December Moons...

Last month I looked ahead on the calendar of course, checking out the moon days of December, just to prepare myself, like any month to come. All I can think, now that it is coming up on the New Moon and the end of this December month...Mysore style students (that practice 6 days a week) and Mysore style teachers everywhere are in a slight stupor by now. Both Moon Days for December fall on Saturdays - already the slated Yoga Rest Day. I just read that even Sharath in Mysore 'changed' the December Full Moon day from Saturday to Friday. That is true license.
For me, just 3 months into holding a traditional early morning Mysore style program 6 days a week and loving it and getting used to it, I sure do understand the Moon Day tradition a little better! The program is still in the building stages, so with winter holiday time and the chances of smaller attendance, it's ok too. But today, as I am feeling under the weather, I am a little grateful that the small Thursday Mysore few have other plans (S, L, M, even my husband ;). It gave me time for meditation and some pranayama, to clear the way for healing, as I sat in the warm studio alone.
Thankful for my students, for the practice, and for the tradition of moon days...it's all in the timing!

Happy @ a Shala

I just love this from section of one of Ashtanga teacher, Jill Manning's, recent posts:

~~ if you are one of the lucky ones that has a traditional shala to practice at with a confident and qualified teacher please don’t complain about…..the size of the room, facing the “wrong way”, the too hot-ness/cold-ness etc. Celebrate and practice. Nearly everyone I have met over these two weeks (me included) has a strong self-sustained at home practice. Would you practice if you didn’t have daily access to your shala or your teacher?

Tristana as Teacher

When the teacher is not there to lead, support & guide you in your practice…the Tristana is! When you don’t have a teacher leading the breath, the movement, the count, the gaze, the bandha reminder, the hands-on direction assist…never fail, the Tristana is there! What is the Tristana? The 3 main elements of our Astanga Yoga practice ~ Bandhas, Dristi, Vinyasa/breath-movement. For those in attendance at the Theory+Led Class, our Theory focus was on one element of Tristana, DRISTI. Specific gazing points and techniques that allow us to remain inwardly focused and build concentration. Often we realize dristi to be an advanced practice, and difficult to fully execute. And so, like all pieces and layers of Astanga, we take practice.

Sharath, grandson of Guruji Pattabhi Jois, held one of his conferences early this year specifically discussing how this Astanga practice actually achieves the same benefits as some of the individual 6 Kriyas, classic yogic cleansing techniques. One such technique is Trataka or fixed gazing/gazing at a single point. David G has a wonderful write up: The similarities between dristi and trataka are obvious; essentially dristi is a form of trataka and the fact that both systems emphasize the value of gazing in practice serves as a reminder that meditation and all inner work are greatly enhanced by cultivating awareness of where and how you orient your self visually. The movements of the spine are intimately connected with how you orient your posture through your eyes and what you see moment to moment. Both meditation and graceful movement have origins in awareness of the integrity of the body's central axis from the base, seat of Mula Bandha, along the length of the spine to the neck and head and finally through eyes in the form of the gaze, the Dristi.

Obviously, as with most elements of what we are learning along this path of Astanga, it takes practice to practice. It is not an easy thing to stay with steady even breath, to engage bandhas throughout the practice, to move efficiently into and out of postures…here to, it is not easy to keep dristi, even when we are being led. But the added focus all this will give the student, will build concentration and awareness for a steady mind and body.

There are 9 Dristi places to gaze: Upward Urdhva. 3^rd Eye Broomadhya. Nose tip Nasagrai. Hands Hastagrai. Thumbs Angusta Ma Dyai. Navel Nabhi Chakra. Foot/Toes Padayoragrai. Side R Parsva. Side L Parsva. The nose Nasagrai is the most common, and in the beginning when studying the postures and movement, it will become a real tether to reel our attention inward, as well as keep our neck in check.

Some overall practice notes regarding dristi: Dristi helps with energy direction. Listen with your ears, not your eyes. Keep you eyes on your own mat (so to speak)...don't let them wander. The eyes can move independently of the head (if there is less flexibility in the neck etc). Gazing to the nose tip helps keep the back of the neck long. Nose tip gazing is best to set gaze past nose tip versus at nose tip. Gazing toward a certain point doesn't mean straining the eyes, relax the gaze while strengthening the muscles. Head position might better determine 'up' or 'forward' or 'side'. Body changes pose during transitions but often dristi remains the same.

Vinyasa rule of thumb - chaturangaNOSE, updogNOSE, downdogNOSE(navel)

Trini position: Keeping the 'neck crunch' at bay, means stretching the whole body forward, reaching the chin forward, Nasagrai dristi forward of your mat.

Seated forward folds in particular: Keep the integrity of the length in the back of the neck. a) nasagrai dristi. b) stay in position but just shift eyes to gaze under eye brows toward feet. c) chin to leg with gaze to foot only if enough flexibility to have neck length remain.

The more exploration of Astanga you take, the more you will realize asana is just one component of the practice. The layers are rich and deep and supportive and overlapping and unfolding and intertwined.

Big picture practice.

Daily-Ness

Just heard a dancer's quote: 'Dancers shouldn't be dancers, unless they love the daily-ness of it'. You know I immediately took liberty to insert as follows: 'Yogis shouldn't be yogis, unless they love the daily-ness of it'. And the real lean toward Astanga as a daily practice, just like for dancers, is that it is not a performance every day, it is practice...breathing, moving, refining, feeling, being, living, observing.
Big picture practice.

Kids Need Structure

I just heard an interview with a child psychologist about some topic, and she mentioned, "Kids need structure! Rules, standards, monitoring." Got me instantly thinking...hmm, sounds like Astanga Yoga...in particular, Mysore style Astanga. I think the touch point here is that we know the obvious outcome oftentimes with children growing up without structure. Why wouldn't that make sense for adults?
A set practice, a set time, a dedicated teacher, 'rules' that don't keep you guessing, 'standards' you can rely on, 'monitoring' to keep you safe, confident, as well as humble. Astanga brings about repetition and sustained focus. The body and the mind actually crave order...offer it up.
Big picture practice.