ashtanga yoga props and progressing

January 6, 2003

Oh, boy!! Rules, Rules, Rules... try to look beyond them. The way you

describe the whole thing it seems to me like a regime in a prison or a

dictatorship more than an enjoyable practice. Yes, we are talking about

Ashtanga practice, but can you leave a little room for improvisation.

Yoga is above all suppose to be a breathing exercise and an enjoyable

practice, not something you have to do exactly as someone else figured

out is best for him.

namaste,

jana

On Sunday, January 5, 2003, at 09:23 PM, funkybadlady wrote:

> Props are NOT helpful in progressing and they are NOT used in

> Ashtanga yoga. You must get yourself to a good Ashtanga

> teacher who will help explain the function of breath and asana.

> Do each pose as well as you can and take the required five

> breaths.

>

> For people who are practicing on their own with no teacher or

> who have had the misfortune to be mislead by charlatans like

> Bender-Birch or some other unqualified person - Generally

> speaking, do not progress past a pose that you cannot do.

> Practice only up to that point until the pose begins to become

> less difficult and your body begins to open, then add the next

> pose. In the case of ABPadmottanasana, if you cannot bind,

> leave the leg in half lotus as far as is possible and place BOTH

> hands on the ground for ficve breaths and follow the vinyasa

> carefully for entering and leaving the pose. The same for the

> seated version - ABPaschimottanasana - leave the leg as far as

> possible in half lotus and reach with both hands to the feet,

> lengthen the spine and breathe. This is what Guruji teaches

> and he does not EVER use props. This practice is not al all like

> Iyengar and has a very different focus. You will see that by doing

> this your hips will slowly open over time, sometimes quickly,

> sometimes slowly. In the process you will be practicing and

> learning the eight limbs of yoga.

>

> Bender Birch is not a qualified Ashtanga teacher and she is not

> well respected in the Ashtanga community for her specious

> claims to being a "student" of Pattabhi Jois with whom she has

> never studied except for a short workshop fifteen years ago. She

> herself teaches POWER YOGA which is different.

>

> David Swenson has been a direct student of Pattabhi Jois for

> many years, but because he uses blocks and modifications in

> his book, his method is somewhat unorthodox.

>

> If you want to learn Ashtanga and experience the benefits of this

> very powerful practice, RESPECT the method as it is laid out by

> Pattabhi Jois. This is not considered being 'Orthodox" it is

> considered practicing Ashtanga, and being respectful, humble

> and teachable. If you are doing your own thing or making

> modifications based on what you think is best you really are not

> doing Ashtanga and you will not get the benefits of the practice.

> Get to a qualified teacher if only for a week or so to get started

> oin the right direction. It is worth a trip to a city where someone

> is teaching the correct method. Avoid anyone with less than five

> to ten years experience who is not dedicated to teaching the

> method as Guruji teaches it and has not studied directly with

> Guruji on a regular basis (in Mysore.)

>

> The goal is to develop a consistent daily practice. If you can only

> progress up to the sitting poses, that is just fine. Do this and the

> finishing poses EVERY day. Find a teacher who can help you

> add poses on. Go slowly and steadily. Do not place demands

> on yourself for acheiving poses. Let your body adjust to the

> practice over time. You might have pains in the knees and lower

> back but this is very common in early stages as the body comes

> into correct alignment. Just go slowly.

>

> Get the YOGA WORKS tape of Ashtanga Yoga shot in 1997 of

> Guruji leading six students in the Primary Series. This will show

> you how AShtanga is put together and how it is done by people

> who can actually do all of the poses. You can follow along up to

> the point where you have to stop - it will be like a lead class -

> then just skip to the finishing poses. At least you will learn the

> correct vinyasas and see how the poses are strung together.

>

> DO not progress to the second series until you can do

> dropbacks and stand up by yourself in backbends. But at this

> point, you should also not progress until you have a very good

> instructor. Make a trip once a month or once every two months to

> see a good teacher if there is no one near you. It is better than

> taking class with an unqualified teacher - especially if it is

> Ashtanga you want to learn.

>

> Good luck and keep practicing (ONCE a day)

>

> FBL

>

> ashtanga yoga

>

January 6, 2003

Excellent advice FBL.

I, too, was taught exactly this way and I can't tell you how many times my

competitive nature got in my own way and wanted to progress (because of how

beautifully I saw others doing it). My teacher would never allow me too, and

boy, what I lesson that was to swallow. But, I have learned the greatest

lessons from that and the humbling experience of acceptance. That is the true

lesson in Ashtanga, the acceptance and I, personally, feel that others will miss

it if they do not experience Ashtanga the way PJ has taught it and still teaches

it today.

Margee

(guess that is why I am still not finished with primary! New goal for 2003 ! )

>

> funkybadlady [sMTP:no_reply]

> Sunday, January 05, 2003 3:23 PM

> ashtanga yoga

> ashtanga yoga props and progressing