Intro and advice request

[Guest guest]

Hi, my name's Jay and I've been practicing

iyengar yoga regularly for almost three years now (I took

classes in Dallas before I moved to Nevada). I've been

wanting to learn ashtanga, but the only book I've read

doesn't leave me very clear on the bandha's, though I

know ujjayi and am familiar with drishtas. There

aren't any ashtanga teachers in the area that I know of

(I live in Northern NV) and I don't think I'd be

able to afford any classes. Would it be dangerous or

impossible to learn ashtanga from books or

videos?<br><br>Jay

[Guest guest]

Hey Jay, welcome. A similar question was posed

recently, message 7992. I posted a couple of replies,

messages 7995 & 7997. <br><br>I think someone can learn in

that fashion. It is clearly less than ideal, however.

In fact, Patthabi Jois recommends against it,

stating one should only learn with the help of an

experienced teacher, not from books and videos. I think

having a prior background in yoga works in your favor,

as you are not as likely to perform the postures

incorrectly. Knowing how to breath correctly is also one of

the most, if not the most, important aspects of the

practise. So you're not flying blind. In the posts, there's

suggestions as to which books and videos I feel would be most

helpful to someone new to yoga and to ashtanga. <br>Just

do what you can, and whenever you can get to a

class, jump on it. I think I've got a link for an

ashtanga place in reno. if you want it leave a message and

I'll track it down and post it

[Guest guest]

Thanks, boredcthis!<br>I found the Reno place,

I'm going there as soon as I can, it's only about an

hour away. The book I'm reading is by John Scott. It

seems to me that Ashtanga Yoga is just like Iyengar

except for the locks and the breathing sequence. The

breathing sequence makes perfect sense to me, having taken

tai-chi and chi-kung. <br>The locks seem just the same as

I learned in chi-kung but John Scott seems to

intimate that they occur spontaneously, whereas in

chi-kung we initiated them ourselves. That's what's got me

confused. Don't want to do this wrong!:-)<br>Is there a

differance between Power Yoga and Ashtanga? I've seen no

mention, so far, of Rodney Yee's videos and workshops,

though I was introduced to his stuff by my Iyengar

teacher in Dallas. <br>Jay