit of inhalation, four time units of holding the breath, and two time units of exhalation. Normally, we breathe at the rate of about  fifteen times per minute. Our inhalation and exalations are usually are about 2 sec­onds each. So if you introduce this ratio, keeping the inhalation at about 2 seconds, you will have to hold the breath for about 8 sec­onds, and take 4 seconds  for exhalation. In this manner,you will do just about four breaths per minute as opposed to fifteen breaths per minute. Of course, one who is uninitiated can do it once or twice, but if required to do it for a number times in succession, he/she may find it difficult to maintain the ratio.

Many people  find the exhala­tion swift  and uncontrollable after the long breath-holding.
This ratio is used in mantra pranayama. There are a few well­ known mantras, such as the Vedic pranayama mantra and the "siva-siva" mantra. The Vedic pranayama mantra, consisting of sixty-four syllables (mantras), takes about 20 seconds to chant mentally. According to several texts, including Manu Smriti (clas­sic on Hindu way of life), the mantra is to be chanted while hold­ing in the breath. So one should be able to hold the breath for 20 seconds, during which time the mantra is chanted. If so, with the 1:4:2 ratio, the inhalation has to be 5 seconds and the exhalation 10 seconds. It will thus take about 35 seconds, and if you take a 5- second bahya kumbhaka, then it couid be about 40 to 45 seconds. It is the normal practice in Vedic pranayama to do at least ten rounds in one sitting, which would mean that the practitioner should be able to sit in a yogic posture steadily for this duration and do the pranayamas without losing control. If you go by the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, one can go up to eighty pranayamas at a stretch. This would mean that one has to sit in a posture for about an hour and do pranayama and  follow the ratios correctly, without panicking or without discomfort. So the texts suggest holding out the breath for 20 seconds, especially texts of Hatha yogis and Kundalini yogis.

My one-to-one studies with my usually lasted one hour. One day, at the beginning of the class, he asked me to do this pranayama for the entire duration of the session and left the room. At the end of one hour he walked in to the room, asked me to join the end-of-the-session peace invocation, and left the room. He did not say anything, but looked pleased. There were many other occasions when he asked me to devote the entire session to pranayama.

lt is sad that yoga students seldom practice pranayama and that contemporary teachers appear to have disdain far pranayama. It is a very important and a very useful aspect of yoga. Pranayama reduces tamas or darkness  and increases satva or clarity".

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And here on p193, where Ramaswami discusses the (different?) objectives of Hatha and Raja yoga.

"My teacher used to say that one should do pranayama  for twice the amount of time one practices asana. Dharana should be  forr twice that time, and dhyana twice longer. Only then will one be able to stay in samadhi  for a  fleeting moment. With continuous practice, one will be able to stay in samadhi for longer and longer periods until, like the yogis of Himalaya, one can remain in samadhi for days.
But are the two goals, kaivalya of the Raja yogi and the posi­tioning of prana in Brahmarandhra (a chakra) of the Hatha yogi, the same? Well, one leads to kaivalya or total release and the snapping of the cycle of samsara, but what of the other? One is not sure if the Hatha yogi's goal will give total release  from samsara. What do you think?" p193 Yoga beneath the Surface.


Amazon link

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Why Patanjali's Yoga?

Hatha yogi's have developed seemingly endless approaches to pranayama, likewise, countless postures and techniques to 'force' the prana into the sushumna channel, raise kundalini, conserve bindu etc.

Perhaps proficiency in some basic (Primary) key asana and a few variations, a straight forward traditional nadi sodhana pranayama practice, a simple pratyahara method of sense withdrawal and samatha, (calm abiding) Sitting, is quite sufficient...., until at least samadhi is attained. If Samadhi is attained , in this lifetime, then we can start to worry about how to apply, Pattanjali has a whole chapter on this.

Kaivalya (liberation) may not necessarily be our objective ( for now at least), we may not even believe in the concept/metaphysics/philosophy on which Patanjali's Yoga sutras are based, and yet the methodology outlined in the sutras may still lead to a more orderly life, greater compassion, improved discipline, emotional stability, and perhaps some insight into the formation and workings of who or what we believe we are as well as providing us with the tools to put 'that' under question on an experiential rather than purely intellectual level.



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Appendix 
Pranayama Mantra






Here it is again so you can format it as you wish



Pranayama Mantrah

प्राणायाम मन्त्रः 

ओं भूः  ओं भुवः  ओं सुवः 
ओं महः  ओं जनः  ओं तपः   ँ् सत्यं 

Om bhUh . Om bhuvaha . Ogm suvaha . 
Om mahaha . Om janaha . Om tapaha . Ogm satyam 

ओं तत् सवितुर्वरेण्यं भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि 
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् 

Om tat savitur varENiyam bhargO dEvasya dhImahi .
dhiyO yO nah pracOdayAte ..

ओमापो ज्योती-रसोऽमृतं-ब्रह्म भूर्भुवस्सुवरोम् 



OmApO jyOti rasO’amRutam brahma bhUrbhuvassuvarOm


Learn more chants by Srivatsa Ramaswami HERE




A TRANSLATION OF  THE PRANAYAMA MANTRA


And here's a link to a page that translates (below) and explains the mantra

AUM bhUH, AUM bhuvaH, AUM svaH, AUM mahaH
AUM janaH, AUM tapaH, AUM satyam

AUM, the primordial sound, resides in all elements of the universe. It permeates the earth (-bhUH), water (-bhuvaH), fire (-svaH), air (-mahaH), ether (-janaH), intelligence (-tapaH) and consciousness (-satyam).

AUM tatsaviturvarenyM bhargo devasya dhImahi
dhIyo yo nH prachodayAt.h.

We pay homage to Gayatri, the one who shines like the sun (tat savitur), the one who destroys all our sins through her everlasting and effulgent light. Dear Goddess Gayatri, please illuminate our path towards our higher consciousness and lead us to our true purpose in life

AUM Apo jyotiH rasomRRitaM
brahma bhUR bhuvaH svar AUM..

Please shine your light (-jyotiH) in our path so we may partake of the everlasting nectar (rasomRRitaM) of brahman while chanting the primordial sound, AUM'!



*


Appendix 2. 



Ramaswami's Mantra meditation Newsletter February 2012


MANTRA PRANAYAMA

Considerable amount of literature is now available on Pranayama (from
ancient and contemporary yogis), an important anga of Yoga, even
though a smaller and smaller number of Hatha yogis do a smaller and
smaller number of pranayamas. In fact according to Brahmananda who
wrote an important commentary of Hathayogapradeepika, Hatha yoga is
indeed Pranayama. Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras succinctly gives the
parameters of pranayama along with the benefits. Hathayoga pradeepika
and several other hatha yohga texts talk about a variety of pranayamas
with different ratios in considerable detail and as I said enough
literature is available on pranayama. However since it is also the
anga prior to the antaranga or meditation, parts of yoga pranayama has
been used to prepare oneself for meditation. If in pranayama you can
introduce some noble thoughts for meditation like an uplifting mantra,
bhava thought or an image such pranayamas are called sagarbha
pranayama or pranayama pregnant with lofty ideas. Sri Krishnamacharya
in his “Nathamini's Yoga Rahasya” says that sagarbha pranayama is
several times more beneficial; more than the mechanical pranayama done
generally by hatha yogis.

Sagarbha pranayama done with pranayama mantra from the vedas, which
also includes the potent gayatri as a part of it, has been in vogue
since the vedic times. Sri Krishnamacharya in his yoga work
“Nathamuni's Yoga Rahasya” gives a number of instructions for doing
pranayama towards the end of the first chapter. He commends the use of
Pranava and the pranayama mantra with gayatri while doing pranayama
practice. Usually pranava (OM), the most potent mantra and the mother
of all mantras, as a stand alone mantra is used by renunciates like
consummate yogis and advaitins. And the gayatri impregnated vedic
pranayama mantra is used by householders and others in all pranayama.
In fact Manu in his famous Manusmriti says that the pranayama mantra
which consists of prnava, the seven vyahritis, the gayatri and the
head or siras portion should be recited while holding the breath in
Kumbhaka three times to be called as pranayama. Sri Krishnamacharya
also emphasizes the need to meditate on the meaning of the mantras
like the suggestion of Patanjali in YS.

Most people who do ritualistic pranayama in India use the pranayama
mantra referred to earlier. Manusmiti says as follows

“sa vyahritim sa pranavaam
gayatriim sirasa saha
trifpateth ayataf pranah
pranayamassa uchyate

Here is the translation“Pranayama is that in which the seven vyahritis
(bhuh bhuvaha...) each preceded by pranava (OM) then the gayatri, then
the siris are (silently) recited.”

It should be chanted (silently) while holding the breath (kumbhaka).
When it is done three times it is called panayama. The pranayama
mantra is 64 syllables and takes about 20 seconds to chant, more or
less. The verse quoted above says three times and some interpret it as
chanting the mantra three times while holding the breath, but
generally it is chanted once and three such pranayamas will make one
bundle of pranayama. If you try to do the chant thrice in one go it
would taken a minute and holding the breath for one minute could be a
real challenge to most and so most people stick to the earlier
option.

What about the duration for inhalation and exhalation? Sri
Krishnamacharya says in Yoga Rahasya that it should be vishamavritti
indicating that the time duration for inhalation exhalation and breath
holding would vary. So many go by the 1:4:2 ratio.

One may inhale for 5 seconds then chant the mantra during internal
holding for 20 seconds and then exhale for 10 seconds. The breath
holding after exhalation is considered a hathayoga practice and many
orthodox people who do pranayama as part of the Puja or Japa ritual
dispense with bahya kumbhaka and the bandhas. The quickie pranayama is
three times but it is recommended that on should do 10 times the
samantra pranayama.  (Contrast this with the hathayoga approach of
going up to 80 times mantraless pranayama).

Since children sometimes as young as 5 were initiated into vedic
studies, it becomes obligatory for them to do sandhya and hence mantra
pranayama and silent gayatri chant. But then because they are young
they may not be taught to do calibrated pranayama. Usually in course
of time they would learn to do long inhalation and exhalation say in
nadishodhana. Later they will be taught the whole vishamavritti
pranayama as explained earlier.

So the mantra is chanted silently in pranayama. But most people just
chant the mantra without the pranayama--they may merely touch the nose
but not do the pranayama. So we have one set of people who do
pranayama without mantras as most hatha yogis do and another group
especially in India who chant the mantra faithfully but do not do the
prnayama at all and thus both lose out. It even led the much revered
previous Sankaracharya of Kanchi to remark that if only Indians would
hold the breath (kumbhaka) rather than just touch/hold the nose they
would all become great yogis and spiritual persons.

My Guru also said that when doing any mantra in japa, in pranayama or
meditation, one should think of the meaning or import of the mantra.
That makes it lot more powerful and meaningful. What does this mantra
signify, many times we get initiated into a mantra routine without
knowing what it means. All yogis know that Patanjali insists on
contemplating on the meaning of pranava when doing pranava japa to get
the grace of Iswara.

“Om Bhuh, om bhuvah, om suvah, om mahah, om janah, om tapah, om
satyam; then the gayatri and then the siras which runs like this, ”om
apah jyoti rasah amrtam brahma bhurbhuvassuvarom” is the pranayama
mantra. This mantra appears in Mahanarayana Upanishad, the last
chapter of Yajur veda. This upanishad also contains several beautiful
mantras used on a daily basis like the offering to the five pranas
(before taking food), meditating within the heart etc. I got the whole
chapter (about 45 minutes of continuous chanting) recorded some 25
years back by “Sangeetha” and I believe it is available in some stores
in Chennai, India. You may learn the pranayama mantra—visit my website
www.vinyasakrama.com/chants and click on the “Learn Pranayama Mantra
chant” tab.

So what is the meaning of this wonderful pranayama mantra? Again there
are different interpretations. The conventional meaning for the seven
vyahritis is seven different worlds starting with the world we live in
to six other higher worlds. But the word loka is interpreted in a more
esoteric sense by a few scholars. They say that the words loka and
look are derived from the same root . And the seven lokas are the
seven perceptions of the ultimate reality which is Brahman the pure
non changing consciousness.

So this approach which gels with the advaita philosophy would be as
follows: According to the Upanishads, Brahman in its pristine state is
alone and there was no time or space (aksha and avakasha) in
contention. The Brahman once thought that it should become many
(bahusyam praja yeyeti). Then in the next stage It deeply contemplated
as to how it should create the universe and make many microcosmic
individual consciousness. This state was known as the stage of tapas
of the Brahman (sa tapo tapyata). Then after deep contemplation and
planning It created the entire Universe (idam sarvam asrujata). After
this creation the Brahman entered and permeated the entire Universe
(tat eva anupravisat) and every being as the individual Self.

The seven vyahrutis are considered as representing the seven states of
the same consciousness four at the microcosmic level and three at the
cosmic level. So when doing pranayama during breath holding
internally, one would say 'om bhuh', contemplate on the consciousness,
represented by pranava or 'om during the waking state. Then as the
second vyahriti 'om bhuvah ' is recited, one would think of the same
consciousness being aware of the individual dream state.

'om suvah” would refer to the same consciousness witnessing the deep
sleep stage. Om mahah, the fourth vyahriti is the consciousness beyond
the three earlier mentioned known amongst the vedantins as the fourth
state of the mind (turiya) or the yogi's kaivalya state. The same
consciousness now is identified with the Brahmana that created the
Universe (Om Janah). Then the next mantra, the sixth “Om tapah” would
represent the Brahman as one deeply contemplating and finally the
pristine state of consciousness “Om satyam” the one and only Brahaman.
With this the abhyasi is able to identify and meditate upon the same
one Brahaman as seen in different states. The theory that there is
only one consciousness that exists both at the cosmic and at the
microcosmic level is the bedrock of the advaita (No two
conciousnesses) viewpoint. So an advaitin while doing pranayama is
able to reinforce the advaitic conviction.

Then the second part of the pranayama mantra is the gayatri mantra. It
again refers to the ultimate reality as the inner light. Just as the
sun with its lustrous orb lights the entire world, the Brahman/Self
lights the entire chitta or the internal world of the meditator, so
that the chitta vrittis are experienced or 'seen' in the mind's eye .

The last portion known as the siras or the head, is an encomium to the
ultimate Brahman. It refers to It as OM., pure consciousness, the
universal light, the essence of the entire Universe, immortal
(unchanging), the source of the universe, and is known to the
individual as the inner Self during the three states of waking, dream
and deep sleep.

This meaning of the pranayama mantra is vividly brought to the mind as
the pranayama mantra is recited silently during antah kumbhaka. Then
it is known as samantraka or sagarbha pranayama. According to Manu
this samantra pranayama is the greatest Tapas/meditation.

It is said that those who are well versed in the chakras are able to
identify the seven vyahritis with the seven chakras in the body using
the respective bijakshara or seed mantras. Some make an effort   to
visualize the cosmic Brahman  in the seven chakras in the microcosm
itself.

There are other types of mantras used. For instance saivaites tend to
chant the siva mantras as they hold the breath as mentioned in the
Tamil Saiva classic “Tirumandiram”. The mantra “sivasiva” of four
syllables is chanted 16 times during one breath hold corresponding to
64 syllables as in the pranayama mantra referred to earlier.

Here is a pranayama for renunciates:

While doing puraka or inhalation the thought would be that the entire
universe is ultimately drawn into the Brahman. Then while in
antahkumbhaka the contemplation would be that the outside Universe and
I are no different from the Brahman. Then while exhaling the ego “I'
with the entire Universe is discarded as nothing but an illusion, not
real, not significant. And in bahya kumbhaka one would contemplate
that pure Brahman alone is real, It alone exists.

Those who believe in the reality of world and the trinity (Brahma,
Vishnu and Siva), would use pranayama to reinforce their faith.

Inhaling through the left nostril one should think of the four faced
Brahma the creator aspect of the trinity and of blood red hue (rajas
guna) while chanting Om 16 times. Then closing both the nostrils  and
holding the breath in  kumbhaka one should think of the white colored
(satva guna) Hari, the protector/sustainer chanting pranava 64 times.
Then while exhaling through the right nostril one should meditate on
Siva of dark color (tamo guna) chanting pranava 32 times. Then one
should start inhaling through the right nostril for 16 matras chanting
pranava 16 times and continue the pranayama for a predetermined number
of times with both mantra and bhava.

Different smritis and very old yoga texts refer to a variety of
pranayamas with and without mantras. Almost all the puranas have a
section on yoga which describe different asanas and pranayamas. (I
think with all this evidence one may say with some conviction that
Yoga is more than 100 years old). For more information on pranayama
you may consider referring to my book “Yoga for the Three Stages of
Life” pages 189 to 211.

Sri Krsishnamacharya's Yoga teachings were unique and very rich. In
Vinyasakrama asana practice, breath synchronization with slow
movements is an essential element. One would start the movement with
the beginning of inhalation or exhalation and complete the movement
with the completion of that breathing phase. The time taken in actual
practice may be between 5 to 10 or 12 seconds depending on one's
capacity and control. If it goes below 5 seconds one would stop the
practice and rest to regain the vinyasa krama acceptable breath. My
Guru, Sri T Krishnamacharya would say 'breathe with hissing sound' (a
la cobra, refer to ananta samapatti in YS) or 'with a mild rubbing
sensation in the throat'.

In this way, with long deep inhalation and exhalation, the intercostal
muscles are stretched and toned up and by the time pranayama is
started the accessory muscles of breathing are well exercised so that
one has a well oiled breathing apparatus for a very productive
pranayama practice. And while doing pranayam introduction of mantras
and bhavas helps to bring the mind to a focus which will be of
considerable help when one starts the meditation process. Thus Sri
Krishnamacharya following the tradition of yoga described in old yoga
texts like the yoga sutras, the puranas, smritis and other ancient
texts helped to understand and achieve the best of an outstanding
ancient system called Yoga.

You may access the earlier Newsletter by visiting my website
www,vinyasakrama.com and clicking on the Newsletter tab. Any comments
or suggestions please e mail to

Best wishes

Sincerely
Srivatsa Ramaswami


Krishnamacharya's Mysore Yoga students 1941 Yoga demonstration photos

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In 1941 Life magazine featured a demonstration of Yoga in Mysore by Krishnamacharya's students. photos by Wallace Kirkland.

1941 was also the year Krishnamacharya published his 'original' Ashtanga vinyasa book Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941) which includes the table of asana divided into three groups, Primary, Middle and Proficient.

Page 1 of the Table of asana - see HERE for the full table


The translation of the book is now complete and is available from my Free Downloads page.

See also the full text on the Yogasangalu translation project page


*
This is Real Yoga

from Life Magazine 22nd February 1941



Speaking of Pictures
...This is Real Yoga

"These pictures present a catalogue of 20 of the countless contorted postures by which the soul of an Indian yogi seeks to escape from the mortal imprisonment of it's human body. They show yoga not in the side-show of a bearded street fakir, but as practiced in it's pure form  by lithe young devotees of an ancient and honourable religion. This is the second set of pictures to be published from the hundreds taken by LIFE Photographer Wallace Kirkland on a sixth-month expedition into the strange museum of human achievement and eccentricity that is India ( The first set was Photographer Kirkland's call on the Viceroy of India Life January 27.)

   Yoga via Aryan family connections, is the present word for the English word "Yoga" and means just that. Yoga seeks to yoke the soul of the individual to the all-pervading soul of the universe. This beatitude is achieved only after death by one who during life has thoroughly extinguished the esential will to live. It may be tasted before death in the ecstatic trance which a practiced yogi can achieve by a lifetime of physical and mental discipline. Unlike other Hindu cults, yoga postulates no mere ascetic subjugation of the body to the yearning of the soul. It's catalogue of contortions is best understood as exercises which seek to make the body healthy, serene and free from disease and disorder that distract the soul with carnal concerns.

    The yogi shown here were photographed at the school in Mysore which received liberal support of the Sri Krishnaraja Narasimharaja Wodeyar Bahuder Maharaja of Mysore and india's greatest prince. Demonstrated are advanced postures, such as few yogi today take the time to master. They are assumed in calm, deliberate fashion, held for long intervals. Each pose is thought to bestow it's own special benefit, but the general result is a physique as well toned as any US athlete's. They give also the most extraordinary control over both the voluntary and involuntary musculature. A typical example is the control of the diaphragm, by which a yogi can reduce respiration from about 1,100 an hour to 70 and, with the help of mental discipline, attain blissful trance union with the soul of the universe." Life Magazine (22nd February 1941).

*Notice the reference to the long stays in asana and the slowing of the breath


Original cover


Photos from the magazine article

Set 1







Set 2
T R S Sharma




 



Set 3





Set 4









Set 5






Set 6






*



New Mysore Traditions Movie Trailer and why go to Mysore

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Great new look at the Mysore Yoga Traditions movie currently in production, looking beautiful, and a whole bag full of quotes in this trailer alone. I'm going to need a bigger notebook when it finally comes out.

Perhaps I'm inclined to go to Mysore after all, do my practice in my room then go around and try to hear more about yoga from some of these fascinating Mysore Yoga teachers.

Mysore Yoga Traditions Official Trailer from Dallos Paz on Vimeo.

"Mysore Yoga Traditions is an inquiry into the cultural background of yoga in Mysore, how it has evolved, and the philosophy upon which this global practice rests. The film will be an intimate glimpse into the yoga of Mysore as the elders, scholars, philosophers, yogis and spiritual leaders of the community express their views on what yoga is, its original intention, and how they feel about the way it is being taught and practiced around the world. Much has been said about yoga in Mysore by western scholars. Now it is time for the people who are the keepers of this vibrant yoga tradition to speak about how they see their own legacy."from the webite

It would be great if somebody organised a Mysore 'confluence' or 'festival', two weeks or better still a month where you could just turn up and attend public talks by some of the teachers and practitioners we see here. A two tier pass perhaps so you could include asana or pranayama or just attend lectures/talks. We focus on asana but really, it has so little to do with yoga (or does it), breathe through your asana practice, include some straight forward pranayama (nadi sodhana), then go learn (seek to better understand) some (your) yoga. 


BNS Iyengar

I'm happy enough with my asana practice, with my pranayama...., I'm sure an Iyengar teacher could make my asana better aligned, that Simon (Borg-Olivier), could make my asana choices and approach more beneficial anatomically and physiologically but it'll....do, an ongoing work in practice. I have no desire to learn more asana ( I've let go of plenty in preference to a slower practice), no wish for strong adjustments, to go deeper into a posture ( why for heaven sake), no need of promotional, tricks, floats and/or flourishes, my steady, comfortable, familiar physical practice feels quite sufficient.


But yoga, what it is and why it is and what/where it's directed and why that should be relevant/desirable to me? That strikes me as worth traveling to Mysore to reflect upon. To reflect more deeply on Yama/niyama, on how to live and practice in this world. Are the responsibilities of the householder also to concern oneself with the location of that household, to make it, safe and good and just... for all, not merely those within the household, your household..., before one retires to the metaphorical forest and pass the task along? How does one work with withdrawing the senses, how do we support that hardest perhaps of practices? Is Hatha really of any relevance or did Krishnamacharya ultimately distract us, do I, should I, want to be free (kaivalya)? What is the experience of progressing through the sheaths and are they a model that's still of value, is the subtle body model of any benefit to us today or should we just abandon it and go back before the 8th century or so and the models construction, go back before kundalini, before sushuma, before bindi? What was Mysore yoga then? And is Mysore yoga really any different from the yoga of my own culture, traditions and world view? where are the similarities, the resources I already have within me, the amrita/ambrosia in the marrow of my own bones and being? Is there any reason to leave this lake, my own Manasarova and what it can teach me?

Is there any reason to leave this lake, my own Manasarova and what it can teach me of yoga?



On being asked to teach Vinyasa Krama to an 'Ashtangi'

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I received a letter last night asking if I would be prepared to teach some Vinyasa Krama, over a month or two, here in Japan, to a visiting Ashtanga practitioner (who practices Ashtanga Primary series). Below is my response, I thought it might be useful for others interested in Vinyasa Krama as I (currently) understand/view it.

Mtyresponse in Courier font, additions in Times.


Dear  XXXX

Thank you for your mail and your interest but I'm really not a yoga teacher, though I may have taught a few workshops in the past.

Given that you live in the States I believe it would be so much more beneficial to spend a week or ten days with Ramaswami on one of his workshop/intensives (Ramaswami's schedule). You are so lucky to have him there in the US.

Perhaps if he was no longer with us I might consider teaching more.

I don't live in Osaka but in a small country village and travel into Osaka to my job as an English teacher.


'VINYASA KRAMA ASANA'

Note: In Vinyasa Krama we don't tend to practice the Ashtanga Suryanamaskar so much, perhaps the mantra version, or possibly with the 2 hour surya namaskar chant on Sundays. 

I though, still practice my Ashtanga sun salutations out of habit and for general fitness given the fewer jump back and throughs in Viyasa Krama

We generally begin practice with some simple movements in tadasana. I tend to include a few of these before my sun salutations. Below a video of a ten minute version, I may do a few less movements, five minutes worth say. On my Youtube channel there is the full fifty minute Vinyasa Krama Tadasana sequence https://youtu.be/EEHx32PUfdY.


One of the things I've tried to communicate in my book and on my blog is that if you are practicing Ashtanga then you are already practicing Vinyasa Krama. The Ashtanga Primary series is made up of Vinyasa Krama subroutines. 


Example of subroutines in Ashtanga primary Series.


For it to 'look' more like Vinyasa Krama all you need to do is cut out most of the jump backs and through ( perhaps just between each subroutine) and breathe much more slowly (around 8-10 seconds for both inhalation and exhalation, perhaps take three breaths if required to enter a posture rather than folding straight in. Stay for longer in certain key postures, paschimottanasana, maha mudra, sarvangasana, sirsasana. There are some movements/variations options in head and shoulder stand that are a little different from Primary but otherwise Primary series makes for an ideal Vinyasa Krama practice, except that breathing more slowly and occasionally staying longer in a posture will likely mean you will have to divide a Primary series over two or even three days. 

On another day you might practice those first few back stretching postures from Ashtanga 2nd series, Salambhasana,Urdhva dhanurasana, ustrasana, which is also a Vinyasa krama subroutine.


Vinyasa Krama Bow sequence subroutines, similar to the first half of Ashtanga Intermediate series


The sequences Ramaswami presents in his workshop and book are for teaching and training purpose only, once you have an idea of how the asana relate to each other, build up to, and then extend beyond the key asana you would then just choose the appropriate asana  and subroutines for you each morning. Pattabhi Jois (perhaps Krishnamacharya) has already done that for us with Primary and Second Ashtanga series. 

For me, with the occasional modifications, and perhaps partly due to familiarity and affection, I find the Ashtanga series appropriate. They of course closely match the order the asana as placed in Krishnamacharya table of asana in yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941).









An integrated practice

Perhaps the biggest difference is that Vinyasa Krama is more of an integrated practice. 

Although some more experienced Ashtanga practitioners do include Pranyama, Sitting etc. Actually many beginner Ashtanga practitioners already have a Sitting practice from another tradition, Zen, vipassana etc. I have a  Zen monk friend Hyon Gak Sunim who has  only recently come to Ashtanga


Mirror of Zen /// A Day in the Moment of a Modern Zen Monk from Christine Schmitthenner on Vimeo.


So after your slower, modified, half Primary and perhaps 36 or 108 rounds of kapalabhati breathing, practice, 6, 12, 20 rounds of nadi shodhana with the pranayama mantra on the kumbhaka ( see my pranayma page for the mantra), sit for five minutes in Shanmukhi Mudra turning the senses inwards and then sit and meditated on a mantra, say Om hrim namashivaya, for 10, 20, 30, 40 minutes. 


Of course if you haven't practiced pranayama before you will need to build up to it, 3-6 months of nadi shodhana without kumbhaka just as Sharath suggests, then (perhaps after discussing it with your doctor)start to introduce a kumbhaka after the inhalation - checking your pulse for any dramatic increase in heart rate.


'VINYASA KRAMA' PRANAYAMA

So start with 

nadi shodhana

4s inhalation, 8s exhalation

 then 

5s, inhalation 10 exhalation

finally after a few months or when twelve rounds of that is comfortable, introduce kumbhaka

4s inhalation, 4s kumbhaka, 8s exhalation

5s, inhalation 5s kumbhaka, 10 exhalation

5s, inhalation 10s kumbhaka, 10 exhalation

at this point, if the pranayama mantra interests you you could split the mantra into three, spread over each stage

5s, inhalation 15s kumbhaka, 10 exhalation

mantra chanted quickly on the kumbhaka

finally

5s, inhalation 20s kumbhaka, 10 exhalation

which is the standard pranayama Ramaswami teaches.

6/12/20 rounds of that after asana each morning

or twenty rounds four times a day if committed and traditional.



'Vinyasa Krama' Pratyahara (5 to 10 minutes)

Shanmukhi Mudra is pretty much automatic, once you engage the mudra the mind automatically turns inwards, to internal sounds for example. 
I chose Shanmukhi Mudra for the cover of my book
rather than a fancy asana



'VINYASA KRAMA' MEDITATION


As for Sitting. Ramaswami teaches Japa, with the mantra 

Om hrim namashivaya

But you could use any Samatha (calm abiding) approach, sitting with the breath, Zen.... 

If and when Samadhi ever arises THEN, it gets tricky and you have to start applying your samadhi to different objects. See Patanjali.

That's basically Vinyasa Krama, it tends to be practiced at home rather than in a studio or with a teacher, no need to stress about fancy techniques to attain postures, visualisations, and/or be obsessed with alignment, just let the breath align you, choose an easier variation of an asana from Ramaswami ( or my) book if required.


YAMA/NIYAMA

Reflect on the yama/niyama as much as possible or the cultural moral/ethical codes of your own upbringing and perhaps each evening before falling asleep, with compassion, reflect on how far your day fell within them.

This is Patanjali Ashtanga Yoga, Hatha is something else altogether with different goals and objectives, hatha deals with bindu and/or kundalini and/or prana, Patanjali is concerned with developing focussed concentration that can then be applied to gain knowledge of the self.


VINYASA KRAMA RESOURCES

Hope that helps, I really hope you manage to make it to Ramaswami at some point, all of the above will make a little more sense but if you practice Primary, have seen my book, have read closely Ramaswami's book(s) and or seen some of my videos or those with Ramaswami teaching I would suggest you have all you need, the rest is practice.

Ramaswami's Yoga Beneath the Surface answers any questions you might possibly have,

his book

Yoga for the three stages of Life is an absolute treasure,


his Complete book of Vinyasa Yoga is excellent as a reference for choosing modified postures to Primary.


Best wishes for you practice and travels


Sincerely

Anthony


PS. As this reply has become longer and more detailed than I expected when I started, I think I might turn it into a blog post. Hope that's OK

Yoga teaches itself, or should.

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Sit on the edge of your chair, 
breath in, 
breathe out twice as slowly, 
follow the breath with your mind.

That is surely all you ever REALLY need to teach/suggest, everything else follows from this, it's practice teaches itself.


After a time the breath will slow further, you will notice the breath more as you move about your day, movements align with the breath and you might try some other simple, more formal, movements... with the breath. You might find ways to sit more comfortably, for longer, practice for longer, you might try breathing through one nostril and out of the other.... or not. You might notice the natural pause between the inhalation and exhalation and attend to that as much as to the inhalation and the exhalation, you might sit and focus on that stillness, the infinite between inhalation and exhalation, or you might focus on one point that feels natural, comfortable to you, you might forget about the breath altogether and focus more on that one point. The feeling of peace and calm, of contentment perhaps, that comes from this, from just sitting, might allow you realise that this is perhaps sufficient, and as attachments drop away compassion might arise for those who are as wrapped up in their attachments as you were. Samadhi might arise within you, a profound contentment and experience of sufficiency. As your samadhi becomes stable, consistent, it might naturally direct itself at the objects of the senses, at the senses themselves, at the mind, all dropping away until all that remains is awareness itself.

It's Euclid, everything follows.


The Vitruvian Man  by Leonardo da Vinci around 1490
inspired by the architect Vitruvius

A pretty a picture than the first page of Euclid



On question from the comments on the previous post


Anonymous 

"Grim, if you don't teach, why the meticulous syllabus above (the previous post on teaching Vinyasa krama to an Ashtangi)? Bit ironic. Is it just that you don't have the time to teach physically?"

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My Reply

I'm not sure where sharing practice ends and teaching begins Anon. I don't teach yoga, not regularly, not currently. The blog has always been about sharing my own practice, experience(s).

My inclination is always towards solitary home practice. As a teacher I would be kicking everyone out of the shala after a couple of weeks and suggesting they check-in perhaps in a year or so, the shala would be bankrupt in a week.... or my thinking would change which perhaps worries me the most and perhaps why I resist teaching.

Money/livelihood and yoga don't/shouldn't mix, in my mind.

That said, I understand that not everyone can practice at home (circumstance, kids, space etc.), or that some may require the little extra motivation that the company of others can bring..., in the beginning.

The problem I feel is that many (most?) 'teachers', whether intending (realising? ) it or not, tend to try to hold on to their students, suppress the awareness that one could and perhaps should be practicing yoga alone and at home.

Even right at the 'top', the inclination/motivation is to preserve a system of asana.

Ashtanga Vinyasa, by accident perhaps, is almost designed to keep students coming back for asana practice...., deepen the asana, improve alignment, the next asana, the next series ( and the next for those whose bodies are flexible enough). Support the community, don't miss a practice, go to Mysore, go again... and again.

Then we have the 'international yoga teachers' who promote themselves and their workshops/merchandise, through asana, maintaining the focus on asana, the next asana, the next series.

And of course, if one IS interested in pranayama, feels ready for pranayama (despite being told more and more asana first), then the one pranayama is not enough for a teacher, you need pranayama workshops, intensives, books, dvds to teach all these other marketable Hatha pranayama's. To make it worthwhile, you need a pranayama series.

What did those Raja yogi's do/practice before Hatha came along.

Yoga?


It can take ten years to learn
 that what we really need to do
 is unlearn 99% of what we learned 
in those ten years.


If the class was half a series worth of asana followed by twenty minutes of simple, straight forward, pranayama, forty minutes of Sitting..., and given that the asana are always the same in ashtanga, would students keep coming back six days a week or would the system collapse, would they just practice at home, come once a week say, once a month, would that support a shala, a teacher?

I would be/am tempted to teach such a class once a week, once a month and encourage home practice the rest of the time, success for me would be marked by a mostly empty class.

I've never understood the pride in having the BIGGEST Ashtanga program in...wherever.

I have great affection for those who merely provide a space, almost taking a vow of poverty to do so, for those who require one for practice.

The 'meticulous syllabus' you mention that  I share above (on the previous post teaching Vinyasa krama to an Ashtangi) is so one can practice at home without me teaching because I don't believe you need a teacher, practicing this teaches itself, deepens itself.



Sit on the edge of your chair, breath in, breathe out twice as slowly, follow the breath with your mind.

That is surely all you ever REALLY need to teach/suggest, everything else follows from this, it's practice teaches itself.

After a time the breath will slow further, you will notice the breath more as you move about your day, movements align with the breath and you might try some other simple, more formal, movements... with the breath. You might find ways to sit more comfortably, for longer, practice for longer, you might try breathing through one nostril and out of the other.... or not. You might notice the natural pause between the inhalation and exhalation and attend to that as much as to the inhalation and the exhalation, you might sit and focus on that stillness, the infinite between inhalation and exhalation, or you might focus on one point that feels natural, comfortable to you, you might forget about the breath altogether and focus more on that one point. The feeling of peace and calm, of contentment perhaps, that comes from this, from just sitting, might allow you realise that this is perhaps sufficient, and as attachments drop away compassion might arise for those who are as wrapped up in their attachments as you were. Samadhi might arise within you, a profound contentment and experience of sufficiency. As your samadhi becomes stable, consistent, it might naturally direct itself at the objects of the senses, at the senses themselves, at the mind, all dropping away until all that remains is awareness itself.


It's Euclid, everything follows.


That said, I know there are wonderful Ashtanga vinyasa teachers out there who aren't really teachers at all perhaps but service providers, maintaining a space, giving a little guidance where necessary and letting the practice teach itself, deepen itself.

There are 'teachers' (enablers, facilitators?) who encourage, give guidance and support in meditation, who make moving on to meditation as natural an option as the next asana/series.

Teachers who preserve the the system of practice they love, just as they learned it themselves, passing it along to others in the belief it might benefit others as they feel it has benefitted them.

Some wonderful teachers in Yoga therapy, who have studied the body deeply and can give relief. Yoga culture teachers, chanting teacher, sanskrit teachers.

I see benefit in welcoming somebody for a day or two who wants to explore such an approach to practice, see the benefit in offering a workshop occasionally to share this perspective. I feel an obligation to pass along the approach to practice that Ramaswami shared with me from his teacher Krishnamacharya as well as my own research into his life and my practice of his Yoga Makaranda instruction, I hope I fulfil that obligation here on the blog to some degree.

But I do also see people around me, the elderly especially, who might benefit from what little I do know about moving the body and am considering sharing some of that knowledge, teaching some movements.... if I can learn enough not to do more harm than good.

Ageing - March 2017 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami Plus links to some other posts on ageing.

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"Surely healthy lifestyle, yoga practice will certainly help slow the the ageing process but one has inevitably to come to terms with the process of ageing". Ramaswami

My photo choice not Ramaswami's.
Krishnamacharya at 84 - see http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2015/02/krishnamacharya-practicing-at-84.html post
Photos from krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu see my Free Download page


Right now I am teaching a 15 day 100 hr Teacher Training program in Vinyasakrama Yoga. 60 hrs of asana vinyasas, 20 hrs of pranayama,yoga for internal organs and introduction to dharana meditation and then a 20 hr component of Yoga Sutras constitute the entire program. This is being organized by Yiga Vahini in Chennai. Last year I did the same program for Yoga Vahini in Chennai. I will be doing the same 100 hr Vinyasakrama Yoga program for Yoga Institute in Sydney Australia from April 22nd of this year. The registration is open. Here is the link
http://yogainstitute.com.au/april-22-2017-100hr-advanced-vinyasakrama-yoga-training-program/

Ageing

Changes take place all the time. Patanjali recognizes three changes or transformations called parinama-s.One is changes in a person due to circumstances called avastha parinama. Then the changes that come about due to efflux of time called lakshana parinama. Then of course transformations brought about by specific individual efforts on oneself. These specific activities which help to brings about fundamental changes of dormant but inherent qualities or dharmas are called dharma parinama-- like with yogic practice one is able to transform a habitually distracted mind to a mind or chitta which can remain in a state of intense focus called ekagrata. This transformation is called ekagrata parinama.

Everyone goes through the changes brought about by time.These changes or avastha parinama are seen over a period of time. Black hair turns grey or thins.The skin loses moisture slowly and becomes wrinkled. Muscles lose their tone and start sagging. Ageing signs are unmistakable

Just as changes are visible, there are invisible changes taking place inside the body with time. My Guru would say that several internal organs including the heart tend to get displaced from their positions over a period of time and these changes and regular inversions(sirsasana, sarvangasana) would help to slow down the descent of these organs. But one also would understand that the changes to the various vital organs may be retarded by Yoga and healthy lifestyle but can not be prevented altogether.

Cells age and become less efficient. Further old cells die and may not be replaced. This leads the vital organs to function less well. In some organs some cells die but are not replaced and thus render it less efficient. The intercostal and other accessory muscles of breathing including the diaphragm become weak. The lungs also become weak and unable to fight infections like pneumonia, pleurisy etc. The kidneys tend to shrink and this leads to many complications. The heart and the blood vessels start losing their elasticity. There is an all round decline in health as one ages. Surely healthy lifestyle, yoga practice will certainly help slow the the ageing process but one has inevitably to come to terms with the process of ageing.

There are several systems that are said to be helpful in coming to terms with the process of ageing and the inevitable termination.The Vedic philosophies Samkhya, Yoga and Vedanta reveal the stunning truth about the real self. The real self which is unwavering consciousness or awareness and in the midst of the ageing of all parts of the body it remains without an iota of change, they declare. That is the truth about oneself and they commend that one start considering the atma as the self and not the decaying body. Thus while all parts of the body decay, the core of each one -the self- does not undergo any change and thus is immortal. Could this awareness be a way to meet the depressing changes of old age and the inevitable end to the body?

Srivatsa Ramaswami
--
http://groups.google.com/group/vinyasa-krama

See my Ramaswami Resource Page at the top of the blog


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See also my Iyengar post on ageing...  


My page at the top of the blog....


And perhaps my previous post on the goal of Ashtanga yoga..., another reminder that asana is but one limb and though we may continue practicing (some) asana throughout our life, for health and fitness, discipline..., as a support for our concentration practice, as we age we may wish to add more focus, give more attention, to the other limbs and the goal of Ashtanga, though we may only travel so far.



but why wait until we are ageing?

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Below my earlier post on Krishnamacharya practicing at Eighty-four,. Krishnamacharya taught an integrated practice, not only asana. Below the aspect of Krishnamacharya practice that we can see, we might wonder at his internal practice after sixty, seventy years of practice, the aspects (limbs) of yoga we can't see.

Krishnamacharya practicing at 84

Photos from krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu see my Free Download page
What does practice look like after 70 years?


Krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu ( Link to translation) was originally published in 1942, these photos are from the 3rd edition 1972





























 


*

Or perhaps practice after 70 years just looks like this...

from Breath of Gods


*These pictures were taken for and added to the 1972 edition of Yogasanagalu putting Krishnamacharya at 84. Krishnamacharya was first taught asanas by his father from when he was six.

See the follow up post here

Krishnamacharya seems to have practiced along with his students.


Yesterday I posted 120 odd pictures of Krishnamacharya demonstrating asana from the 3rd edition of his second book Yogasanagalu, he was 84 at the time. The pictures were remarkable, how did he manage to stay that strong, that flexible, his eldest son Desikachar gives us a clue,

".....Of course, he was also doing Āsana for three to four hours daily in addition to his Prāṇāyāma. His practice was extremely rigorous and that may account for his being able to handle these large quantities of spicy and sweet foods.

and the third post in this series

Krishnamacharya's own asana and pranayama practice Plus Krishnamacharya's Life saving practice.

Hatha free Ashtanga Including Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda Raja yoga Kriya's and Mudras.

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This post marks ten years of practice and nine years of blogging about it., see this post

Is Hatha required for the Raja yoga practitioner?


The Yoga Body (Hatha)


Some argue that it is, that Hatha is a 'rung on the ladder' leading to the fulfilment of Raja Yoga, that the goal of Raja yoga cannot be attained WITHOUT Hatha yoga.

This argument, however, tends to be made by Hatha yogis and/or Hatha yoga writers and teachers or those confused as to where Hatha and Raja begin and end. 

James Malinson and Mark Singleton's 'Roots of Yoga' is useful resource for for garnering an improved  understanding as to when tantra and hatha yoga concepts and practices came about. Raja yoga, it seems,  got along quite nicely for hundreds of years before tantra and hatha came along*. Prana (as subtle psychic energy rather than just breath), Bindu, Kundalini, Sushumna, the Yoga body, were /are later concepts and models and not necessarily anything to do with Raja yoga. 

*Patanjali's presentation of yoga may actually have become almost lost until a renewal of interest in the 13th century ,no doubt as a result of the rise of Tantra/Hatha.

Roots of yoga
https://www.amazon.com/Roots-Yoga-Jim-Mallinson/dp/0141394447


I am not suggesting in this post that one yoga methodology is correct another incorrect but rather, seeking to untangle the category mistakes, where we are talking about the objective of one approach to yoga but confusing it with the methodology associated with another that has perhaps a different objective altogether.

"The whole approach of yoga is to help the practitioner to turn inward and understand his/her system, be it the body, the nadis, the mind, or the soul.  Any of these would help to make the yogi less and less interested in the objective universe, and become more and more aware of himself or herself. So it is more a question of an inward journey or study.

Raja yoga urges the yogi to understand his/her's mind and quiet it, so that the mind can see the self forever. 

Hath a yoga would like the prana that is  flowing outward, through the nadis to the senses to experience the exteral world, to flow inward into the sushumna and reach the sahasrara and obtain samadhi. 

Kun­dalini yogis, with some yoga practice and intense visualisation, arouse the sleeping kundalini that obstructs the flow of prana to sushumna, and reach the Siva principie, or tatwa, in tbe sahasrara. This union of sakti with Siva is the aim of Kundalini yogis, and takes place with intense concentration within the yogi. 

The same for Mantra yoga. The Sakta Mantra yogis, by intense devotion and use of the mantras, are able to arouse the kundalini and guide it through the sushumna  for merger with the Siva tatwa.

 All these yogas, as  youu can see, are for the inward journey. All of them promise that, if you are able to reach the goal, the expe­rience is incomparably superior to anything that one gets in this world or the world beyond, like heaven. 

Kundalini yogis say that, when the ultimate union or yoga is accomplished, the yogi expe­riences immense bliss throughout his/her nadis. 

Raja yogis such as Patanjali talk about immense peace in kaivalya. 

In the Mahab­harata, a great epic, it is said that the happiness one gets  from fulfilment of desires, or the happiness one gets by the fulfilment of the desires in the worlds beyond, such as heaven, is, by compar­ison, not even a sixteenth part of the happiness one gets out of the desirelessness (vairagya) toward these objects".
Srivatsa Ramaswami yoga beneath the surface p189


Unfortunately then all these different yoga's are called....Yoga. Not only are their methodologies different but their goals are different, one is to achieve the immortal body, another to achieve union with divine...Raja is to attain liberation through ekigrata, applied one-pointed focus.


"Our ancients, the great rishis, followers of their sanatana dharma from the beginning of time, became experts in yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi, stopped all external movements of the mind, and through the path of raja yoga attained a high state of happiness in this world and beyond. And they continue until this day to experience this". 
Krishnamacharya -Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934)


Krishnamacharya continues...

"But during ancient times, all were skilled yoga practitioners and therefore had good health and strength, were blessed with a long life and were able to serve society". 


So Krishnamacharya starts out talking about Raja Yoga but then starts begins about yoga for health and strength., the territory commonly associated with hatha yoga. Krishnamacharya seems to have assumed that there was some form of physical yoga practice back way before hatha was a glimmer in Tantra's eye.

There may well have been, it seems likely that there were other postures than the handful of seated asana Patanjali/Vyasa seem to refer to. The early ascetics clearly had tapas postures, it's not a stretch to think other postures or exercises were practiced with focus by those early yogis, if only to warm up in the morning or to shake out the limbs after a long sit.

Either way these postures were not to unite prana, conserve bindu or force kundalini into the sushumna...., the sushumna, the yoga body concepts/models hadn't been invented/constructed back then. Nor were the yogi's concerned with achieving bliss, they had their eye on a bigger fish, bliss would have been a lower jana to pass over in seeking kaivalya, liberation, likewise the siddhis that may or may not have arisen as a distraction, a temptation....., a hindrance.

In Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934)  Krishnamacharya at least noted where he believed one practice to be belonging to Hatha yoga another to Raja and we can assume that he is referencing the texts he mentions in his bibliography, mostly later texts. The Yoga Upanishads  he references were hatha influenced, likewise the Yogayajnavalkya that Krishnamacharya had such an affection for.

Krishnamacharya was as confused as anyone else I suspect but he had a principle to work by...,

As long as a practice doesn't contradict Patanjali, go against the aims of the Yoga Sutras, then it might be considered.

In this he perhaps opened the doors to a great deal of confusion. Krishnamacharya was more than happy however to point out where practices in the hatha yoga pradipika for instance should be dismissed.

My own principle/ rule of thumb is to ask: 
To what extent is this is a support for my practice, to what extent a distraction? 

Where Krishnamacharya made an effort to be clear about which practices were hatha and which raja, everyone else since seems happy to have allowed them to bleed into each other such that we have the incoherent, contradictory  confused situation we have today. It seems to have become quite acceptible to cherry pick from one system or another wherever our interest takes us or perhaps the marketing possibilities.

Are we then practicing asana for hatha or for raja objectives, are we seeking to attain one pointedness or to force that kundalini into the sushimna, unite apana and prana, yoke ourselves with the universal. What are we practicing for.

Even here, in our definition of the word 'Yoga' we are confused, there are multiple translations available. Generally, it seems, in the eyes of most modern practitioners Yoga is translated as 'yoke', and interpreted as union, with for example the divine/universal consciousness. For Patanjali/Vyasa..., for Raja yoga the intepretation is to 'yoke the mind', "... it entails yoking the mind on an object of consentration" (Bryant)


Ashtanga Vinyasa



Note: I consider my daily practice to be Raja yoga, Patanjali/Vyasa yoga, the form this happens to take is Ashtanga Vinyasa as presented by Krishnamacharya/Jois ( with a Vinyasa Krama interpretation). I happen to find this form, the relation of the body to the focus on the breath in silent self practice, suitable for me personally. I have never practiced with Pattabhi Jois personally and have no interest in practicing at KPJAYI, my attitude to Krishnamacharya is merely one of curiosity. I refer to Ashtanga Vinyasa in this post but my interest is in a Raja yoga free from later Hatha yoga metaphysics, it may just as well be practiced perhaps in your local studio as in an Ashtanga Shala or, my preference, our own home. I have no involvement with parampara or a guru–shishya tradition, no interest in glorifying the practice or it's teachers past or present, I am merely appreciative. Each morning, before practice I thank "...all teachers and practitioners for bringing me too and maintaining me in my practice".

What does Ashtanga Vinyasa look like to you, do you see a dynamic, fast paced, physically challenging, hot sweaty, tight bodied practice or do you see, when practiced well and modestly, stillness, do you hear the breath? For me it's the latter.

Note: personally I take my practice more slowly, modified, seeking efficiency rather than challenge and in a moderately warm room.

Pattabhi Jois, when asked, allegedly referred to the yoga he taught as Ashtanga, to reference Patanjali, his teacher Krishnamacharya's ground zero, this is pre Hatha.

Many of the criticisms directed at Ashtanga Vinyasa seem to be on account of an assumed failure by Ashtanga Vinyasa and it's teachers/practitioners to focus enough on hatha yoga concepts and practices ( although many creep in perhaps due to a lack of awareness of the distinctions/demarcation between these two yogas, as well as others).

However, Ashtanga Vinyasa is Raja yoga, the later hatha practices are not required. The asana practiced are for health, strength, fitness, concentration and need not be related to the 'Yoga body' model, the asana, the vinyasa, are also a container/a form, for the breath to be focussed upon as an object of meditation

Raja yogi's from other schools in the Krishnamacharya lineage also criticise Ashtanga Vinyasa for not giving, what they may consider, enough stress to the other limbs in Patanjali's yoga. They may have a point. However, it could also be argued that Ashtanga Vinyasa (whether practiced speedily or more slowly), in it's attention to the breath, in following the breath throughout the sixty, ninety, hundred and twenty plus minute of practice is indeed very much in line with Patanjali's guidance. The breath is, for Patanjali /Vyasa a legitimate object of concentration and he instructs us to work on this practice, this focus on an object until samadhi arises...., which may or may not happen in this lifetime.

1.32 To prevent or deal with these nine obstacles and their four consequences, the recommendation is to make the mind one-pointed, training it how to focus on a single principle or object.
(tat pratisedha artham eka tattva abhyasah) http://www.swamij.com/

1.34 The mind is also calmed by regulating the breath, particularly attending to exhalation and the natural stilling of breath that comes from such practice.
(prachchhardana vidharanabhyam va pranayama) http://www.swamij.com/

1.39 Or by contemplating or concentrating on whatever object or principle one may like, or towards which one has a predisposition, the mind becomes stable and tranquil.
(yatha abhimata dhyanat va)  http://www.swamij.com/

Notes on the 1.32 and 1.34, on breath as an object of concentration, from my preferred edition of the Yoga Sutras.











And 1:39 from the excellent Edwin Bryant's Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - with insights from the traditional commentaries.




For some, half a series of asana may be sufficient, boredom not being a distraction, for others ever more asana and series may be required to maintain interest and keep the student on the mat (something some may take advantage of rather than seeking to help overcome).

The Yoga Mat is Ashtanga Vinyasa's Zafu.

That said, the other limbs, can be a support to this practice, the yama and niyama may simplify our lives and give rise to compassion, both may help loosen our attachments and reduce distractions, they can be a support for our asana practice, just as the practice of pranayama may reduce our emotional distractions. and likewise pratyahara and just Sitting in calm abiding with the breath without the distraction of attaining a complicated asana.


At different times in our practice, teachers, fellow practitioners, attending a shala or studio, visiting Mysore, reading relevant texts, taking on more challenging asana or indeed letting go of asana may or may not be found to be a support for our practice, it may equally be that merely attending to the breath, alone and at home, practicing modestly, is more than sufficient.

Patanjali/Vyasa's eight limb (ashtanga) Yoga is a clear, straight forward path/methodology but hard if not near impossible to follow, to stick to/with, there are seemingly endless distractions. The yama/niyama are there to help us with these distractions. Krishnamacharya stressed that the yama/niyama should be engaged with from the beginning. Unfortunately it's often suggest that the yama and niyama can come later, after the asana or late into asana practice.

Asana, rather than being a tool to overcome distraction, to help lead us towards one-pointedness, has for many become the biggest distraction of all, perhaps as a result of this lack of attention to the yamas and niyamas (whether of our own culture/tradition or as outlined by Patanaji). Our inner craving for distraction has been fed upon by the market, we need it seems ever better alignment, more flow, more visualisation, we need ever more anatomy awareness or more understanding of this allegedly related concept/model from the hatha tradition, we need more historical knowledge.

Of course we need none of these. We can sit on the edge a chair and follow the breath, or we can use Ashtanga vinyasa as a tool and move from one asana to the next with enough awareness of anatomy perhaps to keep us safe while bringing our attention constantly back to the breath, whether we practice half a series or six. Nothing else is required.

If samadhi arrises in this lifetime, then we'll need to go back to Patanjali and see what comes next but for most of us, "ekam-inhale....".

Whether we ever attain samadhi or not we can perhaps tread more lightly in the world, be of service, live healthier, calmer lives with focus and concentration that we may direct where we feel is most appropriate. If samadhi arises, so be it if not this perhaps is sufficient.... for this lifetime.


UPDATE: 

from the comments


Shaz2 March 2017 at 22:20

Interesting post, thank you. I am still trying to figure it out. 

What would you say then of a lot of Astanga teachers that teach the movement of prana in asana? So, the 'alignment' is the bringing together of prana and apana, with their associated physical spiralling actions? Richard Freeman and many of his students teach this. Is this then the 'bleeding over' of hatha methodology into the kriya yoga / raja yoga?

And what about the enormous emphasis on mula bandha? Mula bandha is also very much about getting energy into the sushumna. 


Replies


Anthony Grim Hall - 3 March 2017 at 09:17

"Interesting post, thank you. I am still trying to figure it out". Me too.

"What would you say then of a lot of Astanga teachers that teach the movement of prana in asana?" That's what the post is Shaz, my response to this.

Raja and Hatha are separated by hundreds of years Shaz, it's like comparing Plutarch with Roger Bacon, we might call both Philosophers, practicing philosophy both engaged in the search for knowledge but they are as different as chalk and cheese. and I don't fancy attempting to write on a blackboard with a stick of edam or put chalk in my cheese and tomato sandwich.

As I mention above Krishnamacharya was no doubt as confused as everyone else as to Hatha and Raja practices, while emphasising Patanjali and the yoga sutras (Raja) he leaned toward the Yogayajnavalkya a tantra/hatha influenced text. He included hatha mudras and kriyas in his Yoga Makaranda, though distinguishing between them which he believed to belong to hatha and which raja. He seemed to feel that one could bring in certain hatha practices either for the associated healt benefits and/or as a support for Raja yoga. Pattabhi Jois did the same, as you say, stressing the bandhas. 

Am I suggesting we abandon bandha practice, I'm undecided but leaning towards the idea that we can abandon the tantra metaphysics, the hatha goals and yet still chose to include certain practices that have clear benefits for our physical practice. So we can perhaps abandon the hatha concept of prana/apana ( for Patanjali, prana seems just to have referred to the breath, not a subtle psychic energy) and yet hold onto the muscular aspect of bandhas in say their support for the spine in our asana practice.

Re Richard Freeman. If you're a follower of this blog you'll know I love Richard, I find his visualisations beneficial at times for moving in and out of as well as holding postures, I don't however take on board the hatha ideas he writes about concerning prana/apana, kundalini, sushumna or seeking bliss. Richard is interesting in that, as he is the first to say, he brings together several traditions of yoga into the Ashtanga Vinyasa he teaches. Richard studied several different forms of yoga for many years before practicing with Patabbhi Jois.

Is the idea of 'Ashtanga without Hatha', throwing a whole bath full of babies out with the bathwater, possibly but we are in an environment where the market will latch on to anything it thinks it can sell and promote. 

This post is asking if it's still possible to separate out Hatha from Raja. If it's possible today to have an asana practice with a Raja yoga intention without recourse to the tantra metaphysics on which hatha practices are based.

If the answer is yes, and I believe it is, then we can perhaps look at individual hatha practices and, as with the bandhas, consider if their practice is beneficial without regard to the conceptual model which gave rise to them.

But again, this post is not intended to be critical of Hatha or of Tantra, it could equally be a post about practicing Hatha without concern for Patanjali/Vyasa, Samkhya and Raja yoga. Or the even more interesting question perhaps as to whether it's Patanajali/Vyasa's Raja yoga is conceivable without a Buddhist influence.


Appendix 



Note: While I focus on Krishnamacharya here in the appendix, to illustrate the distinction he made between hatha and raja yoga practices, this post is not concerned with the question of what or how Krishnamacharya practiced ( or Jois for that matter)  but whether Raja can be practiced today without recourse to hatha practices

1. Kriya and Mudra practices Krishnamacharya indicated as belonging to Raja Yoga in his Yoga Makaranda ( Mysore 1934)


My suspicion is that Krishnamacharya was not himself sufficiently clear as to the distinction between Raja and Hatha yoga, which texts where tantra inspired/influenced (Yogayajnavalkya?) It would have been difficult to date many of the texts he discovered/encountered. Krishnamacharya's rule of thumb seems to have been that if it didn't go against Patanjali's Yoga Sutras then a practice might be considered. He did however make an effort to indicate which practices he considered hatha and which Raja yoga. Pattabhi Jois perhaps failed to continue indicating these distinctions sufficiently as did BKS Iyengar, the result being that practices from one tradition have been allowed to blend into one another. One Ashtanga vinyasa teacher might consider it beneficial to follow his/her own interest and focus on prana as subtle psychic energy, another on raising kundalini, another on subtle and/or yoga body visualisations, still another on conserving bindu. Chanting mantras, compete with the breath as a focus of attention, likewise chakras, bandhas, praying to Hanuman or Kali or Ganesha, to Ishvara. Students who study with several of these teachers may end up merging several of these approaches, unclear themselves as to where one begins and ends, whether they are consistent with each other or contradictory.

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In Yoga Makaranda, Krishnamacharya lists Kiriyas and Mudras and notes which belong to Raja and which to Hatha yoga. I find it interesting and useful to separate out the different practices and list them under their different traditions, we may get a feel for what seems to characterise each.

Krishnamacharya even makes this distinction in his instructions for janu Sirsasana.

As far as other asana go, we might look at how Pattabhi Jois (Krishnamacharya's assistant for a time) taught asana, perhaps reflecting how Krishnamacharya himself taught the boys of the palace with the focus on strength, health fitness, concentration and contrast it with krishnamacharya's own instruction in Yoga Makaranda, the longer stays, the kumbhakas, perhaps there is an implied distinction between asana for strength and asana for spiritual progress along with the benefits outline that may be considered asana for health.

Personally I'm no longer that interested the practices outlined below. We should remember too that Krishnamacharya was but one scholar, one authority and most likely flawed by the limitations of his research and the information available to him at that time.


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All quotes below from Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934)

There are many types of this yoga — 1. hatha yoga, 2. mantra yoga, 3. laya yoga, 4. raja yoga.
Hatha yoga focusses mainly on descriptions of the methods for doing asanas.
Raja yoga teaches the means to improve the skills and talents of the mind through the processes of dharana and dhyana. It also explains how to bring the eleven indriyas under control and stop their activities in the third eye (the eye of wisdom), the ajn ̃a cakra, or the thousand-petalled lotus position (that is turn their attention inward and not outward) and describes how to see the jivatma, the paramatma and all the states of the universe. But even here it is mentioned that to clean the nadis it is necessary to follow the pranayama kramas.

Asana and pranayama are initially extremely important. But if one wants 21 to master asana and pranayama, it is essential to bring the indriyas under one’s control.
Yoga consists of eight angas which are yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi.


I. Dhauti Kriya

1. Antar Dhauti: This is of four types: vata sara dhauti, vari sara dhauti, vanhi sara dhauti, bahish kritham dhauti.

(a) Vata Sara Dhauti: For this, first hold the mouth like a crow’s beak and gradually suck in the air. Then close the mouth and swallow the air that was sucked in. After this, allowing the air to occupy the stomach, swirl it this way and that in waves as though washing the stomach. Then send it out of the body through the anus or the nose.
Practising this just once isn’t enough to expel the sucked-in air through the anus. Practise this for several days without fail, repeating the activity at least 25 times daily. Then, after a few days it will become possible to expel the air through the anal passage.

Those who do not have the time for this can expel the air through recaka or exhalation of the air out through the nose slowly and care- fully. This will give very good benefits. This vata sara dhauti belongs to raja yoga.


(c) Vanhi Sara Dhauti: The stomach along with the navel should be pulled in to touch and press against (stick to) the spine and then should be pushed forward again. Repeat this several times. While pulling the stomach in, do recaka kumbhaka and while pushing it out do puraka kumbhaka. Practise this before eating. If you want to do this after eating, wait at least three hours. Otherwise it will be dangerous. This exercise needs to be practised daily, repeating it 84 times in a day. This belongs to raja yoga.
    
3.6. SECTION ON THE INVESTIGATION OF SHATKRIYAS 39

kumbhaka. Practise this before eating. If you want to do this after eating, wait at least three hours. Otherwise it will be dangerous. This exercise needs to be practised daily, repeating it 84 times in a day. This belongs to raja yoga.

II Basti Kriya


2. Sthala Basti: Sit in pascimottanasana. Through aswini mudra draw in the vayu and push it out and turn the stomach in all four directions.

Benefit: Constipation, indigestion — such diseases will be destroyed. It will increase jathara agni. This is raja yoga.

2. Vamakrama Kapalabhati Kriya: (left side) Draw in (inhale) the air through the left nostril and exhale it out through the right nostril. Then draw in the air through the right nostril and exhale it out through the left nostril. After you do this four times, draw in clean water through the left nostril. Lift the face up, press the left nostril with the finger, tilt the head slightly to the right side and spill out the water through the right nostril. In a similar manner, the water taken in through the right nostril should be expelled or spilled out through the left nostril.
Benefit: Dripping phlegm diseases (running nose) will be prevented. It will develop the strength of the indriyas to smell even the most subtle smell. This is raja yoga.


IV. Nauli Kriya

The nerves of the lower abdomen are pulled into the stomach and are then rapidly turned around this way and that, to the left and right sides, all around the stomach.
Benefit: Removes all diseases and strengthens digestive power. This is raja yoga.

V. Trataka Kriya

Fix the gaze at one point or object without moving or blinking the eye until it starts to tear.
Benefit: Removes all diseases of the eye; gives good eyesight. Not only that, it develops the power to become adept at sambhavi mudra and will also prevent long sightedness. This is raja yoga.

VI. Kapalabhati Kriya

This is of three types: vyut krama, vama krama and cit krama.

1. Vyutkrama Kapalabhati Kriya: Draw in water through the
nostril and send it out through the mouth. This is raja yoga.

2. Vamakrama Kapalabhati Kriya: (left side) Draw in (inhale) the air through the left nostril and exhale it out through the right nostril. Then draw in the air through the right nostril and exhale it out through the left nostril. After you do this four times, draw in clean water through the left nostril. Lift the face up, press the left nostril with the finger, tilt the head slightly to the right side and spill out the water through the right nostril. In a similar manner, the water taken in through the right nostril should be expelled or spilled out through the left nostril.
Benefit: Dripping phlegm diseases (running nose) will be prevented. It will develop the strength of the indriyas to smell even the most subtle smell. This is raja yoga.


Mudras

7. Mahadeva Mudra: Sit in mula bandha mudra and do kumbhaka in uddiyana bandha.
Benefit: This will increase the jathara agni and you will get the animadi guna siddhi — one of the eight siddhis which is the quality of becoming as minute as an atom. This belongs to raja yoga.


9. Viparita Karani Mudra: Keeping the head on the ground, lift the legs up and hold the entire body straight without bending or curving the body in any direction. This is raja yoga.

13. Tataka Mudra: Sit in pascimottanasana and push the stomach for- ward. This is raja yoga.


15. Sambhavi Mudra: Due to the strength of the traataka abhyasa men- tioned in the shatkriyas, after the eyes have teared profusely, fix the gaze on the mid-brow.

Benefit: This gives rise to ekagrata citta and gives dhyana siddhi. This is raja yoga.


16. Aswini Mudra: Repeatedly close and open the anal opening many times.

Benefit: Cures diseases of the rectum, will render physical strength and sharpness of the intellect, awakens the power of kundalini and conquers untimely death. This is raja yoga.


19. Mathangini Mudra: Stand in water up to the neck. Through the nostrils, draw in water and spit it out through the mouth. Then take in water through the mouth and expel it out through the nose. This is raja yoga.


20. Bhujangini Mudra: Stay in bhujangasana, stretch the neck out in front and according to vata sara krama, pull in the outside air and do puraka kumbhaka.

Benefit: This will remove diseases like indigestion, agni mandam (low agni), stop stomach pain and leave you happy. This is raja yoga.



11 Janusirsasana


This form follows the hatha yoga principles. Another form follows the raja yoga method. The practitioner should learn the di erence. 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 di erence 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 di⇥cult, 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.




2. Kriya and Mudra practices Krishnamacharya indicated as belonging to Hatha or Laya Yoga in his Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934)



(d) Bahish Kritha Dhauti: 
Position the mouth like a crow’s beak and suck in the air to the extent possible. Hold the air in (kumbhaka) and then exhale it out (recaka) through the nostril. This is only for those who are beginning the practice of recaka kumbhaka. Repeat this 25 times a day. This has to be done either before eating in the morning or before eating in the evening. If one keeps increasing the practice of this correctly, it develops the ability to hold the breath (kumbhaka) for long periods. Not only that, it will automatically become possible to expel the air through the anal opening. Once you begin to expel the air through the anal opening, you should not then try to exhale it out through the nose. Through this practice, after acquiring the ability to hold the breath for 1.5 hours, proceed as follows: Standing in water up to the navel, very carefully and cautiously push out the large intestine which is the sakti nadi located in the lower abdomen up to the muladhara cakra through the anal opening. Wash it with water until it is clean and then push it back inside through the same anal opening.
Warning: This kriya is only for hatha yogis and not for raja yogis, laya yogis or mantra yogis.


Jihwa Dhauti: 
Scrub the tongue vigourously using the three fingers of the right hand excluding the thumb and little finger. Spit out all the phlegm that comes out while rubbing the tongue. Afterwards, wash the tongue with water, gargle and rinse the mouth. Then rub cow’s butter on the tongue. After this, with a small iron tong, hold the tip of the tongue lightly and little by little pull it out. This is only for hatha yogis.

Jala Basti: Stand in water up to the navel. Then get into utkatasana and through the strength of kumbhaka, force the water in through the open- ing of the anal canal. Practise this as described and before twelve repeti- tions, su⇥cient water will reach the lower abdomen. After this, following the krama, push the water that is in the abdomen little by little back out through the anal opening. This should be done three times a day.

Benefit: Diabetes, urinary diseases, obstruction of bowels — such diseases caused by bad apana vayu will be removed. One acquires a handsome beautiful physical appearance and the body develops a shine and beauty like that of Manmada. This belongs to hatha yoga.

III. Neti Kriya
Take one span (the length between the thumb and little finger) of thin thread. Suck it in through the nostril and hold the two ends of the thread with the two hands after one end comes out of the mouth. Very carefully (caution!) pull it up and down about 10 — 12 times. This thread should then be removed through the mouth.

Benefit: Removes many types of kapha diseases. It will give good eyesight and will help to become adept at khecari mudra. This is hatha yoga.


Citkrama Kapalabhati Kriya: Take water in through the mouth, swallow it and then expel it out through the nose. This is to be repeated twenty-three times.
Benefit: This will remove diseases of phlegm, will also prevent old age, and will give lustre or brilliance to the body. This is hatha yoga.

All the kapalabhati kriyas should be done with clean, cool (unheated) water. The superior time for practising these kriyas is early in the morning before sunrise. For the first fifteen days of practising these kapalabhati kriyas, there will be a burning sensation in the nose, mouth and throat and you will develop a little phlegm or congestion. Ignoring these symptoms, very faithfully follow the instructions and practise the kriyas. All the benefits mentioned above will be experienced very quickly.

Mulabandha Mudra: 
With the left heel, firmly press the kandasthana which is between the rectum and the genitals and pull the heel in tightly in order to close the anus. Pull in the stomach firmly and press it against the bones in the back (the spine). Bring in the right heel and place it on top of the genitals. This is in hatha yoga.


Khecari Mudra

After first learning the yoga marmas with the help of a satguru who is still practising this, cut 1/12 of one angula measure (width of one hair) of the thin seed of skin at the bottom of the tongue with a sharp knife. Apply a well-powdered paste of sainthava lavanam salt (rock salt) on the area of the cut. Rub cow’s butter on both sides of the tongue, and holding the tip of the tongue with a small iron tong, pull the tongue out carefully, little by little. Repeat this (the pulling) every day. Once a week, as mentioned above, cut the seed of flesh at the base of the tongue very carefully. Practise this for three years. The tongue will lengthen and will easily be able to touch the middle of the eyebrows. After it lengthens this much, fold it inside the mouth, keep it in the cavity which is alongside the base of the inner tongue and fix the gaze on the mid-brow.

Benefit: Hunger and thirst subside without loss of body strength and with- out allowing room in the body for any disease. If practised daily, the body develops a lustre in a few days and one quickly reaches the state of samadhi and drinks the divine nectar. This belongs to hatha yoga.




(b) Vajroli Mudra: 
Form 2: Take a 12 angula long thin glass pipette or lead pipe and through the genital opening insert it and remove it daily, increasing the amount of insertion by one angula each day. After you are able to practise inserting the pipe for a length of twelve angulas, draw in the outside air through such an opening in the genitals. After practising this, eventually draw in milk and then water and then push them out of the body. This is hatha yoga.



Manduka Mudra: 

Keep the mouth closed and fold the tip of the tongue up to the top palate and after this keep moving it this way and that. Catch the nectar dripping from the upper part of the root of the tongue and swallow it. This is hatha yoga.



Pasini Mudra
Take the two legs and place them behind the neck. Extend the arms, and with the support of the outstretched hands placed on the ground, raise the body.
Benefit: Kundalini being kindled nourishes the body. This is hatha yoga.



Kaka Mudra: 
Hold the mouth like a crow’s beak and inhale and pull
in the outside air into the stomach.
Benefit: All diseases will be eliminated and you will have a long life like a
crow. This is hatha yoga.




Laya yoga

(b) Vari Sara Dhauti: Pure hot water or cold water should be drunk until the stomach is full and the water reaches almost up to the neck. Swirl the water in the stomach this way and that, up and down. Then pull in the stomach forcefully and push it out, sending the water out through the anal opening. This belongs to laya yoga. This kriya can be mastered by practising it several times daily.


Ashtanga Vinyasa in Mysore: Patabbhi Jois' Nephew M.S. Viswanath (Masterji) - Interview

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Masterji - Modern day ashtanga has no meaning at all. What they are going telling, talking, teaching; today this modern ashtanga is meaningless.

Interviewer -You think?

I'm not thinking, it is the truth (we both laugh).

Interviewer - Why do you think it is meaningless? What is missing?

Everything of yoga is missing. Basically when you want to do yoga mind should be controlled. Where is the control of the mind? And it is an internal experience. We have to experience what is happening. It is not a show business. 

It is not a show, "Oh I'm doing this, I can do that, I can do this. How he is learning I should also do." This is not in yoga. People think that this is yoga. When in Mysore the students come here I explain them and they slowly change their attitude, they get involved in the traditional practice.





Part of a series of posts on Ashtanga Vinyasa teachers in Mysore.

First up Pattabhi Jois' nephew, M.S. Viswanath (Masterji). 

(Next up in my series on Ashtanga Vinyasa teachers in Mysore BNS Iyengar)

This follows a discussion with one of 'Masterji's' current students regarding my old post on Norman Allan who in an interview talks of Viswanath demonstrating for Pattabhi jois back in 1973


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This post includes extensive quotes from an Interview with Masterji by Marco Pino on his excellent blog Path2yoga , I recommend that you go there and read the interview in full.

The headings of each selection from the interview are my own.



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from my Norman Allan Week post

Norman Allan mentions Masterji in his interview with Guy Donahaye,

"... Pattabhi Jois he came (for an all India yoga conference at the Ashtram Norman was staying) with his wife and his daughter and his cousin and his nephew. (Guy - Vishvanath?) Yes, lean boy then, not lean now…But he was lean and really spiffy at one time so he came to demonstrate, Pattabhi Jois came to discuss, cousin came to translate, Ama came to take care of him. Saraswati was she there? I’m not sure.
A month or two before this conference, two young Indians from Mysore show up at the Ashram with Saris - wanting to sell saris and littlesarongs, and one of their names is Basaraju and one of them is Manju (Jois), OK? And they hung out there, in their young 20’s and this one boy Manju demonstrates some Yoga postures that he had learned from his father… Oh Man! look at that…"



ABOUT MASTERJI

M.S. Viswanath, fondly known as Masterji by his students, has been teaching teachers better their practical as well as theoretical knowledge of yoga for over 40 years.
Masterji, hails from a traditional Mysore family with strong roots in Yoga and is passionate about spreading the practice of yoga around the globe.
He began his yoga journey as a student of his uncle Yogasana Visharada Vidwan K. Pattabhi Jois when he was 11 years old and has had over 15 years of direct study with him...".



selections from...

Masterji, Senior Ashtanga Yoga Teacher in Mysore


Meeting Masterji

I called Masterji on a Tuesday morning but nobody answered the phone. The same day however, around 8 pm, he returned my call. That was the first time that I had the opportunity to talk with him. He was very friendly and approachable on the phone. I told him that I wanted to interview him for my blog and he asked me to come the next day at 5 pm.

With a bit of excitement, as I had not done an interview in a long time, I came to see him the next day, but once I met him I realized that he had not really understood what I wanted to do. When he received me at his shala he said, in a typical Indian fashion, "What you want?!"

Once I explained him my purpose he said, "Oh, there are many good teachers in Mysore, why don't you interview them instead." I answered, "I already have, and I know you are a great teacher. Many of my friends have recommended you."

He seemed very humble and didn't like to talk much about himself. Not feeling very happy about the interview he agreed and allowed me to continue with the questions.

During the interview he actually said that about six years ago he wanted to stop teaching because it was enough for him, but somehow destiny is keeping him in this position.

He used this word, "destiny" several times during the interview. I liked that he was using this word. It had a special meaning to me as I had been experiencing it in my life in different ways, and I had been hearing about it and contemplating a lot on it while listening to the audiobook of the Mahabharata, India's greatest epic.

Well, I hope that after this interview he will feel even more compelled to continue fulfilling his destiny, teaching and sharing his wisdom and everything he knows about yoga. I'm sure his students will appreciate that.

I also liked that he was very clear about not seeing yoga merely as asanas, physical postures. He doesn't give too much importance to them. His vision was constantly way beyond the bodily exercises, and although in his website it mentions that he teaches ashtanga yoga and hatha yoga, these are simply labels to him. In his view yoga is much more than that. Marco Pino



Interview with Masterji, Ashtanga Yoga Teacher in Mysore - with Marco Pino

Full interview HERE


ON HIS UNCLE PATTABHI JOIS


Could you please tell us a bit about yourself? How did you get started into this path? 

Actually it is my tradition not to say how I got into it, why I got into it. If it comes we go, this is our journey. I don't know what made me come here. I don't know why I am still here. I don't know. It's all destiny. We are traveling in that direction of the destiny.

Would you mind telling us what motivated you to get involved with yoga?

Actually there was no idea, understanding or thought of yoga. When I came to this path the age was so small. It was not like nowadays; when people have a fair knowledge and understanding of everything they think of yoga, but that was not in my case.

It was just like a play. Just like a child plays with its toys in the house, or imitating what others do. It was like that to me, nothing more than that.

You study with Pattabhi Jois for 15 years. Is that correct?

Longer, longer. He is the only one teacher for me. What I've learned, I've learned from him.

So longer than 15 years? 

Yeah!

How long?

Oh maybe some more years (laughing). We don't count how many years we stay with our teacher. We are not supposed to know all those things. We simply go and practice. We are not supposed to know.

That's why if you ask anything about our teacher or our practice I don't tell you. It is our tradition. We are not supposed to take the name of our teacher.

Would you like to share anything about your experience studying with Pattabhi Jois?

It was a great experience. When I was studying with him the teaching was pure, direct, deep. He had a lot of time; lot of things to give and a lot of interest to give, in detail. He had the time on those days.

Any special anecdote that you might like to share with us?

Oh, there are so many things because he was a great narrator. He was explaining, telling everything; moral stories related to yoga. Great things. There was no one or two, there were many, many things.

He was a Vedic scholar. He was not an ordinary man. We call him vidvan, a man who has completely mastered the vedas. He was a very high scholar.

When you have the modern students they don't know nothing about him. Simply they say this and that, all rumors and stories. He was totally a great scholar.



ON ASHTANGA VINYASA


What exactly do you teach? I see there are a lot of classes offered on your website: ashtanga yoga, hatha yoga, pranayama...

See, what you say about ashtanga, what you say about hatha, I don't consider those are the practices. They are all the marketing names, business names. But when I say I teach hatha or ashtanga the students who come here they know and they practice.

When I say I teach ashtanga, pranayama is a must. All the values and all the other related practices, it will all be going on in the classes.

I've noticed also something about mantra recitation

Yes, that is very important. Reciting mantra helps for concentration. Mantra is just the beginning of concentration. So, after pranayama we have to control our desires, pratyahara. For that there is a need of some support. Mantra reciting, what we call japa, that helps.


And when you teach meditation, do you mean mantra meditation?

No, meditation is more based on pranayama and fixing the mind. That is ashtanga technique. Not modern day ashtanga. Modern day ashtanga has no meaning at all. What they are going telling, talking, teaching; today this modern ashtanga is meaningless.

You think?

I'm not thinking, it is the truth (we both laugh).

Why do you think it is meaningless? What is missing?

Everything of yoga is missing. Basically when you want to do yoga mind should be controlled. Where is the control of the mind? And it is an internal experience. We have to experience what is happening. It is not a show business.

It is not a show, "Oh I'm doing this, I can do that, I can do this. How he is learning I should also do." This is not in yoga. People think that this is yoga. When in Mysore the students come here I explain them and they slowly change their attitude, they get involved in the traditional practice.

In your website it is written, "The main aim of Masterji’s classes is to help students improve their practice in an environment which is free of rigid ideas and misconceptions that occur in some of the contemporary Ashtanga approaches."

Yes, this is what I've just told you. Contemporary ashtanga is nothing, it has nothing


And you teach ashtanga vinyasa according to Pattabhi Jois method?

We don't say ashtanga vinyasa. It is only practicing asanas in vinyasa, pranayama, chanting, and all those things.



ON HATHA YOGA


What would be the difference between hatha yoga and vinyasa yoga?

Huge, huge. Vinyasa yoga is only confined to asana. Ashtanga yoga has eight limbs. All the eight limbs you have to practice, not merely the body movements.

Hatha yoga is not body movements. It is a very deep practice. You have to practice the five limbs of ashtanga yoga in hatha yoga. That must come.

People, they don't understand. They hear something here and there, they add their own imagination, and they call it hatha yoga. Hatha is not that.

Very clearly you can read what hatha is in our texts. Union of sun and the moon, surya nadi and chandra nadi. That is breathing in sushumna, that is the aim of pranayama. Hatha yoga is the practice of pranayama. Is not what you see in the modern day classes.

Very clearly our scriptures has told us, the ancestors has told us. Only the modern people, everything they want to make a business, that changes everything.

So for you is not like teaching different styles of yoga but only teaching yoga itself?

There is only one yoga for me, that's what I'm teaching. You want to drink coffee. Coffee is one but you prepare in different ways, that's all. Yoga is one, techniques are many. That's all.

Can there be any conflict for a teacher or for a practitioner to teach and practice different styles such as hatha yoga or ashtanga yoga?

For me there is no conflict. The conflict is in others mind. I know what is this yoga. I know what is this vinyasa. I know what is this hatha. There is no conflict in me. And those who come to learn from me they don't have any conflict to learn, and they practice.

Only those who are marketing in that name they may have a conflict of hatha yoga, ashtanga yoga. I don't have any conflicts, neither my students who come to me have any conflicts. We are very clear. We practice. We have a very clear definition of yoga. We have a very clear view of what doing yoga is.

When it comes to asanas, isn't it all included in hatha yoga?

Hatha is not body. It is not the vigorous movement of the body. Hatha means that you achieve without caring for the obstacles, or facing the obstacles you keep practicing until you achieve your goal. We have that determination. That determination comes under hatha.

Understand? There is a very strong determination. You want to do one thing but you cannot do smoothly. There are so many obstacles. Somebody brings a thought disturbance, he will be distracted. Conquering all those things, what you want to do you keep doing. That is hatha.

Everything comes under hatha yoga only. First hatha. You will do what you want to do.

How does this relates to the solar and moon energy that you mentioned before.

Solar, Ha, right nostril. Moon, Tha, left nostril. Breathing in is rising the solar energy. Breathing out is activating the lunar energy. That is natural, natural phenomena. We are activating, we don't block any of the energy.

Ultimately we neither breath in the solar, not in the lunar; neither Ha, neither Tha. Combined together, everything. That is the state when you are practicing hatha yoga. Once the air enters the sushumna nadi, that means that you have entered the hatha state.

How does this relates to what you mention before about the power of determination?

Can you see where the sushumna nadi is? No, you have not seen it. So, when you are taught the series you need to have that determination, "I should see what it is, where it is. I should know." If you have that determination then only you can see. If you don't have determination, "ok it is there," then this is not the right attitude.

So, like that. That is determination. Knowing that so many blocks are there, so many distractions are there, still continue removing all those things. With my thoughts, with my moods and movements, with my conditions, I still try.

You are doing asana, but if the pleasant smell of coffee comes to you, you think, "Oh what a nice aroma of coffee, I should drink." Then you forget you are doing the asana. That should not be there. Even with the distractions of the senses you should remained fixed, mind should remained fixed. That comes in hatha yoga.

It's a gradual process, step by step. It won't come immediately. We have to conquer a lot of the body weaknesses.




ON PRANAYAMA



Can you explain briefly what is pranayama?

Controlling the breath. Regulation of the breath.

We are breathing short. When we have a short breath we are sick, we don't have sufficient energy. The air that you inhale and exhale, that is responsible for your body energy. So, when you regulate it, your health increases, your body energy increases.

So regulation of the breath is pranayama.

Calmness of the mind, that's the first advantage that we see from pranayama. You are calm, your mind is relaxed. Also the energy increases and focus develops.

What is your approach when teaching pranayama?

Make them breath properly, that's all.

Where should the focus be on pranayama? 

On the breath, everything on the breath only. Focus on the breath.

For how long should we practice pranayama?

Timeless, because each pranayama has it's on benefits.

In the beginning we learn all the pranayamas and practice for a limited period. Later on, when we have different aims or goals, according to that particular goal or desire we do the pranayamas where we have to spend more time. There is no time limit.

But how much time takes your pranayama class?

The group of the TTC that you just met are doing 80 minutes practice. Beginners do 45 minutes. To reach 80 minutes one should at least do a good practice. Minimum 50 to 70 minutes for a good practice.

There are many pranayamas...

There are thousands of pranayamas, millions of asanas.

How do you choose which ones to practice regularly?

There are traditional pranayamas, there are classic pranayamas. Those are enough. If you do those that's enough. They (Masterji's students) have all been given proper guidance to do also. If they follow that that's enough. There is no need to go here and there or anything like that.

No much confusion in learning pranayama. It's a very definite guided practice. Actually even asana is a very definite guided practice. People are making all sorts of nonsense in the practice, teaching and practicing. They are having so many wild ideas. Wild crazy imaginations.

Pranayamas, they are all very strict, simple, direct, beneficial.



ON MEDITATION



What can you say about meditation?

Meditation is fixing the thought. Meditation, what we call dhyana, is the highest level of pranayama. From there we start, mind gets controlled and then mind is fixed on an object without allowing the mind to jump away. We remained fixed. That's the training we have to follow.

We are having meditation courses, meditation classes. They are not actual meditation, they are preparation for meditation. When you reach the level of meditation you'll be a totally balanced person, in all aspects. Very balanced. So this classes will only prepare you to go in that direction, they don't make you perfect in meditation.

By practicing, by detaching all these things, by reducing the thoughts, then only we can be fixed. Meditation means not doing anything else. No mental activities. Mind is fixed only on one object, very steady. That is meditation according to yoga.

According to Patanjali?

Not Patanjali; Patanjali is only codifier. He is not the owner, or author. Yoga practice was there thousands of years before Patanjali


Full interview HERE


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Here too is another interview with Masterji from Ashtanga yoga Provence




Masterji also has Youtube channel with videos of discussions in English of different aspects of yoga including translations into Hindi, Italian and Spanish.





You can find more information about Masterji and his classes in his website.

In the interview Masterji mentions that his website was written by other, by well intentioned students, it is not necessarily as he would describe what and how he teaches, see the full interview HERE.


from the website.....

"YOGA CLASS & STYLE

Masterji believes that YOGA has to always be adapted to the individual based on the individual's culture, age, sex, physical state, interest, profession etc. Hence, Masterji’s classes are primarily conducted in the Mysore Style.

Mysore style was popularised by Masterji’s guru Sri. K. Pattabi Jois who like Masterji, hails from and taught primarily in Mysore. In this style, Yoga is taught and practiced in the more traditional way where students practice the Yoga series at their own pace, adding more difficult poses as they progress. It is a highly personalised approach to Yoga where one receives a one-to-one interaction with Masterji and at the same time enjoy the group energy of a conventional class. By spending quality time with each of his students, Masterji ensures that he knows their practice inside out and can help them exactly where and when they need it.

Anyone can practice with Masterji, irrespective of age, sex, background or level of experience. Masterji’s classes are open to students with certain physical limitations or injuries; students who have not practiced for some time; students who are wishing to perfect their asana practice; advanced students who are looking to practice or learn asanas that are outside the Ashtanga Vinyasa system; students who are preparing for the Ashtanga Vinyasa practice and for students who are looking to acquire teaching skills.

In Masterji’s class, a student can choose to learn Yoga in any of the following styles:

1. Hatha Yoga
2. Ashtanga Yoga
3. Vishwanatha Paddhathi

In all these styles, the students are encouraged to:

Adopt an intelligent approach in learning and practicing, cultivating open mindedness
Explore and integrate all dimensions of Yoga - the eight-limbed path

Develop internal energy and acquire strength overcoming weakness, instability and fatigue

Enjoy their practice

Learn and grow according to their own capacity

Gain self-knowledge, and value and respect themselves as unique individuals

Exercise zeal and courage in their practice

In Masterji’s class, specific attention is given to the refinement of the practice through the development of appropriate movements of the body-limbs, slow, deep breathing. Suitable adjustments are made to improve alignment and symmetry in the asana. Masterji tries not to push the students beyond their capacity.

For seasoned practitioners or trainers, emphasis is given to refining their practice, knowledge and execution of Yoga for self and their student. Various nuances of the traditional practice that is often missed in most other classes, are shared in Masterji’s classes to help student be more knowledgeable.
Students can choose to learn any of the following modules from Masterji based on their interest or requirement:

Asana - Mysore Style, an ideal style for everyone to learn and practice asana
Pranayama and Mudra, the most important limb of Ashtanga yoga that control the mind and senses
Mantra and Japa, the preparation for meditation and to focus the mind
Yoga Philosophy and Lifestyle, the main purpose of doing yoga
Teaching Techniques and Methodology, the foundation to become a successful teacher

INFORMATION ON CLASS TIMINGS:

Asanas Morning (Monday – Saturday)
Pranayama Forenoon (Monday – Friday)
Teacher Training Afternoon (Monday – Friday)
Mantra and Japa
Yoga Philosophy and Lifestyle

* The exact time of the classes will be provided to you during registration.
Overview of Yoga Styles taught by Masterji

HATHA YOGA:
In Hatha Yoga classes, students have an individualistic, easy approach, non-vinyasa method of Yoga practice. In this comprehensive style, Masterji instructs students according to their individual nature and stage of practice; their learning being constructed and modified according to their capacity and aspirations. The classes begin with simple asanas that are easily achievable, to create a sense of confidence and joy. Gradually as the student progress more asanas will be taught, from the basics to the more advanced and challenging asanas. Pranayama is taught in conjunction in order to assist the student to acquire a systematic breathing technique with which to practice asanas and to increase lung capacity.

ASHTANGA YOGA:
In Ashtanga Yoga classes, students can improve and refine their practice in a manner consistent with the higher aims of this system. Masterji will help students who are experiencing difficulties with their practice and who may require additional, specific opening movements and alterations. Students who are looking to experience Ashtanga Yoga and practice for personal refinements with higher ideals are also welcome in these classes. The main aim of Masterji’s classes is to help students improve their practice in an environment which is free of rigid ideas and misconceptions that occur in some of the contemporary Ashtanga approaches.

VISHWANATHA PADDHATHI:
In Vishwanatha Paddhathi classes, students who require a more relaxed approach to Yoga either due to their age or physical disability. They can learn a specific asana, pranayama, chanting, relaxation and meditation or engage in a discourse on yoga philosophy and discussion in general matters based on spiritual outlook. Masterji has specially designed this style of Yoga from his experience of teaching many students who are less agile due to their age or due to some physical challenges or illness. Based on the high responsiveness to this style of Yoga classes, Masterji has designed a teacher’s training program module to propagate this simplistic yoga practice.


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Next up in my series on Ashtanga Vinyasa teachers in Mysore BNS Iyengar


See also this trailer for an upcoming documentary on the Mysore yoga traditions

Also this page for how you can contribute to the production costs.
https://www.gofundme.com/yogafilm



Resource: Puraka (inhalation), Recaka (exhalation) and Kumbhaka (retention) in Pattabhi Jois' teacher Krishnamacharya's early Mysore works

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Q: Not only have I been to a class of yours but I use your vinyasa book and just bought your Krishnamacharya book! Please tell me if he (krishnamacharya) REALLY holds his breath for 10 minutes? In your Krishnamacharya book he talks about 10 min rechaka ! Many thanks! best wishes.

Response: Ahhh, yes, 10 minutes recaka (exhalation). This is when Krishnamacharya is talking, for example, about folding into a posture like janu Sirsasana, placing the head on the knee and doing recaka for 5, 10 minutes. However, if necessary, he says you can lift up to take puruka (inhalation).



"Janusirsasana
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". YM 80

My interpretation, and this would tie in with how Ramaswami taught I think, is that certain postures have a recaka principle, others puraka.

"Upavistakonasana: This has 15 vinyasas. Recaka kumbhaka is its primary principle. All the vinyasas must be done following the instructions for pascimottanasana". YM 83

By principle I mean that either recaka is stressed in the posture, or puruka this may or may not include the appropriate kumbhaka (retaining the breath in or holding it out). So in Janu Sirsasana where the body is folded over the focus would be on the long slow recakas possibly with kumbhakas, the puraka would be shorter. In postures where the head,/body is up, the focus would be on puraka, long slow inhalations followed perhaps by a kumbhaka and a shorter exhalation.


puraka, recaka and kumbhaka in the yogasanagalu asana table
See THIS post for the complete table
The book is available to download from my Free Downloads page.

I hope that helps clear it up a little. Below I've included all mention of Puraka and Recaka in Yoga Makaranda part 1 (Mysore 1934), Yogasanagalu ( Mysore 1941), Yoga Makaranda part 2 also known as 'Salutations to the teacher the eternal one'. (Chennai 1950s?), Questions to Krishnamacharya from his students (1970s/80s?).

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Few seem to practice Krishnamacharya's early instruction. Pattabhi Jois appears to have taken the speeded up, simplified version, that Krishnamacharya  taught to the boys of the Mysore palace and presented that as his Ashtanga vinyasa system. Over the years the breath seems to have speeded up, the stays becoming shorter. According to his son Manju Jois however, Pattabhi Jois himself seems to have returned, in later life, to the slower breathing and longer stays that he would refer to in interviews as the ideal and that Krishnamacharya outlined in his early works, and no doubt taught to the young Pattabhi Jois in the smaller, more personal classes he had with his teacher (Pattabhi Jois later refer to the long long stays in Kapotasana while his teacher would stand on him and lecture).

Krishnamacharya's instruction in his early works retains the same 'vinyasa' (moving from standing to the asana and back) familiar to most Ashtanga students, the count is the same. However, Krishnamacharya would indicate long, slow breathing 'like the pouring of oil, kumbhaka (retaining the breath in or holding it out) and often, longer stays. Although Krishnamacharya stressed the count less in later life he retained the slower form of the practice, the longer stays, the kumbhaka as well as the variations to the key asana that he would teach in side rooms of the palace to individual students and patients, while Pattabhi Jois and his other assistants might lead the boys through their paces, perhaps in preparation for possible demonstrations.

I spent two years practicing the instructions in Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda, the longer stays, the kumbhakas, the slower breathing and this formed the basis of the 'Krishnamacharya's original Ashtanga Yoga' book and the workshops that I presented two years ago. I personally found that practice consistent both with how Ramaswami taught us Vinyasa Krama ( Ramaswami would have us stay in the key asana for ten, fifteen minutes and taught Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda line by line on his TT) and The Ashtanga Vinyasa I had practiced for several years prior.

In my current asana practice I still rely on Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda and Yogasanagalu. To allow for the slower breathing and longer stays I only practice half Primary and very occasionally half Intermediate series, but even to practice half a series I need to choose which asana to stay in longer that morning apart from key asana (as indicated by Krishnamacharya, trikonasana, paschimottanasana, maha mudra, badha konasana, sarvangasana, sirsasana and padmasana), which to emphasise kumbhaka, which to slow the breathing further, basically which asana to practice more as mudra than asana ( see my proficient Primary page).

And yet, here is a place for a faster practice as pattabhi has shown us, calm abiding with the breath, throughout the practice however speedily and yet efficiently, we may practice.

When I started Ashtanga, only ten years ago this month, Krishnamacharya was barely mentioned, he would get perhaps a line in a text and yet we have shown how closely modern Ashtanga vinyasa follows his presentation of asana, how closely the current series follow the table of asana in Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941), and yet the essence of Krishnamacharya's teaching seems to be left further and further behind.

Rather than deepen our practice by slowing the breath, lengthening the stay, introducing kumbhaka and that experience of timelessness, infinity, between rechka and puraka, followed by pranayama and dharana, practiced as rigorously as we practice our asana we look to the next asana, the next series, the next trick or flourish, too often we are encouraged in this by the 'International yoga teachers, the Instagram stars promoting themselves and their workshops - if the intention is to truly promote the practice, go to places where there are no teachers and few students rather than the big cities with several excellent teachers already).

Advanced practice has become measured by how many asana we can do, how deeply we can fold or twist our bodies into an asana rather than how deeply, how profoundly, we can inhabit it. Advanced practice is measured by how fancy, how floaty the transition rather than it's calm efficiency. Advanced practice is measured by how intricate the contortion rather than the intricacies, the subtleties, of the breath.

Richard Freeman refers to those less bendy as being blessed. With all the so called Intermediate and Advanced asana closed to them, even perhaps much of the Primary series, the less flexible have the opportunity to deepen their asana, explore slower breathing, longer stays, possibly kumbhaka and a standard, straight forward pranayama and dharana practice. Unfortunately, the less, or no longer AS, bendy, exposed to the idea of proficient practice as being indicated by ever more challenging asana often see their practice as limited, second class, hardly worth bothering with such that they may often give up practice, rather than the realising the rich opportunity a more modest practice offers for deepening the experience of practice, of leading to rather than away from yoga.

I hear that in the fashion industry 'modest' is becoming quite the rage, perhaps a more outwardly modest and yet deeply profound practice will follow it into vogue.

I no longer teach or offer workshops and yet if I did, it is Krishnamacharya's Original Ashtanga, as outlined in his early texts that I would wish to share. I find this work intensely rewarding, Krishnamacharya and his practice in this period, in these texts, endlessly fascinating. I don't teach because I don't need to, these texts are available to all, you don't even need to buy the printed copy of my own book, all these texts are available on my Free Download page.

But you don't even need to read the books, just choose to practice half a series and breathe more slowly, choose to stay longer in certain postures (explore which), notice the momentary automatic kumbhaka between the stages on inhalation and exhalation, exhalation and inhalation and lengthen it slightly, from one second to two, two to four. if the body is up the puraka principle tends to apply, if the body is down the recaka principle kicks in. Attend to the breath throughout, don't worry how an asana looks, learn enough anatomy to stay safe but otherwise merely attend to the breath, come back to the breath. Follow asana with a simple, modest, nadi shodhana pranayma practice with or without kumbhaka, the exhalation twice as long as the inhalation and the sit, calm abiding. Repeat daily for ten, twenty years and then see where you are.



My Krishnamacharya Book
available in print or pdf/ebook from Lulu
Also available on amazon but in lulu ''m able to discount 50% to bring it down almost to the cost of printing.
There is also a copy on my Free Downloads page.
In Part One of the book I've trimmed the asana sections from the public domain translation of Yoga Makaranda down to just Krishnamacharya's asana instruction, for ease of practice. Part Two includes some of my Krishnamacharya posts/articles


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Appendix


1. Puraka and Recaka in Yoga Makaranda Part 1 (Mysore 1934).

1.1 puraka
1.2 recaka
1.3 puraka and rechaka

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2. Puraka and Recaka (Rechaka) in Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941).

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3. Kumbhakam in Yoga Makaranda Part 2 
(Salutations to the teacher the eternal one) - (Place/date unclear).

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4. Puraka and Recaka in Questions to Krishnamacharya from his students in Yogacarya Krishnamacharya - The Purnacarya. Edited by Mala Srivatsan.

Resource available as a pdf 



Note: Update to come in the next few days with photos


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Puraka and Recaka in Yoga Makaranda Part 1 (Mysore 1934)
The book is available to download from my Free Downloads page.


puraka 
inhalation of the breath into the body, filling it up 

recaka 
exhalation of the breath 

kumbhaka 
retention of breath, either inside or outside the body

YM - Glossary of terms



Puraka

puraka: inhalation of the breath into the body, filling it up YM - Glossary of terms


Brahmana kriya means to take in the outside air through the nose, pull it inside, and hold it in firmly. This is called puraka kumbhaka. YM 27



Vanhi Sara Dhauti: The stomach along with the navel should be pulled in to touch and press against (stick to) the spine and then should be pushed forward again. Repeat this several times. While pulling the stomach in, do recaka kumbhaka and while pushing it out do puraka kumbhaka while pushing it out do puraka kumbhaka. YM 38-39


Bhujangini Mudra: Stay in bhujangasana, stretch the neck out in front and according to vata sara krama, pull in the outside air and do puraka kumbhaka.


Benefit: This will remove diseases like indigestion, agni mandam (low agni), stop stomach pain and leave you happy. This is raja yoga. YM 49


Ardhabaddha Padmottanasana 


From tadasana, do puraka kumbhaka. After this, choose either leg and place its foot on top of the opposite thigh. Slowly, little by little, move the foot up until the back of the heel is pressed against the lower abdomen. Whichever leg is raised, move the same hand behind the back and clasp the big toe of that foot (from behind the back). Keep the other hand in tadasana sthiti and do puraka kumbhaka. After this, slowly exhale through the nose and bend the upper part of the body forward down to the floor. Place the palm down by the foot and keep it firmly pressed against the floor. Release the breath out completely, and without inhaling, practise (rechka) kumbhaka and lower the head, placing it on top of the kneecap of the extended leg. Repeat this from the beginning with the other leg following all the instructions mentioned earlier. This has 10 vinyasas. YM 61


Caturanga Dandasana (Figure 4.15, 4.16)
For this, there are 4 vinyasas. Vinyasas 1, 2, and 3 are as for uttanasana. The 4th vinyasa alone is different. Press both palms down firmly while doing the 4th vinyasa from the 3rd vinyasa of uttanasana. Do only recaka and firmly hold the breath out without doing puraka. YM 65

Urdhvamukhasvanasana (Figure 4.17)


This has 4 vinyasas. Vinyasas 1, 2, and 3 are exactly as for uttanasana. The 4th vinyasa is to be done following the same method as for caturanga dandasana. But in caturanga dandasana, there are 4 angulas of space between the body and the floor everywhere. In this asana, the palms and toes are as in caturanga dandasana. However even while keeping the lower part of the body from the toes to the thighs just as in caturanga dandasana, raise the upper part of the body. Make sure that the navel rests between the hands and do puraka kumbhaka. Try to push the chest as far forward as possible, lift the face up and keep gazing at the tip of the nose. Make the effort to practise until it becomes possible to remain in this posture for fifteen minutes. YM 65


Pascimattanasana or Pascimottanasana (Figure 4.19 — 4.28)

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

The first three vinyasas are exactly as for uttanasana. The 4th vinyasa is caturanga dandasana, the 5th vinyasa is urdhvamukhasvanasana, the 6th vinyasa is adhomukhasvanasana. Practise these following the earlier instructions. In the 6th vinyasa, doing puraka kumbhaka, jump and arrive at the 7th vinyasa. That is, from adhomukhasvanasana sthiti, jump forward and move both legs between the arms without allowing the legs to touch the floor. Extend the legs out forward and sit down. Practise sitting like this with the rear part of the body either between the two hands or 4 angulas in front of the hands. It is better to learn the abhyasa krama from a guru. In this sthiti, push the chest forward, do puraka kumbhaka and gaze steadily at the tip of the nose. After this extend both arms out towards the feet (the legs are already extended in front). Clasp the big toes of the feet tightly with the first three fingers (thumb, index, middle) of the hands such that the left hand holds the left big toe and the right hand holds the right big toe. Do not raise the knees even slightly. Then, pull in the stomach while doing recaka, lower the head and press the face down onto the knee. The knees should not rise from the ground in this sthiti either. This is the 9th vinyasa. This is called pascimottanasana. YM 69

Janusirsasana

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. YM 80

Baddhapadmasana 

This has 16 vinyasas. The 8th and 9th vinyasas are the asana sthiti. The other vinyasas are like pascimottanasana. Study the pictures (Figures 4.52, 4.53) and learn how to keep the gaze. In this asana, one must do puraka kumbhaka. YM 103

25 Marichasana (Figure 4.66, 4.67, 4.68, 4.69)

This has 22 vinyasas. This needs to be done on both the left and the right sides. Study the sannaha sthiti (the preparatory state) of marichasana in the picture. This sthiti is the 7th vinyasa.
The right-side marichasana paristhiti is shown in the second picture. Maricha Maharishi was known for bringing this asana to public knowledge and hence it is named for him.

Stay in the 7th vinyasa for some time doing puraka kumbhaka. After this, do recaka and come to the 8th vinyasa. Stay in this position for as long as possible. In case your head starts reeling (you get dizzy), come back to the 7th vinyasa, do puraka kumbhaka, close the eyes and remain here for some time. YM 115

Ekapada Sirsasana 

This has two forms: dakshina ekapada sirsasana and vama ekapada sirsasana. Both these forms together have 18 vinyasas. The first picture depicts dakshina ekapada sirsasana and the second picture vama ekapada sirsasana. The 7th and 12th vinyasas are the asana sthitis of these di erent forms. For this asana, you need to do sama svasauchvasam (same ratio breathing). In the 7th vinyasa, the left leg, and in the 12th vinyasa the right leg, should be extended and kept straight from the thigh to the heel. No part should be bent.

Keep the hands as shown in the picture. In this sthiti one needs to do equal ratio breathing. When the hands are joined together in ekapada sirsasana paristhiti, one must do puraka kumbhaka. One must never do recaka. YM 120

Dvipada Sirsasana 

This has 14 vinyasas. It is the same as for pascimottanasana up to the 6th vinyasa. While practising the 7th vinyasa, place both legs on top of the shoulders, and do uthpluthi as in the 7th vinyasa for bhujapidasana. Then lean the rear of the body forward and sit down. After this, do recaka and slowly and carefully place the left foot on top of the right foot on top of the back of the neck. That is, the right heel should be by the left ear and the left heel should be by the right ear. While remaining in this state, do puraka kumbhaka and raise the head.  YM 123

Yoga Nidrasana 

This has 12 vinyasas. The 7th vinyasa is yoga nidrasana sthiti. The first 6 vinyasas for kurmasana are the first 6 vinyasas for this. In the 7th vinyasa, sit like you did in dvipada sirsasana and instead of keeping the two legs on the back of the neck, first lie back facing upwards. Then lift the legs up and place them on the back of the neck.
In dvipada sirsasana, we joined the hands together in prayer and placed them next to the muladhara cakra. In this asana, following the krama, take the shoulders (that is, the arms) on both the left and right sides over the top of the two thighs, and hold the right wrist tightly with the fingers of the left hand beneath the spine. Study the picture.

In the 7th vinyasa, after doing only recaka, arrive at the asana sthiti. Then, one should do puraka kumbhaka and lie down. YM123

Bhairavasana (Figure 4.78)

This has 20 vinyasas. The 8th and the 14th vinyasas are the right and left side asana sthitis.

From the 1st until the 7th vinyasa, follow the method for ekapada sirsasana. In the 8th vinyasa, instead of keeping the hands at the muladhara cakra (as in ekapada sirsasana), hug both arms together tightly as seen in the picture and lie down looking upwards. While remaining here, do puraka kumbhaka, raise the neck upwards and gaze at the midbrow. The 15th to the 20th vinyasas are like those for kapilasana. This asana must be practised on both sides. YM 129

Cakorasana (Figure 4.79)

This has 20 vinyasas. This is from the Kapila Matham.
After observing that this follows the form of flight of the cakora bird, this came to be called cakorasana. In the Dhyana Bindu Upanishad, Parameshwara advises Parvati that “There are as many asanas as there are living beings in the world”. We readers must always remember this.
The 8th and 14th vinyasas are this asana’s sthitis. The 7th and the 13th vinyasas are like the 7th and the 13th vinyasas of ekapada sirsasana. In the 8th and the 14th vinyasas, press the palms of the hand firmly into the ground, do puraka kumbhaka, raise the body 6 angulas o  the ground and hold it there. Carefully study the picture where this is demonstrated. Keep the gaze fixed on the midbrow. The other vinyasas are like those of bhairavasana. YM 132

Durvasasana 

This has 20 vinyasas. The 8th vinyasa is right-side durvasasana and the 14th vinyasa is left-side durvasasana. In the 7th and the 13th vinyasas stay in ekapada sirsasana sthiti. From there, in the 8th and the 14th vinyasas, get up and stand. Study the picture carefully. While remaining in this asana sthiti, the leg that is being supported on the ground must not be even slightly bent and must be held straight. Keep the gaze fixed at the middle of the nose. You must do sampurna puraka kumbhaka. The head must be properly raised throughout. YM 132


Trivikramasana (

This has 7 vinyasas. From the 1st to the 5th vinyasas and then the 7th vinyasa, practise following those for utthita hasta padangushtasana. Practise the 2nd and 7th vinyasas as shown in the picture (study it carefully) and remain in these positions. The 2nd vinyasa is the right-side trivikramasana sthiti. The 6th vinyasa as shown is the left-side trivikramasana sthiti. The picture shown here only demonstrates the left-side trivikramasana. It is important that equal recaka and puraka kumbhaka must be carefully observed while practising this asana. Keep the gaze fixed on the midbrow. Both legs must be held straight and must not lean or bend to any side. YM 136


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Rechka


recaka: exhalation of the breath YM - Glossary of terms


Langhana kriya means to exhale the air that is inside the body out through the nose and to hold the breath firmly without allowing any air from outside into the body. This is called recaka kumbhaka. YM 28



While pulling the stomach in, do recaka kumbhaka YM38-39

Bahish Kritha Dhauti: Position the mouth like a crow’s beak and suck in the air to the extent possible. Hold the air in (kumbhaka) and then exhale it out (recaka) through the nostril. This is only for those who are beginning the practice of recaka kumbhaka. Repeat this 25 times a day. This has to be done either before eating in the morning or before eating in the evening. If one keeps increasing the practice of this correctly, it develops the ability to hold the breath (kumbhaka) for long periods. 

Ardhabaddha Padmottanasana 
From tadasana, do puraka kumbhaka. After this, choose either leg and place its foot on top of the opposite thigh. Slowly, little by little, move the foot up until the back of the heel is pressed against the lower abdomen. Whichever leg is raised, move the same hand behind the back and clasp the big toe of that foot (from behind the back). Keep the other hand in tadasana sthiti and do puraka kumbhaka. After this, slowly exhale through the nose and bend the upper part of the body forward down to the floor. Place the palm down by the foot and keep it firmly pressed against the floor. Release the breath out completely, and without inhaling, practise (rechka) kumbhaka and lower the head, placing it on top of the kneecap of the extended leg. Repeat this from the beginning with the other leg following all the instructions mentioned earlier. This has 10 vinyasas. YM 61


Caturanga Dandasana (Figure 4.15, 4.16)
For this, there are 4 vinyasas. Vinyasas 1, 2, and 3 are as for uttanasana. The 4th vinyasa alone is different. Press both palms down firmly while doing the 4th vinyasa from the 3rd vinyasa of uttanasana. Do only recaka and firmly hold the breath out without doing puraka. YM 65



Adhomukhasvanasana (Figure 4.18)

For this, there are 4 vinyasas. Vinyasas 1, 2, and 3 are exactly as for ut- tanasana. In the 4th vinyasa only, even while jumping back as for caturanga dandasana, the entire body should be pushed back into a curve. Study the picture and learn this. In this sthiti, the head should be properly bent inwards and the chin should be pressed firmly against the chest. After pulling the abdomen in and pushing it out, exhale the breath out. Holding the breath out firmly, pull in the abdomen. As a result of the strength of practice, one learns to hold this posture for fifteen minutes.

Benefit: Bloating of stomach, bad belching, ajeerna vayu, all such diseases will go away. The 4th vinyasa itself is the asana sthiti. Because of the strength of recaka, you will receive best results by practising this asana in recaka. YM 69

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

The first three vinyasas are exactly as for uttanasana. The 4th vinyasa is caturanga dandasana, the 5th vinyasa is urdhvamukhasvanasana, the 6th vinyasa is adhomukhasvanasana. Practise these following the earlier instructions. In the 6th vinyasa, doing puraka kumbhaka, jump and arrive at the 7th vinyasa. That is, from adhomukhasvanasana sthiti, jump forward and move both legs between the arms without allowing the legs to touch the floor. Extend the legs out forward and sit down. Practise sitting like this with the rear part of the body either between the two hands or 4 angulas in front of the hands. It is better to learn the abhyasa krama from a guru. In this sthiti, push the chest forward, do puraka kumbhaka and gaze steadily at the tip of the nose. After this extend both arms out towards the feet (the legs are already extended in front). Clasp the big toes of the feet tightly with the first three fingers (thumb, index, middle) of the hands such that the left hand holds the left big toe and the right hand holds the right big toe. Do not raise the knees even slightly. Then, pull in the stomach while doing recaka, lower the head and press the face down onto the knee. The knees should not rise from the ground in this sthiti either. This is the 9th vinyasa. This is called pascimottanasana. YM 69


Ardhabaddhapadmapascimottanasana 
This has 22 vinyasas. The 8th and 15th vinyasas are the asana sthiti. Up to the 7th vinyasa, practise according to the pascimottanasana vinyasa krama. But in the 7th vinyasa, extend the left leg out in front. Place the right foot on top of the left thigh, such that the right heel touches the left lower abdomen. Take the right hand behind the back and clasp the right big toe with the fingers. Hold the big toe of the extended left leg with the fingers of the left hand. For the rest of the vinyasas, follow the same method as for pascimottanasana following the krama. In the 8th vinyasa itself, place the head on top of the knee of the left leg. The 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th vinyasas are as in pascimottanasana. But in the 14th vinyasa, extend the right leg and place the left foot onto its thigh such that the left heel touches the right lower abdomen. Take the left hand behind the back and take hold of the left big toe with the fingers. Hold the big toe of the extended right leg with the fingers of the right hand. Lower the head and place it on top of the outstretched kneecap. This is the 15th vinyasa. Do the 8th and the 15th vinyasas with recaka, pulling in the stomach and extending the legs straight. YM 75


Janusirsasana
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. YM 80



Upavistakonasana 

This has 15 vinyasas. Recaka kumbhaka is its primary principle. All the vinyasas must be done following the instructions for pascimottanasana. YM83


Baddhakonasana 
This has 15 vinyasas. The 8th vinyasa is the asana sthiti. The 1st to the 6th vinyasas are like the 1st till the 6th vinyasas for pascimottanasana. In the 7th vinyasa, just like the 7th vinyasa for pascimottanasana, keep the hands down and bring the legs forward in uthpluthi. But instead of straightening them, fold the legs and place them down on the ground. Folding them means that the heel of the right foot is pasted against the base of the right thigh and the heel of the left foot is pasted against the base of the left thigh. When the legs are folded in this manner, the soles of the feet will be facing each other. Hold the sole of the left 
foot firmly with the left hand and hold the right sole firmly with the right hand. Clasping the soles together firmly, do recaka kumbhaka, lower the head and place it on the floor in front of the feet. After practising this properly, press the head against the top of the soles of the feet. While keeping the head either on the floor or on the soles of the feet, make sure that the seat of the body does not rise up from the floor and remains stuck to the floor. This sthiti is baddhakonasana. YM 85-86

Utthitahasta Padangushtasana .....
After the leg has been raised about 3/4 of the way without any assistance, take the first three fingers of the corresponding hand (the same as whichever leg was raised) and tightly clasp the big toe of the raised foot. Remain in this position for some time. Keep the other hand on the hip. Inhalation and exhalation of the breath must be slow and of equal duration. One says the sthiti is correct if there is the same measure of distance between the standing leg and the raised leg. In this there are many other forms.
After staying in this sthiti for some time, take either the face or the nose towards the knee of the raised leg and place it there. Recaka kumbhaka must be done in this sthiti. YM 99

Baddhapadmasana
....Only in yoga mudra sthiti should one do recaka. YM 103

Bhujapidasana 
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. YM 108

Ubhaya Padangushtasana 
This has 14 vinyasas. The 8th vinyasa itself is the asana sthiti. Study the picture carefully. Pull in the stomach with the strength of complete recaka and hold it in this position. While doing this, keep the arms and legs extended. Keep the chin firmly pressed against the chest. YM 112

Supta Konasana (Figure 4.64, 4.65)
This has 14 vinyasas. The 9th vinyasa is the asana sthiti. In the 7th vinyasa, stay as shown in the picture. 
The 8th vinyasa is uthpluthi. From uthpluthi, move to the position shown in the second picture and then do recaka.  YM 112


Marichasana 
This has 22 vinyasas. This needs to be done on both the left and the right sides. Study the sannaha sthiti (the preparatory state) of marichasana in the picture. This sthiti is the 7th vinyasa.
The right-side marichasana paristhiti is shown in the second picture. Maricha Maharishi was known for bringing this asana to public knowledge and hence it is named for him.
Stay in the 7th vinyasa for some time doing puraka kumbhaka. After this, do recaka and come to the 8th vinyasa. Stay in this position for as long as possible. In case your head starts reeling (you get dizzy), come back to the 7th vinyasa, do puraka kumbhaka, close the eyes and remain here for some time. YM 115

Niralamba Sarvangasana 
This has 14 vinyasas. The 8th vinyasa is the asana sthiti. The form depicted in the picture is the 8th vinyasa. This is niralamba sarvangasana paristhiti. In order to get to this sthiti, slowly raise the arms and legs either together or one-by- one in the 7th vinyasa . Do only recaka at this time. Never do puraka kumbhaka. YM 115


Dvipada Sirsasana 
This has 14 vinyasas. It is the same as for pascimottanasana up to the 6th vinyasa. While practising the 7th vinyasa, place both legs on top of the shoulders, and do uthpluthi as in the 7th vinyasa for bhujapidasana. Then lean the rear of the body forward and sit down. After this, do recaka and slowly and carefully place the left foot on top of the right foot on top of the back of the neck. That is, the right heel should be by the left ear and the left heel should be by the right ear. While remaining in this state, do puraka kumbhaka and raise the head.  YM 123

Yoga Nidrasana 
This has 12 vinyasas. The 7th vinyasa is yoga nidrasana sthiti. The first 6 vinyasas for kurmasana are the first 6 vinyasas for this. In the 7th vinyasa, sit like you did in dvipada sirsasana and instead of keeping the two legs on the back of the neck, first lie back facing upwards. Then lift the legs up and place them on the back of the neck.
In dvipada sirsasana, we joined the hands together in prayer and placed them next to the muladhara cakra. In this asana, following the krama, take the shoulders (that is, the arms) on both the left and right sides over the top of the two thighs, and hold the right wrist tightly with the fingers of the left hand beneath the spine. Study the picture.
In the 7th vinyasa, after doing only recaka, arrive at the asana sthiti. Then, one should do puraka kumbhaka and lie down. YM123

Kapilasana
This has 24 vinyasas. Kapila Maharishi discovered this and because he helped spread its practice, it came to be called kapilasana.
The right-side kapilasana is the 9th vinyasa and the left-side kapilasana is the 17th vinyasa.
Up to the 8th vinyasa follow the buddhasana krama. Then, as though you are doing pascimottanasana, place the chin on top of the bones of the front of the knee of the extended leg. Do recaka in this sthiti. YM 127

Skandasana 
This has 20 vinyasas. The 8th and the 14th vinaysas show the asana sthiti. The other vinaysas are exactly as for cakorasana. In pascimottanasana, we hold the big toes with the fingers of the hands as we place the face down on the knees. In this asana, instead of doing that, extend the arms out further forward, clasp the hands together in the manner of prayer, slowly bend the body forward and place the face down in front of the kneecap. You must do recaka in this sthiti. The gaze must be fixed on the midbrow. YM 132

Richikasana 
This has 24 vinyasas. The 9th and the 17th vinyasas are the richikasana sthiti. The 7th and 15th vinyasas are like ekapada sirsasana. The rest of the vinyasas are like cakorasana.
The first picture shows the right-side richikasana and the second picture show the left-side richikasana.
In the beginning of the 7th vinyasa, remain in ekapada sirsasana. In the 8th vinyasa, practise following the rules for the first vinyasa of uttanasana. The 9th vinyasa is like the 2nd vinyasa for uttanasana. The 9th vinyasa has been demonstrated in the picture. While remaining in this sthiti, the legs and arms that are supported on the ground should not be even slightly bent. Only recaka must be done. YM 136


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Puraka and Rechka

Surya Cakra
This cakra is situated in the third angula above the navel. Pranayama practised with an equal ratio of exhalation and inhalation (recaka and puraka) with a focus on this cakra gives rise to caitanya in this cakra. YM 11


Ajna Cakra

This cakra is situated between the two eyebrows. If caitanya can be held (focussed) here, one acquires the power to control everybody. Through the movements of recaka and puraka in the nadis of the two nostrils, if one practises pranayama by keeping the breath in the nostrils and circulating and moving the prana vayu, then the nadis below the nostril get purified. YM 12

Andam (Macrocosm) means the entire world. Pindam (microcosm) consists of all the mobile and immobile beings and objects in this world. Caram is that prana which is between the andam and pindam uniting and di erentiating the two and causing them to function. That is, Svasam (breath) is vayu (air). Acaram is the state of compressing the vayu and bringing together andam and pindam in a state of unity, that is, uniting the jivatma and paramatma together. To get to the state where the prana vayu can help the jivatma and paramatma unite, we need to practise recaka puraka kumbhaka according to the krama of yoga in order to regularly be able to bring this vayu under our control. This is similar to a man taming wild animals in the forest and slowly bringing them under his control. The yoga practitioner should similarly gradually bring the vayu under his control. YM 35


Vanhi Sara Dhauti: The stomach along with the navel should be pulled in to touch and press against (stick to) the spine and then should be pushed forward again. Repeat this several times. While pulling the stomach in, do recaka kumbhaka and while pushing it out do puraka 





kumbhaka. Practise this before eating. If you want to do this after eating, wait at least three hours. Otherwise it will be dangerous. This exercise needs to be practised daily, repeating it 84 times in a day. This belongs to raja yoga. YM 38-39


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. YM61


Trivikramasana 


This has 7 vinyasas. From the 1st to the 5th vinyasas and then the 7th vinyasa, practise following those for utthita hasta padangushtasana. Practise the 2nd and 7th vinyasas as shown in the picture (study it carefully) and remain in these positions. The 2nd vinyasa is the right-side trivikramasana sthiti. The 6th vinyasa as shown is the left-side trivikramasana sthiti. The picture shown here only demonstrates the left-side trivikramasana. It is important that equal recaka and puraka kumbhaka must be carefully observed while practising this asana. YM 136

Gandabherundasana 
This has 10 vinyasas. The 6th and 7th vinyasas show the asana sthiti. The first picture shows the 6th vinyasa and the second picture shows the 7th. In the 4th vinyasa, come to caturanga dandasana sthiti and in the 5th vinyasa proceed to viparita salabasana sthiti. In the 6th vinyasa, spread the arms out wide, keeping them straight like a stick (like a wire) as shown in the picture. Take the soles of both feet and place them next to the ears such that the heels touch the arms and keep them there.

Next, do the 7th vinyasa as shown in the second picture. This is called supta ganda bherundasana. In this asana sthiti and in the preliminary positions, do equal recaka puraka kumbhaka.Keep the gaze fixed on the midbrow. This must not be forgotten. YM 136-142



2. Puraka and Recaka (Rechaka) in Yogasanagalu 
(Mysore 1941)
The book is available to download from my Free Downloads page.

In yoga positions where eyes, head and forehead are raised, inhalation must be performed slowly through the nostrils until the lungs are filled. Then the chest is pushed forward and puffed up, abdomen tightly tucked in, focusing the eyes on the tip of the nose, and straighten the back bones tightly as much as possible. This type of inhalation which fills the lungs signifies Puraka. p8

In yoga positions where eyes, head, forehead, chest and the hip are lowered,we have to slowly exhale the filled air. Tucking in tightly the upper abdomen,the eyes must be closed. Thistypeofexhalationis called Rechaka. p8



Holding the breath is called Kumbhaka. p8


Therefore, how many vinysas for asanas? Asana position comes at which vinyasa count? When do you perform rechanka and puraka? When to do antah kumbhaka and bahya kumbhaka? What are its benefits? For yoga practitioners in formation,it is listed in the table below. p10



Special Direction


When practicing the above listed yogasanas people with heavy bodies must do more rechaka while people with lean bodies must be doing more puraka. These are called langhanakriya and brahmanakriya, respectively. p77

Exhalation is “rechaka”, inhalation is “puraka” and retention is “kumbhaka” according to Yoga shastra. p79




Characteristics of Uddiyanabandha
उदरे पि मं तानं नाभे समाचरेत्। उि याणो सो ब ो ु ुमातंगके सिर॥
Udare paschimam tanam nabheroordhwam samacharet| Uddiyano hyaso bandho mrutyumatangakesari||

Summary: Along with the navel, draw in the lower and upper abdomen to press against the back bones (spine) tightly. When practicing this, perform a deep rechaka (exhalation) in the utkatasana state, draw in the abdomen tightly holding breath for a little while. This is like a lion for the intoxicated elephant, meaning the man who performs this has no fear of death. Those who have a big tummy must try to reduce the abdominal fat by performing many asanas and then can practice this. Such (obese) people must develop a solid paschimotanasana practice. In addition, strong rechaka (exhalation) must also be developed. p83


In Pranayama, all three bandhas must be practiced. After rechaka, one must do jalandharabandha, moolabandha and uddiyanabandha while after puraka, moolabandha and jalandarabandha must be followed without fail during pranayama. p84


Rechaka, puraka and kumbhaka when practiced with equal time and equal numbers are called “Samavrutti pranayama.” p85



NOTE: The asana section in the original edition of Yogasanagalu is the same as in Yoga Makaranda but with less asana listed



Additional chapter 4th edition.

Dandasana is the first posture among the sitting asanas. Vyasa has spoken highly of this (posture) in the Yogasutrabhashya.

Procedure to practice: Place a soft blanket not less than 6 feet in length, sit down facing eastern direction with legs stretching straight forward and lift both hands above the head. Left and right forearms are aligned with the respective left and right ears and stretched upwards without bending the elbows. Hand fingers are interlocked tightly in such a manner that the palm is facing upwards and then the chin is lowered into the chest by bending the neck. The two feet are joined together with the heels touching the floor and the toes stretched upwards. Without bending the knees, keep the thigh muscles stretched tightly and hold the back erect. Softly close the eyelids and as explained before and take six deep inhalation and exhalations. After exhalation, pull in the region of abdomen in all the way into the navel. During inhalation, the chest is to be expanded. Breath should not be held for more than a second. In the yoga shastra, exhalation is known as Rechaka and inhalation is referred to as Puraka.
Kumbhaka is retention of breath. When we are practicing breathing like this, our stomach, neck, head and chest should not be moving up and down. Rechaka has to be longer than Puraka and also must be subtle. One Rechaka, one Puraka and one Kumbhaka make one Avrutta. Initially, only six Avrutta’s are enough and must be increased over time.

In this Asana, the body remains straight like a stick (Danda) and strengthens the spine, hands and legs and therefore is called Dandasana. p110

Paschimatanasana.

From Dandasana, take a deep Rechaka, pull in the stomach, keep the hand fingers interlocked, slowly bend forward, wrapping fingers around the legs with the palms facing on the outside. Rest the forehead on the knee caps or slightly beyond, perform Rechaka and Puraka, and keep the knees stretched straight without bending. Starting with three Rechaka and Puraka on the first week, keep increasing by one every week for a maximum of twelve Avruttis. This state is called Paschimatanasana. p112




Purvottanasana 
Procedure: Please see photo # 5. From Paschimattanasana position, inhale and lift both hands straight up and while exhaling deeply take the shoulders slowly behind the back and place the palm of the hands on the floor about 1 foot distance from the hips with the fingers facing forward. Similar to the second step in dandasana, push the chest forward and do a deep puraka kumbhaka. Pressing the heels and the palms tightly against the ground, lift the entire body in a straight line and drop the neck backwards. Close the eyes and keep still for at least 5 seconds. This is Purvottanasana position. After this, bend the neck to bring the chin to the chest, exhale and place the body down. In this way, practice three times in the first week and gradually increase to six repetitions. p114

Chatushtada peeta 


After stepping down from Purvasana, sit in Dandasana pose and without changing the position of hands bend the two legs and join the heels and knees in front of the hips. Keeping the back straight, bring the chin to the chest and perform rechaka. Pull the abdomen in towards the navel while doing puraka for five seconds and expand the chest area outwards while keeping the heels pressed to the floor. Lift the midsection and hips upwards and tilt the head backwards. Now the midsection of the body should look like a plank by lifting as much as possible. Remain still and do not change the positions of hands and legs. This posture is called chatushtada peeta. This will be hard for a couple of weeks. Afterwards becomes easier. Must be practiced slowly and patiently. p115

Navasana

Come down from chatushta peeta and without changing the position of legs perform two rechaka and purakas and as illustrated in the picture without bending the knees lift the legs up while lowering the neck a little bit. Staying in this position without movement, perform rechaka and puraka for as long as possible. p117



Ardha baddha padma paschimatanasana, part 1, 
Procedure for practice: As in pachimatanasana, stretch the left leg forward and bend the right foot and place it on the left thigh with the bottom of the foot facing up. As shown in the photo, from the back, take the right hand and grab the right foot big toe with the palm facing down. Extend the left hand with a forward bend and tightly hold the left foot big toe with index and middle fingers or if possible with all fingers. Keeping the back straight, pressing the chin to the chest, perform not less than three rechaka and purakas.While doing the 4th rechaka, fully extend the mid portion of the body and while lowering the head place the forehead on the knee. Now repeat the corresponding posture with the right leg extending forward. In this posture, one foot is like paschimatanasana and one foot is in baddha padmasana. Therefore, it is called ardha baddha padma paschimatanasana. p118



If the duration of rechaka, puraka and antahkumbhaka are the same, it is called samavrutti pranayama. If there are differences, then it is called vishamavrutti pranayama.


Example:

Rechaka 5 seconds, puraka 5 seconds, antahkumbhaka 5 seconds, is called samavrutti pranayama. Start with 5 seconds and gradually increase to 20 seconds. Maximum should be not more than 30 seconds. All rechaka and puraka practice (not for kumbhaka), must be subtle, slow, long and must be accompanied by remembrance of house holder diety and mantra. One must not indulge in surprise or fear of 30 second duration. By gradual increase it is possible to reach it in 3 months. Power of prana is the basis of long lifespan.


In vishamavrutti pranayama, puraka 5 seconds, kumbhaka 20 seconds and rechaka 10 seconds. Rechaka must be twice the length of puraka and kumbhaka 4 times. Here know that kumbhaka is antahkumbhaka. First start with samavrutti and only after we are adept in it, we should start vishamavrutti. Otherwise, you may get chest pain. Those who are unable to do vishamavrutti can only practice samavrutti. The basic tenet of Patanjali, Upavarsha and Varshaganya rishis is that one must practice yoga with deep inhalations and exhalations. Sit facing east or north direction.

If we examine the Rishi traditions, rechaka puraka and kumbhaka is performed while holding both sides of the nose just below the bony part using right fingers. p124-125




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3. Kumbhakam in Yoga Makaranda Part 2 (Salutations to the teacher the eternal one) - (Place/date unclear).
The book is available to download from my Free Downloads page.


This text is thought have been written/begun after Krishnamacharya left Mysore, possibly in the the late 1940s/early 50s

Puraka and recaka are refered to as inhalation and exhalaion in text, below i've listed mention of Kumbhakam (retaining the breath in or holding the breath out).


The word ‘kumbhakam’ is generally used in the ancient texts to depict pranayama as well as the holdings of the breath. The original translation is incorrect and inconsistent in some places due to such translation. p2


In SIRSHASANA, normally no kumbhakam need be done (in the beginning), though about two seconds ANTHAR and BAHYA kumbhakam automatically result when we change over from deep inhalation to deep exhalation and vice versa. During the automatic pause, kumbhakam takes place. When after practice has advanced and kumbhakam is deliberately practised, ANTHAR kumbhakam can be done up to 5 seconds during each round and BAHYA kumbhakam up to 10 seconds.

In SARVANGASANA, there should be no deliberate practice of ANTHAR kumbhakam, 10
but BAHYA kumbhakam can be practiced up to 5 seconds in each round.
These deep breathings along with the asana help in slowing down the breathing rate with a consequent elongation of life. Sayanacharya prescribes that the number of deep breaths one should practice per day should not be less than 320. This number could be spread out during the day-some may be done along with asana in the morning and evening, some along with pranayama, morning, noon, evening and at midnight, or whenever some spare time is
found. p10-11

KRAUNCASANA
Technique:
1. Step (1) is the same as for the preliminary exercise.
2. Interlock the fingers, stretch the arms upward and while exhaling lower the stretched
arms, so that the palms touch the sole of the foot stretched in front. Now. lift the stretched leg, without bending the knee, as far back as possible. In the final stage, the knee will be by the side of the ear. No undue force should be used. As practice advances, the abdominal muscles become supple, and the final position will become attainable with ease.
Note: The trunk should be kept erect throughout or slightly leaning to the back. The backbone should be kept straight and stretched.
3. A few deep breaths can be taken. Maximum benefit is obtained when in this position the breath is kept out (Bahya Kumbhakam).
4. While inhaling, lower the leg to the position in position (1).
5. Repeat movements in steps (2) & (3) a few times.
6. Repeat with the other leg. p22


VAJRASANA (b)
Technique:
1. Kneel on a piece of soft cloth with the knees together, the heels together, the soles of the feet upturned, toes stretched and the back of the feet touching the cloth. The body should be erect, the spinal column stretched and the chin locked.
2. Stretch the arms and place the palms to enclose the knee caps.
3. Take deep inhalations and exhalations with hissing sound in the throat with holding
in of breath after inhalation has been completed. It is important to do both types of Kumbhakam to get the full benefit from this asana. The total number of deep breaths should be slowly increased as practice advances from 6 to 16. p25

29. BHARADVAJASANA
Technique:
1. Sit on a piece of soft folded cloth, with one leg stretched straight in front, and the other leg folded back at the knee, so that the foot is close and by the side of the buttocks, the sole of the foot upturned, toes stretched and the back of the foot touching the cloth. The knees should be as close as possible. The foot of the leg, stretched in front, should be upright, to the ground and not inclined sideways. The body should be erect and the spinal column stretched-chin lock.
2. Bend the stretched leg (say the right) at the knees and bring the right heel very near the umbilicus. The right knee should touch the ground. Both the knees should be as near to each other as possible.
3. The right hand is taken round the back to catch hold of the toes of the right leg. The palm to touch the back of the foot.
4. The palm of the left hand is placed on the cloth below the right thigh. The hand should be stretched and not bent at the elbow. The left wrist should touch the outside of the thigh.
5. Twist trunk to face front. Turn the head, so that the chin is over the left shoulder.
6. Take deep inhalations and exhalations with holding in of breath and holding out of
breath. Both types of kumbhakam are necessary. The total rounds of deep breaths may be slowly increased as practice advances, from 12 to 48.
7. Repeat with the other leg.
Note: This is contra indicated to those who have had abdominal operation. p30


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
39
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. p40

APPENDICITIS AND CHRONIC STOMACH ACHE:
These are generally due to defective functioning of liver, spleen or the intestines and this asana helps in toning up these organs. If the person has undergone any abdominal operations before, this asana has to be modified somewhat in that it has to be done in combination with halasana. One leg will be as in Karnapidasana. This is done by getting to the halasana variation (3) position and by bending each leg alternately to bring the knee near the ear. This way the pressure on the abdominal region is reduced. In the case of those not operated, Karnapidasana is done in combination with ardhapadmasana to increase the pressure on the abdominal region. Start with Sarvangasana position, keep one leg upright, bend the other at the knee, bring the heel to rest near the groin (ardhapadmasana position) on the other side, the left heel near the right groin, and vice versa. Now exhale and bring the upright leg behind the head as in Halasana, then bend the knee and bring it near the ear as in Karnapeedasana.
Another variation which is effective combination of Exapadasarvangasana-front with Karnapidasana. In this variation, one leg is kept upright and stretched, the other leg is taken behind the head as in Halasana and then the knee bent and brought back near the ear as in Karnapidasana. In the final position the thigh should press the abdomen. Repeat with the other leg.
In all these positions pranayama is to be done with holding out of breath after exhalation. Pranayama will have therefore periods of both Anther and Bahya kumbhakam. These two periods will be equal and be for 2 or 5 seconds. The number of bending of each leg will be as a maximum. The number of each leg should be the same so that both sides of the body may be equally exercised.
The above variations of the asana are according to RAJA YOGA. p44

SUPTAPADA ANGUSHTASANA

Stage IV
1. Lie flat on the ground, on the back, both legs stretched, knees together, arms stretched and by the side of the body, the palms open and touching the ground.
2. While exhaling, bring both legs to an upright position by bending at the hips, keeping the knees together, and the legs stretched, the toes pointed.
3. Turn head to the left, so that the left ear touches the ground. Bring the left arm stretched, with s sweeping motion on the ground, to a position at right angles to the body.
4. Take one or two deep breaths.
5. While exhaling, bring both the legs together to lie on the ground, on the right side of
the body. The knees should not be bent, but the legs kept stretched. The toes should now be at the level of the shoulders, so that when both the toes are caught hold by the thumb and forefinger of the out-stretched right arm, the right arm and the left arm may be in a straight line at the shoulder level and at right angles to the body. As far as possible, try to keep the left side of the back near the ground as possible.
6. Do not less than six rounds pranayama. The pranayama should be done with both Anthar and Bahya Kumbhakam of two to five seconds duration each, the period of Anthar Kumbhakam being kept equal to the period of Bahya Kumbhakam.
7. While inhaling, bring the legs to the upright position, after releasing the toes. Bring the head to the normal position.
8. Repeat on the left side. The legs are straight away brought from the upright position to lie on the left side of the body without taking the legs to the position in step 1.
9. Do the same number of rounds of pranayama as on the right side, the periods of Anthar and bahya kumbhakam being the same as on the right side.
10. While inhaling bring the legs to the upright position after releasing the toes.
11. Bring the head to the normal position, the arms to the normal position by the side of
the body, and take one or two deep breaths.
12. While inhaling lower the legs to lie flat on the ground as in step one.
In some treatises on Yoga Stages II and III of Supthapadaangushta asana are called JATHARA PARIVRITTI though the asana affects other regions of the body besides the abdominal region. 
p65-68


NOTE:
See text for Kumbhaka in the pranayma and in yoga therapy section.


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4. Puraka and Recaka in Questions to Krishnamacharya from his students in Yogacarya Krishnamacharya - The Purnacarya. Edited by Mala Srivatsan.



19. What is meant by jitasvasam?
When a person is capable of doing any length of bhya kumbhaka (hold after exhalation) and anta kumbhaka (hold after inhalation) without getting tired, such a person is called a jitasvasi

23. What about the practice for women after child birth?
They can begin to practice three days after the childs birth, if they do not have any illness. They should begin with ujjayi pranayama, without kumbhaka, twenty-four breaths three times a day, for one week. They can then proceed to lie on their backs, legs bent, in desk pose and move their arms with breathing. Still later, they can raise their legs to touch the toes. After 15 days they can do dandasana. After a month they can do parvatasana and nadisodhana pranayama. After two months they can do sarvangasana. However, during pregnancy they should not do sirsasana and sarvangasana after the 5th month. They should not do paschimottanasana and similar postures. they may do mahamudra.


28. What is the procedure one follows for yoga?
Asana-s are the means of reducing illness and for promoting health. The practice of asana makes a person agile. The asana-s should be taught according to the individuals requirements and must be taught in vinyasa. There should be a niyama in the breathing while practicing asana-s. Inhalation and exhalation should be decided according to the movement of the body. The length of the recaka and puraka depends on the asana and this is what helps the healing of illness. If the correct breathing is not done the practice is a waste of time. It is important to learn from a guru. If a person learns from a book then there is no point blaming the sastra-s from not realising the benefits mentioned therein.



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Ashtanga and Ageing: The games we played.... Should Advanced (demonstration?) asana be practiced daily?

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If we accept, and this comes from Krishnamacharya and Pattabhi Jois themselves, that the Advanced asana were intended for demonstration purposes....., should we be practicing such advanced asana daily..., or at least four days a week.... and practicing in this way over decades. This isn't intended as a criticism of Ashtanga vinyasa (there are many advanced postures in Vinyasa Krama that we are encouraged to try), I find great value in practicing the same asana daily,, it's a wonderful way to build discipline, but given the rise in the number of practitioners and the number who have moved on to advanced asana and the number of 'superstars' shilling their Advanced practice to put seats on mats in workshops and sell product, is this wise. The occasional demonstration of the more extreme asana of the Advanced series, practiced by an experienced practitioner may do no lasting harm but practicing those 'demonstration intended' asana, day in day out, over decades may be a different matter.

To reframe the question.
Should we, should anyone, be practicing Advanced asana (almost ) daily and over decades, at what point should we accept the physical changes in our bodies, in our bone mass, chemical make up and adapt our practice accordingly?



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This post relates to a video I put up on fb. I was teasing a friend about Vatyanasana and posted an old video of mine of jumping straight into the asana. 




The video itself came about from seeing a new edit of the Krishnamacharya, his family and BKS Iyengar demonstrating asana in the 1938 Mysore documentary footage (see the appendix for that old post and video). Here's my fb comment...

"The things Krishnamacharya used to teach those boys of the Mysore palace, no doubt for all the demonstrations they used to do. As with many postures and transitions (in the Advanced series for example, supposedly intended for demonstration only), practicing them daily would probably be too hard on the knees, the joints, other than for the occasional demonstration which might be acceptable with enough training and preparation. Unfortunately these days, third (Ashtanga series) is the new second and fourth is the new third, many students are now practicing advanced postures daily, I wonder if this is wise."


This has been playing on my mind. 


Often (mostly) on this blog, I'll throw a post up to see if I still agree with it by the end of the day, week...., year. I have a strong temptation to delete the first seven years or so of the blog and no doubt, five years from now, I'll have the temptation to delete the rest of it as well but it is what it is, a document perhaps of shifting view of MY daily practice. 

A blog it's just a blog.

So this is an idea that I'm throwing up here to mull over. 


A daily, Primary series practice is one thing perhaps ( and even that includes some postures that Krishnamacharya originally tagged as Intermediate (EG. Marichiyasana D), as did Jois (re uttihita parsvakonasana B), as well as perhaps some of the gentle 'back stretches from 2nd series but what of many of the more challenging postures particularly those in Advanced A and B ( 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th).?


So this is how I understand it plays out in Ashtanga these days.


You begin to learn Primary. Perhaps for the first class or two (or eight ) you only do the Suryanamaskars, maybe some of the standing postures before you begin to add on more Primary postures.

Perhaps you will be held at Marichiyasa D for some time..., some might be held there for all eternity. Personally, these days (contra to many of my earlier posts), I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing and will myself, more often than not, only practice half the Primary series, but this is because I like to practice slowly and a full series would take me all morning. I want time for my pranayama practice, for a Sit.... as well as to do the ironing.

Eventually we might complete Primary and begin to add on 2nd series, the Intermediate asana series. Again we may get held up at kapo for a few lifetimes and a few more at karandavasana.

It's after Karandavasana I think that you then tend to switch to working on second series daily with Primary only practiced on Friday, so five days of Intermediate asana,. one of Primary

Likewise, on completing the Intermediate series, we begin to add on Third series (Advanced series asana) until finally switching to just 3rd for four days a week, Primary and Intermediate asana practiced one day each..... and so it goes on.

If you've gone so far as to switch to fourth series you will now be practicing fourth series three days a week, 3rd, once, 2nd, once and Primary series once.

So four days of Advanced asana, one day each of Intermediate Primary asana

There are some slight differences between how the different senior teachers go about the above and personally I don't accept any one authority for 'the method'. Sharath's approach is interesting but so too is Manju's, Saraswati's and other earlier approaches maintained by the first teachers to practice with Pattabhi Jois, each with their different idiosyncrasies, depending on which years they first learned the practice and adapted it to their own teaching environment. I don't even accept Pattabhi Jois himself as an authority, which Pattabhi Jois would you choose, the author of Yoga Mala or the ageing teacher faced with hundreds of students. Nor do I accept Krishnamacharya as an authority for that matter. My problem of course is with the word 'authority', it's enough to reflect on the different approaches to practice and over time, with experience, find which approach best suits you personally.

If we accept, and this comes from Krishnamacharya and Pattabhi Jois themselves, that the Advanced asana were intended for demonstration purposes....., should we be practicing such advanced asana daily..., or at least four days a week.... and practicing in this way over decades. This isn't intended as a criticism of Ashtanga vinyasa (there are many advanced postures in Vinyasa Krama that we are encouraged to try), I find great value in practicing the same asana daily, it's a wonderful way to build discipline, but given the rise in the number of practitioners and the number who have moved on to advanced asana and the number of 'superstars' shilling their Advanced practice to put seats on mats in workshops and sell product, is this wise? The occasional demonstration of the more extreme asana of the Advanced series, practiced by an experienced practitioner may do no lasting harm perhaps but practicing those 'demonstration' intended asana, day in day out, over decades may be a different matter.

If you are young, and relatively flexible and with a particular body/sinew/bone structure type, starting practice at Uni, you could end up working on 3rd series at say twenty-five and then continue practicing advanced series asana daily for the next twenty to thirty years. 

That's an extreme but perhaps you started Ashtanga in your late twenties ended up at third series in your mid thirties, you could be practicing advanced series asana for ten, fifteen years before you decide enough is enough and start dropping asana and series.

I happened to be forty-three when I started. After completing Primary I moved pretty quickly through Advanced A and all but a couple of postures of B, the photos on the Krishnamacharya proficient asana list below were taken I think three years after I started. Thankfully around this time I began to practice Vinyasa krama with Ramaswami ( mainly because his book contained so many asana) and encountered a slower approach to practice. On studying and practicing with Pattabhi Jois' teacher Krishnamacharya's texts, I slowed my practice right down, these day's I mostly just practice the first half of Primary and occasionally the first half of Intermediate series.



Krishnamacharya7s Yogasangalu now available for free download for personal study from here
http://tinyurl.com/z9jy7cphttp://tinyurl.com/z9jy7cp


Krishnamacharya7s Yogasangalu now available for free download for personal study from here
http://tinyurl.com/z9jy7cphttp://tinyurl.com/z9jy7cp

Personally, I think now, I shouldn't have been practicing half of the above asana at that point but I was getting older and thought at the time it was a case of now or never plus I was amazed and a little intoxicated with what I found my body able to do. I wince when I see early video of Pattabhi Jois himself muscling his students into Advanced postures, who perhaps shouldn't even have been practicing 2nd. 






To reframe the question.
Should we, should anyone, be practicing Advanced asana (almost ) daily and over decades, at what point should we accept the physical changes in our bodies, in our bone mass, chemical make up and adapt our practice accordingly?

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A couple of old videos of exploring advanced asana from 2011

I  should point out that I'm a home practitioner (notice the '....at home' in the blog title) and apart from three months with Kristina in Rethymno, Crete ( highly recommended) back in 2014, which included a couple of short TT's with Manju and a a month with Ramaswami in LA (Vinyasa Krama TT) I7ve always explored my practice alone at home. I started with books and DVD in 2007, the videos below exploring Advanced B are from 2011. I've never had any Ashtanga interviews other than a bruised toe but then shortly after these videos I become interested in exploring a slower practice with longer stays and pretty much lost interest with more advanced asana, primary asana seemed quite sufficient. had I gone to a teacher more, depending on the shala, I might have been held back more or encouraged beyond my own (perhaps limited) sense of caution and common sense.


A thought on these videos: 

I'm reminded of the old cybershala, how we would bounce ideas and posts around the blogs, exploring different postures together, sharing hints tips, picking up on topics and running with them. Our videos tended to be mostly 'work in progress'. Apart from going a little deeper in kapotasana, once we got the basics of a posture I think we pretty much tended to lose interest in videoing it, there are few ( if any ) fancy locations and beautiful examples of asana from those years (except perhaps Laruga back before she was teaching, her home practice an inspiration), we were sharing amongst friends rather than promoting ourselves, trying to catch the moment a posture or transition just clicked into place (actually that's probably not completely true, I'm sure there were periods where our ego got the better of us, but on the whole, on the whole). I started this particular blog as a response to the perfect Ashtanga series I saw on you tube, Lino Miele, John Scot. David Swenson, Richard freeman, mark Darby..., their jump throughs were too perfect, so far from my own attempts, I wanted to catch the moment my efforts first bore fruit, so we could see what it was that made the difference, likewise with kapotasana, karandavasana, dropping back, as well as these later forays into advanced series asana.



Appendix 1.

The full 45 minute Krishnamacharya (and Iyengar) 1938 silent Newsreel plus , jumping in and out of Vatyanasana.

Nice to sees new version of this in full (Thank you Tom and Youtube for allowing longer videos, up untill now it's been in five sections). Are there some bits that I don't remember from the chopped up version? Iyenger jumping straight into Vatyanasana for example at 29:09, at first I thought he was going for lotus but no.

Got to try that, the things Krishnamacharya used to teach those boys, no doubt for all the demonstrations they used to do. As with many postures and transitions (in the Advanced series for example, supposedly intended for demonstration only), practicing them daily would probably be too hard on the knees, joints but for the occasional demonstration, acceptable perhaps with enough training and preparation. Unfortunately these days, third is the new second and fourth the new third, many students are now practicing advanced postures daily, I wonder if this is wise.

Enjoy



Had to give it go, first side is just about OK but the second side a struggle, don't manage to get the foot high enough into the groin, cute party trick though, nice play a bit after such a heavy practice this morning.




This is a 'freestyle' approach to Vatayanasana As opposed to this one which is closer to the Ashtanga approach 'Working on getting my vatyanasana back'.

Should also add that it's perhaps something to think twice about before trying at home as your messing with your knees. I've spent quite some time playing with the hands free getting into lotus and hop to lotus jump through,

UPDATE
And on a similar theme, the jump in and out of padmasana







Appendix 2

Krishnamacharya practicing at 84

What does practice look like after 70 years?


Krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu ( Link to translation) was originally published in 1942, these photos are from the 3rd edition 1972








































 



*


Or perhaps practice after 70 years just looks like this...

from Breath of Gods

*These pictures were taken for and added to the 1972 edition of Yogasanagalu putting Krishnamacharya at 84. Krishnamacharya was first taught asanas by his father from when he was six.

See the follow up post here

Krishnamacharya seems to have practiced along with his students.


Yesterday I posted 120 odd pictures of Krishnamacharya demonstrating asana from the 3rd edition of his second book Yogasanagalu, he was 84 at the time. The pictures were remarkable, how did he manage to stay that strong, that flexible, his eldest son Desikachar gives us a clue,

".....Of course, he was also doing Āsana for three to four hours daily in addition to his Prāṇāyāma. His practice was extremely rigorous and that may account for his being able to handle these large quantities of spicy and sweet foods.

and the third post in this series


APPENDIX 3



You may have no problems at all up to the age of fifty or sixty. After that, the real problem arises when the tissues of the body do not bear the load. What I practise now is more difficult than what I did when I was young or struggled to learn. Though today, I don’t consider those practices as very hard although I practised ten hours a day then. Today, it is a big fight between the body and the mind. The body says, “I can’t do it.” The mind says, “Do not force me.” BKS Iyengar

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"Most people want to take joy without suffering, I'll take both. 
See how far suffering takes me" BKS Iyengar Light on Life.

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We may not attain samadhi but perhaps the work we do in exploring the limbs of Ashtanga practice may prepare us somewhat for the suffering and hardship that awaits us. Few if any manage to avoid suffering completely. We do not seek pain or suffering but when it can not be avoided, reduced , deflected, we must be prepared perhaps to face it unflinchingly with dignity and forbearance and learn too from this pervasive aspect of life what it can teach us. 

Below is perhaps the most affecting article I've read on yoga, I'm tempted to print it out, frame it, and put it on the wall of the home shala. I've also included some notes on Iyengar's passing and a couple more articles, titled 'Seeing is believing' on BKS Iyengar practicing in his 80s.



At 92 years of age BKS Iyengar continued to practise yoga for several hours each day. Here he describes how his practice changed with age and offers advice to students on yoga in later life.




You may have no problems at all up to the age of fifty or sixty. After that, the real problem arises when the tissues of the body do not bear the load. What I practise now is more difficult than what I did when I was young or struggled to learn. Though today, I don’t consider those practices as very hard although I practised ten hours a day then. Today, it is a big fight between the body and the mind. The body says, “I can’t do it.” The mind says, “Do not force me.”

Will over matter

Believe me, after a certain age, to practise āsana and prānāyāma is going to be very hard. I am doing it because of this reason only. The body ages. It descends towards deterioration. The rate of catabolism increases more than anabolism. The bones become brittle. The blood vessels get hardened. All these are known facts. I do not want to fall prey to these. If I surrender to the will of the body, then I am no more a yogic practitioner. When I practise, I watch how to stop this deteriorating process. That is the will over matter.
Then you say, “Iyengar doesn’t need anything because he has practised earlier”. But that is not the right way of thinking. In fact, I see how at this age I need to practise. I have to avoid the constriction of the sternum. I have to see how the diaphragm remains free. If I look at the possible deteriorations and maintain my practice of āsana, then people say that I am a physical yogi.

Increased timings

Often people think that at the old age they should do dhyāna (meditation) or japa (repetition of mantras) instead of āsana and prānāyāma practice. I am not that type of a sādhaka (practioner) to take shelter under the garb of old age. I will not run away from my practice because of the fear complex of old age. I do meditation in each āsana as in each āsana I see God who is infinite and beyond measure. Because of age I have increased timings in my practices. Mind and body want to give way. I daily charge my body and mind to stand with will power so that I do not surrender to the weakness of my body and mind.
Having a good background of philosophy, practising yoga, I now continue life without depending on anyone. I have to stick to the philosophy of the body as I am already ingrained in the spiritual knowledge.



The steadiness of intelligence

The only difference between now and the early days is that in the early days I was like all other youngsters. I was tempted to do the āsana one after the other. Today, I stay in Dwi Pāda Viparīta Dandāsana or in Kapotāsana for quite a length of time. At this age I clearly understand the sūtra (Yoga Sutras, II.46), sthira (stable, firm) sukham (sweet, easy) āsanam (posture) in its total sense. Now, I see in each āsana, the perfect freshness and firmness of body, the alert, steadiness of intelligence and the sweet, benevolence of the self. I see whether I can enjoy sthira and sukha in a long stay in Kapotāsana. Can I be sthira and sukha in Dwi Pāda Viparīta Dandāsana?
Sometimes I do ten minutes Pārsva Śīrșāsana, on each side. These are difficult āsanas. Nobody does the advanced or complicated āsana at this age. Nobody takes the risk of doing and staying in these āsana as it requires courage. To do and maintain an āsana when the muscles and nerves tremor and the loose joints shake, heart beats faster, it is not an easy thing. I am not that type of a person to sit in Padmāsana and say, “I am comfortable.” If you are doing yoga, you realise the difficulties as one ages. So, my advice to all of you is that as yoga frees one from the afflictions of actions, afflictions come in chains in old age. Therefore maintain and sustain what you have learnt and do to keep it up then.

Courage and faith

This needs not only will power but also courage and faith. By the proper chemistry of will power and courage along with discrimination, the yogic practices generate the energy in the nerve cells as you stay in those difficult āsanas for a long time with comfort. At this age I learn lots of things. It is the wisdom that comes at this age. I have not lost this freshness of intelligence.
When you do Pārsva Śīrșāsana, sometimes you may not know where the legs are, where the shoulders are, where the load is. For an aging person like me, it is more difficult to have the sensitivity; yet, I have not lost it. Every now and then I come back to the right position in case I deviate from my limbs or mind. I educate the cells that they have to remain where I want them. I try for sthira sukham āsanam in these difficult āsanas. It is easy to be sthira and have sukham in the simple āsana.
I regularly practise prānāyāma and dhyāna in Padmāsana. You do not see me early in the mornings to know what I do. You only see me practising āsana in the hall, but my approach is the same in prānāyāma, dhārāna and dhyāna. To be honest, this is ethics.
Tatah klesha karma nivrttih (YogaSutras, IV.30). With the end of afflicted oriented actions, see that the afflictions do not enter the system or you in old age.


Dipika, 2011
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Do follow the link (click the article title) and check out the website, the excellent BLOG (http://iyi.org.uk/category/blog/and the Resource page (https://iyengaryoga.org.uk/resources/articles/that has amongst much else all the Iyengar Yoga News Magazine mentioned above to view and download


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Two years ago I woke up to hear that BKS Iyengar had passed away. I was in Rethymno, Crete at the time, practicing Ashtanga at Kristina Karitinou's shala for three months. I mentioned to Kristina that the great man had passed and she informed the rest of the class and dedicated the mornings practice to his memory. At the end of my practice I quietly went out into the courtyard behind the shala and dropped back a 108 times just as I had once seen Iyengar do on perhaps his 80th birthday. It was only the second time I had attempted so many dropbacks (see this post) and I had to split it into four groups with a brief pause between each. At the time I wasn't exactly sure why I was doing it, wished after the first batch I hadn't started, and wondered why I was so moved by his passing,  I was an 'Ashtangi 'after all, I'd never been to an Iyengar class, still haven't..... reading this article now I wish now I had done that 108 twice.


Iyengar dropping back again and again and again 42 seconds into the movie below




On a workshop I was presenting at Stillpoint Yoga in London a few months later an Iyengar teacher who reads my blog occasionally sent me, via his student who was attending my workshop, some pages on Iyengar's late practice (from Iyengar Yoga News. Some sample pages below, the magazines are now available to view and download at the links)

The practice was stunning, bemusing even, long long stays one after another, five minutes here, ten, fifteen minutes there, asana after asana, what possessed the man...... the article above goes someway perhaps to explaining but only someway. I held off posting those pages at the time but now I see they are readily available online.





See Part one of Inyengar's practice on p36 of  issue 3 







Part two on p 33 of issue 4


UPDATE: Encountering these articles again on BKS Iyengar's practicing in his 80s and 90s, I wanted to read more of his later writing. I've just started reading his Light on Life, a quite wonderful book, did Iyengar suspect it might be his last? It feels like a summation of all that he had learned in his lifetime of Ashtanga enquiry. The book treats each of Ashtanga's (eight) limbs chapter by chapter, we have Iyengar on asana, pranayama practice, on approaching/exploring each of the other limbs with the same uncompromising will with which he investigated asana throughout his life. 

Asana practice often gets a bad wrap these days, "That's not yoga", they say. 'They' see the play perhaps, the promotional asana that can, at times, distract us too from our work, we can allow ourselves some distraction perhaps if we then rejoin the struggle with ever more commitment. 


It is work, that daily discipline that characterises practice as we understand it.Lineage is of no importance other than to cling to an illusion of authority, another distraction, a support perhaps in the beginning, at some point it may become a hinderance to enquiry and what else is yoga. Sincere, committed practice, ideally daily, in whatever form it takes, moving or static, a mix of the two. Practiced with resolve it forges the will, the discipline required of the other limbs it leads us towards. 


There is a line from Iyengar's Light on Life that came back to me looking at these pictures...,  


"Most people want to take joy without suffering, I'll take both. 
See how far suffering takes me"


Was Svātmārāma thus, Matsyendrasana, in their uncompromising enquiry? 



(When) will we see his like again?



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Note. The approach to Ashtanga I personally take now, at 53, is outlined in my Proficient Primary page http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/p/proficient-primary-project.html




Links

Do follow the link (click the article title) and check out the website, the excellent BLOG (http://iyi.org.uk/category/blog/and the Resource page (https://iyengaryoga.org.uk/resources/articles/that has amongst much else all the Iyengar Yoga News Magazine mentioned above to view and download.



https://www.amazon.com/Light-Life-Journey-Wholeness-Ultimate/dp/1594865248



Iyengar yoga Institute UK

Guest post: Heartfulness Meditation as a Complement to Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga by Satya Murthy

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I promised Satya Murthy, who translated Krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu ( Mysore 1941) for us (available on my Free Downloads page),  another guest post on the blog, here it is on Heartfulness Meditation and Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga.

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Heartfulness Meditation as a Complement to Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga
Satya Murthy.

Four years ago, I wrote a guest post on my experiences with the Sahaj Marg meditation/spiritual system (http://grimmly2007.blogspot.com/2013/04/guest-post-sahaj-marg-meditation.html).  In recent years, the Sahaj Marg meditation system has evolved dramatically into a much more open movement.  During this time, my practice and involvement has also intensified.  Therefore, I thought it is an appropriate time to provide an update.  The meditation technique is now promoted as “Heartfulness” while the spiritual system is known as Sahaj Marg, meaning the natural path.  

Kamlesh Patel (affectionately known as Daaji) is the current Master of the global movement after the Mahasamadhi of Chariji in December 2014.  Daaji has brought a modern approach to the expansion and promotion of the system.  The primary objective of this promotion is to bring awareness of this simple and direct approach to the masses.  Through this worldwide effort by way of conferences, social media, webinars, and YouTube, millions of new seekers have been introduced to this meditation over the past few years.

Since beginning the Heartfulness meditation practice in 2009, my Ashtanga yoga practice has taken a back seat to the meditation practice.  However, I have continued to maintain a daily routine of 40 minutes of half primary series on weekdays and an hour-long practice on weekends.  Recently I have been thinking about how these two practices are comparable and complementary to one another as described in the table below.



Heartfulness meditation being a disciplined and organized practice, Ashtanga practitioners would be drawn to it.  As Ashtanga yoga practitioners become attracted to higher limbs of yoga, they tend to explore various meditation/spiritual systems, just like I did.  Therefore, I was inspired to write this essay to bring more awareness in the Ashtanga community of this simple and effective practice that is available globally for free with easy accessibility.  I would like to emphasize that Heartfulness meditation can be practiced in conjunction with any system of yoga.

Over the past two years, the global Heartfulness organization has committed to making this system more easily available to the masses worldwide through volunteers, social media (https://www.facebook.com/kamleshdaaji), meetups, web (http://daaji.org/), YouTube, apps (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/heartfulness/id1053164680?mt=8) and e-magazine (http://www.heartfulnessmagazine.com/).  The main web portal (www.heartfulness.org) will also connect one to any or all the above-mentioned avenues.  It is important to point out that all these resources are available for free to anyone interested.  There is never any fee charged to learn or practice the system.

One can get an introduction to the practice by going online (www.heartfulness.org) or by finding a local Heartfulness trainer or center (http://heartspots.heartfulness.org/).  It is easier than ever to start a systematic practice by taking three initiatory sittings on three consecutive days.  It is now offered online in the form of Masterclasses (http://en.heartfulness.org/masterclass/) where seekers can get introductory sittings into the practice right from the comfort of their homes.

The three main components of the Heartfulness practice “the morning meditation, evening cleaning meditation and a night time prayer meditation” work in tandem in facilitating progress.  The morning meditation consists of sitting comfortably with eyes closed and upright either on floor or on a chair starting with a subtle thought/awareness of the presence of divine light in the heart (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wvka8pl624).  There is no need to visualize the light or concentrate on it.  When and if our awareness drifts into other thoughts, we can gently bring our awareness back into the presence of divine light in the heart.  However, it is not meant to be repeated continuously like a mantra.  The meditation is a passive activity where we relax with this initial thought and let go.  This technique is essentially a meditation on the self as prescribed by Sri Krishna in Bhagavad Gita and mentioned in Upanishads. 

Bhagavad Gita says: (VI, 25) Little by little through patience and repeated effort, the mind will become stilled in the self; (VI, 26) Wherever the mind wanders, restless and diffuse in its search for satisfaction without, lead it within; train it to rest in the self; (XVIII, 61) the Lord is seated in the hearts of all the beings.

 The Katha Upanishad (4.13) says: “The Self, the Lord of the past and the future, is like a light without smoke; he is verily the same today and tomorrow”.

The Mundaka Upanishad (III.1.5.) says: “When the impurities dwindle, the ascetics or the self-controlled, behold Him – stainless, resplendent within the body”.

The Mahanarayana Upanishad (II.7) says: ‘we meditate upon Him, the limitless, the changeless, the seer, the end aim of the ocean of existence, the source of all Bliss in the heart, which is like a lotus bud”.

The Svetasvatara Upanishad (4.17) says: “the divinity who created the universe and who pervades everything always dwells in the hearts of the creatures. Those that realize him become immortal”.

Another important concept in Heartfulness system is that of deep impressions called samskaras in Sanskrit.  From our life experiences, we accumulate these impressions, which form the basis of our beliefs, attitudes and personalities. They are like layers of veils that influence our perceptions and responses to everyday situations, as well as our reactions to people and places. Most importantly, impressions impede our natural ability to experience the pure essence of self that is within. The Heartfulness practice offers a method whereby the layers of impressions are dissolved, opening the way for inner expansion along with freedom from their weight and influence.

The evening cleaning is performed for not more than half an hour at the end of the day (for e.g., after coming back home from work or school) by sitting comfortably in the same posture as in meditation. Also, imagine that the day’s accumulation of impressions, impurities, complexities, grossness etc. are melting away from the whole system and going out of the back in the form of smoke or vapor.  The vacuum thus created is filled by the sacred current of Divine entering your heart. Unlike the meditation, cleaning is a very active process in which we are supposed to use our will power in a gentle way to remove our impressions. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiorIbEuNCQ)  The greatest advantage in this path is that, the guru or the Master facilitates the transformation of an individual into an evolved human being. This is made possible through the unique method adopted by the Master, which is termed ‘Pranahuti’ in Sahaj Marg. Pranahuti means ‘offering one’s life energy’. The Master, offers his own life-energy, directs it to the heart of the disciple through his will power, and awakens the Soul which is dormant.  In addition to daily self-cleaning of impressions, the practitioner is recommended to take periodic sittings with Heartfulness trainers.  By invoking the presence of the Master, the heartfulness trainer acts as a conduit for the yogic transmission of divine energy into practitioner’s heart.  These sittings enable removal of deep seated samskaras (mental impressions) and facilitate practitioners to experience deeper states of meditation.  The practitioners are actively assisted in their spiritual journey.  One can feel the difference when they mediate on their own compared to when they meditate with a trainer.  Meditation with a trainer is analogous to the adjustments given by a teacher in the Ashtanga class to help make progress.  The trainer can be viewed as holding the mental space and meditating in resonance with the practitioner.

Have I continued to evolve under the Heartfulness spiritual practice?  This is a question one must ask periodically with any spiritual practice to keep it honest and prevent it from becoming yet another mundane ritual.  In my previous posting in 2013, I wrote about how the meditation practice had helped me overcome fears and simplify my life by letting go of identification and labels. 
How we react to life situations can reveal a lot about our state of consciousness.  In 2015, I was impacted by a company reorganization and lost my job.  My experience during this uncertain time is captured in this Linkedin post: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-does-meditation-practice-have-do-corporate-merger-satya-murthy.  Around this same time, I developed an intense desire to share this meditation practice with others in my town and therefore, started a local meetup group.  I was looking for a suitable facility to conduct Heartfulness sessions on a more regular basis and had become acquainted with the founder of a local yoga studio.  I was planning to ask him if I could conduct Heartfulness sessions at the yoga studio.  Serendipitously or by design, before I got a chance to ask, I received an e-mail from the founder asking me if I was interested in offering Heartfulness meditation classes under the auspices of the yoga studio!  I immediately accepted and started organizing meditation sessions with the help of a Heartfulness trainer. 

In mid-2016, I volunteered and was selected to become an authorized trainer.  The preparatory process consisted of taking daily sittings with my preceptor for over three weeks culminating in three final sittings with the Master (Daaji).  Several experiences during these daily sittings were astonishingly blissful.  In one of the remarkable experience that has stuck with me, I was peering into a state of clarity and stillness it seemed that I could simply stay in that condition effortlessly for as long as I wanted.  My trainer who was sitting at his home in another town was also able to sense this and had texted me “sitting ended. Felt very blissful today and so don’t want to disturb you by calling” so that I could continue to experience the blissful state for some more time. From these powerful experiences including three final sittings from the Master, I intuitively understood the power of thoughts and will power.  I also gained self-confidence that I would be able to perform the functions of a trainer along with continuing with my Ashtanga practice, personal and professional responsibilities. 

In addition to some of the practical life benefits of the spiritual practice described earlier, are there other indicators of progress?  Stages of spiritual progress are well described in the vast amount of Heartfulness literature that is shared with practitioners and frequently referred to in training materials.  A self-referral guide with energy sub points can be a useful tool on a spiritual journey.  Depending on the sensitivity of the person he or she may feel awareness or pressure at these points (shown in the picture below) during sittings.  More literature can be found at: http://www.sahajmarg.org/abhyasi




In conclusion, a meditation practice that reinforces that we are not our body but are the awareness wherein our thoughts and sense perceptions are illuminated is highly beneficial to an Ashtanga yoga practitioner.  This awareness can help check the ego identification with the body and attachment to seeking more postures that can occur from an Ashtanga practice.  A blend of Ashtanga and Heartfulness practice can provide an optimal balance for the fitness of the body and regulation of the mind in the modern age.  As we age, we may want to listen to the body and modify the physical practice appropriately (e.g., switching to a slower Ashtanga or Vinyasakrama style) while giving more prominence to the meditation practice.



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See too perhaps this post on A Korean Zen monk's encounter with Ashtanga Vinyasa.

Ashtanga and Zen 2 - Mirror of Zen /// A Day in the Moment of a Modern Zen Monk

Dandasana as Samastithi : Proficient Primary.

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I hear that one of my Ashtanga heroes Chuck Miller, devotes much of his workshops to Samasitithi, 


"On the first day of practice, we stood in samstithi for what felt like hours, while Chuck told us about the importance of this word, sama, and how it had risen to the top of his yogic chart, giving a directionality to all the postures, a place to move towards. He explained, as our legs began to burn and our shoulders involuntarily hunched up only to be pulled back down by his firm reminders of maintaining samastithi, that sama, same-ness, non-separateness is the goal; that yoga is the process of waking up to the realization of non-separation. That there is no separation between the feet and the earth that they press against; the earth gives back as much as we give her. We pressed our feet and grew taller; we swayed a bit, but returned to our core using the breath. Our fingertips grew heavy towards the earth. Our sacrum broadened. He placed a deity inside our bodies, her feet on our pelvic floor, her palms pressing against the inside of our breastbones. Our collective hearts expanded, and we grew roots that connected us to our core." from HERE


I was reminded of this while in dandasana this morning, I felt as if I could stay there all day, all practice at least. Ramaswami refers to Dandasana as Samasithi for seated postures. Just as his teacher Krishnamacharya had taught him, Ramaswami suggested that we might employ many of the hand/arm movements that we had learned from him in tadasana. 


Following Krishnamacharya's early instruction we might also employ a long stay in dandasana, we might explore kumbhaka, holding the breath in after inhalation or out after exhalation. We may explore dandasana just as we might tatkamudra with a deep uddiyana bandha.

Here's Krishnamacharya from Yoga Makaranda and the dandasana before folding forward into paschimattanasana

"In the 6th vinyasa, doing puraka kumbhaka, jump and arrive at the 7th vinyasa (Dandasana). That is, from adhomukhasvanasana sthiti, jump forward and move both legs between the arms without allowing the legs to touch the floor. Extend the legs out forward and sit down. Practise sitting like this with the rear part of the body either between the two hands or 4 angulas in front of the hands. It is better to learn the abhyasa krama from a guru. In this sthiti, push the chest forward, do puraka kumbhaka and gaze steadily at the tip of the nose".

Context

"Pascimattanasana or Pascimottanasana 
This asana has many kramas. Of these the first form has 16 vinyasas. Just doing the asana sthiti by sitting in the same spot without doing these vinyasas will not yield the complete benefits mentioned in the yoga sastras. This rule applies to all asanas.
The first three vinyasas are exactly as for uttanasana. The 4th vinyasa is caturanga dandasana, the 5th vinyasa is urdhvamukhasvanasana, the 6th vinyasa is adhomukhasvanasana. Practise these following the earlier instructions. In the 6th vinyasa, doing puraka kumbhaka, jump and arrive at the 7th vinyasa. That is, from adhomukhasvanasana sthiti, jump forward and move both legs between the arms without allowing the legs to touch the floor. Extend the legs out forward and sit down. Practise sitting like this with the rear part of the body either between the two hands or 4 angulas in front of the hands. It is better to learn the abhyasa krama from a guru. In this sthiti, push the chest forward, do puraka kumbhaka and gaze steadily at the tip of the nose. After this extend both arms out towards the feet (the legs are already extended in front). Clasp the big toes of the feet tightly with the first three fingers (thumb, index, middle) of the hands such that the left hand holds the left big toe and the right hand holds the right big toe. Do not raise the knees even slightly. Then, pull in the stomach while doing recaka, lower the head and press the face down onto the knee. The knees should not rise from the ground in this sthiti either. This is the 9th vinyasa. This is called pascimottanasana." Krishnamacharya - Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934).

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In the Proficient Primary approach to practice that I devote a page to at the top of the blog, treating asana as mudra, I would often include a deep uddiyana bandha. Recently I've been questioning bandhas more and more and include them less often, mostly in tatkamudra, dandasana and perhaps maha mudra, more out of affection and familiarity perhaps rather than anything else.

from my fb post this week on bandhas.
A year on from the series of Proficient Primary posts and I'm questioning the purpose of bandhas' more and blackberries, certainly engaged as fully as this. In a recent video demo Sharath said the 'cheat' jump back from padmasan served no purpose, then the approach Demonstrated That supposedly Engages bandhas .... though I used to practice and enjoy That same transition I can not help but ask now, what is the purpose of bandhas? Are they Merely Tantra inspired Hatha practice of no value whatsoever for 'Patanjali's' Ashtanga. Are they only of benefit Within Hatha practice, the internal muscle control That may or may not involve offering support for certain challenging asanas or extreme Pranayama techniques That Merely give yoga teachers something to teach and are, if we are honest perhaps, surplus to requirements. If we are practicing Ashtanga, then why do we allow ourselves to become distracted know. A criticism of Those Who leave Ashtanga That is Often they could not face the boredom of the same series asanas day in, day out, Are not we who stay Within Ashtanga Often guilty of the same, blackberries asanas, the next series, in new transition, ever fancier, floatier transitions, blackberries anatomy awareness than Necessary, blackberries alignment, blackberries Pranayama techniques, longer retentions, blackberries Sanskrit, blackberries .... texts, learn more chants, learn to chant the whole Yoga sutras rather than Merely do as it says and basically cultivate, or rather embrace, boredom, work on the yama / niyama of our cultures, basic asanas , nadi shodhana and Sit.

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In the first video below, from a few years back, I offer the more gently vinyasa krama entry to dandasana. In the second video, an Ashtanga Vinyasa jump through followed by some hand arm movements in dandasana.

In the appendix I include the dandasana section from my Proficent Primary page. 

NOTE: My friend Francesca has kindly translated my Proficient Primary post into Italian here 
https://kalyavinyasa.blogspot.jp/2017/03/n-approccio-avanzato-alla-prima-serie_26.html?spref=fb

Vinyasa Krama lead in to Dandasana



Vinyasa Krama Dandasana subroutine
I jump into Dandasana four minutes in, before that there is a slow Sun salutation.



Appendix

from

Proficient Primary.

If advanced asana can be endlessly promoted through Instagram then perhaps we can also promote Primary asana and the proficiency we can explore there, in postures that most can approach. 





2. Dandasana/Pascimattanasana/ Asvini Mudra


Asvini mudra locates between Dandasana and Paschimattanasana, before lowering into asana we may practice the posture as mudra. Krishnamacharya's third son T.K.Sribhashyam indicates that his father suggested practicing Kapalabhati here, 32 or 64 times. We may also practice 12 Ujjayi breaths, sama vrtti (equal) the same long slow inhalation, perhaps 8-10 seconds followed by kumbhaka (breath retention) as with the long slow exhalation and it's kumbhaka. After the exhalation we might engage uddiyana bandha more fully along with mula bandha. Jalandara bandha is engaged throughout.

As mentioned in the earlier post we might employ the default points of focus, Bhrumadhya (between the eyebrows) where the head is up or Nasagra (tip of nose) when the head is down as here with the jalandara bandha.

Mudras unite the body with the mind, internal points of focus and concentration may be employed, indeed they are recommended.

In Asvini Mudra we might shift the concentration on the inhalation from mula (perinium), to Sroni (centre of pelvis), to nabhi (navel), to hrdaya (middle of heart), to Kantha (back of throat). Focus on Bhrumadhya (between the eyebrows) on the kumbhaka after inhalation. Exhalation is always only one concentration point, here nabhi (navel).

Asvini Mudra is a recognised mudra however we might also take a 'mudra like' approach to Paschimattanasana itself. Given the deep fold, a longer exhalation is suited, kumbhaka and a deeper uddiyana bandha might be employed. On the shorter inhalation the jalandara bandha may be slightly relaxed we may even lift slightly out of the fold on the inhalation before folding back in on the next exhalation engaging jalandara fully again in time for the next kumbhaka.

Krishnamacharya suggests staying in Paschimattanasana for around ten minutes and indicates it is a key posture to be practiced daily along with its counterposture Purvotanasana.

For more on the practice of mudra and internal concentration points see T.K Sribhashyam's Emergence of Yoga.
see also this earlier post



Videos : Proficient Primary Ashtanga Vinyasa Krama - Asana as Mudra.

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This is mostly for my own reference, putting all these older asana videos in one place to see if I can somehow edit them together into one full practice..., possibly with a limited voice over.

Truth is, that 'baddha eka pada kapotasana' above was a lot of fun to play with at the time, my point is though that we don't need to go any further than, say, dandasana to explore a deep, proficient, indeed 'advanced' (whatever that means) practice.


Proficient Primary Ashtanga Vinyasa based on Krishnamacharya's early work.


See the Proficient Primary page at the top of the blog for the full explanation of the project, basically treating these asana that Krishnamacharya considered key somewhat as mudra.


Basically the idea is to explore longer stays in these asana with slower breathing, kumbhaka (retaining the breath in or out),basically, treating them somewhat as asana.

In a more standard Ashtanga vinyasa practice, perhaps a half Primary, we might merely spend a little longer in one or more of these asana than perhaps usual.

In Vinyasa Krama we might use this as a framework and introduce other asana as preparation or extension/development as we see fit.

Practice framework

Kapalabhati - 36
Pranayama 6-12rounds

Optional

Bhagirathasana

Short tadasana sequence of arm movements


A


Surya namaskara 3 A + 2 B 
( the first with 6 breaths at each stage, 12 breaths in Ardho Mukha Svanasana )

1. Trikonasana 
6 or 12 breaths each side

Optional extra standing posture(s) alternating each day

2. Dandasana/Pascimattanasana/ Asvini Mudra 
12 breaths
(followed by it's pratkriya purvottanasana)

One or more Optional Asymmetric asana approached as mudra 
(alternating daily) - 6 breaths each side

3. Maha Mudra 
12 - 24 breaths

4. Bharadvajrasana
12 breaths
(as an alternative to Marichiyasana)

5. Padma Mayurasana (optional )

Or Vajrasana with stomach lock.
6 -12 breaths
(Krishnamacharya recommended that we practice Mayurasana daily in Yoga Makaranda but it may depend on the strength of your wrists, I tend to avoid it these days due to a recurring unrelated wrist injury)

Tatka Mudra 
12 breaths


B


Dwi pada pitam
(sarvangasana preparation)

Urdhva Dhanurasana (optional)
6-12 breaths

6. Sarvangasana 
5 minutes
(Without variation, practiced as mudra)

7. Bhujamgi mudra 
6 -12 breaths
(as pratkriya to sarvangasana)

8. Sirsasana 
5 minutes as mudra - Viparita karani
5 minutes with variations

Vajrasana 
6 -12 breaths

Sarvangasana 
approx. 5 minutes with variations


C


9. Baddha Konasana - 6, 12, 24 breaths

10. Yoga Mudra
6 -12 breaths

Parsvatanasana 
12 - 24 breaths

Pranayama 
Bhastrika - 60 breaths
Nadi sodhana (6), 12, 24, 48 breaths

Formal Sit.
20, 40 minutes



Note:
Ideally practice A, B and C together early each morning.
If time is an issue ,A followed C might be practiced in the morning with B ( and perhaps C ) practiced later in the day.

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Asana/Mudra Videos




Uddiyana bandha


Most if not all of the pictures I will be posting in the Proficient Primary Project will show a deep uddiyana bandha, this is to draw attention to the focus on the breath (long and slow) and in particular the kumbhaka (retaining the breath in or out). Such a dramatic Uddiyana bandha as in the photos tends to be practiced on the hold at the end of the exhalation, however a more subtle, less dramatic, uddiyana may be employed and is perhaps advisable in the beginning stages of this approach to practice especially.

Exhale fully and before inhaling draw the belly, below and above the navel, in and up. Mula bandha will follow. Hold for 2-5 seconds.

Personally I tend to find the deep uddiyana a distraction from the stillness of the kumbhaka, bandhas should no doubt gain in subtlety, a background practice.

Krishnamacharya said that in the kumbhaka we see god.

I would go further and suggest that in the kumbhaka we see god... or the absence of god

Personally, when approaching my practice this way (and it's been around four years), I just find stillness, a quite profound stillness that on a good day joins up kumbhaka with kumbhaka throughout my practice, and stays with me for much of my day.

NOTE:  some of these videos include offer several variations/options, these might be practiced or we might merely stay in the key asana/mudra and breathe.



Optional Introduction mudra and tadasana sequence




Some tadasana options below for slowing the breath, we might do less or more of these variations.(the full forty minute tadasana sequence  is on my YouTube channel).




Sun Salutation/Standing



A slow approach to sun salutation but we could of course begin our practice here with regular salutations. We might include more postures in the standing section

 


Seated



These asana might begin and end at standing (my preference) or be practiced with half vinyasa, either between sides or between asana, more counter postures might be included if required.

 



Finishing

Ramaswami tends to teach shoulderstand/sirsasana by beginning with a few preparatory asana, followed by a five minute shoulderstand with no variations, a counter posture, then our sirsasana ,the first five minutes without any variations perhaps, then another shoulderstand, this time perhaps with variations. 
This approach could of course be simplified.



 
 



Pranayama and Sit. 

This is the approach to pranayama with mantra that I was taught by Ramaswami, Krishnamacharya's student of thirty plus years. Ramaswami would tend to begin with the kriya kapalabhati before moving into pranayama. One could of course replace the mantra with a worthy alternative of ones own choosing, the pater noster perhaps which would also come out at around twenty seconds.

Of late, I've tended to drop the mantra altogether after a few rounds and enjoy the stillness during the kumbhaka(s).

Ramaswami taught Japa meditation, sitting with (or mentally reciting) a short mantra. 
Any preferred approach to our Sit might be considered however but ideally perhaps working towards one pointedness.



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