Guruji & Sharath Demonstration in Sydney

"Without vinyasa, don't do asana!"

Guruji in Copenhagen conference

"One day, two days, one month, two months, one year, ten years also no use. Satu dirgha kala. Life long you take practice, practice, practice. After that is totally correct, control is coming (sense organs)...sense organs is your control, mind control after one day also looking possible to God..."


Conference on Wednesday, August 16, 2006 in the yogashala of Astanga Yoga Copenhagen:


 

{Video} Guruji talks about the opening mantra

Happiness and true knowledge. Shri K. Pattabhi Jois discussing the opening mantra via Tom Sewell.

{Video} Interview with Saraswathi Jois & Sharmila Mahesh

Ashtanga yoga is not athletic.

More information:
Saraswathi Jois
Sharmila Mahesh

Ujjāyī vs. Free Breathing in Ashtanga Yoga (Gheranda Samhita) by Elise Espat

We started off by looking at the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā which led to the conclusion that:

If Ujjāyī is one of the eight Kumbhakas and Kumbhakas are breath retentions, then Ujjāyī is a breath retention.  If our breathing during practice does not include breath retentions, then it cannot be called Ujjāyī.

Here is a link to the post: Part 1 = Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā (हठ योग प्रदीपिका)

Now let's look at the Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā (धेरंड संहिता).

Notice here in chapter 5.46 that Ujjāyī is listed as a Kumbhaka (breath retention), just as it is in the HYP:

And here is GS the description of the technique (5.69-70):














Conclusion:
If Ujjāyī is one of the eight Kumbhakas and Kumbhakas are breath retentions, then Ujjāyī is a breath retention.  If our breathing during practice does not include breath retentions, then it cannot be called Ujjāyī.

Read the Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā
Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā PDF

Interview with Guy Donahaye by Elise Espat Part 3

Part 3 of my interview with Ashtanga yoga teacher Guy Donahaye, author of "Guruji: A Portrait".

Originally posted here:
http://yogamindmedicine.blogspot.com/2012/07/reflections-on-guruji-portrait.html

Reflections on "Guruji: A Portrait"
- Interview with Elise Espat - Part III

Did you ask any of the questions to clarify a question you had?  For instance, whether advanced asana meant advanced practice?  Or what was mulabandha?  Was there a satisfactory answer?

I believe there is a general misunderstanding of the purpose of asana practice - which is therapy. Advancement comes through perfecting yama and niyama, pranayama and the internal limbs - asana practice is the foundation of that process. So no, I was not curious - I had the desire to get the subjects to speak about this so as to dispel this general misconception. 

Mostly the questions were not asked out of personal curiosity but with the intention of  getting the interviewee to speak on a subject of interest. However, I was certainly interested to hear their different perspectives and feel that my own understanding has been enhanced through the process of making the book.

In the Guruji book, it seems that people agreed that advanced asana did not necessarily mean advanced yoga practice.  Do you think that is true?  Through asana, with the tristhana and a good teacher and time wouldn't that lead to advanced practice?  Would a student automatically start doing self-study and such?

Asana practice is therapeutic, purifying and strengthening - both for mind and body. How much purification or therapy is required depends on the individual and what end result is desired. I don't think anything will happen automatically through asana practice alone, but if you have a good teacher, he or she will teach more than asana.

Dena Kingsberg: "Some of us have to drag our bodies a long way in order to facilitate the cleansing process.  Those of us with stubborn, egotistical natures may need to drag ourselves further and twist ourselves harder and bend ourselves deeper in order to appreciate that at the end of the day we just need to focus the attention and open the heart."  

One of Guruji's most capable students (not interviewed in the book) was given a practice of 12 Suryanamaskar A and 12 B morning and evening - this he was told was for treating "insanity of the mind". So there is no apparent correlation between being able to do postures and a particular level of spiritual or mental development. However, developing a practice with Guruji into advanced series and practicing the asanas over time gives enormous benefits. 

If the student has not gained some control of the bandhas by the end of Intermediate Series, she will have no choice but to master them progressing into the advanced asanas. Perhaps this is why instead of teaching the pranayamas after intermediate, as he did in the early 70s, later Guruji wanted students to be established in the advanced asanas first. 

Westerners have such a strong attachment to their bodies and body image that practicing asanas can easily lead to greater vanity, competitiveness and other distractions from the goal of yoga. Sri Shankaracharya warns in his Vivekachudamani:

"Whoever seeks to realize the Self by devoting himself to the nourishment of the body, proceeds to cross a river by catching hold of a crocodile, mistaking it for a log… 

…desire, like a crocodile, instantly seizes the aspirant who tries to cross the ocean of samsara and reach the shore of liberation without firm detachment, and straightaway drags him down." 

One has to consider: what is the goal of practice? After overcoming health problems, our aim is to be able to sit still and quiet with a concentrated mind. For some this can be attained easily, asanas are not required, which is very rare today. Some need moderate exercise and purification, others need deeper cleansing and more rigorous training for the mind.

Guruji taught that Ashtanga Yoga was a step by step method but that yama and niyama could not be perfected until the stage of pranayama. However, in spite of the fact that it is very challenging or maybe even impossible to perfect yama and niyama, an attempt to do so is required, and our success in yoga will be much more closely related to our progress in the first two limbs than the third alone. In a certain sense the yama and niyama encapsulate the whole path - it is said that liberation can be achieved through perfection of any one.

As far as asanas go, what is important in the immediate moment is a practice which gives us a sense of well being and freedom from pain. If we are sick, then we need to purify and strengthen the body. In preparation for pranayama we also need to purify the nadis further through Nadi Shodhona and to be able to sit comfortably in padmasana or a similar asana for a long period of time. 

Where did the notion come from - that advancing through the series would lead to advancement on the path of yoga? It seems like there should be a logical correlation.  However, the purpose of the asanas is therapy. As long as we continue to fall short of following the yamas and niyamas perfectly, our system will require continuous correction from practicing asanas.

Guy Interview

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Ujjayi vs. Free Breathing

I've heard this brought up in conference on multiple occasions, meaning that I've witnessed the question being asked of the current lineage holder of the Shri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga yoga method - R. Sharath Jois.  The bandhas and breathing in the system are very specific.  Listen properly!  Also good to realize the importance of the student-teacher relationship...

The Same River

By David Robson
Posted May 4, 2011
Source David's Blog

There is some contention around the idea of “traditional” Ashtanga.

Traditionalists would be the teachers and practitioners that follow the practice as it is taught in Mysore, India. We practice 6 days a week, with rest days on Saturdays and the days of the full and new moon. Practice is done “Mysore-style,” in a group setting. We progress pose-by-pose through one of the six series. That would seem like a fairly straightforward distinction, but it gets more complicated. Some of the fine details of the teaching have changed over the last 50 years. Some postures have been added or taken out, some have different entrances and exits, and some have longer or shorter holds. So, a teacher who went to Mysore in 1980 might be teaching Ashtanga as they learned it back then, and calling it “traditional”, while someone who went to Mysore last year might also call their practice traditional. Their practices would show many differences. Who’s right?

The practice has altered very little since my first visit to India, 9 years ago. The poses and vinyasa count, as they are taught now, are almost exactly the same as they were taught to me on that first visit. However, there have been some small changes. So, every year, when I return to Mysore, I listen carefully to Sharath as he leads us through the led classes and lectures in the weekly conference. Whenever I notice a change, I integrate it into my teaching. That means that when I get back to Toronto and my home shala, I teach all my students the new version. Most of the time the changes aren’t actually new information, but clarifications and corrections, a sharper focus on the already existing details.

On my last trip to Mysore, I heard something new. It was during the weekly conference with Sharath. While talking about the breath during practice, someone mentioned “Ujjayi Breath.” Sharath corrected them, saying Ujjayi is a pranayama, a formal breathing exercise, and then moved on to another topic.

At first, I assumed I had misunderstood what Sharath was saying. I had always thought Ujjayi Breath was one of the key principles of Ashtanga Yoga. Confused, I went to the source, Yoga Mala, by Sri K Pattabhi Jois, to see what he had written more than 50 years ago. To my surprise, there is no mention of Ujjayi Breath with vinyasa. None.

A month later I saw Sharath again. I had the chance to ask him if we do Ujjayi Breath during our asana practice. He said no, explaining that Ujjayi Breath is one of the Pranayama techniques of Ashtanga Yoga. In Ashtanga, Pranayama is begun only when a practitioner has started the Advanced Series. During our asana practice we only do steady and even puraka and rechaka, inhalation and exhalation.

It would be easier if we could think of the tradition as unwavering; that the practice of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga has remained unaltered since its inception. But no tradition is like that; nothing stays the same. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus wrote, “Ever-newer waters flow on those who step into the same rivers." I think of the teaching the same way. The tradition is not still. At different moments in time it has been taught with this or that vinyasa, this or that count, but it is always from the same source. It would be impossible for me to follow the tradition without listening to my teacher. The river is always changing, but its source is always the same.

Be sure to read the comment section as well here

David Robson is the co-owner and director of the Ashtanga Yoga Centre of Toronto, where he leads one of the world’s largest Mysore programs. He made his first trip to Mysore, India in 2002, where he initiated studies with his teacher Sharath Jois. Since then he has returned annually to deepen and enrich his practice and teaching. He is Level-2 Authorized by the Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute.

republished with permission

Mysore Conference Notes: Practice, Food...

Conference – Asana as the Foundation of a Spiritual Practice – 1st January 2012
By Suzanne El-Safty
Posted 13 Jan 2012
Source suzanneelsafty.com

This conference was being filmed. This was also the day that I started to feel unwell – so I’m probably going to look very miserable and a bit green on film. Oh well! My notes are mostly okay I think but tail off towards the end as I began to feel worse and worse:

In Ashtanga Yoga we always do so many asanas. Not only in Ashtanga Yoga but in Krishnamacharya’s lineage in general. If we are following that lineage then there are lots of asanas. Many people have that question: why do we have to do asanas? Many teachers say that you don’t have to do asanas – you can just sit. But, if you see the yoga shastra - the Hatha Yoga Pradipika or even the Upanishads – they all say why asana is so important – to control our minds.

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika says that before we can think about getting enlightened we have to stabilise this body and mind. We have to practise asanas to stabilise our body and mind, to discipline this body and mind.

Now the mind is very chanchala – not in your control. The thought waves are so strong, the mind is like a monkey, a drunken monkey. To control the mind we need to bring some sort of discipline. You need to bring discipline to asana practice. It doesn’t come at once, you need to do for a long time – ‘sa tu dirghakalanairantaryasatkarasevito drdhabhumih’ (Yoga Sutras I:14). Asana is the foundation for the spiritual building; the foundation needs to be strong otherwise the building will fall. That is why asana is very important – it is the foundation to build the spiritual building.

It is only when you practise asana for many years that you realise how spiritual it is. To others it looks only physical. Other people who say that asana is just gymnastics, I call them sailors on the ocean – they don’t know about diving. They can’t see the beauty of the ocean – the colourful fish, the beautiful whatever animals you get in the sea. It is only if you know diving that you can see. Yoga is also like that – if you just sail on top of the ocean you will never get anything.

When you experience through the asana practice you can relish the purity of this practice.

Even in the Upanishads they talk about asanas. They compare consciousness to the sun. When the sun rises the rays of the sun are too harsh, at 12 o’clock they are too powerful; but as the sun sets it withdraws its rays and becomes very calm. This is like when a yogi sits in the third limb – in asana – he doesn’t have any mental disorders. We can feel that when we are practising everyday. We are totally concentrated on our mat – we forget all the nonsense happening around us. When we practise, day by day we get more focused, more concentrated.

Questions:

1) Which Upanishad was that?

Answer – the Kena Upanishad.

This system that we do, this vinyasa system, is very special. Only Krishnamacharya’s lineage knows this system. No one else knows this system. Three things are very important in this practice:

(i) Breathing

(ii) Posture

(iii) Gazing.

These are the three pillars which we need in our practice. I have not included bandhas – bandhas are to be done all of the time, not only in asanas.

For example, Surya Namaskara A has 9 vinyasas, this means 9 breathing techniques – 9 times you have to inhale and exhale. Surya Namaskara B has 17 vinyasas. Like this each asana has a certain number of vinyasas. This allows the breath to circulate in the body and activate the jatar agni (digestive fire). There are 72,000 nervous systems in the body – they must get purified – but how? by practising asanas with vinyasa.

The basic asanas – in the primary series – are very good to cure all diseases. Medical problems can be cured by doing the asanas in the primary series.

2) Should students put as much effort into the drishti (gaze point) as into say posture?

Answer – yes, these three things are very important. This develops your focus and concentration. So when you go to the next step – pranayama and dhyana (meditation) – these things will help you, they will help you to concentrate. This is dhyana what you are doing, it becomes like that.

3) Is a seated meditation practice then redundant in this system? or is it something we are striving towards?

Answer – first you have to understand what is meditation. Meditation is not something where you go somewhere, you close your eyes and sit. It looks very nice. But inside the mind is very disturbed – it goes to your country or to your boyfriend. First you have to control your sense organs. Then automatically meditation will happen within you.

First you need to bring the sense organs under control. That is why Patanjali says ‘yogascittavrttinirodhah’ (Yoga Sutras I:2) – yoga is to bring the sense organs under control. Once you still the mind – that is meditation, yoga or union.

For that we need to develop certain qualities within us. For this we have to practise certain asanas. I can go into a meditative mode when practising asanas.

Some people say they go to do a vipassana for 15 days, they go every day and they sit like this. For the first two days they have lots of enthusiasm; after the third day the mind starts wandering.

To reach the higher levels in practice first you have to build the foundation, that is asana, and then think about yama and niyama. It is a process which should happen day by day, year by year. A real yogi does not need a certificate saying he is enlightened. We have seen so many yogis in the past – nobody has a certificate.

4) When we practise, how do we keep a state of dhyana and also some awareness of where our legs and arms are?

Answer – that will automatically come. In practice your mind is thinking about your body – not about the nonsense outside. When I say kurmasana (turtle posture) your body will automatically do that. When we are practising our focus should be on our asana through our drishti and breathing.

When you are out on the street you see lots of street shows, like in Covent Garden. Like that in India we also have, lots of shows on the street – they are called games. In one game, there are two pillars and one rope between. One girl walks from here to there on the rope with 5 or 6 pots on her head and a bamboo stick in her hand. With hundreds of people watching. When she walks her mind is so concentrated on the pot. If she thinks about the people watching her she will fall and the pot will fall. See how beautiful that game is. Like that see the beauty of the asana.

5) If the purpose of the basic postures is to cure diseases then what is the purpose of the more advanced series?

Answer – to show off (laughs).

Primary Series is chikitsa vibhaga - to cure diseases. If yoga is used as a therapy then you do certain asanas to help, so that the body gets purified.

Then it gets more advanced – nadi shodhana (intermediate series is known as nadi shodhana) - to purify the nervous system. But nadi shodhana happens in all of the series.

In the advanced series there are lots of different postures – arm balances, back bends.

They allow you to see your limitations, in body and mind. When you are young it is easy to do all the postures. When I was young I used to practise for 3 hours – from 3.30am to 6.30am. Now I do just 2 hours.

6) Was the system designed by Krishnamacharya? or did Guruji design it?

Answer – Guruji put the asanas into different levels. It is the same thing he learned from Krishnamacharya, just more refined.

7) Can you talk about diet?

Answer – vegetarian food – that’s all. It is very good for the body. Non-vegetarian will give you stiffness, it will give you more muscle, that’s all.

8) What is the difference between doing lots of postures for 5 breaths each and fewer postures but for more breaths?

Answer - you can try both. If you sit in one posture then only certain organs will get exercise. If you do more postures then more organs get exercise. When you do more postures you generate more heat and the blood becomes warm and can circulate properly.

republished with permission

Yoga & Detoxification: Working with Preferences

Break through to the other side... An article by Jessica Sage Stickler on the benefits of being really uncomfortable in life and yoga, addiction, relationships, shoulderstand, and more and how facing it is sort of the point, man.

Yoga & Detoxification: Working with Preferences
By Jessica Stickler
Source http://bit.ly/k8o48a

  

 Salamba Sarvanagasana.  When yoga teachers inevitably call out this pose, my mind screams. The shoulder-burning, the fatigue of holding myself up with my hands on my back. The claustrophobia of halasana/plow pose and karnapidasana/ear pressure pose that unfailingly follow shoulderstand. I once stopped practicing shoulderstand for two months. Starting again after realizing that avoiding the pose wasn't helping me with my utter burning hatred of it. The only thing that helped was to do it, and do it again, and again. Daily. Until my experience of shoulderstand began to change -- magically -- first to indifference, and then to a sort of looking-forward-to-it kind of feeling.

We all have the poses that push our mental/physical buttons. The poses are meant to challenge us to step beyond our own personal preferences and prejudices. Its not just the poses themselves that are meant to challenge us. We've all sat in a yoga class thinking, 'it's too hot in here', or 'its not hot enough,' even the teacher themselves can challenge you......'I really don't like that teacher's voice,' or the poses they choose 'there aren't enough inversions,' or 'there are too many inversions.' Its not the poses, or the teacher, or the people around you, or the music, or the temperature of the room; its you and your mind.

Yoga is meant to agitate the mind. Hatha yoga implies a forceful practice, not in the sense of going past your boundaries of physical safety, but in the sense that the practices are supposed to force you to your 'edge' in a way. Each pose is meant to stir up those feelings of 'it’s too intense,' or even a thought that it’s 'not intense enough,' which is also a form of that dissatisfaction with being in the moment. Each of the thoughts that come up are a signal that we are always trying to change our present situation instead of sitting with what is. It can be very powerful to practice in a way where we notice the tendencies of the mind to be anywhere except here and now. By practicing this way, we can notice a feeling or a thought arise and let that thought go.

Most of us constantly attempt to control or modify our surroundings or experience. 'I'm a little sleepy, I'll take some coffee,' quickly pendulums into 'that coffee made me wired, I need a drink.' We constantly self-medicate with a little more of this, a little more of that. All in an attempt to make ourselves happy. The underlying feeling is that happiness or sadness or weariness must stem from the outside world. We habitually try to get more of what we think we want, and try to push away the thing that we think we don't want. These tendencies are called 'raga' and 'dvesha.' Raga refers to the habit of mind that grasps to things that we perceive as bringing us happiness. Dvesha refers to the habit of mind that pushes away things that we think will make us unhappy. Raga means attraction to the things I think will bring me happiness; more french fries, more kale, the boyfriend, a new job, more money. Dvesha means trying to avoid the things that I think will bring me unhappiness; shoulderstand, that-annoying-person-at-work.

Neither grasping things that we feel are pleasant nor trying to escape things that we feel are unpleasant are helpful reactions because the premise is faulty. Take the coffee/alcohol example. At the time, you thought coffee would make you happy, and maybe it was momentarily pleasant, but ultimately the coffee was only pleasant in the morning, not in the evening. Then the alcohol seemed like it would bring you happiness too, but it was only temporary relief and in the morning may be the source of discomfort. (And possibly the feeling of need for more coffee......) These things we grasp at are not the source of lasting happiness. That said, it doesn't mean that yogis can't take pleasure in things or that we aren't supposed to like things. It’s just that whether we get the coffee or not, it’s no problem.

During meditation, every time I scratch, wipe away a bead of sweat, roll out my very tense neck, I'm potentially trying to modify my experience of the present moment. Instead of resting in the present, and finding contentment in the moment, I'm constantly trying to change my circumstances. Meditation is the place where we can potentially free ourselves from the chain of reactivity that goes from hunger to gratification to guilt. Meditation cultivates the space to intervene in the reactivity. Meditation is the opportunity to notice desire and let it go, or choose to fulfill that desire with the wisdom to know that ultimate happiness doesn’t stem from the thing outside me. Meditation is even sitting with the discomfort of the pain that comes after the fulfillment of the desire, without wishing to change that too.

In this way, Yoga and Meditation could be helpful with addiction or compulsive behavior. Both meditation and yoga emphasize that when we are feeling discomfort, whether an uncomfortable physical feeling, emotion, or thought, that we can sit with that feeling and either choose to react or choose to let it go. We can feel the feeling of hunger and we can either react to it, or we can choose to let it go.

Even the desire to 'detox' or 'cleanse' is at its root the same wish to change what we are experiencing in the present. I know many people for whom the 'detox' is part of alleviating discomfort, a purge or self-flagellation for an indulgence or a lapse in willpower. Many times we feel the need to detoxify when we feel we've overindulged. The toxins that need to be 'cleansed' are not the physical toxins, but the very desire to detoxify! The thoughts that want to pull us out of our present feeling by adding or subtracting more pleasurable or unpleasurable experiences. The desire to detoxify is a desire for things to be other than what they are right now, in the present.

Could the practice also help us heal relationships? We've all known someone who lost themselves completely in another; maybe we’ve even been that person ourselves. It cannot be: if our bliss were completely dependent on a knight in shining armor then we should give up our search for happiness now, because its a doomed proposition. Same with those people who seem repellent to us: how will running away fast and far enough from the difficult people in our lives lead to an experience of the 'oneness of being?' Erm. Its only through sitting with the bliss of infatuation, the chest-sinking heartbreak, the skin-crawling aggravation of being with other people that we come to find that we are, at our essence, love and joy, and that our purpose in life is to return to that joy.

 

Published May 26, 2011 at 10:15 AM

Jessica Stickler is an 800 hour Advanced Certified Jivamukti Teacher. She teaches full time at Jivamukti Yoga School in New York City. Her classes combine fun music with choreographic sequencing and intelligent alignment; meant to inspire, ignite, and incite. Jessica serves as a mentor for new teachers at the Union Square studio, and teaches workshops and classes internationally. Jessica is also an environmental and animal activist, currently working on organizing for reduction of plastic bag waste in New York City. (Follow @BackToTheSack for more info or to get involved.)

Website: JessicaStickler.com
Twitter: @sagestick

Video: Sri K. Pattabhi Jois on Ashtanga Yoga

Transcript:
I tried my best to transcribe the video below.  Suggestions welcome.

One method: yoga method.
(It's asana and pranayama and pratyahara.  This is all one type method.)

That's why yoga is important.
That is universal.
No one man - one man property.
This is not one man property.
This is [not] one country property.
This is universal, Yoga is universal.

Yoga not physically purpose, no.
This is internal yoga.
Internal cleaning.
Internal exercise.
Not external exercise in yoga method.
There is yoga - Yoga means you self knowledge you getting.
Self knowledge...
Knowledge - there is going yoga is taking that to go that way is taking going.
That is method.

That's where you start yoga.
Asana you start.
You do asana more asana, asana, asana, genuine asana.
Much asanas is there.
That asana you do.
Is giving very good strength and stamina
Your energy is increasing every day, every day, every day.
Your mind also is correctly standing [when] position is coming.
This is yoga method.

Abhyasa you can take practice, don't talk.
95% practice, 5% percent theory.
You know, now a-days people 99 and half percent theory, one half percent also no good practice.
That is very bad.

Discipline means you can take your practice.
First you stand - your stamina you give it first.
Your body strength you want to give it.

Body means - three type of body (external body, internal body, spiritual body).
Spiritual body...

That is three type of body strength you are getting.
That is giving strength only for the yoga practice.
With breathing systems with vinyasa all included.
So breathing is very important.

Without breathing not spiritual body is not coming.
Spiritual mind also is not coming.
That is very important in breathing.

Breathing means - you don't understanding.
That is why there is a method - ekam, dve, trini - that is vinyasa.
That's called vinyasa.
Inhalation, exhalation.
One type of time.
10 second, 10 second.
15 seconds, 15 seconds.
Inhalation 10 seconds.
Exhalation 10 seconds.
Inhalation 15 seconds.
Exhalation also 15 seconds.
Same method, you follow.