Returning to Ashtanga 2nd series - looking ahead to long stays in Intermediate asana but with slower breathing

An old style blog post for a change

I seem to have slipped back into practicing Ashtanga 2nd series and pretty much by the book (Yoga Mala).

For most of the last year I've been practicing a slow Primary along the lines  of Krishnamacharya's early Mysore texts, Yoga Makaranda /Yogasanagalu, this ended up such a slow practice that I cut back to practicing half the series to leave time for Pranayama and a sit.

Every couple of days I would slip in a half 2nd series, practice up to Kapo and dropbacks but more along the lines of the Vinyasa Krama Bow and Meditative sequence, same asana just a few more prep. postures.

However, the less asana I practiced the more asana I lost and even the ones I practiced daily ended up being affected, I lost some steadiness and comfort.

Practicing less of the slightly more challenging asana I also seemed to miss out on the tapas element and consequentially lost some discipline, loss of discipline affected the yamas and niyamas which in turn affected the discipline further. I'm convinced one is support for the other.

Tapas can range from accepting pain as purification (Bryant's Yoga Sutra commentary to Ramaswami's reference to a different tradition as moderation in eating and in speech - see appendix below), I tend to go with with Bryant but.... in moderation, choosing to accept some discomfort (rather than pain, moderating my comfort) to eventually attain comfort, rebuilding discipline along the way.

Just recently I started to practice half Primary followed by half second then decided to flip them around which is of course the framework for the Ashtanga 2nd series, I figured I might as well get back with the program and rebuild my Intermediate series, work on some tapas.

I also wanted to explore the 2nd series postures again while introducing some of the suggestions/guidelines Simon Borg-Oliver and Bianca Machliss introduce in their Yoga Synergy Fundamentals Course that I'm currently following. Exploring asana without strain, without stretching and while breathing to the abdomen.

And what tapas, my Intermediate series is an unholy mess, it'll take discipline to rebuild it  but we know the drill, one breath at a time, turn up at the mat each morning and it'll come back, commitment, is another word for tapas ( never liked it's synonym, devotion, I don't like the word patriotism either both collocate with blind, can live with dedication) .

I've always found 2nd series moves along more quickly than Primary, it takes some proficiency to slow the breathing in these postures and even more proficiency to explore longer stays. As postures come back I can rotate longer stays throughout the series or go back to splitting it in two again and alternating daily.

There is unfinished business with 2nd.

Ramaswami has talked and written on Krishnamacharya's view of proficiency in an asana. Ramaswami took for example Utkatasana and asked us to stay five minutes while counting the number of breaths. After a short savasana he would have us repeat our Utkatasana for another five minutes but this time trying to take half the number of breaths, ie. slowing the breath. Anyone who took a workshop with me last year will perhaps remember this exercise although we tended to do it for three minutes rather than five.

I've been looking at my old Rishi series videos. If you remember, the story goes that David Williams asked Pattabhi Jois what came next after Advanced series. Pattabhi Jois replied 'The Rishi series, take ten asana and stay in them for 50 breaths each'). Manju has mentioned that when he would watch his father practice he would stay in asana for a long time with slow breathing. Rishi approach?

In my exploration of such an approach a few years back I stayed for 25 or 50 breaths in all the Primary and 2nd series asana ( 25 breaths if there were two sides to the asana). Looking back at those videos now I notice that I'm breathing quickly.

In My Primary asana this year I've been slowing the breath and exploring long stays but not with the Intermediate asana. I'd like to regain steadiness and comfort in the asana and then stay for the same time as in the videos but taking half as many breaths and then perhaps build back up to 25 and 50 breaths but long and slow, perhaps with kumbhaka where it feels appropriate.

First I need to regain some steadiness and comfort in the asana, stay for five breaths then stay for the same time but taking only two breaths and then keep that same rate of breath and increase it back up to five and then start to think about ten, twenty-five, fifty breaths.

But a way to go, in Pashasana my heels are up of the mat and I'm binding only at fingertips, breathing is short. In Kapotasana I'm just touching my toes but my heels have come back several times before, kapotasana doesn't worry me. Leg behind head postures disappeared altogether, just recently I think. In Eka Pada Shirshasana I'm having to keep hold of my foot to bend forward. Dwi Pada Shirshasana has gone altogether, likewise Yoga Nidrasana. Karandavasana I can still land and with some control but not tight enough, perhaps i'm a long way from taking it back up again.

Parlour/shala game
You don't have to wait for me to catch back up, to check your own proficiency in these postures, see how long I stay for my 25 quick breaths in the video and then stay for the same period working on taking half as many breaths, let me know how it goes.

Ashtanga Rishi Approach, fifth day Pasasana to Kapotasana

Ashtanga Rishi Approach, sixth day Supta vajrasana to Ardha Matsyendrasana

Ashtanga Rishi Approach, Seventh Day  Eka pada sirsasana to Tittibhasana C

Ashtanga Rishi Approach, Eighth day to seven headstands

Nice post here from Jean Marie in the "I quit Ashtanga" genre (but not what you might expect going by the title).

http://www.jeanmarieyoga.com/yoga/blog/i-quit-ashtanga