With all the discussion of the list of Ashtanga teachers recently, who remains on it, who is off...., or back on again, I'm reminded of the teachers who inspired me to practice Ashtanga in the first place.
At some point while writing this blog I was asked how I got into the practice, how it developed etc.
I started this series of posts 'Developing a home practice'. I cringe a little reading it back now but perhaps it's of interest. I've included here the first seven short posts - There's an Afterword at the end .
Part 1 - The first books I took from the library were by Tara Frazer and Liz Lark, I'm not sure if Ashtanga was Tara's main practice but Liz was one of Derek Ireland's early students.
Part 2 - The first DVD I practiced to was Mark Darby's
Part 3 - Concerning David Swenson's Ashtanga manual and his Short forms
Part 4 - Concerning John Scott's book Richard Freeman's DVD
Part 6 - Concerning John Scott' s DVD Lino Miele's DVD
Part 7 - Concerning Sharath's Primary Series DVD
- With regards to the KPJAYI List and those teachers who first inspired me to practice and to continue practicing....,
Tara Frazer and Liz Lark, were never on a list (If I'm not mistake, Ashtanga wasn't Tara's main or only practice).
Mark Darby was on the kpjayi list but then taken off - It turns out he and Joanne Darby have just been put back on again.
David Swenson and David Williams were never carried over from the Ashtanga.com list to the KPJAYI list.
Lino Miele asked for his name to be removed in I believe 2008 when teachers were asked to reurn thier cerificates given to them personally by Pattabhi Jois.
Richard Freeman recently had his name taken off the list - Update: now put on a new 'Honorary' list along with mark and Joanne Darby
See my posts on Ashtanga authorisation 1980s to present.
Here is the full series of posts.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11a Part 11b Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15a Part 15b Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21a Part 21b Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26a Part 26b Part 27 Parts 28, 29 and 30 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34
I was asked this in an email this week.
'By the way, did you start doing Ashtanga gradually or if not how? If it does not bother you that I ask I would be very interested in your first days and weeks. I am curious and I feel I could also learn from that'.
I think I pretty much dived in. My flat had been burgled in February 2007 and seven saxophones stolen. Although I managed to get five of them back I was angry about the whole affair and was annoyed with myself for being so angry about it. I decided to get back into Meditation, I'd practiced a little Zen years before. I came across the ZenCast podcast with Gil Fronsdal and began to practice Vipassana meditation. Reading around the practice I found that a lot of meditators were also doing yoga so I picked up a two books from the library. One was Total Astanga: The Step-by-Step Guide to Power Yoga at Home for Everybody by Tara Frazer I think it had looked the best laid out and the least embarrassing to take up to the Library counter. The other was by Liz Lark ( a student of Derek Ireland).
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I practiced with that book for about a month, practicing in the mornings, before work, in the living room with my Chinchilla looking on. If I remember correctly I got as far as the Standing sequence in that time which would take me about half an hour to forty minutes, stopping every now and again to turn the page or check the book. I used to use blocks, or rather books as blocks, for Utthita Trikonasana as I couldn't reach my hands to the ground. I was what, 44 weighed 94 kilo and hadn't done any exercise for about four years. I had a bit of a belly and was feeling generally unhealthy.
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I remember really enjoying getting up in the mornings to practice alone in the dark. I loved Surynamaskara A but B exhausted me. I was frustrated that I couldn't straighten my legs in forward bends and having to hold on to the wall in Utthita hasta etc. Virabhadrasana A and B were agony, as was Utkatasana, I couldn't imagine being able to do Ardha baddha padmottanasana. I would ache all over for most of the day but it was a good ache and the practice became highlight of my day. Sometimes it felt like the day was over as soon as I finished my practice and I couldn't wait for the following morning to come around. I still feel like that occasionally, after a particularly good practice followed by my morning grapefruit and coffee.
Next: First DVD Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series Mark Darby
I think in the beginning I didn't even think of myself as doing Ashtanga but rather just doing some Yoga. The book I was using just happened to be Ashtanga. I didn't read much of the introduction but just dived into Surynamaskara and the standing postures. Going to a yoga class wasn't something I even considered. A guy here, outside London, might think about going to a gym to get in shape but not a Yoga class, probably not even an aerobic class, at least not in the beginning. Besides getting fit and healthy was more of a by product. I was doing Yoga more as a meditative thing right from the beginning. I wanted to get absorbed, lost even, in what I was doing. I think it was that absorption that delighted me and that I looked forward to in the morning. It helped that it was the tail end of winter, still dark in the mornings. I didn't want to put the light on and disturb the Chinchilla so would just throw down my towel (no mat then) and practice in the dark with just the light from the hallway to see the book by. After I finished I would sit for a while and do some Vipassana.
At the same time I started to Google. I found out more about yoga and of course Ashtanga. I remember seeing that Youtube video of the guy practicing in the temple and being blown away by it (still am) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu9Sq1RvuoA , was this what I was doing? I think that video got me excited and 'lit a fire' for the practice. I started trying out some of the seated postures from the book. My Paschimottanasana's were pretty sad, I could reach my ankles but my knees were very bent, I couldn't imagine ever having them flat on the floor.
I was now thinking about Ashtanga rather than Yoga and wanted a video and a mat. I remember feeling a bit sheepish going to an exercise shop and looking at the yoga section. I bought a box that had a purple mat and some blocks and wanted to say at the counter that it wasn't for me but a present for a friend. But I loved that first mat (still have it). I remember reading Elsie's blog (that I miss, by the way) where she talks about 'old blue', that's how I felt about my purple mat. As soon as I got home I rolled it out and threw down a few Sury A's.
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I can't remember how I came across the Mark Darby DVD but I still think I was really lucky to choose it and that it's THE best beginners ashtanga DVD. I lent it to a friend and still haven't got it back. I think it starts with a little Demo of Mark doing his own practice, a mixture of 1st, 2nd and Advanced I think, very very cool. Could I ever do that, loved the jump back and the handstand/arm balances even then.
The video has Mark Darby doing the standard Ashtanga Primary but his student Nicole Bordeleau practicing alongside, but doing some simplified variations and explaining them in her French Canadian accent...I'm still madly in love with Nicole Bordeleau. Presenting it this way the practice didn't seem dumbed down for beginners but rather just making allowances for an individuals flexibility. Here was a simplified Jump back or rather step back allowing you to link the poses. I began to get the hang of the Ujjayi breath. I remember it being described somewhere as constricting the throat and trying to sound like Darth Vader. I was skeptical about the Bandhas (no change there then).
If I'd started by going to Shala to learn Ashtanga I guess I would have been given one pose at a time and not allowed to progress past the current pose until it was... acceptable. I didn't hear about any of that until much later, and was, (still am) very surprised by it. I was only constrained by time. The video was an hour and a half, I would just do Standing and finishing on a work day but follow the whole video through on my day off and on Sundays. So within a month I was practicing all of Primary, though using variations throughout.
It was a good job I bought the video when I did, Nicola would give lots of advice for practicing safely, if I'd just carried on with the book I would probably have injured myself. After an hour and a half practicing with the video I was completely wasted. I would sweat a kilo and every muscle in my body would ache/tingle..... it felt fantastic.
Next : Coming across David Swenson's book and videos
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I don't remember getting on the mat being that difficult in the first couple of months. I'd always got up early. And in Japan, a couple of years before, I used to get up in the morning and go and practice playing my saxophone beside the Kamo Gawa, the river that runs through Kyoto and was just outside my house. When I came back to the UK and lived in Oxford, I used to go down to the Ring Road in the morning to play. When I was burgled I pretty much stopped playing saxophone, it was if it was sullied somehow, didn't feel the same.
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I'd come across mention of David Swenson's practice manual and managed to win it on eBay in May 2007. This book made a huge difference to my practice and I really can't recommend it enough. Up until I got that book I think I was doing a 'bit of yoga' in the mornings, though the books and DVD's were Ashtanga style. With the Swenson book I began to think of my practice as an Ashtanga practice. I began to take it all much more seriously. You open the cover and there's K Pattabhi Jois smiling at you. On the next page there are some early pictures from 1975 of the guys who first practiced Ashtanga in the west and a little box called A Living Tradition. Cool. And he's an old guy! Well, around my age anyway. And the book contained not just the Primary series but the Intermediate as well. Strange, wonderful poses, Kapotasana, both legs behind the head in Dwi pada Sirasana, Titibhasana...this stuff was insane. I'd never be able to do any of that, I'd probably never manage to bind in Marichiyasana C let alone Supta vajrasana, but that didn't matter it was all just wonderful.
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I went to Paris in July 07 for 10 days and took my mat with me. I tried to find a little hotel that had enough room to practice. This was mainly a reading week for me. I liked to go to Paris with some Heidegger and sit in the Tuilleries with some wine and a sandwich and do some close reading all day. I did the full series every morning for the first time since I'd begun Ashtanga.
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During that summer I became quite the Ashtanga consumer. I bought John Scott's DVD as well as the Richard Freeman collection on eBay. I didn't get on with the Richard Freeman DVD's (although now I use his intermediate all the time ) and John Scott's was too advanced. That said I was blown away by John's practice, the strength and grace he brought to it. I couldn't practice along with it, but watching it again a few months later would bring me back to Ashtanga after I began to flirt with 'The Rocket'.
Note: Part five was about a brief flirtation with 'The Rocket'.
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So John Scott's DVD made me realise that I wanted to practice Ashtanga again. However, I found the DVD hard to practice with, it's long too. Luckily, I came across Sharath's Primary just in time. I think I bought it on ebay. The first time I practiced with it, everything changed. the practice took about an hour and five minutes. I'd been practicing Swenson's 40 minute short form, four days a week and full primary twice. Now I began to do full Primary every morning. I could even shave a little time off the finishing to bring it in under an hour if I needed to. This revolutionised my practice. I was working towards Mari B and D every morning and supta Kurmasana and Garbha pindasana........ there's something about doing the whole practice too, the short form always felt a bit of a cheat. Now I felt more committed to the practice. By the end of the first week I remember being exhausted, all those extra Jump backs (even my lame jump backs). But I was becoming fitter and stronger.
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Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11a Part 11b Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15a Part 15b Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21a Part 21b Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26a Part 26b Part 27 Parts 28, 29 and 30 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 (summary). Part 37.
At some point while writing this blog I was asked how I got into the practice, how it developed etc.
I started this series of posts 'Developing a home practice'. I cringe a little reading it back now but perhaps it's of interest. I've included here the first seven short posts - There's an Afterword at the end .
Part 1 - The first books I took from the library were by Tara Frazer and Liz Lark, I'm not sure if Ashtanga was Tara's main practice but Liz was one of Derek Ireland's early students.
Part 2 - The first DVD I practiced to was Mark Darby's
Part 3 - Concerning David Swenson's Ashtanga manual and his Short forms
Part 4 - Concerning John Scott's book Richard Freeman's DVD
Part 6 - Concerning John Scott' s DVD Lino Miele's DVD
Part 7 - Concerning Sharath's Primary Series DVD
*
- With regards to the KPJAYI List and those teachers who first inspired me to practice and to continue practicing....,
Tara Frazer and Liz Lark, were never on a list (If I'm not mistake, Ashtanga wasn't Tara's main or only practice).
Mark Darby was on the kpjayi list but then taken off - It turns out he and Joanne Darby have just been put back on again.
David Swenson and David Williams were never carried over from the Ashtanga.com list to the KPJAYI list.
Lino Miele asked for his name to be removed in I believe 2008 when teachers were asked to reurn thier cerificates given to them personally by Pattabhi Jois.
Richard Freeman recently had his name taken off the list - Update: now put on a new 'Honorary' list along with mark and Joanne Darby
See my posts on Ashtanga authorisation 1980s to present.
Here is the full series of posts.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11a Part 11b Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15a Part 15b Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21a Part 21b Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26a Part 26b Part 27 Parts 28, 29 and 30 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34
Developing a Home Practice Part 1
I was asked this in an email this week.
'By the way, did you start doing Ashtanga gradually or if not how? If it does not bother you that I ask I would be very interested in your first days and weeks. I am curious and I feel I could also learn from that'.
I think I pretty much dived in. My flat had been burgled in February 2007 and seven saxophones stolen. Although I managed to get five of them back I was angry about the whole affair and was annoyed with myself for being so angry about it. I decided to get back into Meditation, I'd practiced a little Zen years before. I came across the ZenCast podcast with Gil Fronsdal and began to practice Vipassana meditation. Reading around the practice I found that a lot of meditators were also doing yoga so I picked up a two books from the library. One was Total Astanga: The Step-by-Step Guide to Power Yoga at Home for Everybody by Tara Frazer I think it had looked the best laid out and the least embarrassing to take up to the Library counter. The other was by Liz Lark ( a student of Derek Ireland).
I practiced with that book for about a month, practicing in the mornings, before work, in the living room with my Chinchilla looking on. If I remember correctly I got as far as the Standing sequence in that time which would take me about half an hour to forty minutes, stopping every now and again to turn the page or check the book. I used to use blocks, or rather books as blocks, for Utthita Trikonasana as I couldn't reach my hands to the ground. I was what, 44 weighed 94 kilo and hadn't done any exercise for about four years. I had a bit of a belly and was feeling generally unhealthy.
I remember really enjoying getting up in the mornings to practice alone in the dark. I loved Surynamaskara A but B exhausted me. I was frustrated that I couldn't straighten my legs in forward bends and having to hold on to the wall in Utthita hasta etc. Virabhadrasana A and B were agony, as was Utkatasana, I couldn't imagine being able to do Ardha baddha padmottanasana. I would ache all over for most of the day but it was a good ache and the practice became highlight of my day. Sometimes it felt like the day was over as soon as I finished my practice and I couldn't wait for the following morning to come around. I still feel like that occasionally, after a particularly good practice followed by my morning grapefruit and coffee.Next: First DVD Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series Mark Darby
Developing a Home Practice Part 2 - Mark Darby
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| http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/p/h-hey-nyt-my-body-was-wrecked-before.html |
At the same time I started to Google. I found out more about yoga and of course Ashtanga. I remember seeing that Youtube video of the guy practicing in the temple and being blown away by it (still am) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu9Sq1RvuoA , was this what I was doing? I think that video got me excited and 'lit a fire' for the practice. I started trying out some of the seated postures from the book. My Paschimottanasana's were pretty sad, I could reach my ankles but my knees were very bent, I couldn't imagine ever having them flat on the floor.
I was now thinking about Ashtanga rather than Yoga and wanted a video and a mat. I remember feeling a bit sheepish going to an exercise shop and looking at the yoga section. I bought a box that had a purple mat and some blocks and wanted to say at the counter that it wasn't for me but a present for a friend. But I loved that first mat (still have it). I remember reading Elsie's blog (that I miss, by the way) where she talks about 'old blue', that's how I felt about my purple mat. As soon as I got home I rolled it out and threw down a few Sury A's.
I can't remember how I came across the Mark Darby DVD but I still think I was really lucky to choose it and that it's THE best beginners ashtanga DVD. I lent it to a friend and still haven't got it back. I think it starts with a little Demo of Mark doing his own practice, a mixture of 1st, 2nd and Advanced I think, very very cool. Could I ever do that, loved the jump back and the handstand/arm balances even then.The video has Mark Darby doing the standard Ashtanga Primary but his student Nicole Bordeleau practicing alongside, but doing some simplified variations and explaining them in her French Canadian accent...I'm still madly in love with Nicole Bordeleau. Presenting it this way the practice didn't seem dumbed down for beginners but rather just making allowances for an individuals flexibility. Here was a simplified Jump back or rather step back allowing you to link the poses. I began to get the hang of the Ujjayi breath. I remember it being described somewhere as constricting the throat and trying to sound like Darth Vader. I was skeptical about the Bandhas (no change there then).
If I'd started by going to Shala to learn Ashtanga I guess I would have been given one pose at a time and not allowed to progress past the current pose until it was... acceptable. I didn't hear about any of that until much later, and was, (still am) very surprised by it. I was only constrained by time. The video was an hour and a half, I would just do Standing and finishing on a work day but follow the whole video through on my day off and on Sundays. So within a month I was practicing all of Primary, though using variations throughout.
It was a good job I bought the video when I did, Nicola would give lots of advice for practicing safely, if I'd just carried on with the book I would probably have injured myself. After an hour and a half practicing with the video I was completely wasted. I would sweat a kilo and every muscle in my body would ache/tingle..... it felt fantastic.
Next : Coming across David Swenson's book and videos
Developing a Home Practice Part 3 - David Swenson
I don't remember getting on the mat being that difficult in the first couple of months. I'd always got up early. And in Japan, a couple of years before, I used to get up in the morning and go and practice playing my saxophone beside the Kamo Gawa, the river that runs through Kyoto and was just outside my house. When I came back to the UK and lived in Oxford, I used to go down to the Ring Road in the morning to play. When I was burgled I pretty much stopped playing saxophone, it was if it was sullied somehow, didn't feel the same.Still, playing everyday for the last five years or so had developed some self-discipline, it wasn't so hard to transfer that to practicing Ashtanga in the morning. The trick was to make it a routine that was pretty much nonnegotiable. With the saxophone, I would go down to the river whatever the weather, take out my Sax and practice. If it rained I would play under the bridge. In Winter I would cut the fingers off a pair of gloves. I might not play for as long, and I might not practice as many scales as I should have done, but I would always go down to that river and play.
With Ashtanga it was almost easier, I didn't have to leave the house. I just went into the next room and unrolled my mat, six days a week, nonnegotiable. I've managed to keep to that. The only problem for me being that you practice six days a week rather than seven. It's OK if you have a fixed day off, but my day off practice tends to float about a bit. There are mornings when I really don't feel like practicing but I know that once I get past the first couple of Sury's I'll get into it and be fine.
The problem for me, at that time, wasn't so much getting on the mat, but rather what to practice, how to practice. The Darby DVD was too long for me for days when I was working. I would do most of standing, a couple of seated, a bit of finishing, but there was no structure and it became a bit frustrating. Some mornings I would be flicking through the book trying to decide which poses to practice and just end up wasting time.
I'd come across mention of David Swenson's practice manual and managed to win it on eBay in May 2007. This book made a huge difference to my practice and I really can't recommend it enough. Up until I got that book I think I was doing a 'bit of yoga' in the mornings, though the books and DVD's were Ashtanga style. With the Swenson book I began to think of my practice as an Ashtanga practice. I began to take it all much more seriously. You open the cover and there's K Pattabhi Jois smiling at you. On the next page there are some early pictures from 1975 of the guys who first practiced Ashtanga in the west and a little box called A Living Tradition. Cool. And he's an old guy! Well, around my age anyway. And the book contained not just the Primary series but the Intermediate as well. Strange, wonderful poses, Kapotasana, both legs behind the head in Dwi pada Sirasana, Titibhasana...this stuff was insane. I'd never be able to do any of that, I'd probably never manage to bind in Marichiyasana C let alone Supta vajrasana, but that didn't matter it was all just wonderful.Best of all there is a section in the back called Short forms. 15 minutes, 30 minutes and 45 minutes as well as the full practice. You don't have enough time for the full practice, that's OK how long have you got? Thirty minutes, no problem, only fifteen, that's OK too, a couple of Sury A's and B's a couple of seated and a little finishing, there it ,was all laid out and in this 'serious' book. You could practice for just half an hour and that was OK. Love David Swenson for that.
Next : John Scott and practicing in Paris and Japan
Developing a Home Practice Part4 - John Scott
As far as my practice was concerned, Summer 2007 was a kind of golden age for me. Nice warm mornings that helped with my flexibility. I was still quite new to the practice so still really excited by the newness and otherness of what I was doing. I 'd lost five or six Kilos and was feeling healthier, fitter, much more flexible. I was eating less, drinking less. I was feeling calm and relaxed, practice was good, life was good.
I'd settled into the Swenson short practices on work days, the 30 or 40 minute program. I didn't need to keep referring to the book now so could begin to focus on the practice more, on my breathing. On my days off I would work through the full practice with Swenson's book, employing his different variations.
I read about Ashtanga more. I'd never been to a Shala and so was still very much outside the whole tradition and didn't feel much connection to it. That was fine by me I was only interested in the practice anyway. I'd traveled for much of my twenties, hitchhiking and living in different countries, although not India. The whole run off to India to study yoga thing didn't entice me as much as it might have done if I'd come to Ashtanga earlier. My background is Philosophy so I'd read and studied to lesser and greater degrees world philosophies and religions. I'd been interested in Buddhism in my youth and done some Zen, explored the Tao a little. Heidegger was my philosopher of choice and while I might have been interested in the past concerning comparisons between him and Sankara or Heidegger and Buddhism I wasn't in the market for a new philosophy or belief system. The practice was enough, still is.
I'd settled into the Swenson short practices on work days, the 30 or 40 minute program. I didn't need to keep referring to the book now so could begin to focus on the practice more, on my breathing. On my days off I would work through the full practice with Swenson's book, employing his different variations.
I read about Ashtanga more. I'd never been to a Shala and so was still very much outside the whole tradition and didn't feel much connection to it. That was fine by me I was only interested in the practice anyway. I'd traveled for much of my twenties, hitchhiking and living in different countries, although not India. The whole run off to India to study yoga thing didn't entice me as much as it might have done if I'd come to Ashtanga earlier. My background is Philosophy so I'd read and studied to lesser and greater degrees world philosophies and religions. I'd been interested in Buddhism in my youth and done some Zen, explored the Tao a little. Heidegger was my philosopher of choice and while I might have been interested in the past concerning comparisons between him and Sankara or Heidegger and Buddhism I wasn't in the market for a new philosophy or belief system. The practice was enough, still is.
I went to Paris in July 07 for 10 days and took my mat with me. I tried to find a little hotel that had enough room to practice. This was mainly a reading week for me. I liked to go to Paris with some Heidegger and sit in the Tuilleries with some wine and a sandwich and do some close reading all day. I did the full series every morning for the first time since I'd begun Ashtanga.And in November I took my mat to Japan when I went home and practiced there every morning.
Note: Part five was about a brief flirtation with 'The Rocket'.
from Developing a Home Practice Part 6 - John Scott
I think I practiced 'The rocket' for about a month possibly two (see part 5 and 6). It was great fun, I became stronger and fitter and more fearless but the Jump back didn't seem to be getting any closer. I was beginning to have doubts. It was a cool practice, but somehow....soulless. It felt more like an exercise program where Ashtanga had felt, if not a spiritual practice then at least a meditative one. I could focus on the breath in the Rocket but I didn't feel as if I was meditating on the breath.
I came across my John Scott DVD again, put it on and was just blown away. Here's a link to the Intro on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDWUjPUpbHo In his Primary he's practicing on a black mat in an empty, white studio. There's this big booming ujaii breath and a voice over giving the count and drishti. His gaze is fixed and he moves through Primary with such Strength, and yet..... grace. It's a very powerful, controlled and focused practice. I watched Lino Miele's Practice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KAU3xNVTAE too and ordered the DVD, getting a similar impression. Inspiring stuff
The Rocket may have all these cool asana but it had nothing on John Scott doing his Primary. Yes he was throwing in some handstands and lifts but they made sense within the practice, they didn't seem out of place, unlike the core work in The Rocket. There was an integrity to the practice. It wasn't about being able to do cool poses or being strong and powerful. It was something about moving the body through space on the breath. Body, Spirit, Will.
Next : Returning to Ashtanga, turning Veggie and Sharath
Developing a Home Practice Part 7 - John Scott / Sharath
The John Scott DVD brought me to realise that I wanted to practice Ashtanga rather than any other style or variation of Yoga. I should probably consider here why it was that I decided to continue practicing at home alone, rather than seek out a Shala to practice at. I mean, if I had been so taken with the practice and wanted to commit myself to it then why not?
Good question, and one that I've never really attempted to answer in any detail, probably because I'm really not sure of the answer. Curious thing Yoga, there you are..... on your mat, it's your space, you focus on your breath as you move within this space, It's private, solitary and yet you look up and there's another eleven people in this little room, doing the same thing, or a hundred in some giant studio. Something doesn't fit. And yet..... your engaged in a practice and a practice tends to be social, it has a history, it has a world. Strange how the personal and the social come together here on the mat. The practice then is never private.
Perhaps I just got used to practicing alone. I can see how practicing at a Shala, with others, can be a rewarding experience. I've heard about the energy in the room , the sound of the breath, and the movement of all these other bodies. The video's I've seen of practicing in Mysore, for instance, I've found moving. Something wonderful about all these people from all over the world coming together in this room, practising together with focus and sincerity.
I'm tempted to go, I am. I know there's so much I could learn from generous teachers, and yet I love practicing alone. I love getting up in the morning and going into my practice space in the near dark. I love the little rituals, the sound of my mat rolling out, aligning my towel perfectly. I love, best of all, taking my place at the head of the mat, I can hear cars going by outside the window and yet here it's like a sanctuary. With that first reaching up in Sury A the world drops away for an hour, hour and a half. I don't notice the cars again or the voices outside until sometime in Savasana.
But then no doubt it's a similar experience at the Shala.
So John Scott's DVD made me realise that I wanted to practice Ashtanga again. However, I found the DVD hard to practice with, it's long too. Luckily, I came across Sharath's Primary just in time. I think I bought it on ebay. The first time I practiced with it, everything changed. the practice took about an hour and five minutes. I'd been practicing Swenson's 40 minute short form, four days a week and full primary twice. Now I began to do full Primary every morning. I could even shave a little time off the finishing to bring it in under an hour if I needed to. This revolutionised my practice. I was working towards Mari B and D every morning and supta Kurmasana and Garbha pindasana........ there's something about doing the whole practice too, the short form always felt a bit of a cheat. Now I felt more committed to the practice. By the end of the first week I remember being exhausted, all those extra Jump backs (even my lame jump backs). But I was becoming fitter and stronger.I was losing weight too. I was feeling healthier. I'd already started to eat better, eat less, drink less wine in the evening. You don't feel like eating so much when you know you have this full on practice in the morning. In March I also became a Vegetarian, mainly due to a growing disgust with the meat industry. But Ashtanga had something to do with that decision too.
And Sharath's practice was so simple, nothing fancy, no.....flourishes, no fancy handstands and lifts. And his Jump back, he just lifted and jumped back. None of that lifting up in pike that Lino does in his DVD before crossing his legs and lifting back through. And his jump through....it was almost a little hop. I'd been trying to do a Lino jump back and of course failing miserably, but Sharath's jump back now that was doable.....wasn't it?
I practiced with Sharath's dvd for a few months I seem to remember, which established a full daily practice. As I moved away from practicing with the DVD I found I naturally slowed my practice, it's a slower practice that I've leaned towards ever since
*
Afterword:
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11a Part 11b Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15a Part 15b Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21a Part 21b Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26a Part 26b Part 27 Parts 28, 29 and 30 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 (summary). Part 37.
And I haven't even mentioned how inspired I was by David Williams and how getting his poster of Primary to Advanced series in 2010 ended up inspiring me to practice everything on it, madness. But also reading a long review of his workshop from my friend Maya and how he talked of a lifelong 'sustainable' practice.
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And how he and Nancy also mentioned the mythical 'Rishi' series and that was a whole rabbit hole of discovery right there. And Richard Freeman's week long workshop in London, which I'm still processing, enough in that one week to keep you practicing for decades.
In 2010 I attended Srivatsa Ramaswami's Vinyasa Krama Teacher Training. Ramaswami was a student of Pattabhi Jois' teacher Krishnamacharya, for over thirty years, from just after Krishnamacharya left Mysore.
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In 2010 I attended Srivatsa Ramaswami's Vinyasa Krama Teacher Training. Ramaswami was a student of Pattabhi Jois' teacher Krishnamacharya, for over thirty years, from just after Krishnamacharya left Mysore.
One element of the teacher training was a close reading, line by line, of Krishnamacharya's texts, including Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934). I've continued that close reading and exploration of Krishnamacharya's approach to asana ever since and it's this text that has more than anything continued to inform my practice. I still consider my practice Ashtanga, these days it's mostly half Primary/half Intermediate. I would say my main inspiration now comes from Krishnamacharya's texts, from Srivatsa Ramaswami, Manju (see my Manju resource from 2013) and Richard Freeman as well as Simon Borg-Olivier and his focus on safe and sustainable practice.
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