Wondering if perhaps Ashtanga isn't the best practice for you anymore?

I woke up to a link to David Garrigues Winter 2011 Newsletter this morning. I was directed to the letter at the end of the Newsletter. My Highlighting. Thanks S. for the heads up.


Ask David A Question
Lastly, I would like to share a question I received through the Asana Kitchen and my response.
Hello,
I have a question. I have been practicing for at least 5 years, Ashtanga, visited Mysore twice, and now in second series, Pincha Mayurasana. Both times that I had been to India, I got quite sick with anemia. I am very Vata, and I believe the practice just exhausts me. Sharath believes always I can do more, but I know inside it's just my 'wind' pushing me through but my mind is battling. Exhausted. It's a hard place to be. I love Ashtanga, and it saddens me to think maybe it really isn't the best practice for me anymore? Even now when I do the second series, I spend most of my day feeling anger, blocked, and ironically out of my centre. My creative and easy going nature is hard to reach. I understand the idea of facing and working through such emotions. I do my best. But it's been quite a constant for the past year or more. These feelings don't change much.
Have you had any stories or experiences similar come your way?
I hope not to bore you with my mundane question.
Here is my response.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi,
Thank you for writing. Your question is very important and far from mundane. If I could work with you, see you practice get to know you a bit, it would be much easier to give you a helpful answer. Trying other styles is certainly an option, and you have to ask your self if that is really what you want to do. If you do want to do that, then there you have it. It might be important to check out what else is out there before you really decide that Ashtanga is best for you. But maybe you honestly do want to do Ashtanga and for whatever reason you are running into a major road block that is seeming to last too long. And you'd like to work through it, but it's really challenging you. In that case I would consider that it might be more how you are thinking about and approaching your practice that is at the root of what is tiring and frustrating you. Remember that really the practice is there to serve you--and you have more freedom than you might be allowing your self to change it up and tweak things so that it continues to feed and nourish you. You can mix things up and do more primary or part of primary and part of intermediate. You can lighten things up when you feel the need by practicing shorter or skipping some asana's on some days, or spending more time with finishing postures. Your practice needs to be soulful and to come from a place of genuine inner agreement--where you agree with what you are doing and how you are doing it each day. Are you practicing alone or with a teacher? If alone then it can be challenging not to get frustrated because of not having instruction or community, but also it is easier to mix things up too and do what feels right to you. If you have a daily teacher than you'll have to work with them so that you are aligned with what is happening in the class. If you were in my class I'd look at what you are doing and how you are doing it, and then make suggestions for doing some different things along the lines what I mentioned above. It can be tricky to mix things and still continue to respect the guidelines of the lineage.
But it is essential to do especially when the alternative is to discontinue your practice. It helps me to remember that true ashtanga as taught by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois is a living, creative lineage. And therefore the application of the method ought not to be rigid nor dogmatically fixed. One size doesn't fit all, we are all unique and specific and thus have differing requirements that necessitate different sorts of interpretations of the practice. And this goes in cycles; sometimes we are able to flow along precisely in step with the vinyasa protocol and at other times we have to practice in slower or more theraputic modes or in other ways that are possibly not quite what ashtanga allegedly is supposed to be or look like. For me the thread that always keeps it all connected is my lasting, genuine love and devotion to ashtanga. In order for the lineage to evolve, grow and thrive each one of us must ever create the lineage anew through our 'research', our personal relationship to the struggles and triumphs of our daily practices.
Ashtanga is such a treasure, such a powerful practice, I'd hate to see you leave it when you've come so far (almost through the intermediate!). Maybe you can soften, listen within for more inner cues on how you need to practice just now. And one more thing is I'd really look at your breathing too, if your breathing is not balanced, either too much force or not enough power, then your energy will get disrupted. This is true especially with the passage of time and can become a road block to developing your intermediate practice.
Hope some of this helps and drop me line let me know how you are doing.
All the Best
Om Namah Shivaya!
Hari Om,
David

Here's the link to the full Newsletter
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As it happens I wrote a post on Primary last night but the Mac froze and I lost it, dodgy wifi connection. It was about practising just Primary, that same sequence day in day out and how appealing that was to me right now. Not 2nd or Advanced, no additional postures (other than drop backs) but just that same series everyday and not writing about it or any of it anymore (says me writing about it), just the practice.

Cave yogi.

You could do it with any set sequence of course, you could do it with 2nd series but I've never felt the effect to be the same, the postures never seem to flow into each other as they do in Primary, 2nd seems more like a series of courses.

Perhaps sometimes you need to run ahead a bit before you realise what was right in front of you, Primary is the Advanced series.

Of course I'd still keep my Vinyasa Krama practice but that's become a couple of short subroutines before settling into Pranayama and meditation, I hardly think of it as a separate asana practice anymore.

Not suggesting here that this is the right way to approach the practice, it's just one of many of course.

'...each one of us must ever create the lineage anew through our 'research', our personal relationship to the struggles and triumphs of our daily practices'.

LATER
Nor am I talking about not seeking to progress or explore new postures . I really do believe that you should add new postures whenever you feel ready, start 2nd when you feel ready....even if your not sure your ready. Once you've practiced for a number of months (I'd say at least six), have most of Primary under your belt and are practicing pretty much most days you have a better understanding of your body than anyone else. An asana teacher, books, the community, discuss it with them but in the end it's up to you, it's your practice, always your practice.

Exploring new postures, taking on new challenges is another way to practice and besides it might turn out the 2nd or 3rd is your series, the one you'll want to practice everyday just as I've gone back to Primary and started to think that this is the series I want to practice every day.

And there are many ways to practice Primary, there is no right way though perhaps a few wrong ones. Full vinyasa might be for you, if I had more time it probably would be for me, I have a soft spot for it.

It might be Primary up to Kapo (am considering it) or half primary/half 2nd.

Your primary might be how it was taught in the 70's, 80's, 90's or how it's taught currently in Mysore. For me it's with the chin down in most postures rather than bothering that much with drishti. I also like to jump in and out of postures but that's me, it's how I've become familiar with the practice, it's my Primary.