Photo Journal of giving my first Krishnamacharya Workshop in Leon, Spain last Weekend.

I really have no idea of how to begin writing about the workshop I just gave at Yoga Centuro Victoria http://www.centrovictoria.com  in Leon, Spain. Perhaps a photo overview to begin with then look a little more closely at certain parts of the workshop in future posts.

For me, this being my first, it was the perfect opportunity, Oscar is a friend, he's had Vinyasa Krama lessons with me as well as with Ramaswami, I'd recently seen a video of him teaching a Vinyasa Krama class although the gym calls it integral. Everyone on the course was warm and generous, trying everything I threw at them, and also were very forgiving. I'm sure I'd approach the whole thing differently in any future workshop, try and tidy parts up, nail things down, try harder to make things easier for everyone to understand. I spoke too fast, got too excited, carried away at times.... I could go on, but we muddled through.

Arriving at the studio

The beautiful practice space in the centre of Leon

Wonderful batik of Krishnamacharya

Claudia's book....nest to David Swenson's : )

 Friday lecture on Krishnamacharya. As everyone came in there was a slideshow of pictures from the recent transformations yoga exhibition to give context to the stories and 'yoga superheroes' Krishnamacharya grew up with. Followed this with the 1938 video of Krishnamacharya.

Krishnamacharya 1938

followed by a Q and A that went on for an hour and a half or so, thank you everyone for all the questions

Questions on jumping back already

Loved how everyone helped lay out the mats for the following morning.

33 mats +1

my mat

Saturday morning session was to look at the approach to Ashtanga Primary postures in Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda

but first some Vinyasa krama movements to introduce Krishnamacharya's slow breathing

...and Kumbhaka's (breath retention)

Tadasana

the 'puraka kumbaka' after the inhalation and straightening of the back in  uttanasana

Long'ish stay in chatauranga dandasana

Puraka kumbhaka again in  Urdhvamukhasvanasana

Long stay in Adhomukhasvanasana and a chance to look at bandhas

bandha work in maha mudra

mini savasana

Jump back work, straight leg option

jump through workshop

Jump back in stages

End of the first session, pranayama. nice shot of the one of the excellent t-shirt pilar designed and gave to me, Thank you so much Pilar, I love them

Surya Bheda pranayama no kumbhaka

chandra bheda

After lunch together sitting on blankets in the middle of the studio ( does anyone have a picture they can pass  me through fb perhaps?

Second session, Vinyasa krama. We began with tadasana sequence focussing on the backbend arm movements before moving on to part of Bow sequence.

'Modelling' Bow sequence while Oscar described my movements

Vajrasana. this was followed by a look at getting the hips forward for back bending, ustrasana

part of Asymmetric sequence, a look at using the whole body to bind

Marichiyasana D

Akarna dhanurasana

badha padmasana

binding badha padmasana

Inversions demonstration

trying out the leg movements in headstand, same as those in the 1938 krishnamacharya movie

Shoulderstand demo and the other Krishnamacharya t-shirt Pilar designed

Wonderful walking around and seeing everyone trying out these movements with slow, slow breathing that Ramaswami taught to me.

Savasana

Questions before Pranayama, nadi shodana with pranayama mantra on kumbhaka ( anyone have pictures?)

Pratyahara- Shanmukhamudra

Q and A went on for a couple of hours, people leaving, small group pictures with those of us left at the end

More to come on this I'm sure

Thank you again to Oscar for inviting me and doing all the hard work of translating, to Oscar's beautiful wife Maria for taking care of me, Martine and Vilma for putting the whole thing in perspective and to everyone who attended the workshop and were so kind and forgiving in this my first attempt at trying something like this.

I hope to come back again someday and do it all again or even better, as I know many of you would like,  persuade Ramaswami to come next time and share so much more. I only scratch at the surface of Krishnamacharya's teaching. Ramaswami of course would say that so does he.