Rediscovering Vinyasa Krama

For the last couple of weeks I've been working on practice notes for my Vinyasa Krama practice book project.

My approach has been to work through the sequence of the subroutine I'm working on and then really focus on the particular subroutine, following Ramaswami's instruction to the letter as much as possible.

The first week went OK with the On the feet sequence but this week I've been working on the Triangle sequence and finding that I needed to re shoot my earlier videos.

I noticed I'd been leaving out lots of little details and quite frankly rushing through the vinyasas/variations, probably because when I shot them originally I was filming the whole sequence and then editing out the different subroutines. This was a surprise as I'd been making a point about how much slower Vinyasa Krama was than Ashtanga, how much longer you tend to stay in a posture, how long and slow the breathing.

This morning I had to re shoot parsva konasana a posture that I've practiced almost everyday for five years. In Ashtanga we enter the posture on the breath, stay for five breaths and then exit on the breath. What's that around seven breaths, forteen for for both sides?

In Vinyasa Krama the full parsva konasana subroutine goes something like this.

Turn to the side ( from triangle) raise the arms above the head and stay for three breaths, enter and exit, a palms on mat version of Parsva Trikonasana, three times. On the third time stay for 3-6 breaths. Repeat on the other side. Now do the same but with the arms bound behind the back (holding the elbows) and then again with the hands in reverse prayer. Finally enter the first version, stay for three breaths and then raise the back leg and hold for 3 breaths repeat on the other side.

That's what, 50 breaths? I just checked the video running time and it's sixteen minutes and again, I could have focused a little more on slowing the breath further.

A quarter of an hour on one posture and it's variations.

Now this might not be for everyone, it took up a large chunk of my practice. In fact my practice this morning consisted of a short tadasana, a couple of triangle postures and then this full parsva konasana subroutine. Then I did a long paschimottanasana, shoulder stand and headstand, maha mudra and finally into lotus for pranayama and meditation. That one subroutine was the central focus of my practice.

And it was wonderful, spending all that time in the pose entering exiting, the long holds, the different vinyasas, you really get to explore the pose, savour it, work on improving steadiness and comfort, settle into the breath.

I've practiced like this before but too often drifted back into an Ashtanga Vinyasa Krama approach which right now strikes me as neither one or the other. Perhaps it was a mistake to try and practice Ashtanga as Vinyasa Karma it certainly seems that way when trying to practice Vinyasa Krama as Ashtanga.

And so I'm inclined, after this project is completed, to go back to a straight Ashtanga practice on Fridays ( lest face it, it's fine as it is) and then the rest of the week Vinyasa karma as Vinyasa Krama.