Guest guest Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Dear all, I have been practising Primary for about 5 years now (took 18 months off to have a baby), and while I am comfortable in most poses, my Urdhva D dropbacks are a little untidy but getting better and I am nearly there in Supta K (can cross feet but not bind hands), I have noticed my upper body (shoulders and thoracic spine) have been asking for attention - no pain as such but I think they are ready for some opening. Can anyone tell me how you actually know you are ready for intermediate? I live about 40 miles (65km) from the closest exp teacher, and while I have contacted her, I would just like some thoughts here. Thanks to all in advance, Sophie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Just my opinion, and I haven't seen your practice. That being said -- try starting second. Add poses one at a time (carefully!). Better if you can get instruction for modifications (if necessary) and vinyasa. This *does not* mean dropping out poses from first however. Many traditional teachers do not drop out poses from first until you get to Karandavasana. Second series, especially the backbending sequence, is often a big help/relief to folks who have been doing a lot of first. These days in mysore you have to be able to come up from backbend to standing before starting second. --Doesn't make sense to me. There is not a lot of backbending in first so why introduce this as a requirement to begin more backbending? Seems like second is more of a help here. BTW-- this " requirement " is a fairly recent development. -Tom On Sun, Feb 21, 2010 at 11:31 PM, Sophie Anderson <sophandersonwrote: > > > Dear all, > > I have been practising Primary for about 5 years now (took 18 months off to > have a baby), and while I am comfortable in most poses, my Urdhva D > dropbacks are a little untidy but getting better and I am nearly there in > Supta K (can cross feet but not bind hands), I have noticed my upper body > (shoulders and thoracic spine) have been asking for attention - no pain as > such but I think they are ready for some opening. > > Can anyone tell me how you actually know you are ready for intermediate? > > I live about 40 miles (65km) from the closest exp teacher, and while I have > contacted her, I would just like some thoughts here. > > Thanks to all in advance, > Sophie > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 My shala is pretty traditional, and the requirement for starting second series is as Tom says, to be able to come up from a dropback unassisted. My teacher is certified (in the ashtanga sense of the word - ie by guruji) so he follows Mysore in these kinds of things. C. On 22 Feb 2010, at 19:08, Tom Hunter wrote: > Just my opinion, and I haven't seen your practice. That being said -- try > starting second. Add poses one at a time (carefully!). Better if you can > get instruction for modifications (if necessary) and vinyasa. This *does > not* mean dropping out poses from first however. Many traditional teachers > do not drop out poses from first until you get to Karandavasana. > > Second series, especially the backbending sequence, is often a big > help/relief to folks who have been doing a lot of first. > > These days in mysore you have to be able to come up from backbend to > standing before starting second. --Doesn't make sense to me. There is not a > lot of backbending in first so why introduce this as a requirement to begin > more backbending? Seems like second is more of a help here. BTW-- this > " requirement " is a fairly recent development. > > -Tom > > On Sun, Feb 21, 2010 at 11:31 PM, Sophie Anderson > <sophandersonwrote: > > > > > > > Dear all, > > > > I have been practising Primary for about 5 years now (took 18 months off to > > have a baby), and while I am comfortable in most poses, my Urdhva D > > dropbacks are a little untidy but getting better and I am nearly there in > > Supta K (can cross feet but not bind hands), I have noticed my upper body > > (shoulders and thoracic spine) have been asking for attention - no pain as > > such but I think they are ready for some opening. > > > > Can anyone tell me how you actually know you are ready for intermediate? > > > > I live about 40 miles (65km) from the closest exp teacher, and while I have > > contacted her, I would just like some thoughts here. > > > > Thanks to all in advance, > > Sophie > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Yes, Tom, in the old days, they could start second series right away, no waiting, only after ashtanga took off and got really popular Jois started to send students home to practice further, after they couldn¹t perform a certain pose... Only because he didn¹t have a shala big enough for everyone. His first shala was only big enough for 10 people.... As I learnt from the ³old teachers² they were doing all posese from all series and I was told that this ³progression² was actually done to satisfy a demand, it was purely a necessity decision, not a rule like it is now. jana Tom Hunter <thunter01 <ashtangayoga > Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:08:33 -0800 <ashtangayoga > Re: ashtanga yoga Query re intermediate practice Just my opinion, and I haven't seen your practice. That being said -- try starting second. Add poses one at a time (carefully!). Better if you can get instruction for modifications (if necessary) and vinyasa. This *does not* mean dropping out poses from first however. Many traditional teachers do not drop out poses from first until you get to Karandavasana. Second series, especially the backbending sequence, is often a big help/relief to folks who have been doing a lot of first. These days in mysore you have to be able to come up from backbend to standing before starting second. --Doesn't make sense to me. There is not a lot of backbending in first so why introduce this as a requirement to begin more backbending? Seems like second is more of a help here. BTW-- this " requirement " is a fairly recent development. -Tom On Sun, Feb 21, 2010 at 11:31 PM, Sophie Anderson <sophanderson <sophanderson%40.co.uk> >wrote: > Dear all, > > I have been practising Primary for about 5 years now (took 18 months off to > have a baby), and while I am comfortable in most poses, my Urdhva D > dropbacks are a little untidy but getting better and I am nearly there in > Supta K (can cross feet but not bind hands), I have noticed my upper body > (shoulders and thoracic spine) have been asking for attention - no pain as > such but I think they are ready for some opening. > > Can anyone tell me how you actually know you are ready for intermediate? > > I live about 40 miles (65km) from the closest exp teacher, and while I have > contacted her, I would just like some thoughts here. > > Thanks to all in advance, > Sophie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Of course this begs the question of what " traditional " means. One definition is " of or pertaining to tradition; derived from tradition; communicated from ancestors to descendants by word only " and connotes, in this context, that something is being done the way now that it was a " long " time ago. This is clearly not the case since only 10 years or so ago, ability to stand up from backbend wasn't required for second. Another definition (less preferred, see Merriam Webster) is " characteristic manner, method, or style " . Under this definition, requiring standing up from backbend before second is traditional as that is the current/characteristic manner, method or style. So, for you group members . . . which definition of " traditional " carries more meaning/weight. Is there a value to doing things in the " traditional " manner? How do we deconstruct this? Is it adhering to a historical practice (over what time frame???), or is this simply adhering to current strictform conventionalism? -tom On Mon, Feb 22, 2010 at 12:11 PM, Chris Carmona < chriscarmona68 wrote: > > > My shala is pretty traditional, and the requirement for starting second > series is as Tom says, to be able to come up from a dropback unassisted. My > teacher is certified (in the ashtanga sense of the word - ie by guruji) so > he follows Mysore in these kinds of things. > > C. > > > On 22 Feb 2010, at 19:08, Tom Hunter wrote: > > > Just my opinion, and I haven't seen your practice. That being said -- try > > starting second. Add poses one at a time (carefully!). Better if you can > > get instruction for modifications (if necessary) and vinyasa. This *does > > not* mean dropping out poses from first however. Many traditional > teachers > > do not drop out poses from first until you get to Karandavasana. > > > > Second series, especially the backbending sequence, is often a big > > help/relief to folks who have been doing a lot of first. > > > > These days in mysore you have to be able to come up from backbend to > > standing before starting second. --Doesn't make sense to me. There is not > a > > lot of backbending in first so why introduce this as a requirement to > begin > > more backbending? Seems like second is more of a help here. BTW-- this > > " requirement " is a fairly recent development. > > > > -Tom > > > > On Sun, Feb 21, 2010 at 11:31 PM, Sophie Anderson > > <sophanderson <sophanderson%40.co.uk>>wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > Dear all, > > > > > > I have been practising Primary for about 5 years now (took 18 months > off to > > > have a baby), and while I am comfortable in most poses, my Urdhva D > > > dropbacks are a little untidy but getting better and I am nearly there > in > > > Supta K (can cross feet but not bind hands), I have noticed my upper > body > > > (shoulders and thoracic spine) have been asking for attention - no pain > as > > > such but I think they are ready for some opening. > > > > > > Can anyone tell me how you actually know you are ready for > intermediate? > > > > > > I live about 40 miles (65km) from the closest exp teacher, and while I > have > > > contacted her, I would just like some thoughts here. > > > > > > Thanks to all in advance, > > > Sophie > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 26, 2010 Report Share Posted February 26, 2010 Dear all, thanks so much for the insight, i have started by introducing the first 6 poses after set bandhasana and in a few months, i will introduce more perhaps after standing, and to help with vinyasa, i will introduce more, perhaps after standing and i have ordered kino's dvd to help with vinyasa until i can actually get some instruction. i can already see improvement from backbends even after a few days and the constant niggling in my thoracic spine has gone as i think it wanted some attention. interestingly, my teacher whom i don't get to see much nowadays after motherhood has actually recommended to bind in supta k first and get better at dropbacks, but in listening to my body my thoracic spine and shoulders have been asking for some attention. again, thanks for all the insight, my next challenge is supta kurmasana, binding hands... take care and i really love this blogspot as it helps people like me that find it a little challenging to access an intermediate / certified ashtanga practitioner. lol, sophie ________________________________ Tom Hunter <thunter01 ashtangayoga Tue, 23 February, 2010 9:41:43 Re: ashtanga yoga Query re intermediate practice  Of course this begs the question of what " traditional " means. One definition is " of or pertaining to tradition; derived from tradition; communicated from ancestors to descendants by word only " and connotes, in this context, that something is being done the way now that it was a " long " time ago. This is clearly not the case since only 10 years or so ago, ability to stand up from backbend wasn't required for second. Another definition (less preferred, see Merriam Webster) is " characteristic manner, method, or style " . Under this definition, requiring standing up from backbend before second is traditional as that is the current/characteris tic manner, method or style. So, for you group members . . . which definition of " traditional " carries more meaning/weight. Is there a value to doing things in the " traditional " manner? How do we deconstruct this? Is it adhering to a historical practice (over what time frame???), or is this simply adhering to current strictform conventionalism? -tom On Mon, Feb 22, 2010 at 12:11 PM, Chris Carmona < chriscarmona68@ googlemail. com> wrote: > > > My shala is pretty traditional, and the requirement for starting second > series is as Tom says, to be able to come up from a dropback unassisted. My > teacher is certified (in the ashtanga sense of the word - ie by guruji) so > he follows Mysore in these kinds of things. > > C. > > > On 22 Feb 2010, at 19:08, Tom Hunter wrote: > > > Just my opinion, and I haven't seen your practice. That being said -- try > > starting second. Add poses one at a time (carefully!) . Better if you can > > get instruction for modifications (if necessary) and vinyasa. This *does > > not* mean dropping out poses from first however. Many traditional > teachers > > do not drop out poses from first until you get to Karandavasana. > > > > Second series, especially the backbending sequence, is often a big > > help/relief to folks who have been doing a lot of first. > > > > These days in mysore you have to be able to come up from backbend to > > standing before starting second. --Doesn't make sense to me. There is not > a > > lot of backbending in first so why introduce this as a requirement to > begin > > more backbending? Seems like second is more of a help here. BTW-- this > > " requirement " is a fairly recent development. > > > > -Tom > > > > On Sun, Feb 21, 2010 at 11:31 PM, Sophie Anderson > > <sophanderson@ .co. uk <sophanderson% 40.co. uk>>wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > Dear all, > > > > > > I have been practising Primary for about 5 years now (took 18 months > off to > > > have a baby), and while I am comfortable in most poses, my Urdhva D > > > dropbacks are a little untidy but getting better and I am nearly there > in > > > Supta K (can cross feet but not bind hands), I have noticed my upper > body > > > (shoulders and thoracic spine) have been asking for attention - no pain > as > > > such but I think they are ready for some opening. > > > > > > Can anyone tell me how you actually know you are ready for > intermediate? > > > > > > I live about 40 miles (65km) from the closest exp teacher, and while I > have > > > contacted her, I would just like some thoughts here. > > > > > > Thanks to all in advance, > > > Sophie > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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