Starting Ashtanga practice

[Guest guest]

Hi!

 

I have been practicing hatha yoga with an emphasis on alignment, inner

awareness, etc. Having always been into maintaining a good level of

fitness from aerobic exercise, weight lifting, and horseback riding

(dressage) I am unhappy with my current practice in that while I am

increasing my range of motion, I am losing my upper body strength and

muscle mass. This is of concern to me as I am post- menopausal and very

interested in preventing osteoporosis.

 

I was trying to maintain yoga practice along with aerobic and weight

training but simply do not have the time for all of this, and am

concerned that the weight training conflicts with the goals of Hatha

yoga. Yoga is a priority for me and I wish to maintain daily Asana and

meditation practice. I think that Ashtanga yoga would likely meet my

spiritual and physical needs. I live rather far from teachers so am

starting with the help of videos. (I particularly like Richard

Freeman’s primary series with his emphasis on proper alignment).

 

I have a question about the Bandhas, especially Uddiyana Bandha. In the

booklet accompanying Richard Freeman’s video he mentions that the

Uddiyana Bandha applied here is not the same as that described in other

types of yoga. I have understood Uddiyana Bandha as a pulling up of the

abdomen and internal organs without tensing the abdominal muscles. In

fact I have been taught that tensing abdominal muscles is counter

productive in that it shortens rather than lengthens the front body.

 

I have been experimenting with the bandhas trying to feel what is right

and after applying mulabandha I pull in the lower abdominal muscles

below the navel and then elongate the front torso, raising the sternum,

grounding the shoulders and dropping the shoulder blades so that there

is a feeling of the front body ascending and the back body dropping.

This seems to feel right as it makes me feel more stable in the poses,

and produces body heat. The first day after doing this though Surya

Namaskar A and B and the standing poses (that is as far I can go for

now). I experienced sore lower abs (about half way between my pubic bone

and my navel). Is this the area that should be worked? Am I on the

right track? I hope that my explanation is clear enough for people to

be able to answer this.

 

I am not used to moving from one pose to the next so quickly so do tend

to lose my proper alignment, but from what I have read here the idea is

just to maintain practice and all of this will fit into place.

 

I would appreciate any comments or advice. I realize that I do need a

teacher and will probably be able to set that up in a couple of months,

but for now this is impossible. Thank you all.

 

Namaste

Barbara

 

 

 

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