Work in progress: Ashtanga, always. Sirsasana (headstand) to Gomukhasana and back, to Baddha Konasana and back, to Padmasana and back. Plus a Baddha Padmasana approach.

I was tempted to start another blog altogether for this focus on Simon and Bianca's approach to practice, to strongly signal that it's in many ways a new beginning but then isn't our practice always a new beginning, every time we step on the mat and encounter our body as it is that morning, isn't it or shouldn't it be perhaps as if the first time, just as each morning we start from scratch and seek to do a little better in regards to the yama/niyama that day.

This isn't a new 'style' of yoga, just an alternatively mindful approach to the practice we already have, If I feel a long way from my Ashtanga Vinyasa practice, moving back closer to the Vinyasa Krama variations of Krishnamacharya/Ramaswami, then  I'm reminded that Simon has an online Ashtanga course in the works. Whatever we practice we can always perhaps improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our practice as well as making it sustainable for the long as well as short term.

Pattabhi Jois preserved one form of Krishnamacharya's teaching of asana from the Mysore period, the form clearly, originally, designed/intended for the teaching of the young boys of the Mysore palace (this does not mean that the practice is exclusively for young boys and can't be enjoyed by anyone else). We can see from the 1938 footage and from Krishnamacharya own writing from this period that his teaching at this time, in 20s-50s Mysore took several forms, with/without kumbhaka,  with/without more variations. Manju and Saraswati have preserved one form as have many of the early teachers, as has Sharath, a base camp practice if you will from which we can venture out and return. Other early teachers have explored the possibilities of Krishnamacharya's practice as did the great man himself in his later teaching, as did Iyengar. Were they developing different 'styles' or just continuing the postural research from the ground of their interpretation of early sources, Iyengar strongly indicated the later.

Sharath, my friend Manju (anyone who studies with Manju I suspect comes away feeling that he is a friend rather than their 'guru') claim that the Ashtanga vinyasa form they teach is traditional. Having spent ten years looking at the history of the form  here on the blog that makes little sense to me. In what possible way is Ashtanga vinyasa more traditional say than the Vinyasa Flow Power yoga in your local gym down the road. Not in the count certainly, not in the tristana, not in selection and ordering of postures. Traditional yoga if it means anything is a dedicated, sincere, committed physical practice of some form that prepares us, along with our pranayama, for the meditative limbs and enquiry into self, all on the basis of appropriate  yama/niyama we have chosen to seek to live our lives by that support this enquiry. Too often we become fixated on the form at the expense of it's purpose. In his book Yoga Mala, Pattabhi Jois suggested that after fifty we should choose a few appropriate asana, that even a handful of salutations (which certainly weren't traditional, Krishnamacharya frowned upon them as a fitness fad and rarely taught them) followed by the last three postures may be considered sufficient.... and still Ashtanga.

I have loved my Ashtanga practice, I'm grateful for it for, to all teachers and practitioners that I thank each time I step on the mat, for my personal practice that has emerged out of it. Is it still Ashtanga vinyasa, I cease to care that much about it's label, is it still Ashtanga, is it yoga? Yes, I believe it is, if it's still a committed enquiry of self.

This post relates to my previous posts

Spinal and Active movements.: After ten years, a moving away from Ashtanga Vinyasa somewhat?

Simon Borg-Olivier made me fall in love with my spine all over again.

In their standing sequences at yogasynergy.com Simon Borg-Olivier and Bianca Machliss focus on moving the spine vertebra by vertebrae while keeping length and avoiding, as much as possible, any compression, starting from the base of the spine around L5 and moving on up, tricky.

Below is my first video of working on their Spinal movements that I've become addicted to, I'm more than a little embarrassed to share it, suggesting that after ten years of practice and nine of blogging about that I'm taking myself and my practice a little too seriously. I like to think of this video as akin to one of those first jump back in progress videos form the first weeks of the blog.

I'm thinking of tai chi, of Qi gong and how it takes decades of practice to iron out the edges, to maintain focus on all the elements throughout.

It's work in progress, come back in ten years.

Instruction for this sequence can be found on this download
https://yogasynergy.com/shop/spinal-movements/

And Simon showing how it should be done

Note: I strongly recommend watching this series of videos on YouTube for an explanation of the why and wherefore of all these movements SPINAL MOVEMENTS SEQUENCE 

UPDATE
One minute breath (give or take). 
Generally Simon Borg-Olivier recommends, when beginning physical yoga as well as perhaps a new sequence or approach, to employ natural breathing 'to the abdomen' a babies or sleeping breath. I've been employing relaxed abdominal breathing for a couple of years now but shifting from the Ashtanga one movement one inhalation or exhalation to letting the breath take care of itself has been challenging. But once you begin to get the hang of it other possibilities arise. In the video, I'm exploring breathing through the movements, so a long slow 30 second inhalation through the first stretches, of one arm and then the other above the head, one inhalation for both sides and then again a long slow, relaxed 30 second exhalation through the twists to the left and right. This is an aspect of practice I'm quite excited about exploring right now.

Note: The video is natural speed, it hasn't been slowed down.

And also this. I love what Simon has to say on this video about practice and Yoga in general and I've shared this here before but try changing the settings to 1080p and watching it with the sound off. THIS is what I'm currently exploring in my own practice, the first two minutes in particular.

Generally Simon recommends, when beginning physical yoga as well as perhaps a new sequence or approach, to employ natural breathing 'to the abdomen' a babies or sleeping breath. I've been employing relaxed abdominal breathing for a couple of years now but shifting from the Ashtanga one movement one inhalation or exhalation to letting the breath take care of itself has been challenging. But once you begin to get the hang of it other possibilities arise. in the video above, in places, I'm exploring breathing through the movements, so a long slow inhalation through the first stretches of one arm and the  the other above the head, one inhalation for both sides and then again a long slow, relaxed exhalation through the twists to the left and right. This is an aspect of practice I'm quite excited about exploring right now.

So the focus on the spine is clear and this carries on through Simon and Bianca's approach to seated postures, lengthening the spine, maintaining space as we move in and out of 'traditional/classical' postures. I began to wonder though about Inversions. In shoulder stand it's possible to do something similar perhaps, rolling up and down the spin/the mat, into and out of postures as we do in occasionally inVinyasa Krama. The video below is from a couple of years back, there is compression in the spine here in the backbend but a rolling down and back up too in the Supta Padangushtasana variation as seen in Krishnamacharya's 1938 Mysore documentary footage starting two minutes in, I'm working on this now with Simon in mind as I am in revisiting all the Vinyasa Krama sequences.

What then can we do with headstand, Vinyasa Krama variations come to mind, but we can also perhaps move from headstand to seated just as we roll down from shoulderstand to the floor, curling the spine vertebra by vertebra,  it's interesting to explore, again work in progress, research.

Below then Sirsasana to gomukhasana, a posture Simon and Bianca favour in their fundamentals course

Also, exploring 'rolling' the spine down into baddha konasana which we can also take back up although I haven't shown it in the video. 

I'm also exploring Simon's nerve tensioning arm movements in the posture as well as the spinal movement, working to relax the spine as I move in and out of the posture.

Flow without Fluidity

Even though there is movement to and from the postures in Ashtanga and Vinyasa krama, such practice still feels somewhat....static, flow perhaps but without... fluidity, it's perhaps this fluidity that I'm enamoured with in Simon and Bianca's approach and suspect may be of benefit.

In going the other way, back up to headstand from padmasana (lotus) I'm using some of Simon Borg-Olivier's tips for effortless handstand here. Aiming to push the hips forward, lifting the upper back and moving the sitting bones forward to firm the abdomen and make up for the lack of navasana, the key though seems to be breathing into the abdomen as I bring my lots up my arms and then all the way up to Sirsasana. 

See Simon's how to lift up to handstand , part fifteen in his superb spinal sequence series of videos on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h-vASq0H-U Update: 

And finally another of the movements we see in the spinal sequence in the video at the top of the page (near the end) to move with ease into the bind of baddha padmasana, active movement.

So much to work on here, I'm fascinated again by my practice.

UPDATE

Just as I start to think that I've moved far from Ashtanga vinyasa, my thinking turns fall circle and I start to think that it's really not so different after all.

A few Sury's
Standing (with a lot of arm waving I'll admit - and not just in standing, seated too)
Twists
On one leg
First half of 2nd
First half of primary
Sarvangasana
Sirsasana (with variations, just as krishnamacharya included variations in the 1938 footage)
padmasana
pranayama
Sit

Not so far away after all perhaps

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Bringing loving Kindness into our practice. Also, Krishnamacharya Baddha Padmasana/Yoga Mudra instructions.

This is a section on bringing Metta into our practice that was buried away in yesterdays long post on Yoga Sutra 1-33 and the Brahmavihāras

Loving Kindness and Brahmavihāras, the four immeasurables in the Yoga Sutras YS1:33 - Inc. introducing Loving Kindness into our asana practice. Also Krishnamacharya and Buddhism.

Krishnamacharya baddha padmasana

see end of post for Krishnamacharya's baddha Padmasana and yoga mudra instructions.

"...Chin lock, chest forward. In the case of those who are married, the gaze should be to the tip of the nose, and in the case of the others the gaze should be to the midpoint of the eyebrows.

Take deep breaths. The deep breaths in this asana can with advantage be with control both after inhalation and after exhalation i.e., both ANTHER AND BAHYA Kumbhakam. The retention of breath, in the beginning stages, should not be more than 5 seconds after inhalation and not more than two seconds after exhalation. The breathing in and breathing out should be as thin and as long possible, with rubbing sensation in the throat. The number of rounds can be as many as it is conveniently possible without strain". on Baddha Padmasana - Krishnamacharya Yoga Makaranda part II

Question: What does the bhakti mean to a person who has no belief in Isvara?

Krishnamacharya: Love is bhakti for them

During our Practice

In our Ashtanga Vinyasa practice, at some point, we might just forget about the different Drishti (originally there were only two, one in fact, do we really need nine) and focus instead, throughout the practice, on the region of the heart (Hrudaya) "...where our breath begins and where it ends'" 

Place a mantra there

May I be safe from internal and external harm

There are others...

May I be peaceful and happy

May I be healthy and strong

May I take care of myself joyfully.

But it's the first one I like to focus on ( you might find the second works for you but I have a sense that all follows from the first). If and when we experience happiness or contentment there in the heart then we can worry about directing it outwards to others, to all beings, first we need to experience for ourselves what it is we wish to project.

While we're at it we can stop worrying about alignment, as long as we've learned enough not to injure ourselves the breath will take care of alignment. Obsessive alignment is perhaps yet one more distraction we give ourselves

And then stop worrying about the breath, or the bandhas (our breathing naturally slows anyway and subtle bandhas follow long slow breathing) and certainly the count, it too will take care of itself, the heart counts, the breath counts whether we focus on it or not.

Another place to put the mantra, or notice the growing sense of contentment, (joy, bliss, happiness, love however you experience it, for me it's peace, contentment), would be in the kumbhaka.

We can focus on the heart in our pranyama too of course.

We can make loving kindness the focus of our more formal Sit or just set up our seated practice by placing the mantra in the region of the heart, perhaps a vague feeling of contentment will arise there and we can drop the mantra and but remain aware of that experience, vague, occasionally tended perhaps throughout our sit. At the end of our Sit we might direct that contentment outwards, to our loved ones, our friends, acquaintances, to all. In this approach it's nor so much the focus of the meditation but more of a background practice, an alternative perhaps to coming back to the breath.

See also perhaps my earlier posts

On Loving kindness 

Internal drishti points

Kumbhaka

Why the heart region? Here's Krishnamacharya's son T. Sribhashyam, 

"- Hrudaya: the place of residence of God in us. It is a little outside the physiological heart. In the concentration of Mula Shirsha to it automatically by Hrudaya. This is protected from any human emotion. As a state mental Hrudaya is given automatically when the field is free of mental sensations and emotions."

"from Pearl" or the influence of Mudra and Prânâyâma in a spiritual search

Perhaps I would use 'the divine' in place of 'God' , or Bhakti (love) perhaps in line with Krishnamacharya's quote at the top of the post. There tends to be very different initial conceptions of God in the East and West, many of us turn off as soon as we see the word, to be honest I turn off at 'divine' too but it gives me pause. 

The point here is that the heart region, Hrudaya is a tradition focal point associated with a feeling of well being.

Krishnamacharya also felt Hrudaya could be an appropriate focal point for the exhalation in certain asana, pranayamas. I've found this myself in for example Jhana meditation. When shifting attention to an arising pleasant sensation or experience, whether, a warmth, light, colour etc. directing the exhalation there mentally seems to stoke the coals somewhat and keep the experience ( in this case our sense of well being, contentment... happiness).... ticking over. 

See this post perhaps on T. Sribhashyam on Pranayama

*

Buddha was smart, oh so smart and he knew us well. Love your neighbor says Jesus, that's nice.... but how exactly, I struggle with kittens. And let alone people, or those whose actions make them seem barely people and make us  question "Oh god ,what are we that we can do such as this". And not just the nauseating harm we can't turn our minds away from but the small creeping harm we subject our most loved ones too, mentally if not physically. How can we love ourselves let alone our neighbors. Buddha was smart, begin with kittens or if kittens aren't your thing then puppies or babies or better still a teacher, someone you love and respect (and question). Identify that feeling and bring that into your heart-region as you set up the mantra, "May my teacher, this person I love and respect be free from internal and external harm". That's a start. At some point, keeping hold of that feeling, use yourself in the mantra, "May I be free from internal and external harm". As that feeling grows becomes stable we can direct it to other, to friends, loved one, those we work with, come in contact with and then those we don't know and finally to those who irritate us, kittens and small children may come in this category. And so it goes, directed out to those we dislike.... fear, those our first reaction is to hate, to all beings, past, present, future... Buddha was nothing if not ambitious. Buddha knew us, he knew we needed training in this and loving kindness towards ourselves and others, maintained throughout a two hour practice is not perhaps a bad start.

*

I decided I needed a picture for this post and ended up coming across the wonderful photo of Krishnamacharya at the top of the post. Thought I couldn't leave it at that so fished out krishnamacharya's pictures and instructions for Baddha padmasana and yoga mudra from my earlier post on mudras.

Krishnamacharya on Baddha Padmasana and Yoga Mudra 

from Yoga Makaranda parts I and 'II'

from Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934) Part I p103-105

18 Baddhapadmasana (Figure 4.52, 4.53, 4.54, 4.55)

Place the right foot on top of the left thigh and the left foot on top of the right thigh. Take the hands behind the back and tightly clasp the big toe of the right foot with the first three fingers of the right hand and tightly clasp the big toe of the left foot with the first three fingers of the left hand.

Press the chin firmly against the chest. Keep the gaze fixed on the midbrow. Sit down, keeping the rest of the body straight. This has the name baddhapadmasana. This asana must be repeated on the other side (that is, first place the left foot on top of the right thigh and then the right foot on top of the left thigh) in order to exercise both sides of the body.

This has 16 vinyasas. The 8th and 9th vinyasas are the asana sthiti. The other vinyasas are like pascimottanasana. 

Study the pictures (Figures 4.52, 4.53) and learn how to keep the gaze. In this asana, one must do puraka kumbhaka. Only in yoga mudra sthiti should one do recaka. This sthiti consists of two forms — so study the pictures (Figures 4.54, 4.55) carefully.

Benefit: It will cure all diseases of the lower abdomen. Pregnant women should not do this asana.

originally numbered 052

originally numbered 053

originally numbered 054

originally numbered 055

from 'Yoga Makaranda Part II' ( or Salutations to the teacher, the eternal one)

35. BADDHA PADMASANA

This asana is the counter pose to the ARDHA MATSYENDRASANA - Section A, and should be done immediately after that asana.

Technique:

1. Sit upright, with both legs stretched in front. Bend one of the legs, say the right, at the knee and place the foot on the left thigh as high as possible. The heel should be as near the navel as possible. Now bend the left leg at the knee and place the left foot on the right thigh as high as possible, and the heel as near the navel as possible. The knees should be as close as possible and touch the ground.

2. Take the left arm around the back and catch hold of the toes of the left foot by the right hand. Next, take the right hand behind the back and catch hold of the toes of the right foot by the fingers of the right hand.

Note: Which hand is taken round first is important. In the position described above, it will be observed that the LEFT leg is crossed over the right leg, and it is the LEFT arm that is taken round the round back first, to catch hold of the toes. When the asana is repeated on the other side, the right leg will be over the left leg and right arm will be taken round the back first.

3. Chin lock, chest forward. In the case of those who are married, the gaze should be to the tip of the nose, and in the case of the others the gaze should be to the midpoint of the eyebrows.

4. Take deep breaths. The deep breaths in this asana can with advantage be with control both after inhalation and after exhalation i.e., both ANTHER AND BAHYA Kumbhakam. The retention of breath, in the beginning stages, should not be more than 5 seconds after inhalation and not more than two seconds after exhalation. The breathing in and breathing out should be as thin and as long possible, with rubbing sensation in the throat. The number of rounds can be as many as it is conveniently possible without strain. 5. Get back to the position in step (1) and repeat on the other side.

This is one of the asanas specifically recommended for doing Pranayama. When a large number of Pranayamas are done there is a feeling of hunger, but it is a false sensation. Benefits: This benefits all parts of the body, reduces the waistline, strengthens the lungs and the blood vessels.

Yoga Makaranda (part II) p39-40

35. YOGA MUDRA

Technique:

After step (3) described under Baddha Padmasana while exhaling, bend trunk forward, till the head touches the ground.

Take deep breaths as many as is possible without undue strain.

While inhaling raise trunk.

Yoga Mudra should be done immediately after Baddha Padmasana. The above describes the final complete pose and may not be attainable at the beginning but only after considerable practice. In the beginning the trunk should be lowered to the extent that is conveniently possible without undue strain and the final position will become possible in course of line. p40

*

See perhaps this earlier post on other Mudras 

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2012/12/new-halogen-heater-baddha-padmasana-on.html

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