What Is Mysore About?

These three videos feature David Keil discussing the Ashtanga mysore method of practice.  With 3 months of mysore practice under my belt, I can say that David expresses very accurately what you will expect as a newcomer to the Ashtanga mysore practice.  So if you're curious about exploring something new, pick up your knitting and take a listen to the interview. 

Thanks to Laruga for sharing these on her blog.

With Yoga Comes Responsibility.

Someone asked me the other day what it was I liked about the Ashtanga Mysore practice as opposed to any other yoga class that is led by a teacher. 

For me it is the fact that I must take responsibility for my own practice from the moment I step on the mat to the moment I leave the room.  I have to really connect and be aware of my own body - it's capabilities and limitations - at any given moment.  I also have to be responsible for giving it my all - whatever my all may be on that day. 

I think one of the reasons I like this is because this responsibility seems to carry into every day life.  I am responsible for everything that happens in my life.  I don't mean things that are out of my control like how people speak to me or the fact that I was laid off.  It's more that I am trying to learn to take responsibility to how I react to these moments in life.  I can choose how upset, happy, excited, angry I become to any given situation.

I cannot blame my teacher if I hurt myself while practicing.  I can only take that injury and learn from it.  Become more aware of what happened to cause the injury and take full responsibility to not repeat the aggravation.  Every single time I step on my mat I make a promise to be completely honest with myself.  The more quickly I learn to become honest in my practice, the more responsible I become as a yoga practitioner, thus becoming more aware of my self.

Checking In

My practice has pretty much been on hiatus this week.  Monday, the day after we returned from Vegas, was the most painful Ashtanga practice I have yet to experience.  My knees hurt, my hips, my ankles, my back.  I was heavy, tired and my brain would not keep quiet.  Therefore, I stuck my head in the sand and pretty much avoided the world.  

I rolled out my mat Friday morning - in the dark before the world had woken and it was amazing.  *Cue George Costanza, "I'm back baby!"* 

This morning I went to the led half primary at Ashtanga Yoga Victoria to check in with myself.  I haven't taken a led class since my first week of Ashtanga practice and it really is something different.  I knew what was coming next but had to remind myself to listen to Harmony guide the class.  I now know where I move too quickly through certain asanas and where I take my time and have too many unnecessary movements.  I am still a little tired.  I came out of a few poses early, either because of a sore ankle or my arms felt like they were going to collapse underneath me.  I tried to breathe through the pain but today it simply wasn't happening.  I can feel my body slowly coming back to me and it feels wonderful.

Namaste.

 

Holy Practice

Last night was an amazing and tough practice.  There were very few people in the Mysore room when I arrived and once I'd moved through Surya Namaskr A & B, Harmony was there adjusting me and helping me go deeper.

I touched my chin to my shin in Utthita Hasta Padangushthasana with help but my goodness was that difficult and liberating.  I was able to lift my legs through my arms in a couple of jump backs.  I was able to bring my nose to my shin in Mari A by inhaling and lengthening my breast bone forward then exhaling folding forward.  I struggled with Mari D on the second side.  I have a hard time finding that perfect spot for my foot to sit in my hip crease and receive a lot of feed back in my ankle.  I was given a new asana, Navasana or boat pose.  I then proceeded to do 6 sets of Urdhva Dhanurasana (wheel pose).  On the fifth set, Harmony helped me walk my hands closer to my feet.  I have few words to explain the feeling of moving your hands closer to your feet while pushing against gravity and seeing the world upside down.  I was taught to do Chakrasana or backward roll out of the Shoulder Stand sequence.

It was an amazing practice.  I find that as my teachers help me move a little deeper into asanas that I it gives me the confidence to try to go deeper on my own.  It liberates me from my own mind where I think I may not be ready and it pushes me to try harder.  I learned a lot about what I am capable of last night and where I need to bring energy to during my practice.

Know When To Rest

I broke tradition today.  In the Ashtanga yoga tradition, Saturday is a rest day.  I took my rest day yesterday.  

This week has been a tough one for my practice.  My lower back has been sore and so you would think that my practice would get a little easier.  It hasn't.  Every movement that I go through during my practice has been done with more care, more conscious effort than I've ever done before.  I move more slowly while lowering down in Dandasana, taking care that my core, my legs, my arms are all working together and are strong.  I move even more slowly into Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Dog) while focusing on opening my chest and lengthening through my abdomen.

I've been able to find this new focus from the two Mysore classes I went to this week.  I was lucky to receive invaluable information from both Jeff and Harmony.  They both gave me different tips on how I can work through my soreness.  I think that this rediscovery of this old injury will help my practice.  Sometimes you don't know you are doing something incorrectly until you receive feedback from your body.  When you receive that feedback you need to listen to it and as I was told, you do not want to reaggravate the discomfort.

I was also lucky enough to be helped into Marichyasana D on Tuesday and Thursday.  Oh my god does this asana feel incredible when you are in it.  The twist that I received in my spine was indescribable and the rush that I felt with all of my internal organs compressed together while still breathing and holding myself upright is one of the most amazing feelings of control I have ever experienced.  I love that now I know how I am supposed to get into this asana.  I tried it on my own this morning and while I was far from binding, am able to take on a new approach.

So as you can see it's been a busy week in my yoga world.  A lot of new things have been revealing themselves to me.  Thursday night after Mysore class and dinner I could barely move.  My joints were stiff and sore.  My back was bothering me again and I just felt old.  I needed a day off immediately, to allow myself to recuperate from the various changes I've been experiencing in my yoga.  I am so happy that I listened to my body because this morning I had very little feedback from my lower back.  I had a lot of energy and felt strong through my practice.

Sometimes you need to break tradition to do what's right for you.  You are the best judge of what you need.

Confession Time

I put my Bikram yoga pass on hold the other day.  Yes, fellow Bikram yogis, I feel like I am moving on from my Bikram practice.  I still am not sure whether or not it will be a permanent hold.  I'm going to try it out for a month.  I want to see how I feel sticking to an Ashtanga practice.

I, honestly, never thought I would ever leave my Bikram practice.  When I discovered Bikram yoga it did so many different things for me - physically and mentally -  that I thought I would practice Bikram yoga for the rest of my life.  I'm coming to realize that it is more suitable to say, I will practice yoga for the rest of my life.

I have been practicing Ashtanga yoga for maybe 4 weeks now and it is like turning on a new light.  I am learning a lot, not only about the asanas but about how to listen to my own body.  I am learning how to feel the poses.  I've found myself in the middle of a posture trying to think of what comes next and when it comes time to transition, I just know and I move into the following asana with little thought.  I have been discovering a new sense of the attention to detail that must be observed in each asana.  And I'm learning to find it on my own.  I get corrections from my teacher but they are subtle corrections that are often directed through touch.  I find this useful because the sensation of what muscle I should stretch or relax or tighten seems to be remembered by my body.

I wish I could go to the morning Mysore classes but, financially, it is not possible right now.  Which is OK.  I like that I have to practice at home.  I like that I that I can go to the studio in the evenings and weekends and that instead of following a led class during the evenings - which this pass was originally supposed to be - it has turned into an introduction to Mysore, so that I am getting the Mysore experience.

I just finished my morning practice at home in my small living room.  My eyes gaze outside as I practice and I see my plants on the window sill and the colourful trees outside.  It feels good to create this energy in my own living space.  It feels right to take a step away from instruction and to try to experience the yoga through my own mind and body.

Namaste.

Opening My Eyes and My Hips to Padmasana

Last night, I was able to make it through my practice right up to Marichyasana D without forgetting an asana.  I am able to complete the binds in the Marichyasana until I get to D where you must bind your bent leg with the opposite arm while your other leg is bent into half Padmasana or half lotus.

Marichyasana D. Via

There I was struggling desperately to grab my hands or even the tips of my fingers and rolling around on my butt, when Jeff came over to me and asked me if my ankle that was in Padmasana hurt.  Yes!  It always does.  I've mentioned this to teachers in other disciplines but had never gotten much in way of feedback, other than that my ankles were tight.  Well, did I just learn a wealth of information last night.  Jeff had me take my leg and bend it at the knee with my calf in front of me and parallel to the floor.  He then had me point my toe, like a ballerina, to prevent my toes from pointing to the ceiling and my ankle from turning.  Keeping my shin bone parallel to the floor I pulled my heel tight into my abdomen.  Jeff pointed out to me that my tendency is to bend my ankle, pointing the toes upward, which is what causes the strain on my ankle and my knee. I then turned my knee to almost point forward while rolling my hip and my calf in. 

Wow! What a difference.  My ankle no longer hurt.  It felt stiff but it wasn't painful.  My legs felt strong in Padmasana.  They never felt that way before.  It always felt awkward to me.  Suddenly, it was - it is - a new pose.  I felt grounded.

Jeff told me that in the next little while, I should work up to Marichyasana D in my practice, working on the variations of Mari D until I build some more strength in my core and am able to sit up straight so that I can reach my opposite arms.  In John Scott's book, he says that if you cannot perform this asana, do not progress further.  It is importatnt to develop opening in the hips and ankles before attempting the following asanas.

So, I will continue building my practice and working with my breath through the fluidity of the movement of the asanas while working on opening my hips and strengthening my core.  I feel like I have a goal that I am working towards and a focus.

My practice has shifted again.  It was always does, when I least it expect it to, things change.

Today...

I want to be present.  I want to focus on every movement and every breath when I go to my Ashtanga class this evening.

My Ashtanga classes have shifted from a "led" class to what the owners are now calling an introductory to Mysore.  I'm loving it.  I love that I get to find my own breath, my own movement.  My body gets to feel the poses on it's own accord.  It gets me excited for attending 6am Mysore classes when I can afford to pay for a Mysore pass.

Tonight, my focus will be on presence.

Moon Day

This is my first time observing the tradition of not practicing on a day where we have a new moon or a full moon.

The Ashtanga tradition follows this method of practice because as our bodies are approximately 70% water, we are affected by the cycle of the moon, just as the tides of the earth are and of course, werewolves.  

The sun and the moon exert a gravitational pull on the earth and their positions can create different energetic feelings that can be compared with our cycle of breath.  A full moon energy is similar to the end of an inhalation when prana is at it's greatest and can cause feelings that leave us energized and emotional but not grounded.  The new moon is similar to the end of an exhalation when apana is at it's strongest and can leave us feeling grounded but dense and heavy.

Relative position of the moon and the sun. Via

By observing these moon days it helps us become more in tune with the cycles of nature.

The Ashtanga Yoga Center  gives a detailed description as to why we should rest on these days.

I don't know what the protocol would be on doing any other forms of exercise on a moon day because I did get up this morning and do a quick 20 minute BodyRock workout.  I have a very hard time not getting a little bit of a sweat on during the day.  It wakes me up and starts me off right.

Happy rest day to all the Ashtangis out there.

Namaste.

Via

 

Down The Rabbit Hole

I was playing with my iPhone the other evening and for some reason downloaded the Kindle app.  Don't ask me why.  I am firm believer in books.  Actual books that you can feel and that you can touch and that you can smell.  I love libraries.  I love book stores.  I love trading books.  I keep a stack of books beside my bed.  I am always reading at least one book.

So, I decided that whatever I read on my tiny iPhone screen would have to be a book that I could not purchase in paper form or borrow from the library.  I bought Claudia Altucher's book, 21 Things To Know Before Starting An Ashtanga Yoga Practice.

I'm reading her book slowly and making a lot of bookmarks along the way so that I can go back later and re read some passages.  I love her personal touch in the book.  She gives her readers personal examples of how her Ashtanga practice has benefited her.  She admits to changes in her outlook on her practice and personal road blocks that have shown themselves along her yoga journey.

One of Claudia's points that resonated with me was when she says that you will go down the rabbit hole.  I thought this was a perfect of description of where yoga has taken me.  I started with a simple practice with a video and then discovered one of B.K.S. Iyengar's books.  I, then, started a practice at an Iyengar yoga studio, moved on to exploring Bikram yoga and have now started opening the yoga doors to an Ashtanga practice.  I also read about yoga.  I think about yoga.  I write about yoga.  Yoga has endless possibilities to me and I never feel as though I have enough time to absorb it all.  I have found that sometimes I may not be ready to read a paragraph in a book - Iyengar's Light on Life, for example, but a month later it makes more sense to me.  I am ready to absorb the information.  One day, I would love to travel to India.


The rabbit hole is the most exciting part of a yoga practice, in my humble opinion.  It gets you thinking, reading, dreaming, it opens the doors to infinity.

Via

Home Practice

For the past few days, I've been drawn to simply rolling out my mat in the mornings and trying to do the Ashtanga Half Primary series.  I learned the sequence up to the Warrior sequence (Virabhadrasana) and have been able to practice to the point where I come into Dandasana.  Once I reach this point I've been using John Scott's Ashtanga Yoga book.  I checked it out from my local library and am finding it very useful.

I am loving practicing at home again.  I used to do an Iyengar practice in the mornings before I began my Bikram practice.  There's something very simple and relaxing about not having to go anywhere.  To simply wake up, drink some water, wash my face, brush my teeth and then roll out my mat and find Samasthitti.  

I was able to complete the bind in Marichyasana C this morning on my right side which I haven't been able to do in the led classes before.  The left side was just a little more difficult and I used a strap to pull the last half inch or so of space from between my hands.

I love the freedom to find my own breath and my own pace with this practice.  It feels like it really is my practice.

Marichyasana C. Via

Lost in Translation?

Has anyone else ever wondered why Tree pose is called Tadasana in Bikram yoga?

I am constantly confused by this.  I asked a teacher once and she told me that the way it was explained to her was that it is because Bikram is from Kolkata, which is in the east of India and Iyengar and Patthabi Jois are from Pune and Mysore which are more to the west of the country and therefore the dialect is different.

The way I was originally taught, Tadasana is Mountain pose which could also be similar to Samasthitti.  While practicing Iyengar yoga, I learned that Vrkasana is the Sanskrit word for Tree pose.  I know that Tree pose in Bikram is more similar to Half Lotus Bound pose or Ardha Baddha Padmottanhasana in Ashtanga yoga than to the traditional Tree pose.   And that Ardha Baddha Padmottanhasana looks like the 1st and 2nd stage of Toe Stand or Padangustasana in Bikram.  And when you Google Padangusthasana (with the H inserted) your results are any asana that have the word "big toe" in it.

I think I may have opened a huge can of worms, which probably has no straight answer.  It may simply be a case of the definition of a word from Sanskrit to English being lost in translation and modified along the way.

If anyone has any ideas on this, I would love to hear from you. 

Vrkasana or Tree pose. Via

Bikram's Tadasana or Tree pose. Via

Ardha Baddha Padmottanhasana or Half-lotus Bound into Standing Forward Bend. Via

Utthita Hasta Padanguthasana

I've just started working on Utthita Hasta Pandaguthasana in my Ashtanga practice.  I love this asana because it reminds me of Standing Head to Knee in the Bikram practice.  But what I find most difficult is when you turn your leg in one direction and your gaze in the opposite.  Your dristi or where your gaze should fall is Parsva which simply means to the far right or far left.  I always lose my balance here.  First it seems counter intuitive to look in the opposite direction and then I find it difficult to find a focal point when turning my head.  I tried this asana twice before moving on.  Definitely something to work on!

It may be easier to focus if I was practicing yoga here. via What's That Pose

Post Yoga

I am home from my yoga class.  

I had an amazing class. 

Seriously.  This world would be a better place if everyone- now I want to say, practiced yoga, but I know that everyone needs to find their own peace - took a little time for themselves that didn't involve TV, the computer, money or shopping.

Namaste.

Image via Nancy Smets

When I Need It The Most

Today is my Ashtanga day.  I go to the 6pm led class.  All I really want to do right now is rent a bunch of movies I've already seen.  Have take out for dinner and lie on the couch.  

Why?  Because I feel wasted.  I feel beaten down.  I feel curling up into a ball and pretending the rest of the world doesn't exist.

But I know that I need this.  My mind needs my yoga practice today.  My mind needs to shut the hell up and think of nothing except my breath and my body.  I also need to do something I'm good at.  And I know that the ego needs to exit my practice but I feel that I'm good at yoga, whatever that really means.  It feels natural to me.  I feel as though I fit in the world when I practice yoga.

So in a couple of hours I will drag my tired lazy ass to my practice.  I will surround myself with people who have a wealth of knowledge that I want to learn.  And I will take my time to do what I love to do.  Because I right now, all I want to do is give the world the finger.

Image via Real Wall

Samasthiti

I was instructed last night to find Samasthiti in all of my yoga asanas.  To find lift and balance through my feet, legs, torso, shoulders, arms and hands.


I haven't had such a focused yoga practice since my Iyengar classes.  It takes my practice to a different space when I focus on the little things - the lifts and muscle contractions and separations that you don't see, that you can only feel.


Finding Sama (which means same or balance) in Utthita Parsvakonasana is a completely different experience as to finding the same balance in Samasthiti or Tadasana.  This reminded me that there is no need to rush.  I must find that balance before I can more forward.

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in Samastithi or Tadasana

Utthita Parsvakonasana or Extended Right Angle pose

Love Affair With Yoga

I had a conversation with myself and my yoga practice today.  I am, from this day forward, having an open relationship with my yoga practice.  This means that if I choose to practice Ashtanga yoga for three weeks, that is OK.  If I choose to take my Bikram class every day for a month, that is OK.  If one day, down the road, I choose to stop practicing a certain type of yoga, that is OK too.

I think, that in the last week, I was starting to feel like I had to choose.  I had to choose between yoga practices.  That somehow I was betraying one if I chose to practice another.  This is no more.  Yoga is a journey and if my progress through my yoga path takes me to different types of practices then that is where I am meant to go.

This morning I practiced Bikram yoga for the first time in a week and my god did it feel so amazing.  Never again will I take Savasana for granted.  Never again will I hate the heat.  

One day at a time, one moment at a time, one practice at a time.

"Yoga, an ancient but perfect science, deals with the evolution of humanity. This evolution includes all aspects of one's being, from bodily health to self-realization. Yoga means union - the union of body with consciousness and consciousness with the soul. Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day-to-day life and endows skill in the performance of one's actions." ~ BKS Iyengar

Half Primary

This morning I did a Half Primary Series yoga class.  Wow, what a way to wake up.  You are constantly moving the entire class while trying to keep the continuous breathing rhythm.  I found this difficult but I'm sure I'll get used to it with more practice.

I also found the Vinyasa between each seated asana challenging.  My arms still feel like jello. 

A Vinyasa, from my understanding, is where the body gets a chance to realign itself following a seated twist or stretching pose and to keep the body warm.  You come onto your hands from a seated position, jump your legs back into plank, lower your body down, come up into Upward Facing Dog, down into Downward Facing Dog and then hop your legs up into a seated position between your arms again.  The video below is very graceful and well practiced example of a Vinyasa.

I actually did Shirshasana A or Headstand for the first time without a wall.  The teacher guided me up and at the top she put her hand between my calves and told me to squeeze her hand, it was amazing how my entire body lifted up and I found strength through my core and shoulders.

I was looking forward to Wheel or Urdhva Dhanurasana  because one thing I do miss from my Bikram practice are the back bends.  I went to push myself up which I have done countless times and my upper body would not budge.  My shoulders were exhausted.  I had a small battle with my ego at that point.  I really wanted to do Wheel but I calmed that part of my mind and listened to my body and stayed down in Bridge pose and let my body chill out a bit.

I am exhausted now.  I think I'll go for a nap.  Happy weekend!

First Ashtanga Class

Yesterday evening I took my first Ashtanga class at Ashtanga Yoga Victoria.  I absolutely loved it.  

The yoga studio is in market square, part of Old Town in Victoria.  The ceilings in the studio are very high, the floors are wood, the light is soft, there are tall windows and a small alter at the front of the room.

I arrived a few minutes early and was told to just go into the practice room and lay down on my mat, even while the Mysore class was still going on.  It was interesting to be able to observe other people practicing their own yoga in a room with other people, also going through their own individual practices.  All the students were at different levels and there were two teachers in the room giving direction and helping with corrections.

At 6 o'clock, Harmony, the owner and instructor, asked us (me just and one other girl) to move our mats to the front of the room and the students in the Mysore class slowly moved their mats to the back of the room so they could finish their Savasanas.  The fluidity of movement between the start of one class and the end of another seemed to have no beginning and ending.  Yoga seemed endless to me at that moment.

We were first guided through Surya Namaskr A.  We were instructed when to inhale and exhale and which movements to move through.  We were guided through this twice and then did three repetitions on our own.  Surya Namaskr B came next and again we were guided through the first two repetitions and then did three on our own.  We then went through Surya Namakr A & B on our own (only 3 repetitions) with Harmony there to guide us and give us correction.  She then led us through the Basic Sequence.  And we repeated 1 repetition of Surya Namaskr A & B with the Basic Sequence, again, on our own.  Harmony, then, led us through a modified version of the Finishing Sequence.  And we finished with a very long relaxing Savasana.

I left class feeling incredible, energized and calm.

I don't want to go about comparing Bikram yoga and Ashtanga yoga in this post but I'll tell you what I appreciated about a different practice.

• I liked the hands on corrections.  To have a teacher lift my hips up or press the palms of my hands into the floor was very useful to me.
• I loved the dim lighting and the teacher's calm voice.
• There were photographs of Pattabhi Jois and B.K.S Iyengar together because they were both students of Krishnamacharya.  I found this fitting since I began my yoga journey practicing Iyengar yoga.
• I like that the yoga has a specific sequence that you follow every time you practice.
• I felt very welcome.
• I love that I woke up this morning to sore hamstrings and shoulders.
• I liked the attention to detail in each asana.  With each movement there is an inhale or exhale.
• I started sweating.  My body is so accustomed to sweating that as soon as it starts to warm up it wants to cool me down.
• Harmony sang Oms while we were in Savasana and then sang a mantra, which I forgot to ask her what it was called.  And then brought us out of Savasana by ringing a bell.  I loved this.

I hope to share more with you soon.

Namaste. 

B.K.S. Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois.

Rest Day

I decided to give myself a complete rest day today.  No P90 X, no yoga.  Usually on my rest days I practice yoga but I needed a break.  I was in no mood for a Bikram class today.  I did a short 40 minute practice on my own at home but it isn't the same thing.  I was actually excited for a day of nothing.  I puttered around on my bike but that was the extent of my physical activity. 

You know what?  I didn't like it.  Now, at 8:00pm in the evening I feel off, restless and hungry.  I shouldn't be hungry I've had enough to eat.

Lesson?  I should practice even when I don't want to.  I need to do something that increases my heart rate for a more than 10 minutes at a time.  It helps me feel better, more productive, more centered.

On another note, I really want to try Ashtanga yoga.  Really, really want to.  I want to go to the specific Ashtanga studio in town.  I think I want to expand my yoga practice and try new things.  I feel the need for more information and new asanas and growth.  I know I would continue to grow in my Bikram practice but I just feel the need in my heart for something different.