Sanskrit Alphabet

Movie: Mysore Magic

http://www.mysoremagicfilm.com/

Video: Difficulties in practice - Kino MacGregor

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"!

Magnolia's Conference Notes: Obstacles in Yoga Practice

'Yogis should be honest.' Conference notes Nov 6, 2011 w/ Sharath Jois
By Magnolia Zuniga
Posted 11/8/11
Source blog.mysoresf.com

Every Sunday afternoon at 4pm (shala time) is conference with Sharath Jois. This is a time for him to talk about the practice, the philosophy, etc and answer questions from students. Conference on Nov 6th, 2011 Sharath spoke on the many obstacles that come along the path. I touch on just a few...  

Obstacles in Yoga practice...

On Doubt - The practice of Hatha Yoga is not easy and requires sacrifice of many things. Many people have doubt about the practice, the lineage. Instead of surrendering they want to argue. As life changes we have new doubts and new challenges. Guruji used to say 'Practice and all is coming' but if there is no practice how will doubt be cleared? 

In college we must prepare and study. To find answers we read books. But in yoga we practice to find answers. We can read Bhagavad Gita, and Hatha Yoga Pradipika but this is intellectual knowledge. We continue practicing Hatha Yoga to find better answers to the questions...

What is God?

What is yoga?

What is spirituality?

What is life?

On Carelessness - Our carelessness brings lots of problems and our minds get distracted. When we're careless we're not thinking properly. Students come to Mysore, do yoga one month and turns into a gym. If you come to surrender yourself to practice, the effect will be totally different. When you come to Mysore your aim should be to practice yoga. Then mind is clear and focused. Many times it happens students lose energy...

too much talking...losing energy...

too much talking...losing energy...at coconut stand...talking, talking.

On Confusion - Confusion kills yoga practice. Students learn tradition and someone tells them 'oh what they are teaching there is not correct, do this yoga, this is better yoga' then 6 months same thing, and they do another type yoga, then 6 months later another type yoga, and it's like this. Then they say 'Oh I did this yoga, and that yoga and this yoga.' They should also say they are confused. Yogis should be honest.

Question: 'Sharath, why if we're supposed to be relaxed in a posture do you push our limits?'

Answer: [Smiling] You're misunderstanding relaxation. Relaxation in a posture means that if I count it for 2 hours you can stay. You have to reach your limitations longer. You should steadily take to your posture. Bring stability then you can hold for long time.  

[laughing] I feel happy for you Guruji is not there. 

Magnolia started practicing various styles of yoga in 1991. She began practicing Mysore Ashtanga Yoga in 1997 with certified teacher Noah Williams and authorized teacher Kimberly Flynn. She first met and studied with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and Sharath Jois in 2004 on her first trip to India. Since then she has traveled and studied in Mysore 7 times and taught Mysore Ashtanga Yoga in Hong Kong, Tokyo, France and is currently running a traditional Mysore Ashtanga School 'Mysore SF' in San Francisco. She continues her studies with Sharath Jois in Mysore South India each year.

Magnolia received blessings to teach in 2007 and is now an authorized level 2 teacher.

For more information about Magnolia please visit her website www.magnoliashtanga.com

republished with permission

Reminds me of this:

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