Just heard my place on Manju's TT course in Crete is confirmed, thank god for that, had already booked the flight and hotel.

M. asked me why Crete ( she noticed that I'd mentioned there was a much cheaper option of the (now only slightly) shorter course with Manju at Stillpoint yoga in London, oops.

Well how about this...

 it's Crete, spiritual home of British (and perhaps European ) Ashtanga.

And if we have a 'spiritual home' of British Ashtanga then we need a patron saint, well that would have to be Derek Ireland, although I suspect we'd hear Derek's big basso laugh that the obituary below refers to at being called a saint.

I had planned on packing a few fresh pairs of Nike pro shorts for the trip but I see from the video that other attire is, it seems,  de rigueur for Ashtanga in Crete and am now off to tanga.com to pick up a suitcase full, did you say turquoise Maya?

Remember I was reviewing Petri Räisänen's book the other week, seems Petri's first certified teacher was Derek Ireland

"In his yogic path Petri has studied with many respected Astanga Yoga teachers such as Derek Ireland (his first certified teacher)".

Does it make sense I wonder  to talk about different Schools of Ashtanga ? The California or US School of Ashtanga, the Hawaii school, The British School,  Russian school....are there slight differences in character I wonder that reflect the different influences of the senior teachers who pass on the practice. Interesting thought....( or not).

Anyway, here's a post from 2011 on Derek Ireland.

In the video, look out for the most stunning Utthita hasta padangushtasana you'll probably ever see (2:12).

Derek Ireland

NOW OPEN!!!

My (our) friend Susan will be teaching here TONIGHT and Thursday, 18:45!

Go to Information tab for FREE introductory class voucher!! 

http://www.lightcentremoorgate.co.uk/

from the website...

Light Centre Moorgate Now Open

Totally unrelated to post but just saw this on fb  Dancer, Painting on limestone in the Museo Egizio of Turin, Italy, c. 1292 - 1186 BC, Ancient Egypt

A nice comment from Rani on the video of Derek Ireland I posted a couple of days ago (added the video to the bottom of this post) which made me wonder who took the video. According to the comments on the Youtube video it was somebody called Tony. A google search led me to this tribute to Derek Ireland in Fusion magazine. It's hosted at Yogamatters and I hope they don't mind me sharing it.

http://www.yogamatters.com/cmscontent/documents/Files/Derek%20Ireland.pdf

If you have trouble reading the print head over there, it's a little clearer.

In the article there's a piece by somebody called Anthony Parker with a couple of shots from the movie so it seems this is probably the Tony referred to in the Youtube description.

Some nice pieces on the early days of Yoga in Crete and a particularly nice tribute by John Scott that begins

"Every yoga student remembers their first yoga teacher with love...."

Also on the way to the article via Google  I came across this page on Ashtanga.com that I had forgotten all about. A real treasure trove of articles.

http://www.ashtanga.com/html/articles.html

Here's a list of the articles they have (their page is the one to bookmark rather than mine, they've spent years compiling it. I'm replicating the list here because I know how we often intend to follow links but  don't always get around to it, this should tempt you there's is some incredible stuff there).

---

and here's the Derek Ireland movie again that refer to at the top of this post

If you caught the fb updates yesterday you might want to jump straight to the 'So what was it like' section. The Notes at the end are just a little background on Full vinyasa, Longs slow inhalations and exhalations and taking ten breaths an asana, some quotes, nice video of Pattabhi Jois etc.

eco towels still pretty dry after almost four hours of full vinyasa

drenched after 90 minutes regular primary

Answer: Yes correct. Take one asana, finish it. After full vinyasa you do, standing position you come. Again next. Your strength how is you use (depending on your strength you should do half or full vinyasa). Without strength chat (sixth vinyasa) stop (If you are not strong stop at the sixth vinyasa eg do half vinyasa). Increasing your strength, you full vinyasa you take. Now there is no time (too many students).

That is why I am telling. One asana, for example paschimottanasana (has) 16 vinyasas, Purvottanasana - 15, Ardha baddha padma paschimottanasana, tiriang mukeka pada paschimottanasana, janu sirsasana A, B, C, marichyasana A, B, all 22 vinyasas. Full vinyasa .

You doing full vinyasa all - that is the best. Secondary you with sixth vinyasa all the asanas is coming. That you changing, this time (when) your strength is more, you changing that time. Sixth, seventh (vinyasa) paschimottanasana you do. After 8 – 9 then jump again. “sat” (six) position you go. I every day I teaching now. Same method you do. Both is no problem

Method is good no problem. Work is there. He is going work. (for a working man half vinyasa method is good) Your yoga practice, you take one hour. One hour or two hours your expanding your time. That time all the asanas taken one day full vinyasa you do at least five hours also you want you can understand (if you take full vinyasa, you need 5 hours to complete practice). One primary asanas doing, 5 hours also you want. That is why. You (are a) working (man). You not spending all the time on the yoga practice.

You can understand. Full time you take, full vinyasa you doing. Only for (completing) primary asanas takes 5 hours. 5 hours primary postures (with) full vinyasa. 50 asanas is there completely primary postures. That 50 asanas you doing taken 5 hours, with full vinyasa. You working. Another place is working. Yes you take money, you eating food, all you want. That only for your spending (free) time only for yoga, very rare (little time), very difficult also yourself. That is why you short cut you take. That is one or two hours. Two hours spent your yoga practice. That is good. That is also is good. Yes OK. That I tell you.

Sri K Pattabhi Jois Public Talks on Ashtanga Yoga - France 1991

In Yoga Makaranda Krishnamacharya presents each asana in it's full vinyasa form, starting and ending each asana from  standing samasthithi.

Pattabhi Jois does the same in his book Yoga Mala.

Full vinyasa seems then to have been the original form of the practice (whatever that means).

And his from Manju Jois in an interview.

16.30 - you start with breathing , 10 second inhale, 10 second exhale, 
16.40 - ten seconds....or fifteen seconds
16.50 - breath length the same, 10 sec inhale, 10 sec exhale OR 15 second inhale 15 second exhale, that is called vinyasa

Much more on his website about this one

CHANDRA KRAMA: THE MOON SEQUENCE[DVD]



I have to admit, despite having had Matthew's Vinyasa Krama book for, what,  five years, I don't think I've ever tried any of the alternative five sequences he presents. As fixed sequences, Ashtanga Primary, Intermediate, Advanced A and B always seemed plenty. I bought Matthew's Vinyasa Book back then for all the Ashtanga info at the beginning and especially the jump back and back bending progressions.

Perhaps because I never got on with the size (A3) of the first edition, I'd be tempted to practice along with the DVD or go to one of his Moon Sequence workshops just to see what it's like, how it feels, some I hear swear by it.

I wonder if the video has instruction, if it's led with a voice over calling the postures etc., tricky to practice with otherwise, oh and can you turn the ruddy music off, can't be dealing with noise while I practice.

UPDATE
Some more details on the moon sequence DVD in comments to this post

Shira Fisher19 May 2013 16:02
"I'll have to check my Moon Sequence video to see if you can turn of the music (just checked it and couldn't turn off the music). There is instruction through the asana practice and I have to say the music and Matthew's voice don't turn me off in fact they are incredibly relaxing and don't take away from the practice at all like some of my videos that I have had to disregard because of the intolerable voice and music. The music is much more subtle than the video you posted above less instrumentation and chanting influenced. I also like that the video opens and closes with the ashtanga salutations. My practice is strictly Ashtanga Primary and the moon sequence. I am opening up more with all the hip opening of the moon sequence, back bends etc it really is complimentary to the Ashtanga practice in my bodies view of things. I recommend the moon sequence as it really feels like a natural fit to my Ashtanga practice".

Thanks for filling in the gaps, I'm tempted to try it.

Heard from somebody else that the music is "very much not in the background" and that "you can't turn it off" and that while they like the Moon sequence the music puts them off using the DVD.

Ashtangi's, we don't tend to like music when we practice.....or would you disagree?

I should mention Matthew's first book while I'm at it.

Ashtanga Yoga As It Is
3rd Edition


This is An Ashtanga blogger's essential text, mine is falling apart,


Writing a post and need to check the spelling of a posture, Matthew's your man, quick and easy to find. It also has another section with all the vinyasas, the count etc. I've been taking this back and forth to the shala and the Mac for years, I need two copies. One propped up in the shala, perfect size to double check the sequence if your revisiting 2nd or Advanced after a period of time or learning them at home (perish the thought) and another copy beside the mac. Essential text.

And lastly seeing as this as turned from a quick share of the two videos into a Matthew Sweeney post, mention again of Matthew's recent Article on Love Yoga Anatomy

The Evolution of Ashtanga Yoga 50 comments

and the follow up

Ashtanga Yoga 70 years or 2000? 19 comments ( inc. a couple from me)

and my own post on this

Did Krishnamacharya teach Ashtanga Primary Series? Matthew Sweeney and the Origin of Ashtanga, Yoga Korunta and Vinyasa?

and one more, a guest post by Marie HALLAGER Andersen

Guest post - Ashtanga Yoga: practice with discipline but practice smart, a response to Matthew Sweeney's recent article

And Tomorrow...

Tomorrow is my Day off,

Research day!

Last week was this post

Research: Full Vinyasa Primary, 10 long slow full inhalations and exhalations in every asana. How Long?

Last week was just too much at 3 hours 40 minutes. Trying to decide how to approach it tomorrow.

A full Vinyasa with the long slow inhalations and exhalations?

or

a regular primary but with 10 breaths in every posture?

Ariadne's thread ( last few seconds are a little gruesome)

Mediation in the context of Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga can be confusing. Sometime the idea is presented that the asana practice is itself meditative, that no other meditation practice is necessary or that it will take years of asana practice before we're ready for Pranayama let alone Meditation, that we need to be able to sit in an asana for three hours at a time....

Recently however, Sharath has mentioned Japa mantra practice in conference. This is a little confusing also, at times there seem to be the suggestion that Japa is just a relaxing practice that you might do for ten minutes before bed, or that it's part of the morning Puja practiced throughout India by yogi's and non yogi's alike.

But also that it can lead to deep concentration.

There can be confusion surrounding our use of the term meditation, is it the seventh limb, Dhyana,  or do the last three limbs together, Samyama, make up the meditative practices of yoga.

I was taught Japa by Ramaswami as a meditation practice. Ramaswami  presents it as the first stage of Samyama (the sixth limb, Dharana), often described as concentration practice or meditation-on-an-object.

There are alternatives to using a mantra, you might want to focus your attention on effulgence, an icon, there are several  options.

We might employ a mantra like Om Namah Shivaya, I used that for a couple of years. This last year I've tended to us the Jesus prayer, mainly because it comes from my own tradition and seems to have more resonance. Another option might be loving kindness, May all be safe, well, healthy and peaceful (or a variant), the actual mantra or prayer does not perhaps matter too much except that ideally it should be up-lifting. It should also be added that the idea here is not to meditate as in reflect on the meaning of the prayer but rather to use the mental chanting of it as something to attach the mind, somewhere to bring the mind back to, Ariadne's thread

Spoiler: As I mentioned above, last few seconds of this are pretty gruesome


Japa should not be dismissed as something trivial, object meditation is where the hard work of meditation practice begins. The idea is to sit in an appropriate comfortable posture, decide how long you intend to practice, ten, fifteen, thirty perhaps forty minutes say and then mentally repeat a short mantra over and over. The mantra gives the mind something to cling on to, when the mind wanders you bring it back ( Like a puppy according to Jack Kornfield ) to the mantra or the internal drishti point in which you've placed it. At the end of the practice you reflect for a few moments on how the practice went.

"When, in due course, the mind is able to stay with the object to the complete exclusion of all other thoughts, it becomes dhyana, the second stage of meditation"  
Ramaswami

Over time the distractions become less and you manage to stay with the mantra longer.

The difference between this and the supposed meditative aspect of our asana practice is that nothing else is going on. Where not changing posture every few minutes or breath cycles in pranayama, there's just you and the mantra.

Ramaswami stresses that the asana practice gets rid of the rajas, our agitation, pranayama reduces tamas, lethargy, leaving us in a more satvic state to practice japa, to develop our focus and concentration upon a single object.

Japa is is the simplest and yet most challenging of practices.

Here's Ramaswami on meditation followed by the Samyama sutras from Patanjali and Aranya's commentary. At the end there are some quotes from conference reports relating where Sharath has mentioned the practice of Japa.


On Meditation

By Srivatsa Ramaswami

Only an orderly mind can successfully meditate. Sattwa (purity) is the quality of the mind that produces order and enables it to be one-pointed, a prerequisite for meditation, or dhyana. How can one make the mind and even the body sattwic? Yoga offers asanas and pranayama as the means of reducing the non-meditative, distracting, and dull qualities of the mind. These qualities range from rajasic, meaning passionate or over-active, to tamasic, meaning slothful or inert. Hence in classical yoga, one reduces the influence of rajas and tamas by practicing a well-rounded regimen of asanas and pranayama, or yogic breathing exercises. A yogic posture such as the lotus or hero is chosen and a definite number of pranayamas (usually ten) are performed.

This practice is followed by some meditation or repetition of mantra, such as the gayatri or other mantra. According to Patanjali, one who has practiced these aspects of yoga has a mind which is fit for dharana, or concentration, the first step toward meditation.

The objects of meditation are many: different centers (chakras) in the body, mantras, prayers, or external objects such as an icon of one's favorite deity. But then the method of meditation is to keep on coaxing the mind to be continually present with the object of contemplation. Initially there will be considerable effort on the part of the practitioner to keep the mind focused. Slowly, as the habit of focusing the mind gains ground, the mind stays with the object more intently and for longer periods of time.

When, in due course, the mind is able to stay with the object to the complete exclusion of all other thoughts, it becomes dhyana, the second stage of meditation. In this stage the span of concentration increases and the frequency of distraction decreases. This kind of progress in meditation can be monitored by the practitioners themselves. This qualitative improvement finally culminates in the mind being completely focused on the object for the entire duration of meditation when it is known as samadhi.

Thus, in meditative exercise the mind (which previously was habitually distracted or dull, due to the preponderance of rajas and tamas), becomes sattwic as the result of preliminary practices of asana and pranayama. The steady practice of dharana transforms the mind into one that is habitually one-pointed, the acme of which is samadhi, or complete absorption.

Once a practitioner is able to achieve samadhi on one object, he or she can contemplate on any other object (a higher tatwa, or principle). However, in classical yoga, the emphasis is not so much the object of contemplation, but the development of and the capacity for the habit of meditation.


Chapter 3 of the Yoga Sutras:
from http://www.swamij.com/yoga-sutras-list.htm
Experiences (Vibhuti Pada)

Dharana, Dhyana, & Samadhi, #6, 7, and 8 of 8 rungs (Yoga Sutras 3.1-3.3)

3.1 Concentration (dharana) is the process of holding or fixing the attention of mind onto one object or place, and is the sixth of the eight rungs.

3.2 The repeated continuation, or uninterrupted stream of that one point of focus is called absorption in meditation (dhyana), and is the seventh of the eight steps.

3.3 When only the essence of that object, place, or point shines forth in the mind, as if devoid even of its own form, that state of deep absorption is called deep concentration or samadhi, which is the eighth rung.

Samyama is the finer tool (Yoga Sutras 3.4-3.6)

3.4 The three processes of dharana, dhyana, and samadhi, when taken together on the same object, place or point is called samyama.

3.5 Through the mastery of that three-part process of samyama, the light of knowledge, transcendental insight, or higher consciousness (prajna) dawns, illumines, flashes, or is visible.

3.6 That three-part process of samyama is gradually applied to the finer planes, states, or stages of practice.

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

Some expansion on this from Aranya'a commentary


Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali:  by Swami Hariharananda Aranya, 





And finally notes from Sharath's conference talks where he mentions Japa.

30/12/2012
For example my grandfather was told by his students that he is now world famous. What did he do? Saying "Is that so? Okay." he just continued doing his japa, something he had done several decades every day. He didn't change at all.
http://yoganotlari.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/sharats-conference-30122012-english.html

16th dec 2012
Japa (mantra / prayer recitation) is good to practice in the evening.
"Twenty minutes of the Maha Mantra (Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare; Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare), or any prayer that is meaningful to you will help to calm your mind, and you will sleep very well."

For example: if you are Catholic, you can recite the Holy Rosary (Hail Mary Full of Grace...) or if Protestant, The Lord's Prayer.
Anything that you connect with on a personal level, that can calm your mind, and lift your spirit is good to recite.
The Japa should be meaningful to you, and your thoughts should be focused on good things while chanting, then the effects will be very beneficial.

"Japa can also help to develop Bhavana (Spiritual Development) within you, and this will lead to Ishvara Pranidhana" (Surrender to a Greater Power).
http://livingbreathingyoga.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/sunday-conference-with-sharath-in-mysore.html

Japa, the repetition of a holy name, is recommended for stability.  Japa can easily be done for 15 to 30 minutes before bed.  Any holy name with do, from any religion.  On a personal note, I imagine a repeated serenity prayer would have the same effect.
http://sadhanainthecity.com/tag/sharath/

28 October 2012

If we can’t do āsanas then sitting; breathing, or sitting; doing Japa (mantra repetition) is good. First we should take a bath then we can sit & do Japa for half an hour; this very helpful. But this shouldn’t mistakenly be called Meditation. Meditation means Dhyāna. “Just closing your eyes and thinking about your girlfriend (more laughter) is only good for photo.” Meditation (Dhyāna) means withdrawing the senses, experiencing a sense of oneness where everything seems to come into “one place.” The practice of Japa was recommended fairly fervently by Sharath.

Of the three aspect of yoga practice - Tapas, Svādhyāya; Īśvarapraṇidhāna - Svādhyāya is our homework [this is a reference from Yoga Sūtra 2.01]. Literally it means self-study, but that doesn’t mean that we learn on our own from books; videos without a teacher. We have to try to understand the teachings [of our teacher], what is yoga, what is the supreme. We have to try to get to that knowledge, to surrender to God. The Guru removes our blindness (Timirāndha), gives the ability to see (Unmīlita) Brahma, Viṣṇu; Maheśvara (this comment by Sharath is a reference from two verses of the Guru Stotra: the one at the beginning of this article and another not mentioned).

When we surrender to Guru & tradition, then Jñāna will come. There is a story from the Rāmāyana that demonstrates the power of devotion:

There is a fight between Rāma and Hanumān. Although Hanumān is supremely devoted to Rāma as Lord Viṣṇu, God on earth (Sharath doesn’t explain how the fight was staged, just that it was meant to demonstrate the power of true devotion). Rāma takes aim with his bow & arrow at Hanumān, but Hanumān is doing Japa to Lord Rāma. His devotion is so intense that he becomes Rāma! So Rāma is shooting an arrow at himself. So Hanumān becomes untouchable, or protected by God because of the identification with Rāma. This is real Īśvarapraṇidhāna. If you do lots of Japa, you get more concentration, more devotion. Yoga leads us to remove our delusions so we can see properly. One-by-one our delusions, our impurities leave us.

Japa done after bathing - so we are maintaining both our inner; outer purity - in either the early morning or at night before going to bed is very go
http://pohjoisenlootus.vuodatus.net/lue/2013/01/notes-from-a-talk-given-by-shri-r-sharath-jois

02/03/3013
Don’t leave your practice, your practice will help you not to get distracted, judge that is correct what is no correct. Now you are still babying the practice, when you go deeper in the practice everything becomes secondary. Before I was married, I was married to yoga. That means its not being selfish, to make yourself stabilize s that you can be good to everything, for yourself, to others, that is why we do the practice of yoga, to stabilize the mind. Everyone does puja in the morning, bath, connect with your god, there is a superpower, a supreme soul which is controlling us, we call is different names, god, you get connected with that, you do japa, connected to the supreme soul, which makes you stabilize, that stability will come within you, that you should develop, s once you s that, chanting mantra, is so powerful, that makes you focused in one place, even japa is like that, when you do japa you won’t get distracted, sorrowness, happiness, you can do japa to any god that you are comfortable with, 15-20 minutes every day, every night, day by day, month by month there will be changes within you.
http://www.kinoyoga.com/february-3-2013-conference-with-sharath-in-mysore/

Giving the Blogsy app another chance while my Mac is still down.

A moment of inspiration.

I was watching Kino's straight leg jump through post this week and she makes a big thing about drawing the femurs deep into the hip sockets to help you lift up from dandasana. Makes a big difference too when you actually jump through, basically your legs have just become a couple of inches shorter and you have a lot more control of them too.

So then I wondered, wouldn't that make all the difference in that float/pike to handstand that I kept coming back to over the years and only ever kind of nailed.

Well yes it does, makes all the difference, makes it easy in fact. Or at least I found it to be the case but then perhaps we all have different missing pieces, this was mine but yours might be getting your shoulders over your hands or bringing your backside back to counter the weight of the legs as we do in floating up in headstand.

Bound to make a difference too when you think about it, drawing those great big nobbly ends of the femurs into the already heavy pelvis, it's all physics, levers and fulcrums. Plus of course you get to use mula bhandha to lock everything in place, good bandha focus right there.

Wonder if it would make a difference to tic tacs, haven't played with them for a year or so either. Just tried to draw in the femurs while in Urdhava danurasana......perhaps not.

Oh, I should add that I sink the femurs into the hip sockets on trini (as you look up before folding in and then lifting up).

The irony is that I currently have little to no interest at all in floating up to Handstand. Oh we'll, interesting all the same and like I said, does make a lot of difference for the straight leg jump through, which I do like as its simple, elegant and takes almost no energy.

Here's the video, this was the third one I did so still rough and ready but you get the idea and if you do a search on the blog you can find posts on how I was struggling with it before. Also I wouldn't say I'm particularly strong at the moment either, just been doing Primary for the last few weeks, haven't practiced Advanced series with all it's arm balances for a year or so.

Can't tell you what a pain this was to post with just the ipad. Took the movie on my phone, emailed it to ipad,  to edit, then emailed again to my iPod where I had a B&W app ( original was just too pink) then upload to YouTube so I could drag it into the Blogsy app to post, phew.

New HD is on the way for the mac, big 2TB one for only £60, going to try and replace it myself.




 And here's Kino's video where she talks about drawing in the femurs.

This ruddy throat infection is a pain. I've practiced while sick with a bunch of things over the last few years, colds, flu, kidney stones, stomach flu, sprains, osteoarthritis but a throat infection is the worst. My ujjayi is right out the window and thus my rhythm. I was trying to make the ujjayi as light as possible but then decided I didn't need to engage it at all as the dodgy throat was giving me natural ujjayi anyway. All the time your wondering if your making it worse and if inversions especially are a bad idea, encouraging the infection to spread further up the throat into the mouth perhaps, enough already.

So I settle on a shorter practice, standing, some key asana and move on to pranayama (without ujjayi) and meditation.....

Yesterday I posted on the (one of the ) secret(s) to floating up to Handstand, the same secret as behind the straight leg jump through and even utthita eka padmasana perhaps.

And I was thinking yesterday, great I can float up to handstand......but why would I want to?
Here's the link to the post
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/?m=0

Did a few more this morning to cheer me up and have to say it is fun, kind of magical the way you float up like that, even when lacking polish and finesse, and as i said yesterday, develops good bandha control so why not.

And I also saw this, perhaps THE best jump through and jump back ever.....unless you know of something even cooler ( post a link in comments perhaps) anyway it's my current favourite.

It doesn't matter of course how you transition back and forth to the next posture, you can make it nice and smooth without ever leaving the ground and besides the jump through you end up with may not be the one you'd hoped for. I'd like to have that nice elegant flick through straight leg jump through that laruga and Owl have but I seem to be stuck with the more dynamic shoot through version. Still it's something to plug away at over the years, enjoy the process and try not to get too hung up on it or anything else for that matter.... except perhaps the breath.

Here are two interviews one recent one with Sharath the other with his Grandfather, Pattabhi Jois, thought it would be nice to post them together. The first, the one with Sharath is a translation I think from the Russian, perhaps conducted at Ashtanga Moscow.

http://www.ashtanga.su/
And an English translation of the site

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ashtanga.su%2F


The second interview I found on a blog ( part of a longer 2004 interview for Namarupa magazine) while trying to find the interview where Pattabhi Jois mentions Primary for life, 2nd series for teachers, Advanced for demo ( I know Michael Gannon mentions Pattabhi jois saying this several times in his video).
Sharath interview (2011)
1. What can you say about russian students? (of course smth good -_-)

They’re dedicated students. Ashtanga yoga is new, but they’re dedicated, you can see that, very focused in their practice and they listen exactly what to do.
- You said that “Very good. All beginners.”
It’s first for me to come to Russia, so these many new faces. In that basis I just that said. But most of them know the practice, they’re very focused in their practice. They know what they’re doing

2. May be they differ from other foreign students? Finnish, american students...

Students’re all same. As I told you in the conference that yoga has been practicing for many years in the other parts of the world. So people there are little more advanced, that is because they’ve been practiced it for many years. Even in Russia after time passes people will also be very advanced, they’ll go higher levels in their practice.

3. Which qualities of character do people need to develop and which things to pay more attention to?

Yoga should be practiced as a spiritual practice. It’s not just like an exercise. If you do like that it has certain limitations. If you do it like spiritual practice, there’s no limit for that. You can go higher dimensions and higher levels in this practice. So it’s always good to practice thinking it’s a spiritual practice and we should bring spirituality in our practice. That is very important. Instead of just doing it like exercise, aerobics, gymnastics. If you bring more spirituality in your practice, then I think it’s more effective. This whole practice will be more effective. So students have to bring that.

4. I remembered one Guruji’s expression: “Primary series – very important, second series – for teachers, advanced – for demonstration”. May be you can comment smth?

I don’t know where he said that, what meaning he said this. Usually we say that Primary series is like Chikitsa Vibhaga, like I told, to cure deseases. So these asanas are made just to cure deseases. Many deseases can be cured with these asanas like broncheatis, astma, any physical body with suffering. And second series is like Nadi Shodhana, it purifies all the nervous system. Even in Primary series nadi shodhana will happen and in second series little more intense, little more advanced, that’s all. And advanced posture are Sthira Bhaga, to bring more flexibility and strenght in your body. That is why we practice Advanced series. He must have told that many people before doing advanced always try to show up, to show their self, so I thing in that context he said this “For demonstration, for show off, but not really. You should always enjoy your practice, that is very important. You do Primary series, Intermediate or Advanced, unless you are not enjoing your practice it doesn’t make any sense in practicing. It’s boring and no sense in that. As I told you first we should think why we are practicing. We’re practicing to get mind control, to bring control to our mind and body. That is why if you do Advance or any series this doesn’t matter. Unless you’re enjoing the asanas it should be fine.

5. People have their weaknesses. What are the ways to work with them?

Whole practice is done to get rid of all these like I told you kama (lust), krodha (anger), moha (attraction), lobha (greed), madhya (pride), matsarya (jealosy) – these 6 enemies should be removed by practicing yoga. Once you get read of them which each and everyone has the light inside you, the liberation will happen. You get liberated from all these and nothing will affect you. Whole practice is based on that. That’s the main reason why we do the yoga practice.

- Many people may think that these all is theory. But you mean it literally?

Literally you have to practice. This is not just from book, just for saying, it shouldn’t be only in the books, it should be done practically. Then only it’ll be more effective. Any series you do if you don’t try to get rid of these 6 emenies you wouldn’t achieve the goal, the spiritual goal that you have to achieve, that you can’t achieve.

- Is it possible to eliminate them totally?

Completely remove these is always difficult, always minimazing, minimazing day by day, day by day. And you’ll get to that situation where it becomes like a habit. Whenever you are doing, whenever this kind of things bothers you, totally your mind starts rejecting “I shouldn’t do this, because it’s against”. This kind of feeling should come. It come slowly, it doesn’t come at once. By true practice it’ll come.

6. Can ashtanga completely cure chronic deceases?

It’s possible to cure, but you need to take some precautions and you need proper guidance from your teacher. There’re specific asanas which you should do, specific kriyas you should do, so by doing these you can get rid of all these deseases. Many things except only Primary – diet, suitable kriyas for particular desease. So the teacher will treat you as a patient, will try all these different things, which can help to cure.

7. What’s your opinion on practice and ability to conceive?

It’s mostly individual, not everyone’s body is the same – some are more sensetive, some are more stronger. So while conceiving you have to be very careful, that you should do just gentle practice, because it brings lots of heat in the body while doing asanas. So by doing too many asanas, you’ll bring more heat and it’ll be more difficult to conceive. When you planned like this you should be very careful and try to do a gentle practice.

8. What do you think about women’s dharma?

Women’s dharma is to have a family, to have children, to look after them. Husband’s dharma is to look after the wife and children and do his work.

- And how to combine dharma with practice and spirituality? Because sometimes women do practice very hard and this is bad for their family.

It’s not like that unless you can bring spirituality within you. It’s not that will come from your not being in a family, it doesn’t matter you inside or not inside your family, spirituality should happen within you. When it happens within you, if you married or not it doesn’t matter.

9. You making some innovations and changes in Shala, which you planned with Guruji. Can you tell us about it?

We are making not changes but we want to engage students in few other things. Not only doing asanas, now we have sanskrit class, we make chanting compulsory, so we keep students ocuppied. Instead of just doing practice, going out and just gossiping and wasting time. We tell them to come at 11 o’clock for chanting, so that it will help in their development of spiritual practice.

10. We heard that you are writing a book. Can you tell something.

It’s just 2-days baby in the stomach -_- (Only 2 years past… 0_o)

11. Desikachar writes in his book that Kundalini is not an energe but something that blocks our energy.

And we have to remove that block instead of rising Kundalini.

It’s not right. Kundalini means it’s energy which based below your muladhara chakra. Shankaracharya says: “sanskrit from Yoga Taravali”. When we do kumbhaka pranayama we awake Kundalini and it opens all the granthis – Rudra-g, Vishnu-g, Brahma-g – and travels in Sushumna nadi. So that is why then there will be no outside breathing, everything will be internal breathing. This is what the Shastra says. So it has nothing with blocking or anything. It is energy which needs to travel. It’s sleeping and coiled like a serpent. And by doing pranayama you awake that. Many people don’t have too much knowledge about this. You need to refer many books. Just saying one book it’s not possible, you should have practical experience. Once you had practical experience, you can feel and realize that within you. And it will be easier to understand what is says. So that is very important. And if you don’t have practical experience, you always speculate “It can be like this, it can be like that”. You are always guessing.

12. Which book do you recommend to read about yoga?

There’re many books about yoga, Upanishads about yoga – Katha, Kena, so many Upanishads talk about yoga. And Bhagavad Gita all 18 chapters are about yoga, Patanjali Yoga Sutra is there, and Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Gheranda Samhita, so many books. Most of the people are always saying: “Oh, Yoga Sutra says like this. Oh, HYP says like this.” But there’re many other books, which are ancient, before PYS, before HYP. Once you refer those books also, you’ll have better understanding in yoga. Cause many people always translating Yoga Sutra in a different way, and it’s a very confusing way. Yoga Sutra itself is very confusing many times. Unless you don’t refer other books, other ancient books, other Upanishads, it’s very difficult to understand PYS. There’s many translations, many interpretations, it develops more confusion, that’s all.

13. What’s the best way to practice in the big city? It’s almost impossible to go to bed at 9pm as you do, and to get up at 2 am for practice.

When you are going to bed at 1 o’clock and getting up late, you stop your breakfast, you stop eating. You don’t have time to do yoga, but you have time to eat, you have time to take bath, you have time to do many other things. Yoga also should come like that. It should come like part of your life. So then if it’s a part of your life, part of your routine, you will find time to do it. You can do it any time, not necessery particular time. It’s good if you do it in the morning, it’s more effective if you do in the morning. If you can’t do it, you can do it in the evening also. But you have to do it. If within you it becomes like habit like how you eat food, like you have breakfast. Can you survive without eating breakfast? You’re always running “I’m hungry! I’m hungry!” Like that it should come “Oh, I should do my practice, I didn’t do my practice today. I have to do it”. It should come like that.
Farewell words
Ashtanga yoga means (from one verse): “yoganga anushthana... from YS” This making a very big meaning, that by practicing all the limbs of ashtanga yoga all the impurities in our body and mind will be removed, you’ll become more pured and you’ll become more wiser. So it’s always you should keep in your mind that you should do your practice. Once you practice, your practice will heal your difficulty in life. That is the whole meaning of doing practice. It’s a life support for us. That’s why you shouldn’t stop practicing. Whatever time you have, whatever your body and mind allows you do, how much ever it’s possible you should do it. You shouldn’t stop practice it. If you keep practicing, you can build up your spiritual building very strong, your spiritual foundation within you.
Pattabhi Jois - interview (2004)

1. How does Patanjalis classical yoga stand in relation to Hatha yoga?

Quite the joyous practice this morning. Throat infection Is pretty much gone, ujjayi back, thus rhythm back, thus practice back. Was having so much fun that I added a few of those float to headstands plus some extra leg behind head work after supt kurmasana, seems bhuddasana hasn't one south after all, fancy that. Then after Konasana I added a little hanumanasana and some Sama konasana work, they still seemed possible with a little work too. Was having such a ball that I carried on through to 2nd up to Kapo, nice nice practice.

Part of the good mood was possibly due to watching one of Meghan Currie's videos before practice somebody had linked to one she did recently on the beach.

Vinyasa, that linking of breath and movement....I get so wrapped up with the breath, especially lately that I tend to forget the whole movement aspect. Meghan reminds you of that joy of movement that perhaps we often forget in this practice when we focus on the static aspect of the stay in the asana. Full vinyasa brings back some of that joy and a good breath focus too can bring out that sense of movement as you move in deeper with every breath, but Meghan she's almost bacchanalian in the dance like flow from one posture to the next, it's like, "oh yeah, look what we do". I might not plan to practice like that myself anytime soon but this morning, I must admit, I was kind of tempted, if only for the sheer joy of it.

One more thing about Vinyasa, the vinysa count is to highlight which breaths go with which movement, where the inhalation goes, where the exhalation goes, that doesn't mean that we cant squeeze in a couple of extra breaths where appropriate. If you have a dodgy knee for example or are working on a particular posture It's fine to take a couple of extra breaths to work your way into the pose using our vinyasa awareness to suggest when to lengthen on the inhalation perhaps and to deepen, to work our way further in on each exhalation. We can also stay for three, five, ten breaths twent-five or even more in a posture before resuming the count as we exit as well as take a couple of extra breaths if necessary on the exit, or go straight in and out of the posture on the breath with no stay at all in the variations say, perhaps just the key asana of that group. I would argue that we can find evidence for this in Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda and Pattabhi Jois' Yoga Mala.

That said I'm all for the semblance at least of a seemingly fixed system with a fixed count. The trick seems to retain that seemingly fixed framework and yet retain enough wiggle room.

And you don't want to wiggle too much perhaps in one practice.

Here's the beach clip from Meghan I saw the link to this morning and then the other one because its a classic, love the improvisation.

Music: Encore by Nicolas Jaar 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nico-N...


Music by: mock and toof~ farewell to wendo

For some reason the 'watch it on youtube button isn't showing up anymore so here's the link to Meghan Currie"s Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/KeaghanlizaMurrie

And here website http://www.meghancurrieyoga.com


Been meaning to write this long post on whether Ashatnaga and Vinyasa Krama are compatible or if the principles are completely different and if in practicing one you are betraying the principles of the other.

Decided that's not the case.

If you practice a fast, short breath, Ashatanga then perhaps but if your breathing is long and slow and you stay in your postures for as long as indicated, those longer stays in finishing postures for example then it's very much in line with Vinyasa Krama. Your covering a wide range of asana, there's the long stays in key postures.

Ashtanga is a Vinyasa Krama.

The only problem comes if you'r too strict in your Ashtanga and not taking into account the needs of your own body but I'm thinking more and more that even within Ashtanga everyone is adapting the practice, certain postures we'll back off slightly if we have little tweaks or weak areas... we'll milk certain other postures for all they're worth one morning if we feel the need in our bodies, the up dog and Urdhva danurasana say, if we feel we need a bit more of a back stretch, we're always adapting the practice, it's just a little more subtle than perhaps it appears.

The sequences in Vinyasa Krama are more for learning the relationships of the different asana, once we've learned that we still have to build our daly practice. In Vinyasa Krama that might mean different is 'routines' each day, in Ashatnaga the postures are the same but perhaps the stress we give to some of the postures within that fixed sequence changes daily.

Either way I feel less hung up on the issue....which is good, no.

June 2013 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami—SURYA

During May I spent a couple of weeks in Wells, Somerset, UK teaching at Steve Brandon's Harmony Yoga. Yoga cikitsa, complete Yoga Sutra, one full day of study of Suryanamaskara and a workshop on Asana, Pranayama, mantra and meditation which helped in doing a comprehensive coverage of Yoga. Both attendance and participation were very good. Thank you Steve and Sally for arranging the programs. I am likely to do another program towards the end of May 2014 perhaps in London organized by Steve Brandon's Harmony Yoga. I also went to Sausalito in California to teach at Yoga of Sausalito of Stephan Buehl and Ashley Brunner. The attendance was a bit thin but the participation was thick. The programs included workshop on asanas. Pranayama. Mantras and meditiaion, one on Yoga for Internal organs and also a five day long Core Vinyas krama yoga apart from the 2 chapters of Yoga sutras.. Thank you Stephan and Ashley.

In July/august I am scheduled to do the 5 week 200 hr Yoga Alliance registered Teacher Training Program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. I do hope enough people register for the course.

SURYA
A few months back I wrote about some procedures Patanjali recommends for keeping the mind clear called citta prasadana. A few more well established procedures of yester-years were also included by Patanjali in Chapter I. One of them is “yeta abhimata dhyanad va”. It would be translated as 'meditating as per one's likes (abhimata)'. Sankara while writing the vivarana or elucidation on this sutra cautions the abhyasi to choose an object that is agreeable/uplifting but not a pleasurable object. Conventionally the object of meditation should be something ennobling. One definition of Yoga following the 'union' school is that yoga is union with a higher principle, like God or paramatma. Even though Vyasa's commentary is highly respected and followed by several expert commentators like Vacaspai Misra Sankaracharya, Vignyana Bikshu and others, there were a few like Bhoja who demurred and preferred to write a completely independent commentary. Actually Bhoja gave the famous “yogena cittasya..” prayer of Patanjali. There were others like Sadasiva Brahmendra a highly respected advaita vedantin who wrote a brief independent commentary called yoga sudhakara. In this commentary the authoritative, the traditional interpretation of the word 'mata' indicating it as a religion or religious denomination is highlighted (yedyat sastrartham deivam rupam). The word mata is still used in India as religion/denomination. So this sutra would mean that those yogis who have religious inclination could meditate as per one's religion and religious belief to keep the mind clear and under a leash. What are the 'matas' or religious denominations that were prevalent at that time? There were six, viz, ganapatya or worship of Ganesa, Kaumara or worship of his sibling Kartikeya, Sakta, worship of Sakti, Saiva or worship of Siva, Vaishnava or worship of Vishnu and then Saura worship of the pratyaksha devata or the visible deity Sun. In fact Adi Sankara even as he was acclaimed for his elucidation of the Advaita vedanta philosophy is also credited with re establishing the six different forms of worship called the shan-matas or six schools of worship and hence came to be known as shan-mata-stahpana-acarya.
The worship of the six deities can be found in the vedas, then the puranas and extensively elaborated in agamas including temple and personal icon worship in the form of pujas including namaskaras, mantra japas. Almost all the deities have hundreds of temples in India and elsewhere and worshiped as per the agama temple rules. They are also meditated upon by individuals at homes and Patanjali refers to it as abhimata dhyana.

While all deities have temples-- hundreds of them-- the one deity who is conspicuous by the absence of dedicated temples (with a solitary exception in Konark) is Sun. Yes you do not need a temple or icon for the sun. It is called pratyaksha devata or the visible deity. One may say that in the vedas the prime deity venerated is the sun. The worshipers called sun as Aruna, one who is unindebted. It only gives and does not receive from anyone. Sun is is also called a universal friend or Mitra as its light and energy is given to every being for life and nourishment.

Perhaps Sun worship is the most common even now. In the form of Sandhya many salute the sun in a form of a beautiful ritual three times a day at dawn, at noon and at sunset. In that the main portion is the salutations to Sun using the gayatri mantra, believed to be the brainwave of sage Viswamitra (see his story in my earlier newsletter www.vinyasakrama.com/newsletter). It is the most often recited vedic mantra. Freely translated it would mean “ We meditate upon the luster of the orb of the sun which is the effulgence of the Divine (devasya bhargah). May That which we meditate upon remove, the spiritual darkness”. There are also other sun mantras included in the ritual. Sun Salutation is associated with health and good eyesight. “Arogyam bhaskaraat iccheh” Health is the blessing of Sun. There is also an upanishad which is about sun called “akshi upanishad” or upanishad about eye. Sun worship will bring longevity, good physical and mental health and prevent untimely death (apamrityu). There is also a vedic mantra which implores Sun to remove the heart ailment one may suffer from (hridrogam mama surya, harimanancha nasaya).

Some mantras from the daily routine are quoted below

Mantra: (Morning)
Aum Mitrasya carshani dhrutah sravo devasya sãnasim. Satyam citrasravastamam. Mitro jannan yãtayati prajãnan. Mitro dãdhãra prthiveemutadyãm. Mitrah krishti-ranimishãbhichasthe, satyãya havyam ghrtavadvidhema. Pra sa mitra marto astu prayasvãn yasta ãditya sikshati vratena. Na hanyate, na jiyate tvoto nenam amho asnotyantio na doorãt.

Meaning
Standing facing the same direction in which the japa is done usually east, join the palms and salute the Paramãtman, Who is shining in the center of the rising Sun.
“I meditate on the glory and fame of the all-protecting Sun Who is adorable, eternal and fascinating the hearts of all listeners.
The Sun guides all, knowing everything. He supports the earth and the sky. He watches all creation unwieldy. To Him we offer cooked rice soaked in ghee for attaining eternal fruits.
O Sun Who is Mitra (universal friend), may the one who longs to worship You sincerely, get the full benefit of righteousness. One protected by You will not suffer from any disease; sin will not approach him from far or near.”

Mantra: (Madhyanhe/Noon)
Ãsatyena rajasã vartamãno nivesayannamrutam martyam cha. Hiranyayena savitã rathenã devo yãti bhuvanã vipasyan.
Udvayam tamasaspari pasyantho jyotiruttaram. Devam devatrã sooryamaganma jyotiruttamam. Udutyam jãtavedasam devam vahanti ketavah. Drise visvãya Sooryam.
Citram devãnãmudagãdaneekam chakshurmitrasya varunasyãgneh. Ã prã dyãvã prithivee antariksham Soorya ãtmã jagatastasthushascha. Tachakshur devahitam purastãchukramucharatu.
Pashyema saradas-satam; jeevema saradas-satam; nandãma saradas-satam; modãma saradas-satam; bhavãma saradas-satam; srunavãma saradas-satam; prabravãma saradas-satam; ajeetãsyãma saradas-satam; ( jyok cha Sooryam drishe.)
Ya udagãnmahato arnavãd vibhrãjamãnah sarirasya madhyãt samã vrushabho lohitãksha-Sooryo vipashchin manasã punãtu.

Meaning:
Standing facing the North, joining the palms in anjali mudra and saluting the Paramãtman shining in the center of the Sun Who is now glowing above the head at noon time.
“The Sun riding a golden chariot goes round scrutinizing all the worlds and shining with self-effulgence and directing by means of His radiance,gods and humans in their respective tasks. The Sun rises swallowing darkness, with great splendor, protecting the celestial beings also. We who gaze at the Sun rays (light) shall attain the great radiance of the Self.
For overseeing the worlds, it rides the horses (of the Sun) in the form of His rays. Bear Him, the God Who knows everything.
Up rises the Sun who is like an eye to Mitra Varuna, and Agni, and Who is of the form of all the divine ones. He the Lord of all moving and unmoving things pervades the heavens, the earth and the middle regions.
May we see and adore for a hundred years that splendid orb of the Sun which rises in the East and looks after the welfare of the celestial and other beings like an eye. May we live thus for a hundred years. May we rejoice with our kith and kin for a hundred years. May we speak sweetly for a hundred years. May we live for a hundred years undefeated by the forces of evil. We desire to enjoy gazing at the Sun (seeing with the sunlight) for a hundred years.
May my whole mind be sanctified by the Sun Who bestows upon us all our needs, Whose eyes are red, Who is omniscient and Who rises from amidst the waters of the ocean illuminating all the quarters.”
Another important sun worship mantras comes from the famous Valmiki Ramayana. It is said to be the gift of sage Agastya to Lord Rama just prior to Rama's battle with Ravana. It is known as “Aditya Hridyam” or “Sun in the Heart” Perhaps next only to the Gayatri this mantra is recited regularly by many early in the morning.

As mentioned earlier Sun Worship/ Salutation has been an important aspect of daily routine of many people in India from the Vedic times. It is one of the six accepted and orthodox forms of worship. But unlike other well known sects of worship like of Siva, Vishnu, Sakti, Ganesa or Kartikeya, which are done in temples and homes usually with icons/idols, the Sun Worship is done usually in the open during the day time. “Worship the Sun for Health” exhorts the Vedas. (Aarogyam Bhaskaraath iccheth). Thousands of people can be seen saluting the sun at dawn at noon and at dusk, facing respectively the East, North and West, with or without mantras. Some worship the Sun with Mantras alone and some do namaskara or salutation alone without the mantras in several ways.

The physical--alone namaskara usually is made up of a start from standing position, prostrate with the arms stretched forward, then return to the starting position. This is known as danda samarpanam and is perhaps the most common method of physical form of Sun Salutation. The more elaborate method of Surya Namaskara usually involves twelve steps which include some asana like tadasana (mountain pose), uttanasana (forward bend), the dog poses. In the vinyasa karma as taught by my Guru, Sri Krishnamacharya, it involves 12 steps done in a sequence, starting from Tadasana and traversing through asanas like uttanasana, utkatasana, caturanga dandasana, dand samarpana, urdhwa and adhomukha swanasana and returning to tadasana via utkatasana and uttanasana. Further all the movements are done with synchronized breathing. It is detailed in my book “The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga (Pages 213 to 217).

The Mantra worship of the Sun is more prevalent in India. As mentioned earlier, many thousands of Indians do pray to the Sun with several Sun Mantras including prominently the Gayatri mantra—usually 108 times in the morning, 32 times at noon and 64 times at around dusk. Or they may use 12 mantras each at the end of the 12 vinyasas. These dvadasa (12) mantras could be seed or Bijakshara mantras, loukika(common) mantras of the sun or, 12 vedic mantras or a combination of all the three. Please refer to my book, “The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga”. Persons who do the danda samarpana may do it 12 times, saying the 12 mantras at the end of each of the 12 salutations to the sun. There is a stanza from the Vedas, mentioned earlier, which is a prayer to the sun to cure the worshipper from heart and skin ailments, which may be done with or without physical mantras.

The Yajur veda, the veda Sri Krishnamacharya was affiliated to (so am I) consists of 81 chapters or prapatakas. Each section or chapter (prapataka) may run from about 10 minutes to up to an hour, but average about half an hour. One of them is called Surya Namaskara or Sun Salutation. Made of 132 paragraphs in 32 anuvakas (sections), it is said to be the longest chapter (paragraph wise) in this Veda. It takes a little over one hour to chant/recite this mantra portion. I had the privilege of learning and then chanting this Aruna Parayana every Sunday morning for several years with my Guru Sri Krishnamacharya. Towards the end of his life , I chanted this Surya namaskara mantra with him for several days. It is said that in the olden days, many sick or even terminally ill people would be brought to a public place like the corridors of the temples, where Vedic Pundits will chant these surya namaskara mantras to let them listen to these mantras and do physical namaskara if possible. My Guru once told me that in Mysore where he was with the Maharaja of Mysore, he along with some of his students would walk along the streets of Mysore chanting these mantras so that those who were too sick to come out and were confined to their homes would listen to a few of these mantra chants. Even now in India, these mantras are chanted every Sunday by several Indians singly or in groups at homes and at public places like temples. As mentioned this section of Sun Salutation is called Aruna, a name for Sun meaning one who is without any debts. Sun gives to everyone, for the entire universe, warmth, light, health and controls the weather and lets wind flow, and rain, vegetation etc. Even as it gives, it takes nothing from others, hence it is called ‘Aruna’ the unindebted.

This Surya Namskara starts and ends with a peace Invocation. A free translation of the peace chant is as follows. “Oh Divine Ones (Devas), let us hear auspicious sounds and news with our ears. Let us, the worshippers (of the Sun) see auspicious things. For firm limbs and healthy bodies let us pray to the gods (of nature). Let us live a full life pleasing the gods of nature (consistent with nature). May the Lord Almighty, give us welfare. May the Sun, the knower of all, give us health. Let the majestic Garuda protect us (from diseases and poisons). Let Brihaspati, the Universal Lord, bestow welfare on us.”
Here is a brief summary of the 32 sections

1.The gods who control the different aspects of nature like rain, wind, fire, nourishment happiness etc., are praised and their blessings invoked. 2.Description of the Solar System (Surya Mandala) as the ancients saw them built around the effulgent sun. The sun is described as the Father of Time (Kala Purusha) 3-6. A poetic description of the six seasons (Ritus) and the behavior of people during those seasons. 7.The Vedas say that the sun we see is only one of the eight suns in the universe, the names and characteristics of all the eight suns are described.8.The ultimate extinction of each life is caused by the sun as he is also the Lord of time. The other types of deaths (called untimely) are subsidiary deaths and are preventable by appropriate methods (like sun salutation) 9.The fire which provides light and heat when the sun has set are also exalted. 10.The two worlds earth and heaven are praised variously 11.Importance of Self Realization and the means (Sun Salutation) are stressed 12.The Ultimate Reality (Indra) is extolled 13.The Three Worlds are described and their causes extolled. 14-19. Prayer to heavenly bodies like Sun, Wind and others for happiness here and hereafter and the destruction of misery here and hereafter. 20. Prayer to the guardian angels of all directions for protection.21. Prayer to divine and wise beings for the spiritual knowledge. 22. That everything evolved out of Water (esoterically Consciousness) is described and the ultimate reality is extolled. 23. Water (Consciousness) is the source of all activity. And the Creator is extolled. 24-26. Sun Worship and the benefits are described. 27. Prayer to Sun and other divine beings for health in this life and release from the cycle of birth and death hereafter. 28. Prayer to Fire, an aspect of Sun’s Energy to ward off evil spirits, especially in the dark. 29. Prayer to Sun and the divine celestial beings for plentiful of rain. 30. Prayer to Sun for regaining lost health and rejuvenation. 31. Prayer to the gastric fire, for health and proper digestion 32. The do’s and don’ts of Suryanamskara. The three peace utterances end the mantra chant. Then the end peace chant.

The mantras can be chanted alone without physical namaskara, when the chanter at the end of each section mentally salutes the Sun. One may hold the hands in Anjali Mudra and say the mnatra prayer as follows

“Sri Chaya Suvarchalamba sameta Sri Surya Narayana Swamine Namh. Om Namo Narayanaya”.
It may be followed by a danda samarpana from the seated position and return to the seated position and chant the next section. Else one may stand up at the end of each of the 32 sections, to samasthiti and do the complete surya namaskara with individual mantras at the end of each vinyasas. I have done this in all my Teacher training programs and at some places like Austin, Houston , UK. Else the Surya Namaskara by Danda Samarpana can be performed at the end of each of the 32 anuvakas or sections. Those that are merely listening but not chanting can do one round of the 12 step or 12 vinyasa Suryanamaskara with the appropriate breathing, and with or without the mantras within the namaskara (Please refer to page 213 to 217 in my book “The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga”) may be performed. Please also see the attchment to this post. It contains a Suryanamaskara chart based on the above with vinyasas and mantras and suggested breathing along with beautiful sketchs of the vinyasas. This was designed by my friend Steve Brandon of Harmony Yoga , Wells, UK and the sketches are by Charles Cox.(See the attachment to this post)

Contemporary Surya Namaskara has tended to be an entirely physical exercise. Surya Namaskara is “Bowing to Sun”. Many times it is done without sparing a thought to the sun and is done as just a nother piece of involved physical exercise. One can atleast think of the sun, empathise with gratitude for all that one gets from Sun in particular and Nature in general. Further it is supposed to be done only during daytime. One also has to keep in mind that sun salutation should not be strenuous as both Hatayoga and Rajayoga warn us againt straining and causing pain to ourselves (kaya klesa) while doing yoga. Yoga sutra says asanas should be comfortable (sukha) and Hatayogis say that a yogi should avoid painful exercises like weight lifting and too many strenuous Suryanamaskaras.

I have recorded about 40 audio cassettes and cds of several Vedic and other chants I had learnt from Sri Krishnamacharya (including Suryanamaskara/Aruna Parayana)and others for a leading recording company in South India. The Surya Namaskara chants running to about 60 minutes was recorded in mid 80s. I also have a recording of Aditya Hridayam mentioned earlier and the entire Sandhyavandana also produced during th 1980s. These ar available with the producers of these cd The Master Recording Company under the brand name Sangeetha in Chennai India. And Namarupa magazine published my aricle on Sandhyavandana (salutation to the sun at dawn, noon and dusk)with pictures and mantras.
We express a sense of gratitude to someone who has helped us. We may also have the same sense of gratitude and say a thank you to different aspects of nature like water, wind and earth and of course Sun. The vedic Rishis glorified the different aspects of nature as gods especially Sun.

Sincerely
Srivatsa Ramaswami

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I mentioned in the last couple of cobbled together posts that my mac had blown up, basically the Mac couldn't find the hard drive and was all confused, lost amongst the shades.

Had to rely on the Blogsy app for iPad which kind of worked but frustrating and less than ideal

So we picked up a new Hard Drive, half price from Amazon, for sixty quid and  thought we'd have a go at replacing it ourselves.

We used the excellent ifixit site for directions. You can narrow the guide down to your model of mac but even then we had a few surprises.

http://www.ifixit.com/Device/iMac

Might see about adding some notes to this post later in case anyone else is having a go.



















Thought I might try and set up a new tab/page for the top of the blog tomorrow too of all the 'reviews' I've done on this blog over the years, perhaps my own and then another section for others that I've come across on other blogs.....

Slight reworking for Amazon of my blog review yesterday of Kino's book. Tried to bring out the Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced approach to Primary series that Kino presents, for whatever series you happen to be on the rest of the week. And if your perhaps not so interested/concerned , at this time, in progressing through the different series in Ashtanga Kino shows that you can take an Intermediate and Advanced approach to your Primary series, this struck me as important. The previous post has pictures, screen shots etc. I should see about doing something similar for Petri's book.

An Ashtanga Primary Series for new and yet also long term practitioners. 

This review is from: The Power of Ashtanga Yoga: Developing a Practice That Will Bring You Strength, Flexibility, and Inner Peace--Includes the complete Primary Series (Paperback)

I was so looking forward to this book that I contacted the publishers to ask for an Advanced review copy for my Blog. This review is based on the copy they sent me last week.

If you are already familiar with Kino's teaching, take a moment and think what you were expecting and hoping Kino's book would be like.......yep, it's EXACTLY like that. Every posture crammed full of the tips, hints and encouragement we've come to expect from her DVDs and YouTube videos. Plus some surprises. Home Ashtangi's will love it, shala students too but teachers perhaps for the seemingly endless supply of ideas to help their students. This is Kino at her best.

Complete beginners might find the detail Kino goes into in the posture descriptions intimidating or overwhelming at first glance and yet these descriptions are made of step by step instructions and suggestions for making the full expression of the postures possible but more importantly safe. Read through them, take note of the cautions and explore the different suggestions and finer points of technique as you develop your practice.

This isn't a glossy picture book but a serious treatment of the nature, attainment and purpose of asana in the Ashtanga practice of the Krishnamachaya/Jois lineage. It has a strong focus on the spiritual or mindful dimension of the practice, of the energetics of practice, of the breath and the bandhas (as well as how to actually go about engaging and employing them).

No surprise to anyone who's followed Kino's work perhaps but Yes there is a section on Jumping back and through, the technique in Ashtanga for moving from one posture to the next with grace and elegance, including the challenging Lotus Jump Back from postures like kukkutasana and padmasana should you choose to explore it. This is found in a chapter on Strength : The Yoga of true power, where Kino looks more closely at the bandhas, the network of interlinked techniques, that can make a radical difference in all areas of your practice.

"...Over time you will be able to activate this whole network of movements in one fluid contraction". p175

Chapter 10 on Strength also includes a subsection on 'The Quiet Strength of a Woman's body'.

"Contemporary dogma of what is possible for men and women contribute to what yoga practitioners believe is possible for male and female bodies. If you are a woman, you may wonder whether you are the wrong shape, size, weight, gender to be able to catapult your hips through the air and resign yourself to being just flexible. But this type of thinking undermines a true sense of the power for either gender.
In yoga there is an unfair assumption that all men effortlessly perform gravity-defying lifts and all women snake their way into positions a contortionist would envy. While the mind-set of teachers and students often perpetuates some traditional gender roles, reality tells a different story. There are men who are hyper mobile and unable to lift their butts off the ground, and there are women who are stiff as a board but can balance unwaveringly". Kino Macgregor -The Power of Ashtanga yoga p172

Kino is an enabler. This book is all about what is possible and, more practically, how it's possible as well as the possibilities this practice opens up. This enabling feeds through the whole book, every posture has a wealth of tips and hints for engaging X, facilitating Y and achieving Z. It's very much a hands-on book, the focus is on helping you not just to get into an asana but to achieve greater comfort and steadiness (in life as well as in practice). As such I find myself asking 'Who isn't this book for?' It's ideal for the beginner whether starting at in a shala or studio with a teacher or at home with a book and a dvd (she mentions the home practitioner, myself). But it's also for somebody who has practiced for a number of years and wants to not just tidy up the alignment of a posture but to achieve greater facility at every stage of the practice. Many of the instructions or rather suggestions that Kino includes I've come across before, most no doubt from her own Youtube channel and tutorials but never so many in one place and in and for every posture. As such this is also strikes me as an excellent resource for the teacher.

The Amazon preview shows the Chapter heading but not the subsections, these include

My yoga Journey
The heart of Ashtanga
Practical guidelines for yoga practice
Getting started in your practice
Listening to the wisdom of your body
The ancient origins of Yoga poses
The origins of Ashtanga Yoga
Ashtanga Spiritual practice
Ashtanga Physical practice
Finding your teacher
The heroic Healing journey of Yoga
How yoga poses really work
Drishti; single pointed gaze
Gazing with the lamp of knowledge
The Magic of the breath
Relax and breath into it
Ujjayi: The breath of life
Granthis
The ritual of Vinyasa
The Ashtanga yoga diet
The hidden power of food
Ahimsa; The Yogic Diet of Nonviolence
Ayurvedix Guidelines
Cleansing and Purification
Practice yoga. heal the planet. The spiritual Journey of Asana: Yoga beyond bending
Stretching your mind
Walking the spiritual path
Life lessons on the yoga superhighway
Revela your true self
Complete healing
Strength: The yoga of true power
The quiet strength of a woman's body
Bandhas
Mula bandha
Udiyana bandha
Foundation
Direction in strength
How to jump back
How to jump through
How to jump back from lotus position
Chakrasana
Opening mantra
Closing mantra
Sanskrit vinyasa count

Some examples here's

Kino on the breath...

"If you focus solely on attaining the asanas when you practice, you will most likely sacrifice the breath for the form, but the ends do not justify the means in Yoga. In fact, the means themselves are the ends. Yoga is about the journey and the process and if there is no space to allow a deep inhalation and exhalation to be your guide, there may never be space for you to be calm in your life" p27

"Each breath has four distinct components; the inhalations, the space between the inhalation and exhalation, the exhalation and the space between the exhalation and inhalation. It is important to give a gentle pause between the breaths so you float effortlessly for a moment between each inhalation and exhalation. When you advance to more in-depth breath work that includes holding or retaining the breath the space between breaths will be crucial." p28

Kino on Method

"The Ashtanga yoga practice recommends that you practice six days a week. traditionally, this practice was meant to be done in the Mysore style" in which you follow your own breath and movement rather than the guidence of a teacher leading a class through the same movements....Memorising the postures allows you to focus internally, which is the real goal of yoga. When you do not know what you are doing next your attention will always be on your teacher rather than within yourself. Once you memorise the sequence of postures that your teacher determines is right for you, the entire practice moves to a deeper, subconscious level" p12

...and on a Six day practice

"Taking a six-day- a-week practice is often hard for for new students, so I usually recommend that they begin with three days. Once they establish that level of regularity, they can add one day every six months until they reach the full six days a week. To make the transition from a fitness orientated approach to yoga to a devotional one, you need to practice consistently and regularly. A daily spiritual ritual in which you take time to connect internally to a deep sense of yourself requires dedication. The six day requirement is meant to develop the kind of mental, spiritual and devotional determination needed to progress along the internal path of yoga" p12

The Amazon preview looks mostly at the first couple of chapters but lets take a look at how the asana are treated in Part 2 of the book..

In many if not most of the postures, Kino is addressing Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced practitioners. In Ashtanga we all do Primary series on Friday's whatever series we may be practicing the rest of the week. Marichiyasana D, a deep twisting posture is a good example of this, Kino includes beginner modifications, a standard intermediate expression of the asana as well as the advanced version of the pose with both sit bones down on the mat. This is a unique feature of Kino's book I think, it's a reminder that we can approach this first series of Ashtanga as Intermediate and advanced practitioners. And besides, some Yoga practitioners may have no interest, for now at least, in exploring the more advanced Ashtanga series, Kino provides options for taking a more advanced approach to the Primary series.

I should perhaps also mention that the asana sections each have an introduction outlining the characteristics of the group of postures. So there's a Surynamaskara section, Standing section, seated, backbends and finishing.

There's also an appendix outlining the vinyasa count for every posture, showing which movement for which stage of the breath, nice and handy having it in a separate section. There's a practice cheat sheet at the back too of just the photos of the postures in the sequence and a nice, quite extensive, glossary too with a strong focus on how Pattabhi Jois would introduce these terms

This book is very much of the tradition and yet not in any way dogmatic, that's a neat trick. There is a lot going on in the book, it's smart but approachable, Kino seems to have a knack for presenting the practice in a way that draws you in yet without dumbing the practice down.

I'll be coming back again and again to the asana descriptions of course, I haven't been able to flick through the book without wanting to jump on the mat to try out one or more of the of the hints and/or suggestions, and as soon as I finish my practice I find I want to grab the book again to check how she approaches a particular asana or vinyasa that I may have felt could have been a little better in practice that morning.

But I'll also be coming back to it for the ideas around the physical elements of practice, many of them will strike you as surely obvious as if they are things we've known all along concerning the practice of Yoga yet never verbalised, timely and well put reminders of what is perhaps most important in the practice .

"If you approach your practice from the perspective of attaining the perfect asana, sooner or later you will fail. even the strongest and most flexible person will get injured or grow older one day. Eventually a new generation of stronger, more flexible students come through. When all this happens, it is not time to quit or punish yourself. Moments of perceived failure are often when the most yoga happens. Sometimes we have to gain the perfect yoga body and the perfect yoga poses just to 'lose" it to injury or age; thus, we see that the whole point of the journey has nothing to do with asana after all. Yoga asks you to tap into a place within yourself that has faith in results that are not immediately evident. " p52

This is something I've been working on for the last couple of days. Bringing together all the.... I hesitate to call them reviews although some of them clearly are, the others, snapshots perhaps.

This page now lives at the top of the blog. I Know there are other books, videos etc that I've mentioned but they seem to be buried away in other posts, I'll try and fish them out.

Click on the title to link to the original post.

I've kept them in the order in which I posted them, find it interesting to see which book or DVD I looked at when.

Some of them will be more useful than others.

UPDATE.
Nope, watched it again, definitely cheating...

Good day today, two packages I've been looking forward to arrived at work.
Quite exciting.


The sax at the back is a beautiful Selmer Ref 54 alto in honey gold lacquer

Vayu Siddhi
A Two Disc DVD/Book Set of Ashtanga Yoga's Pranayama Sequence by Certified Teacher David Garrigues

Vayu Siddhi

UPDATE (first look)


Just practiced the Ashtanga Pranayama Sequence with David, it's quite a bit lighter than the Derek Ireland CD (although the same sequence), the breath faster than I'm used to but that wont be a bad thing for somebody just starting pranayama and they can slow it down a bit once they've learned the sequence.

Nicely broken down VERY accessible.

On the one hand I think it is over priced, the book is quite light, nicely cloth bound hardback but only 100 pages (actually more like 75 of quite large print) mostly just instructions and the minimum expansion (although I'm still only half way through it) nice style to his writing though. The video is just a camera in a room tracking over a guy breathing or talking to the camera, kind of YouTube like. It's broken up into sections though. There's a little prep and set up, some exercises and then your down to the sequence which also can be broken down into different sections so you can work on it bit by bit and build up to the full sequence. there's also a kind of Q&A.

But then on the other hand it's so accessible, clear and simple, very Ashtanga, just what you need to get on the mat. It will give anyone who buys it an established, basic Ashtanga pranayama practice. How do you put a price on that and besides, forking out that amount of dollars will make you damn sure you do actually read the book and practice along to the videos.
No longer any excuse for not having a pranayama practice.

Go into more detail on my review post next week.



Ashtanga Yoga: Beginners Course Manual for Teachers
By Dr Monica Gauci

A step-by-step guide with a word-for-word detailed script on how to safely and effectively teach Ashtanga Yoga to beginner. This manual came into creation as a resource and aid to help Yoga teachers-to-be to find the words to describe some of the techniques and asanas when teaching yoga. It is a modification of the Primary Series of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, which deletes or modifies any postures which are not accessible to the average beginner student. This present method has been distilled from many years of observing students practice and the influence certain ways of demonstrating and delivering instructions achieves. You will find that this method will achieve a high level of proficiency and quality in your student’s performance, while adhering to the highest safety standards. With this comes the highest level of benefit for the student. Foreword by Gregor Maehle.


Hopefully have a provisional look up on the blog sometime Tuesday (day off).

Nice cloth cover on David's book reminds me of having books sent over from India, wrapped in cloth rather than brown paper.

Monica's book was a nice surprise too bigger than I assumed from the picture on lulu and ring bound.