Sayanasana , Yoga journal shoot

Intermediate wasn't great today. I decided to go with the paper in bed with the tea and biscuits first and practice in the afternoon rather than the other way around. Changing routine is always a bad idea. Stumbled through the practice, it was OK but a big ragged towards the end. Was much more positive about it, kind of expecting some tough, scrappy 2Nd's now, but know that on a good day it comes together pretty well. It's progressing and I'm developing some flow. I had my rest day Thursday then two days of primary so perhaps a rough one today was to be expected, tomorrow will be better and Tuesdays my day off so I can really get my teeth into it. Some days you just have to roll with it

Highlight of the day yoga wise was coming across Boodiba's new Video's. Always loved the look of Sayanasana but hadn't seen anyone do it until this week. Just had to try it. Got the Yoga Journal shot which really made me question what really goes on in those Yoga Journal shoots....you'll see what I mean in the Video below.

So after four goes at it I think I managed 1/10 of a second. But I love it and why oh why is it in fourth. I'll practice 3rd seriously sometime but am never likely to do fourth so have no qualms about cherry picking the cool asana from the series, hell, SKPJ said it was only for Demo purpose anyway, free reign no(3RD too)? So Sayanasana is officially part of my home Intermediate practice, just after Karandavasana. Come to think of it the asana just before it in 4Th is Vrschikasana A, which is in my Swenson manual after Karandavasana anyway.

The Exit ( Chatwari ? ) Karandavasana , Viparita Salambhasana , Can't be done.

I keep coming up against 'The Exit', (i've heard it refered to as the Chatwari exit, is that right, why is it called that?) it's there in the seven deadlies (headstands) it's in Intermediate in Karandavasana and it's there in 3rd in Viparita Salbhasana. It's scary no? Take karandavasana, your up on your forearms and then somehow your supposed to launch yourself up and get your hands in place before your feet hit the ground. In Salambhasana it's even worse, your arms outstretched behind you palms facing up. How the heck are you expected to get your hand up in time, impossible!

I remember giving my father a PlayStation as a present one year. He only ever liked this one racing game, but he would struggle with every level. I remember him, frustrated, angry even, jaw clenching, grinding his teeth, saying 'it can't be done, there's a design fault somewhere, it's impossible'. He would say this at every level seemingly forgetting that he had said the same thing before mastering the previous level. Sound familiar?

Touching your toes-can't be done, Mariciyasana B - can't be done, Mari D - can't be done, Self binding in Supta Kurmasana - Can't be done, Chin to floor in Upavistha - can't be done, Coming up in Urdhava Danurasana - can't be done, Dropping back into UD - can't be done, Binding around BOTH knees in Pasasana - can't be done, Catching your heels in Kapotasana - can't be done, landing Bakasana B - can't be done, binding both legs in Dwi pada sirasana _-can't be done, dropping back and coming up in Supta Vajrasana WITHOUT an assist - can't be done, landing your lotus in Karandavasana - can't be done, coming back up again - can't be done, Rolling back up in Supta Urdhava pada Vajrasana without dropping the toe- can't be done, no really it can't be done, The Exit in Karandavasana and Viparita Salambhasana - can't be done....... can it?

I'd planned one of my assaults on 'The Exit', a two week intensive, nail it or break my toes trying type thing. Sometimes those help, and even if you don't manage it you get a little closer. As it happened while in Karandavasan this morning without really thinking about it, I just launched myself into it and there it was, pretty much. Now it can be more refined of course, perhaps a softer landing but there it was , just like that. Probably if I'd started thinking about it it might have remained elusive, you can think about things too much.

Here it is in this morning's Karandavasana, which I was quite pleased with by the way. A softer landing of the lotus and I managed to come up with just a little chin to the mat rather than half my face squished into It. It's coming along.

Of course I had to try it with Salabhasana too and there it was again. I'm not really sure what I'm doing, it feels like I'm flipping the legs back, kind of like cracking a whip, bringing my chest up at the same time, the momentum allowing me to get my hands up in time. very strange.

Not much of an analysis i'm afraid, still not really sure how it happened and though I'm happy about it I was kind of looking forward to the two week intensive, getting a little closer day by day, some encouraging comments etc. Never mind, bound to be something else and something else......

Making friends with Intermediate series

So it appears Intermediate series and I are friends again. All it took was one great practice and all was forgiven. Everything went so right yesterday that I approached my practice in a much more positive frame of mind. I hadn't realized that my negativity towards the series was coming from an insecurity about the practice itself.

I think my Kapo hadn't been going too well. I hadn't been coming up, not getting in as deep and there's a lot of build up to Kapo that feels all for nothing if the Kapo itself doesn't work out. Yes, I know I shouldn't be thinking about them as just preps for Kapo, but when you feeling negative.... Karanda had been a bit hit and miss too, as was Mayurasana and Nakrasana, and I still couldn't hold on to my toe in SUPV, the seven deadlies have always felt a waste of time. What are they for? Would rather do one long headstand.

But yesterdays practice changed all that. Everything had gone so well ( see yesterdays post) that I knew I hadn't lost any asana and was still progressing in them, rather than slipping backwards. Almost ran onto my mat this morning. Interestingly though, despite the negative feelings towards Intermediate and dragging my heels to practice, I never missed a day, always managed to get on the mat..... eventually. Just had to force myself not to think any further ahead than the Sury's

This morning I woke up at 5am, couldn't get back to sleep so started my practice at 5:30 ( I usually practice 6:45 -8.00). Nice practicing earlier, felt like I had all the time in the world. As it happens I really sailed through, everything went well except coming up from Kapo but I'd come up so smoothly the day before that I was cool about it, Cest la vie.

I was much less tired too, managed to stick to the count and the breath pretty much all the way through except for a moments rest before Kapo and Karandavasana. At the end I felt refreshed again same as yesterday. Is it really all mental, I mean that's how I feel after my Primary, even though my mat is soaked with sweat I still feel refreshed, but the last couple of weeks on Intermediate I've had to drag myself through the last third of the series, Interesting.

Finished and went through the Vinyasa Krama meditation sequence and then threw something on and did half an hour Vipassana (still can't be bothered with more than a minute or two Savasana, would rather do a seated meditation,). So perfect mornings practice, tempted to set the alarm for 5am tomorrow, let's hope this lasts.

Really nice practice this morning

I've been finding hard to get on the mat for the last week or two and haven't really been enjoying my yoga. Blamed it on Intermediate, I'd been having fun with the Vinyasa Krama and enjoying my exploration of 3rd and never had the same enthusiasm for Intermediate as I had for Primary.

Today's practice was wonderful though, everything seemed to go well. Being my day off I didn't feel like I had time hanging over me and could really take my time with the Sury's and Standing. I noticed my press to handstand was improving and seem to have the angle right at last, where I lean my shoulders a little forward of my hands to lift up. I managed to get really deep in Prasarita Padottanasana B, head to floor, and spent a lot of time on the Utthita hasasta Padangushasana ( UHP) sequence.

I've taken to putting my foot up on the mantelpiece in UHP to get a good stretch, as if I was getting an assist. If I have time I'll put first one block and then two on top of the mantelpiece then I'll do it again freestanding as usual. If I have the time to do this then I find so much else easier, the LBH asanas for example. You can tell right away that it's helping from how much more comfortable Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana feels, you just know your going to get a good lotus in Karandavasana.

Kapotasana has been a bit lame lately but today was perhaps my best ever, dropping back nice and slowly, reaching my heels and coming up very smoothly. I'd thought that perhaps I was losing this and that might be one of the reasons I haven't been enjoying 2nd lately. I think the improvement might be due to the Salambhasana work from 3rd I've been doing this week.

Nice Bakasana landing and managed my unassisted Supta vajrasana five times, until now I've only been able to manage three.

Karandavasana too was perhaps my best yet Every day I seem to have more control lowering but today I managed to come up without squishing my face into the mat. I still had to put my chin down but quite lightly. I also got the 'Chatwari' exit for the first time which surprised me as I thought it was something I would have to do a big two week intensive on. Getting that made me want to try exiting from Salabhasna too and I managed that OK and even had a little sniff at Ganda Bherundasana.

Ganda B is interesting, I just took my legs further over and let gravity do it's thing, bouncing my toes off the wall to make sure I wasn't going to fall all the way over and snap myself in two. I didn't go that deeply into it at all (see the video on yesterdsay's post) but I could really feel something happening, like my back opening up more, kind of like the feeling I got when I first dropped back into Kapo except this felt a much softer, more gentle opening. This then made a big difference to my UD and my drop backs which were again, very deep and yet comfortable.

I slipped in a quick nod to all of seated from primary going from one asana to the next without taking any vinyasa and only a breath or two in each one, plan being to really open my hips up for the Intermediate leg behind head poses. These too went well, nice and deep and I added on Kayapasana, Skandasana and Durvasana from 3rd. Even tried Viranchyasana A but that was going too far, could get into it but my leg kept popping out from behind my head when I tried to lift up.

Managed to roll into Viranchiyasana B though , which was a nice surprise as I'd been a little cautious about trying those ankle rolls. Kind of feels like serious Yogi stuff. One of those things I thought might not be possible for mere mortals, does this mean that Mula Bandhasana might be possible too one day?

I was joking in my last post about those asana that we don't think we'll ever be able to do but there were a couple of things that I really did think were going to be beyond me. Kapo was one, never thought I'd be able to get that deep a back bend. Dwi pada Sirasana and the leg behind head poses are another, and the ankle rolls are the third, just didn't think my ankles and knees would do that kind of thing. Perhaps the Splits is a forth, but starting to think that that too must be possible as I'm making some progress from practicing Hanumanasana at the end of Parasarita Padottanasana. Quite amazing what our bodies will do.

Best of all there was a nice flow to the practice. I was able to focus on the breath throughout much more than usual, with Intermediate, and a nice focus on bandhas too. After backbends I did the long Paschimottanasana sequence from Vinyasa Krama and went into an extended finishing and some Pranayama. The whole practice took just over two hours and yet I felt refreshed rather than completely exhausted, which is how I feel after a one hour rushed Intermediate. Perhaps I should get up earlier.

Long post today but it was one of those practices that I wanted to remember and want to be able to come back to the next time I go through a week or two of not enjoying my practice so much.

Oh, might be going away for a few days next month. Hoping to be able to get up early and practice on a beach, that will be a first for me. Another first is that I might be staying in a Yurt. Oh God, how New age is that, a Yurt for heaven sake.

Video review : Ashtanga Yoga Encinitas California 3rd and part of 4th Series

From the cover

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois conducted an Ashtanga Yoga Workshop in Encinitas, California. During this workshop he instructed his advanced students in the 3rd and part of the 4th series. This DVD includes early footage of Guruji instructing many of today's top teachers, Richard Freeman, Chuck Miller, Maty Ezraty and Tim Miller, asanas of the advanced series.

They're calling this a workshop on the cover although I would hesitate to call it that. One might call it a Demonstration, and there are a group of people, sitting around the walls watching, but it really feels like a small led 3rd and part of 4th class. Sri K. Pattabhi Jois is calling out the asana and conducting the count and assisting more and more, as the class goes on.

I actually found it quite moving watching this so soon after Guruji's passing. This was filmed in 1989 making him, what, in his seventies? He's strong, fit, vital, with this big booming voice calling out the count. He shares a little joke here and there, the famous smile breaks out and there's a pat on the shoulder, the back , the hip when someone does well.

I was struck by the intimacy that seemed to grow as this long demanding series progressed, the physicality and demanding nature of the assists. There was a moment near the end of the finishing sequence where Guruji is sitting crossed legged beside Richard Freeman, knees almost touching leading his breathing. The camera zoomed in, the shot blurry at first but finally clearing to a close up and for a moment I swear I could see that intense young yogi that stares out at us from Yoga Mala.

The Ashtangi's credited on the DVD are Tim Miller, Chuck Miller, Matty Ezraty, Richard Freeman, the other two are thought to be Dominic Corigliano and John Norris. Most had been practicing Ashtanga for ten years or so and according to their websites below still seem to be practicing and teaching, what, twenty years later. They begin with Standing sequence and it's great to watch these experienced practitioners running through Standing in a real class environment rather than on a polished, and edited, video. They move into 3rd series after which there seems to be a moments pause before they move on to the first half of 4th series. Was 4th planned, I wondered.

They practice 4th series up until Tadasana and then moved on to the full Mysore back bend sequence, drop backs, tic tocks, Guruji moving from one to the other to assist them through the sequence that included Setu and Chakra bandhasana. Quite something to see this, not so tall, septuagenarian flipping the 6ft odd Tim Miller back and forth. They move on to the full finishing sequence and the video ends following the moment I've described above of Guruji leading Richard Freeman through a little pranayama just previous to UtPluthih.

Should you buy this DVD? Perhaps your still learning Primary and can't imagine moving on to Intermediate let alone 3rd. Why buy this if your never going to practice this series?

Well, buy it because it a presents senior practitioners struggling with an advanced series. If you've seen any of the top teacher DVD's, then don't they seem effortless, thanks I'm sure to a lot of editing. Here everyone is hot, sweaty, occasionally falling out of asanas as well as needing to be helped into them. They're struggling at times to stay on breath and hold a pose for Guruji's count. They are just like us in fact when we're struggling through the second half of our own Primary and/or Intermediate. Or buy it for the intensity of the practice as revealed in Chuck Miller's drishti or to see the subtle differences in everyone's asana's and transitions.

I bought it because here was a chance to experience Sri K. Pattabhi Jois teaching and assisting in a small intimate setting, something I'll sadly no longer have the chance of experiencing.

If I was serious about my practice before watching this DVD, and I thought that I was, I feel even more so now. Watching it seemed to confirm something I had suspected, that the Practice is about the practice. Not about anything else surrounding it, the politics, perfecting asanas, or even about the Student/Teacher relationship. Although there appears to be an intimate relationship in this class, Guruji came across, to me at least, as a facilitator rather than a teacher, here's this gift of a practice, this is how you can practice it...... now you practice it and see where it takes you.

I should say that the picture quality and camera work isn't great but somehow that all adds to the intimacy of the thing.

Here's a taster from youtube.

I found my copy on Amazon

There are some screenshots from the DVD on my previous post

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.com/2009/07/skpj-ashtanga-encinitas-dvd-3rd-series.html

While we're on the subject, does anyone know if the DVD is available, and if and where it can be purchased, of SKPJ leading a small intermediate class seen here on YouTube ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsiUzRct_gQ

Where are they now

Tim Miller,

http://www.ashtangayogacenter.com/

Chuck Miller, Matty Ezraty,

http://www.chuckandmaty.com/bios.htm

Richard Freeman,

http://www.yogaworkshop.com/

Dominic Corigliano

http://aumboy.com/dominic

John Norris

Can't find anything on what he's doing now, anyone know?

SKPJ Ashtanga, Encinitas, DVD 3RD series + first Salabhasana

DVD's are of course, great tools for learning and remembering a series. They pay for themselves by being a led class in your own living room that you can retake as often as you like. But they're also excellent for comparing your own asana with those being performed on the DVD, especially useful for the self taught, home Ashtangi.

All you need is a video camera and a nifty little video player program like VLC, which you can download free online. Open the DVD and your own movies using VLC and under the video tab click snapshots on the asana you want to compare.

I've been doing that this evening with the new Encinitas 3rd series DVD and what I like about this DVD is that their practice isn't as polished as the usual 'perfect' (ly edited) DVD's you tend to see. Swenson's DVD's, for example, are excellent, but can be disheartening, he's just too good. As are Freeman's, although there's a great moment in his Intermediate where his hand flaps around trying to reach his foot in Kapo. Kino's too are flawless.

So here's a comparison of some shots from my Tuesday exploration of 3rd alongside snapshots from the Encinitas DVD. There's a few asana here that I think aren't so bad, but others, most in fact, that show I've still got a long way to go before I seriously consider practicing this series.

Arms need to be straighter in Galavasana above.

Obviously still too bent over, leg needs to be further over the shoulder rather than the neck.

Not far of Maty's Bhairavasana here but a way to go before I can look up like Chuck.

Had been happy with Urdhava kukkutasana but need to be much tighter into my armpits.

Astavakrasana I'm quite happy with and Chakorasana below too, though still struggling with the left side.

If I was in any doubt about my readiness for 3rd then my attempt at Viparita Salabhasana would have put me straight. I'd been approaching this asana via Pincha Mayurasana and the wall, managing to get into it pretty much OK . Seeing Boodiba's Videos of this Asana last week made me think it was doable and I attempted it filled with confidence that I would just walk my feet in and hop up into position....... didn't work out that way. This is one of those videos you take that are good for dealing with hubris.

Anyway Tuesdays explorations into 3rd are on hold for a couple of months while I throw myself into my intermediate love-in and try my damndest to fall for 2nd.

Thanks to Boodiba's blanket tip in the comments section I managed to get up after all, Thanks L. Got my hands wrong the first time, second one is with my palms up.

Ashtanga Yoga, Encinitas DVD arrived + Chuck Miller London Workshop

Sri K. Pattabbi Jois, Ashtanga Yoga, Encinitas, California DVD 3RD and part of 4th series

Arrived yesterday. Half watched it/skimmed through it last night. Review to come once I've watched it properly, I'll probably update this post and re post it but just wanted to say two words

CHUCK MILLER

I've heard his name mentioned before of course, though it seems to be Tim Miller who gets all the press. It's quite something watching him practice, so intense it's scary, reminds me a bit of some of the pictures I've seen of Rolf and of course those early pictures of SKPJ himself, inspiring stuff. Next time your having trouble getting on the mat ask yourself, what would chuck do? Worked for me this morning.

Reason I wanted to mention this right away is that he and Maty Ezraty are coming to London this month to run a workshop at Triyoga. I think they're looking at arm balances too. Here's the link.

http://www.triyoga.co.uk/story.php?titleid=1408

And here's a clip of the DVD from youtube Chuck is at the far end with the beard and Maty is opposite