Guest guest Posted November 21, 2000 Report Share Posted November 21, 2000 I've seen a couple of messages over the last couple of days suggesting that Beryl Bender Birch is not considered a purse Ashtanga teacher -- like, say, David Swenson -- by many who frequent this place.<br><br>Wasn't BBB taught by Jois? If yes, has she changed his basic teachings so that what she teaches is no longer considered Ashtanga?<br><br>Is there a discernable difference between "Power Yoga" and "Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga?" If yes, what?<br><br>I'm not looking to stoke a flame war here, I just want to understand where people are coming from when they write Ashtanga inspired books. I also want to know how those folks are viewed by those of us who read them.<br><br>Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 21, 2000 Report Share Posted November 21, 2000 in her book, ms birch states she learned from norman allen, one of the first western students that KBJ accepted. as to differences, i've never been to a power yoga class. from looking at her book, at least, it seems that the difference is that some of the more challenging postures, like janu C and marichy D or left out. whether there are more fundamental differences, i can't say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 21, 2000 Report Share Posted November 21, 2000 In her book, BEYOND POWER YOGA, BBB states in the preface, "The practice was taught to me in 1981 by my teacher, Norman Allen (who learned it from Jois, his teacher, in India in the early 1970s) and later, by Jois himself."<br><br>That reads to me that she did, at one time, learn under the hand of Jois. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 21, 2000 Report Share Posted November 21, 2000 perhaps she did study with jois, i don't know. perhaps our resident B3 expert, the mister, can shed some light on this. i haven't read her book i a while so i must have missed that entry, sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 21, 2000 Report Share Posted November 21, 2000 I'm not sure of the politics (if that's the word) about Beryl, but I asked the teachers at my class on Friday, and they said the postures, etc. were the same up through the Seated Postures II (I think). Basically, what I took away from it was that I have a wee bit of time before shelling out the money for a new book. <br><br>I used to practice with a tape (of a class taught by her) that went through the standing postures of the primary series. I do know that she does emphasize bandhas and drishtis during class (and also emphasized the importance of these in the first book). Beyond that, I don't where she differs, but I thought that information might be helpful.<br><br>By the way, I know it was probably a really mundane question, but can anyone tell me how to keep my feet from dragging the mat along with me when going from Chaturanga Dandasana--chaturi into Urdhva Muka Svanasana (the push up into the face up dog)? I'm already getting a wee bit anxious about class on Friday. I can't really get my hips up where my hands are without dragging myself along by the tops of my feet, and that has never been a problem on the carpet, but on the mat, I get a big wrinkle each time. Am I going from one posture to the next inappropriately, or is there some trick to this I need to know about? Seems silly, but it interrupts my focus to have to adjust the mat between salutations.<br><br>One last thing. . . thanks to all of you for your warmth and humour. I laughed out loud at some of the postings today. (The goombah with the dong, woodpecker lips, eating in the dark, just to mention a few). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 21, 2000 Report Share Posted November 21, 2000 I guess my confusion comes from comparing BBB with BBB. She changes/drops some asanas from BEYOND POWER YOGA that are found in POWER YOGA and no explanation is given for the revision.<br><br>When you directly compare Swenson to BBB, your head explodes! He includes so much more it makes you wonder who's really doing what when you try to compare the two. The books are distant cousins and not close siblings. <br><br>An interesting thing about the Swenson videos is that when he does the Vinyasa sequence his toes never move during the transitions between plank, up dog, down dog -- he simply rolls over from the pads of his toes up onto the nails of his toes and then over to the top of his toes (on the ground). <br><br>It's good to see because I was moving my feet too much trying to get into position. <br><br>Now I realize proper technique is to anchor the toes in the manner he demonstrates and then simply roll them up and over and back. The toes and palms anchor the movement and the rest of the body bends and sways betwixt those points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 22, 2000 Report Share Posted November 22, 2000 If memory serves, she did take one or two workshops from Jois during one of his earlier trips to the states. I don't think she has made repeated trips to Mysore for extended stays to study with Jois, something that most respected teachers Ashtanga have done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 22, 2000 Report Share Posted November 22, 2000 < Now I realize proper technique is to anchor the toes in the manner he<br> demonstrates and then simply roll them up and over and back. The toes<br> and palms anchor the movement and the rest of the body bends and<br> sways betwixt those points. ><br><br>I would not be too quick to make that judgement. I say this because I've been watching that video recorded in Chile of Sharath doing 3rd series and he moves his feet all over the place. All of which leads me to make the choice for my personal practice, "don't sweat the small stuff - it doesn't matter" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 22, 2000 Report Share Posted November 22, 2000 Thanks for your (and others) replies. I think that maybe my feet are too far away from my hands in face-down dog, so that I have to pull myself forward to get into a proper face up dog. I'll try getting my hands and feet closer together, and maybe my feet will then stay in the same general area between moves.<br><br>It also sounds like I need to get Swenson's book. I think it is sold at the Yoga Centre in Edinburgh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 22, 2000 Report Share Posted November 22, 2000 <I would not be too quick to make that judgement. I say this because I've been watching that video recorded in Chile of Sharath doing 3rd series and he moves his feet all over the place. All of which leads me to make the choice for my personal practice, "don't sweat the small stuff - it doesn't matter"><br><br><br>I'm not quick judging anything. I'm simply passing along information I learned along the way.<br><br>I anchored my toes today for plank and up/down dawg and I learned something. My hands have been too close to my pelvis and that is why I was doing little jumps between movements to get into position. <br><br>With a small adjustment of moving my hands toward my head I was able to anchor the toes and the entire Vinyasa sequences today were smooth and supple for the first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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