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Practice is... nice.
There you go that's probably all I need to say about it.
Practice is nice, I'm enjoying it, relishing it more like. It's always been good of course, never had trouble getting on the mat but I don't know if I would have used the word 'relish' before.
I'm relishing my practice, hmmmm.
Interesting things that have happened with it recently.
I gave up on Ashtanga for a week, possibly two, long time for an Ashtangi ( I was still practising Vinyasa Krama though). I'd decided that Ashtanga was no longer... relevant to me. Then after a couple of weeks, missed it so much that decided the practice was relevant it was just everything else surrounding it that wasn't.
Somewhere along the way I decided to ignore 3rd series altogether, so easy to end up defining yourself by the series, by your practice (obviously not suggesting everyone does this). I've practiced it as Advanced A, most of Advanced B too for that matter, fun stuff, challenging but it just goes on and on, there's always another asana, so easy to get wrapped up in that, yoga madness. I still practice a lot of the postures from the Advanced series in my Vinyasa Krama practice but they come up in a context that takes some of the drama away, an advanced posture is just an extension of another posture, no big deal that way. It works for me, each to their own.
So just Primary and 2nd series in my Ashtanga practice to play with.
And along comes Richard Freeman on the Ashtanga Yoga Confluence. I'd practiced a couple of days with Nancy's workshop video, loved that but then practiced with Richard and it was a revelation, a savouring of asana in a way I was familiar with in Vinyasa Krama but in an Ashtanga context. Ahhhhhhh ( as Richard would say).
So I transcribed his workshop, fished out his old DVD's that I'd buried away a few years back because they hadn't worked for me then and have been practicing with them in mind ever since, almost a month now.
I should write about how the asana make a different kind of sense how all that instruction of his starts to filter into the background and that there's a quietness despite all these subconscious cue's going on.
It's most pleasant.
I like his writing how he doesn't try to push his ideas about practice and tell you what it is and isn't about, encourages you to question and question again and yet at the same time offers you a banquet of ideas surrounding practice (and served as a buffet ).
Best of all thought I love that's it's Richard Freeman's Ashtanga. There's no question of whether and to what extent it's original, official, authorised, sanctified Ashtanga it's just how Richard approaches his practice, how he brings together different threads and how he encourages you to develop your own practice.
Quite wonderful actually.
Of course Richard was taught by Sri K. Patthabhi Jois himself and for a long time and certified by him but I have the feeling that it was always Richards approach to Ashtanga.
I'm enjoying bringing some of that approach to my Vinyasa Krama practice too, playing with it.
As I said, relishing practice.
That will have to do, doesn't really capture what I wanted to write about but the mat's calling so will have to do.
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Has anyone in the UK done his month long teaching intensive in Boulder?
Highly recommend Richard Freeman's website http://yogaworkshop.com/
Have a listen to some of his studio talks perhaps. http://yogaworkshop.com/studio-talks
Some of the 'Ask the experts" blog posts http://yogaworkshop.com/ask-the-experts-is-yoga-dangerous/
See my earlier post http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/richard-freemans-yoga-workshop-boulder.html
and on his back bending workshop at the Confluence. http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/richard-freeman-ayc-backbending.html
UPDATE
Just vacated the home shala to be met by M. with a fresh glass of orange juice who then preceded to stumble sleepily into the shala and roll out her mat. Sounds of ujayii coming from behind me as I type
: )
Posts
Ahhh, yes indeed "relishing", a very RF kind of word... and M practicing, sounds like life is great! :-)
ReplyDeleteMy goal is to get to Boulder for the teacher immersion in 2013. He also does a five day in March so I would like to go to that too. I am going to a three day workshop in Ohio with him in November.
ReplyDeleteI am doing the practice to his tapes too. He does interlace his knowledge of yoga and philosphy in an interesting manner. He is also light and very humorous in person. He gives one hell of a dharma talk.
yogagodess
Grimmly, thanks to your continued research & insight on this blog I'm heading down to Big Sur in May to study with Srivatsa Ramaswami! Can't wait! Also, this line of yours really sticks with me, and is precisely why I have decided to study Vinyasa Krama now: "I still practice a lot of the postures from the Advanced series in my Vinyasa Krama practice but they come up in a context that takes some of the drama away, an advanced posture is just an extension of another posture, no big deal that way." I have been pushing into ashtanga but when I practice vinyasa krama, the push seems to disappear and I find myself back in an original state of curiosity. This is what brought me into asana practice and I am going with it for the time being.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I feel like I need to pick a teacher and stick with him/her. First it was Integral Yoga with Swami Satchidananda - but, physically, it was too easy too soon. Then I switched to Ashtanga with David Swenson - but there wasn't enough on pranayama and meditation. Then it was back to Integral Yoga - again, not enough. Maybe yoga isn't the answer (or the question) I'm looking for - let's try CrossFit! Another miss - ego persuits don't quite satisfy like they used to (I'm getting too old to convince myself that one day I will be the best in the world). Back to yoga - Freeman, Sweeney, Jois, Krishnamacharya, Mohan, Ramaswami...
ReplyDeleteHow about this combination: Ashtanga asana, Integral pranayama, and Shambhala meditation. Each of them demanding more and more of my time for better returns. Returns? Liberation. Or was it union? Basic goodness?
Looks like I need to read Freeman's "The Mirror of Yoga" chapter on "Cutting Through Fundamentalism." Loaded with good quotes, but here is one:
"The view of yoga as a matrix allows us to return to the very begining of the practice again and again and again because we need not accumulate embellishments to our ego in the form of yoga practice." (pg. 201)
Yes, think I might be taking her through most if not all of Primary this morning, that'll be a first.
ReplyDeleteHi Joan. I've just booked a five day intensive in London with him end of August ( My first Workshop ever), post to come. Like the idea of his month immersion too and miss the mountains so might apply too 2013 or14.
Hi Anon. So happy your going to be studying with Ramaswami, I looked at the Big Sur course, should manage to get a start on that integrated practice aspect of his teaching, the asana/pranayama/meditation. Check out the meditation stand alone page at the top of my blog and have a go at learning the pranayama mantra perhaps, won't matter if you don't but will be nice to have that under your belt. Love your line 'I find myself back in an original state of curiosity'.
ReplyDelete'Sometimes I feel like I need to pick a teacher and stick with him/her'.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you already have Beaux, inner guru and all that. I think there's a lot of nonsense about sticking with the same guru/teacher. The idea as I understand it is that you would look for (or keep an eye out) and eventually find (if you were lucky) the 'right' teacher, who would then act as a facilitator to your own physical/mental/spiritual research/'growth'. You didn't just stick with the first one you came across, four members of the same family might end up with a different teacher/guru ( I remember Ramaswami saying that).
Mostly now we have asana teachers.
That said their are some senior teachers who have spent their adult lives exploring many areas of the practice in the context of the west, I find that interesting. Richard would be one of course which is one reason I find him so interesting.
Interesting to reread Ramaswami on experience with Krishnamacharya he studied asana with him of course but also pranayama, philosophy, literature chanting, everything, no wonder he stayed with him so long. Jois too learned in a similar way from Krishnamacharya (to an extent).
In the end I doubt it really matters what we practice as long as we do practice, explore different approaches to asana, to pranayama, to meditation ...eventually it'll settle into an approach of it's own that works for us and adapts to the different stages of our lives as will the reading and rereading of 'thought' provoking texts and acting 'well'.
Thanks for the pranayama mantra hint--I've never been taught proper pranayama, having practiced ashtanga. I'm reading now from your chanting post and listening to Ramaswami's mp3 from his vinyasa krama site. I'll let you know how the retreat goes. Enjoy your study with Richard! All best.
ReplyDelete