The day after he died, I went for an ashtanga class. I thought about Guruji as he was fondly known as by all his ashtanga students all over the world ( with numerous great teachers like David Life, David Swenson etc and famous stars like Madonna, Sting ). Although I am not a avid practitioner of Ashtanga, my occasional practice has brought me much benefits and much respect about the founder.

Doing the poses are one thing but it’s another whole level, when you need to watch your breath as well as remember the sequence as well. It’s training for the mind as well. You are also encouraged to practice each pose diligently until you can do the pose before moving on to the next one.

It is a great lost to the yoga community. Guruji has left behind a legacy that everyone will remember forever. Some of guruji’s quotes :

“Do your practice and all is coming.”

“Ashtanga yoga is 99 percent practice, one percent theory.”

“Yoga is possible for anybody who really wants it. Yoga is universal.
Yoga is not mine. But don’t approach yoga with a business mind -
looking for worldly gain. If you want to be near God, turn your mind
toward God, and practice yoga. As the scriptures say “without yoga
practice, how can knowledge give you moksha [liberation]?”

Namaste~

I am always in awe of Ashtanga practitioners. It takes such dedication and discipline to be able to practice every single day ( except on full moon days ) on your own early in the morning if possible. And to remember all the poses in the series? Wow… I cannot even remember past the 2nd pose after the sun salutations. Yeah, I am that forgetful. So it just shows that I need to go for more ashtanga classes to train the mind. Maybe even Mysore so that I get to train my brain.

Another great thing about ashtanga is that I always feel energized and alert after the practice. Maybe it’s because of the twisting and breathing that you try to maintain throughout the practice. And I am happy to report that my jump throughs are finally happening consistently.

So ok, it may not be the slow-mo type of lift off and then slowly gliding through… but it was still a smooth (swift) glide through. Hmm… well, using a trick anyway. I believe everyone’s body is built slightly differently and well, I have short arms and jump throughs are really quite hard for me. Just imagine someone with very short arms and then a bigger body trying to jump through the tiny “doorway”. I guess unless you have super duper core strength to lift all of my hips, legs and body, I always get “jammed”. Now a trick will be to lift your palms and wrist as you jump through. This gives me additional height for me to move through with jam! yay!

I like how the teacher encouraged us when we cannot do a pose.

He says “If you cannot do a pose and you see that your friend beside you can do, be happy for them. For they are our future and we are their past!” Now that’s inspiration!

~Namaste!

I realized that I have “deproved” in my mind when I am practicing nowadays… however being in Ashtanga class has brought the mind momentarily back in focus on the body. Celeste’s instructions in class is crisp and concise. She makes sure that you focus on the correct part of the body when you are in the pose. Like in Parvritta Trikonasana, she asked that we remember to “squeeze the genitals together”… hmmm… not the most gracious way to say… but hey, it gets you to focus on your pelvic and to engage your legs and to “hug” the legs towards each other. She also reminded us in the Seated series, to keep our hips level and both cheeks on the floor as possible. She also shared with us tips to help us get into each pose.

She also reminded us that during poses like Paschimattanasana, that to elongate our spine, we use our legs instead of using our upper body i.e. our hands and arms to pull ourselves forward. ( many teachers have reminded us of this fact – each putting it slightly differently but all meant the same thing at the end)

With all the vinyasas, it was pretty tiring at the end of the class. I definitely think Ashtanga is much more to my taste than Hot yoga… I went for a hot class last week, I found myself getting more irritated than feeling good and peaceful after the hot practice… Hot yoga is definitely not for me…

The sad thing is that the studio have more hot classes than Ashtanga…

OM~

Technorati Tags: Ashtanga, Hot yoga

Mysore…

What is Mysore?
Yes, if you look it up on the internet, it tells you that it is a place in south India. It is! In fact, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois has been teaching Ashtanga yoga in his Mysore school many moons ago ( well, starting in 1930s ) This Mysore style of Ashtanga yoga is the traditional way that Guruji has been teaching Ashtanga yoga.

What is the difference between Mysore and Ashtanga Led classes?
Mysore style Ashatanga classes are what I call self practice sessions. You go to the class and “do your ashtanga poses by yourself”… which means that you have to memorise the entire sequence of the ashtanga primary series ( you can probably sneak in a “cheatsheet” if your memory is no good )! Occasionally the teacher in the class, will head over to help you or to whisper to you what you can do to improve the pose. The entire class is done in silence.

Ashtanga Led classes are pretty much like normal yoga classes. The teacher will give you voice cue on what pose to do next. This is a good class for beginners who have no idea what Ashtanga yoga is.

My plan is to start going for 1 or 2 led classes first to refresh myself with Ashtanga and then try out Mysore…

By the way, did I mention that Mysore classes are usually done in early morning? the Mysore class in the studio starts at 6:30am… hmmmm….

OM~

Technorati Tags: Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, Ashtanga yoga, Mysore style Ashatanga classes, ashtanga primary series

This one is done in India! The source of yoga… this guy is doing ashtanga yoga. See how he floats…

PS. Did you see the monkey in the tree at the start of the video?

Technorati Tags: ashtanga yoga