Why do we always seem to look to the most extreme version of an asana?

Why do we always seem to look to the most extreme version of an asana, an ever more complicated, more intricate version? 

I've asked this question before here

Convince me Krishnamacharya are there any serious benefits to Leg behind head postures (Advanced asana)

I like Simon Borg-Olivier's preparation/'beginners' version of Bharadvajrasana from his new 84 key asana course (See THIS post concerning the course). 

This 'preparatory' version ( bottom left) has a wider, more stable base than the regular half lotus version (bottom centre), or the tighter, knees almost together, Krishnamacharya Yoga Makaranda version (bottom left). The 'beginner' version is more comfortable, more stable, should one wish to explore lengthening and retaining the breath in or out as Pattabhi Jois' teacher Krishnamacharya instructed.

"Take deep inhalations and exhalations with holding in of breath and holding out of

breath. Both types of kumbhakam are necessary. The total rounds of deep breaths may be slowly increased as practice advances, from 12 to 48". see Appendix below

Are we compromising the possibilities of the breath merely for aesthetics?

Pattabhi Jois either wasn't taught or rejected the breathing possibilities his teacher Krishnamacharya presented in his Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934), written at the time the young Pattabhi Jois was his student. With lengthening the breath abandoned, retentions ignored it doesn't perhaps matter which version of an asana one practices, we may as well practice durvasana....

as kapilasana and/or buddhasana....

 or any of the other leg behind head variations as good olde eka pada sirsasana

But then why bother with the leg behind head postures at all, why not stick with Janu Sirsasana 

and rather than seek ever more challenging versions of the same asana, perhaps explore a variation of the asana that works on the body in a completely different way, basically a different asana altogether as Krishnamacharya taught to Ramaswami.

parsva janu sirsasana

....or better still perhaps just stick with Maha Mudra and explore the full possibilities of the breath. 

The main elements of janu sirsasana and the more advanced leg behind head variations are perhaps all there there, isn't it sufficient?

See my proficient primary post perhaps, practicing asana as mudra

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

Are we chasing ever more advanced asana and series when we could perhaps instead, simplify our asana and explore the breath. 

But then why not explore pranayama in siddhasana and be done with it, forget about exploring the possibilities of the breath in asana altogether.

or on a chair..... or even just standing up

Krishnamacharya - Nadi Shodhana

Perhaps that was Pattabhi Jois' argument if he had one, keep asana and pranayama separate, for beginners at least. We know Pattabhi Jois he talked of a so called rishi series, with long stays and that, according to Manju, his father practiced long stays with slow breathing himself.

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Is there really any more benefit in the most extreme version of a posture than in its simplest, less sexy, expression? 

Admittedly the tighter Bharadvajrasana is a joy to practice, it's quite intense, 

but to explore the breath give me this, simpler, more stable version

 ....especially as Krishnamacharya talks about staying in the posture for up to 48 long slow breaths. 

"The total rounds of deep breaths may be slowly increased as practice advances, from 12 to 48". 

see Appendix below

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Is there a point where a posture is at it's most beneficial, a too easy version having no benefit at all, a more challenging version having no more benefit than the more standard version. 

Krishnamacharya wrote that we don't need to learn all of the asana, although a few teachers should, so as to preserve them. He did talk however about exploring a wide range of asana and their variations to enable us to access all areas of our body as he continued to do into his eighties ( see this post, Krishnamacharya practicing at 84).

Do we practice so called 'advanced' asana merely for the sake of it, for the challenge, for Instagram, for promotion, is it all ego and aesthetics. 

There are many reasons why we practice as we do at different times of course, for fun, for the challenge, just as we might try and swim butterfly or dive from a higher board or climb ever more challenging climbing walls but also perhaps because it seems to have become the norm. Just as models get skinnier on the cover of magazines, asana get more intricate on our Instagram and fb feeds. Those who should perhaps know better, promoting themselves and their workshops through ever more fancy asana, shot in beautiful locations ( and employing circus trainers for heaven's sake to outdo each other). 

Eka pada sirsasana in Santorini

The more flexible of us try those asana ourselves and share our experiments with our friends or at least those we can do, those fancy arm balances from third while our kapotasana from intermediate might be uninstagramable, a bit of fun and why not but what is the knock on effect. 

Others of course practice these asana, these series because it is thought to be the tradition forgetting conveniently that Pattabhi Jois himself stressed that advanced series asana were for demonstration only (demonstrations to promote yoga rather than our own businesses).

Such an industry has built up around how to practice those asana we perhaps have no need to practice as well as around the most basic asana. All we should perhaps be concerned with is whether we are practicing a posture safely and not concern ourselves too much about imperfect alignment or how deeply we can enter a posture or that if only we could practice this asana to the industry standard we could get the next. Alternatively we could close our eyes and ears, turn inward and just practice the asana, inhabit the asana, and let it take care of itself.

I'm just as guilty myself of course, sharing those fancy leg behind head variations here on the blog, arguing that we could practice advanced asana at home without buying into trips to Mysore or a shala membership, that such asana could be practiced in middle age, not just in our twenties. 

I have this idea of somebody out there (who won't of course be reading this), or another me perhaps (parallel universe theory) who picked up an Ashtanga Primary series book from the library ten years ago and never googled Ashtanga yoga or got on board social media but just learned the series or enough of it and merely practiced alone for these last ten years. Wouldn't the discipline have come just the same, wouldn't the breath have slowed, the pause between the stages of inhalation and exhalation been noted and lengthened, such breathing explored away from the series as well as just sitting. Yoga is our birth right, we find it everywhere in one form of another, not the asana perhaps (although often) but the quietening, the simplifying of our lives, the turn inwards and contemplation of self or what is beyond or behind the self.

The joy of home practice of course is that there is no one else around (except perhaps that with social media there is always someone around), nobody to tell you what you can or can't or should or shouldn't practice, nobody to lead you to feel you ought, by now, to be practicing more advanced asana or going ever deeper into a posture or that we need to practice a whole series rather than half.. or even less. At home we can practice a handful of asana and stay in them for as long as we wish, explore the breath as we wish, or practice as many as we like, as quickly as we like. Once we have built discipline we can trust to our own discernment as to what we experience as most beneficial to us that morning. 

Manju Jois stresses that yoga is freedom and that nobody should be telling us what we should and shouldn't be practicing, certainly on account of questionable ideas of tradition and lineage. The guru, they say, is within.

That said, practice safely, those are the workshops and intensives we should make an effort to attend.

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Bharadvajrasana variations from my photo essay post http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2017/05/photo-essay-ashtanga-vinyasa-krama.html 

Appendix

See this post on Krishnamacharya's instruction for a long stay of up to 48 breaths

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2014/10/krishnamacharyas-bharadvajrasana-named.html

BHARADVAJASANA 

from Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda Part II

Technique:

1. Sit on a piece of soft folded cloth, with one leg stretched straight in front, and the other leg folded back at the knee, so that the foot is close and by the side of the buttocks, the sole of the foot upturned, toes stretched and the back of the foot touching the cloth. The knees should be as close as possible. The foot of the leg, stretched in front, should be upright, to the ground and not inclined sideways. The body should be erect and the spinal column stretched-chin lock.

2. Bend the stretched leg (say the right) at the knees and bring the right heel very near the umbilicus. The right knee should touch the ground. Both the knees should be as near to each other as possible.

3. The right hand is taken round the back to catch hold of the toes of the right leg. The palm to touch the back of the foot.

4. The palm of the left hand is placed on the cloth below the right thigh. The hand should be stretched and not bent at the elbow. The left wrist should touch the outside of the thigh.

5. Twist trunk to face front. Turn the head, so that the chin is over the left shoulder.

6. Take deep inhalations and exhalations with holding in of breath and holding out of

breath. Both types of kumbhakam are necessary. The total rounds of deep breaths may be slowly increased as practice advances, from 12 to 48.

7. Repeat with the other leg.

Note: This is contra indicated to those who have had abdominal operation.

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NEWS: Yoga with HD

My dear friend HuiDar (HD) a graduate of the excellent ( and thorough) 2 year Triyoga Teacher training course is now offering classes in Banstead, London and Carshalton, London. 

I remember years ago having to text HD at 5am every morning to make sure she was up for practice, also her complaining that I didn't offer a single Loo break in my four hour workshop and am reminded that half my blog posts over the last few years began with a question from her.

She is one of the most sincere people I know and have no doubt that she will make an excellent teacher I wish her all the best

http://yogawithhd.blogspot.jp/p/home_5.html

Read More

Photo essay: Ashtanga? Vinyasa Krama? Krishnamacharya's early Mysore blah blah blah? or Practice, just practice

I was asked if I'm still practicing Ashtanga.

I have no idea anymore what I practice, is it Ashtanga, early Krishnamacharya, late Krishnamacharya.... or just practice.

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I tend to start my practice with a little tadasana hand and arm movements as taught by Ramaswami followed by some of Simon Borg-Oliver's nerve stretching movements.

Sun salutations, A and B and a little extra time spent in each stage, five slow breaths.

Standing is pretty standard up to Ardha badha Padmottanasana (although I occasionally cut different variations on different days to allow for more time in for longer stays elsewhere), then on to seated and the photos below.

Note: Between sides and asana variations I tend to just stretch my legs out in dandasana for a few breaths  and save full vinyasa between asana

Dandasana, some time spent here exploring natural breathing and relaxation techniques

Long stay in Paschimattanasana, Krishnamacharya's yoga Makaranda instruction.

Tirang Mukha pada paschimattanasana and krouchasana

Maha Mudra followed by Janu Sirsasana

Parsva janu Sirsasana

Currently enjoying exploring Simon Borg-Olivier's Baharadvajrasana variation, long stays with long slow inhalations and exhalations

See this post on Krishnamacharya's instruction for a long stay of up to 48 breaths

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2014/10/krishnamacharyas-bharadvajrasana-named.html

BHARADVAJASANA 

from Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda Part II

Technique:

1. Sit on a piece of soft folded cloth, with one leg stretched straight in front, and the other leg folded back at the knee, so that the foot is close and by the side of the buttocks, the sole of the foot upturned, toes stretched and the back of the foot touching the cloth. The knees should be as close as possible. The foot of the leg, stretched in front, should be upright, to the ground and not inclined sideways. The body should be erect and the spinal column stretched-chin lock.

2. Bend the stretched leg (say the right) at the knees and bring the right heel very near the umbilicus. The right knee should touch the ground. Both the knees should be as near to each other as possible.

from two years ago with the knees closer together as per 

Krishnamacharya's instruction. 

In the Bharadvajrasana below I explore  a broader base, 

looking to be more relaxed allowing the breath to slow.

3. The right hand is taken round the back to catch hold of the toes of the right leg. The palm to touch the back of the foot.

4. The palm of the left hand is placed on the cloth below the right thigh. The hand should be stretched and not bent at the elbow. The left wrist should touch the outside of the thigh.

5. Twist trunk to face front. Turn the head, so that the chin is over the left shoulder.

6. Take deep inhalations and exhalations with holding in of breath and holding out of

breath. Both types of kumbhakam are necessary. The total rounds of deep breaths may be slowly increased as practice advances, from 12 to 48.

7. Repeat with the other leg.

Note: This is contra indicated to those who have had abdominal operation.

As well as a wider, more stable seat in regular Bharadvajrasana, again to explore longer slower inhalations and exhalations.

I'd cut out Marichiyasana variations when I trimmed my practice to allow for long stays. When I put on some weight after moving back to japan I noticed that I had lost marichiyasana D altogether, curious to see that having lost the gained weight Marichi D was still there waiting for me, I'm enjoying it again.

Likewise leg behind head postures, thought I had lost them altogether but they too seem to be available again although not as deep as they once were (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GElM4OrUgnI&spfreload=10). I've started to include them again of late to explore breathing options.

Supta kurmasana was another posture I lost/let go and has only come back after getting back to my regular practice weight. These days I follow Manju's suggestion and have the feet above the head rather than behind the neck.

After some prep and a five minute sarvangasana without variations I like to explore some of the variations krishnamacharya shared with us on the 1938 film footage that Ramaswami also teaches.

Following a five minute sirsasana with slow inhalation emphasis, some more of Krishnamacharya's 1938 film footage variations.

See posts:

Krishnamacharya 32 Sirsasana (headstand) variations

Krishnamacharya's 1938 Shoulderstand variations.

Long stay in baddha konasana and variations, exploring Simon Borg-Olivier's different breathing emphasis exercises

Nadi Shodhana with mantra

Read More

Krishnamacharya's one minute Uttihita Padangustasa

I'm currently exploring a longer Recaka kumbhaka (holding the breath out after the exhalation) in Krishnamacharya's one minute Uttihita Padangustasa, the description in Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934) is fascinating.

We have Krishnamacharya mention alignment,

"...While standing this way, make sure that the head, neck, back, hips, arms and legs are aligned properly..."


the gaze,


"...and gaze at the tip of the nose".

clear instruction for the breath,

"..Inhalation and exhalation of the breath must be slow and of equal duration". (for the first photo)

and kumbhaka (retaining the breath in or out) instruction, here the kumbhaka is after the exhalation in the second photograph.

"...Recaka kumbhaka must be done in this sthiti. That is, expel the breath completely from the body, maintain this position and then without allowing any breath into the body, bend the upper body. Now carefully pull in the stomach as much as one’s strength allows and hold it in. Stay in this sthiti for at least one minute..."

Krishnamacharya also mentions his interest in blood circulation,

"...Because of this asana, our body’s important areas — the arms, legs, knees, hips, bones of the back, the buttocks, stomach, neck — these will be cleaned. Not only this, it will facilitate proper clean blood circulation in the nerves."

an interesting reference to Nadi as nerve bundles,

"Those who practise this can, even on the first day, recognize the changes in the location and movements of the nadi (that is, what are the regions where our nerve bundles are not in the correct state or proper position)."

he even mentions props...

"Those who cannot do the asana properly on the first day may stand using the support of the wall, place the raised leg on top of a table and then follow the instructions described above. But if done this way, the benefits are much fewer. After practising this way following the krama for 5 or 6 days, learn to do this asana without any aids."

and includes a practice 'tip',

"...Initially, when you first practise this without any support, you might fall down. In that case, after slowly exhaling the breath out, firmly hold the breath. This will prevent a fall. "


Note too that while  Krishnamacharya takes the big toe in the first sthiti he holds either side of the foot in the second sthiti, (less strain on the hamstring and sciatic nerve than pulling back on the toe).

***

This posture can be challenging, slow breathing to the abdomen, firmed by the posture' can help as well as perhaps employing some of the other relaxation techniques Simon Borg-Olivier mentions in his new Introduction to breath control (pranayama) course (see THIS post) I.E. The Twelve Bridges Between the Conscious and the Unconscious Mind to Assist in Relaxation and Breath- control. Staying relaxed in the posture helpsin making the kumbhaka following the exhalation more comfortable.

Below, from Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda (available on my free downloads page).

Utthitahasta Padangushtasana

First, push the chest forward and stand erect with equal balance. While standing this way, make sure that the head, neck, back, hips, arms and legs are aligned properly and gaze at the tip of the nose. The feet must be kept together. Now, raise one leg up slowly and maintain this position with the extended leg kept straight out in front at the height of the navel. The knee should not bend and the leg must be kept straight for the entire time that it is being raised. After the leg has been raised about 3/4 of the way without any assistance, take the first three fingers of the corresponding hand (the same as whichever leg was raised) and tightly clasp the big toe of the raised foot. Remain in this position for some time. Keep the other hand on the hip. Inhalation and exhalation of the breath must be slow and of equal duration. One says the sthiti is correct if there is the same measure of distance between the standing leg and the raised leg. In this there are many other forms.

After staying in this sthiti for some time, take either the face or the nose towards the knee of the raised leg and place it there. Recaka kumbhaka must be done in this sthiti. That is, expel the breath completely from the body, maintain this position and then without allowing any breath into the body, bend the upper body. Now carefully pull in the stomach as much as one’s strength allows and hold it in. Stay in this sthiti for at least one minute. At this time, the knee must be kept straight without bending. Remember this when you practise. In the beginning, it might not be possible to do this properly. But if one keeps practising following the given rules for 10 to 15 days, it will become possible to do it properly.

Because of this asana, our body’s important areas — the arms, legs, knees, hips, bones of the back, the buttocks, stomach, neck — these will be cleaned. Not only this, it will facilitate proper clean blood circulation in the nerves.

Those who practise this can, even on the first day, recognize the changes in the location and movements of the nadi (that is, what are the regions where our nerve bundles are not in the correct state or proper position).

Those who cannot do the asana properly on the first day may stand using the support of the wall, place the raised leg on top of a table and then follow the instructions described above. But if done this way, the benefits are much fewer. After practising this way following the krama for 5 or 6 days, learn to do this asana without any aids. Initially, when you first practise this without any support, you might fall down. In that case, after slowly exhaling the breath out, firmly hold the breath. This will prevent a fall. 

Read More

Ashtanga and weight loss, it's not the practice but the discipline. Also Simon Borg-Oliver on Yoga and Diet

I almost regret making up this poster with the before and after photos.
This post isn't about appearance but health (the photo on the left happens to be M's favourite), about more discipline in our eating, what do I care whatIi look like, I live in the countryside and practice alone rather than in a shala.

When I first started practicing yoga I was 94 kilo, I'd been living in Japan for six years, drinking too much beer and living on convenience food, the weight came on gradually and because I had some fancy suits at the time I never really noticed I'd put on as much weight as I had, thought I was looking pretty sharp actually and hadn't really considered how unhealthy my lifestyle had become. I started practicing yoga with a book from a library, it just happened to be Ashtanga and for that first year I panted and sweated through practice each morning on a bath towel in my underwear. I would sweat around two kilo's a practice, there was the suggestion at the time that the Ashtanga practice room needed to be hot (it doesn't). Because I was bending and twisting so much each morning I really didn't want to eat that heavy a meal in the evening. I dropped down to 78 kilo in those first two years and put it down to my dynamic, sweaty, Ashtanga practice although I had also switched to a vegetarian diet a couple of years into my practice..

It was partly the practice of course that accounts for that dramatic weight loss but no doubt just as much to do with eating less. Practicing twice a day I just got into the habit of eating less between practices, smaller portions, plus Ashtanga is great for building discipline and saying no to a beer or a tub of ice cream.

Still, in my mind, at the time, it was that dynamic, sweaty Ashtanga practice that I credited with losing
weight.

I should add that I didn't start yoga, Ashtanga, to lose weight, I'd been burgled, had seven vintage saxophones stollen, I was annoyed about it and wanted to do something about the anger. I decided to get back into Sitting and the yoga was because I'd read that it could make the sitting more comfortable.

Jump forward a few years.

Two and a half years ago I got ready to move back to Japan. Ashtangi's we love our routines, we love stability, our mat in the same place, practicing at the same time each morning, are we all a little OCD? The disruption caused by that move to Japan threw my discipline out somewhat, those yama/niyama's slipped and the outward manifestation of that was a gradual increase in weight. Also, I had been practicing more slowly, less dynamically and because I associated sweating through practice with the kidney stones I'd had in the past I avoided sweating during practice as much as possible.

When I noticed my weight was up to 84 kilo at the end of last year I realised I needed to do something about it.

My practiced had slowed down in the last few years. Following Krishnamacharya's early Mysore instruction, as found in Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934) and Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941), I was breathing "...slow like the pouring of oil", staying in postures for longer, ten breaths, ten minutes even. To accommodate this slower practice I let go of more and more asana. By the end of last year I was mostly only practicing the first half of Primary and even then with many of the asana dropped, this approach, a 'mudra like' approach to practice is outlined on my Proficient Primary page.

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

Because I associated the dramatic weight lost of the past to my hot, sweaty, dynamic Ashtanaga practice, the temptation was to switch from my slower more modest practice back to a fast paced full series practice once more, I mean it had worked in the past.

The temptation was great.

Thankfully I was stubborn enough and determined NOT to change my practice, not to speed it up, not to practice more asana, not to practice in a warmer/hotter room but decided instead to 'merely' change my eating habits.

It sounds obvious doesn't it. Of course it's not the practice, it was never the practice, all the practice did really was to provide the discipline to eat more circumspectly. And yet I suspect I'm not alone, I'm sure there are many who associate their physical condition with the practice itself, with how they practice rather than the relationship between how they eat and the practice they have.

I stopped drinking alcohol. From drinking only a little watered down wine in the past I'd started drinking wine that wasn't watered down, from one to two glasses with meals, three glasses even, beer through the summer, a whiskey in the evening, or two, through the long holiday season of Christmas and new year.

I cut out bread, we had discovered we had a great bakers here in our village by the lake.

Quit drinking milk

No more pasta but instead 100% Soba

I cut out rice altogether at first and then allowed a little brown rice once or twice a week.

I stopped eating chocolate, biscuits/cookies, cake any kind of snack other than nuts.

I stopped eating most sugary fruit too.

These days I mostly I tend to eat salad, vegetables, Soba ( including crepes made from Soba flour), strawberries, Sashimi..... nuts.

I went from 84 kilo in November to 73 kilo this morning my practice just slow as slow, just as modest. It was nice however to see the wrist binds come comfortably back if and when I included Marichiiyasana D, Pasasana.

Note: BMI for my height within the recommended range of 18.5 to 24.9

Simon Borg-Olivier talks a lot about diet. He talks and writes about the connection between how we breathe and what we eat. Simply put, If we breathe less we tend to be happy with salad, breathe more and we crave something heavier and perhaps more of it. I'll include his fb post on diet yesterday in the appendix.

See perhaps this earlier post on breathing less

Integrating Simon Borg-Olivier's pranayama course with Krishnamacharya's Early Mysore asana instruction.

I make M. lemon drizzle cake, I buy her chocolate occasionally but have no interest in them myself, I'm quite content with a handful of nuts as a snack, you get used to it very quickly. Simon stresses that he eats what ever he wants, as much as he wants but that all he fancies is, fruit and vegetable, I feel pretty much the same.

It's not our practice, Ashtanga was never about losing weight.

We CAN practice our Ashtanga as if we are in a Cross-fit gym, or a Bikram studio or we can practice calmly, steadily, in a moderately, comfortably, warm room, our breathing slow and steady, our asana modest.

What Ashtanga, what any regular practice gives us, or can give us, is discipline, or a least it can act as a support for our practice of the yama/niyamas (of our or any other culture) that we choose to follow.

If we choose to switch from a faster paced practice to a slower more modest practice we 'merely' have to adjust our fuel and how much we consume  accordingly. I say merely but it can be tough, the practice though can support us in this through the discipline it gives us, the yama/niyama, the asana, they support each other, go hand in hand.



from Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934)

"3.3 Dietary Restrictions for the Yogabhyasi
Food must be eaten in measured quantities. It must be very pure. The food should not be overly hot, it should not have cooled down too much (very cold food should be avoided). Savouring the taste, fill the stomach with such food until it is half full. After this, leave a quarter of the stomach for water and leave the rest empty to allow for movement of air. For example, one who normally has the capacity to eat 1/4 measure of food, should eat 1/8 measure of food and leave the rest of the stomach as mentioned above.

For whom there is neither excess nor less
of sleep, food and activity
For him alone it is possible

to attain the state of yoga"
p34

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Appendix 1

One of my favourite memories Of Simon from when we hung out together at the Rainbow festival a few years back was his huge bowl of salad.

Simon is back at the rainbow festival this year in fact.

Simon Borg-Olivier with Anita Reilly.

19 hrs · 

My Diet: I eat what ever I like whenever I like, However much I want. But because of how i regulate my posture, movement and breathing my main food and all i really like is fruit, salad and vegetables.

In my 3 hour Sydney Nutrition Seminar on Saturday 27th May 2017 I will explain in simple terms:
*** How what you eat directly affects the way you breathe
*** That learning how to comfortably breathe less than normal (pranayama) eventually allows you to comfortably eat less than normal
*** That the only diet that has been scientifically proven to increase lifespan is the ‘calorie reduction’ or ‘eat less’ diet
*** That eating less can mean eating less volume of food or less concentration of food
*** Eating less is only viable if it is completely without negative physical or emotional side effects, and how to achieve this with simple yogic techniques
*** How balancing your diet with your breathing can improve circulation, increase mobility, increase energy, help calm your nerves, reduce asthma, reduce arthritis, improve your concentration and help you think more clearly
*** The dangers of eating many common foods and the benefits of eating many relatively unknown foods along with some forgotten methods of food preparation
*** That by making your diet more alkaline (e.g. by eating more fruit and vegetables) you can improve your breathing (i.e. comfortably learn how breathe less, like an experienced athlete) and exercise, relax and meditate more easily

I am about to give my annual seminar in Sydney - "Eat Less To Live Longer: Yogic Diet & Nutrition" - Saturday 27 May, 2017.

++++++++++++

*** Here are some of my nutrition tips:

*** First drink enough healthy liquids to satiate your appetite before resorting to solid food to satiate your appetite.

*** Wait till you are hungry before you eat your breakfast, even if your breakfast is at 6 pm at night.

*** Make your diet includes enough fibre to ensure at least one good daily bowel movement.

*** Include ‘superfoods’ in your diet such as organic wheatgrass, algae, goji berries, and acai berries

*** Include some seaweed in your diet for its high iodine levels that can counter radiation.

*** Breathe mostly into your abdomen and move your spine in everyday life and when you exercise, in order to enhance the digestion and absorption of food.

*** Eat less calories in order to live longer.

*** Breathe less in order to be happy to eat less.

*** Keep foods simple and limit yourself to only one or two steps to make a meal.

*** Make a fresh raw sauce of blended avocado, tomato, herbs and rock salt to pour over steamed vegetables.

*** Soak then sprout nuts, seeds, pulses and grains in order to enhance their digestibility and actually increase the nutrients available from them.

*** Include some healthy fermented foods in your such as sauerkraut, kim chi, kefir and tempeh.

*** Avoid all processed foods or at least avoid foods you know are not good for you.

*** Eat some fresh ripe (and ideal local and organic) fruit every day as it is filled with health giving vitamins, minerals and enzymes, as well as good fibre for your bowels to keep moving.

*** Bring salad out of the fridge some time before eating it and in winter even let your salad sit in warm to hot water for a few minutes in order to bring the food to your body temperature so that it can be more easily digested and does not make you cold.

*** Drink a fresh vegetable juice every day as it is loaded with health giving nutrients and it is very hydrating.

*** Make your own fresh nut milk (almonds are great) to use for coffee, tea or cereal by soaking nuts overnight in water then, rinse them, add some fresh water, blend with a hand blender and strain out the milk.

*** Use stevia as a sweeter over any processed sweeteners such as sugar, and never use aspartame.

*** Make green smoothies with fresh assorted green leafy vegetables to easily energise you and make you feel younger.

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What you will learn in my seminar:
This 3 hour seminar literally turns upside down many common myths and misconceptions about nutrition, diet and exercise.

I will explain the yogic art of how to be content to eat less than normal, and how to reduce your craving for all the heavy and 'naughty' foods, while enhancing health and longevity.

I highly recommend this seminar for all yoga teachers and practitioners, and anyone interested in living a longer and healthier life.

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You can book for the seminar here. https://goo.gl/F6Oxgj

Or, you can buy our online video for this lecture here.
https://goo.gl/M2GcFG

This special seminar is actually a public part of my ten day course on the applied anatomy and physiology of yoga that you can read about more at www.yogasynergy.com
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Thanks to Anita Reilly for this photo of me making salad in my house.

Appendix 2

The post below is an old post in response to a New York Times article about the possible dangers of yoga or rather postural practice ( not a bad topic but clumsily promoted). The post mentions that my body was pretty wreaked before I started yoga and that I lost 20 kg, got fit and generally much healthier. I had put a lot of that weight lost down to the practice and recently, on moving back to japan when i put


http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/p/h-hey-nyt-my-body-was-wrecked-before.html

Hey NYT, My Body Was Wrecked Before Yoga! ~ Anthony Grim Hall

Via elephant journal 
on Feb 5, 2012

Hey NYT, my body was pretty much wrecked BEFORE I took up yoga—life can do that!

On the first day of my first real job, all keen to arrive early, I twisted my knee getting dressed. By the time I arrived at work, my knee was the size of a football and needed to be drained. Two years later, in Aikido class, I did the same thing. It seems I had weak knees and was now susceptible to little non-cancerous tumors growing on them that needed cutting out every once in a while. It may have been hereditary—I remember my grandfather, a keen cricketer in his youth, clinically obese and hardly able to walk for the last thirty years of his life on account of his knees.

In my twenties, I dropped out, and with a one way ticket across the English Channel and a Pound in my pocket, I set off for France. My friend and I hitched and walked half way round the world, picking up laboring jobs wherever we could—I built walls and roofs, houses, laid roads, and dug ditches. While working as a pizza chef carrying ten trays of dough, my back went, and what with the knees going too with more regularity, after five years, that was the end of my traveling and laboring.

I worked myself through University as a cook, developing a taste for neat whiskey that I’d only played at while traveling, and making a mess of my liver in the process. After throwing away a promising academic career—I think I had anger issues—I left for Japan to become an English teacher.

There cannot be that many who end up unhealthier by the time they leave than when they arrived in Japan—I managed to pull that off. I worked as a teacher trainer trying to knock the dogma out of the ex-school teachers who got off the plane only to replace it with my company’s own. I worked too many hours teaching and designing courses, suffered from stress and fatigue, and got fat on fast food and beer.

So my knees were shot, as was my back, and probably my liver. I was overweight and suffered from stress. I felt bloated after every meal, developed kidney stones and had to have my gall bladder removed—my body was wrecked, just living your life can do that!

The curious thing was that I had not really noticed that I had got so out of shape, so unhealthy; and find it quite shocking looking back at the old photos now…how could I not know? There were signs—the kidney stones, the gall bladder operation—when they took my gall bladder out, they were supposedly shocked by the amount of cholesterol (this was in Japan).

I was wearing smart designer suits back then, I thought I looked pretty sharp.

That is the scary thing. I am guessing the majority of overweight and unhealthy middle-aged men think they are pretty much OK—could do with losing a few pounds perhaps, but on the whole they think they are fine and do not realize how much they have let their health slip, or how much work it will take to turn it around, or that it will get a little harder each year—they need to start now, today, not wait for the next New Year’s Resolution.

I got into yoga almost by accident, but it became a passion.

I came back to the UK to become a woodwind instrument repairer, having taken to playing the saxophone in Japan.

 My flat was burgled in February 2007, and seven vintage saxophones stolen—including one I had made a special trip to New York to buy. 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 had practiced a little Zen years ago. I came across the ZenCast podcasts 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 book from the library, which turned out to be Total Astanga: The Step-by-Step Guide to Power Yoga at Home for Everybody, by Tara Fraser. It had looked the most well laid out and the least embarrassing to take up to the Library counter. Outside London, middle-aged guys did not tend to take up Yoga—they would go to a gym and lift weights perhaps but not Yoga.

I practiced with that book for about a month, practicing in the mornings before work on a bath towel in my underwear while my pet chinchilla looked on. If I remember correctly, I got as far as the Standing sequence, 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 blocks, or rather books as blocks, for Utthita Trikonasana as I couldn’t reach my hands to the ground. I was 44, weighed 94 kilograms and had not 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 Suryanamaskara A , Suryanamaskara B exhausted me. I was frustrated that I could not straighten my legs in forward bends, had to hold on to the wall in Utthita hastasana, 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 practice became the highlight of my day. Sometimes it felt like the day was over as soon as I finished my practice and I could not wait for the following morning to come around.

As is the case so often with yoga, I changed other areas  of my life to fit in with the practice, ate less so I would not feel heavy and bloated the following morning. I pretty much cut out drinking—I might have a little wine topped up with sparkling water, the occasional martini or a little pot of sake on the weekends. I wanted to be able to wake up early and feel fresh. After a year, I even became vegetarian. I was not particularly trying to be fit or healthy, I just wanted to practice yoga more comfortably. There is no six-pack in the second picture, no bulging biceps either, but I think I look healthier.

I feel more fit, and despite all the advanced pretzel postures I explore these days, I have had no problems with my knees. I am no longer feeling bloated after every meal and recently, while writing my yoga book on the mac, formatting hundreds of photos and links, I noticed I had not screamed or sworn at the computer for not doing what I had asked it to, not once. That was something I used to do a lot back when I was designing training courses. I am calmer. I am in good health.

Hey NYT, my body was wrecked BEFORE I started yoga, now ….not so much!

I see guys on the street my age, perhaps younger than me—I am not talking about the clinically obese, but regular guys who I used to probably believe as being no less healthy than the next guy. I am sure they think they should cut back on the drinking a little, eat a little better, or walk the dog more often; but that is probably not going to do it.

There needs to be a government campaign—one of those awareness-raising ads—that says, “Hang on a minute, you do not just need to lose the odd couple of pounds, you need to rethink how you are living your life”, and it is important because people are dying from this.

For me it was yoga, for them it might be something else—but it needs to be something and it needs to be encouraged and supported.

That is the article I’d like to have seen from the New York Times magazine.

Anthony Grim Hall started practicing Ashtanga in March 2007. He had been burgled, felt angry about it and angry that he was feeling angry. He picked up a couple of meditation books from the library and later some on yoga to deal with the anger. He was overweight (94 kilograms), unfit and certainly not flexible. In the first four years, he only went to two Ashtanga Mysore self practice classes. He learnt from books and videos, and from comments on his blog. He is now 78 kilograms, and feels more fit, stronger and pretty flexible. In 2008, he started a blog—Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga at Home—beginning this blog dealt with his obsession with achieving the “Jump back” (and later drop backs, kapotasana, karandavasana, advanced series, etc). In June 2009, he came across Srivatsa Ramaswami (one of Krishnamacharya’s longest-serving students) and his ‘The Complete book of Vinyasa Yoga’—he spent the next year working out how best to combine it with his Ashtanga practice. He attended Ramaswami’s 200 hour Vinyasa Krama teacher training course in July/August 2010 and practiced an Ashtanga influenced Vinyasa Krama. He has just published a Vinyasa Yoga at Home Practice Book through Kindle that lays out Ramaswami’s sequences and subroutines along with practice notes including hint, tips and suggestions for each subroutine.

This article was prepared by Assistant Yoga Editor, Soumyajeet Chattaraj.

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