One breath/kumbhaka an asana/variation - Paschimottanasana. (Rishi series?) plus Krishnamacharya's practice guidelines

Recently, in my practice I've been exploring ONE BREATH AN ASANA, holding the state of the asana while exploring an appropriate kumbhaka.

Note: You don't necessarily have to change your whole practice to explore this approach, you might start with one asana, paschimottanasana say.

In Yoga Makaranda ( Mysore 1934) Krishnamacharya doesn't talk about taking five, eight or ten breaths in an asana but rather about staying in the asana as long as possible while taking an appropriate kumbhaka ( holding the breath in or out following the inhalation or exhalation respectively).

Note: I don't tend take kumbhaka in twists (Krishnamacharya seems to avoid suggesting this although he does include kumbhaka's in bharadvajrasana) but rather, slow the inhalation and exhalation still further to around 10-30 seconds each.

However, Krishnamacharya talks of a LONG STAYS in certain key asana.

How to square a long stay with one breath?

In certain key asana, Krishnamacharya indicates possible head and/or hand variations for the asana.

In, key asana, like for example paschimottanasa, Janu Sirsasana, Sarvangasana, Sirsasana, we might employ a variation, taking our kumbhaka for each variation.

In the case of full vinyasa Paschimottanasana, a 30 second kumbhaka taken after the inhalation in dandasana, 30 second kumbhaka's taken after the exhalations with the forehead, chin and face on the knee repeated for each hand variation ( holding the toes, holding the outside of the feet, holding the wrists around the feet, hands over the feet) and 30 second kumbhaka taken after the inhalation, takes TEN minutes.

One breath one asana but also a long stay.

In this approach to practice, we might choose to practice ten to twelve key asana ( half of an edited Ashtanga primary series ) in the same time it takes to practice the fifty or so asana of a regular Ashtanga Primary series, which doesn't, under Jois, include kumbhaka or (any longer ) the slowing the breath.

Is this a 'Rishi' series?

The Rishi Series

see this post http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/p/ashtanga-rishi-seriesapproach.html

'Originally there were five series: Primary, Intermediate, Advanced A, Advanced B, and the fifth was the “rishi” series'.

Nancy Gilgoff 'Yoga as it was'

Ashtanga Rishi Approach

'...Doing a practice of 10 postures for up to 50 breaths is a method of preparing for "advanced series" after one has learned 1st and 2nd. It can be done once or twice a week. One does the "salutations" and then starts going thru the series, holding each posture for as long as comfortably possible. Notice which postures could be held for 50 breaths. The next time you practice this way, the postures which you could hold for 50 are omitted and new ones are added at the end. One gradually works thru the series, dropping and adding asanas, still doing 10 asanas per session. I have gone all the way thru 1st and 2nd this way several times over the years and have found it beneficial'.

Ashtanga Rishi Series

'Then, once one has mastered all of the asanas, one can practice "the rishi series", the most advanced practice. One does the 10 postures that one intuits will be the most beneficial and appropriate for that day, holding each posture for up to 50 comfortable breaths'.

http://tinyurl.com/7wq66bs

Jois talked ( in the 1970s, to Nancy Gilgoff and David Williams) of a Rishi series, an advanced approach to asana, where we stay for fifty breaths in ten asana.

Jois, however, either wasn't taught to practice kumbhaka in asana other than in pranayama ( he was a boy after all, when a student of Krishnamacharya) or he decided against the practice his teacher presented in his key early texts of the period that Jois was krishnamacharya's student.

If, however, we reintroduce kumbhaka, one breath an asana over around ten asana, we have perhaps a practice worthy of a Rishi.

Krishnamacharya wrote that in the kumbhaka we see god (the infinite?).

Kumbhaka is the state/space (an "infinity of infinities". Cantor) between two points, the end of the exhalation and the beginning of the inhalation or the end of the inhalation and the beginning of the exhalation.

Or perhaps, as the experience of the kumbhaka's seem to join up throughout our practice we experience peace, a sense of well being, sufficiency, the latter might also called... samadhi.

NOTE: After reaching fifty, Pattabhi Jois suggested in Yoga Mala that that we might approach practice 'however or whatever we damn well please' ( I paraphrase). But really, why wait that long.

See also perhaps my Proficient primary page

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/p/proficient-primary-project.html

Caution: Kumbhaka is an advanced practice ( but perhaps with more of a point to it than an advanced series). Before exploring introducing kumbhaka you should be sure there is no health issues that might counter indicate it, heart issues for example, check with your doctor perhaps. You should probably have been exploring slowing the breath and been practicing regularly for some time, daily practice for three months say or three times a week for six months and so on. Explore simple pranayama outside of your asana practice and when beginning to introduce kumbhaka into your asana practice begin with short kumbhaka's of 2 seconds duration and build up slowly from there. Breathe to the abdomen, work on relaxing in your asana, during your kumbhaka.let any tension drop away.

Counting can help in the beginning, or mentally chanting a suitable length mantra but eventually you will want enjoy the space between the stages of the breath unhindered.

Appendix 1.

My more detailed instructions for a one breath, one asana/vinysa long stay in Paschimottanasana

So for Paschimottanasana ( and this is much more straight forward when practice than read as a series of instructions)....

Full vinyasa, starting at Samastithi.

Transition to DANDASANA.

20-30 second Kumbhaka after the inhalation (holding the breath ).

1. TOES

1a. Take the toes, exhale, fold, draw in the belly, FOREHEAD to knees.