Weekend Edition # 12: Injury Inspiration

Life happens.  Relationship troubles, financial troubles, work troubles, the weather, illness, digestion troubles, injuries...  In yoga, all these things and more are summed up as the "three miseries" or  "three obstacles".  They are:

adhyātmika --miseries of body and mind
adhibhautika --miseries from other living creatures
adhidaivika --miseries from natural/supernatural disturbances

These names are old and the miseries timeless.  They will always come to us and they always have.  If we wait to practice until the obstacles stop, then we will probably never practice.  It is easy to do some asanas when we feel nice and there is a nice view and the teacher is nice and there was no traffic and we get the spot we like and everything is going well.  We should definitely be grateful and notice when we have it easy.  But often it is when things are not going well, when things are very hard or seem impossible when the true meaning of yoga is there for us to realize.  It is then when we have the opportunity to really practice and to rise to the occasion.

Eventually, practice becomes the baseline, the steady beat of our lives.  Before that, each time an obstacle arises, we ask ourselves "should I practice if...?"  It is in this moment when we begin to explore our intentions and the meaning of the practice.  This is the moment when a lot of people - confusing yoga with the mere performance of asanas - quit.  This is also the moment when others start to question their motivations and show up anyway.

To anyone who has ever shown up anyway, started from the ground up, or who has fallen to rock bottom from the highest cliff knows the feeling.  The infinite sorrow, the despair, the irrational impossibility... and then when we are patient just a few moments later, the warmth of humility and the curious strength of complete surrender.  It is the relief of having nothing to prove, no expectations, and nothing but the here and now.  All of a sudden it all comes together - the showing up, the exploration of what the asana practice is really asking, the patience of being sensitive and receptive - and it starts to seep into every other part of our lives.  We start to make connections between all of our actions throughout the day and the world around us.  The definition of asana as a "steady and sweet seat" becomes the establishment of a constant steady and sweet connection with the earth. We start to realize that we can always practice and that the effort toward steadiness of mind is what we have been cultivating all along.

In times of injury or bodily obstacle, our asana practice may change, but it is important to remember that there are 7 other limbs of Ashtanga yoga that can be practiced all the time.  But this post is about injuries and here are some sources of inspiration if you are finding yourself grappling with bodily obstacles:


"Breathing the practice" by Jangalikayamane
"Healing injuries with Ashtanga Yoga" by Paul Mitchell Gold

One final note:  everything is relative.  An emotional blow feels 100% as devastating to the person experiencing it as a broken arm feels to the person experiencing the broken arm.  Just show up.  Identify with the true nature of the self.  Let go of the asanas.  Make showing up to practice about others and something larger than yourself (Ishvarapranidhana).  Showing up anyway is a chance to add to the group energy, to inspire others who are also having a tough time.  It is a chance to be grateful and for tapas... for it often takes some serious obstacles for us to open to the possibility of yoga.

Weekend Edition #5

Yoga Stops Traffick 2013 was a great success.  You can still donate online here.

Here in Albuquerque we chanted "Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu" 108 times.  Some people counted with their own japa malas, others counted with their fingers, and we all followed the count of 108 New Mexico pinto beans dropping into a jar.

Before we began chanting, I gave a short talk on "ahimsa".  Often defined as "non-harm", an easy way to practice ahimsa is to avoid violent or harmful situations.  As we deepen our practice the definition grows to not only avoiding painful actions but actively working to end suffering.  Perhaps it could even evolve to healing.

People sometimes wonder how can we say that we practice every day when we take so many days off (moon days, Saturdays, ladies' holiday).  The answer is simple: asana is only one component of Ashtanga Yoga.  While we practice asanas for just a short while on most days, opportunities to practice ahimsa are always available, both on and off the mat...

Here is a lovely video from the 2013 Ashtanga Yoga Confluence with Dena Kingsberg discussing ahimsa:

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

When can I start Intermediate Series?

Intermediate Series
By Paul Mitchell Gold

Posted on May 18, 2010

Source Ashtanga and other things - Paul's blog

I have wanted to go on record for awhile regarding when yoga students should be taught asanas from the Intermediate Series of Ashtanga Yoga. Too many times, I’ve had students in my class who have been taught prematurely by another teacher.

When Rachelle and I were taking the teacher’s course in Mysore last June with Sharath, we had the opportunity to ask for detailed and definitive guidelines on the subject. So, here’s what we were told straight from the source.

Before a student can begin learning the asanas from Intermediate Series, he/she needs to be able to do all the asanas in Primary Series. Let’s be clear about this… that’s all of the asanas from Primary, as in each and every one, not all but the one or two that he/she can’t do.

There are circumstances where a student might need some help getting in an asana, like marichasana d or supta kurmasana. If a student can do the asana with help, it’s ok.

Furthermore, in addition to being able to do each asana in Primary, a student needs to be able to stand up from urdhva dhanurasana and then do the drop-backs section. This requirement is most often what I see missing when students come from other teachers.

One of the problems with teaching students more advanced asanas prematurely is that it can cause ego problems. Many students are preoccupied with advancing and doing as many asanas as possible. The number of asanas is seen as the symbol of progress, etc. and starts to inflate the ego. I’ve seen it over and over. When a student who isn’t ready to advance past Primary series begins Intermediate, the ego becomes inflated without any corresponding growth of humility.

To be sure, the same can be said of students who are learning any of the series, but are taught more asanas than appropriate. Very often, a student has trouble with one of the poses in the marichasana section of Primary or gets stuck at kapotasana or karandavasana in Intermediate. It is so important to be patient and stay at asanas that we can’t do. Teachers that pile on the asanas for whatever reason are ultimately doing that student a disservice.

There is so much to be learned from taking one’s time when asanas are difficult. One of the great gifts of yoga practice is the development of the virtues of patience, humility, non-attachment and faith. Along with these is the all-important element of trusting the yoga teacher and believing that he/she knows what he/she is doing and has the student’s best interest in mind.

If a student is advanced too quickly, particularly if he or she isn’t ready to tackle more advanced asanas, the opportunity for developing the virtues above is missed. In the worst case, over time, if these virtues have been ignored, practice devolves into another form of consumption in which the asanas are like any other thing to be acquired and possessed. The problem, however, is that doing more asanas can never be a real or satisfying substitute for developing patience, humility, non-attachment and faith.

The ashtanga yoga system is organized so that each asana grows out of the asana before it and prepares one for what follows. The system has an internal logic and beauty of intelligence that becomes clear when practiced diligently and faithfully. When a student has been advanced prematurely, practice slowly falls apart asana by asana after the point in which he/she should have been stopped. I have too often watched students practices unravel from the moment he/she started doing poses “over the line”. Breath and bandhas disappear and become non-existent. The student is no longer practicing yoga. It’s a shame and it’s not the student’s fault.

I have heard teachers defend advancing students prematurely saying that the asanas of Intermediate Series, particularly the backbends at the beginning, help “open” a student so he/she can stand up from urdhva dhanurasana. It’s been my experience that it never works that way. Being able to stand from urdhva dhanurasana and do drop-backs is what signifies that a student is strong enough and open enough to begin Intermediate Series and not the other way around. One of the great challenges of Ashtanga Yoga is to complete one’s asanas and then have to buckle down and do the backbending section. Students taught prematurely are never able to stand up and do drop backs. I’ve never seen it happen. Not once.

I also speak from personal experience as a student. I was once held at a particular asana by Guruji and Sharath for three years. That’s a long time to simmer in one place. I could have been impatient. I could have complained as I watched others advancing. I could have sought out teachers who would advance me quicker, but I didn’t. I trusted my teachers. I also believed I was something to be learned from persevering and allowing the process to unfold slowly.

I’ve had students quit or go to other teachers because I wouldn’t let them go farther than they wanted or thought they should be going. My attitude has always been, “if you can’t handle not doing it, you can’t handle doing it.” Whether they quit or seek a more accommodating teacher is neither my business nor concern. It’s their karma and I am just trying to teach the same way I learned from Guruji and Sharath. So, when students get impatient after a month or two, I simply smile and tell them it’ll be ok and I’ll let them know when they’re ready to move on.

Now these guidelines are not a huge secret or mystery. Anyone, teacher’s included, that’s spent time in Mysore has seen that nobody is taught Intermediate Series asanas unless he/she can meet the above-mentioned requirements.

This begs the question of why are students being taught prematurely by some teachers? That’s a subject for another time though I may not voluntarily venture into that quagmire. It’s always risky and presumptuous to guess others’ motivations.

About Paul Gold

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.

republished with permission

Videos: Sharath Jois in Conference

Videos from Sharath's 2009 world tour visit to Toronto.  Thank you to Paul and Rachelle Gold of the Ashtanga Yoga Shala Toronto for posting these.

republished with permission