Doing Practice vs Thinking Practice

Nancy Gilgoff, the first western woman to study Astanga with Sri K Pattabhi Jois, often talks about the Astanga Yoga system as a 'doing' practice. In a 'doing' practice, we are indeed 'mindful' - but mindful doesn't mean 'thinking, thinking, thinking'. We can move through our practice with awareness, without letting the mind takeover. Make the distinction between being mindful & aware & allowing the practice to unfold vs being in your head & over thinking everything. There is a trust that comes when you begin to really learn yoga. We go deeper inward toward self, instead of surfing the surface with an external practice. It's like practicing yoga without a mirror (you experience it from the inside out), while practicing in front of a mirror (the experience is external like watching TV). Letting-go and offering a chance to be unattached to the outcome gives us freedom in the flow. Experience it...

Why SuryaNamaskara A & B?

The Sun Salutation or Surya Namaskara is said to be one of the most ancient of yoga sequences. While it is true that they physically keep the body fit, strong & healthy, initially feeling like a warm up exercise, they are important for spiritual development. As I read from Lino Miele's Astanga Yoga book, he further explains that the sun salutation primary focus is to improve mind control and to obtain greater devotion (Bhakti). Looking into the ancient texts of the Vedas, there are explanations and benefits of Suryanamaskara A & B, which also state the 9 Vinyasas of 'A' and the 17 Vinyasas of 'B'. In today's CLINIC-Astanga session, we went over the Astanga Method of Sanskrit Counting the Vinyasas in the Sun Salutations (9 breath led movements & 17 breath led movements). This brings immediate focused flow to the practice. As the SuryaNamaskara tradition calls for waking and greeting the sun with these sequences (in many variations, in many styles of yoga), they are to bring happiness, health and sunlight to the spirit. Thank you Lino!

CLINIC Astanga 3

Bandhas - Overall, most of us know that core stability offers functional strength in yoga and everything else we do in life and play. An integral part of the Astanga yoga practice, the bandhas are often elusive. General questions of What? Where? When? Why? How? usually turn into too much thinking, when it's much more subtle. After all, they need to be engaged throughout the entire practice. Bandhas initially are thought of as contracting certain muscles to encourage a 'gripping' sensation. But as the translation of bandha as "a lock" at first makes us contract & hold, we must realize it more directly un-locks the pranic flow of energy, directing it upward. MulaBandha assists at the pelvic floor region, providing a firm foundation of root/mula energy, while the UddiyanaBandha assists the abdominal region to send that energy upward into the nadis/energy channels. In short: base energy given flight. The result is one that combines both strength & lightness in the practice. Applying mulabandha & uddiyanabandha allows you to move with more control and more freedom. The Astanga system's tristana (bandhas/dristi/vinyasa breath-movement) markedly sets it apart from other styles. It is due to this state of tristana that Astanga is often referred to as a moving meditation.
Certain surefire techniques to begin to learn & locate bandhas include the preparation for nauli kriya. David Williams loves this and readily teaches it as a tool to guide the student to uddiyanabandha & mulabandha: standing and leaning with hands on knees and straight arms, exhale fully and hold, while you draw the abdomen in & up, almost vacuum-like. In the actual Astanga practice it is more subtle than that, as we keep the breath moving, but nauli prep lets the mind and body wrap around that idea of stillness at the belly. Specific asana also assist in pinpointing the desired feel of bandhas engaged, such as downward facing dog/adho mukha svanasana: the region of the abdomen automatically hollows out and we can direct breath more easily into the ribcage rather than the belly. JalandharaBandha assists the upper throat-chin lock but is very subtle during the asana practice to ensure controlled pranayama and neck alignment. Here again, downward dog can give guidance to locating jalandharabandha especially when nose/navel dristi is applied.
Bandhas are integral components of ujjayi pranayama as well, working in tandem. The great deal of prana we are delivering to the body, is also offered bandha support and guidance. From the start, the sun salutation/surya namaskara sequence gives rise to all elements...dristi, ujjayi breath & bandhas coalesce and we are supported and lifted and present.

My recent Letter to a Student

I am hoping that the Astanga practice, while experimental, is also satisfying. Most know it takes time to appreciate and sometimes is love-hate, but I think that's why David Williams' push is so full-on...Make it FEEL GOOD - figure out what your body needs to do to keep the essential qualities of the Astanga practice and feel great doing it. A lot of that is 'actual practice' to start understanding the mechanics & the dynamics.
I can see that you are definitely seeing some shifts in your body, your ability, your depth in asana & breathing. It's a powerful practice on many levels, and it does test us... and often pushes us (or hmm, is it 'we tend to push ourselves'). We see the further pieces (challenging vinyasa transitions & binds & postures) and we all test the waters - and indeed, it's a Practice and we are here to practice the pieces - what we know and what is new. And while these further possibilities are there and always will be, we must walk the line of what we need each time we get on the mat - to make it more calming, to make it more challenging, to just be - and day-to-day, week-to-week, it changes.
The Mysore style practice becomes optimal: students go at their own pace, work on specific parts of the sequence that they need to that day, do what they can in the supportive energy in the room of students & teacher, without the push of 'keeping up with the class' which is sometimes the Led Class dilemma. Even the follow-along-practice might offer too much push for those still trying to be patient.
But in keeping everyone safe, my effort to remind that students 'do what they can, keep the intention of understanding the mechanics & where it's going, and make it feel good' - and this goes to all students of yoga.

Launch Blog

I'm just about to announce this blog...WELCOME :)

CLINIC Astanga 2

Dristi - literally means 'perception'. In our Astanga practice it means our gazing point and it assists not only as a focus for the mind, but a physical assist for the body in each posture. Dristi is an integral part of Tristana, the union of bandhas, vinyasa & dristi. It is an aid in concentration or Dharana, the 6th limb of Patanjali's 8-limb Astanga path of yoga. John Scott mentions dristi to 'draw the outward-looking eyes inward'. Common dristi in Astanga: nose (most common), 3rd eye, side - these are the top tier of dristi. They are often broken down further (ie: navel, because you are looking past nose / up or hand or foot or thumbs, because you are looking to 3rd eye / left side / right side). To maintain the gaze in that direction (not a crossing of eyes). The Traditional general pattern put forth by Guruji is that odd# vinyasa & inhale & upward = 3rd eye dristi & even# vinyasa & exhale & downward = nose dristi. Some current standards differ to encourage the posture alignment (ie: up dog nose dristi vs 3rd eye keeps neck long / seated folds nose dristi vs foot also prevents the neck from over arching). We see how important dristi is in the learning of Astanga when we consider that, while keeping ujjayi breath & bandhas constant during practice, our objective is to learn the individual asana: its name, its vinyasa, its dristi. In this Clinic, we started with eye exercise movements that will be utilized for dristi; these show us how deliberate our focus should be & how strengthening dristi will be for the health of the eyes. Then we went through the Daily Minimum, and included some standing sequences and balancing and backbending, to allow for practicing the correct dristi. One example of dristi as a physical assist is parsvakonasana: you can feel a greater expression of the 'side angle stretch' by taking the gaze toward the hand (note to not let the head fall back, this essentially is 3rd eye gaze).

CLINIC Astanga 1

'The Daily Minimum' as set by Pattabhi Jois, as told to us by David Williams. 3 Sun Salutation As, 3 Bs, the 3 finishing postures (yogamudrasana, yogasana, utpluthi). The name of the game with Astanga: It's a powerful practice with great health benefits, so let's practice it & be sure to make it feel good! Pay attention to the breath, movements, postures, core-bandhas. It takes time to understand the mechanics & dynamics, but is incredibly worthwhile. Making it a daily practice will allow students access to these elements of Astanga; gaining insight to the mechanics of breath-movement synchronization and the dynamics of vinyasa flow technique. If you are unable to get to a class or have limited time, know the importance of getting on your mat for 15 minutes for the Daily Minimum - move with awareness & breathe like you mean it :) Add in more of the practice if you do have more time, and do as much as feels good. Over time, the focus will come. The ujjayi pranayama will come. The bandhas will come. The strength & flexibility will come. We all know things don't miraculously happen overnight - the practice is a path we set out on, a journey, an exploration - and it is a test of patience and commitment and trust and tradition. It is truly a great tool ~ for mind-body-fitness bar none.