Sharath on tour video, his Karandavasana and the Mysore backbender

Not sure about these two video's but thought I'd share them anyway.

The first is a Sharath on tour promotion video, the bold titles make me cringe a little but still.

Not sure where this comes from, whether it was re edited from the Mysore magic Video at the request of Sharath himself or by one of the Shala's he's visiting, Copenhagen perhaps.

Don't worry though I'm sure each and everyone in the video, including the girl at the end with the coconut, was asked specifically (and signed waivers) if it was OK to use their image in a promotional video.

To save you getting TOO excited, NO you don't get to see Sharath demo his Karandavasana here, sorry, the screenshot is a bit of a tease.

I had a great (Ok, Not so great) idea for a series of blog posts, was going to call it

If I were Sharath for the day...
So, here's the first

If I were Sharath for the day... I would drop the advanced series, 2, 4, 5, 6 whatever, from the Ashtanga syllabus altogether. SKPJ said that all you needed was Primary, 2nd was just for teachers and Advanced posturesfor demonstrations, so be done with it and get rid of Advanced altogether. If you want to work on Advanced postures then by the time you've worked through 2nd series you know enough to work them out yourself anyway...in fact get rid of the second half of 2nd too, stop at kapo.

This would of course change the whole dynamic of the practice, we'd be less hung up on the asana if there were less of them and focus more on the asana we do have than yearning for those we don't. The focus could shift to pranayama instead, exploring breath and drishti possibilities within the asana.

Just a thought.
And you? What would you do if you were Sharath for the day?

Mysore Backbended