VK Bow sequence, Viparita Salabhasana and towards Ganda Bherundasana

As I mentioned, this week I'm working on my back bends through the Vinyasa Krama back bend sequences, Bow and Vajrasana (Vajrasana is actually a sub routine in the meditative sequence).

Vajrasana includes Kapotasana via an Ushtrasana subroutine and Laghu Vajrasana. The big asanas of the Bow sequence are Viparita Salabhasana and Gandha Bherundasana.

These two asanas come at the end of the sequence. You lead up to them via Bhujangasana (cobra) and Salabhasana (locust) subroutines. This is similar to the gradual build up towards Kapo in 2nd series Ashtanga. Typical of Vinyasa krama, though, there are several hand/arm variations. In the Salabhasana subroutine the right arm/left leg are lifted and then switched, followed by both legs raised and the arm variations, stretched out in frount of you, fingers clasped behind the neck, reverse prayer and outstretched to the side.

In Vinyasa Krama the hands are clasped as opposed to Ashtanga where they lay parallel to each other along the mat. Gandha B is still way beyond me but I couldn't help a little nod in it's direction with the wall to fall back on. Long way to go but I can clasp my heels in kapo so surely it should be doable.

Ganda B is one of those asanas that should probably come with a 'don't try this at home' health warning. There's the fear of shifting too much weight forward as you take your legs over and flipping over while your head stays where it is, this would be bad. But that's what the wall is for, also one of Boodie's tips is to use the wall to push your hips back. As with the drop back work it's probably a case of working on the point of balance, shift the hips back so you can take your legs a little further over, back a bit here forward a bit there.

Srivatsa Ramaswami's 200 hour VinyasaKrama TT Program June/July 2010

Just received conformation that I'm on the course.

From March 2010 Newsletter

Teacher Training Program in Vinyasakrama Yoga

There are scores of Yoga Teacher Training Programs and almost every

promoter(me included) claim that his/her program is unique. The 200 hr

program I offer (registered with Yoga Alliance) is designed to give

a broad exposure and some in depth coverage of my understanding of

Yoga as I have learnt from my Guru. I must admit that my guru had the

uncanny knack of teaching what he considered to be important and

relevant to the particular student. Hence all his student –teachers,

though they have studied with the same preceptor, show different yogic

characteristics in their teachings that are obvious to even casual

observers. A three decade study under him helped me to assimilate a

lot of what he taught me, practice and reflect. What he taught

appealed to me profoundly. And I thought it might to a few others

with requirements and tendencies similar to mine who would be

interested in and may benefit from the Yoga I imbibed from my Guru.

Hence this 200 hr Vinyasa krama Teacher Training Program. Here are the

details.

1. The 60 hr Vinyasakrama asana course runs for 20days, three hours

per day. It consists of 10 major sequences broken into more than 120

or so subsequences built around well known asanas. There is a flow of

asanas/vinyasas with each slow movement synchronized with the

appropriate (brahmana and langhana) aspect of breathing. There are

about 700 Vinyasas. It is a systematic way to learn asanas. Even

though one may not be practicing all these asanas and movements in a

daily workout, it is necessary for a yoga teacher and serious students

of yoga to learn all asanas and vinyasas in a systematic manner. A

teacher or a yoga therapist has to have in her/his arsenal all the

yoga movements and asanas so that one can design an appropriate

program for one’s own practice and for varying individual requirements

of others. The word Vinyasa is widely used in several arts like music,

etc. In fact one meaning of Vinyasa is art itself and so vinyasakrama

would mean doing asanas as an art. Vinyasa is an artful expansion of

the physical culture called asana within certain specified parameters.

There is a certain nicety about Vinyasakrama approach. The sequencing

is a logical progression of Vinyasas. It is a yogasana gift from my

Guru and in it there is something, nay, everything (almost, that is)

for everyone (almost, that is) from a toddler yogi to the consummate

yogi.

2. The 20 hr Pranayama program is spread over 10 days of 2 hr

sessions. My Guru, as the old Hata yogis did, gave considerable

importance to Pranayama, which is another name of Hata Yoga. Orthodox

Indians as they do their rituals to the Sun, do a minimum of 40 mantra

pranayamas every day. It is considered a prerequisite of meditation,

dhyana. In this course the theory and practice of different types of

pranayamas will be taught and the various parameters. Practice is an

important aspect of this course. Many participants end up making

pranayama an integral part of their daily yoga routine.

3. The third subject will be Mantras and Meditation another aspect of

daily yoga practice. Mantras are a convenient and powerful vehicle for

taking the mind along the path of one pointedness. Sanskrit alphabets

also known as matrukas, or mother mantras, along with some of the

important mantras like Gayatri will be taught. Using mantra, a step by

step approach to meditation will be taught and participants will be

given the opportunity to practice meditation on these lines. It is a

20 hr program--10 sessions of 2 hrs each. Participants will also be

introduced to Sanskrit recitation, another form of meditative

practice, an important aspect of Sri Krishnamacharya’s teachings

4. There is a 25 hour segment of Yoga for Health. It consists of 10

hours of Anatomy and Physiology, a requirement of Yoga Alliance with

which this program is registered. 5 hrs of subtle anatomy will

explore the conceptual basis of the human system from the yogic point

of view and will be discussed in some detail, based on old texts like

Yoga Yogyavalkya, etc. and attempts will be made to relate these

concepts with modern ideas. My Guru was a great exponent of Cikitsa

krama or the therapeutic approach of yoga. In the 10 hr session of

Yoga for Internal Organs, the six main kosas** or organs and the

systems they support will be gone into in details and the yogic

practices that are beneficial to these systems will be discussed.

(**hrudaya kosa or heart and the circulatory system, svasa kosa or the

lungs and the respiratory system, anna kosa or stomach and the

digestive system, garbha kosa or uterus and the reproductive system

etc.)

5. A 25 hour segment is reserved to study Yoga as a darsana or a

philosophy. In this 5 hrs are allotted to learn to chant some of the

yoga sutras. In the remaining 20 hrs, the entire YS (Yoga Sutras) will

be gone through word by word and sutra by sutra, so that during this

first reading the participants will learn to stay close to the text

and get a good understanding of the sutras and the thought process

contained in this ancient text.

6. Sri Krishnamacharya’s works is the title of this 20 hr program.

Even though my Guru is well known, his works remain somewhat hidden.

In this course reading of his works, “Yoga Makaranda” and “Nathamuni’s

Yoga Rahasya” will be taken up. It will hopefully help the

participants to have a first hand view of some of the concepts of

Krishnamacharya’s Yoga.

7. In this short segment, 5 hours will be allotted for Yoga Business

and 5 hours for Teaching Methodology

8. A twenty hour program titled “Visesha Vinyasas” made up of 5

sessions of 4 hrs each completes the 200 hours of instructions. In

this special sequences like Sun Salutation, Salutation to Directions,

etc. will be taught. It will also cover all the parameters required

to be considered to design individualized programs based on these

courses. Sri Krsihnamacharya’s ingenuity lay in his ability to offer

what the students or patients needed . Yoga takes care of the needs of

everyone, all through the life--to everyone according one’s changing

needs. A teacher has to equip herself/himself with as much information

as possible in a logical way. Yoga is a comprehensive subject and has

enough breadth and depth to meet the evolving requirements of everyone

all through the life.

Well, the program is scheduled to start on June 15, 2010 and runs for

five weeks at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. You or one

of your friends may resonate with this program. Registration is open

and for details please contact:

Alana Bray

Yoga Coordinator,

Loyola Marymount University

1,LMU Drive, Suite 1840,

Los Angeles, CA

Yoga@lmu.edu

(310)338-2358

Vinyasa Krama Lotus Sequence,Some favourite asanas

Starting my week on Sunday. Gives me more time to work through the new sequence with Ramaswami's book. This week it's the Lotus Sequence. It was my favourite last time around.

A most meditative sequence but none the worse for that. I'll look at it in more detail later but just wanted to throw out a couple of things from yesterday.

Vinyasa Krama, bit boring after Ashtanga? Can see why you might think that but not at all, it's just different. There are still some crowd pleases in there, they're just scattered about rather than strung together in one series.

Padma Mayurasana for instance. Some improvement here from September.

Word of warning with this. If your familiar with Mayurasana and decide to give it a try then be sure to remember that you have less of a counterweight with your legs folded. First time I tried it I ended up grinding my face into the mat.

It's coming on. Same with the standard Mayurasana you tend to lose control as you try to stretch it and get your head up. Would love to see a picture of Swan neck girl doing this one. Exit is rough on the first one but better on the second.

Oh and if you think Karandavasana is tricky (which is in this sequence by the way) then try sitting in lotus and then taking it up into headstand! Tried three times yesterday and not even close. The idea is to, while in lotus, put your head on the mat with your hands around the head as in your usual Sirsasana, then your supposed to bring the knees in as close to your body as you can, engage the bandhas and take it up........ in theory.

more on this later.

However, Urdhwa Kukkutasana is in there too just before all the Padma Sirsasanas, so for now I'm lifting up into that and then going down into headstand that way (re 3rd ) then bringing the hands back to normal Sirsasana position. After the headstands I take the hands back to Pincha position for Karandavasana. Seems to work well.

UPDATE

Just read the last paragraph and realized I can't help myself, still trying to make one asana flow into the next. What I should be doing is lowering back down after Padma Sirsasana, take a couple of breaths in lotusto collect myself, then see about Padma Pinchamayurasana. I think the Urdhwa kukkutasana entry is ox until I manage to work out this lift, either that or I can shuffle the knees up on to the backs of my forearms and raise the duck, kinda karandavasana in reverse.

Vinyasa Krama Seated Sequence.

For the next couple of months I'm working at improving familiarity with the different VK sequences by spending a week or two on each sequence. Last time I approached Vinyasa Krama, I was alternating the sequences through the the week but by the time the following week came around I was still having to stop and check the book. Hopefully, this way, I'll manage to get the sequences fixed in my head and in a month or so I can go back to alternating the sequences without the need to keep checking.

This week has been the Seated Sequence. As I'm still getting used to the transition from Ashtanga I've kept most of the Standing and Finishing sequences the same as I'm familiar with, basically the Sury's, a couple of Triangle sequence sub-routines and 'On one leg' subroutines for Standing and Sarvangasana and Lotus Subroutines for Finishing Later I'll get around to alternating the subroutines. Besides the Ashtanga Standing sequence is ideal for the Seated sequence, if aint not broke, don't fix it.

Seated appears to be a straight forward Sequence, a Jump Through into Paschimatanasana, no change there from Ashtanga's Primary. As with Primary you repeat the posture, this is something that comes up a lot in Vinyasa Krama. However, where in primary you do Paschi four times, A, B, C and D in VK's Seated there's also E, F, G, H and I ('though they aren't called that). These include crossing the arms, crossing the arms and twisting forward and then back, Paschi without support, IE. your hands just resting beside your feet and then a kind of Paschi version of Parasarita C with your arms out stretched behind you and then finally in reverse prayer position.

That's a lot of Paschimatanasana, and yet somehow it works. The breath is the real focus here, I aim at a five second inhalation, ten seconds exhalation and five seconds holding the exhale bahya kumbhaka while engaging mula and uddiyana bandhas (I don't engage the bandhas in the twists). I do ten rounds/breaths in each Paschi. It's hard to keep the breath steady and smooth when your bent double like that getting deeper and deeper into the pose each time but it also feels quite powerful, profound even as they build upon eachother.

Next is Kurmasana. In VK you tend to have a Jump Back and Through at the beginning of the sequence as well as at the end, VK calls it a lead in . I'm used to more so tend to fit one in between each of the sub-routines, It seems to be a nice balance. Akunchita Kurmasana I approach as usual via Dwi pada Sirsasana (legs behind head and lower down into it) I also exit via Titibhasana and Bakasana, again it's just what I'm used to and doesn't require much effort for me, so doesn't disturb my breath.

Purvatanasana is up next but there's also the side version on one arm, Vasishtasana. Then your on into Chatushpadapeetam, table pose with leg raises. Then it's Navasana, I do five with a lift in between, there's no lifting up here in VK but again I'm used to it and I want to keep some of the strength and fitness I've developed, I still throw in a couple of handstands in the Sury's too. Urdhwa Paschimotanasana finishes off this little sub routine and there's a rest in VK here where you lay back in corpse for a couple of minutes to settle the breath and the heartbeat. In VK you would take one of these whenever you felt the need. Steady breath is everything in Vinyasa Krama and remember your aiming at these long slow exhales and retentions with bandhas which make the poses deeper somehow.

After your little rest your back with more forward bends Upavishta Konasana, seated angle pose. As with Paschi there are eight versions of this and they take a similar form, supported and unsupported, hand variations and twists. Each time your getting deeper and your doing the same thing with the breath, short inhales, long steady exhales with retention and bandhas.

Side splits is next, Samkonasana, I'm still miles off being able to do that, I'm working on hanumanasana but I tend to give this one a pass.

The sequence finsishes off with Badha Konasana, Mula bhandasana, Padmasana, Siddhasana and Gomukhasana in each of these your basically doing Pranayama, long slow steady inhalation and exhalation, retention after both inhale and exhale and strongly engaging Mula, Udiyana and Jalahandra bandhas. I do about ten breaths in each 1-2 breaths a minute.

And then your on into finishing and the long Sarvangasana and Sirsasana via UD and Drop back's

Seated is a pretty straight forward sequence and easy enough to remember so I'll most likely move onto the Lotus Sequence Next week, this was my favourite sequence last time around so I'm looking forward to it.

On a side note, I've started using the Paranayama App at work. Found a quite room and am doing twenty minutes on my lunch break. Had a really tricky Sax yesterday but managed to stay patient with it all day, perhaps the Pranayama helped.

How to Approach S. Ramaswami's Complete book of Vinyasa Krama?

This is the problem I've had from the start with Vinyasa Krama, how to actually practice it. Coming from Ashtanga made it even more difficult as I was used to the same routine everyday. The layout of The complete book of Vinyasa Krama doesn't really help self practice either, Text/Picture/Text/Picture/Text/Picture. It's difficult looking over and checking where you are and what comes next. But then how else would you lay it out.

I actually really like the book's approach, love reading through the sequences and how the breath is adapted to the posture, little stories of background information about the name or history of a pose. Love all that, just hard to practice with. Perhaps, at the end of each sequence, all the asanas could be laid out on a double page spread, that would help.

Plus there's the problem of how to use the sequences and sub routines. Do you just practice one sequence a day or do you mix them up. Ashtanga is a mixture of all these little sub routines and that seems to work well. And yet I like how the asanas are placed within the context of a sequence and build upon each other. That's something that's stressed within the book.

One of Ramaswami's other book's Yoga beneath the surface helps clear thing up a little. It's format is questions and answers between Ramaswami and one of his students David Hurwitz. As well as dealing with the practice they discuss Patanjali's Sutras, Meditation, Pranayama ETC. In that book it's suggested that a few key asanas should be practiced everyday. The Sun Salutaion of course but also the forward bend Uttanasana and Paschimatanasana, Maha Mudra (kind of like Janu A without bending forward, Sirsasana and Sarvangasana. One is advised to spend a considerable time in each of these postures. And of course after the asnana practice (60-90 minutes) comes the PCM, Pranayama, Chanting and Meditation (30 minutes)

That gives you a framework and is not a million miles away from Ashtanga. A standing sequence Paschi A, B and C the Janu's and finishing with all the Shoulder stand variations and the 25 breath headstand.

Broadly speaking, my approach is to stick one of the sequences in between Paschimatanasana and Maha Mudra. I also tend to add in some of the shorter sub-routines from the Standing sequences after the Sury's. Again this is similar to Ashtanga, The Trikonasanas, Parsvakonasana's and Prasarita's are sub-routines found in the the Triangle sequence and then you have the 'On one leg' Sub-routines.

There are a lot of variations of these in Vinyasa Krama, I plan to link some of the Standing Sub-routines to the 'central Sequence' so whenever I practice the seated sequence I'll have set standing routines to go with it. With the Supine Sequence I'll have another set, that way I get to cover all the different Standing Vinyasa's and work on address areas of my body. This seems a sensible approach too, I can link standing sub-routines that prepare me well for Lotus say or a different set for the Backbends of the Bow sequence.

My problem before was that I went straight into trying to do a different sequence every day. I didn't learn Ashtanga that way, rather I built up a familiarity with the sequence such that I didn't have to think about it anymore and could just get on with the practice. This time I propose to spend a week or two on practicing the Seated sequence every day and then spend a couple of weeks on the Inverted sequence and so on. Like I said, I already know the asanas it's just the sequence and it's subtleties I need to nail down.

The Asymmetric and Supine sequences are quite long however. I could split them up but think I'll go with practicing them on my day's off. So this week and perhaps next I'll practice the Seated sequence all week except for Tuesday and Sunday when I'll practice Asymmetric. The following week will be the Meditative Sequence all week say, except for my day's off when I'll practice Supine. That kind of thing. I'll just tweak the key everyday poses to work as counter poses although there are these within the sequences. It makes sense though to practice a long Paschi' after the Bow sequence rather than before.

This week then is the Seated Posterior Stretch Sequence

28.Suptasana/paschimatanasana 29. Paschimatanasana 30.

Purvatanasana 31. Chatushpadapeetam 32. Upavishtakonasana 33.

Pratikriya 34. Samakonasana. 35. Baddhakonasana 36 Siddhasana

37.Gomukkhasana 38.Yoganrisimhasana.

except for today (day off) and Sunday when it'll be the Asymmetric Seated Vinyasa Sequence

15 Lead sequence 16. Dandasana 17. Marichyasana 18.Mahamudra

19. Ardhapadmasana 20. Akarnadhanurasana/Cakorasana 21.

Ekapadasirsasana 22. Triyangmukha 23. Marichyasana(advanced) 24.

Bharadwajasana 26. Mahabandha 26. Matyendrasana 27.Return sequence

* A list of all the sequences in the book can be found here

These are two of my favourite sequences so should be a nice week.