http://www.existentialbuddhist.com/2011/02/letting-go/

Yesterday I received a comment on an old post

"Amazing ! This is cool! "

The old post was this one and starts like this

Tuesday, 1 January 2013
Surrendering up, letting go

I have it all wrong of course, rather than looking for the Vinyasa Krama in Ashtanga and the Ashtanga in Vinyasa KramaI should be looking at the Yoga Makaranda in Vinyasa Krama, the Vinyasa Krama in Yoga Makranda.

And that should be the side project, in the shorter asana practice in the evening before my longer pranayama session, not my main practice.

Surrendering (up), letting go, I'm lousy at that, perhaps I should work on it as a New Years Resolution, What was that letting go of a thousand things that was doing the rounds a few years ago?

And first to be surrendered up, let go, should be my Ashtanga practice, I cling to it so.

It struck me (yet) again that I have (neglected) responsibilities, duties, giri, obligation whatever we want to call it. For whatever reason I found my way to LA not Mysore and took Ramaswami for my teacher not Sharath or Tim or Lino......

And here I am six months later back practicing Ashtanga and preparing for a workshop with Manju in Crete in August.

What happened?

I was thinking about it and I think that with the dropping of the attachment (to Ashtanga) there was also a letting go of distinctions, they just dropped away.

from the same post...

"Still explore Krishnamacharya's other writings and practice of course, a Krishnamacharya course was part of my studies with Ramaswami. But I should be passing on what I learnt, sharing that approach to asana and I do happen to believe that you should only teach what you practice".

I focused on Krishnamacharya approach to practice in Yoga Makaranda, the long slow full breathing with the inhalation and exhalation (8-10 seconds) bringing out the pause between the breaths, natural kumbhaka that Krishnamacharya would often extend. Around the postures in Yoga Makaranda I would build the Vinyasa Krama subroutines that Ramaswami had taught us, that was my approach to building my Vinyasa Krama practice. The postures in Yoga Makaranda are just a selection of asana that you would need to lead into and then progress out of.

And surprise surprise, my practice would end up resembling the postures in Krishnamacharya Primary table in his later book Yogasanagalu which is of course pretty much the Ashtanga Primary of Pattabhi Jois' Yoga Mala, except that I was practicing so slowly that I didn't have time to get through the full table, the full series.

The distinctions drop away, Yoga Mala is Yogasanagalu which is Yoga Makaranda.

Ashtanga is Vinyasa Krama, movement linked to the breath.... we start at point A and move to point Z artfully/mindfully linking each movement to the breath. We practice for the time we have available.

'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all 
    Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'

And the long, slow breath was stressed by Krishnamacharya, by Jois throughout his life and continues to be stressed by Ramaswami. It's an approach to practice that was there in the beginning of Ashtanga vinyasa and perhaps always in the background but seems to have either got lost in translation or mislaid along the way, or the practice has just gone off in a slightly different direction, not necessarily the worse for it. It's something that's always there in the background to be explored should one so wish.

Who do you know who practices/teaches/leads the practice at 8 second inhalation and 8 second exhalation (please tell me anyone you know of), few it seems, why is that? The demands of what seems to have become a fixed sequence perhaps? Jois stressed you practice what you can but somehow the focus moved to completing the full sequence, do that in full vinyasa and as we saw from my earlier post you can end up practicing for three hours and forty minutes.

But what if you drop full vinyasa (most of the week) and only stay for three long slow breaths in a posture rather than five quick ones, and what if you compromise just a little and breath fully at five second inhalations and five second exhalations throughout the practice, for every breath from the moment you get on the mat, we're back to a little over ninety minutes but with the long slow breath firmly back in place for every movement of the practice.

And there are all those little vinyasa Krama subroutines in Ashtanga anyway, the distinctions drop away.

It's not the sequences of Vinyasa Krama that I should be stressing in my own passing along, those are mainly artificial constructs for learning the relationship between postures, it's the breath, that long slow full breath, long slow full vinyasa. That approach seems just as important to promote and share as the Vinyasa Krama subroutines I practice in the evenings

That and an integrated practice, Asana, pranayama, pratyahara and meditation on the ground of the yama/niyamas.

I've been asked several times recently about what I learnt from Ramaswami's TT ( from people considering it this year), there it is right there, a long slow full breath and an integrated practice.

Perhaps the main way I part company a little with Ramaswami currently is in my practicing of a relatively fixed sequence, whether Primary or 2nd (although I tend to practice part of 2nd series, in the evenings, in very much in the VK approach of Bow, Meditative and Asymmetric subroutines).

Ramaswami's presentation is a highly flexible, adaptable system. Why would you practice a fixed sequence when your body might require some other posture one day from the next not in the fixed sequence?

Hmmmm.

I thought about this....a lot. Decided that the Ashtanga sequences are never fixed, one day to the next we're always focusing on different aspects of the series, different postures within that sequence. One day we might give extra attention to the Janu sirsasana's another day the Konasana's another day the backbends....or the inversions, it's, perhaps surprisingly, a highly flexible, adaptable approach but within a seemingly fixed sequence. Occasionally I'll bring in something a little extra to give more prep to a posture, allow it open it up or develop it a little further, just as Manju says his father would do.

And there's something about a fixed sequence, a fixed routine. However it came about, there's magic there, ritual, discipline, something special going one that I still don't understand and yet recognise more and more and consider very much worth exploring further.

Ramaswami with Krishnamacharya, he studied with him for over 30 years.

This is the 200hr TT course I took with Ramaswami in 2010, I can't recommend it enough. I had no intention of teaching when I took the course and still considered myself a beginner. This may well be the last year it runs as I remember Ramaswami had planned on presenting the course to 108 students, he must be close to that by now. I don't remember Ramaswami once saying this is the right way or wrong way to practice Yoga, rather he would merely say "...this is how my teacher (Krishnamacharya) taught/showed/explained it to me.

Please feel free to send me any questions if your considering the course a few have already, more than happy to share my own experience of the course and logistics.

See this post from earlier in the year for pictures, videos and feedback from previous years.
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/ramaswami-on-teaching-pranayama-and-his.html




Vinyasa Krama Yoga
200-hour Teacher Training with Srivatsa Ramaswami

The teacher training program, which is registered with Yoga Alliance®, is open to those seeking intense study in the Traditional Yoga as learned from the legendary Yogi Sri T. Krishnamacharya. This 200-hour program will impart a comprehensive and in-depth grounding to Traditional Yoga as learned from Krishnamacharya. The complete Vinyasa Krama series, the entire range of sequences, numbering about 700 with important pranayama, chanting and meditation methods taught by Krishnamacharya, will be explored.

Program Benefits

Through the process of learning-by-doing, each student will understand and perform the basic contours and flow of a comprehensive Hatha Yoga practice. By experiencing each sequence of poses, and by practicing for several hours each day, the student will see steady improvement in his or her own practice, and learn helpful tips for teaching others. Students who do not intend to pursue the certificate are welcome to enroll in one or more of the Vinyasa Krama courses for their own personal enrichment.

Following the guidelines outlined by Yoga Alliance® for registered 200-hour teacher training programs, this program qualifies participants to register for the 200-hour credential, as verified by the instructor.

Required Coursework and Schedule.  This teacher training program runs five consecutive weeks in the Summer semester. Classes meet in the morning, afternoon and evening daily. Courses with the prefix YGPX completed during teacher training program may be applied towards the Yoga Philosophy professional certificate program.

See what courses are currently being offered
Course descriptions and schedule
Course and program requirements, schedules and tuition are subject to change; and additional fees may be incurred for books and materials. Please check the Web site or contact the Center for updated information. Click here to review all policies prior to enrollment.

Questions? Contact the Center for Religion and Spirituality at (310) 338-2799 or yoga@lmu.edu, or contact the program facilitator, Amparo Denney, at amparo4443@verizon.net.

*Students may enroll in the full teacher training program by enrolling in YGPX 900, or each class individually.

"Well it's like…asana, pranayama, limbs three and four….. so your supposed to be establishing the asana practice first but I also think there's a lot of value in doing a separate breathing practice , even as your establishing yourself in your asana practice. Or in fact in your case, you've been practicing for so long, your established in asana practice but then somehow you never got to a pranayama practice".

David Garrigues in an Interview with Peg Mulqueen  (see youtube clip towards end of post)



My own Pranayama page at the top of the blog. http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/p/pranayama.html

picture from North Sydney Yoga

Last weekend Chiara Ghiron, a friend who occasional comments here, mentioned that she was on her way to Gregor's Maehle's Hamburg workshop. I asked her if she might be interested in writing a guest post based on her notes and what she's come up with is one of the most complete workshop reports I've come across. Chiara also passed the notes along to Gregor himself to make sure he was happy for her to post them and he's not only agreed but also gone through the notes and made a few corrections to the sanskrit.

A huge thank you to Chiara for taking such detailed notes and for sharing them as well as to Gregor for being gracious enough to give their publication his blessing.

Given it's such a long and detailed report we've split it over three days roughly corresponding to the workshop and it's morning and afternoon sessions. Today is the Introduction plus Kapalabhati and pranayama, Tomorrow I'll post the section on Asana and Chakra (Yoga) meditation and on Saturday, Nauli Kriya and a led Class.

Chiara mentions Gregor's books but I've gone further and added pictures ( to brighten the text up a little) and links to the Amazon preview.

I'm sure Chiara will respond to any comments or questions you may have. Oh and please feel free to jump in if you were on the course with Chiara or any of Gregor's other workshops and have something to add ( but remember Chiara's report is split over three days/posts).

I do not have a regular ashtanga vinyasa practice as I study and teach in the vinyasa krama tradition of TKV Desikachar (the so-called viniyoga of Yoga) but ashtanga vinyasa was my first love and as they say... you never forget it, so here we go.
A vigorous practice is what we need sometimes, although I must admit that I do feel a bit frustrated when people assume that this does not or cannot happen in TKV Desikachar’s teachings.

After reading about Gregor Maehle's Pranayama book on Anthony's blog I bought it and found it extremely useful.
I mainly decided to attend the Hamburg workshop because the program was going to be as much about Pranayama and the upper limbs as about asana.

Then, as soon as I heard that a Yoga meditation book was in preparation I kept my search engines open and ordered it. It arrived just in time to almost complete a first reading before the workshop.
Many of the concepts treated during the workshop can be found in fantastic detail with step-by-step practical instructions in these two books, and although I do not have his earlier two ones I am guessing it must be the same for the practical tips on the different asanas.
We were about thirty or so participants, mostly Germans from Hamburg and around, a couple of foreigners including me.

Overall a really great workshop, I liked Gregor a lot, his "however"-s, and "korrekt"-s, his piercing and scrutinising eyes, his knowledge and his way of transmitting it, interspersed by the recalling of many personal experiences.
There was a lot of stuff to take home and ponder-practice on, especially if you have not read his books yet.
I can definitely recommend the Pranayama and Meditation ones, where he gives all the details I described above and so many more and of course so much better.
The Pranayama book has extremely detailed descriptions of all the essential breathing patterns and comes with many exercises to help build a strong practice, as well as being interspersed by many philosophical and gross and subtle physiology considerations.
In the Meditation book Gregor has the same approach, many many details and progressive practice, and I loved the connection between the different chakras and the yamas and niyamas he makes.
In both books the progression in the exercises is accompanied by recaps on the previous ones, so you are not even tempted to jump ahead, as we all too often tend to do.

I do not have the first two books but although ashtanga vinyasa is not my main practice anymore I may end up buying them...

I just wish he spent more time on the other stuff that was indicated on the program, like mantra chanting and the dharana-dhyana limbs, because he seems truly knowledgeable.  Yoga philosophy appeared in bits here and there, not in a structured way but I guess it makes sense; you certainly cannot approach this stuff properly in only a few hours.

Gregor is going to be in Tuscany next summer (2014) and I think the Bali retreats could be worth it if you are seriously into Yoga.

Here follows a description of the workshop, a bit long I know but hopefully it will entice you to attend future workshops of Gregor's.

Please buy his books and do not hesitate to correct me if you were there too and I have misunderstood something.


Right at the beginning Gregor said that the main reason to start this European 'tour' was his preoccupation with the obsession so many practitioners have with the body, as if the main purpose of Yoga were to make the body beautiful.

In fact, quite the opposite, he said. Yoga really helps us to 'die before we die' in the sense of preparing us to part with the body and thus to start a process of dis-identification with it.
Essentially Yoga is a system to prepare us for the moment of death.

As a consequence with this obsession with the body he also sees an increase in injuries in Ashtanga Vinyasa practitioners, which also concerns him a lot.

So the workshop also dealt with the very important parts of Yoga that are somewhat neglected. Starting with kriyas, pranayama and meditation (and here he made a note on the fact that Yoga meditation is completely different from Buddhist vipassana meditation, and mentioned the different levels of Yoga meditation, with and without object).
Gregor stressed that we do not have to be masters of all asanas to embark in pranayama; in fact it is a very important practice that should be part of our daily routine.

In order to explain why kriyas, pranayama and meditation are so important Gregor started from the Taittiriya Upanishad where we learn of the panchamaya kosha model, the five layers which surround our Self.
The inner layers Vijnanamaya and Anandamaya can be related to the samadhi with object and object-less samadhi respectively, with the outer layers being of fundamental importance to get there.

Mentioning the '80s movie 'Once they were warriors' and the drama of domestic violence, Gregor introduced the concept of conditioning, an extremely important concept to understand: we see things coloured by our previous experiences, we see the world according to our past. So if our father was beating our mother, this will somehow seem normal to us and we may be lead into behaving in a similar way.

Paraphrasing Patanjali he also said that you could only be a true scientist if you overcome the conditioning (and I can certainly relate to that, having seen several times in my previous life how easy it is to more or less subconsciously 'direct' scientific experiments towards the direction we want them to take).

So body, breath and mind are essential layers for conditioning, and since they act as back up drives for each other, if you really want to change yourself you need to act on all three layers simultaneously. For example a big insult to the body has an effect on the mind, and vice versa, and also breath has a similar role in our behaviour.

Moving on to the practical aspects, we worked on the Kapalabhati kriya (skull polishing) where the fast and intense Kapalabhati breathing increases these movements and depletes the blood of CO2 simultaneously increasing oxygenation. Which is why it is very important to perform Kapalabhati properly, meaning leaving time for a full inhalation to take place after the fast and vigorous exhale. In practice, exhalation should take about 1/5 of the time and inhalation ca. 4/5 of the breathing cycle.

Given that Kapalabhati may turn the Apana Vayu up, it is not indicated during pregnancy or menstruation.
The lower abdominal muscles need to be engaged fully in the exhalation, we need to work on the lower part of the transverse abdominis. Therefore Kapalabhati is also a great preparation for Uddiyana Bandha and if done well, Moola Bandha will also spontaneously engage.
He said that people tend to hold Uddiyana Bandha too high and this will inevitably strain the diaphragm (since transverse abdominis and diaphragm interdigitate with each other) and consequently the heart, which is also connected to the diaphragm through a tendon.

It is important to keep the ribcage lifted, and Jalandhara Bandha can help with holding it up.
He gave us a couple of practical exercises:
- put one fist on the belly below the navel and the other hand on top of that. Press the belly during the exhalation phase to increase contraction and awareness.
- press the two index fingers to the side of the rectum abdominis two inches below the navel to feel the contraction in the transverse during the exhalation.
He made us practice with a metronome set at 40 bpm, in rounds of 20 or so.
In terms of building up our practice, we should start with three rounds of 20 with a pause (Ujjayi or just rest) in between and slowly (meaning months of practice) build up to 300 uninterrupted cycles at a frequency of 60 bpm, so ultimately for 5 minutes uninterrupted Kapalabhati.

We should only increase the speed if we can guarantee that the inhalation is still completely passive and full after the exhale.

He recommends practicing pranayama after the asana practice and before Shavasana. And in any case Shavasana should only be performed if we are really, really tired and for not longer than a couple of minutes.
Two reasons for this
- pranic absorption will be much more efficient after asana practice (and we will then also truly understand how important inversions are)
- after asana practice the nadis are generally balanced, both nostrils will be free, but after Shavasana most likely than not one of the nostrils will block up again so we will be unbalanced again

Meditation should be done before dawn, that is the time of the day when we are closer to God.

For Nadi Shodana he said it doesn't really matter which hand we use.
In fact, if we have a shoulder imbalance it may be useful to use the weaker side as the hand that closes the nostrils, in order not to loose even more strength and worsen the imbalance.
He recommended against Surya Bhedana since we already, as a society, use too much of the left hemisphere.
For pregnancy, standard practice should be Chandra Bhedana, since the right hemisphere and side of the body are those involved in the anabolic processes.
Essentially Surya and Chandra Bhedana are therapeutic pranayamas, so are not indicated for all people. Nadi Shodana is a much better general pranayama, balancing the nadis.
Nadi Shodana starts and finishes with the left nostril, to balance the anabolic functions.

For Nadi Shodana he advised against counting the cycles, better to set an alarm after 10-15 minutes and just carry on with the practice, aiming at lengthening the breath (finding our edge, and not progressing further until the breath length we use can be sustained even on our most shitty days). Otherwise, by maintaining both a high number of breathing cycles and lengthening the breath, we could easily be spending all day doing pranayama, which we may or may not afford to do.
Which is why Sri T Krishnamacharya was so happy when his householder duties were over, as he could then dedicate fully to practice (pranayama, which he loved, and a limited number of asanas, mainly inversions and Padmasana, Paschimottanasana).
Similarly we should aim at using a mantra to extend breath length, starting from OM repeated as many times as many seconds we want the breath to be, and counting these times moving along the fingers with the thumb (yogic counting) rather than count 'one, two, three...'.
Also it is better to use counts of seconds and ratios which are easily up-scaleable like 1:1, 1:2, 1:2:1:1;0, 1:2:2:2 etc he said, as visamavritti ratios like 3:4 tend to become very complicated to 'upgrade'. He used a metronome all along.
Then we can start upgrading and use the Gayatri Mantra one or more times for each breathing cycle to measure the length of inhalation and exhalation.

The drishti for Pranayama should gradually move to Bhrumadhya inside the head, but without muscular strain. So it is better to start from Nasagra, and then move to the middle of the eyebrows before Bhrumadhya proper.
If we perform Pranayama with our eyes closed (easier at the beginning) we should focus on our chosen Ishta Devata. This is important because we will ultimately become what we think about.

As teachers, we should always make students start from a samavrtti ratio and gradually modify to a visamavrtti that is more appropriate for the effects we want to elicit (keeping in mind that the inhalation will make us more rajasic and the exhalation will make us more tamasic). Kumbhakas are sattvic, especially the kevala ones. And they will be even more sattvic if we focus on our chosen Ishta Devata, as we should always do.

*Continued tomorrow Asana and Chakra Meditation


Chiara Ghiron
www.theyogicat.com

Continued from Day 1(Kapalabhati and Pranayama)

Guest post by Chiara Ghiron
www.theyogicat.com

I expected Gregor to just touch on the seated asanas after what he had said at the beginning of the workshop, but we did half of the primary series instead. Not that I am complaining.
There was no time for questions in the morning; we started straight away with the sun salutations after the opening chant.
Tips and anatomical considerations were given along the way, stopping to explain in detail. But from the beginning Gregor insisted of the utmost importance of Baddha Konasana as a preparatory posture to open the hips and on the importance of Virasana, he said we should spend at least five minutes in Virasana each morning, sitting on a block or towel at the beginning, then gradually lowering our seat.

Link to preview on Amazon

Adho Mukha Shvanasana
- we should take a wider stance than we tend to, in order to truly lengthen the spine. An opposition of movements (heart towards the thumbs and coccyx towards the sky) is what we are looking for, also in line with the sutras teachings of balancing opposites.
I liked the 'heart towards the thumbs' advice, very effective for me, I finally felt really light in the asana, while I normally end up relatively tired if I hold it very long.

Urdhva Mukha Shvanasana
- Gregor encouraged us all to keep our hands lower in UMS. He said that the common habit to keep our hands under our shoulder is very dangerous in terms of long term lower back injuries.
We want to lead with our hearts also here, not with the shoulders or collapsing in the lower back. To keep the hands at the level of our belly is much better to encourage a correct posture, even if at the beginning it seems impossible to achieve.

Virabhadrasana
- this asana has to be considered a preparation for back-bending, so we really need to open our hearts and have the hips level fully elongating the thigh muscles (foot at ca. 45 degree to allow this without knee strain), then bring our arms as further back as possible

Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana
- Gregor said that in the early days of practice this standing posture was not proposed until people could do the supta variation (on the floor) first. Practicing on the floor first is important to learn the movement of the leg. We should aim at the floor with the heel and not with the toes, to get an internal rotation of the femur in its socket.
- We need to really spread our toes to activate the arch of the standing leg foot otherwise knee injuries are more likely

Ardha Baddha Padma Uttanasana (or whatever that half lotus forward bend is called)
- He said that the correct order of movement is; bend your knee and touch the buttock with the heel (if you cannot do this, forget entering Padmasana); lift the bent knee up; rotate the femur bringing the foot to the inner thigh; bring the foot higher while keeping the heel in line with the navel; grab the foot from behind if you can. If you cannot grab your toe you should not bend.

Utthita Trikonasana
- extend as much as possibly before coming with the hand on the floor/thumb/leg and keep the heel of the back foot in line with the front foot. Really this initial extension is the most important part because if we want to touch the floor at all costs and we come down with a twisted back, there is no way we can straighten up afterwards.
- the front foot should have a slight internal movement towards the back one, in order to ensure internal rotation of the front leg, which is important for alignment. The stance should be wide.

Parivrtta Trikonasana
- the back foot should be rotated ca. 45 degrees in order to allow for the hips to be parallel to the short side of the mat without straining the knee
- because the hips are at 90 degree relative to where they were in Utthita Trikonasana, the stance should be ca. 25 cm shorter (more or less the average hip width)

Parshvakonasana
- wide stance again, bend the front knee as much as possible, bring the hand on the floor then extend the arm, shoulders open with scapula sliding down the back, again find the opposites of extension and grounding and work on those.

Partivrtta Parshvakonasana
- Start in a low lunge position and bring the hand fully to the floor by moving the shoulder as much over the knee as possibly. The hand should push down. Then try and strengthen the back leg. Then, but only if the hand is firmly pressing down, bring the back heel to the floor.

Prasarita Padottanasana variations
- make sure that the external side or the feet are parallel, engage the quadriceps, and do not overextend the knees. Lead with the heart.

Utkatasana
- we were encouraged to sit as low as possible without loosing the opening of the heart. Otherwise we can forget building our cherished yoga butts ;-)

Virabhadrasana II
- be aware of the difference of the back foot position between Virabhadrasana and this variation, for the sake of the health of knee and hip alignment

In order to learn to jump back and forth we should do at least 15,000 enthusiastic vinyasas, with the enTHEUSiastic part well firm in our minds, God and devotion need to be present at all times in our practice.
Aside from this, we should practice Lolasana (Padmasana not necessary for this training exercise, just cross the legs) and be able to hold it for at least 10 breaths. Use as many blocks to help with lifting our hips at first, and then decrease their number gradually removing them. Then start to swing, like a pendulum with amplitude growing with time spent practicing. Ad then one day we will magically succeed.

Paschimottanasana
- focus on releasing the head of the quadriceps that goes into the lower torso, and the abdominals, otherwise we will bulk up the belly and it will not be possible to extend/bend fully
- we should lead with our hearts, aiming at getting the heart towards the toes.
- don't rest the elbows on the floor.
- lifting the heels and hyperextending the knees is a sure and fast way to destroy the posterior cruciate ligament. Keep heels on the floor and activate the quadriceps (with the attentions described above)

Dandasana
- we should buy those physiotherapy resistance bands and train on developing the upper back muscles to fully extend the spine

Janusirshasana variations
- for the A variation, we should keep the knee at ca. 90 degrees, the foot somewhat extended (it does not matter if the toes end under the thigh), the shin on the floor with the knee extending away, the femur internally rotated (in both legs). It does not matter if the bent leg hip lifts off the floor a bit; we really need to work on the rotation as a priority
- for the B variation, the one with the leg in Virasana, we should aim at external rotation of the thigh after having moved the calf muscle away from it. (I seem to remember that in the Pranayama or Meditation book was warning against this though, as this movement could bring the knee out of alignment)
- for the variation where we sit on our heels the foot should be dorsiflexed with the toes pointing forward. External rotation of the femur here
- for the D variation we should prepare the leg by grabbing the foot moving the arm along the bent leg from the inside of the thigh to the outer side of the foot, pointing the heel towards the belly, pressing the ball of the foot with the heel perpendicular on the floor and bringing the knee to the floor with internal rotation of the femur. If we cannot keep the heel properly lifted, we should forget the rest of the asana and practice on the internal rotation of the femur with both hips lifted.

Virasana
- start sitting higher up, on blocks or a folded blanked until we can be comfortable with an extended spine. He said we should do all of our office work in this position, the intervertebral disks just get squashed through the day and we need to make sure that the upper torso and the lower core muscles can support us fully, otherwise not only we will shrink but also get back problems
- it is super important to work on extending the quadriceps otherwise we will hurt our knees

Baddha Konasana
- this is a really fundamental posture for all the hip openings (so Kino was right with her 50 breaths...). In Baddha Konasana we should open our feet soles and lift/suck the heels up and towards the belly, internally rotate the femurs and keep leading with our hearts. It is a double Janusirshasana A, it does not matter if the sit bones lift up a bit when we bend forward until we practice and practice and practice and the hips open and the sit bones will be on the floor again.

Baddha Padmasana
- we should only really try it if we can do a proper Baddha Konasana - a good test is if the can bend the knee and touch the sit-bone with the heel. If not, work on hip openers first.
- if we cannot do Baddha Padmasana, it is better to cross the legs bringing the shins parallel to each other, away from the hips with both feet on the floor and extend/lower the torso grabbing our elbows on the back, this is a fantastic hip opener

Sarvangasana
- you need to keep a 'short' neck here almost coming into your shoulders like a turtle


We did not have any formal session on the Yoga sutras or the Yama-Niyama limbs as Gregor said it takes four years of weekly classes to go through this stuff, so there is no point in just an overview. Fair enough.

He focussed on chakra meditation instead and pointed out several times that, unless we are super experienced or need to treat a specific serious problem, we should aim at activating and balancing all chakras, not just a chosen one.
We need to be fully functioning human beings, not just exacerbate and reinforce our existing tendencies.
Same as women always wanting to do backbends and men always wanting to do handstands while they really should to the opposite. I must be born in the wrong body/sex.

Gregor stressed again the difference between Buddhist meditation (very slow process just on awareness and breath) and Yoga meditation. He made the comparison of an Atari computer (vipassana) and a superprocessor (Yoga meditation).
He went again on the importance of Pranayama in balancing the nadis, since depending on the dominant nostril we will be more or less successful in the activities we start.
For example the right nostril should be open if we want to commit a crime, are a policeman wanting to arrest a criminal, give a public speech, study the Shastras, study a difficult scientific text, performing kriyas...
The left nostril should be open for conception, breastfeeding, counselling, listening to a friend, artistic activities, all other yogic activities.

By learning to regulate which nostril is predominant we can make sure that the activities we need to perform are successful (and to be honest after reading the Svara Yoga book I have started to notice that my right nostril is always more open whenever I feel it is a good time to study...).
It is better to lie on the left side than to drink a coffee, same effect. Lie on the right side if you want to fall asleep quickly etc etc.

Right nostril - sympathetic nervous system, catabolic
Left nostril - parasympathetic nervous system, anabolic
We have a dualistic mind, night and day, Ida and Pingala

Gregor mentioned the Shiva Svarodhaya Shastra, which has been translated into English (it is in the Svara Yoga book of the Bihar School of Yoga)

Every 90 minutes or so, on average, the dominant nostril changes. There are a few minutes where no nostril is dominant, both hemispheres are suspended (we feel a bit weird) the central nadi is active and prana enters it. This time is what Yogis want to elongate.
Time is the operating system of the mind, Gregor said, and mentioned an Indian analogy of the consciousness as a river: like a river is simultaneously at the source, rapids and estuary, so our consciousness if simultaneously at our birth, life and death.

Then Gregor gave us a Sushumna breathing exercise for 5 minutes: visualise a thin red thread going alongside the spine from the sacrum to the crown of the head while internally reciting the So (inhale) Ham (exhale) mantra

In meditation we need to turn Apana Vayu up, so it is not a good idea to meditate after lunch, because Apana will all be busy with digestion.
Gregor mentioned that the quickest way to get into a mystical experience is to fast. But this has to be done in a scientific way, accompanied by internal cleansing as well.
The peristalsis needs to be switched off completely, which happens after 4-5 days of fasting, the body goes into semi-starvation mode (not compatible with an intense asana practice). Vitamins and minerals need to be provided throughout this time though. Then studies have shown that semi-starvation is capable of extending lifespan (my note: it is true that caloric restriction has beneficial effects but this has not been proven extensively in humans except for alternate day fasting as far as I have checked with scientific literature so far)

Chakras represent various types of brain circuitry; there are several of them.
They have location, sense, shapes and colours associated, which have all been described in the Shastras. We should reject all the new age-y rainbow garbage when the colours described in the Yoga texts are explored, validated and very precisely indicated (see the cover of his Meditation book which reports the exact colours).
It is very important for meditation that we visualise the lotuses associated to the different chakras with their petals UP if we want to use visualisation as an aid to awaken and raise Kundalini.
He went though the most important chakras and for each we did a 5-minute meditation, beginning and ending by chanting OM.

- Mooladhara chakra (at the coccyx, tamasic in nature) which represents the reptilian brain, concerned with survival. If this chakra is closed the ability to care for others is impaired. Self-destructive behaviour, adrenaline junkies, heroin addicts are signs of a closed Mooladhara chakra. Very easy to revert to this chakra.
Mantra LAM. Exercise: mentally recite LAM n times during inhale and n times during exhale while focussing on the coccyx.

- Svadhishthana chakra (at the sacrum) represents the mammalian brain, encourages life in society, being a team player, procreate, raise and defend your family and kids, defending our territory, etc. It is connected to the limbic brain, being together and channelling emotions, being there for others. Very important in military life to be able to obey orders, exploited by third chakra people. If the second chakra is blocked, people may have an excessive sexual urge, and also be infertile. This chakra needs to be fully activated to live a full family life. He mentioned the example of a family of meth cookers who were also prostituting their child daughter while running porn videos as an example of second chakra closed.
Mantra: VAM. Exercise: mentally recite LAM n/2 and VAM n/2 times during inhale and then VAM for n/2 times followed by LAM for n/2 times during exhale while focussing on the coccyx-sacrum (inhale) then sacrum-coccyx (exhale).

- Third chakra, Manipura (rajasic, element fire) at the navel (behind it) represents the primate brain. Assimilation and acquisition of food, territory, wealth, power, responsibility towards society.
A blockage may result in a problem with asserting oneself, captivating people. Leaders will have an open Manipura chakra but need an open heart chakra as well to be good ones.
People with a strong third chakra do not concern themselves with what others think of them and tend to be extrovert. The different societies described by Marx in Das Kapital reflect the lower three chakras, while he could not envisage a fourth chakra society.
Mantra RAM. Exercise: mentally recite LAM n/3, VAM n/3 times, RAM n/3 times during inhale and then RAM n/3 times, VAM n/3 times followed by LAM n/3 times during exhale while focussing on the coccyx-sacrum-navel (inhale) then navel-sacrum-coccyx (exhale).

- Fourth chakra: Anahata at the heart (unstruck sound, because all sounds and the OM sound resonate here) represents the human being brain circuitry. Compassion, unconditional love, forgiveness, Jesus Christ had an open Anahata chakra. It is what makes us humane.
Traditionally a feminine chakra, men tend not to access it. But a woman with a closed Manipura chakra and open Anahata will become subservient, so again a good balance of all chakras is important.
It gives a feeling of trust in the divine, whatever this means for us (95% of the people feel that there is something greater than us, he said atheists typically have a closed Anahata chakra).
It may take the loss of a loved one, grief, to open the fourth chakra. This is because grief crushes our ego and opens our eyes to the fact that there is something other than us out there, allows to experience transcendence and the oceanic feel of belonging to something larger than us. So he was very critical of modern society trying to suppress grief with drugs at all costs.
Mantra: YAM, sense: touch (hugging is an expression of Anahata chakra), element: air.
Exercise analogously to previous ones, adding the repetition of YAM focussing on the heart for a time n/4 the length of our inhale and exhale, moving up and down respectively with the focus on each chakra

- Fifth chakra Vishuddha at the base of the throat. Mantra HAM, element: space. Through this chakra we can understand divine law and how it expresses itself in the creation and the laws that regulate the cosmos. E = mc2 for example. If this chakra is open we can 'download' this information. It is the chakra of geniuses, Einstein, Newton, Tesla, Beethoven, ...
But it is very important that the lower chakras are open otherwise we will not be able to create a supportive environment for ourselves (see Van Gogh for example). Autism can be seen as an imbalance of 1-5-6 open chakras, 2-3-4 closed chakras. Take LSD with closed lower chakras and you may develop psychosis.
If we could collectively open this chakra, the world would be a much better one.
Exercises, as before adding this one to the focussed breathing cycle.

- Sixth chakra Ajna, mantra OM, located at the centre of the cranium, at the third ventricle, in the cave of Brahman according to Yoga anatomy-physiology. Element: intelligence.
When prana enters this chakra we have direct experience of the divine.
Exercise, analogously as previous ones, moving up and down to and from this chakra.

- The seventh chakra, Sahasrara, cannot be accessed through the breathing cycles, but we get there through the kumbhakas.

* Continued tomorrow with nauli kriya and led class


Chiara Ghiron
www.theyogicat.com

Continued from Day 2 (Asana and Yoga meditation)


Guest post by Chiara Ghiron
www.theyogicat.com



At the beginning of the Mysore class Gregor reminded everybody that it is the breath that has to guide us throughout the practice.
He also reminded us of the Heyam Dukham Anagatam sutra (future pain must be avoided, YS II.16). If pain becomes a samskara, we will subconsciously look for it again and again. We must therefore be very careful not to introduce it in any endeavour.
I liked this reminder, which is also one of the guiding principles in TKV Desikachar's teachings.


Gregor spent some time explaining how activating the Agni fire is important for a healthy life and how it can help to fight diseases like viral and bacterial infections, although he was very careful to point out that cancer cannot be avoided through these practices because it is the karmic load that we carry with us that tends to cause it.
He also specified that a Yogi body is strong when Agni is active and can sustain periods of eating poorly or very little and also eating poison (like junk food) if necessary. He said we should of course aim to have a proper diet based mostly on vegetables, but if we have a properly activated Agni we will be able to digest everything with ease.
I liked this note because so many people are obsessed with 'proper' food (including me sometimes..) and he brought us all down to earth I think.

Link to Amazon preview

Before the led vinyasa count class Gregor spent a hour or so to show in detail how Nauli is done properly and broke it into progressive phases. He checked that no one had had breakfast, and stressed that Nauli is contraindicated with pregnancy, menstruation, deep vein thrombosis (if there is a clog and moves about you never know where it will end). On the other hand Nauli can help managing a prolapsed uterus and menstrual pain if these are related to a prolapsed uterus.
He said that if we spend 5 minutes every morning doing Kapalabhati and 5 doing Nauli, they would be the best-spent 10 minutes of practice. But of course we need to do all the rest as well!

- in phase I we exhale completely with legs slightly bent and hands on the thighs and then perform a fake inhalation. That is, close your throat completely and then open the chest completely. This action will suck the diaphragm in. It needs to be performed to your capacity, differently from a kumbhaka during pranayama, where you set a defined time. Also, important technical detail, this is Bahya Uddiyana, it is different from Uddiyana Bandha, where we actively contract the lower abdomen muscles bringing them to the spine

- in phase II we perform Agnisara, that is during the fake exhalation we keep the upper part of the throat contracted and chest expanded, and repeatedly release-recatch the belly to create an up-and-down wavy motion. The speed has to be increased gradually, as with Kapalabhati control is the most important thing, rather than performing this practices fast and poorly

- in phase III we keep the external retention and push strongly with our hands on our bent thighs to isolate out the rectus abdominis, which creates a vertical muscular bulge

- in phase IV we remove the pressure from the left leg to isolate the right part of the rectus abdominis, then we do the same on the left side by bringing pressure on the right thigh again and isolate the left part of the rectus abdominis

-in phase V we perform phases III-IV-III-IV in succession on the two sides to create a counterclockwise turning movement and then invert the sequence to create a clockwise one

We should gradually upgrade to 3 1/2 turns in each sense, but really gradually.

Initially we should do just three rounds of Agnisara for about 20 waves, and then up to 50 is apparently achievable.
Then 3 Bahya Uddiyana, three right side Nauli and three on the left side, and finally go for the full cycle.

I found the Agnisara practice difficult, for some reason Nauli is OK, I was doing it right all these years! but I found this initial preparatory phase hard.

He let us rest for a 10-minute long Shavasana (contrary to what he had said previously... we must have looked knackered!) with a nice chant.

For the whole practice I kept my usual long quiet Ujjayi in the asanas and only managed three breaths in each of them.
It was really funny to hear all the breathing noise the other people were making, sometimes it felt like it was a bit over the top, done because 'you are supposed to do it' rather than really necessary.... also funny how it changed in tone and volume during the practice.
At the end of the class everybody was soaking with sweat and I was dry, although I guess Gregor is right in saying that we need some cardiovascular exercise as well.

As usual I skipped the vinyasa between sides in the seated postures, and the Chakrasanas because whenever I do them I invariably hurt my neck.
Either I was so absorbed into myself and did not see it happening, or we skipped Garbha Pindasana.
I tried to apply all the hints he gave in the led class, although I was a bit confused about the internal-external rotations in the Janusirshasana variations, need to work on those more.

I tried to lead each pose with the heart and this hint really helped in all the asanas. Also, as a metaphor for how to approach life gave me cause to ponder for the whole practice.
I must admit I never felt so light in Adho Mukha Svanasana.

I had forgotten how much I struggle in Parivrtta Parshvakonasana so instead of pushing it I just stayed up on my hands working on the femur rotation and observed myself. Same story of course for the Marichyasanas C and D but never mind.

Another asana that I usually hate is Sarvangasana. For some energetic reasons I tend to feel very oppressed and cannot wait to get out of it.
But this time I kept my neck short and I was comfortable for almost all the 25 breaths. There you go...

Urdhva Dhanurasana was really enjoyable; perhaps my heart chakra is opening after all....


At the beginning of the Mysore class Gregor reminded everybody that it is the breath that has to guide us throughout the practice.
I got a lot of help in a number of asanas. I am not going to list them all otherwise it will be another ten pages or so, I wrote down here the ones, which were more closely related to the advice given in the led class and not just to my usual problems. Gregor was not only adjusting but also stopping briefly to answer questions related to the adjustments, which I found very good.

In Adho Mukha Svanasana he actually made me shorten my stance to bring the heels strongly on the floor and typically (I always get this adjustment) pushed me more towards the sky. While breathing, I realised that my hip imbalance is not going to get any better without a reference point, so I guess I will stick to this slightly shorter stance.

Gregor also helped me in the understanding this Janusirshasana internal rotation. Yes, it works much better this way, I had been externally rotating but it now seems absurd. I was pushing the knee away but with the incorrect femur rotation all along. There you go..

In the second part of Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana he pushed my upper leg hip further forward, he said it is important to feel the stretch in the internal thigh muscle, that's where we want to work.

Got a lot of help with Baddha Konasana, and it was super useful. I tend not to open my feet like a book enough, not that I cannot do it but I sort of thought I was cheating that way, turns out I should really go for it!!
But for sure I was not sucking the heels towards the spine enough. I was concerned about my sit bones lifting when he pushed me down, but he said it does not matter too much for the moment, I need to work on the internal rotation more.

Chiara Ghiron
www.theyogicat.com
I'll be adding these three posts to my Ashtanga Workshop Review page that lives at the top of the blog

http://www.amazon.com/Swara-Yoga-Swami-Mukti-Bodhananda/dp/8185787360

Here's the section on nostril dominance from Chiara's notes to Gregor Maehle workshop

"Gregor stressed again the difference between Buddhist meditation (very slow process just on awareness and breath) and Yoga meditation. He made the comparison of an Atari computer (vipassana) and a superprocessor (Yoga meditation).
He went again on the importance of Pranayama in balancing the nadis, since depending on the dominant nostril we will be more or less successful in the activities we start.
For example the right nostril should be open if we want to commit a crime, are a policeman wanting to arrest a criminal, give a public speech, study the Shastras, study a difficult scientific text, performing kriyas...
The left nostril should be open for conception, breastfeeding, counselling, listening to a friend, artistic activities, all other yogic activities.

By learning to regulate which nostril is predominant we can make sure that the activities we need to perform are successful (and to be honest after reading the Svara Yoga book I have started to notice that my right nostril is always more open whenever I feel it is a good time to study...).
It is better to lie on the left side than to drink a coffee, same effect. Lie on the right side if you want to fall asleep quickly etc etc.

Right nostril - sympathetic nervous system, catabolic
Left nostril - parasympathetic nervous system, anabolic
We have a dualistic mind, night and day, Ida and Pingala

Gregor mentioned the Shiva Svarodhaya Shastra, which has been translated into English (it is in the Svara Yoga book of the Bihar School of Yoga)

Every 90 minutes or so, on average, the dominant nostril changes. There are a few minutes where no nostril is dominant, both hemispheres are suspended (we feel a bit weird) the central nadi is active and prana enters it. This time is what Yogis want to elongate".

from Guest post by Chiara Ghiron
www.theyogicat.com

I asked Chiara if she had any articles on this from the western perspective, research papers etc.

Of course she does.

Thank you yet again to Chiara for providing these links, have been wanting to read some more on this for some time.

I mentioned last week that the AYA2 (Ashtanga) House Recommendations were being turned into a small booklet designed by Laura Shaw Feit of Small Blue pearls and http://lshawdesign.com. Well, here it is available free to download to your iPad (you just have to register) or it's a couple of quid for the printed copy.

Downloaded the pdf but kind of want a printed copy, have to check about International postage. Just did, ordered a copy, postage about a quid to the UK. $5.20 including postage, bargain.


So then I thought, how about a House Recommendations for the HOME Ashtangi, for the Home shala........

SAME book.

and highly recommended, will provoke thought and reflection for the home and shala ashtangi, beginner and more experienced alike, which is always good right ( off the mat obviously).

Here's What Small Blue pearls has to say about it.

"Designed and produced by yours truly, this incredibly helpful resource is now available as a free digital download (there are choices on format here) as well as a lovely printed version to keep mat-side. The printed version costs under five bucks and covers the printing and shipping only. Let's all thank Angela Jamison for crowdsourcing and curating this awesome pamphlet!"

LINK TO BUY PRINTED COPY OR DOWNLOAD FOR FREE

I like the cover so much that I thought it deserved a larger shot all of it's own along with the contents and the introduction (double page spread here to give an idea of the design. Love the layout, marries well with the tone.

http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/585165

http://lshawdesign.com

http://lshawdesign.com

http://lshawdesign.com

Phew, long title.

I added the update below to my back pain post from a couple of days ago, the one where I use the Feminist Ryan Gosling as a model for where I'm feeling the pain, thought it could have it's own post.

"Ah me! alas, pain, pain ever, forever!" - Name the tweaked muscle (modelled by the Feminist Ryan Gosling)

thought it could have it's own post.

UPDATE
One of the comments suggested the exercises for back pain in Sharath's book, mentioned I didn't have a copy yet and I was kindly sent the appropriate page, thank you  for that appreciate it.




This morning I took it easy again.

Put a tennis ball between me and the wall and rolled around a bit seems i can find the spot standing up and with a slight turn to the left and a gentle squat. With theracane work do we massage the spot or just press, must check unless anyone beats me to it.

Started practice with a light Vinyasa krama tadasana sequence then a very gentle, hesitant sury, working my hands very slowly down my legs to the mat over five breaths, stepping back more of a suggestion of a sury actually.

Same with the first couple of postures from the ashtanga standing sequence, more a suggesting, a nod in the direction of the postures.

Moved into 2nd series, hint of pasasana, skip krounchasana and settled into the backbends which feel fine, nice actually. Didn't want to push it with laghu vajrasana and kapotasana this morning so moved on to Urdhava Dhanurasana instead.

Can't work out a way to get up to savasana avoiding the pain, probably not going to do any harm but erring on the side of caution here. Did a couple of supine poses instead, seems bringing the knees up to the chest is fine.

Sirsasana was OK. Oh, forgot, added some VK hip openers while in headstand, only place I can seem to work them in.

Sitting is still painful, that pinching around the illiac crest, noticed in ustrasana that vajrasana is fine so settled on that for finishing.

Stayed in vajrasana for some pranayama but then switched to David Garrigues pranayama prep posture and did the Ashtanga pranayama sequence there instead, some Yoga meditation too, really like that posture.

feel better for doing it, pain free for a little while afterwards but sitting here writing this is uncomfortable again.

David Garrigues pranayama prep posture, loving this.

Update to that update.

My backs been feeling a LOT better all day, think either the modified practice, Davids pranayama prep position or the tennis ball has made a difference.

Sharath's Book - Ashtanga yoga Anusthana

Anyway, I posted the picture from Sharath's book above on fb with a link to the post and a friend Gaby asked me which book it was from.

I thought I'd posted a preview when it first came up but seems not. This is all I've posted on it on THIS post


Jois Yoga Greenwich have this to say about the book on their fb page

"It is a primer on ashtanga yoga philosophy and practice. It offers the correct vinyasa count and drishtis for the primary series, a few therapeutic postures, and some mantras".

A few therapeutic postures? That's interesting no?

I asked my friend Joy about Sharath's book as she's just picked up a copy
She says...

 "It's a lovely book, only $12 (about 6 Quid for you), starts out with a beautiful dedication to Guruji, great description of all 8 limbs, sutras and why we do what we do, there is a focus on Yama and niyamas, notes on practice: Tristhana & Vinyasa, then full Primary (looks like same pics from Yoga Mala and Lino's book), opening mantra, asanas for therapy, magala mantra and shanti mantra".

Thanks Joy.


However, some screen shots are trickling out on google image search so these are for Gaby ( hope whoever originally posted them doesn't mind me reposting them).

I still don't have a copy, doesn't seem to have shown up in the UK anywhere yet. Heard it's supposedly only 500rs in the Mysore shala shop, what's that $8?


Details below from Ashtanga Yoga Jiva

Ashtanga yoga Anusthana
By R. Sharath Jois
Published in Mysore, in March 2103.
87 pages, Rs. 500.
Thus far only available directly from the KPJAYI Shop, in Mysore.
Includes a dedication to Guruji, exploration of the eight limbs of Ashtanga, a note on practice, Primary Series asanas, mantra, supplemental asanas for therapy.  

The dedication:
This book and its teachings are dedicated to Shri K. Pattabhi Jois, Guruji.
Without him, none of this would be possible. Guruji sacrificed so much to study and then share this practice with us all. He left his home in a small village to devote himself completely to his studies. many years of hard work passed before Guruji became well-known to the world. His teachings now cross continents, and more students come every year to this wonderful practice.
Guruji was committed to passing on the practice exactly as he had learned it from his teacher, Krishnamacharya. he spent years learning all he could from Krishnamacharya and when it came time for him to begin teaching, Guruji did so following his teachers instructions. This is parampara, which means an uninterrupted succession; the direct and unbroken transmission of knowledge from a teacher to his or her student.
All who dedicate themselves to this tradition and who teach within this parampara owe much to Guruji. Devoting oneself to the lineage of Guruji is to enter an ancient river of teachings that flows to an ocean of wisdom.
I dedicate this book to him, in loving memory.
om sri gurubhyo namah

Jois Yoga have it now for $18 same at Eddie's Ashtanga Yoga New York Shipping to UK is another $18. I'll wait and and try and pick a copy when Sharath comes to the UK.

I wonder about this though, if your new to Ashtanga, which book are you going to buy, Patabhi Jois' Yoga Mala  or this one by Sharath? You'd hope they would buy both but I wonder if Yoga Mala will become marginalised somewhat, less read which would be a shame because I love that book, find something new whenever I come back to it.

Preview on Amazon

Anyone finding there way to this post over the next few years and wondering which to buy, GET BOTH, or get this one yourself and tell your loved one(s) to but Yoga Mala for Christmas, for your birthday, 4th of July, Valentines Day.........

Continuing with modifying my practice to take account of the lower back pain from Monday. (linked post is the one with the preview of Sharath's book).

Today was pretty much the same as yesterday as it felt so good and felt better throughout the day. I guess I'm using Ashtanga as a framework and then looking in the Vinyasa Krama tool chest to modify. Here's a recap of yesterday's practice

YESTERDAY

Put a tennis ball between me and the wall and rolled around a bit seems I can find the spot standing up and with a slight turn to the left and a gentle squat. With theracane work do we massage the spot or just press, must check unless anyone beats me to it (susan came through on this,  more of a gentle rolling, dont kill it and bruse the spot, oh and do it 6x a day- Thank you Susan).

Started practice with a light Vinyasa krama tadasana sequence then a very gentle, hesitant sury, working my hands very slowly down my legs to the mat over five breaths, stepping back more of a suggestion of a sury actually.

Same with the first couple of postures from the ashtanga standing sequence, more a suggesting, a nod in the direction of the postures.

Moved into 2nd series, hint of pasasana, skip krounchasana and settled into the backbends which feel fine, nice actually. Didn't want to push it with laghu vajrasana and kapotasana this morning so moved on to Urdhava Dhanurasana instead.

Can't work out a way to get up to savasana avoiding the pain, probably not going to do any harm but erring on the side of caution here. Did a couple of supine poses instead, seems bringing the knees up to the chest is fine.

Sirsasana was OK. Oh, forgot, added some VK hip openers while in headstand, only place I can seem to work them in.

Sitting is still painful, that pinching around the illiac crest, noticed in ustrasana that vajrasana is fine so settled on that for finishing.

Stayed in vajrasana for some pranayama but then switched to David Garrigues pranayama prep posture and did the Ashtanga pranayama sequence there instead, some Yoga meditation too, really like that posture.

feel better for doing it, pain free for a little while afterwards but sitting here writing this is uncomfortable again.

Couldn't resist explore this in Ramaswami's dwipadapitam (desk pose) variations from Vinyasa Krama's Supine sequence, Makes all the difference trying these while holding the idea of the  internal rotation of the thighs in mind

from my Vinyasa Krama Practice book.

Just to close up the back problem story that's been going on all week.

Feeling a lot better this morning, still a twinge there, enough for me to tell Boodiba in a comment early this morning that I'd probably practice the same modified 2nd series from yesterday rather than Friday Primary.

Strangely it felt worse after rolling around on the tennis ball, as if the ball had woken up the painful area.

Five minute Vinyasa Krama subroutine then on into the Sury's. if you saw my modified version from yesterday you'll see it took me five breaths to get the beginning of a forward bend. This morning I was pretty much straight down. Still backed off a little for the first few but all fine by the fifth such that I made a video at an attempt at a floaty one. Not quite there but coming back and didn't want to mess around taking another video to try and get it budokan.



Sound from the camera is a bit Pauline Oliveros Rachel, no?

http://youtu.be/DMCTxkFwLHw

Perhaps not

Standing was fine, proper twists in the triangle pose.

Standing went so well that I thought I might as well explore primary rather than the modified 2nd, hey it's Friday.

And it was fine, felt a little painful as soon as I sat in dandasana, there's kind of a compressed sensation, I'm going to throw illiac crest out there mainly because I like saying illiac crest

 illiac crest illiac crest illiac crest illiac crest illiac crest illiac crest

from here

Was still unsure about deep forward bends but did all four of the paschimottanasana variations, OK as long as I stretched right out of my pelvis nicely, going to say it again, ILLIAC CREST? Is it pressing against something when I'm sitting, digging into the QL (quadratus lumborum) perhaps.

And so it went on, nicely through the Janu's, was worried about the marichi's as I suspected the problem might have started with the deep mari D on Monday, backed off, just a finger tip bind and it was fine.

Kind of hoped I might feel something in navasana which could give me the excuse never to do another navasana again but no, fine.

Decided to call it quits there and move on to finishing which was by the book, no problems, nice backbends but decided aagainst dropping back and coming, no need to be silly.

And at last after a week of pranayama on a bolster a decent seated pranayama and meditation practice.

So all's well, thank you for the concern and get better soon's

Always tended to practice on Saturdays and Moon days but going to take the advice of a friend and take Saturday off, walk in the park or go out for coffee, and Sunday is Supermoon, so why not take that off too like the good Ashtangi I'm becoming and rest up for a couple of days.

See I do listen.....sometimes.

UPDATE
This is very interesting, still don''t really understand trigger points ( although I was taught about it somewhat by the guy taking the Anatomy course on Ramaswami's TT ) but the identification of the area of pain is spot on in this article.

http://www.triggerpointtherapist.com/blog/quadratus-lumborum-trigger-points/ql-trigger-points-masters-low-back-pain/

for Sissy A full moon in Greece. (Photo: Associated Press)

You know what...it was cloudy, never saw the Super moon.

Which means I can go practice said Inverted sequence.....


ALSO
Krishnamacharya mentions in his 1934 Book Yoga Makaranda that he will be looking at Sirsasana, the headstand, in part II .

AG Mohan has released what he believes to be Yoga Makaranda Part II , here's the section on Sirsasana

In a recent comment Matthias mentioned that he was currently in Miami on a week long intensive at Kino and Tim's Miami Life centre, I asked him if he fancied writing a guest post....and here it is, we hear a lot about Kino's workshops, was curious about what it was like at home base. Besides, practicing at home many of us don't have a local shala available, a short Mysore course might be an occasional option and alternative to another backbending or learn to jump back workshop.

Thank you Matthias, appreciate it.

http://www.miamilifecenter.com

Thank you for inviting me to do a guest post.

The course was a week of Mysore Intensive Old shala style, e.g. 12 students, 2 teachers.

Let me start with the shala, e.g. Miami Life Center: I was kind of surprised how small it seemed. I guess that with two international teachers, I kind of expected a huge set-up, but it is a very well designed and hospitable shala, totally sufficient for the local community they cater to. They have two rooms - a larger one that can probably host 20 plus students and a smaller one for eactly 12 students. The energy is very nice, just your typical Yoga shala.

Kino and Tim offer the Old shala-style course several times per year (though next year, so far it does not appear on their schedule). The workshops fill up extremely early. To get in, you either have to book as soon as they are showing up on the website of Miami Life Center or hope for the waiting list. They have a good cancellation policy (free of charge up to one month before the date) and, if your are flexible, there still are always one or two last-minute cancellations.

The Mysore classes are every morning from Sunday to Friday, from 7.30 a.m. to 9.30 a.m.. If your practice is longer, you can finish in the "public" Mysore class in the larger room. On Friday, they suggest to do Primary - but you can also do your usual practice.

Sunday afternoon, Tim gave an introduction into one basic Pranayama "Guruji-style", which we then could practice on our own for the rest of the week half an hour before the Mysore class started. On Thursday morning, Tim would then check in on us again for the Pranayama. The Pranayama is quite basic - one round consists of 3 times inhaling and exhaling "breathing with sound", then three times with Kumbhaka after the exhale and three times Kumbhaka after the inhale, and all this for 5 rounds total. The main reason why he does this is in my view a) to introduce the students to the concept of Pranayama and b) to increase the focus on Moolha and Uddhiyana bandha control that he is also emphasizing very much for the Asana practice itself.

On Tuesday afternoon, Kino or Tim (this time Tim) offer each student the chance to ask questions and get extensive guidance for a specific Asana the student is struggling with. There you get your 20 min one-on-one while the rest of the group is watching. Quite an interesting experience.

And on Thursday afternoon, Kino guided a 30 min meditation (focus on the breathing) and you get to ask both of them further Asana questions and general questions on Ashtanga, food or whatever you feel like. By then, everybody was quite tired, so that workshop did not last the entire 3 hours foreseen.

I had done Mysore with Kino and Tim in larger settings, but never with such a small group. Already in larger groups, they are a very good and balanced combination: usually very positive energy between them, relaxed, helpful and attentive. In Kino's case, the balance is usually more towards the verbal explanations than towards the "explanation by adjustment" approach, whereas in Tim's case, in the Mysore setting, he teaches very strongly through the touch. In some cases Kino steps back and lets Tim do the work (especially with the larger guys), in other cases they complement each other. And of course this combination of the two is even more efficient with just 12 people. You really get all the help and explanation you need (and sometimes more than you thought you needed...). And the energy in the room is very intense -and (at least mid June) the heat as well. Too intense for a home Ashtangi? I cannot answer that - I just noted that quite many of the participants do self-practice for the rest of the year and just check in with Kino and Tim on such an occasion.

Should you have additional questions, feel free to ask.
Warmest regards from Germany
Matthias

New Rug and Sharath's book(let) arrived I mentioned in a previous post that I didn't yet have a copy of Sharath's recently released book on the Ashtanga Primary series and was waiting for it to turn up on Amazon UK. Within days I was kindly offered not one but two copies, that was really kind of you both thank you. My copy arrived yesterday along with my new/old rug (thank you Lizzie, it will be well loved and used I'm sure) and I believe the other copy is on it's way to Ireland.

new/old rug in the home shala

I make a point of featuring the rug/home shala because this book review is written from the home practitioner perspective, a nicely done shala going view can be found here

A Book Method in Review: Astanga Yoga Anusthana by R. Sharath Jois. by Peg Mulqueenon

"So to anyone out there looking for a bit of hard core dogma to wave in judgment or in contrast, rattle and rally the rebels—sorry, you’re simply outta luck. Because all I discovered was a very pragmatic and compassionate approach to a practice that is often decried as just the opposite". Peg Mulqueenon

I'm calling my post a book review but actually this is more of a booklet than a book and there really isn't much to review.

Nothing wrong with a booklet of course

Yoga Mala: The Original Teachings of Ashtanga Yoga Master Sri K. Pattabhi Jois [Paperback]

UPDATE: Note from Steve in comments on the KINDLE version of Yoga Mala

I wrote in my previous post on Sharath's 'new' book Ashtanga yoga Anusthana

"Personally, if you're only going to buy one Ashtanga book ( yeah right) then I'd say stick with Pattabhi Jois' own Yoga Mala which is a lovely well produced book, something I keep finding hidden treasures in to chew over."

And than somebody (mis)quoted me, that 'Yoga Mala was the only (yoga) book you should buy'.

To clarify, I was writing in the context of the Ashtanga of Pattabhi Jois.

If I was to recommend ONE and only one YOGA book it would have to be Ramaswami's Yoga for the Three stages of Life

Amazon link

...but that's assuming you had a good library locally with Aranya's Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali and Swami Venkatesananda's two volume The Supreme Yoga- A new translation of the Yoga Vashista and of course had already downloaded Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda and our ( really Satya's) on going, almost finished (one chapter to go) translation of Krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu.

link

link

But back to Ashtanga (as if we'd never left), if I really was to recommend one, just one book on Ashtanga (Jois method), which one would it be? Would I really stick with Pattabhi Jois' own Yoga Mala?

My uninformed choice for the Shala Ashtangi

STILL my informed choice for the Home Ashtangi

My choice for the Ashtanga blogger, couldn't blog without it.

And you, which would you choose?

And did I miss anything?