Ashtanga: Inspiration

Collaborative video project featuring authorized ashtanga teachers Magnolia Zuniga and Jessica Walden as well as Les Twins.

Sights and sounds

Tomorrow is our first day of classes at the KPJAYI. 

 In the background you can hear the same sounds that I heard this morning just outside my window.

Day 2 Delhi

The time where I had a tooth extracted and it was like this

Entering the eye of the storm

Sore shoulders from carrying baggage
The smells
I smell
We all smell
I've had to relieve my bladder for a long time but cannot leave this line
Airport security
We are all in a hurry, no need to push
Sitting
Sitting
Sitting
High fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated soybean oil and you can't really pack your own food and you don't want to pay more for more than 50 pounds in your checked bag and you don't want to lift any pounds into the overhead container.  There isn't one that is empty.
Is this really where we are sitting?  How did we not notice this?
We accept it.
We move.
We move again.
We accept it.
We move again.
Sleep sitting upright
Sleep leaning
Sleep curled up
Sleep with a baby
Sleep with conversations around you
And the right hotel with the wrong room
And a shower
And the jet lag
Yes, we have arrived

Live from India

Journey Across India from Mike Matas on Vimeo.

Petri Räisänen: "Practice Real Yoga from the beginning"

What is Ashtanga yoga, Mysore, and what can a beginner expect?

Led Class Etiquette

How to be the most polite of Ashtangis:

ARRIVING

Read our etiquette

1.  Know your practice space.  Go the yoga shale's website and find out how much class will cost and if you can pay by cash, card, or either.  Are there yoga mats available to borrow or should you bring your own?  Read any recommendations or etiquette notes and follow them.

2.  Leave refreshments at home or work, etc.  Asana is practiced on an empty stomach. There are some exceptions (such as pregnancy).  If you aren't sure, contact the shala and ask.

3.  Wear clean, comfortable clothing.

4.  Arrive early.  If class starts at 6:30am, be there at 6:15am.  This allows plenty of time to sign-in, pay, fill out forms, put away your belongings, use the restroom, set up your mat, etc.

IN THE ROOM

1. Introduce yourself to the teacher if you are new.

2. Always alert the teacher to any conditions.

3. Ask the teacher where to place your mat.

4. Be aware of where water is for Garba pindasana

5. Maintain silence.

DURING CLASS

1. Wait for the count.

2. If you are a Mysore student, stop at your last asana and wait for further instruction.

Video: Yoga Ruins Your Life

Yoga Ruins Your LIfe from Yoga Workshop on Vimeo.

Things to do this week

I was the guest teacher this weekend at the lovely Yoga Shala in Winter Park, Florida. We had some practice and some theory sessions and here are some resources to help you delve deeper into what was discussed.

Read the Yoga Sutras (free online)
Consider taking oil baths (here's how)
Where to find a KPJAYI authorized or certified teacher
What is parampara?
Led vs Mysore in a nutshell
Ashtanga yoga asana practice is more than bending
Practice daily
Essential classroom etiquette
Just rest on moon days
Learn the opening and closing chants
Practice daily (part 2)

Moon Day Tomorrow and Some Inspiration

The week in review: 

Albuquerque Ashtanga Yoga Shala resident teacher, Elise Espat, is teaching this week at The Yoga Shala in Winter Park, Florida.  More information and registration here.

PJ Heffernan is the current teacher in Albuquerque. PJ comes to us from Wisconsin where he teaches at his shala just west of Milwaukee in Waukesha.  Yes, that is the same guy from the documentary "Mysore Magic".  He'll be here through next week so be sure to get ye to practice. View schedule and register here.

Tomorrow is a moon day.  All classes are cancelled and do take rest from asana practice. 

Some moon day reading from around the web:

“Through practicing asanas, your mind should change.  That is the transformation that happens within you….Then you are a true Ashtanga practitioner, not just bending your body…Practice should not be just two hours, this practice must be for the whole day, whole life…Then there will be meaning to your practice.” 
- Sharath Jois, Krista Shirley's conference notes 

"Don’t hurry, this practice take time, the more you try to rush it, the more you will miss what it is actually about.... Everything has its own time."
- Saraswathi

"It is very important to understand yoga philosophy: without philosophy, practice is not good, and yoga practice is the starting place for yoga philosophy. Mixing both is actually the best."
- Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, "An Interview with K Pattabhi Jois: Practice Makes Perfect"

"Yoga teachers say: Practice once a week, and you’ll get sore. Practice three times a week, and you’ll get FIT. Practice every day and you will transform your life."
- The Purple Mat Blog

"[Mysore] provides the space to be learn directly and almost privately from a teacher, but within the context of a group environment. A student is introduced to the practice at the appropriate pace for them. Poses are taught in a way that is right for that specific body, with its own limitations and strengths. It’s a very individualized process, yet firmly rooted in a tradition and a community. Mysore offers the opportunity to be inspired by other practitioners, of all levels, without practice becoming a competition, since everyone is practicing the poses that were given to them, at their own pace."
- Frances Harjeet

"It was harder NOT to practice actually. I realized then that you could chop off my arm or leg and I would still practice. I don't do it because I should. I do it irrationally because I love it.
- PJ Heffernan


 

Yoga in a nutshell

Visualtraveling - India

Visualtraveling - 'Holy Cow' from Patrik Wallner on Vimeo.

How Yoga Asanas Change our daily life

Joey Miles is a KPJAYI authorized teacher, Ashtanga Yoga Leeds

Incredible India {Documentary}

Welcome to India

"Learning how to survive on an increasingly crowded planet is probably our ultimate challenge. But there is one place, home to over a sixth of the world's population, which is already making a good shot at adapting: welcome to India. This extraordinary observational series casts aside the usual preconceptions about the sub-continent, and lets a few of India's 1.2 billion show how their world really works. With astonishing access into the densest districts of Kolkata and Mumbai, it celebrates the impressive resourcefulness, resilience and absolute pragmatism of those living and working there, and reveals the psyche needed to get ahead in the biggest of crowds. This follows two main characters as they employ all their ingenuity to carve out a home. With more people moving to cities in India than anywhere else on Earth, securing that place you can call home is vital for nurturing your family's future. Kaale has come to Kolkata in search of gold - incredibly, he earns a living by sweeping the streets of the jewellery district for stray gold dust. But to fulfil his business ambitions, he must escape his landlord and rent a room of his own. His plan pushes even his resourcefulness to the limit: dredging for gold in Kolkata's drains. Rajesh and his wife Sevita have created their home on a Mumbai beach after their controversial love marriage. They support their kids' future with some impressive improvisation, including running their house as a makeshift beach pub selling cane liquor. But then eviction by the Mumbai council threatens their home for good."

Trouble Sleeping & Intermediate Practice

Via: Mysore SF's Magnolia Zuniga 

Q.

Since I’ve started practicing intermediate series I’ve had trouble falling asleep. I also wake up in the middle of the night and have a hard time falling back to sleep. Do you have any tips?

A:

The intermediate series is a stimulating and dynamic practice. It is not uncommon for students to experience many changes in their lives as the postures begin to weave themselves into the subtle body. Before we go into this, let’s look at the primary series and go from there...  continue reading at Mysore SF

A glimpse of Mysore

New video documenting moments from led primary, led intermediate, and mysore practice at the KPJAYI (Mysore, India).

Inspiration: Krista Shirley

Success cannot be attained by adopting a particular dress (Veṣa). It cannot be gained by telling tales. Practice alone is the means to success. This is true, there is no doubt. -2.68 Hatha Yoga Pradipika



KPJAYI Authorized teacher Krista Shirley practicing third series before teaching her workshop in Panama. May 24, 2014. The video demonstrates Bhairavasana through Galavasana in Advanced A series of Ashtanga Yoga.

Shiva Demonstrates Primary Series Asanas

Sunday inspiration:

Shiva Demonstrates Primary Series Asanas created by Sayaka Yamamoto