Full 1997 Sydney Ashtanga Primary Demonstration. Pattabhi Jois leading Sharath through the series PLUS the Advanced series demonstration

There seems no better time to share this than now, Pattabhi Jois leading Sharath through the full Ashtanga Primary series, Sydney 1997. I've only ever seen parts of the Advanced demonstration section before, which along with a short Q and A makes up the last twenty minutes of the second video.

Thank you to BDProffey for posting these.

Note: The original demonstration below only includes the one Sury A and one Sury B. I've copied them both and pasted in another four of each to my own version of this using Quicktime to practice along with. I made this for my own use but have added it to the post in the appendix below the originals. The full practice (with the additional sury's A and B) comes out at 57 minutes, much faster than I usually like to take my own practice but we shouldn't forget this is a demonstration. Practicing along with this video I'll tend to take two or perhaps three breaths to Pattabhi Jois' count of five. Occasionally Pattabhi Jois only counts three quick breaths in an asana in other places a quick five. Sarvangasana only gets a count of five but padmasana gets a much slower count of ten. This being 1997, a savasana (note that hands held flat against the hips) is taken before sarvangasana and again it is savasana rather than 'taking rest' at the end of the practice.

Video 2: Demonstration ends at 11.25 and is followed by an advanced series demonstration.

Video 2: Sharath's Advanced series demonstration ends at 26.35 and is followed by a Q and A.

*

Videos Part 1. and 2.

Sharath Jois Primary Series (part 1) from bdproffy on Vimeo.
Sharath Jois Primary Series (part 2) from bdproffy on Vimeo.

APPENDIX

Home Practice Version. The original version of this demonstration of Led Primary above is split over two parts and includes only one each of suryanamaska A and B. I've pasted in an extra four of each and spliced together the two parts of the video to make a full primary to practice along with at home. 

Why go to led classes, workshops or practice along to Led videos?

This question came up in a chat with a friend this morning, we were talking about Sharath's led tour but no doubt it also goes for occasionally practicing along to videos of a led practice, especially taken at this pace.

I guess our practice, this discipline, needs different kinds of support at different times. A week of Led with Sharath, a workshop with Manju or somebody else can perhaps give us that extra bit of support that we may feel we require occasionally (in a similar but different way perhaps to practicing with others in a shala). 

It's an exceptional thing we do each morning. Here in Japan, Yoga is becoming more popular but people tend practice once or possibly twice a week, few (except for the Ashtangi's) seem to practice everyday.

How many outside of a seminary pray for ninety minutes each morning, or outside of a temple Sit for sixty minutes. This discipline we construct and feed in our different ways is quite remarkable, it's a support but we also need to support it, in turn. I've written before how the discipline of practice supports us in our daily lives, supports whatever form our yama/niyamas take, prepares us for dealing with the curve balls to come but the yama/niyamas (again - whatever they are perhaps that we inherit from our culture or choose) also support our practice, prop it up at times and Svadhyaya, can take many forms. It could be silent practice alone, a turning inwards but can no doubt also be a turning outwards reflecting ourselves through suitable texts and contact with others.

While I currently prefer a slower take on practice ( see my Proficient Primary page) I ldo ove Sharath's practice as demonstrated above, just as I loved his own Primary video that I practiced along with for a couple of months back when I first started Ashtanga. It's so unaffected, lacking in flourish or artifice, it may be lacking in alignment too for many but for me it's lacking in ego and an excellent reminder in this glossy age of self promotion that this is a simple practice that we so often over think.

Read More

Movie: BKS Iyengar, Leap of Faith (2008) - Did Krishnamacharya teach a three year diploma course based on the Yogasanagalu table of asana?

BKS Iyengar 1938 - See Appendix 3. for the 1938 film footage

Now this is curious. I was just watching the documentary Leap of Faith, on BKS Iyengar (see below) and twelve minutes in in I came across this....

"In 1935 having cleared the Primary, Elementary and Advanced diploma course in yoga he (BKS Iyengar)  stood first in 98% marks (12:33)".

This suggests perhaps that at Krishnamacharya's Mysore yoga school in the 1930s, when Pattabhi Jois was a student, there seem to have been exams, a Primary, Elementary and Advanced course/diploma.

Mark Singleton's refers to this in Guru's of modern yoga (my bold).

"Iyengar has claimed that personal instruction in yogāsana with Krishnamacharya
was limited to three intense days, but Iyengar also practiced regularly
in the yogaśalā with the other students (Iyengar undated: 1–2). By October
1935 Iyengar reported that he was judged to have given the best performance
of all of Krishnamacharya’s students in all three grades of “elementary, intermediate,
and advanced courses” of yogāsana (Iyengar undated: 3). "
Guru's of Modern Yoga p155 LINK


Does this correspond to the Primary, Middle and Proficient asana groups in Krishnamacharya book Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941)? See Appendix 1. below.

Krishnamacharya's 1941 Asana table -full translation in Appendix 1. below

I've often wondered where the table of asana originally came from. Did Krishnamacharya come up with the table himself  for the 1941 text, did it form the framework for the asana practice at the school, going back to 1933 when Krishnamacharya was asked to teach at the Jagamohan palace, did it form a syllabus for the school and the basis for the exams?

"In 1931, Krishnamacharya was invited to teach at the Sanskrit College in Mysore. The Maharaja, who felt that yoga had helped cure his many ailments, asked Krishnamacharya to open a yoga school under his patronage[6][32] and was subsequently given the wing of a nearby palace, the Jaganmohan Palace, to start the Yogashala, an independent yoga institution,[29] which opened on August 11, 1933". Singleton.

Or did the table perhaps go back even further, in many ways the table seems incomplete, did it derive perhaps from notes taken from an old text 'partly eaten by ants' ?

In the late 30s (1937?) Pattabhi Jois was himself asked by the Maharaja to teach at the Sanskrit college, supposedly a four year Diploma.  Pattabhi Jois states that he took the four year syllabus to Krishnamacharya to ask for his approval, which he received. Was the four year diploma in yoga that Pattabhi jois was to teach closely based on a three year diploma course in asana that Krishnamacharya was teaching, the two tables of asana do seem closely related.

And was the four year diploma course Pattabji Jois presented to Krishnamacharya for his approval in essence the same as the four year diploma syllabus Pattabhi Jois gave to Nancy Gilgoff and David Williams in 1973.

Pattabhi Jois' four year Ashtanga syllabus

given to Nancy Gilgoff and David Williams in 1937

full syllabus in Appendix 2 below.

Pattabhi jois has suggested that Krishnamacharya had a more flexible approach to asana, introducing a 'mountain of asana', asana outside of the syllabus perhaps that Krishnamacharya himself discovered in his ongoing research or developed himself as variations to other asana or to help students towards achieving a challenging asana.

We know that Krishnamacharya also taught privately, occasionally in a side room of the yogashala while Pattabhi  Jois, his assistant, led the regular students through their class (the syllabus?).

There seems to have been two approaches to asana that Krishnamacharya was presenting in Mysore.

The first, a yoga syllabus approach to asana, designed specifically to prepare the boys of the palace to take exams in asana as well as to present public demonstrations. The class an hour long, a guiding framework/syllabus, the asana perhaps taken at a faster pace (the class was said to be an hour long) that Pattabhi Jois carried forward as the 'Ashtanga' vinyasa we know today.

Secondly, a slower, arguably more flexible 'traditional' bespoke approach dependent on the requirements of the students, long slow breathing, kumbhaka (breath control), some longer stays, the asana integrated with pranayama and a meditative activity, (chanting, japa, more formal seated concentration practice) that we find outlined in Krishnamacharya first book Yoga Makaranda (1934) and that he continued teaching (and developing ) himself after leaving Mysore in the 1950s and that his student. Srivatsa Ramaswami from the 1950s until Krishnamacharya' passing in 1989 continues to pass along as Vinyasa Krama .

See also
consistency in Krishnamacharya's teaching

Appendix 1. 

Krishnamacharya's asana table ( yogasanagalu 1941)

See this post for more details

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2012/05/complete-asana-table-from.html

'Therefore, how many vinysas for asanas? Asana position comes at which vinyasa count?  When do you perform rechanka and puraka?  When to do antah kumbhaka and bahya kumbhaka?  What are its benefits?  For yoga practitioners information, it is listed in the table below'. Yogasanagalu

Yogasanagalu Asana table

UPDATE

NOTE: With the translation of Krishnamacharya's second book Yogasanagalu ( Mysore 1941 - 3rd edition with additional chapter 1972) now complete, I'm just putting the finishing touches on a free to download edition of the full text that will be available for personal study on the Free Download page at the top of the blog.

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Notes

Kumbhaka

Antah kumbhaka (purakha kumbhaka) = retention of the breath after inhalation

Bahya kumbhaka (recaka kumbhaka) = retention of the breath after exhalation

Ubhya kumbhaka = retention of the breath after both inhalation and exhalation

*In the Primary group above kumbhaka is indicated explicitly in only three postures, baddha padmasana, uttanasana and sethubandasana. In the earlier Yoga Makaranda (1934) however, kumbhaka is indicated other primary postures. This may be that while learning the Primary asana we may forgo kumbhaka in most of the primary postures until gaining familiarity and a degree of proficiency with those asana when we would then begin to work in the kumbhaka. this may be made clearer as the translation continues.

Kumbhaka (mentioned explicitly) in the Yoga Makaranda Primary asana

Tadasana (here implies samasthiti )- purakha kumbhaka

Uttanasana -purakha kumbhaka (we can perhaps presume that all the uttanasana variations would also include antha kumbhaka EG. padahastasana, parsvauttanasa

na, prasaritapadauttanasana.

Ardha baddha padma uttanasana - recaka kumbhaka

Urdhavamukhssvanasana - puraka kumbhaka

Adhomukhssvandasana - recaka kumbhaka

Paschimottanasana - purkha kumbhaka (recaka kumbhaka implied ?)

janusirsasana - purka kumbhaka & Rechaka kumbhaka

Upavistakonasana "recaka kumbhaka is the central principle for this posture"

badhakonasana - recaka kumbhaka

Suptapaddangusthasana- recaka kumbhaka

utthitahastapadangusthasana - recaka kumbhaka

Bhujapidasana - recaka kumbhaka

marichiyasana - recaka kumbhaka ?

*

Appendix 2

The 'Original' Ashtanga yoga Syllabus given to Nancy Gilgoff and David Williams by Sri K Pattabhi Jois in 1974 Mysore

"In fact, David and I had no idea that there were two separate series until the end of that first four-month trip, when we were leaving, at which point Guruji gave us a sheet of paper with a list of the postures, which were listed as Primary, Intermediate, Advanced A, and Advanced B. At this point he told us to practice one series a day, and only once a day".
 from Ashtanga Yoga as it was (The long and the short of it )  Nancy Gilgoff

many thanks to Anon for passing it along and especially to Nancy for giving permission to post it this morning and share with the community at large.

Available as pfd download from googledocs
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B7JXC_g3qGlWRzZWOUltVnh3RFU

See my earlier blog post on Nancy's article
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/dear-nancy-yoga-as-it-was-nancy-gilgoff.html

also here
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/dear-nancy-breath-in-73.html

and here
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/dear-nancy-head-updown-jalandhara.html

*

Appendix 3.

Full 1938 Documentary footage

T. Krishnamacharya, his family and BKS Iyengar

Read More

Specifics of the breath in yoga asana - Notes from Krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941)

Krishnamacharya gets quite specific with regard to the breath in Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941).


"In pranayama practice (yogangabhyasis), inhalation and exhalation motion is performed using both nostrils, trachea, tip of the tongue, between two lips and in between two rows of teeth.

Normally during yogasana practice, inhalation and exhalation is performed via the trachea deeply, subtly and with sound. This is common practice with everyone. This type of breathing is called anuloma ujjayi” Yogasanagalu  ( Mysore 1941).

Note: Krishnamacharya's use of the term Anuloma Ujjayi here should not be confused with the pranayama of the same name which tends to involve throat inhalation with exhalation through alternate nostrils. Anuloma means 'with the grain' thus...

"All expansion movements are usually done while inhaling and all contraction while exhaling"
Yoga beneath the Surface by Srivatsa Ramaswami and David Hurwitz 
See full quote in Appendix 2 below

*

"When practicing asanas, we need to maintain deep inhalation and exhalation to normalise the uneven respiration through nasal passages.

In yoga positions where eyes, head and forehead are raised, inhalation must be performed slowly through the nostrils until the lungs are filled.

Then the chest is pushed forward and puffed up, abdomen tightly tucked in, focusing the eyes on the tip of the nose, and straighten the back bones tightly as much as possible. This type of inhalation which fills the lungs signifies Puraka.

In yoga positions where eyes, head, forehead, chest and the hip are lowered,we have to slowly exhale the filled air. Tucking in tightly the upper abdomen, the eyes must be closed. This type of exhalation is called Rechaka.

Holding the breath is called Kumbhaka". Yogasanagalu  ( Mysore 1941)

*

Note: A year or two I started to follow Simon Borg-Olivier's recommendation to breathe with a relaxed abdomen, a diaphragmatic focus rather than the chest- see this earlier post 'The breath: Simon Borg-Olivier made me fall in love with asana all over again..

In the past I assumed Krishnamacharya breathed thoracically ( into the chest with uddiyana engaged throughout) at this period of his teaching) and yet in the instruction above he inhales fully AND THEN pushes out the chest and finally drawing in the belly, does this suggest or allow for a diaphragm focus, relaxed abdominal breath? 

See this post perhaps from Simon The Benefits of Natural Breathing and Reduced Breathing.

UPDATE from Simon''s intro to sharing this post on fb.

"There has been a great push over the last two decades for many 'modern yogis' to emphasise chest breathing and often disregard the diaphragm but it makes no anatomical or physiological sense. Most untrained adults can only breathe fully into their chest by inhibiting their diaphragm and putting themselves into a physiological state of 'flight or fight'.

The fact that the ability to expand the chest with air held out (exhalation retention) and the abdomen fully relaxed in the manner described to be Uddiyana bandha in Mr Iyengar's "Light on Yoga'' is not accessible for most people is reflective of the fact that most people can only expand the chest by engaging the muscles of forced abdominal exhalation (the abdominal obliques), which inhibit (reciprocally relax) the diaphragm, and thus cause chest breathing by default.

In addition, most people can not activate the lower abdominal muscles (the lower transverse abdominis) without activating the the muscles of forced abdominal exhalation (the abdominal obliques). You can easily test this by asking a group of average people to begin with a completely relaxed abdomen and then ask them to only draw in the lower abdomen without hardening or changing the upper abdomen. Most people simply can not do this and as a physiotherapist we routinely show this on people with real time ultrasound. If the upper abdomen hardens even a bit when the lower abdominal muscles engage, then the chest will expand by default because the diaphragm has been inhibited.

Once the diaphragm is inhibited then sickness or ill health is not far away. This is a big story and I believe many people are potentially damaging their health by attempting pranayama before they are adequately prepared for it.

In Saptanga (seven stage) Yoga, also known as hatha yoga, the first stage is kriya, then asana, then mudra, then pranayama, then dharana, dhyana and samadhi. This implies that kriya has to be learned before pranayama and an important kriya is basti kriya, which involves expanding the chest with the anal sphincter expanded and the diaphragm contracted. This is almost impossible for most people to do. This suggests that complete breathing, where the diaphragm functions without inhibition, before the chest expands, is almost impossible for most people, and that most people breathing into their chest in most exercise classes and 'yoga' classes are simply forcing the air into their chest by inhibiting the diaphragm and entering a physiological state of 'flight or fight' (over-stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system), in which the digestive system, immune system and reproductive system are inhibited and the dominant emotions become fear, anger, aggression and lack of safety; and that doesn't sound like yoga to me!


My point is that for effective pranayama both diaphragmatic and chest breathing are necessary as indicated by Sri Krishnamacharya and all his senior students, but the neuro-muscular control needed for this is simply not available for most people without causing damaging stress. Superficially, many people seem to breathing into their chest, but often they are simply increasing stress levels by trying it and there very few practitioners that can do like like Krishnamacharya and the other maha gurus demonstrated. I love pranayama including all the work with diaphragm, chest as well as the transversus abdominis but i still find that when i teach other people (especially in groups) it is more effective to teach natural invisible inaudible diaphragmatic breathing to most people most of the time in the same way that my teacher Mr BKS Iyengar taught 95% of the time to his students practicing asana".

Below Krishnamacharya in the 1938 Mysore footage, again, back when Pattabhi Jois was his student.

*

It is perhaps important to point out once again that Pattabhi Jois seems to have been presenting a simplification of Krishnamacharya's Mysore teaching, perhaps just the approach to asana that Krishnamacharya taught to the boys of the palace in group classes (see the previous post).

Krishnamacharya suggest in Yogasanagalu that it is possible to split a class into physical condition and ability and teach asana as a group. The simplification then is perhaps Krishnamacharya's own rather than Pattabhi Jois', a necessity of teaching group classes.

"Yoga practitioners must perform pranayama on an individual basis. However, yogasanas can be performed individually or as a group. When teaching yoga in a group, it is advised to separate people with obese, lean, and short body types. Otherwise, they will not get their desired results. People with obese body naturally want to get lean. Drill and other exercises also follow this rule. All can not perform all types of practices (sadhanas)".

"In yoganga practice, asanas that are possible for a lean person are impossible for an obese person. However, we don’t need to increase the number of yoga instructors. Yoga practitioners may be divided approximately on the basis of body type and the same instructor can teach them. In the same way, practitioners with common disease types may be divided and treated (with yoga)". 

Given that the class Pattabhi Jois ( as one of Krishnamacharya's shala assistants) would present was only an hour in duration it's likely that the stays in asana were short and the breath less subtle than Krishnamacharya would present in his Mysore texts of the same period.

This simplified approach to practice, carried forward by Pattabhi Jois as Ashtanga Vinyasa, clearly works well as an introduction to asana practice. In the system Pattabhi Jois presented, you can come into the shala, jump on the mat run through your kata of asana, shower and head off to work. The whole system can fit on a double sided A4 card. It wasn't necessary to think about yoga philosophy, or concern yourself with the yama and niyama, all that would come.... or not, depending on your interest.

Unfortunately, the love and respect of his first students turned almost to worship for the person of Pattabhi Jois by those who followed, he became credited with the methodology he presented ( when I started it was hard to find much more than a line or two about Krishnamacharya) and thus the system became closed, ever more codified, defended, preserved in the shellac of lineage.

Parampara I would argue can be a hinderance.

Sharath preserves intact the presentation of the Ashtanga Vinyasa of Pattabhi Jois' later years for new generations of students and this is all to the good. Manju too, preserves the Ashtanga Vinyasa perhaps of Pattabhi Jois' middle period, a slightly more flexible, free approach, the asana followed by pranayama and chanting as a meditative activity.


But also preserved are Krishnamacharya own Mysore texts,  his Yoga Makaranda and Yogasanagalu, written at the time Pattabhi Jois was his student and in Pattabhi Jois' own Kanada language. Here we can find a practice not confined to the necessities of an hour long group class, a fuller presentation of the mature Krishnamacharya's understanding of yoga at that time than that of the twenty year old student.

The asana are not locked into series, more input is required on our part in choosing which asana to practice. Long stays are indicated/suggested/recommended for certain asana, the breath is more subtle than that required of a rushed group class. The breath is slowed, lengthened, kumbhaka (retaining the breath in or out) suggested in most asana presented, bandhas fully engaged, the mind focussed....., asana become mudra like, gestures.

Krishnamacharya insists the yama and niyama are prerequisite to asana practice, they go hand in hand with our asana practice as does the practice of pranayama, after some proficiency is attained in a few primary asana.The later limbs follow, asana for Krishnamacharya is part of a fully integrated practice.

"12. Caution
Especially those who want to start practicing the two yoganga’s “Asana” and “Pranayama” without following the aforementioned niyamas (and yamas?), following drawing charts and practicing on their own freewill will not receive benefits but may also be responsible for tarnishing the name and bringing disrepute".

We don't have to wait until given the  illusion of authorisation, another's permission, until we have begun third series....second. If we have been practicing for a time, our health and fitness under control, out breath steady in a few Primary asana, our practice grounded and some degree of discipline obtained then we can begin to explore the asana we have, the practice we have, in other ways than though ever more asana.

"Most important asanas shirshasana, sarvangasana, mayurasana, paschimatanasana and baddha padmasana must be practiced daily without failure.

Other asanas are practiced according to their convenience as people become proficient.
By practicing shirshasana, sarvangasana and their variations at very early morning, great benefits are obtained.

Those who want to expand intelligence, heart energy and Jnanendriayas (sense organs) must practice these asanas ( shirshasana and sarvangasana) for long periods.

After practicing this, practice 15 minutes of one of the pranayama routines followed by 5 minutes of shavasana, without failure". Yogasanagalu  ( Mysore 1941)

I would argue that often, for all the sweat and labour,  it's laziness on our part than makes us rather work on the next asana and series than focus on pranayama, on exploring the later limbs.


"Indeed, anyone—men and women of all ages, sick or weak—can practice yoga, except those who are lazy". Pattabhi Jois Yoga Mala (Mysore 1950s)


"Lazy people can not make progress in any work while energetic will not be left behind. India’s cultural and spiritual wealth was not only permeated by speech. The courageous overcome obstacles and practiced. In this edition, it is once again suggested that yoga sadhana is for people of all ages". Krishnamacharya. Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941)


Krishnamacharya strongly recommends that in the beginning and for a time, we practice under the guidance of a guru, an appropriate teacher.... but where are we to find such a teacher when so many are inhibited by an imagined tradition, constrained by lineage, hindered by a parampara that seeks to protect, preserve and propagate an incomplete, simplification of the teaching of the very teacher who is the most complete source we have of that traditions, lineage and parampara.

Learn key Primary asana from an experienced teacher and practitioner 'authorised' or not who can teach their safe practice, look then to Pattabhi Jois' Yoga Mala and then to the texts of his teacher T. Krishnamacharya.

Manju Jois stresses freedom in practice, that yoga is indeed ALL about freedom, I tend to think of yoga as radical enquiry, enquiry into that which we most firmly believe to be the case. Krishnamacharya's texts contain suggestions, recommendations for enquiry through our own practice.

Here is a link to my Free Download page where there are links to downloads of Krishnamacharya's texts including the now complete English translation of Yogasanagalu.

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/p/free-downloads.html



see also perhaps

In defence of Ashtanga 1.

In defence of Ashtanga 2




APPENDIX 1.

Comparison, ofPaschimottanasana in Krishnamacharya and Pattabhi Jois

Example of the asana description from Krishnamacharya's

Yoga Makaranda ( Mysore 1934) and reproduced in Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941)

Pascimattanasana or Pascimottanasana

This asana has many kramas. Of these the first form has 16 vinyasas. Just doing the asana sthiti by sitting in the same spot without doing these vinyasas will not yield the complete benefits mentioned in the yoga sastras. This rule applies to all asanas.

The first three vinyasas are exactly as for uttanasana. The 4th vinyasa is caturanga dandasana, the 5th vinyasa is urdhvamukhasvanasana, the 6th vinyasa is adhomukhasvanasana. Practise these following the earlier instructions. In the 6th vinyasa, doing puraka kumbhaka, jump and arrive at the 7th vinyasa. That is, from adhomukhasvanasana sthiti, jump forward and move both legs between the arms without allowing the legs to touch the floor. Extend the legs out forward and sit down. Practise sitting like this with the rear part of the body either between the two hands or 4 angulas in front of the hands. It is better to learn the abhyasa krama from a guru.

In this sthiti, push the chest forward, do puraka kumbhaka and gaze steadily at the tip of the nose. After this extend both arms out towards the feet (the legs are already extended in front). Clasp the big toes of the feet tightly with the first three fingers (thumb, index, middle) of the hands such that the left hand holds the left big toe and the right hand holds the right big toe. Do not raise the knees even slightly. Then, pull in the stomach while doing recaka, lower the head and press the face down onto the knee. The knees should not rise from the ground in this sthiti either. This is the 9th vinyasa. This is called pascimottanasana.

In the beginning, everybody will find it very difficult. The nerves in the back, the thighs and the backs of the knees will feel as though they are being fiercely pulled and this will be extremely painful. The pain will remain for 8 days. After this, the pulling on the nerves will release and it will be possible to do the asana without any problem.

This pascimottanasana has many forms. After first practising this asana with the face pressed onto the knee, practise it with the chin placed on the knee and then eventually with it placed 3 angulas below the knee on the calf. In the 10th vinyasa raise the head. In the 11th vinyasa, keeping the hands firmly pressed on the ground, raise the entire body o the ground and balance it in the air without touching the ground. The 11th vinyasa is called uthpluthi. The 12th vinyasa is caturanga dandasana. The 13th is urdhvamukhasvanasana. The 14th is adhomukhasvanasana. The 15th is the first vinyasa of uttanasana. The 16th vinyasa is the 2nd vinyasa of uttanasana.

Afterwards, return to samasthiti. You should learn the intricacies of this vinyasa only from a guru.

Benefit: This will cure all diseases related to the stomach.

This asana can be done on the floor or on a mat according to the capabilities of one’s body. Learn some of the other forms of pascimottanasana krama by studying the pictures carefully. Pregnant women should not do this asana. But this can be done up to the third month of pregnancy. For men, there are no restrictions to practising this asana. If this is practised every day without fail for 15 minutes, all the bad diseases of the stomach will be removed.

*

from pattabhi Jois' Yoga mala (1950s)


PASCHIMATTANASANA
There are sixteen vinyasas to this asana. The 9th is its state (see figures).
METHOD
To begin, follow the first Surya Namaskara through the 6th vinyasa. Then, doing puraka and with only the strength of the arms, jump the legs between the hands without allowing them to touch the floor, and stretch out the legs. Then press the hands to the floor on either side of the hips, straighten the chest and waist, lower the head a little, draw the anus up tightly, lift the lower abdomen and hold firmly, and sit erect, slowly doing rechaka and puraka as much as possible; this constitutes the 7th vinyasa. Next, doing rechaka, grasp and hold the upper parts of the feet; this is the 8th vinyasa (as your practice becomes firm, you should be able to lock your hands behind your feet). Then, doing puraka slowly, then rechaka, straighten both legs, and place the head between the knees; this is the 9th vinyasa and the state of the asana. While in the state, do puraka and rechaka slowly and deeply, as much as possible. Then, slowly doing puraka, lift only the head; this is the 10th vinyasa. Next, doing rechaka and then puraka, let go of the feet, press the hands to the floor, bend the legs, and lift the entire body up off the floor merely with the strength of the arms; this is the 11th vinyasa. The remaining vinyasas are the same as those for the Surya Namaskara.

There are three types of Paschimattanasana: 1) holding the big toes and touching the nose to the knees; 2) holding on to either side of the feet and touching the nose to the knees; and 3) locking the hand and wrist beyond the feet, and touching the chin to the knee. All three types should be practiced, as each is useful.

BENEFITS
The practice of this asana helps the stomach to become slender by dissolving its fat. It also increases jathara agni [the fire of hunger], helps food to digest well, and strengthens the organs of the digestive systems ( jir-nanga kosha). In addition, it cures weakness in the hands and legs resulting from a loss of appetite and low digestive fire, as well as indolence and giddiness stemming from an aberration in the liver, and gas problems in the stomach.

***

Appendix 2

Anuloma (with the grain)

explained by Krishnamacharya's student of 30+ years Srivatsa Ramaswami

from Yoga beneath the Surface by Srivatsa Ramaswami and David Hurwitz

DAVID: In asana, when we do a vinyasa sequence that requires jumping, do we jump on hold after exhale or inhale? Far instance, in the sun salutation, we jump on hold after inhale from utatasana to chatarunga, and again from downward-facing dog to utkatasana, on hold after inhale. But, I've also done sun salutations where we jump  on uttanasana to chatarunga on hold after exhale. And, in trikonasana, we jump the legs apart on hold after exhale. Or, are these just guidelines and really we can do either?

RAMASWAMI: This can be answered better by understanding the reasoning behind the synchronization of breath and move­ment in vinyasa krama. All expansion movements are usually done while inhaling and all contraction while exhaling. When you raise the arms, you do it with inhalation. When you stretch the legs or bend back, it usually is done during inhalation. Likewise when you bend the knees and draw the legs toward your body, as in utkatasana or apanasana, it has to be during exhalation. Dropping your arms down or twisting the body or bending the body will be done with exhalation. When you do an expansive movement, such as raising the arms, if you also inhale, not only the muscles of the limbs stretch but also the muscles inside the chest expand with the inhalation. Thus, there is both an internal and external stretching taking place. This is anuloma (with the grain move­ment). On the other hand, if you do it without proper breathing, the full advantage of coordinated stretching is not obtained. Sim­ilarly, when you contract the body, as in bending forward, if you exhale it becomes easier to contract the internal muscles as you contract the external muscles.

Now, jumping is not a common occurrence in yoga practice. Since jumping is a swift movement, you cannot synchronize it with the breath as we do in slow vinyasa movements. So we hold the breath while jumping. Here, also, the reasoning will be to keep the internal muscles stretched as you stretch the external muscles. So when you jump from utkatasana to chaturanga-dandasana ( four-legged staff  pose), since there is an extension of the body and also the chest, it is logical to do it with internal breath holding. The same will be the case if you jump  from uttanasana to chaturanga­ dandasana. In the case of trikonasana, since only the legs are involved and not the chest, it is okay to jump after exhalation.
There is one more point to note. As discussed, people who are older or who are obese  find it dfficult to inhale and do some of the extension and backbending movements simultaneously. Applying the same logic, some may be advised to do the jumping from utkatasana to chaturanga-dandasana while holding the breath out after exhalation. But it is better not to ask older or obese people to jump as kids do.

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Origins of Ashtanga Vinyasa: Yogasanagalu and Yoga Korunta (yogakuranti) Also, Was Ashtanga designed for Young Boys?

Perhaps some quick posts with some lines that have caught my eye in rereading Krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu (Mysore  1941), finally translated into English.

First up, a tantalising Bibliography, Yogakurunti mentioned four books down.

An enjoyable speculative write up on the Yoga Korunta by James Russell HERE

....which includes this in the comments from Eddie Stern

"...In regards to your synopsis in the beginning about the discovery of the Yoga Korunta, this is not at all how I heard it from Guruji. I think Gregor might have that version in his first book, and a 1986 Yoga Journal published that as well. The way Guruji related to Sharath and I, on several occasions, in Kannada and English, was that Rama Mohana Brahmachari taught Krishnamacharya the Yoga Korunta during his 7+ years of study within him in the forests outside of Banaras (not Tibet), and that Rama Mohana told Krishnamacharya that he could find the text at the Calcutta University library. Guruji never laid eyes on the text, and he said that Krishnamacharya said the text, like thousands of others in India, was badly damaged. So, it's really not such an apocryphal story, though much has been made of it.

As well, the teachings in the Korunta, as you have surmised, would definitely not reflect Ashtanga Yoga as it is taught today. Guruji made many adaptations beginning in the late 1930's."

Not so many adaptations perhaps as we can now see from the Yogasanagalu Table of Asana .

See HERE for just the table as well as the Yogasanagalu translation ( link above).

Pattabhi Jois told several versions of of the Yoga Korunta story, I like the interview with David Williams from an earlier Bali conference (2013) where David relates that Pattabhi Jois was just about to launch on some great Yoga Korunta narrative only to be stopped by his wife Amma who says, "Now, now Pattabhi, the truth". Crestfallen, Pattabhi relates a less... grand tale.

Note: My understanding is that the 2017 Bali Conference has been cancelled, download this series of videos instead perhaps http://www.ashtangayogabali.com/resources/videos/

See also this comment from Pranhidi regarding our teacher Manju (Pattabhi Jois' son) on James Russel's article 

"...Manju Jois, recalls his father, Pattabhi Jois, and Krishnamcharya refining the sequences together- grouping asanas, transitions, etc. I thought I'd pass that along since not many people alive today knew KPJ at that time. Manju is a treasure that many ashtanga vinyasa practitioners could benefit from spending time with. It's clear to me from emerging research and from the stories of senior ashtanga teachers that the method certainly has a lineage but that it has evolved with time, and been adapted to suit the needs of each student..."

I had an enjoyable discussion myself with Manju on this very topic, he was pointing out the differences between the table and the practice he had just led us through in Rethymno, while I was pointing out all the similarities.  

Given what we know about Krishnamacharya's terrifying demeanour from Pattabhi Jois himself and also from BKS Iyengar, it seems unlikely to me that young Pattabhi Jois said much more to his teacher than than "Yes Sir, No sir". When Pattabhi Jois supposedly asked his teacher if the four year asana syllabus (clearly based on Krishnamacharya's own table of asana and the program Pattabhi Jois assisted in teaching at the yogashala) met with Krishnamacharya's approval, it may well have been the first formal question he actually addressed to his guru.

*

The legend of the Yoga Koruntu (yogakuranti) is great fun of course but ultimately it's a distraction as are all methodologies which are of course ultimately means of control, ideally their job is to keep us distracted long enough to develop discipline whereupon we might freely discard them. No doubt all that would be taken from Yoga Korunta were it to be found is only that which confirms our current view of practice, it would then quickly be forgotten once more. It's presence is in it's absence.

As awareness rose within us so too did the potential to turn that awareness in upon itself. It requires opportunity, discipline, attention and time. 

Slowing the breath before battle is universal.

Sit, breathe, attend...... it's our birthright, no text or teacher required.

*

First edit of the full text can be downloaded for personal study from here.

http://tinyurl.com/z9jy7cp

(future edits to come perhaps with some of my own notes on the text)

Krishnamacharya's yogasanagalu : Published Mysore 1941

Below. Photos from Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda ( Mysore 1934)

Note: the Yogashala opened in 1933

Below. Krishnamacharya standing like Superman on the right

Pattabhi jois in Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) on the right side of the table?

The post below has been sitting in draft for some time, I may as well include it here

I was asked this old chestnut (yet) again recently.

Was Ashtanga designed/intended for young boys?

This question can be answered in a number of ways but the honest answer is.....

 YES

Sorry folks, but it kinda was.

The question is, in most cases, asking about the Ashtanga Vinyasa approach to asana taught by Pattabhi Jois.

Pattabhi Jois was one of Krishnamacharya's assistants when Krishnamacharya was teaching the BOYS of the Mysore palace.

The asana class Pattabhi Jois appears to have taken on Krishnamacharya's behalf at the Mysore palace seems to have been a led group class and supposedly of an hour duration. We can see from the asana table in Krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu table of asana  ( Full English translation of the text finally completed and now availabe for download from my Free Download page) that Pattabhi Jois' Ashtanga Primary series and intermediate series closely follows how Krishnamacharya laid out his table of asana.

In the late 1930s/early 40s Pattabhi Jois was supposedly asked to teach a four year syllabus which he clearly based on his experience assisting on Krishnamacharya's behalf, as well no doubt as Krishnamacharya's table of asana which we must assume, given the close relation, that he saw ( it was also written in Kannada as was Yoga Makaranda, Pattabhi Jois' language). The Sanskrit college course was again for young boys although a few years older perhaps than those of the place school (late teen/early twenties?).

However, if we look to Krishnamacharya's own texts from the same period we see that Krishnamacharya taught in groups of asana rather than fixed series that needed to be completed. We see long slow breathing stressed in almost every asana, Kumbhaka (meditatively/pranayamaically restraining the breath), we see longer stays.

Pattabhi Jois may have talked of long slow breathing but in practice his students move quickly through their series. Pattabhi Jois could be flexible in his approach, to those with injury or illness perhaps, but essentially Ashtanga has kept close to the series.

It has been suggested that Pattabhi Jois and Krishnamacharya worked together at forming the sequences, this seems unlikely, given Pattabhi Jois' accounts of his teacher as well as that of BKS Iyengar it is surely unlikely that Pattabhi Jois said much more to Krishnamacharya than "Yes Sir, No Sir". When Pattabhi Jois asked his teacher to approve the four year syllabus based closely on Krishnamacharya's own table of asana it may well have been the first question Pattabhi jois had got up the nerve to ask his teacher.

Pattabhi Jois assisted Krishnamacharya by leading the boys of the palace through their paces because Krishnamacharya himself was often in a side room teaching private lessons, to patients, members of the court or in the palace proper perhaps giving lessons to the Maharaja himself. Perhaps these lessons more clearly followed the guidelines for practice we find in Krishnamacharya's Mysore texts of the period. The lessons are likely to have been more flexible, bespoke, less asana with longer stays and slower breathing, no doubt integrated with other limbs.

This approach to practice, unlike that Pattabhi Jois oversaw with the boys of the palace, was designed not just for boys but for whoever came to him for lessons. 

In this case then... 

NO, Ashtanga Vinyasa as krishnamacharya clearly conceived it was NOT designed for young boys...

It was an approach to asana practice that could be adapted for exuberant boys with the attention span of  guppy's ( not unlike us in the West perhaps with our push button society) as well as to practitioners of different ages and physical conditions. We will see in Yogasanagalu that Krishnamacharya considered practicing a great deal of asana to be beneficial in reducing weight and improving the physical condition of practitioners. Once in a healthier, fitter condition they would approach their asana practice with more subtlety.

Pattabhi Jois didn't invent Ashtanga Vinyasa and it's highly unlikely he worked out groups or series of asana with Krishnamacharya, it seems rather that he took Krishnamacharya approach to asana, the one Krishnamacharya had simplified for the boys of the palace, tweaked it a little and presented it in his four years course at the Sanskrit college and later to the Westerners who came knocking on his door,

This is not to take anything away from Pattabhi Jois, he was by all accounts a generous, tireless teacher of this aspect of Krishnamacharya's teaching as are so many of those teachers who studied with him.

Ashtanga vinyasa is how we often refer to the approach to asana Pattabhi Jois taught, this is to distinguish it from the Ashtanga of Patanjali's yoga sutras of which it forms a part.

Patanjali's yoga sutras and the eight limb (ashtanga) methodology it presents is of course intended for everybody.

This when somebody asks..

Was Ashtanga designed for young boys?

It's possible to answer NO, this is of course a category mistake. the Questioner asking about one category Ashtanga vinyasa, the responder replying from the perspective of another category, Patanjali's Ashtanga. It's an ingenuous response. It can also be a harmful response, believing the approach to be asana to be intended for everybody, practitioners as well as teachers might be tempted to teach and attempt asana that are not suitable for them at that time if ever.

Krishnamacharya mentions in Yogasanagalu that there is a need for demonstrators but for most the more significant task of exploring and seeking to understand the nature of self through patanjali is of higher importance, for that we only perhaps need one comfortable asana and three pranayama's.

Too often our perception of what is or is not correct is a hinderance, dictating and defending correct method is a hinderance to practice and development. Krishnamacharya approach to asana was flexible, it embraced all the limbs, it's approach to asana subtle, there is a lifetime of exploration to be found between the covers of Krishnamacharya's texts. But even this is a hinderance clinging to one teacher, one approach to teaching however broad and flexible. Our teacher('s) should be our guides only, leading us to explore for ourselves our practice and what is appropriate for us this, goes for teachers that are alive  and still teaching as well as for dead texts.

*

This particular form of Ashtanga vinyasa may have been originally designed with young boys in mind however.......

See this post In defence of Ashtanga 2: Notice how....

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2016/09/notice-how-for-ashtangis.html

and....

In defence of Ashtanga 1.

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2013/07/in-defence-of-ashtanga-comment-response.html

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