Just about to start my practice, this will make two weeks of following along with Sharath, either the captured live stream, his CD or DVD. It's been fun and a good way to get back into straight Ashtanga but I'm starting to count the cost.M. exclaimed last night that I look more.... muscly, I hadn't noticed but I suppose so, all those jump backs and through I guess (tend to do less in my VK practice). What I have noticed is a loss of flexibility, these five (quick) breath stays in postures are not the same as the long long stays in Paschimottanasana, badha konasana, mahamudra etc. that I was used to in Vinyasa Krama.
Also, following just Primary as if I'm in Mysore for a month, I feel my backbends slipping away, wonder if I can still do a half decent Kapo. I pause Sharath after urdhva dhanurasana so I can do dropbacks, the first week I just did three and pressed play again, last couple of days I've been doing five to ten just to open my back a little more.
In fact I'm hitting the pause button more and more, at paschimottanasana to do the four hand variations instead of Sharath's two or three and longer slower breaths. At badha konasana, Sarvangasana at Sirsasna, longer stays, longer, slower inhalations and exhalation.
The Led is not ideal.
I'm thinking of making my own led cd/audio file, just for my own use, a slower count and/or perhaps one with an eight breath count. I think CK told me once that the first edition of Lino's book had an eight count. Plus I've been getting into the Sanskrit count, practicing that, would be fun to do.
Can't decide whether to switch off the cd/dvd altogether and go it alone, at my own pace or stick it out for the month, probably the latter as if nothing else it's an interesting experiment and it is tightening up my practice.
Thank god for end of practice pranayama, so greedy for it at the moment, a chance to really wallow in the breath.
... and my evening Vinyasa krama practice, switched from working through the book, to working maha mudra, Paschinmottanasana, Badha konasana/kandapindasana, crave them.
All you with a 2nd series practice who go to Mysore for a month, how does it affect your 2nd, I imagine it comes back soon enough. God, wonder if I can still lift my Karandavasana.
5:59 Sharath's about to start the chant, little later this morning as I have a day off, something or other going on in London, we're off to Southall, going to buy me the longest Bansuri flute I can find.
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So being muscular is good or bad for you?
In any case, I personally think it's better to slow down. During practice today, I consciously SLOWED down. I used to speed through but I think I'm more stable not speeding....
Kind of bad really Cory, I tend to bulk up quite a lot, especially my lats which doesn't help the binds. I'd rather be stringy and sinewy but I don't seem to be built that way. It's the reason I'd skip half the arm balances in 3rd and gave up on all the fancy handstands I used to do, fun but they don't do me any favours. Probably good to look after the wrists too.
Slow is good, just a case of finding the best pace, Ashtanga, its all compromises. You compromise the wide range of postures and accessing different parts of your body for a practice that stays the same everyday. you compromise the length and number of breaths to keep pace and heat up....
Yes, I agree with you I would not want to do led every day, in Mysore it is only twice a week, and someone like you once he gets to know you would probably do led intermediate on Saturdays -although I could be wrong-.... the other four days it is good ole mysore style and I just like you stay long, very long in paschimotanasana, and take my time to breathe deeply in each sequence, sometimes counting even 7 or 8 as in kurmasana for example, where I need work...
Not everyone does only primary for their first month in Mysore. I know several people who were given the first few poses of Intermediate during their first visit.
Wouldn't mind the idea of doing Just Primary for a month in Mysore, enjoying it. Was just wondered if it's hard getting back into 2nd once you come back.
Bought flute : )
I don't do 2nd yet but I do find backbends to be a pain without at least Dhanurasana and Bridge to prepare my back a bit. Since I'm home alone, there's nobody here to complain about it, fortunately. So I can imagine if people had to go back to only and purely Primary from regularly practicing 2nd, they would feel it. Somehow the updogs aren't enough of a prep, though maybe I'm just not doing them correctly.
If you were to make a slower led Primary, would you consider sharing it?
I was thinking when I first read that you were planning to practice with Sharath's led stream that doing led every day is not really the idea...as far as I was taught, led classes are not really your practice, they are seen by many senior practitioners as an "austerity" to learn the correct vinyasa (I was told this by a certified teacher when I complained - as a beginner - that I struggled with led classes). As Claudia says led is twice a week in mysore, if you were attending a shala would be one a week or less, the idea being that you practice to your own count every other day. Taking a led class every day is not the traditional practice. Anyway it seems like you figured that out for yourself now :)
Hi Mel. Yeah, two discourses seem to be getting mixed up here. Sharath's led thing for a month is basically a way of tightening/cleaning up my practice, obviously I'm aware that nobody takes a led class everyday, here or in Mysore. But it's also a bit of an experiment, the Utopia/distopia idea is not that one is an ideal but rather something to which you can mirror and reflect upon aspects of your own practice. Interesting thing about utopias and distopias is that they tend to merge into each other. Here the led as utopian becomes distopian in the sense of a daily personal practice (Ok, forcing it a bit, but it's an interesting idea to play with).
The other discourse of course is the spending a month in Mysore where generally you seem to spend the first month on Primary, which I would find fine and something I'm doing now ( although in this case it's led where it wouldn't be in Mysore ). I'm just curious how people who do that find their Kapo's and Karanda's etc.
Sorry my fault - I wasn't actually confused, I have followed that you are talking about the 2 separate things, I suppose I just made my comment a bit "after the fact" and on the wrong post (i.e. I thought it when you first said you were planning to follow sharath's led count for a month). On the other thing, I can't speak from personal experience only to say that others I know of picked their 2nd series practice back up after time in Mysore, but of course some things take longer than others to get back to where you were with them. From what I hear also although it can happen that Sharath allows something other than primary in a first month it is very unusual. Anyway if you really want to tidy up and follow Sharath's count for a week why not just book up for when he's in London? ;)
Because Grimmly is allergic to flesh and blood Ashtanga teachers ;-)
Actually V I'd been thinking about it, though having spent the last two weeks following his led and another two weeks planned I'm not sure it's worth spending the cash....just to say I was there.
Just watched Caro Diario and been thinking about a couple of weeks in Rome with Lino.
To be honest, "just to be there" don't do it. You will go predisposed to not like it and come back saying it wasn't all that and then, what did you spend all that money for.
You like what you like and that's ok (as long as you stick to talking to what you have actually experienced ;-)
Funny about the lats, because the movements of Ashtanga are pretty lat-neutral. Lat-building movements are pulling movements -- pulling something down from overhead (like doing pull-ups) or pulling something toward the body (like a rowing movement). I guess pulling the leg toward the body in krounchasana would count... Ashtanga is all pushing movements -- arm balances, handstands -- which are pec builders.
Don't complain about big lats -- it's the equivalent of women complaining about being too slim. :-)
That said, practice makes my upper body out of proportion with my lower. I have to buy dresses to fit my upper back, and the waist/hips are always too large.
pakistaniashtangi , sorry I forgot to say, I'd try and make it available somehow or other if it works out and is accurate enough. Might try the Sury's and see how it comes out.
Oops, just realized I put my comment on the wrong post. Duh!
Is that right Karen, lat neutral, all those arm balances in 3rd too, good to know.
I wonder if it's because I'm always trying relax my shoulders, drop my shoulder blades down my back, in Jump back, utpluthi etc, throughout the practice really, thinking about it now it feels like i'm using my lats more than my shoulders. think Darshan says something about this in the comments to the next post. But this is/was your area, no, defer to you on this.
Pulling the shoulders down and back can start to engage the lats. That might be a culprit. Try to remember to always slouch and pull your shoulders up to your ears. (Kidding!) :-)
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