Dear Nancy.... head up/down, jalandhara bandha, 'guruji said...'

Another note from Nancy Gilgoff following on from the previous posts. Earlier we had discussed the head being up or down. It's down for example in Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda and Pattabhi Jois has his head down in the forward bends in Yoga Mala though Sharath has his head up looking at his toes, padhayoragrai. In Ramaswami, representing Krishnamacharya's later teaching, the head tends to be down in forward bends, (forehead to the knee as in Nancy's description below) in most asana in fact (In Ramaswami's teaching) the chin is tilted slightly down,  not full jalandhara bandha but perhaps a hint of it. However in Ramaswami's teaching  Ujayii breathing is employed and retention after the exhalation is often applied in asana thus the availability of jalansdhara (some postures it would be engaged more fully). Ujayii is also referred too in Yoga Makaranda.

That's the background to our conversation/email's see the posts below.

Dear Nancy the breath in 73
Nancy Gilgoff Article 'Yoga as it was'
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Hi Nancy, Can't thank you enough for your reply, really clears some things up for me. I think now that perhaps your right that it's a mistake to compare Ashtanga to Yoga Makaranda too much and yet it does make one wonder why they are so different and how we account for that. Perhaps the clue is in the 'breath follows movement', with such a flowing practice maybe it would be a mistake to include breath retention plus there's the need to keep the energy up so equal inhalation and exhalation and again the head up to maximise the inhalation all help to carry you through the practice. Guruji seems to be more of an innovator than I imagined.... or just, perhaps a VERY good teacher.
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aloha anthony....one more comment from me......guruji always taught me to go into and come out of the forward bends, with my head down so my forehead is the first thing that touches my leg....the neck is not straight unless it can slide out on the leg.....the dristi changes to nose if the head stays tucked. no jalandhara bandha does not mean the head is up. this is a misunderstanding of the method.  after the forehead touches the leg, the chin can slide out but always stays connected to the legs. this method develops uddiyana bandha very naturally.
there are MANY different yoga methods.....with different breathing methods. each has it's reason for being the way it is taught.....to achieve a particular state of being the methods will vary. some hold the breath, some use open mouthed, others closed mouth. same for eyes....guruji taught to keep them open....other practices keep them shut.   so how one is practiced depends on what the practice is meant to achieve. mixing them up, in my opinion, is what is causing the confusion amongst the yogis of today. so it is very good that you want to know the origins of this practice and what we are wanting to achieve through doing it.  guruji said he thought this method was the fastest to attain good health which helps us in the other aspects of practice (pranayama, meditation) and in our life. 
it is meant to heal the body so it is not a hindrance to advanced practices......n