3rd ..........also David Robson's Karandavasana

First 3rd series since January according to my practice diary though I'm sure I've practiced along with the Jois Advanced A DVD at least once since then, perhaps not ( flicking through the diary).

Hard, HARD practice, sweated a kilo and a half. Should have done it just after that month of Primary (May) when my fitness level was up, found I needed a breather break every couple of poses for the first half, vinyasa count all over the place.

Needs a lot of tidying up, not sure that's what David Swenson had in mind when he mentioned 'messy' recently ( see Patrick's post ). It'll tidy up though, upper body strength will come back soon enough.

Was happy that I managed to slip deeply into the leg behind head poses and backbends with the minimal prep. That's the toughest part of the Advanced series, your straight in, Primary you have that nice build up through the Janu's etc and 2nd series the Salabhasana's and Dhanurasana's before heading into Kapo territory but Advanced A, POW, Kaysapasana ( reclining LBH), 3rd posture. Advanced B it's even worse, Mula bhandasana, first posture, the Vrschikasana backbend comes next, then the extreme LBH posture, Buddhasana, POW, POW POW.

Enjoyed the second half though and then employed my new master plan. After the post-backbend paschimottanasana I got up, dried myself, changed, put down a fresh towel and moved on to finishing then straight in to pranayama, pratyahara and meditation.

Ashtanga has been frustrating me for a while. I've been wanting to practice pranayama etc. after practice but didn't want to sit on a sweaty mat in sweaty shorts. I tried changing and freshening up after the finishing sequence then settling down again but the mood had kind of gone somewhat, especially on a workday.

This is perfect, kind of like moving into a different room, for finishing, that feels fresher and lighter (AYL felt like that), making a nice transition into pranayama.

Primary, Intermediate, it's not like they've become easy but I guess I take them for granted a little. Third series has that 'tidy up your life effect' that I remember from when I first started Primary and then later 2nd series. It's a demanding practice, makes you want to eat better, make sure that everything that passes your lips has a practice-benefiting reason for doing so ( I'm writing that while awaiting a large bowl of Japanese curry/rice and considering popping out for some kirin ichiban beer, oh the hypocrisy, but tomorrow, tomorrow I'll tidy up my life ).

Thought I'd work on 4th as a series for a while seeing as I've been working on the postures individually or as subroutines in vinyasa krama, advanced postures are one thing, advanced postures in a series quite another, remember Leaping Lanker mentioning that in a blog post. So one day a week, Primary, 2nd and 3rd, rest of the week 4th, though I should probably tidy up my 3rd a bit first.

And of course, Vinyasa Krama in the evening for an hour, 15 minutes asana (rotating VK subroutines and sequences), 20 minutes pranayama, 5 minutes pratyahara and the last 20 for Japa mantra meditation.

Karandavasana
On FB we've been talking about David Robson's Karandavasana, hadn't really seen much of his practice till now. Personally I was interested in how he manages to straighten his arms back up ( mine remain squished ). I noticed how wide he has his hands, I've always done it with my arms a little closer, tips of thumbs touching. What I hadn't noticed, until it was pointed out to me was that he floats up to Pincha, FLOATS. I manage to hop up feet together but David just wafts gently up and he lowers and raises his lotus gently too. It made me think of how great saxophone players can play really loud, cut through big band brass sections when they need to and yet still seem as if they are playing soft and smooth, David's Karanda is like that. Here it is.



I just tried it of course, thought I managed to float it a little until I watched the video back, nope not really. The wider arm felt promising too, a little strange as I'm not use to it (almost went right over) but feels like it might make a difference, ignore the exit, can flip out when I want to but more interested at the moment in working at straightening the arms.

Just before the video I tried it like David on the hardwood floor, that HURTS, he must have adamantine elbows.