Do you have a daily practice?

Don't let this be you.

A little inspiration {Video}

Age 44, 31 weeks 5 days gestation, daily practice. Just an average morning over at the Albuquerque Ashtanga Yoga Shala.

Weekend Edition #1

Eating to support your practice
Guy Donahaye
Ashtanga Yoga Shala NYC
http://bit.ly/VMCWpx


How to learn Ashtanga Yoga. Led class versus Mysore class?
Magnolia Zuniga
Mysore San Francisco
http://bit.ly/YMwMme


How to practice when hell’s freezing over
Angela Jamison
Ashtanga Yoga Ann Arbor
http://bit.ly/V4PXYP

The winds
Kate O'Donnell
Ashtanga 4 Life
http://bit.ly/14JDXiD


Food + Yoga
New segment on the blog on you guessed it, food!
http://bit.ly/VLoo4f


Check out
No Impact Man (book, movie, how-to's)
Vegucated (trailer, watch online)

Guy Donahaye ABQ - Bibliography

Source: Guy in ABQ, AAYS

Resources and references mentioned during Guy Donahaye's weekend workshop at the Albuquerque Ashtanga Yoga Shala October 19-21, 2012

 

 

GENERAL

Guy's Shala in NY:  Ashtanga Yoga Shala NYC
A good place to practice and a website full of valuable information.

http://aysnyc.org/

Guy's blog "Mind Medicine:  Ashtanga Yoga Darshana"
http://yogamindmedicine.blogspot.com/ 

Guy's book "GURUJI: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students"
http://bit.ly/RhagPj

Book extracts:
http://bit.ly/QCpfmU

Interviews:
http://bit.ly/OXgeGN 

DAY 1:  Fundamentals of Practice

Reading list at Guy's website:
http://ow.ly/eGhEQ

What is Yoga?

http://bit.ly/WEqaZ6

What is Ashtanga Yoga?

http://bit.ly/RRM7O0

Pranayama and mulabandha

http://bit.ly/TtDdvI  

Breathing

http://bit.ly/VwropM

Practice guidelines
http://bit.ly/RlVPLC

DAY 2:   Mind Medicine I

Ashtanga Yoga Mantram and translation
http://bit.ly/RlVIj3

Yoga Sutras & Hatha Yoga Pradipika

http://aylibrary.blogspot.com/p/resources.html

Why right leg first in padmasana

http://bit.ly/PGSi6L

Diet and lifestyle

http://bit.ly/UtMljY

What is the Self?

http://bit.ly/WEsUWk

Daily practice

http://bit.ly/MYrf3H

Ego, vrttis, householders

http://bit.ly/RQIJTS

Ayurveda, doshas, recipes, and many more resources
http://www.ayurveda.com/online_resource/index.html  

Ashtanga yoga history and lineage
http://bit.ly/Rapfc0

DAY 3: Mind Medicine II

3 gunas, Yoga Sutras, and more

http://bit.ly/UtOlsh

When to and not to practice

http://bit.ly/RL6UkY

Pain
http://bit.ly/MrZN4R

First you do asanas

http://bit.ly/TbI4j7

Mind control

http://bit.ly/PmoilT 

Guruji teaching

http://bit.ly/X3WQcU

Mad attention

http://bit.ly/PN4gkt

Nadis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadi_%28yoga%29

Check back soon for more updates...

Video: Guruji from Enlighten Up!

In this clip from the film Enlighten Up! Guruji discusses the importance of practice.  It is through continuous application of theory that we gain practical experience of yoga.

Healing Injuries with Ashtanga Yoga by Paul Mitchell Gold

Authorized Ashtanga yoga teacher Paul Mitchell Gold of the Ashtanga Yoga Shala, Toronto writes on the healing power of a daily Mysore practice and how to work with injuries.  (See also "Should I Practice If...?")

Healing Injuries with Ashtanga Yoga
Originally published September 22, 2012, Ashtanga Yoga and other things
Republished with permission 

Yoga practice is not an exercise class and it’s not a workout. Sure, it’s vigorous and physically challenging, but that’s just the means rather than the end. However, as with any physical endeavour, aches and pains are unavoidable and injuries can happen.

If one gets injured practicing yoga, the yoga practice is the best way to heal and rehabilitate. Also, if one gets injured doing some other activity, yoga practice is the best way to heal and rehabilitate. Finally, if one begins yoga practice with a preexisting injury, the yoga practice is the best way to heal and rehabilitate. From my experience, yoga practice is an amazing healer.

Healing an injury with Ashtanga Yoga is possible and requires daily practice. Taking days off regardless of how one’s feeling is ultimately detrimental to the healing process. Unlike working out, the effects of yoga practice are cumulative. The body’s natural reaction to injury is to contract and armour. Yoga encourages the afflicted area to move when it wants to petrify. Taking days off between practices just makes the body stiffer under normal circumstances, but even more so with an injury or chronic condition.

Students often wait until their aches and pains are gone before returning to class. They’ll disappear and return saying they needed to rest their injury. The truth, however, is that the pain is not gone and the injury hasn’t healed. The problem simply went underground while they were resting and was patiently waiting to return. Whatever imbalance or bad habit caused the pain or injury hasn’t been addressed or corrected. The pains and injury return as soon as the student is back on the mat.

It is a shame that some students who aren’t willing to follow the prescription for daily practice end up quitting and saying that “ashtanga yoga doesn’t work” or “yoga made my pain worse.” This just isn’t true.

The first thing a student must do when using the practice to heal and rehabilitate is adapt. It is necessary when injured to scale back practice so that it’s appropriate as therapy. That very often means having a very basic and short practice for awhile where the level of sensation to the injured area is deliberately kept at zero.

Both Rachelle and I have had pain and injuries over the years and we both used ashtanga yoga as a means of healing ourselves. Some days, I would do only a few slow and difficult sun salutations before needing to stop. It had it’s moments of frustration and I often felt impatient and frankly pissed off. It wasn’t much fun, but I slowly healed and was back to 100% over time.

So, first off, a student needs to adjust practice to reflect the injury or pains being experienced. There’s no reason to power through or ignore the problem. In the case of an injury caused by bad habits or poor breathing, taking things slowly and scaling back helps to pinpoint where there’s a problem and re-learn how to practice correctly without causing chronic pain. One of the added bonuses of using practice to heal an injury is that we find practice is stronger once we’ve healed.

In the case of a student who starts ashtanga yoga to heal a pre-existing injury, the best advice I can give is to look at practice as medicine and follow the prescription.

If I were to develop a chest infection and went to a doctor, I would likely be prescribed antibiotics to treat the infection with instructions to take three pills every day for a week. If I follow the prescription, I will no longer have my chest infection However, if I do NOT follow the prescription and I take the medicine every few days or only once per day, I really shouldn’t be surprised if my problem hasn’t been cured.

Practice daily. Do what you can. Don’t push. Maintain zero sensation in the injured area. Be patient and have faith. Talk to your teacher when you’re frustrated. This is the prescription to heal injuries using ashtanga yoga. Students who follow this prescription heal their injuries and rehabilitate chronic problems. They transform their bodies and blow their minds in the process.

About Paul
I took my first yoga classes in 1995 and became a dedicated practitioner of Ashtanga Yoga after a short period of experimenting.

From 1998 to 2001, I studied with Noah Williams and Kimberly Flynn and taught at their yoga school in Los Angeles. I also want to thank Jorgen Christiansson, an early teacher and good friend, who first taught me to trust this practice.

In 2001, Rachelle and I made our first trip to Mysore, India. Since, we have returned annually to continue our studies with Guruji and Sharath.

I received authorization to teach the Ashtanga method in 2004 and was a member of the first group to receive Level 2 Authorization in July 2009. I have the blessing of KPJAYI to teach students the full Primary and Intermediate Series of Ashtanga Yoga. 

Dedication to daily practice is the cornerstone of my teaching philosophy. I encourage my students to develop the virtues of patience, faith, diligence, compassion and non-attachment using the integrity and genius of the traditional Ashtanga system. As these virtues are cultivated over time, students are well on the way to living fuller, happier and more balanced lives.  More

The Fuzz Speech

Don't be confused. You aren't getting old, you're just fuzzed over. Why it is important to practice every day - through thick and thin and why getting started/restarted after time off can be a bit of an uphill battle. "Take responsibility for melting the fuzz"!