Full 1997 Sydney Ashtanga Primary Demonstration. Pattabhi Jois leading Sharath through the series PLUS the Advanced series demonstration

March 30, 2017, 8:23 pm

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There seems no better time to share this than now, Pattabhi Jois leading Sharath through the full Ashtanga Primary series, Sydney 1997. I've only ever seen parts of the Advanced demonstration section before, which along with a short Q and A makes up the last twenty minutes of the second video.

Thank you to BDProffey for posting these.

Note: The original demonstration below only includes the one Sury A and one Sury B. I've copied them both and pasted in another four of each to my own version of this using Quicktime to practice along with. I made this for my own use but have added it to the post in the appendix below the originals. The full practice (with the additional sury's A and B) comes out at 57 minutes, much faster than I usually like to take my own practice. Practicing along with this video I'll tend to take two or perhaps three breaths to Pattabhi Jois' count of five.

Video 2: Demonstration ends at 11.25 and is followed by an advanced series demonstration.

Video 2: Sharath's Advanced series demonstration ends at 26.35 and is followed by a Q and A.

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Videos Part 1. and 2.

Sharath Jois Primary Series (part 1) from bdproffy on Vimeo.
Sharath Jois Primary Series (part 2) from bdproffy on Vimeo.

APPENDIX

Home Practice Version. The original version of this demonstration of Led Primary above is split over two parts and includes only one each of suryanamaska A and B. I've pasted in an extra four of each and spliced together the two parts of the video to make a full primary to practice along with at home. 

Why go to led classes, workshops or practice along to Led videos?

This question came up in a chat with a friend this morning, we were talking about Sharath's led tour but I no doubt it also goes for occasionally practicing along to videos of a led practice.

I guess our practice, this discipline, needs different kinds of support at different times. A week of Led with Sharath, a workshop with Manju or somebody else can perhaps give us that extra bit of support that we may feel we require occasionally (in a similar but different way perhaps to practicing with others in a shala). 

It's an exceptional thing we do each morning. Here in Japan, Yoga is becoming more popular but people tend practice once or possibly twice a week, few (except for the Ashtangi's) seem to practice everyday.

How many outside of a seminary pray for ninety minutes each morning, or outside of a temple Sit for sixty minutes. This discipline we construct and feed in our different ways is quite remarkable, it's a support but we also need to support it, in turn. I've written before how the discipline of practice supports us in our daily lives, supports whatever form our yama/niyamas take, prepares us for dealing with the curve balls to come but the yama/niyamas (again - whatever they are perhaps that we inherit from our culture or choose) also support our practice, prop it up at times and Svadhyaya, can take many forms. It could be silent practice alone, a turning inwards but can no doubt also be a turning outwards reflecting ourselves through suitable texts and contact with others.

While I currently prefer a slower take on practice ( see my Proficient Primary page) I ldo ove Sharath's practice as demonstrated above, just as I loved his own Primary video that I practiced along with for a couple of months back when I first started Ashtanga. It's so unaffected, lacking in flourish or artifice, it may be lacking in alignment too for many but for me it's lacking in ego and an excellent reminder in this glossy age of self promotion that this is a simple practice that we so often over think.

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Note on practicing along with the Pattabhi Jois/Sharath demonstration (Sydney 1997), alignment, prana etc.

April 2, 2017, 2:46 am

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Ok this post got a little 'ranty' but hey, it's just  blog

In my previous post I embedded a video from 1997 of Pattabhi Jois leading Sharath through a demonstration of the Ashtanga Primary Series. The demonstration was split over two videos and Pattabhi Jois had included only one Surynamaskara A and one B. I felt the urge to practice along to Pattabhi Jois' count, thought I might not be alone in this, so edited in a few more Sury's to make a full practice. I added my own 'home practice' version of the video in an appendix to the post.

In this post I thought I would share a few reflections of practicing along with the video as well as respond to questions regarding Sharath's alignment. 

Note on Sharath's Practice, alignment, prana etc.

Following my posting of the 1997 demonstration this weekend, I was asked what I thought of Sharath's alignment, even the 'flow of his prana' came up (whatever that means). 

This I think ties in nicely with my current obnoxious view of the state of play in yoga today and indeed Ashtanga.... , from my limited perspective as a home practitioner who rarely ventures out to shalas and certainly not to Mysore.

*Side note on visiting Mysore..... or not

Yesterday I posted a photo of Kennin-ji, Rinzai Zen temple near Gion, Kyoto. It's supposedly the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto. Dogen (founder of Soto Zen) trained here. I live about half an hour north of Kyoto, in a small village beside Lake Biwa. I rarely visit Kyoto these days, to be honest I really can't be bothered, these temples try to capture a serenity that I have right outside my door. Besides Kyoto is full of tourists, try capturing the mood of the Golden Pavilion when you are being herded along by the crowd. 

Just as I have all I could ever wish for here by the lake and no need to visit the old imperial capital, I've always tended to feel I had all I need on my 180cm piece of black rubber that I practice on each morning. 

Dogen said it best back in the thirteenth century.

“If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?

Kennin-ji, Rinzai Zen temple near Gion, Kyoto. Oldest Zen temple in Kyoto. Dogen trained here.

My short walk along the beach to the station this morning.

So what about Sharath's alignment?

I really don't care about Sharaths alignment... or lack of it... or whether his prana is flowing this way or that, hell I don't even care about my own alignment, let alone anyone else's. As long as I have enough anatomical awareness not to injure myself I'm more than happy to let the breath take care of the alignment. Of course if you stay in a posture longer with the breath then the breath has a fighting chance to do something about one's alignment but that's a different post ( or Page). 

My take on the current yoga scene is that everyone is so desperate to be yoga teachers that more often than not they probably end end up teaching long before they should. That by the way probably went for Sharath too and no doubt his grandfather also who was basically still a kid when he started teaching. 

The difference we see between Pattabhi Jois' Ashtanga vinyasa and what we find in Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934) is that Pattabhi Jois arguably passed along 'kids yoga', the yoga that Krishnamacharya was no doubt knocking out in his hour long classes for the boys of the Mysore palace. It was perhaps in the side rooms of the palace and to individual students as well as perhaps in Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934) that we perhaps find a more mature, subtle and sophisticated practice.

Does this mean that Ashtanga vinyasa is only for young boys, not at all, it's possible to reintroduce all the elements that Pattabhi Jois left out from his Guru's teaching or perhaps, at his young age, wasn't taught at all (although Pattabhi Jois does talk of long stays in Kapotasana). See my Proficient Primary page for an approach to practice closely based on Krishnamacharya's early Mysore texts.

BTW I'm still getting invited to teach workshops but to be perfectly honest I don't see the point, it's right there in Krishnamacharya's text, download it from my Free Download page. 

Just breathe more slowly, allow the natural pause between the stages of the breath, focus on one point, stay longer in a posture and carry that focus through your whole practice. Follow asana practice with a straight forward, modest nadhi shodhana, then Sit, calmly abiding. Support you practice by simplifying your life (yama/niyama). Do all this daily.... and for a long time.

That's it in a couple of lines, there really is no need for me to leave my lake.

So, more often than not, we end up teaching too soon, before we have settled in our practice and realised less is more ( Ashtanga can distract us from realising this sooner by dangling the carrot of ever more asana and series). Once we become 'yoga teachers' we start thinking we actually need to teach something rather than merely provide a space for other's to practice (sending love to those who've realised that), or we start wanting to promote ourselves, sell ourselves, come up with a new angle to distinguish ourselves from the other teacher down the street.

Note: Yoga Therapy is something different but if you are serious about becoming a yoga therapist I would suggest actually studying anatomy and physiology in depth and over a number years, become an occupational therapist say AND then think about introducing some yoga into your therapy.

Desikachar basically admitted in an interview with a Doctor, that all yoga therapy was really good for was reducing stress. That's Desikachar saying that, Krishnamacharya's late son, not me.

See https://youtu.be/8jcRxzIzFzI I think it's in the second half, around 26:00 I've simplified of course. Desikachar is basically talking about the people who come to KYM and the problems they are suffering from. 

I wrote in the previous post (see also below) that I considered Sharath's practice 'unaffected' I.E. completely lacking in affectation.  I suspect that looking at the synonyms for 'affectation' may give us clues into much that is perhaps questionable in the presentation of Ashtanga and perhaps yoga in general today. Next time we see a demonstration video, promotional asana or even just some of our own asana photos posted to social media we might take a moment and see how many of these synonyms they tick ( sharing the odd photo amongst friends for encouragement and/or support and perhaps the occasional bit of fun is one thing, when it becomes obsessive it's surely something else. We shouldn't kid ourselves that we are promoting yoga, we are promoting ourselves, our own self-obsession, our ego.. THROUGH yoga.

Affectation - Synonyms

air,   

airs,   

appearance,   

artificiality, 

facade,   

frount,   

imitation,   

insincerity, 

mannerism, 

pose,  

pretence, 

pretentious, 

put-on,   

sham,   

show,   

showing off,   

simulation,   

false frount, 

going hollywood,   

putting on airs.

The above is all I think is wrong with Yoga today in the world of social media. Below what I think Sharath's practice demonstrates.

Affectation - Antonyms

guileless

sincere

straighforward

artless

candid

direct

unspoilt

unstudied

up frount

forthright

frank 

genuine

ingenuous

modest

naive

natural

plain

simple

single

spontaneous

true

unartificial

unassuming

unpretentious

unschooled

Does that mean I want to go to Mysore to practice with Sharath if he is still teaching there, no not really, it just makes me think I want to practice that way more myself.

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from the appendix to the previous post.

Home practice version of Pattabhi Jois leading Sharath through the Ashtanga primary Series 

(Sydney 1997)

Home Practice Version. The original version of this demonstration of Led Primary above is split over two parts and includes only one each of suryanamaska A and B. I've pasted in an extra four of each and spliced together the two parts of the video to make a full primary to practice along with at home. 

The full practice (with the additional sury's A and B) comes out at 57 minutes, much faster than I usually like to take my own practice but we shouldn't forget this is a demonstration. Practicing along with this video I'll tend to take two or perhaps three breaths to Pattabhi Jois' count of five. Occasionally Pattabhi Jois only counts three quick breaths in an asana, in other places a quick five. Sarvangasana only gets a count of five but padmasana gets a much slower count of ten, Sirsasana gets a count of ten and another ten in an inverted dandasana. This being 1997, a savasana (note that hands held flat against the hips -savasana rather than 'taking rest'?) is taken before sarvangasana and again at the end of the practice.

1997

Sharath's Ashtanga Booklet Ashtanga yoga Anusthana (2013)

Why go to led classes, workshops or practice along to Led videos?

This question came up in a chat with a friend this morning, we were talking about Sharath's led tour but no doubt it also goes for occasionally practicing along to videos of a led practice, especially taken at this pace.

I guess our practice, this discipline, needs different kinds of support at different times. A week of Led with Sharath, a workshop with Manju or somebody else can perhaps give us that extra bit of support that we may feel we require occasionally (in a similar but different way perhaps to practicing with others in a shala). 

It's an exceptional thing we do each morning. Here in Japan, Yoga is becoming more popular but people tend practice once or possibly twice a week, few (except for the Ashtangi's) seem to practice everyday.

How many outside of a seminary pray for ninety minutes each morning, or outside of a temple Sit for sixty minutes. This discipline we construct and feed in our different ways is quite remarkable, it's a support but we also need to support it, in turn. I've written before how the discipline of practice supports us in our daily lives, supports whatever form our yama/niyamas take, prepares us for dealing with the curve balls to come but the yama/niyamas (again - whatever they are perhaps that we inherit from our culture or choose) also support our practice, prop it up at times and Svadhyaya, can take many forms. It could be silent practice alone, a turning inwards but can no doubt also be a turning outwards reflecting ourselves through suitable texts and contact with others.

While I currently prefer a slower take on practice ( see my Proficient Primary page) I ldo ove Sharath's practice as demonstrated above, just as I loved his own Primary video that I practiced along with for a couple of months back when I first started Ashtanga. It's so unaffected, lacking in flourish or artifice, it may be lacking in alignment too for many but for me it's lacking in ego and an excellent reminder in this glossy age of self promotion that this is a simple practice that we so often over think.

*

Guest post : Ashtanga practice and CIRCULO BLANCO - Recovery Center for Drugs and Alcohol Addiction.

April 3, 2017, 6:43 pm

≫ Next: Utkatasana - Ardha utkatasana, Utkatasana, Long stays in utkatasana and Sharath's Utkatasana exit.

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Recently I came across a series of photos from Malini Yoga Shala in Mexico on an fb share.

I contacted the Shala to ask for the story behind the photos and received this honest, generous commentary.

I contacted the Shala to ask for the story behind the photos and received this honest, generous commentary.

Thank you to Valeria. Ernesto, the Circulo Blanco recovery centre, to Polo and Edgar and Daniel, to Lupe and Diego and everyone else in these photos for the inspiration and renewal of faith.

ENOUGH

My grandmother used to have in her closet a box full of chocolates. Everyday after lunch, and just after lunch,she would open the lock on that closet and bring out two bite-sized chocolates. One for her and one for me. Then she locked the door and we proceeded to enjoy the chocolate.Little did I know this would be one of the most loving and important lessons in my life. A lesson I would have to practice over and over in different contexts.
This ritual raised would raise many questions in my mind. Sometimes I would voice them, sometimes I would not.

Why couldn´t we just eat the whole box and be "happy"?
Why couldn´t she get bigger chocolate bars instead?
Was she doing this because she thought we did not deserve more?
What could I do, say or be that would get me more than this?

Regardless of my reaction to it, the outcome would always be the same...the ritual was the same and she was teaching me the "art of enough".
The art of contentment, in which I choose to work on every day so I can be connected to what is.

CONNECTION

One of the most beautiful gifts I have received in life was the chance to practice and take a Yoga TT with Shankara and Mark Darby (and Anne-Marie, Joanne Darby, Tara, Jamie,Terri, Angel, Yaelle and Ying). I mention all of them because each they made such an amazing team at the old St. Mathieu Sattva Yoga Shala.

It took took all these people to help me understand that Yoga is Connection.
I had practiced previously in other styles for more than 20 years, but I was missing the point.Their patience and guidance helped me expel from my system that yoga was shape, form and bendiness.
Especially Shankara,whom for me is the embodiment of softness and firmness at once.My heart is forever grateful to them all, but especially to him and Darby for sharing their Connection.

NOT RUNNING AWAY FROM PAIN

During the TT I experience a pretty bad injury of the knees.At that time it seemed like a curse. In hindsight that was just another teacher showing up.It forced me out of comfort into finding a way of learning Ashtanga from "0". I was hurting myself doing things like I was used to.I finished the TT in a plane back to Mexico with the Certification in my backpack wondering how this all happened if I was not proficient at all in the practice.Yet I knew I was willing to put the effort and time required even if it meant my whole life (or many of them!).

ALL ONENESS

Back in Mexico, new city: Queretaro. Practicing alone. In the silence of my breath I was able to process all that was received from Sattva Yoga Shala.

ADDICTION

Food, drugs, alcohol, money, things, beauty, perfection, work, success, sex, approval, permanent "happiness", drama, ego...all the places at some time or another I have tried unsuccessfully for connection. Always feeling more disconnected, empty and not enough after trying so hard to fulfil this natural human need for connection.

TRANSMITION

Transmission of my previous work to my Yoga and Life Partner Ernesto Zarandona to the best of my ability. Learned so much teaching him. I thank him for his love, patience and hard work.

CIRCULO BLANCO

We are approached by Circulo Blanco to teach. Circulo Blanco is a Recovery Centre for Drugs and Alcohol organised by other Recovering Drug-addicts and Alcoholics. Their program is based on a branch of the AA 12 Step Program called 24 Horas. This modality started in Mexico City and I am not sure if it has gone out of our borders.There is a lot of controversy around it, but the fact is a lot of people get help from these places and perhaps they would never get access to live-in treatment. Some people pay, some cannot.

Humans helping humans just cannot be expected to be perfect. It can get very "in your face" and tough.Sometimes they come by their own will, sometimes they are forced by family members and sometimes they have nowhere else to go.

We show-up and Alejandro, the director, greets us. He has two patients. One of them is the son of the person who donated the house this was all starting at. We taught three times a week at 6:30 am. The Photo Album was shot by Cesar Alanis in the middle of a two year process.

Patients came in and out. There were also patients with Mental Illness. This was a little overwhelming and made us question our position. But somewhere a long time ago I had read about Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda helping mental illness patients with Yoga, so we decided to just go in and let Yoga do it's thing, not us.

It was amazing to see some of them respond amazingly.You could not have a conversation with some of them, and yet they grasped the practice beautifully.

The all had to show-up for practice,they had no option.

Polo
There is a picture of them in Sarvangasana. There is a man sitting on a chair. This is Polo.He had severe mental illness.He would be there but at moments, he would follow instructions in his own way either on his chair or he would even sometimes stand up. They found him on the streets and I am almost sure they gave him his name when he joined.



Edgar
You can see him in a photograph of Virabhadrasana A from the shoulder blades up.He is in the white t-shirt. He had received an electric shock through his left hand while working as an Engineer. His fingers were not complete and he had a protuberance bigger than a golfball on his palm. When he came in honestly I thought he would not be able to practice, but did not say anything about it. To our astonishment he figured a way to do everything. For example, he would go to Chaturanga and DownwardDog on his closed fists.

Daniel
Daniel came in one morning. Pretty bad shape, still tripping on some kind of solvent. He sees me, basically kneels in front of me and begs for my forgiveness. This is the first time I saw him, so I just told him I had absolutely nothing to forgive him of and that in time he would forgive himself.
His turnaround was great.He had great facility for the practice. So much, that at some point the director told us he would teach in our place. We left and two weeks latter we were called back.(He is in black in Padangushtasana, second from left.)

Lupe
(In Trikonasana in a blurry picture, he is second from left) Lupe was really young, 13, his family put him there. He thought he did not have a problem with alcohol and/or drugs. We just kept reminding him to keep his eyes and ears wide-open so he would never have to go through what others had to. Such a sweet child.

Diego
(In front of Lupe) had mental illness and had obviously been abused somehow.He had a lot of aggression in him.He had this defence mechanism of attacking before being attacked. This behaviour got him into a lot of trouble with others. He was challenging to teach at first, but somehow he started listening and changing that aggressiveness towards us and he did learn the practice and seemed to be enjoying it after a lot of his own work.I think he even liked us a bit.

CHANGE IS INEVITABLE

Our journey with them ended this last November.They had already 60+ patients.They decided to change to other activities. So instead of Yoga, they would get Kick-boxing and Zumba. Also a Christian group got involved. So they started getting other kinds of help and support.

HUMANS HELPING HUMANS.

I do not know to what extent the practice helped them in their process...
I do not know anything about their recovery success-rate...
Only their smiles and their effort gave us an idea that they were enjoying the now, which is enough...
I can only hope they all got a glimpse at least of how Ashtanga can be one of the best tools to come face to face with oneself and to cultivate a daily reprieve of the connection we sometimes can so desperately seek in the wrong places.

And Ernesto and I are ever so grateful for everything they taught us.Thanks to Cesar Alanis for capturing Circulo Blanco's heart and soul.

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For more on Ashtanga and working towards recovery from alcohol and drug addiction see the Trini Foundation

The Trini Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the life-changing practice of Ashtanga yoga to those struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. It's our mission to provide yoga as a tool to aide in the recovery process and help those who are suffering maintain long-term sobriety.

Taylor Hunt 
Taylor Hunt is also the author of A Way From Darkness and director of the Trini Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to sharing the life-changing practice of Ashtanga with those suffering from addiction.


See too R. Alexander Medin

Alexander is co-founder and co-owner of Puro Yoga in Oslo, as well as the founder of the Foundation "Yoga for Life". The foundation has launched and continues running projects, such as "Gangster Yoga" and "Back in the ring", helping people who have "fallen out" of society and giving them the opportunity to build themselves up again, through a solid yoga practice, heightened sense of responsibility and social work.

Also my earlier post Ashtanga and Drug Addiction Project: Back in the Ring - The Journey so far

Utkatasana - Ardha utkatasana, Utkatasana, Long stays in utkatasana and Sharath's Utkatasana exit.

April 4, 2017, 7:50 pm

≫ Next: April 2017 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami—Upcoming 2017 programs also Pratyahara/Shanmukhamudra.

≪ Previous: Guest post : Ashtanga practice and CIRCULO BLANCO - Recovery Center for Drugs and Alcohol Addiction.

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from a late night conversation on utkatasna nomenclature

This post is made up of four earlier posts on utkatasna



1. Utkatasana.

2. Ardha Utkatasana

3. Long stays in Utkatsana - bandhas
4. Sharath's Utkatasana exit 

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1. Ardha Utkatasana

VIDEO LINK

I was very ....suspicious of the bandhas for a long time, Ashtangi's seemed to refer to them as if they were pixie dust. You want to lift up in utpluthi, "engage the bandhas". You want to jump back, "engage the bandhas", you want to get to the end of the sequence without turning into quivering mush, "ENGAGE THOSE BANDHAS MARINE". I was also 'slightly' resistant to anything that seemed to hint of 'new age'. I think I tended to lump the bandhas in with the chakras, all this talk of energy locks...., no thanks.

I still don't know if I buy into the energy lock idea, jury is still out on that one but I am convinced there's something going on with the bandhas, if only on a muscular level. Yesterday in Day 3's uttanasana subroutine I mentioned how Ramaswami uses the analogy of a fishing rod. Engaging the bandhas feels like it's holding firmly the base of the spine just as you would hold the handle of a fishing rod. It helps to make your backbends more secure and I would say your forward bends also.

In Yoga for the Three Stages of Life, Ramaswami writes about the bandhas in the context of Utkatasana, today and tomorrows subroutines.

Jalandhara bandha

'There are three important bandhas. the first is jalandhara bandha, or locking the chin against the breastbone. This may be done during kumbhkas ( breath retention) and whenever the the posture requires the chin to be locked, which is normally the case during forward bends and when keeping the back erect. In backbends and twisting postures it is not possible to do jalandhara bandha'. p127

Mula and Uddiyana bandha

'The other two bandhas, however, should be practiced in most of the asanas, especially after exhalation. The first is mula bandha, which means "constricting of the anus" It is done after a complete exhalation. After the exhalation is over, the abhyasi (yoga student) should anchor the body in the asana he or she is in and then slowly and deliberately close the anus and draw in the rectum by contracting the perineal and surrounding muscles of the pelvic floor. Then as if in a continuous movement, the abdomen, including the navel, is drawn in, pushing up the diaphragm into the now almost empty chest cavity, which is then called uddiyana bandha ( drawing in of the diaphragm)... This technique is one of the specialities of yogic breathing' p127

Utkatasana is one of the best postures for first getting to grips with with the bandhas, others are downward dog and tatkamudra ( pond gesture ) from the Supine sequence. 

Ardha Utkatasana comes up in Ashtanga and I practiced it for a couple of years without really thinking about it. It's one of the, how should I say, least ....complicated postures. There are no binds, no twists, you just squat a little. It's hard work but then in Ashtanga your only holding it for five breaths and to be honest it was a bit of a relief after the postures that had gone before. Later, when I began practicing 2nd series and had to do pasasana, the full squat and bind, I began to take the half squat more seriously, started to think about my alignment more, about using the badnas to help with balance,make it more stable.

I had a big shock recently when I came across Ramaswami using Utkatasana as an example of how to work towards developing the parameters of yoga asana as introduced by Patanjali in the yoga sutras, steadiness and comfort ( sthhira and sukha).

'When one is able to stay in the posture (utkatasana) for three to six breaths, then one should slowly increase the time to complete a stipulated number of breaths. Thereafter, one should remain in the posture for a predetermined number of breaths chosen by the practitioner or teacher, or for a fixed persiod, say three to five minutes. Then one's practice should be aimed at reducing the number of breaths while remaining in the posture for the same duration. for instance one may take a total of twenty breaths while in the posture. Later on, it may be possible to remain in the posture steadily and comfortably (sthira and sukha) for five minutes with perhaps only ten breaths. This is one method for attaining asana siddhi (perfection in posture) that one can test of oneself. Having achieved this level of comfort in the posture, one can then introduce the band has, which will increase the time taken for each breath. P 127

 I posted on this five minute Utkatasana HERE, hard work, what you don't see in the video is the pool of sweat that poured from my forehead after three minutes.

Today I practiced the half squat, Ardha Utkatasana. In ashtanga we practice it arms above our head, palms together. In Vinyasa Krama Ramaswami gives us four arm variations but you could probably use the other hand variations from Day 1, as well. This morning, with the focus on the subroutines this project is giving me, I included all the variations below. I entered and exited each of the variations on the breath, down on the inhale back up on the exhale, twice then on the third time held the posture for five long slow breaths. Just for luck I then did the first posture again and tried to hold it for five minutes, I managed three and that seemed plenty.

In this series of posts I'm focusing on each of the subroutines, doing them as in the book with all the variations and using Ramaswami's guidelines for developing sthhira and sukha, as outlined above. I'm staying longer, engaging the badhas more fully, looking to slow the breath and employ breath retention, really milking the subroutines for all they've got.

That would be one way to practice, pick one or two subroutines and practice them in this way, include Ramaswami's key postures, Paschimottanasana, shoulder stand and headstand and you probably have an hour practice.

My own approach is to include some but not all of the available vinyasas (variations) of a subroutine in my morning practice. I tend to do a shortened version of the On your feet sequence just as on Ramaswami's TT course. We learned the whole sequence over the first couple of days but then for the next four weeks just did a shortened version. 

This morning I did a few of the hasta variations from Day One and a couple of the twists from Day two and about half of Day three. This saved me time for the full ardha Utkatasana subroutine above. I didn't practice the full squat (saving that for tomorrow) but moved on to some of the other Triangle and On one leg vinyasas, again not all the options available in the full subroutines. After standing I did most of Bow sequence then some seated before moving on to the inversions followed by some baddha konasana and lotus work.

One thing that is new in my practice and that I plan on keeping up is to aim to practice at least one subroutine fully and with all the variations available, a different one every day perhaps, as in this series of posts.

NB: These are practice notes that will be tidied up and put into the new edition of my Vinyasa Yoga Practice Book along with the current sequences and subroutines. The book can be freely downloadedHERE. There is a page on Facebook HERE with all the latest sheets and updates. This book is in no way a substitute for Ramaswami's Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga.

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2. Utkatasana

VIDEO LINK

I was very ....suspicious of the bandhas for a long time, Ashtangi's seemed to refer to them as if they were pixie dust. You want to lift up in utpluthi, "engage the bandhas". You want to jump back, "engage the bandhas", you want to get to the end of the sequence without turning into quivering mush, "ENGAGE THOSE BANDHAS MARINE". I was also 'slightly' resistant to anything that seemed to hint of 'new age'. I think I tended to lump the bandhas in with the chakras, all this talk of energy locks...., no thanks.

I still don't know if I buy into the energy lock idea, jury is still out on that one but I am convinced there's something going on with the bandhas, if only on a muscular level. Yesterday in Day 3's uttanasana subroutine I mentioned how Ramaswami uses the analogy of a fishing rod. Engaging the bandhas feels like it's holding firmly the base of the spine just as you would hold the handle of a fishing rod. It helps to make your backbends more secure and I would say your forward bends also.

In Yoga for the Three Stages of Life, Ramaswami writes about the bandhas in the context of Utkatasana, today and tomorrows subroutines.

Jalandhara bandha

'There are three important bandhas. the first is jalandhara bandha, or locking the chin against the breastbone. This may be done during kumbhkas ( breath retention) and whenever the the posture requires the chin to be locked, which is normally the case during forward bends and when keeping the back erect. In backbends and twisting postures it is not possible to do jalandhara bandha'. p127

Mula and Uddiyana bandha

'The other two bandhas, however, should be practiced in most of the asanas, especially after exhalation. The first is mula bandha, which means "constricting of the anus" It is done after a complete exhalation. After the exhalation is over, the abhyasi (yoga student) should anchor the body in the asana he or she is in and then slowly and deliberately close the anus and draw in the rectum by contracting the perineal and surrounding muscles of the pelvic floor. Then as if in a continuous movement, the abdomen, including the navel, is drawn in, pushing up the diaphragm into the now almost empty chest cavity, which is then called uddiyana bandha ( drawing in of the diaphragm)... This technique is one of the specialities of yogic breathing' p127

Utkatasana is one of the best postures for first getting to grips with with the bandhas, others are downward dog and tatkamudra ( pond gesture ) from the Supine sequence. 

Ardha Utkatasana comes up in Ashtanga and I practiced it for a couple of years without really thinking about it. It's one of the, how should I say, least ....complicated postures. There are no binds, no twists, you just squat a little. It's hard work but then in Ashtanga your only holding it for five breaths and to be honest it was a bit of a relief after the postures that had gone before. Later, when I began practicing 2nd series and had to do pasasana, the full squat and bind, I began to take the half squat more seriously, started to think about my alignment more, about using the badnas to help with balance,make it more stable.

I had a big shock recently when I came across Ramaswami using Utkatasana as an example of how to work towards developing the parameters of yoga asana as introduced by Patanjali in the yoga sutras, steadiness and comfort ( sthhira and sukha).

'When one is able to stay in the posture (utkatasana) for three to six breaths, then one should slowly increase the time to complete a stipulated number of breaths. Thereafter, one should remain in the posture for a predetermined number of breaths chosen by the practitioner or teacher, or for a fixed persiod, say three to five minutes. Then one's practice should be aimed at reducing the number of breaths while remaining in the posture for the same duration. for instance one may take a total of twenty breaths while in the posture. Later on, it may be possible to remain in the posture steadily and comfortably (sthira and sukha) for five minutes with perhaps only ten breaths. This is one method for attaining asana siddhi (perfection in posture) that one can test of oneself. Having achieved this level of comfort in the posture, one can then introduce the band has, which will increase the time taken for each breath. P 127

 I posted on this five minute Utkatasana HERE, hard work, what you don't see in the video is the pool of sweat that poured from my forehead after three minutes.

Today I practiced the half squat, Ardha Utkatasana. In ashtanga we practice it arms above our head, palms together. In Vinyasa Krama Ramaswami gives us four arm variations but you could probably use the other hand variations from Day 1, as well. This morning, with the focus on the subroutines this project is giving me, I included all the variations below. I entered and exited each of the variations on the breath, down on the inhale back up on the exhale, twice then on the third time held the posture for five long slow breaths. Just for luck I then did the first posture again and tried to hold it for five minutes, I managed three and that seemed plenty.

In this series of posts I'm focusing on each of the subroutines, doing them as in the book with all the variations and using Ramaswami's guidelines for developing sthhira and sukha, as outlined above. I'm staying longer, engaging the badhas more fully, looking to slow the breath and employ breath retention, really milking the subroutines for all they've got.

That would be one way to practice, pick one or two subroutines and practice them in this way, include Ramaswami's key postures, Paschimottanasana, shoulder stand and headstand and you probably have an hour practice.

My own approach is to include some but not all of the available vinyasas (variations) of a subroutine in my morning practice. I tend to do a shortened version of the On your feet sequence just as on Ramaswami's TT course. We learned the whole sequence over the first couple of days but then for the next four weeks just did a shortened version. 

This morning I did a few of the hasta variations from Day One and a couple of the twists from Day two and about half of Day three. This saved me time for the full ardha Utkatasana subroutine above. I didn't practice the full squat (saving that for tomorrow) but moved on to some of the other Triangle and On one leg vinyasas, again not all the options available in the full subroutines. After standing I did most of Bow sequence then some seated before moving on to the inversions followed by some baddha konasana and lotus work.

One thing that is new in my practice and that I plan on keeping up is to aim to practice at least one subroutine fully and with all the variations available, a different one every day perhaps, as in this series of posts.

NB: These are practice notes that will be tidied up and put into the new edition of my Vinyasa Yoga Practice Book along with the current sequences and subroutines. The book can be freely downloadedHERE. There is a page on Facebook HERE with all the latest sheets and updates. This book is in no way a substitute for Ramaswami's Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga.

*

3. Utkatasana - Long Stay

Tuesday's evening 20/20/20 asana practice was the  Utkatasana subroutine from the Vinyasa Krama On your feet sequence.

I've been practicing Supine sequence all week, after practice this morning I was checking something in the relevant chapter in Ramaswami's other book Yoga for the three stages of life when I came across something interesting.... and frightening.

I love this book, every time I open it I find something I've missed or rushed over. This is what I found today.

'Chapter 8 Supine postures 

Before discussing the supine postures, it may be good to introduce the band has, or locks.'

So that's where he's buried away the bandhas. It's good place, as he mentions, after going through Chapter 7's Standing postures the body becomes lighter, circulation improved, breathing longer, smoother more regular.

' Regular practice results in both more tranquility-and paradoxically- improved stamina, as revealed through one's capacity to do the postures more deliberately and with slow stretching, and in one's ability to stay in the final posture longer and for a greater number of breaths' p.126

So we're nicely prepared to take our practice a little further. The upcoming Supine sequence begins with Tatkamudra and this is an excellent posture to introduce the bandhas. First though Ramaswami has a few words to say about the breath.

'The four aspects of yogic breathing were also discussed in chapter 7. To repeat, the first is recaka, or long and smooth exhalation. the second is puraka, or long inhalation. It is possible to hold in the breath after inhalation which is known as internal holding, or antha-kumbhaka, and is the third aspect. Holding the breath out during the time interval between the completion of exhalation (recaka) and the beginning of inhalation (puraka) is bahya-kumbhaka, the fourth aspect'. p126

Ramaswami used to prowl around the room, coming up behind you to make sure he could hear your breathing. We don't employ breath retention in every posture and in the postures that we do, perhaps not all the time. It's something that's available to us and in some postures more than others.

The same goes for the bandhas.

Jalandhara bandha

'There are three important band has. the first is jalandhara bandha, or locking the chin against the breastbone. This may be done during kumbhkas and whenever the the posture requires the chin to be locked, which is normally the case during forward bends and when keeping the back erect. In backbends and twisting postures it is not possible to do jalandhara bandha'. p127

Mula and Uddiyana bandha

'The other two bandhas, however, should be practiced in most of the asanas, especially after exhalation. The first is mula bandha, which means "constricting of the anus" It is done after a complete exhalation. After the exhalation is over, the abhyasi (yoga student) should anchor the body in the asana he or she is in and then slowly and deliberately close the anus and draw in the rectum by contracting the perineal and surrounding muscles of the pelvic floor. Then as if in a continuous movement, the abdomen, including the navel, is drawn in, pushing up the diaphragm into the now almost empty chest cavity, which is then called uddiyana bandha ( drawing in of the diaphragm)... This technique is one of the specialities of yogic breathing" p127

So now I'm expecting to move onto discussion of the bandhas in Supine sequence but here's where Ramaswami scared the living daylights out of me. Before mentioning the Supine postures he mentions the one standing posture where all three bandhas 'can be effectively practiced', Utkatasana. 

'When one is able to stay in the posture (utkatasana) for three to six breaths, then one should slowly increase the time to complete a stipulated number of breaths. Thereafter, one should remain in the posture for a predetermined number of breaths chosen by the practitioner or teacher, or for a fixed persiod, say three to five minutes. Then one's practice should be aimed at reducing the number of breaths while remaining in the posture for the same duration. for instance one may take a total of twenty breaths while in the posture. Later on, it may be possible to remain in the posture steadily and comfortably (sthira and sukha) for five minutes with perhaps only ten breaths. This is one method for attaining asana siddhi (perfection in posture) that one can test of oneself. Having achieved this level of comfort in the posture, one can then introduce the band has, which will increase the time taken for each breath. P 127

FIVE MINUTES!!!!!! in UTKATASANA? ouch., serious tapas.

*Note to Ashtangi's. The Utkatasana in Ashtanga's Standing sequence, Ramaswami refers to as ardha-utkatasana ( half squat or chair). He calls the full squat Utkatasana. I know you probably can't spend five minutes here in the shala but if I'm honest it was a posture I used to neglect a lot of the time. Might find it interesting to milk it a little next practice.

So this evening Utkatasan it was. First the subroutine inculing the different hand variations. Here's the video from my Vinyasa Krama Sequences and subroutines site with the different variations.

And then this five minute Utkatasana with bandhas and antha-kumbhaka from this evening/afternoon which is frankly like watching paint dry, towards the end though you might be able to catch the sweat from my forehead changing from a drip to a flood.

Still a way to go before it's sthira and sukha and that's without even thinking about ardha-utkatasana

* All quotes from Yoga for the three stages of Life by Srivatsa Ramaswami

4. Sharath's Utkatasana exit

exit from Utkatasana: nava-  up on the inhale, lift up

exit from Virabhadrasana: dwadasha, inhale, lift up

Sharath posted a 'tutorial' on Uttkatasana and Virabhadrasana this morning, I suspect he has a bee in his bonnet (bee reference for M.) about the lifts at the end, he does seem to come back again and again to these neglected lifts.

The video above is actually the corrected version, the first version was taken down it seems because of an error in the count.

So, the lifts... hands up who neglects them

Sorry Sharath

But they are there in Yoga Mala....

"Then doing recheka and puraka, press the hands to the floor by the sides of the feet, put the whole weight of the body on the two hands, and lift the body off the floor" p63

And here it is Virabhadrasana

"Next, place place the hands on the floor on either side of the right foot and, without allowing the legs to touch the floor, lift both the left leg and bent right leg completely off the floor with only the strength of the hands; this is the 11th vinyasa". p67

"This is the 11th vinyasa", we might try to pass the Uttkatasana lift off as' style' but here the lift gets a vinyasa count of it's very own, no excuses (hangs head).

Some screenshots of Sharath's and his grandfather's  Virabhadrasana from Yoga Mala, Pattabhi Jois has a much wider stance.

But, you might exclaim,  the picture of Pattabhi Jois is from his Surynamaskara pictures, true but the text does say that it's the same

"Next stand as in the 7th vinyasa of the second suryanamaskara..."

Same goes for Uttkatasana

"Jump into the 2nd vinyasa of the first Surya Namaskars..."

Manju  said something interesting about Virabhadrasana, this was from a workshop a few days after the one I attended and passed on to me by J. (Thank you J.).

"He (Manju) also told me in Virabhadrasana that the back leg should feel so grounded that you can lift the front leg up in a kick—and the true warrior of old would take this stance for fighting to free the front leg for that kick".

*******

We should be careful of course reading too much into pictures, I've taken screenshots from my videos that aren't perhaps the best presentation of my asana just close enough ("they'll do"). Interestingly though, Krishnamacharya, in Yoga Makaranda makes a point of point of saying in several places "study the picture carefully", he seems to have been happy with his pictures, how I would have loved to be a fly on the wall at that photoshoot.

I have this fantasy of Manju adjusting his father's Virabhadrasana and Utkatasana

....and nightmares about what Iyengar might have to say about them ( and my own for that matter).

While on the topic of Sharath video's here's Sharath's Pranayama tutorial from earlier in the month.There seemed to be a big hush around this video, usually everyone goes nuts about Sharath clips, this one though received barely a mention, confusion? 

And two last thoughts about about 'the little differences'....

Bumble bee combe

Honey bee combe

APPENDIX

THE OTHER VIDEO

So a couple of hours after Sharath's video was released it was taken down again but by then I'd already written this post. It seems the video was taken down because of an error in the count. I'd posted a copy of the video and went on to transcribe it in an update to better identify where the error had crept in.

Now, what to do. I could delete the whole section, posting the corrected version and pretend it never happened or I could post the corrected version and include that whole section concerning the first video here perhaps as a demonstration of how and why the confusion in these vinyasa can comes about..

Here it is...

Earlier I showed my copy of the video here.

Yesterday I saw the video early, posted on Sharath's own Youtube channel ( same as the pranayama video below).  I started writing this post and downloaded the video to put on my ipad to work with at the end of my practice. After practice I finished this post but couldn't find the video anywhere. I thought (hoped) it was just a glitch so included my own version but still didn't really feel comfortable about it. This morning I checked and the video still wasn't up on Sharath's site and my blog stats had gone through the roof for this post. So I've decided to take the video down, at least until Sharath reposts (NB: Now the confusion as to why it was taken down seems to be cleared up, the mistake with the count, I've decided to repost it it below the transcript).

Here though is the general outline of the video, the important bits

Short chant
A hello and an intro, says that he's presenting a short video on utkatasana and virabhadrasana as many students are confused about the vinyasa for these two vinyasas.

Says he will show the proper vinyasa

Utkatasana
supta - jump (between hands) bend your knees hands up ( all on the inhalation)
breathe five times here
again inhale
with the exhale place both hands - ashta
nava-  up on the inhale, lift up ( see screenshot above)
dasha - exhale ( back to chaturanga)

Virabhadrasana
ekaadesha exhale place both hands next to your feet
dwadasha, inhale, lift up (see screenshot above )
triodasha exhale ( back to chatuaranga)

"This is how utkatasana and virabhadrasana should be practiced".

"namaste"

UPDATE 2

It's been suggested that Sharath slipped up with the count in the video (easily done) and that's why it was taken down NB: Have reposted it below now the confusion seems to be cleared up).

Here's the full transcription,

Short chant
"Hello everyone, this is a small video about utkatasana and virabhadrasana.
Many students are confused with the vinyasa for these two asanas. Through this video I would like to share and show you the proper vinyasa for these two asanas.

First I will start with utkatasana then followed by virabhadrasana.

ekam - inhale
dve - exhale
trini - head up
chatwari - jump back ( jumps back) exhale
pancha - inhale
shat - exhale
supta - jump (between hands) bend your knees, hands up.
breathe five times here
inhale,
with an exhale keep (place) both hands - astau
nava - lift up
dasha - (jumps back) exhale
ekadesha - inhale (updog)
dwadesha - exhale (downdog)
Virabhadrasana
supta - place right leg, take up your hands, breathe five times....again inhale
with an exhale turn the other side - astau.
breathe five times here.
nava - inhale spread your hands
dont change this knee
breathe five times
again inhale
with an exhale turn the other way - dasha
breathe five times here
ekadesha - with an exhale place both hands next to your feet
dwadesha - with an inhale lift up
triodesha exhale (jumps back)
chataudesha inhale (up dog )
panchadesha exhale (downdog)
supta - jump through
sit down

This is how utkatasana and Virabhadrasana should be practiced".

*******

I've highlighted the areas where the mix up happened 

And now we've cleared up why it was taken down perhaps, it see no reason not to repost it.

and here's what Sharath probably intented Utkatasana and Virabhadrasana from Sharath's Primary series.

which ties in with Sharath's recent book Astanga Yoga Anusthana

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April 2017 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami—Upcoming 2017 programs also Pratyahara/Shanmukhamudra.

March 31, 2017, 6:17 pm

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≪ Previous: Utkatasana - Ardha utkatasana, Utkatasana, Long stays in utkatasana and Sharath's Utkatasana exit.

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This months newsletter from Ramaswami is mostly concerned with his upcoming 2017 programs, I'm taking the liberty to add, however, one of Ramaswmi's fb posts from a couple of years ago (Ramaswami's choice of photos) that I must have missed.

Shanmukhimudra
I started my yoga studies with my teacher Sri Krisnamachrya when I was about 15 and within a short time he started teaching pranayama and a followup procedure known as “shanmukhi mudra” or closing the the six 'ports', the 2 eyes, 2 ears, mouth and the nose. After vinyasa and asana practice, pranayama and this Rajayoga practice, pratyahara, will follow. Asanas reduce rajas, pranayama reduces tamas says the Yogasutra. Then the senses are brought under control symbolically and also effectively- and thus this integrated practice would prepare the yogabhyasi for 'dharana' the first step of the next stage, 'antaranga sadhana' or internal practice . Shanmukhimudra helps the mind to settle down undistracted by the ever outgoing senses. A 5 to 15 minute stay in it, watching the natural movement of the breath is mind-settling and soothing. When my Guru first introduced this I was reminded of the three wise monkeys, the favourites with children (and adults too). When I started doing the shanmukhimudra procedure I felt I was like all the monkeys rolled into one
Here are the pictures of the image of the three monkeys taken from google search. The other two are pictures of Kirti and Klaus Koenig showing the different variations of shanmukhimudra, which are from my book “The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga”.

April 2017 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami—Upcoming 2017 programs

On March 3rd, 2017 I completed teaching a 100 hr Vinyasaktrama TT program at Yoga Vahini in Chennai. I came back to NJ a little later

Upcoming 2017 programs

This newsletter has an unabashed sales message. I want to write about the three  forthcoming training programs, covering considerable information I gathered while studying with my Guru Sri Krishnamacharya. The first one is a 50 hour Bhagavatgita program in July (Los Angeles). Then there is a 15 hr extended weekend program on Sakhya Karika  in Sep 2017 (Chicago)  Then there is   a 15 day 100 hr  (all contact hours) Vinyasakrama  TT program in September (Montral). All the programs I gather, can be counted for continuing education credit with Yoga Alliance. Here are the links

 

https://registration.xenegrade.com/lmuextension/courseDisplay.cfm?schID=4295

http://www.yogamind.com/workshop-ramaswami-samkhya_2017.shtml

http://oneyogaforthepeople.ca/events/100hr-vinyasa-krama

Let me explain the programs briefly. First the Bhagavat Gita Program. Sri Krishnamacharya taught the Bhagavat Gita quite extensively especially to his later year students. He even conducted public lectures on Saturdays for a considerable time. He considered it to be an important text for yogabhyasi. Even though it is considered a vedanta text or Brahma Vidya it is also considered a yoga sastra or a yoga text. Usually the Gita is taught in bits and pieces one chapter here and a few slokas there. But in this program the entire text of 700 slokas will be studied in one stream. After all Lord Krishna gave this discourse to Arjuna in one stretch. The Gita is written for laymen like Arjuna a warrior and ordinary people like us who also fight dauly battles all through life. The Brahma sutra is terse, the upanishads are cryptic but the Gita is clear elaborate and much easier to understand and it is able to bring the great teachings of the sastras to the level of ordinary people like Arjuna and us. Even as great philosophers like Sankara and Ramanuja have explained these from the point of view different interpretations of vedanta, the gita text by itself does not require much elaboration. It is said that the best commentary for Lord Krishna's teaching is the Bhagavat Gita itself. My Guru used to bring out the considerable affinity between the Gita and the Yoga Sutra. In this program we will go through each and every sloka and faithfully follow the text in its entirety. This program is scheduled to take place at my favorite place Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles in July 2017

The second program is Samkhya Karika. It will be a weekend program in September at Chicago Yoga Center . Samkhya is one of the six systems of orthodox Vedic philosophies. It is one of the three nivritti sastras, or philosophies of liberation—liberation from the repeated cycles of birth. The other two philosophies are Yoga and Vedanta. Samkhya Karika, written by Iswarakrishna, is perhaps the most authentic text on this subject. It is considered to be the theoretical basis for Yoga darsana, and hence, many yogis, including my Guru Krishnamacharya, would urge study of this text in addition to Patanjali's Yoga. It consists of 72 slokas, or verses, and is considered one of the great Sanskrit works. The author, some consider to be the avatara of the great Sanskrit poet and philosopher Kalidasa. All the slokas will be gone through verse by verse in this program.

The enumeration of the principle that constitute the Universe, the stages of its evolution and the immortality of the Self are clearly brought out and explained in this great work. We will go through each and every sloka and follow the thought process of the author in this 15 hr program

The third program is the 100 hr Vinyasakrama TT program. I started teaching this program in Dec 2015 and in the matter of 15 months more than 160 yagis mostly serious yoga practitioners and yoga teachers have completed the program. I have taught this program twice at Yoga Vahini in Chennai in Dec 2015 and then in Feb 2017. I taught this program at Om Yoga in New Delhi in Feb 2016 and then at One Yoga in Saskatoon in Canada. Then I taught the same program at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles in Aug 2016 and then at Yoga Dhara in Madrid Spain. Now in September 2017 I am scheduled to teach the program at One Yoga in Montreal Canada. 

This program has a 60 hour vinyasakrama asana component. In this 10 major sequences will be taught, viz, Tadasana, asymmetric seated poses, paschimatanasana, one legged poses, Suptasana, prone poses, vajrasana, padmasana, Inversions and of course trikonasana. There are about 125 subroutine asanas in these major sequences and about 700 Vinyasas which we will go through in the program. Each vinyasa will be taught with the appropriate synchronized breathing as taught by Sri Krsihnamacharya. These are explained in detail in my book Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1569244022/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_1/103-1755689-4479843?_encoding=UTF8

 It will also be possible to develop criteria for individual daily practice for one's own practice and to teach other students. There is a 20 hour pranayama segment in which different pranayama methods will be gone through. Enough practice of pranayama will be given so that by the end of the program participants will be able to include pranayama and bandhas as an integral part of daily yoga practice. Further the benefits of hata yoga,-- asanas vinyasas, pranayama and mudras--will be studied in detail especially to the important internal organs as the heart lungs, uterus etc. The third segment will be a 20 hour study of the Yoga Sutras. Each and every sutra will be taught following the thought process of Patanjali so that one would get a comprehensive understanding of Raja Yoga. 

Home Practice

April 9, 2017, 2:06 am

≫ Next: What is it about Mudra? Also... Simon Borg-Oliver on Janu Sirsasana and an intro to Simon's new 84 key postures course

≪ Previous: April 2017 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami—Upcoming 2017 programs also Pratyahara/Shanmukhamudra.

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What is it about Mudra? Also... Simon Borg-Oliver on Janu Sirsasana and an intro to Simon's new 84 key postures course

April 20, 2017, 7:47 pm

≫ Next: Origin - May 2017 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami

≪ Previous: Home Practice

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This post was basically an fb share this morning but I want to post it here to come back later to this idea of mudra I'm starting to circle

What is it about the profound experience I encounter in mudra that makes it different from Pranayama and other forms of sitting. Mudra, it's asana but not, Pranayama but not, Sitting but not. As gesture, mudra expresses, indicates, signals....., enquires. For Heidegger a philosophical question is a formal indication (ontology) towards that which can not be answered (Ontic). Perhaps mudra then is 'gesture towards' and as such, earns its keep.

See my proficient primary (a mudra approach to asana) page
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/p/proficient-primary-project.html

also this earlier post on mudras
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2013/01/mudras-sri-k-pattabhi-jois-and-dasa.html

Plus I'm too excited by Simon's new course not to hold off mentioning it any longer.

Nice to see this post on Janu Sirsasana from Simon Borg-Olivier (See below). I was watching and exploring in practice Simon's Janu Sirsasana instruction just yesterday, while following his new, and really quite excellent course '84 key postures for strength and flexibility' .

http://simonborgolivier.com/84-key-postures/

I'm quite excited by this course actually (see appendix below for more details of the course content), just the kind of thing I asked him for a while back after studying his spinal sequence videos on YouTube, how he would put his physiotherapists hat on and explain exactly what is going on in the body during a posture and why the transformational effect of the slightest tweak in our approach. Here in Janu Sirsasana it becomes a 'kidney stretch' rather than yet another hamstring stretch. And then he's teaching how to keep these postures safe for beginners or those with injuries or just different approaches for those with different intentions. Marvellous.

For me, following Krishnamacharya's suggestion to stay in certain key asana longer (although Simon is beginning to make me question why I would want to if the asana, or its variation, is practiced effectively enough), to practice with more efficiency and benefit without causing injury today or after ten years of practicing the posture in this way it's a godsend. My Ashtangi friends will also love this course I suspect, blog posts to come soon although I'm only ten videos in ( but also some skipping around as we can follow the order of the videos or jump to the asana we are particularly interested in -see appendix below) and there are another forty to go (videos seem to be around 10-30 minutes each).

Note: I mentioned above that Simon is making me question my (Krishnamacharya's) long stays in certain asana, why practice an asana ( for a long time) as a mudra if I can tweak the asana to get the maximum of any physical benefit in a shorter time and thus save more time say for Pranayama and perhaps a longer sit. Mudra is considered a gesture. Is the experience of exploring this gesture, the breath, of the space between the breath in a mudra of sufficient value outside of any physical benefits.

What is it about the profound experience I encounter in mudra that makes it different from Pranayama and other forms of sitting. Mudra, it's asana but not, Pranayama but not, Sitting but not. As gesture, mudra expresses, indicates, signals....., enquires. For Heidegger a philosophical question is a formal indication (ontology) towards that which can not be answered (Ontic). Perhaps mudra then is 'gesture towards' and as such, earns its keep.

Heidegger's Method: Philosophical Concepts as Formal IndicationsAuthor(s): Daniel O. DahlstromSource: The Review of Metaphysics, Vol. 47, No. 4 (Jun., 1994), pp. 775-795

Here's Simon's fb post in italics on Janu Sirsasana that I hope he doesn't mind me sharing here....

"The ‘Head to knee posture’ (Janu Sirsasana) with its simple to complex variations has many things that are important to realise before simply practicing or teaching them. While there are many potential benefits to these postures if you do them correctly and your body has the prerequisite abilities, there are many potential risks and dangers if they are done incorrectly or if you are if you are physically unprepared. 

In our beginner level courses Bianca Machliss and I have chosen to teach mainly ‘Sukha (simple) Janu Sirsasana', where the bent leg hip and knee are not taken so far back. This does not require any axial rotation (twisting) of the spine to bend forward over the straightened knee. In this version the two hips the same distance from the straighter limbed foot. In this simple form the spine is mainly in flexion. However, in the full (paripurna) form of this posture (shown in the first photo here as ‘Janu Sirsasana’ but also known as 'Paripurna Janu Sirsasana’)) for the more flexible or experienced people, the bent (flexed) knee is drawn further backward so that its hip is further away from the opposite knee. This means that when the posture is complete the spine is not in pure flexion but in a combined movement of spinal flexion (bending forward), spinal axial rotation (twisting) and spinal lateral flexion (side-bending), which is obviously more difficult to do safely and effectively.

’Sukha Janu Sirsasana’ is effectively a simpler version of the 'Half lotus forward bend' (Ardha Baddha Padma Pascimottonasana) that is in practiced two postures earlier than 'Janu Sirsasana' in the Ashtanga vinyasa primary Series. For a natural-bodied person with hips that are open from a life-time of sitting cross-legged the ‘Half lotus forward bend ‘ is actually much easier than 'Paripurna Janu Sirsasana’. This helps explain why the 'Half lotus forward bend' (Ardha Baddha Padma Pascimottonasana) is placed earlier than the ‘Janu Sirsasana' postures in the Ashtanga vinyasa primary series. However, most normal people today do not have ’natural bodies’ and hence traditional yoga designed for natural bodies has to be approached very carefully by most ’normal’ people.

In our advanced classes and in the Ashtanga vinyasa yoga of Sri K Pattabhi Jois, we practice the full (paripurna) form of 'Janu Sirsasana'. To prepare for this there are other postures that are more difficult for the modern body including a ‘Bound half lotus forward bend posture’ (Ardha Baddha Padma Pascimottonasana) and a ‘Half kneeling forward bend posture’ (Triang Mukha Eka Pada Pascimottanasana).

In the Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga system 'Paripurna Janu Sirsasana' is followed by two more difficult versions of this posture where the bent (flexed) knee is in a more difficult position. The first of these postures actually has the perineum sitting on one heel and is called ‘Bhadra Janu Sirsasana' (also called 'Janu Sirsasana B’) (shown in the attached photo). The second of these difficult postures is called ‘Bhaga Janu Sirsana' (also called Janu Sirsasana C) and has the ball of the foot to the floor and the heel raised. 

Both of these postures give a different movement to the hip and knee joint, both movements prevent excessive hip flexion (especially Janu Sirsasana C), which forces your spinal flexors to be used and forces the spine to bend forward, rather than just allowing simple hip flexion. In Bhadra Janu Sirsasana (Janu Sirsasana B) sitting on the heel stimulates the marmas and acupuncture points both on the foot and on the part of the body your heel touches, which ideally should be the perineum (also really stimulating the mula bandha (the root lock) and the muladhara cakra (root energy centre)). In 'Bhaga Janu Sirsasana' (Janu C) having the ball of the foot to the floor with the heel raised stimulates the marma and acupuncture points on the ball of the foot but it also internally rotates the knee, and thus can prevent hip flexion (but which can strain many knees if unprepared), but which is a movement that has to be learnt to get advanced meditation postures such as siddhasana (a more advanced version of the lotus posture), which is the best posture also for pranayama (breath control) but in it the hips are prevented from hip flexion.

I love sharing this sort of information and if you want to get more please join me for part or all of our very practical course on the ‘Applied Anatomy and Physiology of Yoga’ in Sydney from the 19-28 May 2017 (https://yogasynergy.com/upcoming-events/interactive-applied-anatomy-physiology-of-yoga-sydney/ )

You can see more about all our international live and online teaching on my professional Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pg/simonborgolivierpublic/events/ and also at https://yogasynergy.com/upcoming-events/

Simon Borg-Olivier

________________________

Krishnamacharya aged 83 I think  from the photos added to the later edition of his Yogasanagalu (Originally published Mysore 1941) The completed translation of Yogasanagalu is available on my free downloads page

Appendix: 

More to come on this course in future posts I'm sure but for now a brief overview followed by...

Two ways to approach Simon Borg Olivier's 84 key postures course

Course Overview

In this short course Simon Borg-Olivier, who has been teaching yoga and treating people’s injuries as a registered physiotherapist for 30 years, shares his insight into 84 popular hatha yoga postures by giving detailed instructions for each joint complex in each posture to help you enhance the efficiency of your practice in the safest possible way.  By applying these carefully developed instructions, you will be able to create strength and flexibility, and improve circulation in order to generate and move energy inside your body more effectively.

WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR

For anyone from beginners to advanced practitioners who want to practice safer and more effective yoga, or want to teach safer and more effective yoga to others.

WHAT YOU GET

54 sessions
(total duration: 20 hours)
Unlimited access to the online streaming videos

Discussion boards to interact with Simon Borg-Olivier and other students

Intro video

There is something curious about this course, one of those glorious accidents perhaps. It's not Simon's normal format. I suspect but don't know for sure but I get the feeling Simon was invited to teach the asana element of a teacher training or perhaps just asked to teach a workshop on 84 postures. Either way, many of the participants in the course seem to be experienced practitioners, teachers or teacher trainees. This allows/encourages Simon to give perhaps more information than he perhaps would on a regular workshops. The amount of information he shares on the course, the detail he goes into, is quite astounding yet because it is demonstration based it's palatable on several levels. I suspect you could come back to this course again and again and discover things you missed the first eight times you watched/followed it.  

With the 84 posture format it would be excellent I'm sure for my Ashtangi friends and readers of the blog as well as for those also coming from Vinyasa Krama. Hopefully it will promote safer practice, for our bodies during practice tomorrow morning as well as ten years down the line, it should promote a more efficient, more beneficial practice

1. By Asana

84 KEY POSTURES – LIST OF POSTURES WITH INDEXES

1; Tadasana (Mountain Posture)

Video 9a: Basic Postures and Bending Forwards

Video 9b: Basic Postures and Bending Forwards

2; Utkatasana (’Upward-facing Squat Posture’)

Video 9a: Basic Postures and Bending Forwards

Video 9b: Basic Postures and Bending Forwards

3; Pascimotanâsana (Back-spinal-lengthening forward-bending posture’)

Video 9a: Basic Postures and Bending Forwards

Video 9b: Basic Postures and Bending Forwards

4; Uttanasana (Standing hands-to-floor Posture’)

Video 9a: Basic Postures and Bending Forwards

Video 9b: Basic Postures and Bending Forwards

5; Parsvotanasana (Standing One-sided Forward-bending Posture)

Video 9a: Basic Postures and Bending Forwards

Video 9b: Basic Postures and Bending Forwards

6; Trikonasana (Triangle Posture).

Video 11a: Standing Postures 1_ Triangle Postures

Video 11b: Standing Postures 1_ Triangle Postures

7; Ardha Candrâsana (Half Moon Posture)

Video 12a: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

Video 12b: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

Video 12c: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

Video 12d: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

8; Parivrtta Ardha Candrasana (Revolving Half Moon Posture)

Video 12a: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

Video 12b: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

Video 12c: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

Video 12d: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

9; Parivrtta Trikonasana (Revolving Triangle Posture)

Video 12a: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

Video 12b: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

Video 12c: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

Video 12d: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

10; Parsvakonasana (Side-spine Lengthening Postures)

Video 12a: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

Video 12b: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

Video 12c: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

Video 12d: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

11; Parivrtta Parsvakonasana (Revolving Side-spine Lengthening Posture)

Video 12a: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

Video 12b: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

Video 12c: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

Video 12d: Standing Postures 2_Lateral Postures

Wide-legged forward bending postures like the Paddotonâsana -series.

Video 13: Standing Postures 3_ Wide-Legged Forward Bending Postures

12; Palms flat to the floor

Video 13: Standing Postures 3_ Wide-Legged Forward Bending Postures

13; No hands, hands on the hips

Video 13: Standing Postures 3_ Wide-Legged Forward Bending Postures

14; Hands interlocked

Video 13: Standing Postures 3_ Wide-Legged Forward Bending Postures

15; Grab the big toes or the ankles

Video 13: Standing Postures 3_ Wide-Legged Forward Bending Postures

Single-Legged Forward Bending Postures like Parsvotonasana (Standing One-sided Forward-bending Posture).

Video 14: Standing Postures 4_Single-Legged Forward Bending Postures

16; Interlock the hands behind the back

Video 14: Standing Postures 4_Single-Legged Forward Bending Postures

17; Fingers interlocked behind the back of the neck

Video 14: Standing Postures 4_Single-Legged Forward Bending Postures

18; Hands out in front

Video 14: Standing Postures 4_Single-Legged Forward Bending Postures

19; Vriksasana (Tree Posture)

Video 15a: Standing Postures 5_One –Legged postures

20; Garudasana (Eagle Posture).

Video 15a: Standing Postures 5_One –Legged postures

Padanghusthâsana-series (Forward-bending One-legged Postures)

Video 15b: Standing Postures 5_One –Legged postures

21; Forward-bending

Video 15b: Standing Postures 5_One –Legged postures

22; Side-bending

Video 15b: Standing Postures 5_One –Legged postures

23; Natarajasana (Dancer’s Posture)

Video 18: Standing Postures 6

24; Navasana (Boat Posture)

Video 27: Abdominal Postures

25; Ardha Navasana (Half Boat Posture)

Video 27: Abdominal Postures

26; Virabhadra Asana (The Warrior Posture)

Video 16: Basic Postures and Bending Backwards_Warrior and Cobra Postures

27; Shalabasana (Locust Posture)

Video 16: Basic Postures and Bending Backwards_Warrior and Cobra Postures

28; Bhujang asana (The Cobra Posture)

Video 16: Basic Postures and Bending Backwards_Warrior and Cobra Postures

29; Dhanurasana (Prone Backward-bending Posture)

Video 25: Backward bending postures

30; Ustrasana (Camel Posture)

Video 25: Backward bending postures

31; Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (One-Legged Pigeon Posture)

Video 25: Backward bending postures

32; Utthita San Calanâsana (Standing Lunge Posture)

Video 5: Basic applied anatomy and physiology of yoga

Video 17: Postures with forward and backward bending components

33; Hanumanasana (Front Splits Posture)

Video 5: Basic applied anatomy and physiology of yoga

Video 17: Postures with forward and backward bending components

Salute to the sun postures

Video 20: Salute to the Sun Postures 1

Video 21: Salute to the Sun Postures 2

Video26: Downward Facing Dog Special Features

34; Urdhva Hastasana (Arms Up)

Video 20: Salute to the Sun Postures 1

Video 21: Salute to the Sun Postures 2

Video26: Downward Facing Dog Special Features

35; Uttanasana (Forward Fold)

Video 20: Salute to the Sun Postures 1

Video 21: Salute to the Sun Postures 2

Video26: Downward Facing Dog Special Features

36; Ardha Uttanasana (Flat Back Position)

Video 20: Salute to the Sun Postures 1

Video 21: Salute to the Sun Postures 2

Video26: Downward Facing Dog Special Features

37; Ardha Uttanasana (Flat Back Position)

Video 20: Salute to the Sun Postures 1

Video 21: Salute to the Sun Postures 2

Video26: Downward Facing Dog Special Features

38; Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Legged Staff Pose)

Video 20: Salute to the Sun Postures 1

Video 21: Salute to the Sun Postures 2

Video26: Downward Facing Dog Special Features

39; Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog)

Video 20: Salute to the Sun Postures 1

Video 21: Salute to the Sun Postures 2

Video26: Downward Facing Dog Special Features

40; Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog)

Video 20: Salute to the Sun Postures 1

Video 21: Salute to the Sun Postures 2

Video26: Downward Facing Dog Special Features

41; Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottanasana (Half Lotus Seated Forward Posture’ )

Video 19a: Floor Postures 1

Video 19c: Floor Postures 1

42; Kasyapasana (Half Lotus One-Arm One-Leg Balance)

Video 19a: Floor Postures 1

Video 19c: Floor Postures 1

43; Vashistasana (Side Plank Posture)

Video 19b: Floor Postures 1

Video 19c: Floor Postures 1

44; Sukhasana (Pleasant Posture)

Video 19b: Floor Postures 1

Video 19c: Floor Postures 1

45; Swastikasana (Auspicious Posture)

Video 19b: Floor Postures 1

Video 19c: Floor Postures 1

46; Siddhasana (Accomplished Posture)

Video 19b: Floor Postures 1

Video 19c: Floor Postures 1

47; Purvotanâsana (Front-spinal-lengthening backward-bending Posture)

Video 19d: Floor Postures 1

48; Janu Sirsasana (Head-to-knee Posture)

Video 19d: Floor Postures 1

49; Upavistha Konasana (Wide-Legged Seated Forward Bend Posture)

Video 24a: Floor Postures 2

50; Samakonasana (Side Splits Posture)

Video 24a: Floor Postures 2

51; Kurmasana (Tortoise Posture)

Video 24b: Floor Postures 2

52; Upavistha Konasana (Wide-Legged Seated Forward Bend Posture)

Video 24b: Floor Postures 2

53; Eka hasta bhujasana (Leg-over-shoulder Posture)

Video 24b: Floor Postures 2

54; Lolasana (Pendulum Posture)

Video 24b: Floor Postures 2

55; Astavakrasana (The Eight Angled Arm Balance Posture)

Video 24b: Floor Postures 2

56; Titibasana (Firefly Arm Balance Posture).

Video 24b: Floor Postures 2

57; Ghomukasana (Cow Posture)

Video 29a: Floor Postures 3

58; Bhadrasana (Ankle-Seated Cobbler’s Posture)

Video 29a: Floor Postures 3

59; Bhagasana (Heel Raise Cobbler’s Posture)

Video 29a: Floor Postures 3

60; Kandasana (Feet On Chest Cobbler’s Posture)

Video 29a: Floor Postures 3

61; Tiryam Mukha Eka Pada Paschimottanasana (Half Kneeling Forward Bend)

Video 29b: Floor Postures 3

62; Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Seated Spinal Twist Posture)

Video 29b: Floor Postures 3

63; Marichyasana (Seated Half Squat Posture)

Video 29b: Floor Postures 3

64; Matsyendrasana (Seated Spinal Twist Posture)

Video 32: Floor Postures

65; Marichyasana (Seated Half Squat Posture)

Video 32: Floor Postures

66; Bharadvajasana (Seated Half- Lotus Half-Kneeling Twist Posture)

Video 32: Floor Postures

67; Supta Padangusthasana (Reclining Big Toe Posture)

Video 31: Floor Postures 4

68; Jathara Parivartanasana (Revolving Abdomen Posture)

Video 31: Floor Postures 4

69; Parsva Savasana (Side Corpse Posture).

Video 31: Floor Postures 4

70; Malasana (Squatted Garland Posture)

Video 33a: Inversions, Preparations and Release

71; Bakasana (Crow Arm Balance Posture)

Video 33a: Inversions, Preparations and Release

72; Headstand

Video 33a: Inversions, Preparations and Release

73; Handstand

Video 33a: Inversions, Preparations and Release

Neck-releasing postures:

Video 33a: Inversions, Preparations and Release

74; Uttansana with the palm on the floor

Video 33a: Inversions, Preparations and Release

75; Uttansana with palm to calves and elbows behind the knees

Video 33a: Inversions, Preparations and Release

76; Uttansana with interlocked hands behind the back

Video 33a: Inversions, Preparations and Release

The Prerequisites of Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand)

Video 33b: Inversions, Preparations and Release

77; Legs up the wall posture (Salamba urdhva prasarita padâsana)

Video 33b: Inversions, Preparations and Release

78; Unsupported arms-up bridge posture (Niralamba urdhva hasta setu bandhâsana)

Video 33b: Inversions, Preparations and Release

79; Back-spinal-lengthening forward-bending posture (Pascimotanâsana) 


Video 33b: Inversions, Preparations and Release

80; Toes-to-floor unsupported half sit-up two-knees-to-chest posture (Padangustha niralamba uttana supta pavan muktâsana)

Video 33b: Inversions, Preparations and Release

81; Front-spinal-lengthening backward-bending posture’ (Purvotanâsana)

Video 33b: Inversions, Preparations and Release

82; Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand)

Video 33b: Inversions, Preparations and Release

83; Halasana (Plough Posture)

Video 33b: Inversions, Preparations and Release

84; Uttana Padasana (Supine intense neck-extending-releasing posture)


Video 33b: Inversions, Preparations and Release

2. In the order the course is presented

SBO-84P | 84 Postures

1. INTRODUCTION

Video 1: Introduction 6:27

2. PRACTICE GUIDELINES

Video 4: Purpose  of  YOGA 5:45
Video 3: Practice Guidelines 1:21
Video 8: Practice Guidelines 2 7:09
3.  ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF YOGA 1.

Video 2a: Anatomy and Physiology of YOGA 14:56
4. ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF YOGA 2.

Video 2b: Anatomy and Physiology of YOGA 14:10
5.  ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF YOGA 3.

Video 2c: Anatomy and Physiology of YOGA 18:29
6. ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF YOGA 4.

Video 2d: Anatomy and Physiology of YOGA 16:58
7. ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF YOGA 5.

Video 2e: Anatomy and Physiology of YOGA 16:33
8. BANDHAS – USE IN BREATHING 1.

Video 5a: Bandhas 1_Use in Breathing 14:53
9. BANDHAS – USE IN BREATHING 2.

Video 5b: Bandhas 1 Use in Breathing 22:27
10. BANDHAS – USE IN BREATHING 3.

Video 5c: Bandhas 1 Use in Breathing  16:41
11. BANDHAS – USE IN BREATHING 4.

Video 5d: Bandhas 1 Use in Breathing 21:33
12. BANDHAS – USE IN BREATHING 5.

Video 5e: Bandhas 1 Use in Breathing  18:02
13.  BANDHAS – USE IN BREATHING 6.

Video 5f: Bandhas 1 Use in Breathing 29:21
14. BANDHAS – USE IN POSTURES                

Video 6:  Bandhas 2 Use in Postures 23:32
15. BREATHING AND DIET 1

Video 7: Breathing and Diet 1 4:25
16. BREATHING AND DIET 2

Video 28a: Breathing and Diet 2 19:28
17. BREATHING AND DIET 3

Video 28b: Breathing and Diet 2 24:02
18. SYSTEMS OF YOGA

Video 10: Systems of Yoga – Difference Between Ashtanga Vinyasa and  Iyengar Systems 2:20
19. BASIC POSTURES AND BENDING FORWARD 1.

Video 9a: Basic Postures and Bending Forwards 20:07

20. BASIC POSTURES AND BENDING FORWARD 2.

Video 9b: Basic Postures and Bending Forwards 29:59
21. STANDING POSTURES 1.

Video 11a: Standing Postures 1 Triangle Postures 16:50
22. STANDING POSTURES 2.

Video 11b: Standing Postures 1 Triangle Postures 30:14
23. STANDING POSTURES 3.

Video 12a: Standing Postures 2 Lateral Postures 25:11
24.  STANDING POSTURES 4.

Video 12b: Standing Postures 2 Lateral Postures 20:00
25. STANDING POSTURES 5.

Video 12c: Standing Postures 2 Lateral Postures  19:17
26.  STANDING POSTURES 6.

Video 12d: Standing Postures 2 Lateral Postures 25:23
27. STANDING POSTURES 7.

Video 13: Standing Postures 3 Wide-Legged Forward Bending Postures 26:20
28.  STANDING POSTURES 8.

Video 14: Standing Postures 4 Single-Legged Forward Bending Postures 19:02
29. STANDING POSTURES 9.

Video 15a: Standing Postures 5 One –Legged postures 16:21
30.  STANDING POSTURES 10

Video 15b: Standing Postures 5 One –Legged postures 24:31
31. STANDING POSTURES 11

Video 18: Standing Postures 6 13:08
32.  ABDOMINAL POSTURES

Video 27: Abdominal Postures 12:39
33.  BENDING BACKWARDS 1.

Video 16: Basic Postures and Bending Backwards Warrior and Cobra Postures 17:37
34.  BENDING BACKWARDS 2.

Video 25: Backward bending postures 23:41
35.  POSTURES WITH FORWARD AND BACKWARD BENDING COMPONENTS

Video 17: Postures with forward and backward bending components 08:33
36. SALUTE TO THE SUN POSTURES 1.

Video 20: Salute to the Sun Postures 1 12:51
37. SALUTE TO THE SUN POSTURES 2.

Video 21: Salute to the Sun Postures 2 11:30
38. SALUTE TO THE SUN POSTURES 3.

Video26: Downward Facing Dog Special Features 11:48
39. FLOOR POSTURES 1.

Video 19a: Floor Postures 1 17:15
40. FLOOR POSTURES 2.

Video 19b: Floor Postures 1 14:44
41. FLOOR POSTURES 3.

Video 19c: Floor Postures 1 25:43
42. FLOOR POSTURES 4.

Video 19d: Floor Postures 1 30:30
43. FLOOR POSTURES 5.

Video 24a: Floor Postures 2  26:01
44. FLOOR POSTURES 6.

Video 24b: Floor Postures 2 32:09
45. FLOOR POSTURES 7.

Video 29a: Floor Postures 3 20:09
46. FLOOR POSTURES 8.

Video 29b: Floor Postures 3 28:10
47. FLOOR POSTURES 9.

Video 32: Floor Postures 28:25
48. FLOOR POSTURES 10.

Video 31: Floor Postures 4 32:21
49. INVERSIONS, PREPARATIONS AND RELEASE 1.

Video 33a: Inversions, Preparations and Release 23:18
50. INVERSIONS, PREPARATIONS AND RELEASE 2.

Video 33b: Inversions, Preparations and Release 28:34
51. SEATED FINISHING POSTURES

Video 22: Seated Finishing Postures 7:20
52. SEATED MEDITATION AND SUPINE RELAXATION

Video 34: Seated Meditation and Supine Relaxation 05:31
53. LED-PRACTICE

Video23: Led-practice 27:51
54. DEMONSTRATION PRACTICE

Video 30: Demonstration Practice 25:05

Origin - May 2017 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami

April 30, 2017, 8:02 pm

≫ Next: Integrating Simon Borg-Olivier's pranayama course with Krishnamacharya's Early Mysore asana instruction.

≪ Previous: What is it about Mudra? Also... Simon Borg-Oliver on Janu Sirsasana and an intro to Simon's new 84 key postures course

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I am scheduled to teach just three programs in 2017. One is a 50 hr Complete Bhagavat Gita program at LMU, Los Angeles, then a 15 hr Samkhya Karika program at Chicago Yoga Center and a 100 hr Vinyasakrama TT program at One Yoga, Montreal, Canada. For links to these please visit the Events page in my website www.vinyasakrama.com/Events. I may not teach these topics again in America.

Origin

Not very long ago some scientists observed that the universe was expanding, the galaxies were drifting further. This led them to work backwards in time, a rewind of the evolution movie, which resulted in the theory that the universe originated from a tiny but extremely dense and extremely hot phenomenon

a singularity. Some say that all that we have in the universe-- trillions of tons of matter trillions BTUs of energy were contained in this undifferentiated minute singularity of infinite density and unimaginably hot. Mathematicians found the limit of this to be just a dot, a point without occupying any space but existent. Then the big bang theory is explained. It is said to have started happening some 13.7 billion years ago. It started creating space, expanding and cooling from its original extremely hot conditions. Particles and atoms formed and after a very long time about 4.6 billion years ago the earth was formed, then about a billion years later life first appeared in the form of a single cell bacterium. It happened due to a unique combination atoms, matter. Then life evolved, replicated and different species came into existence. It is estimated that there are about 8.7 million different species that came about.

Then when and how consciousness came about. Did it evolve when life appeared? What is consciousness? It is the awareness of one's own existence sensations, thoughts etc. There is still a lot of study going on to find out when and where this consciousness came about. It is generally considered to be an evolute of matter an adjunct faculty of the brain and nervous system.

The Samkhyas and Yogis also consider that space was created. They also looked back in time and found that the universe evolved out of again an unmanifest non dimensional entity called pradhana or mula prakriti. Pradhana would mean principal, unique or the origin. So the origin of the universe was according to Samkhyas an unmanifest entity very much like the scientist' s singularity. Here the mulaprakriti was homogeneous (samya), still made up of tamas which can be source of matter, rajas source of energy very much like the big bang singularity. But according to Samkhyas the evolution was not chaotic or random but orderly. That order is represented by the guna called satva. So mulaprakriti or pradhana was the source of the universe in an unmanifest form containing the source for matter, energy and having cosmic order.

The Samkhyas also took care to explain the evolution taking into consideration certain important factors. They had to explain how the one prakriti split up into subject and object as we experience. They enumerated that the universe was made of 23 evolutes arising out of the one singularity the mula prakriti. They described both the microcosmic and macro cosmic evolution. The subject is made of a template of 11 indriyas along with intellect and ego known as a subtle body or sukshma sarira whereas the objective universe was made of 5 tanmatras (light particles, sound waves etc) and 5 bhutas like space etc. Thus they theorized that the evolution had two streams. Even before space was created the singular mulaprakrity changed into the 18 subtle evolutes before the 5 gross elements evolved. They considered life itself as the activity (vritti)of the subtle body

What is of interest here is that the Samkhyas even as they found the universe was subject to change-- evolving and also transforming- found that there was one aspect that does not change over time. They recognized that consciousness or awareness does not change over time and unlike the common perception that consciousness is but another aspect of life, concluded that it is not a product of the evolving and changing prakriti. They showed that the awareness in us does not change all through life, during childhood, then adulthood and old age, the same awareness experiences all the changes one goes through in life. The same consciousness is witness to the waking experiences and during dream the same consciousness experiences dreams completely disconnected the waking experiences. So is with deep sleep. So just as they went back in time for the manifest universe and the manifest individual which ended up evolving from mulaprakriti, they went back in time for consciousness. Because there is no change in it all through the life they concluded the consciousness which is the essential non changing characteristic of individual beings should be same at the origin also. So they postulated two singularities, one the mulaprakriti which would change and evolve and then the individual unchanging consciousness which essentially is the self.

Vedanta which is the subject matter of the upanishads, seems to agree with the above two in that the whole universe evolved—from a singularity but that is Brahman. Brahman is an entity of consciousness which can never undergo any change, it is like the individual atman of the samkhyas. Vedanta differs from Samkhya in that Vedanta does not subscribe to the ;dual' singularities But this is universal consciousness from which the universe evolved. While the singularity of science is matter and energy, that of Vedanta is just consciousness. The actual evolution is described variously by different upanishads but the origin is Brahman. How can ever changing matter/universe evolve out of non changing consciousness? The advaitins of Vedanta agree with this objection but say that the evolved universe is just an illusion and there has been never a real creation.

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Integrating Simon Borg-Olivier's pranayama course with Krishnamacharya's Early Mysore asana instruction.

May 2, 2017, 6:53 pm

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Following the path that my guru has recommended for me, I am writing down the secrets of yoga.

Krishnamacharya - Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934)

T. Krishnamacharya

"When practicing asanas, we need to maintain deep inhalation and exhalation to normalise the uneven respiration through nasal passages.

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.

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. This type of exhalation is called Rechaka.

Holding the breath is called Kumbhaka". 

Krishnamacharya Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941).

*

What if the 'secret of yoga' is the breath...., and we're rushing it?

This is very much a work in progress, provisional findings if you will.

Note: One might prefer to explore these techniques/this approach in only the finishing sequence of a regular, 'by the book' Ashtanga vinyasa practice where longer stays are indicated and slower breathing more commonly practiced.

Simon Borg-Olivier

This is very much a work in progress, provisional findings if you will.

Introduction

One element of Ramaswami's Teacher training at LMU back in 2010 was a close, line by line, reading and discussion of Krishnamacharya's texts (Krishnamacharya had been Ramaswami's teacher for thirty plus years). We would go around the room, taking turns reading one paragraph or page after another which Ramaswami would more often than not discuss with us. In the practice room after our regular Vinyasa Krama  class we would explore the asana instruction in Krishnamacharyas Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934). 

Note: At the time there was no English translation of Yogasanagalu, I had only just received from India, while on the course, photos of each page of the text written in the Kanada language. Satya Murthey has just completed the translation of Yogasanagalu and it's freely available on the Free Download page.

After returning from that month with Ramaswami I continued to explore Yoga Makaranda while we worked on the translation of Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941) and sought to bring my Vinyasa Krama and Ashtanga practices more and more in line with Krishnamacharya's early instruction.

Pattabhi Jois was Krishnamacharya's student in Mysore during the period Yoga Makaranda and Yogasanagalu were written. We can see Pattabhi Jois' debt to Krishnamacharya's teaching in the Yogasanagalu table of asana (groups) on which Pattabhi Jois' Ashtanga Vinyasa presentation was clearly based. We can see the debt too in the vinyasa presented in Yoga Makaranda, starting and finishing each asana at Samastithi (later Pattabhi Jois switched from full Vinyasa to Half Vinyasa). 

But what happened to the long slow breathing '.... like the pouring of oil', the kumbhaka (holding the breath in or out) instruction found in almost every asana instruction in Yoga Makaranda and Yogasanagalu?

Pattabhi Jois talked of long slow breathing as an ideal in interviews, he even talked about it in a demonstration in Switzerland in the 90s, extolling the benefits of fifteen, twenty, second inhalations and equal exhalations before then leading his demonstrators ( including Lino Miele who included full vinyasa in his book) at a break neck speed through their practice, inhalation and exhalation of two or three seconds at most, a stay in an asana of one to two minutes.

It should be remembered that Pattabhi Jois was an assistant of Krishnamacharya's in the classes for the young boys of the Mysore Palace, these classes lasted only an hour. Krishnamacharya would perhaps lead the boys quickly through their asana due to the time constraint and perhaps their limited attention span. Pattabhi Jois was little more than a boy himself when he first began to teach a slightly modified version of Krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu table in his own classes at the Sanskrit college and this speeded up version of Krishnamachrya's Yoga Makaranda has proved highly popular with western practitioners, perhaps partly due to our own push button society attention span. Manju Jois however mentions that while growing up he would see his father practicing long stays in asana and Pattabhi Jois mentioned in an interview how Krishnamacharya would keep him in kapotasana for a long period while standing on him to deliver a lecture, perhaps the long stays formed part of Pattabhi Jois' personal instruction or smaller group lessons with his teacher and it is not too late to reclaim or a least investigate this aspect of the lineage.

When seeking to return to Krishnamacharya's original Mysore 'Ashatanga' instruction in Yoga Makaranda and yogasanagalu to inform our own practice we are struck by the long stays mentioned, the long slow breathing indicated and the employment of kumbhaka (holding the breath in or out).

Longer stays in asana

Pattabhi Jois saw a slower practice as an ideal but realised the problem with time given that the householder tends to work for a living and raise a family. Pattabhi Jois' response was to practice faster and mostly drop kumbhaka altogether.

An alternative response, Ramaswami's and the one I employ, is to practice less asana.

See my Proficient Primary page where I practice half a series giving particular attention to ten key asana.

My proficient primary page http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/p/proficient-primary-project.html

If we are going to stay longer in an asana then we need to make sure that we are practicing our asana safely, not just for this mornings practice but we want to be sure that practicing our approach to an asana doesn't cause damage in the long term. 

See my post on Simon Borg-Olivier's new 84 Key asana course. Simon is a physiotherapist and looks at practicing asana more safely for the long as well as short term.

Simon's 84 key asana course link. http://simonborgolivier.com/84-key-postures/

Simon's webpage http://simonborgolivier.com/

Slower breathing

It's one thing to slow the breathing in a static posture, while practicing pranayama for example, something else altogether while practicing vinyasa. It's a key element of Ramaswami's Vinyasa Krama presentation of his teacher's approach. The movements are long and slow in Vinyasa krama but even here I found it challenging to go beyond a ten second inhalation or exhalation, Pattabhi Jois talked in interviews of twenty second inhalations, even longer perhaps.

In this I have found Simon Borg-Olivier's new course 'A Introduction to Breath Control (Pranayama)' highly beneficial.

Video Above from 2013- See blog post http://tinyurl.com/p3p8s5m 

Oscar and I practicing alone in his studio on my recent Krishnamacharya workshop. Oscar is on the left practicing Vinyasa krama as taught to Ramaswami in the 1950's-80's. I'm on the right practicing very slowly with kumbhaka's (breath retention) following the asana in striations found for the primary group of asana in Krishnamacharya's 1934-38 'Mysore book' yoga makaranda, written while Krishnamacharya was teaching the young Pattabhi Jois. Video is of part of the seated section of our practice.

Speeded up x4 version here http://youtu.be/LFSnqW1o6bU

Simon's father was a free diver, he's been attending to his breath since before he could walk. he has a Bachelor of Science in human biology, a research based Master of Science in molecular biology and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Physiotherapy and has been teaching yoga for thirty plus years, he is perhaps the only person I trust fully with regards to pranayama. There may be teachers who have taught traditional methods of pranayama for upwards of fifty years but Simon I know understands what is happening to the body on a molecular level. If I had the choice of studying pranayama with Simon or Krishnamacharya himself I would choose Simon, besides, Simon is a lot less scarier than Krishnamacharya.

Krishnamacharya talks of building up to a thirty second inhalation and thirty second exhalation for Sama vritti pranayama, this I found challenging. I built up to twenty seconds for each but settled at that, it felt sufficient for my needs.

One of the exercises on Simon's Pranayama course looks at Inhalation emphasis and has a led video where the inhalation is a long slow thirty seconds, followed by a short kumbhaka of a few seconds and  an exhalation and perhaps ten seconds, a forty-five second breath in a six breath cycle.

Simon's approach will be familiar to free divers as it's based on relaxation of the body and breathing into different areas of the body or at least shifting the attention such that the inhalation appears to begin at the perineum, move to the lower abdomen, the lower back, mid abdomen, mid back and so on up the body, the instruction punctuated with reminders to relax different 'key' areas of the body.

The first thirty second inhalation became quite comfortable, the fifth less so but with practice it's become easier and using Simon's approach, away from the course I've been able to inhale, with some comfort, for ninety seconds. This is more than my needs, thirty or forty seconds feels quite sufficient,  but as an experiment, a test if you like of the approach I found it remarkable.

Kumbhaka (holding the breath in or out)

Likewise for the exercises in inhalation retention, the exhalation emphasis and exhalation retention emphasis, all employ either the inhaling/exhaling to different areas of the body and/or key areas of the body relaxation techniques.

T. Krishnamacharya

I've never been that interested in Hatha Yoga pranayama techniques, I learned pranayama from Ramnaswami who learned it from Krishnamacharya, mostly Ramaswami would focus on nadi shodhana with a five second inhalation, twenty second inhalation retention with mantra, a ten second exhalation and short five second exhalation retention practiced for anywhere up to eighty rounds, it's an ancient practice, more raja yoga than hatha yoga perhaps.

I've explored some of the different methods, practiced for a time the Ashtanga pranayama sequence that Manju taught us but have always tended to go back to the straight forward, relatively simple nadi Shodhana that Ramaswami taught me.

That said I couldn't resist an experiment. 

I tried holding my breath, managed a two minute inhalation retention then tried again employing Simon's relaxation of key areas of the body approach and managed three minutes. With training/practice, if I could see a point to it or was tempted to explore free diving ( or fin swimming, hmmmm) I could no doubt increase it to five minutes.

For my needs, exploring longer slow breathing in asana and introducing comfortable kumbhaka into the practice of certain asana, a thirty to forty second inhalation or exhalation, or kumbhaka is sufficient. The only benefit of practicing longer than that, away from asana, is that it might allow me to be more comfortable in shorter retention during a more challenging asana. More challenging asana however no longer interest me, more proficiency in key primary asana and perhaps some simple variations does.

Below, in Appendix 1, then is one of the ways I've explored introducing Simon's approach into my regular practice, the proficient primary that has it's own page at the top of the blog.

I should note here that Simon only recommends natural breathing in asana in the beginning, once proficiency is gained in asana and also in introductory breathing control then on might consider introducing alternative approaches to the breath in asana for example his fascinating circular approach to the breath.

Generally I tend to practice a half Ashtanga Primary series with particular attention given to around tne key asana, staying in these asana longer, exploring kumbhaka where appropriate.

On the course however, Simon has a led breathing practice where he will practice six breaths each of...

Inhalation emphasis

Inhalation retention emphasis

Exhalation emphasis

Exhalation retention emphasis

What I've done below is switch the order of my proficient primary asana somewhat, such that I can play the led video presentation three times and explore the different emphasis in appropriate asana with only occasionally pausing the presentation/video.

Since writing out the practice in Appendix 1 below I've stopped using the recording and gone back to the order of my regular Proficient Primary while employing Simon's techniques on my own.  I'm able to enjoy longer, slower, more comfortable inhalations and exhalations in appropriate asana as well as more comfortable kumbhaka's, again, in appropriate asana.

Note: Krishnamachary tends not to include kumbhaka in twists but will indicate long slow inhalations and exhalation often of equal duration. If the body is folded then Krishnamacharya will tend to indicate a retention after the exhalation, if the body is up then the retention would tend to be after the inhalation. 

Different emphasis could be applied to different asana. I tend to try to keep a balance likewise, following Simon, I see no benefit in endless forward bends and hamstring stretches so I might perhaps leave out the fold forward in an asana and emphasise the inhalation retention instead in Tiryan-Mukha Eka-Pada Paschimottanasana for example (although I've followed the order of the recording in the Appendix below.

In a future post I'll outline my practice as it's settles indicating with quotes Krishnamacharya's recommended emphasis of the breath.

In Appendix 2, I give Simon's course outline. 

I should mention here that the course is made up of led videos of exercises in

Relaxation/natural breathing

Inhalation emphasis

Inhalation retention emphasis

Exhalation emphasis

Exhalation retention emphasis

It is an introductory course, however these exercises actually form part of Simon's own regular 'intermediate' pranayama practice (see Simon's blog post below) and the inhalation retention emphasis could easily be followed in nadi shodhana (alternate nostril breathing).

WHY DO IT?

"While practicing yoga with reverence, one can offer their essence to God during exhalation and during inhalation, imagine/suppose that God is entering your heart.  During kumbhaka, we can practice dharana and dhyana.  Such practices will improve mental concentration and strengthen silence/stillness.  Eliminates agitation and restlessness".  
T. Krishnamacharya - Yogasanagalu (1941)

Above- see this blog post for a transcript of the above interview I conducted with Simon a couple of years back. http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2014/05/interview-with-simon-borg-olivier.html

Apart from the fact that this was Krishnamacharya's earliest written presentation of his approach to asana and how he was himself possibly practicing at the time he was teaching the young Pattabhi Jois as well as somewhat how he may have learned form his teacher there are good physiological justifications. The fabled health benefits of practicing asana may well be a result of increased and directed Co2 (prana anybody?).

from Simon's blog post..

Holding your breath for increased strength, flexibility, healthier digestion and to eat less food

Although there are many benefits to learning how to use all the muscles of breathing, and to learn to breathe in many ways, in the more advanced stages of yoga it is the art of breathing less than normal (hypoventilation) that gives the most physiological benefits.

The less you breathe in and out the more you will build up carbon dioxide inside your body. Contrary to popular belief, carbonic dioxide and the carbonic acid it becomes in your blood, has many benefits inside the body.

THE EFFECTS OF INCREASING CARBON DIOXIDE IN THE BODY: 

Carbon dioxide and carbonic acid build up inside you

from breathing less than normal (mild hypoventilation):

*** brings more blood to your brain and heart (vasodilation)

*** allows more air to enter your lungs (bronchdilitation)

*** calms your nervous system

*** reduces your need and craving for heavy, processed and acid food

*

Below is Simon's introduction to this approach that forms part of one of his excellent blog post/articles 

Breathing (Part 2): Passive Seated Pranayama: Generate Internal Energy by Doing Less than Nothing

SEATED BREATH-CONTROL EXERCISES (PRANAYAMA): Simple practice for most people:

I recommend that most people sit in a chair for these relatively simple and accessible breath-control exercises. It is only wise to put your legs cross legged, or in lotus posture (padmasana) if it is as easy to put your legs into the lotus posture as it is for you to cross your arms by placing each hand on the opposite shoulder. You must be able to sit comfortably enough

to focus on becoming lengthened in all directions while remaining as relaxed as possible.

The four simplest breathing exercises (apart from relaxed natural breathing) are as follows:

1. Inhalation emphasis breathing: make a really long slow inhale and then a short natural breath out.
2. Inhalation retention emphasis breathing: Make a gentle full breath in, and then hold your breath in as long as you comfortably can, and then a short natural breath out.
3. Exhalation emphasis breathing: Make a gentle full breath in, and then breathe out as slowly as possible for as long as it is comfortably possible.
4. Exhalation retention emphasis breathing: Make a gentle full breath in over 3-5 seconds, then a short full breath out about the same length, and then hold your breath out as long as you comfortably can.

Ideally these four main types of pranayama (numbered 2 – 6 below) are done from between 4 – 6 breaths each, with each breath ideally lasting between 30 – 60 seconds each.

A good amount of time for your first attempt is 45 seconds per breath. If you can only do one breath cycle for up to 45 seconds and for every other breath you need to ‘sneak in’ a few extra gentle breaths then 45 second cycles are a good start.

If that is too hard for even one breath then reduce that amount to 30 seconds.

If your full breath cycles are less than 30 seconds per breath, it is is possible that none of the real physiological benefits of breathing (such as increased blood flow and increased delivery of oxygen to the cells) will occur. This is because of the Bohr effect, which essentially states that oxyhaemoglobin (the oxygen carrying red pigment in red blood cells) will not release its oxygen unless there are sufficient levels of carbon dioxide.

A book by the adept scholar of yoga NC Paul, written in about 1850, even goes so far as to suggest that it is carbon dioxide that is the essence of prana (the internal energy, that is referred to as chi in china). For that reason, I recommend that you work towards gradually increasing the length of each breath cycle and ideally beginning the practice with up to 45 seconds per breath cycle as described in more detail below.

1. KEVALA KUMBHAKA: 2 – 5 minutes silent meditation (invisible, inaudible breathing resulting from focusing on lengthening and relaxing your body)
2. PURAKA UJJAJI PRANAYAMA: 4 – 6 breaths long inhalation (up to 40 seconds inhale: up to 5 seconds exhale)
3. ANTARA KUMBHAKA PRANAYAMA: 4 – 6 breaths inhalation retention (up to 5 seconds inhale: up to 35 seconds inhale retention: up to 5 seconds exhale)
4. RECAKA UJJAJI PRANAYAMA: 4 – 6 breaths long exhalation (up to 5 seconds inhale: up to 40 seconds exhale)
5. 
   
   BHAYA KUMBHAKA PRANAYAMA: 4 – 6 breaths exhalation retention (up to 5 seconds inhale: up to 5 seconds exhale: up to
   35 seconds exhale retention)
   
   
6. KEVALA KUMBHAKA: 5 – 30 minutes silent meditation (invisible inaudible breathing resulting from focusing on lengthening and relaxing your body, which eventually leads to the feeling of contentment and loving-kindness)
7. SAVASANA: 5 – 10 minutes supine relaxation

I really recommend these breath-control exercises to everyone to increase health and longevity and a lust for life. You can obtain an online and downloadable version of these simple breath-control exercises, including even more simple and accessible versions than are described above, in our online shop. and also explained in this video just below.

These simple breath-control exercises (and many of the more complex exercises listed below) are taught daily in our live Teacher Training Courses and form an integral part of the training. Please visit for the latest schedule of training courses. 

Intermediate Level Practice:

Here is one of my usual daily seated pranayama practice(I will explain easy options at the end). For me, this practice feels like I am getting free energy from the universe and it makes me feel energised and totally calm on a physiological level, while on an anatomical level it eases any joint pain and seems to increase strength and flexibility.

For this pranayama I practice with 40 one-minute cycles (about 40 breaths), which makes a seated practice that last for about 40 minutes

1. KEVALA KUMBHAKA: 4 minutes meditation (invisible inaudible breathing resulting from focusing on lengthening and relaxing your body)

2. PURAKA UJJAJI PRANAYAMA: 4 minutes (4 breaths) long inhalation (55 seconds inhale: 5 seconds exhale)

3. ANTARA KUMBHAKA PRANAYAMA: 4 minutes (4 breaths) inhalation retention (5 seconds inhale: 50 seconds inhale retention: 5 seconds exhale)

4. RECAKA UJJAJI PRANAYAMA: 4 minutes (4 breaths) long exhalation (5 seconds inhale: 55 seconds exhale)

5. BHAYA KUMBHAKA PRANAYAMA: 4 minutes (4 breaths) exhalation retention (5 seconds inhale: 5 seconds exhale: 50 seconds exhale retention)

6a. SAMA VRTTI UJJAJI PRANAYAMA: 2 minutes (2 breaths long inhalation and long exhalation (30 seconds inhale: 30 seconds exhale)

6b. VISAMA VRTTI UJJAJI PRANAYAMA: 2 minutes (2 breaths)1:4:2:1 breathing (7.5 seconds inhale: 30 seconds inhale retention: 15 seconds exhale: 7.5 seconds exhale retention)

7a. NADI SODHANA PRANAYAMA: 2 minutes (2 breaths) alternate nostril breathing (nadi sodhana pranayama) (30 seconds inhale left nostril: 30 seconds exhale right nostril: 30 seconds inhale right nostril: 30 seconds exhale left nostril)

7b. SURYA BHEDHANA PRANAYAMA: 2 minutes (2 breaths) visualised alternate nostril breathing (citta surya bhedana pranayama)

8. SHAKTI CALANI PRANAYAMA: 8 minutes (2 cycles of 4 minutes each cycle) of fast then slow breathing (30 seconds (10 breaths) of ‘rolling up’ breathing: 30 seconds of ‘rolling down’ breathing: 60 seconds exhale

retention with bandhas: 30 seconds inhalation: 60 seconds inhalation retention with bandhas: 30 seconds exhalation) [the ‘Rolling up’ and ‘rolling down’ breathing is described in my previous post].

9. KEVALA KUMBHAKA: 4 – 40 minutes meditation (invisible inaudible breathing resulting from focusing on lengthening and relaxing your body) (alway good to finish as you began and then compare the feeling)

10. SAVASANA: 5 – 10 minutes supine relaxation

* Easier versions include sitting in any comfortable posture (even on a chair) and doing less length for each cycle of pranayama.

* If you are new to this you may choose to only do the first 4 types of pranayama with maybe only 1-3 cycles. Depending on your capacity you can do 45 seconds for each cycle or maybe even only 30 seconds for each cycle.

* The timings do not have to be precise, e.g for the inhalation pranayama (2) you can just inhale as long as you can then exhale some time before the end of your timed cycle for as long as you need to.

* The last pranayama (8) is the most advanced and so I recommend that you skip it completely if you are prone to dizziness or nausea, or if you have any medical condition (unless supervised by an experienced health practitioner), or if you can’t do at least 45 second cycles.

* In any of these cycles you can also make it easier when ever you need to by taking a few natural breaths.

* This type of pranayama is done very passively (except for the last one (8), in which you can make it more active if you wish using bandhas kriyas and movement).

* Never force this pranayama. You are on the right track if you end up feeling hot, clear in mind and completely calm after. You are probably forcing and or over-breathing if you stay cold, or get dizzy or nauseous.

* The main idea of this type of pranayama is to build up carbon dioxide, which will enhance the Bohr Effect. This will allow the uptake of oxygen into your body cells and allow to make 20 times as much energy from the food you eat and the air you breathe.

* If 60 second cycles are easy for you (or if you are experiencing dizziness or nausea) then try 70-90 second cycles instead but make sure you can do at least 6 breaths of a particular cycle length before increasing it.

* Once this is learnt to a satisfactory level you can begin to use the breath for more physical means as discussed below and in previous articles linked at bottom of this article.

To get a deeper understanding of these intermediate level types of pranayama and especially the more advanced types of pranayama described below please see our article entitled ‘Secrets of Advanced Breath- control (Pranayama) with Internal locks (Bandha), Energy-control Gestures (Mudra) and Internal Cleansing (Kriya)‘. 

See also

Breathing (Part 1): How to breathe to help your spine, internal organs and energy levels

http://simonborgolivier.com/

*

APPENDIX 1

Proficient Primary integrated with Simon Borg-Olivier's Pranayama exercises

NOTE: this is a 'proficient' approach to practice, for beginners Simon always recommends natural breathing when practicing asana until some proficiency has been gained in the practice of asana as well as perhaps some exploration of pranayama away from the mat.

*

A first look at integrating Simon Borg-Olivier's approach to breath control, employing his led instruction while practicing Krishnamacharya's asana instruction.

Built around 10 key asana  and mudra ( a Rishi Series?) with optional variations and preparations 
see below for an approach to each asana and mudra

Tadasana 

Surya namaskara

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

1. Trikonasana -  Inhalation emphasis

2. Dandasana - Inhalation retention emphasis 

Pascimattanasana/ Asvini Mudra  - Exhalation emphasis

Tiryan-Mukha Eka-Pada Paschimottanasana - Exhalation retention emphasis

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

Krouchasana - Inhalation emphasis

4. Bharadvajrasana - Inhalation retention emphasis 

3. Maha Mudra  - Exhalation emphasis 

9. Baddha Konasana - Exhalation retention emphasis

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

  

6. Sarvangasana -  Inhalation emphasis 

7. Bhujamgi mudra - Inhalation retention emphasis  

8. Sirsasana  - Exhalation emphasis 

5. (Padma Mayurasana or) Vajrasana - Exhalation retention emphasis

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

Pranayama

10. padmasana - Sama vritti 30 second inhalation/30 second exhalation

Siddhasana - Nadi Shodhana - inhalation retention emphasis

*

Pdf of the above

APPENDIX 2

Details of Simon Borg-Olivier's Intro to breath control (pranayama) course

http://simonborgolivier.com/breath-training-for-health-and-longevity/

Introduction to Breath-Control (Pranayama)

Improved Energy, Health and Longevity

In these videos I give you an introduction to ‘breath-control’, which in yoga is known asprânâyâma. This is a very accessible set of practices that can be done by anyone and have very effective results for health, longevity and well-being.

I want to give you 4 simple breathing exercises that can truly energize you. . This is one of the special ways that you can actually get more energy by doing less than you normally do.

Natural breathing is the usually the best breath for most people to practice during most exercise. In that way you can concentrate on doing your exercise without having to worry about breathing. If, however, you are doing something very simple and relaxing such as lying down or sitting, then you can take the time to do specific breathing exercises.

Essentially, there are two types of breathing exercises. One type of breathing exercise, which is commonly taught in many physical training activities including many modern yoga classes, can benefit your physical body by improving the strength and flexibility of your muscles of breathing.

Another type of breathing exercise that I wish to share with you here is breathing for increasing energy. This type of breathing is designed to increase the amount of oxygen entering your cells. In these four breathing exercises the trick is to breathe as little as you comfortably can in order to build up carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide has the important role in your body of being able to signal the red blood cells to give the oxgen they carry to your body cells. If there is not enough carbon dioxide in your body then red blood cells tend to retain their oxygen and not release it into your cells. This is called the Bohr-effect. When you get oxygen into your cells you have the possibility of making 18 times as much energy for every glucose molecule of ‘fuel’ you ‘burn’.

The four simplest breathing exercises (apart from relaxed natural breathing) are as follows:

1. Inhalation emphasis breathing: make a really long slow inhale and then a short natural breath out.

2. Inhalation retention emphasis breathing: Make a gentle full breath in, and then hold your breath in as long as you comfortably can, and then a short natural breath out.

3. Exhalation emphasis breathing: Make a gentle full breath in, and then breathe out as slowly as possible for as long as it is comfortably possible.

4. Exhalation retention emphasis breathing: Make a gentle full breath in over 3-5 seconds, then a short full breath out about the same length, and then hold your breath out as long as you comfortably can.

You should stay as relaxed as possible in all these exercises and never force them. Whenever you need to breathe, simply take a few natural relaxed breaths.

In each of these four exercises your ideal goal is to try to make each breath you take last as long as possible. Many people find they can do one breath for as long as 45 seconds. Some people will find that even one breath in 30 seconds is hard. Once you can breathe one full breath (in any of the 4 exercises I have described) lasting from about 30 seconds to one minute in length while relaxed, then the energetic benefits of breathing will manifest. You will then find an increase in body heat, internal energy, mental clarity, reduced hunger as well as a profound sense of inner peace and relaxation. If you are a smoker, then these exercises can help you to easily quit smoking as they have the same calming effect as cigarettes. So by doing these exercises you will not have the urge to smoke, yet you will feel calm, focused, warm and energised. 

It is great for your health if you can sit quietly from as little as 5 minutes to 30 minutes or more each day and do some simple breathing exercises. You can do all four of these exercises in one practice if you like, but for most people it is best to learn only one exercise at a time. All four exercises can be very effective at giving you energy but some people will find they prefer doing only one or two. To get the best effects it is important to do at least 6 breaths in each practice and it is also important to breathe less air than you normally would. If you start to get dizzy then it is a sign you may be breathing too much air too quickly. In this case simply go back to natural breathing. This practice is very beneficial and can be done as i describe above but if you would like some more instructions then I strongly recommend you join my 16 session online course. This includes a 45 minute lecture that simply and clearly explains 

what you are trying to  

how to do it and 

the benefits. 

The course also includes 15 short video practice classes of between 15 to 27 minutes each that you can practice with. I have also include some explanatory text as well as some further resources you can draw from. This practice is designed to give you the energetic benefits of breathing exercises by building up carbon dioxide. Increasing carbon dioxide in your body with these exercises will: Bring more blood to your brain and heart (vasodilation) 

Allow more oxygen to enter your body via your lungs (bronchodilation) 

Increase oxygen uptake into your cells, which can increase your energy levels to 18 times as much 

Calm your nervous system and reduce stress Increase digestion of food by stimulating hydrochloric acid levels 

Reduce your appetite for heavy, processed and acidic food. 

These exercises are a simple effective way to increase your health and longevity, that I have successfully taught to thousands of people around the world over the last 30 years. You can join here:

Course cost $89.00

Krishnamacharya and drishti ( the gaze)

May 5, 2017, 5:06 pm

≫ Next: Ashtanga and weight loss, it's not the practice but the discipline. Also Simon Borg-Oliver on Yoga and Diet

≪ Previous: Integrating Simon Borg-Olivier's pranayama course with Krishnamacharya's Early Mysore asana instruction.

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Occasionally I get mail. I was asked this week about Krishnamacharya and drishti. I sent a pdf copy of Yoga Makaranda.

I received a reply.

"Thanks for the copy of Yoga Makaranda. Although Krishnamacharya mentions the breath and asana in the same passage he doesn't combine this with dristi".

I sent back to a couple of my posts on Krishnamacharya and Drishti

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2014/03/drishti-overview-of-drishtis-indicated.html?m=1

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2014/08/asana-drishti-and-dhyana-dharana.html?m=1

and received another reply....

"Yes Krishnamacharya mentions dristi and the breath as well as asana in Yoga Makaranda:
but at no point does he mention the importance of combining them".

In Krishnamacharya's teaching drishti is of course mentioned in relation to the asana and indeed the breath, Krishnamacharya tends to focus on two gazing points, between the eyebrows (broomadhya drishti) and the tip of the nose (nasagra dristri).

Likewise Pattabhi Jois in Yoga mala

"For this, meditation is very important, as are the drishti, or gazing places, which include: nasagra drishti [the gaze on the tip of the nose] for samasthiti; broomadhya drishti [the gaze between the eyebrows] for the1st vinyasa; nasagra dristri for the 2nd vinyasa; the gaze between the eyebrows for the 3rd vinyasa—in other words, for the odd-numbered vinyasas, the gaze should be focused between the eyebrows and, for the even-numbered ones, the gaze should be on the tip of the nose." p87

Later Pattabhi Jois included other external drishti points/gazing places, what is it nine now?

Manju often suggests closing the eyes.

The eyes do not need to be open for broomadhya drishti and nasagra dristri, the eyes can be close but still directed at the same point. There are other drishti that krishnamacharya would employ as outlined by his som

Krishnamacharya would employ other 'drishti' internal points of focus as outlined in his son T. K. Sribhashyam's book, Emergence of Yoga,
See this earlier post.
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2014/08/asana-drishti-and-dhyana-dharana.html?m=1

Krishnamacharya and drishti ( the gaze)

	Figure 4.53: Baddha Padmasana - Gaze on midbrow

Figure 4.52: Baddha Padmasana - Gaze on tip of nose

All quotes below from Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda (Mysore1934)
Note: many of the same asana and instructions were also used in Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941)

When I explain the rules of yogasana, if the position of the head has not been specified, then keep the head in jalandara bandha. Similarly, if it does not specify where to place the gaze, then the gaze should be directed towards the midbrow.
p25-26

3.8 Section on the investigation of the twenty Mudras
After the nadis are cleaned by practising the shatkriyas, it is essential that every- body, respecting their body’s constitution, practise at least some of the twenty mudras for the following reasons: in order to keep the ten types of vayu moving in their appropriate respective nadis and performing their assigned activities with- out obstruction (as described in the earlier section); in order to prevent diseases from forming in the body; for the susumna nadi to be taken to and maintained in the brahmarandhram; and for the always wavering gaze to stop moving and become focussed in one place. It is for this reason that the mudras are described here.
p45

Maha Mudra: With the left foot pressed tightly against the rectum, extend the right leg out in front. Make sure that the heel is touching the floor and the toes are pointing upwards. Hold the big toe of the right foot with the fingers of the right hand. Keep the chin firmly pressed against the chest and keep the gaze fixed on the midbrow. Similarly, following the instructions mentioned above, repeat the mudra with the right foot pressed firmly against the rectum and the left leg extended forward.
p45

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.
p47

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.
p49

Announcement
If one practises these twenty mudras according to one’s strength and capabil- ity, then diseases associated with svasam (respiration), kasam (coughing), spleen, meham (bladder) — such 84,000 diseases can be prevented. One develops extraor- dinary physical strength and will not fall victim to an untimely death. Moreover, the prana vayu will join the susumna nadi and one develops one-pointedness of the gaze and of the mind. Therefore, these mudras have to be achieved before practising pranayama.
p51

On Asana

1 Uttanasana
Following the rules for tadasana (yogasana samasthiti krama) (Figure 4.1, 4.2), stand erect. Afterwards, while exhaling the breath out slowly, bend the upper part of the body (that is, the part above the hip) little by little and place the palms down by the legs. The knees must not be even slightly bent. Raise the head upwards and fix the gaze on the tip of the nose.
p51

8 Pascimattanasana or Pascimottanasana (Figure 4.19 — 4.28)
This asana has many kramas. Of these the first form has 16 vinyasas. Just doing the asana sthiti by sitting in the same spot without doing these vinyasas will not yield the complete benefits mentioned in the yoga sastras. This rule applies to all asanas.
The first three vinyasas are exactly as for uttanasana. The 4th vinyasa is caturanga dandasana, the 5th vinyasa is urdhvamukhasvanasana, the 6th vinyasa is adhomukhasvanasana. Practise these following the earlier instructions. In the 6th vinyasa, doing puraka kumbhaka, jump and arrive at the 7th vinyasa. That is, from adhomukhasvanasana sthiti, jump forward and move both legs between the arms without allowing the legs to touch the floor. Extend the legs out forward and sit down. Practise sitting like this with the rear part of the body either between the two hands or 4 angulas in front of the hands. It is better to learn the abhyasa krama from a guru. In this sthiti, push the chest forward, do puraka kumbhaka and gaze steadily at the tip of the nose.
p69

17 Utthitahasta Padangushtasana (Figure 4.49, 4.50, 4.51)
First, push the chest forward and stand erect with equal balance. While standing this way, make sure that the head, neck, back, hips, arms and legs are aligned properly and gaze at the tip of the nose.
p99

18 Baddhapadmasana (Figure 4.52, 4.53, 4.54, 4.55)
Place the right foot on top of the left thigh and the left foot on top of the right thigh. Take the hands behind the back and tightly clasp the big toe of the right foot with the first three fingers of the right hand and tightly clasp the big toe of the left foot with the first three fingers of the left hand.
Press the chin firmly against the chest. Keep the gaze fixed on the midbrow. Sit down, keeping the rest of the body straight. This has the name baddhapad- masana. This asana must be repeated on the other side (that is, first place the left foot on top of the right thigh and then the right foot on top of the left thigh) in order to exercise both sides of the body.
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.
p103

26 Niralamba Sarvangasana (Figure 4.70)
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.
At this time the chin should be pressed against the chest. The gaze should be fixed on the midbrow.
p115

27 Ekapada Sirsasana (Figure 4.71, 4.72)
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 ra- tio breathing. When the hands are joined together in ekapada sirsasana paristhiti, one must do puraka kumbhaka. One must never do recaka.
While doing the 7th and the 12th vinyasas, the head must be raised and the gaze must be fixed at the midbrow.
p120

32 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.
129

Chakorasana…. 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.
p132

34 Skandasana (Figure 4.80, 4.81)
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.
p132

35 Durvasasana (Figure 4.82)
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.
All the other vinyasas are like skandasana.
p132

37 Trivikramasana (Figure 4.85)
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.
p136

38 Gandabherundasana (Figure 4.86, 4.87)
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.
p142

Ashtanga and weight loss, it's not the practice but the discipline. Also Simon Borg-Oliver on Yoga and Diet

May 5, 2017, 5:12 pm

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≪ Previous: Krishnamacharya and drishti ( the gaze)

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I almost regret making up this poster with the before and after photos. This post isn't about appearance but health (the photo on the left happens to be M's favourite), about more discipline in our eating, what do I care whatIi look like, I live in the countryside and practice alone rather than in a shala.

When I first started practicing yoga I was 94 kilo, I'd been living in Japan for six years, drinking too much beer and living on convenience food, the weight came on gradually and because I had some fancy suits at the time I never really noticed I'd put on as much weight as I had, thought I was looking pretty sharp actually and hadn't really considered how unhealthy my lifestyle had become. I started practicing yoga with a book from a library, it just happened to be Ashtanga and for that first year I panted and sweated through practice each morning on a bath towel in my underwear. I would sweat around two kilo's a practice, there was the suggestion at the time that the Ashtanga practice room needed to be hot (it doesn't). Because I was bending and twisting so much each morning I really didn't want to eat that heavy a meal in the evening. I dropped down to 78 kilo in that first year and put it down to my dynamic, sweaty, Ashtanga practice although I had also switched to a vegetarian diet a couple of years into my practice..

It was partly the practice of course that accounts for that dramatic weight loss but no doubt just as much to do with eating less. Practicing twice a day I just got into the habit of eating less between practices, smaller portions, plus Ashtanga is great for building discipline and saying no to a beer or a tub of ice cream.

Still, in my mind, at the time, it was that dynamic, sweaty Ashtanga practice that I credited with losing
weight.

I should add that I didn't start yoga, Ashtanga to lose weight. I've been burgled, had seven vintage saxophones stollen, I was anoyed about it and wanted to do something about the anger. I decided to get back into sitting and the yoga was because I'd read that it could make the sitting more comfortable.

Jump forward a few years.

Two and a half years ago I got ready to move back to Japan. Ashtangi's we love our routines, we love stability, our mat in the same place, practicing at the same time each morning, are we all a little OCD? The disruption caused by that move to Japan threw my discipline out somewhat, those yama/niyama's slipped and the outward manifestation of that was a gradual increase in weight. Also, I had been practicing more slowly, less dynamically and because I associated sweating through practice with the kidney stones I'd had in the past I avoided sweating during practice as much as possible.

When I noticed my weight was up to 84 kilo at the end of last year I realised I needed to do something about it.

My practiced had slowed down in the last few years. Following Krishnamacharya's early Mysore instruction, as found in Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934) and Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941), I was breathing "...slow like the pouring of oil", staying in postures for longer, ten breaths, ten minutes even. To accommodate this slower practice I let go of more and more asana. By the end of last year I was mostly only practicing the first half of Primary and even then with many of the asana dropped, this approach, a 'mudra like' approach to practice is outlined on my Proficient Primary page.

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/p/proficient-primary-project.html

Because I associated the dramatic weight lost of the past to my hot, sweaty, dynamic Ashtanaga practice, the temptation was to switch from my slower more modest practice back to a fast paced full series practice once more, I mean it had worked in the past.

The temptation was great.

Thankfully I was stubborn enough and determined NOT to change my practice, not to speed it up, not to practice more asana, not to practice in a warmer/hotter room but decided instead to 'merely' change my eating habits.

It sounds obvious doesn't it. Of course it's not the practice, it was never the practice, all the practice did really was to provide the discipline to eat more circumspectly. And yet I suspect I'm not alone, I'm sure there are many who associate their physical condition with the practice itself, with how they practice rather than the relationship between how they eat and the practice they have.

I stopped drinking alcohol. From drinking only a little watered down wine in the past I'd started drinking wine that wasn't watered down, from one to two glasses with meals, three glasses even, beer through the summer, a whiskey in the evening, or two, through the long holiday season of Christmas and new year.

I cut out bread, we had discovered we had a great bakers here in our village by the lake.

Quit drinking milk

No more pasta but instead 100% Soba

I cut out rice altogether at first and then allowed a little brown rice once or twice a week.

I stopped eating chocolate, biscuits/cookies, cake any kind of snack other than nuts.

I stopped eating most sugary fruit too.

These days I mostly I tend to eat salad, vegetables, Soba ( including crepes made from Soba flour), strawberries, Sashimi..... nuts.

I went from 84 kilo in November to 73 kilo this morning my practice just slow as slow, just as modest. It was nice however to see the wrist binds come comfortably back if and when I included Marichiiyasana D, Pasasana.

Note: BMI for my height within the recommended range of 18.5 to 24.9

Simon Borg-Olivier talks a lot about diet. He talks and writes about the connection between how we breathe and what we eat. Simply put, If we breathe less we tend to be happy with salad, breathe more and we crave something heavier and perhaps more of it. I'll include his fb post on diet yesterday in the appendix.

See perhaps this earlier post on breathing less

Integrating Simon Borg-Olivier's pranayama course with Krishnamacharya's Early Mysore asana instruction.

I make M. lemon drizzle cake, I buy her chocolate occasionally but have no interest in them myself, I'm quite content with a handful of nuts as a snack, you get used to it very quickly. Simon stresses that he eats what ever he wants, as much as he wants but that all he fancies is, fruit and vegetable, I feel pretty much the same.

It's not our practice, Ashtanga was never about losing weight.

We CAN practice our Ashtanga as if we are in a Cross-fit gym, or a Bikram studio or we can practice calmly, steadily, in a moderately, comfortably, warm room, our breathing slow and steady, our asana modest.

What Ashtanga, what any regular practice gives us, or can give us, is discipline, or a least it can act as a support for our practice of the yama/niyamas (of our or any other culture) that we choose to follow.

If we choose to switch from a faster paced practice to a slower more modest practice we 'merely' have to adjust our fuel and how much we consume  accordingly. I say merely but it can be tough, the practice though can support us in this through the discipline it gives us, the yama/niyama, the asana, they support each other, go hand in hand.

*

Appendix 1

One of my favourite memories Of Simon from when we hung out together at the Rainbow festival a few years back was his huge bowl of salad.

Simon is back at the rainbow festival this year in fact.

Simon Borg-Olivier with Anita Reilly.

19 hrs · 

My Diet: I eat what ever I like whenever I like, However much I want. But because of how i regulate my posture, movement and breathing my main food and all i really like is fruit, salad and vegetables.

In my 3 hour Sydney Nutrition Seminar on Saturday 27th May 2017 I will explain in simple terms:
*** How what you eat directly affects the way you breathe
*** That learning how to comfortably breathe less than normal (pranayama) eventually allows you to comfortably eat less than normal
*** That the only diet that has been scientifically proven to increase lifespan is the ‘calorie reduction’ or ‘eat less’ diet
*** That eating less can mean eating less volume of food or less concentration of food
*** Eating less is only viable if it is completely without negative physical or emotional side effects, and how to achieve this with simple yogic techniques
*** How balancing your diet with your breathing can improve circulation, increase mobility, increase energy, help calm your nerves, reduce asthma, reduce arthritis, improve your concentration and help you think more clearly
*** The dangers of eating many common foods and the benefits of eating many relatively unknown foods along with some forgotten methods of food preparation
*** That by making your diet more alkaline (e.g. by eating more fruit and vegetables) you can improve your breathing (i.e. comfortably learn how breathe less, like an experienced athlete) and exercise, relax and meditate more easily

I am about to give my annual seminar in Sydney - "Eat Less To Live Longer: Yogic Diet & Nutrition" - Saturday 27 May, 2017.

++++++++++++

*** Here are some of my nutrition tips:

*** First drink enough healthy liquids to satiate your appetite before resorting to solid food to satiate your appetite.

*** Wait till you are hungry before you eat your breakfast, even if your breakfast is at 6 pm at night.

*** Make your diet includes enough fibre to ensure at least one good daily bowel movement.

*** Include ‘superfoods’ in your diet such as organic wheatgrass, algae, goji berries, and acai berries

*** Include some seaweed in your diet for its high iodine levels that can counter radiation.

*** Breathe mostly into your abdomen and move your spine in everyday life and when you exercise, in order to enhance the digestion and absorption of food.

*** Eat less calories in order to live longer.

*** Breathe less in order to be happy to eat less.

*** Keep foods simple and limit yourself to only one or two steps to make a meal.

*** Make a fresh raw sauce of blended avocado, tomato, herbs and rock salt to pour over steamed vegetables.

*** Soak then sprout nuts, seeds, pulses and grains in order to enhance their digestibility and actually increase the nutrients available from them.

*** Include some healthy fermented foods in your such as sauerkraut, kim chi, kefir and tempeh.

*** Avoid all processed foods or at least avoid foods you know are not good for you.

*** Eat some fresh ripe (and ideal local and organic) fruit every day as it is filled with health giving vitamins, minerals and enzymes, as well as good fibre for your bowels to keep moving.

*** Bring salad out of the fridge some time before eating it and in winter even let your salad sit in warm to hot water for a few minutes in order to bring the food to your body temperature so that it can be more easily digested and does not make you cold.

*** Drink a fresh vegetable juice every day as it is loaded with health giving nutrients and it is very hydrating.

*** Make your own fresh nut milk (almonds are great) to use for coffee, tea or cereal by soaking nuts overnight in water then, rinse them, add some fresh water, blend with a hand blender and strain out the milk.

*** Use stevia as a sweeter over any processed sweeteners such as sugar, and never use aspartame.

*** Make green smoothies with fresh assorted green leafy vegetables to easily energise you and make you feel younger.

+++++++++++
What you will learn in my seminar:
This 3 hour seminar literally turns upside down many common myths and misconceptions about nutrition, diet and exercise.

I will explain the yogic art of how to be content to eat less than normal, and how to reduce your craving for all the heavy and 'naughty' foods, while enhancing health and longevity.

I highly recommend this seminar for all yoga teachers and practitioners, and anyone interested in living a longer and healthier life.

+++++++++++++
You can book for the seminar here. https://goo.gl/F6Oxgj

Or, you can buy our online video for this lecture here.
https://goo.gl/M2GcFG

This special seminar is actually a public part of my ten day course on the applied anatomy and physiology of yoga that you can read about more at www.yogasynergy.com
+++++++++
Thanks to Anita Reilly for this photo of me making salad in my house.

Appendix 2

The post below is an old post in response to a New York Times article about the possible dangers of yoga or rather postural practice ( not a bad topic but clumsily promoted). The post mentions that my body was pretty wreaked before I started yoga and that I lost 20 kg, got fit and generally much healthier. I had put a lot of that weight lost down to the practice and recently, on moving back to japan when i put


http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/p/h-hey-nyt-my-body-was-wrecked-before.html

Hey NYT, My Body Was Wrecked Before Yoga! ~ Anthony Grim Hall

Via elephant journal 
on Feb 5, 2012

Hey NYT, my body was pretty much wrecked BEFORE I took up yoga—life can do that!

On the first day of my first real job, all keen to arrive early, I twisted my knee getting dressed. By the time I arrived at work, my knee was the size of a football and needed to be drained. Two years later, in Aikido class, I did the same thing. It seems I had weak knees and was now susceptible to little non-cancerous tumors growing on them that needed cutting out every once in a while. It may have been hereditary—I remember my grandfather, a keen cricketer in his youth, clinically obese and hardly able to walk for the last thirty years of his life on account of his knees.

In my twenties, I dropped out, and with a one way ticket across the English Channel and a Pound in my pocket, I set off for France. My friend and I hitched and walked half way round the world, picking up laboring jobs wherever we could—I built walls and roofs, houses, laid roads, and dug ditches. While working as a pizza chef carrying ten trays of dough, my back went, and what with the knees going too with more regularity, after five years, that was the end of my traveling and laboring.

I worked myself through University as a cook, developing a taste for neat whiskey that I’d only played at while traveling, and making a mess of my liver in the process. After throwing away a promising academic career—I think I had anger issues—I left for Japan to become an English teacher.

There cannot be that many who end up unhealthier by the time they leave than when they arrived in Japan—I managed to pull that off. I worked as a teacher trainer trying to knock the dogma out of the ex-school teachers who got off the plane only to replace it with my company’s own. I worked too many hours teaching and designing courses, suffered from stress and fatigue, and got fat on fast food and beer.

So my knees were shot, as was my back, and probably my liver. I was overweight and suffered from stress. I felt bloated after every meal, developed kidney stones and had to have my gall bladder removed—my body was wrecked, just living your life can do that!

The curious thing was that I had not really noticed that I had got so out of shape, so unhealthy; and find it quite shocking looking back at the old photos now…how could I not know? There were signs—the kidney stones, the gall bladder operation—when they took my gall bladder out, they were supposedly shocked by the amount of cholesterol (this was in Japan).

I was wearing smart designer suits back then, I thought I looked pretty sharp.

That is the scary thing. I am guessing the majority of overweight and unhealthy middle-aged men think they are pretty much OK—could do with losing a few pounds perhaps, but on the whole they think they are fine and do not realize how much they have let their health slip, or how much work it will take to turn it around, or that it will get a little harder each year—they need to start now, today, not wait for the next New Year’s Resolution.

I got into yoga almost by accident, but it became a passion.

I came back to the UK to become a woodwind instrument repairer, having taken to playing the saxophone in Japan.

 My flat was burgled in February 2007, and seven vintage saxophones stolen—including one I had made a special trip to New York to buy. I was angry about the whole affair, and was annoyed with myself for being so angry about it. I decided to get back into meditation—I had practiced a little Zen years ago. I came across the ZenCast podcasts with Gil Fronsdal,  and began to practice Vipassana meditation. Reading around the practice I found that a lot of meditators were also doing yoga; so I picked up a book from the library, which turned out to be Total Astanga: The Step-by-Step Guide to Power Yoga at Home for Everybody, by Tara Fraser. It had looked the most well laid out and the least embarrassing to take up to the Library counter. Outside London, middle-aged guys did not tend to take up Yoga—they would go to a gym and lift weights perhaps but not Yoga.

I practiced with that book for about a month, practicing in the mornings before work on a bath towel in my underwear while my pet chinchilla looked on. If I remember correctly, I got as far as the Standing sequence, which would take me about half an hour to forty minutes, stopping every now and again to turn the page or check the book. I used blocks, or rather books as blocks, for Utthita Trikonasana as I couldn’t reach my hands to the ground. I was 44, weighed 94 kilograms and had not done any exercise for about four years. I had a bit of a belly and was feeling generally unhealthy.

I remember really enjoying getting up in the mornings to practice alone in the dark. I loved Suryanamaskara A , Suryanamaskara B exhausted me. I was frustrated that I could not straighten my legs in forward bends, had to hold on to the wall in Utthita hastasana, etc. Virabhadrasana A and B were agony, as was Utkatasana, I couldn’t imagine being able to do Ardha baddha padmottanasana. I would ache all over for most of the day but it was a good ache and practice became the highlight of my day. Sometimes it felt like the day was over as soon as I finished my practice and I could not wait for the following morning to come around.

As is the case so often with yoga, I changed other areas  of my life to fit in with the practice, ate less so I would not feel heavy and bloated the following morning. I pretty much cut out drinking—I might have a little wine topped up with sparkling water, the occasional martini or a little pot of sake on the weekends. I wanted to be able to wake up early and feel fresh. After a year, I even became vegetarian. I was not particularly trying to be fit or healthy, I just wanted to practice yoga more comfortably. There is no six-pack in the second picture, no bulging biceps either, but I think I look healthier.

I feel more fit, and despite all the advanced pretzel postures I explore these days, I have had no problems with my knees. I am no longer feeling bloated after every meal and recently, while writing my yoga book on the mac, formatting hundreds of photos and links, I noticed I had not screamed or sworn at the computer for not doing what I had asked it to, not once. That was something I used to do a lot back when I was designing training courses. I am calmer. I am in good health.

Hey NYT, my body was wrecked BEFORE I started yoga, now ….not so much!

I see guys on the street my age, perhaps younger than me—I am not talking about the clinically obese, but regular guys who I used to probably believe as being no less healthy than the next guy. I am sure they think they should cut back on the drinking a little, eat a little better, or walk the dog more often; but that is probably not going to do it.

There needs to be a government campaign—one of those awareness-raising ads—that says, “Hang on a minute, you do not just need to lose the odd couple of pounds, you need to rethink how you are living your life”, and it is important because people are dying from this.

For me it was yoga, for them it might be something else—but it needs to be something and it needs to be encouraged and supported.

That is the article I’d like to have seen from the New York Times magazine.

Anthony Grim Hall started practicing Ashtanga in March 2007. He had been burgled, felt angry about it and angry that he was feeling angry. He picked up a couple of meditation books from the library and later some on yoga to deal with the anger. He was overweight (94 kilograms), unfit and certainly not flexible. In the first four years, he only went to two Ashtanga Mysore self practice classes. He learnt from books and videos, and from comments on his blog. He is now 78 kilograms, and feels more fit, stronger and pretty flexible. In 2008, he started a blog—Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga at Home—beginning this blog dealt with his obsession with achieving the “Jump back” (and later drop backs, kapotasana, karandavasana, advanced series, etc). In June 2009, he came across Srivatsa Ramaswami (one of Krishnamacharya’s longest-serving students) and his ‘The Complete book of Vinyasa Yoga’—he spent the next year working out how best to combine it with his Ashtanga practice. He attended Ramaswami’s 200 hour Vinyasa Krama teacher training course in July/August 2010 and practiced an Ashtanga influenced Vinyasa Krama. He has just published a Vinyasa Yoga at Home Practice Book through Kindle that lays out Ramaswami’s sequences and subroutines along with practice notes including hint, tips and suggestions for each subroutine.

This article was prepared by Assistant Yoga Editor, Soumyajeet Chattaraj.

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May 7, 2017, 8:05 pm

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In Krishnamacharya's teaching drishti is of course mentioned in relation to the asana and indeed the breath, Krishnamacharya tends to focus on two gazing points, between the eyebrows (broomadhya drishti) and the tip of the nose (nasagra dristri).

Likewise Pattabhi Jois in Yoga mala

"For this, meditation is very important, as are the drishti, or gazing places, which include: nasagra drishti [the gaze on the tip of the nose] for samasthiti; broomadhya drishti [the gaze between the eyebrows] for the1st vinyasa; nasagra dristri for the 2nd vinyasa; the gaze between the eyebrows for the 3rd vinyasa—in other words, for the odd-numbered vinyasas, the gaze should be focused between the eyebrows and, for the even-numbered ones, the gaze should be on the tip of the nose." p87

Later Pattabhi Jois included other external drishti points/gazing places, what is it nine now?

Manju often suggests closing the eyes.

The eyes do not need to be open for broomadhya drishti and nasagra dristri, the eyes can be close but still directed at the same point. There are other drishti that krishnamacharya would employ as outlined by his som

Krishnamacharya would employ other 'drishti' internal points of focus as outlined in his son T. K. Sribhashyam's book, Emergence of Yoga,
See this earlier post.
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2014/08/asana-drishti-and-dhyana-dharana.html?m=1


Krishnamacharya and drishti ( the gaze)

Figure 4.53: Baddha Padmasana - Gaze on midbrow

Figure 4.52: Baddha Padmasana - Gaze on tip of nose

All quotes below from Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda (Mysore1934)
Note: many of the same asana and instructions were also used in Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941)

When I explain the rules of yogasana, if the position of the head has not been specified, then keep the head in jalandara bandha. Similarly, if it does not specify where to place the gaze, then the gaze should be directed towards the midbrow.
p25-26

3.8 Section on the investigation of the twenty Mudras
After the nadis are cleaned by practising the shatkriyas, it is essential that every- body, respecting their body’s constitution, practise at least some of the twenty mudras for the following reasons: in order to keep the ten types of vayu moving in their appropriate respective nadis and performing their assigned activities with- out obstruction (as described in the earlier section); in order to prevent diseases from forming in the body; for the susumna nadi to be taken to and maintained in the brahmarandhram; and for the always wavering gaze to stop moving and become focussed in one place. It is for this reason that the mudras are described here.
p45

Maha Mudra: With the left foot pressed tightly against the rectum, extend the right leg out in front. Make sure that the heel is touching the floor and the toes are pointing upwards. Hold the big toe of the right foot with the fingers of the right hand. Keep the chin firmly pressed against the chest and keep the gaze fixed on the midbrow. Similarly, following the instructions mentioned above, repeat the mudra with the right foot pressed firmly against the rectum and the left leg extended forward.
p45

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.
p47

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.
p49

Announcement
If one practises these twenty mudras according to one’s strength and capabil- ity, then diseases associated with svasam (respiration), kasam (coughing), spleen, meham (bladder) — such 84,000 diseases can be prevented. One develops extraor- dinary physical strength and will not fall victim to an untimely death. Moreover, the prana vayu will join the susumna nadi and one develops one-pointedness of the gaze and of the mind. Therefore, these mudras have to be achieved before practising pranayama.
p51

On Asana

1 Uttanasana
Following the rules for tadasana (yogasana samasthiti krama) (Figure 4.1, 4.2), stand erect. Afterwards, while exhaling the breath out slowly, bend the upper part of the body (that is, the part above the hip) little by little and place the palms down by the legs. The knees must not be even slightly bent. Raise the head upwards and fix the gaze on the tip of the nose.
p51

8 Pascimattanasana or Pascimottanasana (Figure 4.19 — 4.28)
This asana has many kramas. Of these the first form has 16 vinyasas. Just doing the asana sthiti by sitting in the same spot without doing these vinyasas will not yield the complete benefits mentioned in the yoga sastras. This rule applies to all asanas.
The first three vinyasas are exactly as for uttanasana. The 4th vinyasa is caturanga dandasana, the 5th vinyasa is urdhvamukhasvanasana, the 6th vinyasa is adhomukhasvanasana. Practise these following the earlier instructions. In the 6th vinyasa, doing puraka kumbhaka, jump and arrive at the 7th vinyasa. That is, from adhomukhasvanasana sthiti, jump forward and move both legs between the arms without allowing the legs to touch the floor. Extend the legs out forward and sit down. Practise sitting like this with the rear part of the body either between the two hands or 4 angulas in front of the hands. It is better to learn the abhyasa krama from a guru. In this sthiti, push the chest forward, do puraka kumbhaka and gaze steadily at the tip of the nose.
p69

17 Utthitahasta Padangushtasana (Figure 4.49, 4.50, 4.51)
First, push the chest forward and stand erect with equal balance. While standing this way, make sure that the head, neck, back, hips, arms and legs are aligned properly and gaze at the tip of the nose.
p99

18 Baddhapadmasana (Figure 4.52, 4.53, 4.54, 4.55)
Place the right foot on top of the left thigh and the left foot on top of the right thigh. Take the hands behind the back and tightly clasp the big toe of the right foot with the first three fingers of the right hand and tightly clasp the big toe of the left foot with the first three fingers of the left hand.
Press the chin firmly against the chest. Keep the gaze fixed on the midbrow. Sit down, keeping the rest of the body straight. This has the name baddhapad- masana. This asana must be repeated on the other side (that is, first place the left foot on top of the right thigh and then the right foot on top of the left thigh) in order to exercise both sides of the body.
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.
p103

26 Niralamba Sarvangasana (Figure 4.70)
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.
At this time the chin should be pressed against the chest. The gaze should be fixed on the midbrow.
p115

27 Ekapada Sirsasana (Figure 4.71, 4.72)
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 ra- tio breathing. When the hands are joined together in ekapada sirsasana paristhiti, one must do puraka kumbhaka. One must never do recaka.
While doing the 7th and the 12th vinyasas, the head must be raised and the gaze must be fixed at the midbrow.
p120

32 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.
129

Chakorasana…. 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.
p132

34 Skandasana (Figure 4.80, 4.81)
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.
p132

35 Durvasasana (Figure 4.82)
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.
All the other vinyasas are like skandasana.
p132

37 Trivikramasana (Figure 4.85)
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.
p136

38 Gandabherundasana (Figure 4.86, 4.87)
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.

p142

Krishnamacharya's one minute Uttihita Padangustasa

May 20, 2017, 3:49 am

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I'm currently exploring a longer Recaka kumbhaka (holding the breath out after the exhalation) in Krishnamacharya's one minute Uttihita Padangustasa, the description in Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934) is fascinating.

We have Krishnamacharya mention alignment,

"...While standing this way, make sure that the head, neck, back, hips, arms and legs are aligned properly..."


the gaze,


"...and gaze at the tip of the nose".

clear instruction for the breath,

"..Inhalation and exhalation of the breath must be slow and of equal duration". (for the first photo)

and kumbhaka (retaining the breath in or out) instruction, here the kumbhaka is after the exhalation in the second photograph.

"...Recaka kumbhaka must be done in this sthiti. That is, expel the breath completely from the body, maintain this position and then without allowing any breath into the body, bend the upper body. Now carefully pull in the stomach as much as one’s strength allows and hold it in. Stay in this sthiti for at least one minute..."

Krishnamacharya also mentions his interest in blood circulation,

"...Because of this asana, our body’s important areas — the arms, legs, knees, hips, bones of the back, the buttocks, stomach, neck — these will be cleaned. Not only this, it will facilitate proper clean blood circulation in the nerves."

an interesting reference to Nadi as nerve bundles,

"Those who practise this can, even on the first day, recognize the changes in the location and movements of the nadi (that is, what are the regions where our nerve bundles are not in the correct state or proper position)."

he even mentions props...

"Those who cannot do the asana properly on the first day may stand using the support of the wall, place the raised leg on top of a table and then follow the instructions described above. But if done this way, the benefits are much fewer. After practising this way following the krama for 5 or 6 days, learn to do this asana without any aids."

and includes a practice 'tip',

"...Initially, when you first practise this without any support, you might fall down. In that case, after slowly exhaling the breath out, firmly hold the breath. This will prevent a fall. "


Note too that while  Krishnamacharya takes the big toe in the first sthiti he holds either side of the foot in the second sthiti, (less strain on the hamstring and sciatic nerve than pulling back on the toe).

***

This posture can be challenging, slow breathing to the abdomen, firmed by the posture' can help as well as perhaps employing some of the other relaxation techniques Simon Borg-Olivier mentions in his new Introduction to breath control (pranayama) course (see THIS post) I.E. The Twelve Bridges Between the Conscious and the Unconscious Mind to Assist in Relaxation and Breath- control. Staying relaxed in the posture helpsin making the kumbhaka following the exhalation more comfortable.

Below, from Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda (available on my free downloads page).

Utthitahasta Padangushtasana

First, push the chest forward and stand erect with equal balance. While standing this way, make sure that the head, neck, back, hips, arms and legs are aligned properly and gaze at the tip of the nose. The feet must be kept together. Now, raise one leg up slowly and maintain this position with the extended leg kept straight out in front at the height of the navel. The knee should not bend and the leg must be kept straight for the entire time that it is being raised. 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. That is, expel the breath completely from the body, maintain this position and then without allowing any breath into the body, bend the upper body. Now carefully pull in the stomach as much as one’s strength allows and hold it in. Stay in this sthiti for at least one minute. At this time, the knee must be kept straight without bending. Remember this when you practise. In the beginning, it might not be possible to do this properly. But if one keeps practising following the given rules for 10 to 15 days, it will become possible to do it properly.

Because of this asana, our body’s important areas — the arms, legs, knees, hips, bones of the back, the buttocks, stomach, neck — these will be cleaned. Not only this, it will facilitate proper clean blood circulation in the nerves.

Those who practise this can, even on the first day, recognize the changes in the location and movements of the nadi (that is, what are the regions where our nerve bundles are not in the correct state or proper position).

Those who cannot do the asana properly on the first day may stand using the support of the wall, place the raised leg on top of a table and then follow the instructions described above. But if done this way, the benefits are much fewer. After practising this way following the krama for 5 or 6 days, learn to do this asana without any aids. Initially, when you first practise this without any support, you might fall down. In that case, after slowly exhaling the breath out, firmly hold the breath. This will prevent a fall. 

Photo essay: Ashtanga? Vinyasa Krama? Krishnamacrya's early Mysore blah blah blah? or Practice, just practice

May 26, 2017, 1:09 am

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I was asked if I'm still practicing Ashtanga.

I have no idea anymore what I practice, is it Ashtanga, early Krishnamacharya, late Krishnamacharya.... or just practice.

*

I tend to start my practice with a little tadasana hand and arm movements as taught by Ramaswami followed by some of Simon Borg-Oliver's nerve stretching movements.

Sun salutations, A and B and a little extra time spent in each stage, five slow breaths.

Standing is pretty standard up to Ardha badha Padmottanasana, then on to seated and the photos below.

Dandasana, some time spent here exploring natural breathing and relaxation techniques

Long stay in Paschimattanasana, Krishnamacharya's yoga Makaranda instruction.

Tirang Mukha pada paschimattanasana and krouchasana

Maha Mudra followed by Janu Sirsasana

Parsva janu Sirsasana

Currently enjoying exploring Simon Borg-Olivier's Baharadvajrasana variation, long stays with long slow inhalations and exhalations

As well as a wider, more stable seat in regular Bharadvajrasana, again to explore longer slower inhalations and exhalations.

I'd cut out Marichiyasana variations when I trimmed my practice to allow for long stays. When I put on some weight after moving back to japan I noticed that I had lost marichiyasana D altogether, curious to see that having lost the gained weight Marichi D was still there waiting for me, I'm enjoying it again.

Likewise leg behind head postures, thought I had lost them altogether but they too seem to be available again although not as deep as they once were, I've started to include them again to explore breathing options.

Supta kurmasana was another posture I lost/let go and has only come back after getting back to my regular practice weight. These days I follow Manju's suggestion and have the feet above the head rather than behind the neck.

After some prep and a five minute sarvangasana without variations I like to explore some of the variations krishnamacharya shared with us on the 1938 film footage that Ramaswami also teaches.

Following a five minute sirsasana with slow inhalation emphasis, some more of krishnamacharya's 1938 film footage variations.

Long stay in baddha konasana and variations, exploring Simon Borg-olivier's different breathing emphasis exercises

Nadi Shodhana with mantra

Photo essay: Ashtanga? Vinyasa Krama? Krishnamacharya's early Mysore blah blah blah? or Practice, just practice

May 26, 2017, 1:18 am

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I was asked if I'm still practicing Ashtanga.

I have no idea anymore what I practice, is it Ashtanga, early Krishnamacharya, late Krishnamacharya.... or just practice.

*

I tend to start my practice with a little tadasana hand and arm movements as taught by Ramaswami followed by some of Simon Borg-Oliver's nerve stretching movements.

Sun salutations, A and B and a little extra time spent in each stage, five slow breaths.

Standing is pretty standard up to Ardha badha Padmottanasana (although I occasionally cut different variations on different days to allow for more time in for longer stays elsewhere), then on to seated and the photos below.

Note: Between sides and asana variations I tend to just stretch my legs out in dandasana for a few breaths  and save full vinyasa between asana

Dandasana, some time spent here exploring natural breathing and relaxation techniques

Long stay in Paschimattanasana, Krishnamacharya's yoga Makaranda instruction.

Tirang Mukha pada paschimattanasana and krouchasana

Maha Mudra followed by Janu Sirsasana

Parsva janu Sirsasana

Currently enjoying exploring Simon Borg-Olivier's Baharadvajrasana variation, long stays with long slow inhalations and exhalations

See this post on Krishnamacharya's instruction for a long stay of up to 48 breaths

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2014/10/krishnamacharyas-bharadvajrasana-named.html

BHARADVAJASANA 

from Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda Part II

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.

As well as a wider, more stable seat in regular Bharadvajrasana, again to explore longer slower inhalations and exhalations.

I'd cut out Marichiyasana variations when I trimmed my practice to allow for long stays. When I put on some weight after moving back to japan I noticed that I had lost marichiyasana D altogether, curious to see that having lost the gained weight Marichi D was still there waiting for me, I'm enjoying it again.

Likewise leg behind head postures, thought I had lost them altogether but they too seem to be available again although not as deep as they once were (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GElM4OrUgnI&spfreload=10). I've started to include them again of late to explore breathing options.

Supta kurmasana was another posture I lost/let go and has only come back after getting back to my regular practice weight. These days I follow Manju's suggestion and have the feet above the head rather than behind the neck.

After some prep and a five minute sarvangasana without variations I like to explore some of the variations krishnamacharya shared with us on the 1938 film footage that Ramaswami also teaches.

Following a five minute sirsasana with slow inhalation emphasis, some more of krishnamacharya's 1938 film footage variations.

Long stay in baddha konasana and variations, exploring Simon Borg-Olivier's different breathing emphasis exercises

Nadi Shodhana with mantra

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Why do we always seem to look to the most extreme version of an asana?

May 28, 2017, 6:44 pm

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Why do we always seem to look to the most extreme version of an asana, an ever more complicated, more intricate version? 

I've asked this question before here

Convince me Krishnamacharya are there any serious benefits to Leg behind head postures (Advanced asana)

I like Simon Borg-Olivier's preparation/'beginners' version of Bharadvajrasana from his new 84 key asana course (See THIS post concerning the course). 

This 'preparatory' version ( bottom left) has a wider, more stable base than the regular half lotus version (bottom centre), or the tighter, knees almost together, Krishnamacharya Yoga Makaranda version (bottom left). The 'beginner' version is more comfortable, more stable, should one wish to explore lengthening and retaining the breath in or out as Pattabhi Jois' teacher Krishnamacharya instructed.

"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". see Appendix below

Are we compromising the possibilities of the breath merely for aesthetics?

Pattabhi Jois either wasn't taught or rejected the breathing possibilities his teacher Krishnamacharya presented in his Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934), written at the time the young Pattabhi Jois was his student. With lengthening the breath abandoned, retentions ignored it doesn't perhaps matter which version of an asana one practices, we may as well practice durvasana....

as kapilasana and/or buddhasana....

 or any of the other leg behind head variations as good olde eka pada sirsasana

But then why bother with the leg behind head postures at all, why not stick with Janu Sirsasana 

and rather than seek ever more challenging versions of the same asana, perhaps explore a variation of the asana that works on the body in a completely different way, basically a different asana altogether as Krishnamacharya taught to Ramaswami.

parsva janu sirsasana

....or better still perhaps just stick with Maha Mudra and explore the full possibilities of the breath. 

The main elements of janu sirsasana and the more advanced leg behind head variations are perhaps all there there, isn't it sufficient?

See my proficient primary post perhaps, practicing asana as mudra

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/p/proficient-primary-project.html

Are we chasing ever more advanced asana and series when we could perhaps instead, simplify our asana and explore the breath. 

But then why not explore pranayama in siddhasana and be done with it, forget about exploring the possibilities of the breath in asana altogether.

or on a chair..... or even just standing up

Krishnamacharya - Nadi Shodhana

Perhaps that was Pattabhi Jois' argument if he had one, keep asana and pranayama separate, for beginners at least. We know Pattabhi Jois he talked of a so called rishi series, with long stays and that, according to Manju, his father practiced long stays with slow breathing himself.

*

Is there really any more benefit in the most extreme version of a posture than in its simplest, less sexy, expression? 

Admittedly the tighter Bharadvajrasana is a joy to practice, it's quite intense, 

but to explore the breath give me this, simpler, more stable version

 ....especially as Krishnamacharya talks about staying in the posture for up to 48 long slow breaths. 

"The total rounds of deep breaths may be slowly increased as practice advances, from 12 to 48". 

see Appendix below

*

Is there a point where a posture is at it's most beneficial, a too easy version having no benefit at all, a more challenging version having no more benefit than the more standard version. 

Krishnamacharya wrote that we don't need to learn all of the asana, although a few teachers should, so as to preserve them. He did talk however about exploring a wide range of asana and their variations to enable us to access all areas of our body as he continued to do into his eighties ( see this post, Krishnamacharya practicing at 84).

Do we practice so called 'advanced' asana merely for the sake of it, for the challenge, for Instagram, for promotion, is it all ego and aesthetics. 

There are many reasons why we practice as we do at different times of course, for fun, for the challenge, just as we might try and swim butterfly or dive from a higher board or climb ever more challenging climbing walls but also perhaps because it seems to have become the norm. Just as models get skinnier on the cover of magazines, asana get more intricate on our Instagram and fb feeds. Those who should perhaps know better, promoting themselves and their workshops through ever more fancy asana, shot in beautiful locations ( and employing circus trainers for heaven's sake to outdo each other). 

Eka pada sirsasana in Santorini

The more flexible of us try those asana ourselves and share our experiments with our friends or at least those we can do, those fancy arm balances from third while our kapotasana from intermediate might be uninstagramable, a bit of fun and why not but what is the knock on effect. 

Others of course practice these asana, these series because it is thought to be the tradition forgetting conveniently that Pattabhi Jois himself stressed that advanced series asana were for demonstration only (demonstrations to promote yoga rather than our own businesses).

Such an industry has built up around how to practice those asana we perhaps have no need to practice as well as around the most basic asana. All we should perhaps be concerned with is whether we are practicing a posture safely and not concern ourselves too much about imperfect alignment or how deeply we can enter a posture or that if only we could practice this asana to the industry standard we could get the next. Alternatively we could close our eyes and ears, turn inward and just practice the asana, inhabit the asana, and let it take care of itself.

I'm just as guilty myself of course, sharing those fancy leg behind head variations here on the blog, arguing that we could practice advanced asana at home without buying into trips to Mysore or a shala membership, that such asana could be practiced in middle age, not just in our twenties. 

I have this idea of somebody out there (who won't of course be reading this), or another me perhaps (parallel universe theory) who picked up an Ashtanga Primary series book from the library ten years ago and never googled Ashtanga yoga or got on board social media but just learned the series or enough of it and merely practiced alone for these last ten years. Wouldn't the discipline have come just the same, wouldn't the breath have slowed, the pause between the stages of inhalation and exhalation been noted and lengthened, such breathing explored away from the series as well as just sitting. Yoga is our birth right, we find it everywhere in one form of another, not the asana perhaps (although often) but the quietening, the simplifying of our lives, the turn inwards and contemplation of self or what is beyond or behind the self.

The joy of home practice of course is that there is no one else around (except perhaps that with social media there is always someone around), nobody to tell you what you can or can't or should or shouldn't practice, nobody to lead you to feel you ought, by now, to be practicing more advanced asana or going ever deeper into a posture or that we need to practice a whole series rather than half.. or even less. At home we can practice a handful of asana and stay in them for as long as we wish, explore the breath as we wish, or practice as many as we like, as quickly as we like. Once we have built discipline we can trust to our own discernment as to what we experience as most beneficial to us that morning. 

Manju Jois stresses that yoga is freedom and that nobody should be telling us what we should and shouldn't be practicing, certainly on account of questionable ideas of tradition and lineage. The guru, they say, is within.

That said, practice safely, those are the workshops and intensives we should make an effort to attend.

*

Bharadvajrasana variations from my photo essay post http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2017/05/photo-essay-ashtanga-vinyasa-krama.html 

Appendix

See this post on Krishnamacharya's instruction for a long stay of up to 48 breaths

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2014/10/krishnamacharyas-bharadvajrasana-named.html

BHARADVAJASANA 

from Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda Part II

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.

June 2017 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami--Posts on Bhagavad Gita, Yoga and one pointedness (Ekagra), Paschimatanasana, Good Karma

June 1, 2017, 2:36 am

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June 2017 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami--Posts

The Bhagavatgita is a Yoga Shastra or a Yogic text. Sri Krishnamacharya gave considerable importance to teaching the Gita as much as he gave to the Yoga Sutras. In the course of my long study with him he taught the Gita complete in considerable depth. I am teaching the Gita verse by verse at Loyola Marymount University for ten days for 50 hrs. During the same period I will be teaching a 20 hr Vinyasakrama Asana program at LMU. For the links to these programs please visit the Events page of my website. As I had mentioned earlier I am unlikely to repeat these programs in the West.

www.vinyasakrama.com/Events

Posts

Here are some of my facebook posts in recent days. Hope you like them.

On 'OM'

 When I keep my mouth wide open, keep my tongue straight and utter a sound, the throaty or guttural sound, it will be 'a' as in 'up'. Continuing the sound when I start closing my mouth seamlessly the sound become 'u' as in 'woman.

Then as I continue with making the sound and close my mouth with the lips touching each other it becomes 'm' as in 'hum'. When I do this three sounds in one go quickly, in three matras, then it is the sound of the “om” syllable, the pranava mantra. Vowels 'a' and 'u' combine and become a diphthong “o' like in 'over'. 

Om is chanted by completely opening the mouth and closing the mouth fully and making an uninterrupted sound, starting from the throat and ending with the lips.

The sanskrit alphabets start with the vowel 'a' and end with the consonant 'm' the first and last letter in 'om' and of course leaving aside the semi vowels like 'ya' and sibilants like 'sa'. All the letters can be grouped into guttural, lingual, palatal, dental and of lips or labial. These vowels and consonants combine to form syllables. The syllables are arranged into words which form all the mantras in the scriptures like the vedas. So the syllable “om” contains symbolically all the letters of Sanskrit, thus the words and so the mantras and the vedas. Vedas are supposed to have the aim of revealing the ultimate reality Brahman. So the vedas are sometimes referred to as sabda brahman of brahman of sound (words/mantras). We may say that 'OM' represents the Brahman. And further according to the Vedas the Brahman contains the entire universe.

So we have the sacred or the 'mystic' mantra 'om' or pranava representing Brahman the ultimate and only reality which the upanishad seekers, the rishis, attained by chanting and understanding the import of the pranava mantra.

Here is a quote from Taittiriya Upanishad

ओमिति ब्रह्म

ओमितीदं सर्वम्

omiti brahma

omitīdaṁ sarvam

Om is Brahman. Om is all these (the universe)

Viveka

Separating the never changing consciousness (Self) from the ever changing mind-body- life force (prana) complex is a great gift from the yoga sastras (texts) like the Bhagavat Gita, Yoga Sutra

Yogangas and the gunas

Heavy tamas depresses the mind

Unhinged Rajas disturbs the mind

Uplifting Satva delights the mind

Yogasanas, pranayama and dhyana

All working in tandem

Help satva come to the fore

Yoga and onepointedness (Ekagra)

A meditating yogi has to keep the mind in a state of ekagrata ( one pointed) . It would require that the yogi reduces distractions considerably. The distractions of the external world are attempted to be eliminated by deliberate observance of the yamaniyamas. The distractions of the body are reduced by judicious selection and practice of asanas with vinyasas. Then the distractions of one's own mind are dealt with by eliminating the mind cobwebs by Pranayaama. Then one is ready for meditation.

Paschimatanasana

Paschimatanasana is a very important posture with hatayogis. Sri Krishnamacharya would commend including this asana during daily practice, staying for a long time 5 to 10 mts with long ujjayi exhalation followed by bahya kumbhaka (breath holding after exhalation) for a sweet 5 secs or so while holding the bandhas. What is the meaning of pachimatanasana? paschima means later, hind, posterior or west. tana is to stretch. So paschimatana is translated as western stretch in the west translating paschima as west. But paschima is also posterior or back, so paschimatanasana would be posterior stretch pose. It could be seen that this posture facilitates the stretching of the heels, achilles tendon, calf muscles,thighs hamstrings, gluteal muscles back--- a complete posterior stretch. This and purvatanasana are practised in tandem. purva is front, anterior or east. Purvatanasana is usually done as a pratikriya or counterpose to long paschimatanasana, may be three to six movements. Paschimatanasana is a complete posterior stretch pose with a good pelvic tilt. It is an important pose in Krishnmacharya's Vinyasakrama yoga practice.

(For the complete vinyasakrama trteatment of this asana please refer to chapter 3 of my book, 'Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga'

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1569244022/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_1/103-1755689-4479843?_encoding=UTF8

Good Karma

The sweet fragrance of a tree full of flowers in full bloom reaches far and wide. Likewise the pleasant aroma  of lofty karmas travel far and wide in the universe. 

A lovely mantra from Maha narayana upanishad

Sweet Truth

Many times we are reluctant to pursue truth as it could be bitter. But the truth about the nature of the self in every one of us, according to Vedanta is sweet, immensely sweet.

Sun mantra

May Surya (sun), the powerful anger that enslaves everyone (mamanyu) and the gods that have sway over anger protect me from committing sins arising out of anger---- A dawn prayer to Sun as part of the morning ritual Sandhyavandana. 

This is a vedic mantra.

सूर्यश्च मामन्युश्च मन्युपतयश्च मन्युकृतेभ्यो पापेभ्यो रक्षन्ताम्।

sūryaśca māmanyuśca manyupatayaśca manyukṛtebhyo pāpebhyo rakṣantām|

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

What is Ashtanga (to/for you) ?

June 1, 2017, 6:47 pm

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Bharadvajrasana - Ashtanga Intermediate series. Practiced here however, with the head to the frount, a stay of twenty-four long slow breaths including kumbhaka and slipped into Primary series in place of Marichiyasana D, Ashtanga?

It's always a bit of a shock to find I am  more traditional than I thought when it comes to Ashtanga vinyasa, not in all ways but in several.

Note: In this post I'm using 'Ashtanga' to refer to the Ashtanga Vinyasa popularised by Pattabhi Jois and others. 'Ashtanga vinyasa' doesn't have the same cadence.

Recently I was asked to be involved in an Ashtanga project but declined as I wasn't sure that what I was currently practicing was actually 'Ashtanga'.

Personal Ashtanga dogma # 1. 

Those who teach Ashtanga should be practicing Ashtanga

Personal Ashtanga dogma # 2. 

2. To teach ashtanga you should have passed through the process of mostly learning your yoga through Ashtanga, gone through that struggle over a significant number of years to build and maintain a daily discipline in this challenging practice.


I gave a friend who had come to Ashtanga relatively recently a bit of a hard time for daring to teach Ashtanga for these very reasons.

*

Number 1. is interesting I think because it begs the question 'What is Ashtanga' and is the main point of this post.

I dropped the 'What is Ashtanga?' question a while back as no longer being that interesting, preferring instead a 'HOW do we practice Ashtanga?'

I've argued in the past that Vinyasa Krama is Ashtanga receiving a lot of criticism for a time until Sharath began to refer to Ashtanga Vinyasa as a Vinyasa Krama.

I've argued that we can cut and adapt the sequences and that this is grounded in Pattabhi Jois' own book Yoga Mala.

The suggestion being that if the movements follow the breath, if the asana begin and end, even by implication, at samastithi and are linked to each other via these related organising movements, the vinyasa, then it's Ashtanga.

What is or isn't Ashtanga FOR ME is the practice of linking asana on the breath. Not the tristana, not visiting Mysore, not devotion, not hatha, not ideas of lineage or tradition but purely..... the practice.

Why then is it, that some mornings, there is the feeling that I didn't practice Ashtanga, that it was more Vinyasa Krama or perhaps something else altogether.

*

We have an idea I think of what is or isn't Ashtanga FOR US.

I can adapt my practice but at some point it no longer FEELS like Ashtanga.

Mess with the sequence too much, introduce too many variations, too many long stays, slow the breath too far and it no longer FEELS Ashtanga TO ME.

Practice later in the morning, practice in a room that is just a little too cool, sweat less, find it too easy, too comfortable and it no longer FEELS Ashtanga TO ME.

I have this idea of what Ashtanga is from how I learned to practice it,, how I practiced it for the longest time. I know it's nonsense because I've dismissed the dogma of others, but what I feel, what I truly believe this practice is, exists it seems in the marrow of my bones or at least in some synaptic pattern in my brain.

If I'm no longer practicing to that model then the feeling is strong that I have no business teaching something called Ashtanga, I would be teaching my own, personal 'post-Ashtanga'.

*

It's nonsensical but I think perhaps it explains how passionate others are about what is or isn't Ashtanga TO THEM.

I see the coverage of Sharath's tour on social media currently (so hard to avoid) and am both bemused and indifferent, such a tour has no relevance too me.

Practicing with a teacher has no relevance to me.

Practicing with others has no relevance to me

For that matter Pattabhi Jois has little relevance to me.

What IS relevant, all that is relevant,  is my practice, that daily stepping on the mat, each breath I take, each connected movement I make.

*

But of course if you began or developed your practice in a shala, if the idea of Mysore, of devotion was instilled in you early on in your practice, then those aspects are perhaps what constitute the practice FOR YOU, it's truth.

Have the tristana stressed and THAT is the practice.

Have the idea of progression in Ashtanga (yoga) being characterised by receiving the next asana then THAT too is Ashtanga for you (where this idea comes from and is perpetuated and why is another post altogether), stop progressing and you may feel you are no longer practicing Ashtanga, no longer part of the game. Decide to settle on Primary series and you cease to believe you are practicing Ashtanga.

How often do we hear the 'I am not progressing' refrain in relation to Ashtanga.

Not progressing in Yoga?

If we finally see that our yoga is not about the asana, not even about the breath but about being present and leading to inner inquiry, whatever form our practice may take then I would argue that we are very much progressing.

*

Perhaps, when we feel strongly that we didn't practice Ashtanga that morning we might come to the conclusion too that we might just have been practicing yoga.

Ashtanga, our ideas of what Ashtanga is or isn't (and Sharath for instance has his own personal view of what that is or isn't (devotion perhaps for Sharath) just as Manju does (freedom), just as Pattabhi Jois perhaps did and that was no doubt other than his teacher Krishnamacharya's) can perhaps get in the way of our practice, in the way of our Yoga.

Likewise teachers, fellow practitioners, self-promoters, who seek to influence/dictate what Ashtanga is or isn't to us, can get in the way of our practice.

After a time we know what the practice is I suspect, what practice is FOR US, we know at some point when we are forcing ourselves into another's idea of what constitutes the practice FOR THEM rather than allowing our practice to be what it is or will be, given the chance, for us, we begin to discern, on a good day, if our practice has integrity, if it is authentic.

Integrity and discernment smiles the guru at us from within.

*

Do I practice Ashtanga?

At times it feels a little more like I remember it, at other times less so,.... mostly these days it just feels like practice.

I'm prepared to share my practice but teach 'Ashtanga' probably not. 

You'd like to practice Ashtanga? My recommendation is still to pick up David Swenson's Ashtanga manual and Mark Darby's Ashtanga DVD, just as I did but go to Youtube and look for how to practice each asana safely videos and then just practice and listen to your practice, daily, for years.

Or go to a modest Shala

or good studio

or however is most appropriate for your present circumstance

and just practice as regularly as possible.

Best wishes for your practice this morning as I hope you have best wishes for mine as well as his or her's on the other side of the shala.

Padmasana variations, a question: "..right leg always first in padmasana as in Ashtanga? and Vinyasa krama lotus sequence videos and book pages.

June 2, 2017, 6:00 pm

≫ Next: Notes from Krishnamacharya in AG Mohan's new edition of Hatha Yoga Pradipka

≪ Previous: What is Ashtanga (to/for you) ?

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Note: I recommend reading this post from Simon Borg-Olivier before trying any of these asana and variations.

https://yogasynergy.com/blog/yoga-therapy-for-knee-problems/

Being able to comfortably practice a standing half lotus posture like Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana should be considered a prerequisite for approaching full lotus postures.

Question: What are your views on right leg always first in padmasana according to Ashtanga tradition?

Anthony Grim Hall: I'm with Krishnamacharya on this and personally think we should practice both right and left on top, strikes me as tradition getting in the way of common sense (but see the note at the end of the post).

"This asana ( baddha Padmasana) must be repeated on the other side (that is, first place the left foot on top of the right thigh and then the right foot on top of the left thigh) in order to exercise both sides of the body. 

Krishnamacharya- Yoga Makaranda  (Mysore 1934).

Actually found trying to bind in baddha padmasana with the other leg on top (the left) quite a struggle at first, mainly because my shoulders didn't seem use to the bind on the other side which probably shows why we should indeed practice both sides.

Excellent padamasana instruction and cautions in video's 19a and 19b on Simon Borg-Olivier's new course '84 key asana for strength and flexibility' (http://simonborgolivier.com/84-key-postures/) for those struggling with padmasana as well as tips for improved binding in 15b and 19a

see my review post of the course here which includes an ashtanga concordance 

(http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/…/what-is-it-about-mudra-als…)

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/…/what-is-ashtanga-tofor-you…

Note: Thank you to Steve for this reminder of Pattabhi Jois' argument "Guruji pointed out that the liver and spleen are purified during the bending forward action in Baddha Padmasana. This is quite possibly why daily practice of the right side first set up is recommended at that point of the series..."

I remember the Jois liver/spleen argument. Ramaswami, channelling Krishnamacharya, used to talk about how with postures like this we are able to 'massage' the internal organs, showing how yoga practice was able to access all areas of the body. Benefits Krishnamacharya mentioned in Yoga Makaranda part I are "Benefit: It will cure all diseases of the lower abdomen. Pregnant women should not do this asana.". and in Part II "Benefits: This benefits all parts of the body, reduces the waistline, strengthens the lungs and the blood vessels."

Below, some Padmasana/Lotus variations.

Practicing with both the left and the right leg on top

APPENDIX

Vinyasa Krama Lotus sequence

Day's 87 to  93 from my Vinyasa yoga practice book on the Vinyasa krama lotus sequence

My Vinyasa Krama  book pdf

Free Download

Print version available from Lulu 
https://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?keyWords=anthony+grim+hall&type=

My book above is a companion to Srivatsa Ramaswami's 

Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga which gives instruction for every breath in every vinyasa.

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Vinyasa-Yoga-Presentation-Based/dp/1569244022

Caution: Although presented as a sequence in the two videos below, what is actually shown is a series of subroutines. Part or all of one or more of these subroutines might be included as part of ones regular practice rather than practicing the full sequence which might be quite stressful for the knees.

also available on Kindle via Amazon

Day 87 : LOTUS : Ardha badha-padmasana (half lotus) from Vinyasa Krama Lotus sequence

VIDEO LINK

This is almost the same subroutine as Day 26, Adha padmasana, found in the Asymmetric sequence.

This subroutine along with the half lotus subroutines found in the other sequences can be considered as preparation for full lotus

from On One Leg Sequence Day 17 Vrikmasana
from Asymmetric Sequence Day 26 Ardha padmasana
from Asymmetric Sequence Day 32 Ardha padma marichiyasana
from Supine Sequence Day 60 Dwipadapitam

from Supine Sequence Day 68 Supta ardha badha halasana

The hip opening Mahamudra subroutine from Asymmetric Day 27 is also good preparation for the half lotus as well as the Badha konasana Subroutine leading up to padmasana  from Day 42

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Half lotus

See Day 17 Vrikmasana for some notes on standing half lotus.

To get into half lotus : Bend the knee bringing it towards the chest, allow the knee to drop out to the side, key here is the natural rotation in the hip joint. Bring the foot close to the opposite thigh, hold your foot in one hand and the knee in the other and GENTLY encourage the roration of the ball and socket hip joint, bring the knee forward parallel with the floor towards the opposite knee and the foot further up the thigh and ideally, eventually, towards the groin.

CAUTION

You don't want to force this action, if you feel strain on your knee it may be better to practice tomorrows subroutine built around mama mudra with the foot against the thigh rather than on top instead. Practicing the maha mudra subroutine will bring half, and eventually, full lotus closer.

As we have found in all forward bending asana, stretch out of the hips as we practiced in the standing On your feet sequences, the same goes for the twisting postures.

CAUTION.

In picture 4 (the raised hip), Vasishtasana or Kashyapasana we must be careful of the knee. Work from the top down, pushing down into the mat and lifting your shoulders then lifting the hip which will allow the leg to straighten, lower in reverse, DON'T push off the mat from the foot, knee or hip first as this will put too much strain on the knee which is vulnerable here.

Day 88 : LOTUS : Padmasana (lotus) from Vinyasa Krama Lotus sequence

VIDEO LINK

Padmasana (lotus) can be a challenging posture and there are many places to work towards it in Vinyasa Krama.

In Asymmetric Sequence: Padmasana doesn't appear as such but there are several hip opening postures, janusirsasana leading to mahamudra in particular, that prepare you for ardha baddha padmasana (half lotus).

In Lotus sequence : The lotus sequence picks up where Asymmetric leaves off with more vinyasas in half lotus before moving on to full lotus.

In Seated sequence : Padmasana (lotus) follows the deep hip opening subroutines of upavishta konasana and badha konasana.

In Supine sequence : More half lotus variations, this time in dwipadapitam (table pose). In shoulder stand we have the half lotus vinyasas of Day 68 but also the extreme hip openers of the previous (Day 69 ) Urdhva Konasana subroutine.

In Inverted Sequnece : As with Supine and Seated the lotus vinyasas in headstand follow, konasana and badha konasana subroutine.

In all of the above sequences we can see that padmasana (lotus) follows hip opening postures, this is because padmasana (lotus) involves a rotation of the hip joint rather than a twisting of the knees.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Getting in to full Lotus

NB: THE most important thing to remember is to protect your knees, that it's the hip joints that do all the work, the knees only bend one way it's the rotation of the ball and socket hip joint that makes padmasana possible

Right leg

Bend the right knee and bring it up towards the chest. Reach with the right hand down inside the thigh and take hold of the right ankle.

Allow the right knee to drop out to the side through the rotation of the hip joint. Focus on that hip action, of the ball and socket joint, the femur head rotating in the hip socket, encourage it.

There's a tensing of the right buttock a lifting almost and a stretching of the thigh as you encourage the rotation in the hip joint that will bring the knee down towards the mat and the ankle to come up. This action should only happen at the hips joint your NOT pulling up the ankle and your NOT forcing the knee down.

If this isn't happening it might be best to work on more hip opening postures, mahamudra in Asymmetric, badha konasana in Seated.

Lift up through the torso, support the right foot with the left and right palms and guide NOT pull the foot to the left thigh.

Lift up again and bend forward slightly, roll onto the front of the sit bones and guide the right foot a little further up the left thigh into the groin.

Again lift and roll further onto the sit bones allowing the right knee to rest on the mat.

Left leg

Bend the left knee and again focusing on the hip joint allowing the left knee to drop out to the side.

Rock your body forward and draw the right knee out to the side through the thigh muscles. Lock the knee by pressing the calf muscles against the thigh.

Reach over the left foot and support the left ankle with the left palm, cupping under the foot with the right palm, encourage the hip joint to rotate further and allow the knee to drop further out and down. Again, your not pulling on the foot but rather supporting it to allow the hip joint to do it's work.

Lift up through the torso, rock further forward on the sit bones and stretch out through the left thigh to allow the foot to come up over the right leg. 

Using the strength of the thighs bring the knees a little towards each other this will bring the right foot finally up onto the right thigh closer to the groin.

Shuffle around on your sit bones if necessary, encouraging more rotation of the hip joints to tighten the lotus, this is preferable to wrenching, tugging, pulling the feet.

Ultimately, for many of the lotus vinyasas you will require a nice tight lotus where the heels are digging slightly into the belly, the soles of the feet pointing up and the knees closer together. In fact, the heels can be considered to be massaging the inner organs in some of the vinyasas by pressing deep into the belly

To release

Sit up straight lifting up through the torso, focus on the left hip joint and encourage it to rotate by engaging the thigh muscles which will press the left knee into the mat this will allow you to very gently encourage the left foot off of the right thigh.

As you allow the knees to draw apart the lotus will unfold, again allow the right hip joint to do it's work bringing the right knee down into the mat and allowing the right foot to glide off the left thigh.

Padmasana subroutine

Ramaswami recommends coming into half lotus, taking a breath or two, continuing into full lotus, staying for a three breaths and then releasing the lotus before repeating six times.

You may wish to enter and exit your lotus for each of the vinyasa in this subroutine. Over time you may feel comfortable staying for a couple of the vinyasas and eventually the whole subroutine even sequence.

Lotus postures are excellent for working on the bandhas, the perineum is grounded allowing for greater focus on mula bandha, the lotus a stable base for deep uddiyana and jalandhara bandhas ( see practice guidelines Day 1 for more on bandhas).

Bhadrasana The hand position can be low on the thigh fingers tucked under the feet (pic 5) or closer to the knee (pic 6). If the knee be careful not to press the knees down, especially if the lotus position is still new to you.

Laghu yoga mudra (pic 8) is a deep forward bend, draw the buttocks back, come onto the front of the sit bones, engage mula and uddiyana bandha, sucking in the belly in to create more space for the body to fold forwards over your lotus. The same goes for the side vinyasas of yoga mudra (pic 11 & 12), be careful not to allow the opposite knee from the side your folding in to to raise, encourage it to stay down by grounding the sit bones.

Utpluthi (Pic 9) is all about hand placement. place the hands too far forward and the weight of the hip bones will keep your grounded, too far back and the weight of the knees will stop you from achieving lift. So place the hands just forward of mid thigh as close to your thighs as possible.

Bring your shoulders over your hands, bring your shoulders down, engage the shoulder girdle and after exhaling hold the breath out and push down into the mat through your hands and lift

Mula bandha should be engaged but engage it more strongly, tuck the tailbone under, the lower half of your body should feel tight and compact, draw your pelvis up into your torso and hold.

Keep the bandhas engaged and the tailbone tucked while your breath.

In this version of utpluthi you bend the body over the lotus, in a later version in the lotus sequence the body is more erect.

Day 89 : LOTUS : Badha Padmasana (bound lotus) from Vinyasa Krama Lotus sequence

VIDEO LINK

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

There are some easier versions of baddha padmasana (pic 3)

1. Reach around the back with the left hand and place the back of the hand on the waist, just above the hip bone. Reach around with the right arm and place the back of the hand against the waist just above the left hip.

2. When the above feels comfortable, turn the left hand (the one resting above the right hip) over, use the little finger to draw your hand onto the hip bone.

3. When that too feels comfortable, try to do the same with the other hand, turning it over and using the little finger to leaver the hand down onto the hip bone.

This may be your bind for a little while, play with it, stretching  up, arching back a little, twisting a little to the left a little to the right, explore how to get a better grip on the hip bone.

Try to lever the right elbow a little further over the left by using your right hand as a fulcrum.

4. When you feel ready to move on reach far around with the left hand and take hold of the big toe now use the hip bind above for the other hand, reaching around with the other hand but just pressing the back of the hand against the waist above the hip. Switch hands to become comfortable with both sides.

5. It's possible to use a belt, strap or scarf thrown over the feet  to work your hands down to your toes or perhaps the second hand.

6. Another approach is to reach around with the left hand and take hold of the left toe then instead over throwing the right arm around the back and over the left arm, try threading your right arm between your left elbow and back. Use the left arm to work your right over your back and down toward the left hip and finally right toe.

7. To get the full bind , make a tight lotus, you feet high up in your groin, heels pressing into your belly.

Lift up out of the pelvis and twist around to the left as far as possible, keep lifting and twisting. Use your hand to press into the hip and lever you arm a little further around to enable you to take hold of your toe.

Now twist to the right leading with the shoulder, bring the back of the hand to the waist and work it down over the hip lifting and twisting all the way until your able to hold your other toe.

Straighten up the shoulders, settle and engage bandhas and take long slow breaths.

Forward bending, to the front and sides.

here we need to engage mula and uddiyana bandha, sucking in the belly to create space, this is especially importat in the forward bends to the sides where we want to stretch out over the knee.

Before folding forwards, arch the back slightly, stretch up tall out of the pelvis, push back the buttocks and stretch out over your lotus and when to the slides, your knees.

Urdha mukha padmasana (pic 7) is a back stretch, a counter pose, tuck the tailbone under and push the chest out and up.

Baddha matsyasnana (pic 10 )is a more challenging version of seated baddha padmasana, try the above variations to work towards it, ultimately you will need to arch your back and twist fist to the left and then the right. 

You might find this version of the baddha padmasana bind easier as you have the floor to help you work your arm around, your also able to tilt the lotus towards.

Day 90 : LOTUS : Urdhva padmasana (lifted up lotus pose) Subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Lotus sequence

VIDEO LINK

HINTS\TIPS\SUGGESTIONS

To get up into Shoulder stand while in Lotus, bring you arms to your side, exhale fully and press your arms down into the mat, hold and roll the lotus up to your chest, aim your knees at a 45 degree angle up over your head and stretch/push your knees up into shoulder stand while shifting your hands to your hips and then your back either side of your spine with the fingers pointing up and the elbows not too far apart.

Alternatively, Start from regular shoulder stand, spread the legs apart, drop the left leg back a little, bring the right foot to the left thigh by rotating at the hip then bring the left foot to the right thigh again through the rotation of the hip.

Engage mula and uddiyana bandha at the end of the exhalation sucking in the belly to create more space to lower your lotus down to your chest.

Remember in Vinyasa Krama you can work towards this, lowering a little way on the first exhalation, take it back up on the inhalation, lower a little further on each exhalation.

When lowering your need to make sure your hips are high and over your shoulders or you will tend to roll back down to the mat.

Pindasana (pic 4) The fold needs to be deep, use the bad has, sucking your belly back and up into your ribcage to create space. your inhalations will be short but try to keep your exhalations long.

Ultimately your want to wrap your arms around your lotus and bind at the wrist, this requires a deep lotus with the feet high up in the groin and heels digging into the belly.

If your lotus is not as tight then bind at the fingers or just hold the thighs.

Twists

From udrdhava padmasana (lotus shoulderstand) Stretch up through the pelvis lengthening the body as much as possible, twist on the exhalation and lower/fold your  knee to the outside of your forehead.

Again, work a little lower on each exhalation

Remember to keep the hips high and over the shoulders to prevent rolling back.

Counterpose (pic 8) There are two hand positions, the one in the picture with the palms supporting the sacrum and the another where the thumbs point toward but remain outside of the spine, resting lower down on the back of the hips with the fingers coming around the hip bone. I tend to prefer the later.

This is a back stretch so tuck the tailbone under and to counter the weight of the legs by pushing the chest out and up, engage jalandhara bandha (chin lock) firmly. 

The posture is entered on the inhalation by bending from the waist and arching the back.

Stay in the position for three breaths, perhaps going a little deeper into the pose each time or go back and forth to akunchita urdhva padmasana (pic 3) and the counter pose on the breath if holding is too challenging.

Simhasana Subroutine VIDEO LINK. From Akunchita urdhave padmasana, stretch out the arms above your head, roll your lotus slowly down to the mat, keep the momentum to bring your arms up and over passing through regular lotus as you put your hands to the floor and come up on to your knees. Lower your body flat to the floor stretch your arms out in front of you, palms together as if in prayer.

Place the palms on the mat beside you close to your chest. Tuck the tailbone (this is a back stretch) anchor the knees, try to bring the hips as close to the mat as possible , arch the back stretching out through the waist. Stretch out through the full length of your body, pushing out your chest take the head back. The is a Bhujangasana variation and can be worked on in the Bow sequence subroutines.

Another Lion face variation

Lions face. Inhale stretching back the head and as you exhale make a long  Haaa sound while stretching your tongue out and down and widening the eyes. Focus your attention on the mid brow. 

You may like to repeat this three times, closing the mouth on the inhalation and taking the head back before repeating the lions face on the exhalation.

Day 91 : LOTUS : Kukkutasana & garbha pindasana subroutine Subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Lotus sequence

VIDEO LINK

Bharadwajrasana, raise the arms and twist then lower into the pose

Kukkutasana

Push the arms through the space between your thighs and calf muscles, you may need to spray some water on your arms if your legs are bare and the weather cooler (no sweat). If this is a problem see the notes below for garbha pindasana.

Exhale fully, hold, engage mula and uddiyana bandha and drop the shoulder blades down the back. Press down into the mat to lift but keep the shoulderbaldes lowered .

As you press down visualise moving slightly forward and up. If you just push down there is a tendency to keep falling backwards off your hands. look at picture 7 and notice how there is a slight lean forward, the shoulders over the hands.

Garbha pindasana

Creating space to get the arms through

Here, once in lotus, I lift my left leg a little away from the right holding just above the ankle. this creates a little more space to get the first arm through. For the second arm I press the top side of my left foot against my right thigh flexing the ankle a little to lever the leg up a little thus creating more of an opening to pass the arm through.

Video Tutorial here http://youtu.be/chQwvJN-K98

Try taking the arms through at an angle, the right arm runs parallel to the right calf, same for the left.

Video Tutorial here http://youtu.be/Ct35la57mBw

Utpluthi (Pic 4) is all about hand placement. place the hands too far forward and the weight of the hip bones will keep your grounded, too far back and the weight of the knees will stop you from achieving lift. So place the hands just forward of mid thigh as close to your thighs as possible.

Bring your shoulders over your hands, bring your shoulders down, engage the shoulder girdle and after exhaling hold the breath out and push down into the mat through your hands and lift

Mula bandha should be engaged but engage it more strongly, tuck the tailbone under, the lower half of your body should feel tight and compact, draw your pelvis up into your torso and hold.

Keep the bandhas engaged and the tailbone tucked while your breath.

In the earlier version of utpluthi you bend the body over the lotus, in a this version the body is more erect.

Day 92 : LOTUS : Special lotus balancing postures subroutine Subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Lotus sequence

VIDEO LINK

Practicing these arm balances and inversions together in one subroutine can be challenging, consider working on them separately at first perhaps including one arm balance a practice or every few days. Utpluthis, the raised lotus from Day 91 is another arm balance as is Kukkutasana, also from Day 91, both will build strength as will the lead in's to most of the subroutines and the sun salutation with mantra.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

This version of urdhava kukkutasana is a sliding up the arms or rather the arms are there as a guide, we don't want to rely on them too much.

Place the hands close to the knees, rock up onto the knees, shoulders over the fingers. Drop the shoulder blades down the back, engage mula and uddiyana bandha.

Exhale completely hold and pressing the hands down into the mat hoist the lotus up towards the armpits lifting up from your perineum, mula bandha.

The shoulders remember are over the fingers as you come up your shoulders may need to come even further forward to create a counterweight to your hips.

In the beginning hold for a breath and then lower on the inhalation, as you become stronger and improve your balance you may stay for longer, three to six breaths.

Padma mayurasana

Place the hands on the mat as close to the body as possible, almost tucked under your lotus.

bend your elbows slightly and allow your shoulders to drop to allow your elbows to dig into your belly.

Come up onto your knees and then stretch forward while at the same time raising your knees off the ground. 

Padma Mayurasana is in effect a back stretch, tuck in the tailbone and attempt to arch the back slightly to bring the lotus up higher.

The elbows need to be together and really dig into the belly.

In the beginning hold for a breath and then lower on the exhalation, as you become stronger and improve your balance you mary stay for longer, three to six breaths.

Lotus to Sirsasana VIDEO LINK

The final vinyasa called for a tight lotus and you may wish to work towards this as a separate subroutine (see Lotus subroutines -to come).

From seated padmasana, lift up onto your knees, bend forward and place your hands on the mat with the fingers interlocked ready for headstand. Place the back of your head in the cup formed by your hands and bring your knees forward so they are touching your elbows.

To lift back up from here, exhale fully, engage the badhas and pressing firmly into the mat with your elbows draw your knees back up the back of your arms to your armpits.

Take a breath and on the next exhalation, straighten the back to bring the knees to the chest and then straighten the waist to bring your lotus the last of the way up.

Follow the directions above for the 3rd version (pic 11) to lower and raise your lotus to and from the mat. 

DAY 93 Lotus Subroutine Breakdown

VIDEO LINK

Padmasana, the lotus posture is, of course, the classic meditation posture. Although there are other notable meditation postures, siddhasana, gomukhasana, virasana and vajrasana, padmasana holds a special place because of it's stability. There is a beauty to it's construction, it feels symmetrical, the legs bound secure allowing for the arm balances, for example, in the final subroutine of the series. It is an excellent posture for engaging the bandhas, mula bandha feels particularly grounded and the stability of the pose lends itself to exploring uddiyana and jalandhara bandhas.

As well as for meditation practice, padmasana is an excellent posture for pranayama, again, on account of it's stability.

Some however may ind the posture boring or tedious, the subroutines allow us to explore multiple vinyasas while in padmasana, creating interest that may encourage us to spend longer in the posture which will in time allow the posture to become more comfortable.

The first subroutine day 88, the half lotus, is a good preparation for developing the lotus posture as are many of the hip opening postures and vinyasas from the asymmetric and seated sequences.

In this course of subroutines I've placed the sequences in order in which I tend to practice them, starting with standing postures moving on through seated or backbend postures up to inverted. I tend to finish my practice with one or more lotus subroutines, staying in the posture for my pranayama and meditation practice.

However, while working towards padmasana the half lotus or siddhasana for example would serve just as well.

I've tried to stress that padmasana is about the hips rather than the knees so here, again are my practice notes for entering padmasana from Day 88

Getting in to full Lotus

NB: THE most important thing to remember is to protect your knees, that it's the hip joints that do all the work, the knees only bend one way it's the rotation of the ball and socket hip joint that makes padmasana possible

Right leg

Bend the right knee and bring it up towards the chest. Reach with the right hand down inside the thigh and take hold of the right ankle.

Allow the right knee to drop out to the side through the rotation of the hip joint. Focus on that hip action, of the ball and socket joint, the femur head rotating in the hip socket, encourage it.

There's a tensing of the right buttock a lifting almost and a stretching of the thigh as you encourage the rotation in the hip joint that will bring the knee down towards the mat and the ankle to come up. This action should only happen at the hips joint your NOT pulling up the ankle and your NOT forcing the knee down.

If this isn't happening it might be best to work on more hip opening postures, mahamudra in Asymmetric, badha konasana in Seated.

Lift up through the torso, support the right foot with the left and right palms and guide NOT pull the foot to the left thigh.

Lift up again and bend forward slightly, roll onto the front of the sit bones and guide the right foot a little further up the left thigh into the groin.

Again lift and roll further onto the sit bones allowing the right knee to rest on the mat.

Left leg

Bend the left knee and again focusing on the hip joint allowing the left knee to drop out to the side.

Rock your body forward and draw the right knee out to the side through the thigh muscles. Lock the knee by pressing the calf muscles against the thigh.

Reach over the left foot and support the left ankle with the left palm, cupping under the foot with the right palm, encourage the hip joint to rotate further and allow the knee to drop further out and down. Again, your not pulling on the foot but rather supporting it to allow the hip joint to do it's work.

Lift up through the torso, rock further forward on the sit bones and stretch out through the left thigh to allow the foot to come up over the right leg. 

Using the strength of the thighs bring the knees a little towards each other this will bring the right foot finally up onto the right thigh closer to the groin.

Shuffle around on your sit bones if necessary, encouraging more rotation of the hip joints to tighten the lotus, this is preferable to wrenching, tugging, pulling the feet.

Ultimately, for many of the lotus vinyasas you will require a nice tight lotus where the heels are digging slightly into the belly, the soles of the feet pointing up and the knees closer together. In fact, the heels can be considered to be massaging the inner organs in some of the vinyasas by pressing deep into the belly

To release

Sit up straight lifting up through the torso, focus on the left hip joint and encourage it to rotate by engaging the thigh muscles which will press the left knee into the mat this will allow you to very gently encourage the left foot off of the right thigh.

As you allow the knees to draw apart the lotus will unfold, again allow the right hip joint to do it's work bringing the right knee down into the mat and allowing the right foot to glide off the left thigh.

Notes from Krishnamacharya in AG Mohan's new edition of Hatha Yoga Pradipka

June 4, 2017, 8:10 pm

≫ Next: Book Review: Yoga for the three stages of Life. My 'all time favourite' book on yoga.

≪ Previous: Padmasana variations, a question: "..right leg always first in padmasana as in Ashtanga? and Vinyasa krama lotus sequence videos and book pages.

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Link to Amazon

Friends have been getting in touch this week to ask me if I've seen or yet have a copy of AG Mohan and Dr. Ganeseha Mohan's new edition of the Hatha Yoga Pradipka with notes from Krishnamacharya.

I don't, not yet.

I had a look on Amazon but there was no Look Inside preview feature, I mentioned this on the Svastha fb page ( LINK) and one appeared this morning, perhaps I was not the only one to ask.

So I've been having a look at the generous preview on amazon this morning and it appears to be quite marvellous, I just ordered my copy.

To be perfectly honest, I haven't been that interested in the Hatha Yoga Pradipka for some time, the texts in Mallinson and Singleton's Root's of Yoga strike me as being of more interest and besides, I generally lean more towards Raja than Hatha and have become quite dismissive of the later. 

Was hatha a wrong turn ( the turn towards tantra), a distraction?

More recently still, I've turned my gaze back to the West and the contemplative traditions that form(ed) my own horizon/worldview. Why try to appropriate another tradition when I have one of my own, learn about others surely, it's always of value, but if we seek to inquire on a deep level, look perhaps to our own ground (of being). It struck me some time ago, while listening to Ramswami lecture on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, his weaving in of songs and chants, commentaries and illustrative stories from his grandmother, that I could never know the text on a similar level however much I studied it, the text wasn't organic for me, unlike say, the Greeks ( I originally went to Uni to study Classics, switching to single honours Philosophy after a Greek philosophy lecture but I of course also grew up with the Greek myths and legends as much as stories from the bible or Jesus of Nazareth and Ben Hur every Easter and Christmas rather than say the Ramayama and Mahabharata ). I remember too Kristina Karitinou reminding us of our own culture in my interview with her a while back Entelechy : An Interview with Certified Ashtanga Teacher Kristina Karitinou

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

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

I may hold on to my asana and pranayama practice out of fondness and habit (although I could I suppose just as well run or swim perhaps) but I'm leaning more towards Lectio Divina as a contemplative approach of late rather than the chanting of vedic mantras, to Plotinus rather than Patanjali, Marcus's meditations rather than the Yama/Niyama's and to my old friend Heidegger rather than Shankara.

Note: Lectio Divina, the contemplative approach of the early church. Read, recite or listen to an appropriate a text (traditionally the psalms and/or gospels but it could just as well be the Enneads. There should be no sense that one needs to complete a reading, when a word or phrase strikes you, sit with it, allow it live within you for a time..... for ten minutes, an hour, a month, years.

That said, Krishnamacharya still fascinates, and inspires my practice and here he is in the pages of AG Mohan and his son's wonderful new book, I look forward to revisiting the text.

Below, a selection of pages from the Amazon preview.

Link to Amazon

Amazon intro

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, authored in the 15th century is one of the most well-known texts on physical yoga. This translation offers unique perspectives and insight from Sri T. Krishnamacharya, who had perhaps the most influence in physical yoga in the modern era. Drawing upon extensive notes of private studies with Krishnamacharya, his long time student, A. G. Mohan, presents critical analysis unavailable in any other translation to date. This translation includes summaries, notes on which practices may be more or less useful or even harmful, and comparisons to the Gheranda Samhita. This book is a worthwhile read and companion to any serious yoga aspirant, especially those interested in knowing what one of the most influential yogis of the modern times had to say on the esoteric practices of hatha yoga: on pranayama, mudras, and bandhas.

About the Author

A. G. Mohan was a student of “the father of modern yoga,” Yogacarya Sri T. Krishnamacharya (1888-1989), for eighteen years. He is the author of several books on yoga, including Yoga for Body, Breath, and Mind; Yoga Therapy; and Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings. Co-founder of Svastha Yoga & Ayurveda and YogaKnowledge.net, he is respected internationally as a teacher of rare authenticity and knowledge.

Paperback: 164 pages

Publisher: Svastha Yoga (May 8, 2017)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 9811131333

ISBN-13: 978-9811131332

Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.4 x 9 inches

Link to Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Hatha-Yoga-Pradipika-Translation-Krishnamacharya/dp/9811131333/?tag=geo02a9-20

AG Mohan's website

 https://www.svastha.net/

Looking Inside

Krishnamacharya's practice guidelines from the introduction

Also from the introductory notes....

Layout, a nice summary of the chapter

Presented in sanskrit, it's transliteration and translation into English, notes by Mohan and in many cases Krishnamacharya.

A nice section from Chapter III

from chapter III

Not all the verses have a note from Krishnamacharya, at times the notes are short but also in some case quite long, this section from Chapter II gives a good indication perhaps.

see too 

Yoga Yajnavalkya: Trans: AG Mohan  

( My preference over Hatha Yoga Pradipka)

Amazon Link