Guest vinyasa Krama practice : Wyatt, Part one

I figure you must be pretty sick of my practice by now so here's Wyatt, a friend from last Summer's Vinyasa Krama teacher training course with Ramaswami. As I mentioned in the previous post, once your familiar with the main sequences and subroutines of Vinyasa Krama then you can mix them up a bit in your practice 'though Ramaswami did recommend that you always have some kind of a plan before you begin. Was quite excited about these when Wyatt posted them as I haven't really seen anyone else's home VK practice.

Had to divide this post up as there are so many videos that it's making my Mac and Itouch crash. here's the link to Part Two

Iswarapranidhana - Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami - January 2011

Quite a complex newsletter this month but I came across a speech Ramaswami gave a few days ago at the awards ceremony he mentions at the beginning of the letter. As the topic of the speech is the same as that of the newsletter I thought it could act as a nice introduction.

Grimmly

January 2011 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami—Iswarapranidhana

Wish you a very happy and prosperous New year, a New Decade.

December was India month. LMU had arranged a ten day retreat in New

Delhi the modern capital of India and Rishikesh the holy city along

the Ganga, About ten participants from the USA and six from India

attended the program. We had almost six hours instruction everyday,

three hours of asanas and pranayama and about three hours of Yoga

Sutras and Yoga for Health. I thought the programs went well. What was

remarkable was that despite some real difficulties and challenges,

everyone stayed to the end. I am beholden to all participants for

their interest, support and patience. Thank you Dr Chris Chapple and

Alana Bray of LMU for affording the opportunity.

I spent a couple of days in Hyderabad thanks to the invitation of

Saraswati Vasudevan of Yoga Vahini and Salil Ganeriwal of Shwaas,

both of whom have long experience in the Krishnamaharya tradition.

Saraswathy Vasudevan who has more than 17 years teaching experience in

the Krishnamacharya tradition was the director of a 500 hr Yoga

Therapy certification program. 14 very enthusiastic and knowledgeable

yoga teachers completed the program and I had the pleasant opportunity

to distribute the certificates and speak briefly. The teachers

included Amala Akkaneni, one of my first students. She studied yoga

with me for a few years as a student of Kalakshetra in the mid 1970s.

It was nice to meet her too. Salil gave me an opportunity to speak

about Yoga for Healing (Health) at his beautiful studio Shwaas.

ISWARAPRANIDHANA

Maybe I have written on this topic earlier.

Normally in Sutras, the same term/idea should not be repeated. But in

the yogasutras of Patanjali the term Iswarapranidhana is used three

times. It is acceptable if the term is used with different

connotations in different places/contexts.

According to my Guru, the yogasutra even as it deals with subject of

(Raja)Yoga, caters to the needs of three different groups or levels of

yoga aspirants. The first one the highest or the uttama adhikaris are

the intended group of aspirants in the first chapter called the

samadhi pada. Here Patanjali used the term Iswarapranidhana as an

independent means of achieving the goal of Kaivalya or spiritual

freedom the set goal of yoga. It is the complete quietening of the

mind or chitta vritii nirodha. According to Patanjali it is possible

to achieve this yogic goal by intense devotion to Iswara (pranidhana=

bhakti visesha) as indicated by the term Iswarapranidhana in this

context. By the proper Japa of pranava which would indicate the mystic

syllable or mantra “OM” the highest aspirant (adhikari) who already

has the ability to go into a stage of samadhi (hence dealt with in

Samadhi Pada) will be able to achieve this extraordinary result. An

intense faith and devotion to the eternal unfettered spirit,

Iswara,whose essence is pure consciousness and still endowed with

omniscience would do the trick and nothing else is needed. If however

this devotional fervor is lacking even if the samadhi capacity is

there, the more step by step process of going through stages of

mastering Prakriti (24 aspects ) may be resorted to following the

path of Niriswara Samkhyas who have difficulty in subscribing to a

nimitta karana or an efficient cause for creation..

In the second chapter, Sadhana Pada, Patanjali takes the case of those

who without the yogic skill of Samadhi, but still wish to start to go

along the path of Yoga, the first step in a 1000 mile long yoga

journey. To them, the absolute beginners, he would include

Iswarapranidhana as one of the steps in Kriya yoga . Here

Iswarapranidhana has a different application. It is not the use of

Pranava Japa as the Samadhi Yogi would do but Iswarapujana or worship

of Iswara as per many yogis. Simple to complicated rituals are

available for the interested to remain focused on Iswara for a period

of time every day. This in practical terms is much easier to resort to

following the well established procedures of puja (worship rituals) of

the Lord. This is possible for anyone with faith in God, but lack the

samadhi capability. One may not be able to achieve Samadhi with this

but it will slowly prepare the mind to go along the path of yogic

samadhi. Concurrently it will also reduce the mental pain caused by

several kleshas like avidya etc.

One may ask if Iswarapranidhana or Iswarapujana as it is said in Kriya

yoga can by itself lead to samadhi bhavana or is it part of a whole

practice called Kriya yoga. Another corollary question would be what

if one has difficulty believing in God, could one still take advantage

of kriyayoga? There are references to practices of kriya yoga used

without the Iswarapranidhana component. The great epic Ramayana

describes a sage as one established in austerity and scriptural

studies. The Ramayana opens with the two traits of Kriaya yoga viz.,

tapas and swadhyaya. (tapas swadhyaya nirataam). So we may see that

there are occasions where the first two traits are mentioned

independent of Iswarapranidhana. Of course it would be best to use all

the three parts of kriya yoga.

When a start up yogi belonging to the iswarapranidhana stream

practices iswara pujana assiduously, the mental klesas come down and

she/he will be well on the path of conditioning the mind for samadhi.

Then we have the next yoga stage called ashtanga yoga a more elaborate

and complete yoga sadhana or yoga practice. Herein also is

Iswarapranidhana mentioned and the result of this practice as part of

niyama would be Samadhi itself, which also is the goal of the entire

ashtanga yoga as samadhi is the last anga. Commentators give a

different interpretation of Iswarapranidhana here in ashtanga yoga

than what is found in first chapter and in kriya yoga.. They would

say that it would refer to doing one's prescribed duties diligently as

God's work and surrendering oneself to the Lord and also the fruits of

all actions. This intermediate stage yogi or madhyama adhikari the

one not having the skill of going into samadhi but is totally

committed to yoga as a life long pursuit. For her/him Patanjali

suggests the classical ashtanga yoga. Here as per my Guru and several

commentators it would mean total surrender to the Lord or Saranagati

or prapatti. One may say that the prescribed duties would also imply

practicing the stipulated duties in ashtanga yoga and doing them as

God's work with a complete sense of surrender to the Lord. This “karma

Yoga” in which the results of the practices do not cloud the yogi's

mind is “karma phala tyaga”. This devotional path will lead to Samadhi

the necessary skill to take the last lap in the yoga journey.

My teacher being a devout Bhakti Yogi stressed the importance of the

Iswarapranidhana stream in the Yoga Sutras. The Yogis who have an

intense devotional fervor could do well to follow the devotional path.

For most yogis a judicious combination of samkhya yoga and bhakti yoga

would be helpful as is the direction of the sutras. But it is also

necessary to point out that Iswarapranidhana even though it is

mentioned just three times in the whole text forms an independent and

complete system of Yoga in the Yoga sutras. For the start up Yogi it

prepares the mind for samadhi and also simultaneously reduces the

mental klesas. At the intermediate level it leads to dawn of Samadhi a

necessary tool for both Siddhis and Kaivalya and a reduction in

impurities of the mind, the Rajas and Tamas.. At the highest level

Isawarapranidhana leads to understanding the true nature of oneself

(pratyak cetana)and also the removal of all spiritual obstacles

(antaraya).

Many other acharyas also have taken the efforts to stress the

importance of both the streams. Adi Sankara the advocate of Advaita

or nondualism, wrote great works not only on the intellectually

challenging subjects as advaita like the Brahma Sutra Bhashya,

Vivekachudaani etc., but also wrote such wonderful devotional works as

Bhaja Govindam, Soundarya Lahari and several others. Sri Sankara apart

from being the most revered exponent of Advaita also came to be known

as one who established the six methods of orthodox worship of the

divine in India (shan-mata-sthapana-acahrya), The six methods are

worship of Ganesa (Ganapatya), Kumara (Kaumara), of Mother Sakti

(Saakta), of Siva (Saiva), of Vishnu (Vaishnava) and of the Sun

(Saura). He wrote numerous works of poetry on all these deities.

Patanjali, Adi Sankara, my own Guru Sri Krishnamacharya and several

orthodox teachers of yesteryear were at considerable ease with both

the paths of wisdom and of devotion.

Again, I wish you a very Happy and Prosperous New Year.

It is two years since I started sending these Newsletters and thank

you all for the kind support.

The earlier newsletters and articles may be accessed by going to my

website www.vinyasakrama.com and then clicking on the Newsletter tab or click HERE.

For reply or comments please send to info@vinyasakrama.com

With best wishes

Sincerely

Srivatsa Ramaswami

Vinyasa Krama tool kit : Primary without the forward bends.

Primary without forward bends, huh, ' What's the point Stan' (Life of Brian).


Morale!


Primary on Friday is pretty sacred, despite all the experiments, the move into Vinyasa Krama, exploring of different Ashtanga series, I've managed to keep up my Friday Primary. However, as mentioned yesterday I have a problem with my back at the moment, going in and coming out of forward bends is painful and I'm trying to avoid that action, and as we know Primary is 99.999999ish% forward bends..... give or take 20%


The vinyasa krama tool kit yet again comes to the rescue. Last night I was thinking about this while replying to Micqui's comment (nice blog by the way, Ashtangi Angel). The Vinyasa Krama Asymmetric sequence has many of the same postures as the first half of Primary. The difference is that for each of the Primary poses there is a development of the pose, a couple of twists, counterposes etc. So how about I go through Primary as usual but skip the forward bend in Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottanasana, say, and do the twist and side lift from VK instead ( don't worry, video to come). For Janu Sirsasana A I do Maha mudra , which is pretty much the same thing but without bending forwards, big focus on breath and bandhas. I still do the Jump backs and through between postures, so the key postures are kind of the same ,the Vinyasa's are the same, it feels like Primary but with a slightly different focus.


Interestingly I found that Mari B was OK, it seems the bind gives me the support to lower forward and come back up strain free, same with Yoga Mudra. What is the muscle group that lifts you out of forward bends and lowers you slowly, what did I do with my anatomy books.


The Sury's were OK too because I included the squat from VK, from forward bend you squat on to your haunches and then push up through the legs thus avoiding any back strain. Side bends in standing where fine, it's only the forward bend I'm having problems with. Finishing was pretty much fine as I mentioned yesterday, bending the legs towards the chest in Inversions is curiously fine.

Here's a speeded up video of the whole asymmetric series you can jump about pretty much anywhere to see how the Ashtanga postures we find in primary are developed and extended

The Vinyasa Krama toolkit does it again, plus The Pandava, once a day,diet update

I tweaked my back sometime last week, when was that, one of the days we had snow. I was pushing my bike, slipped, managed to stop myself falling on my padasana, but then the bike slipped and while managing to stop the handlebars twisting out and both myself and bike toppling over I twisted/tweaked something in my back. Didn't seem like much, figured I'd stretch it out in the morning.

I don't know, perhaps I made it worse. I avoided 2nd series and the backbends and stuck with Primary, skipping UD and dropbacks, for a couple of days. Curiously, the tentative back stretches in the VK tadasana sequence I do at the beginning of my practice seemed OK, it was just the forward bends bothering me. Forward bends didn't seem to be helping so I switched from Primary to VK to cut back on them on a little. Still the gentle back stretches seemed OK, I tried urdhava danurasana after my shoulderstand and it was fine. Yesterday I decided to do second series and again no problem with the back bends, come the first LBH, eka pada sirsasana, and I felt the need to back off. I tried dropping back instead, no problems, it's a weird one. It seems to hurt most while coming back up from a forward bends. Oh and having one of those japanese heat pads stuck on my shirt seems to help.

So whats in the Vinyasa Krama toolbox? Inversions! For some reason inverted 'forward bends' are fine. Up in headstand bringing one leg into half lotus and lowering the straight leg so that the toe touches the floor is OK as is folding down the lotus. Anything like that, whether in shoulderstand or headstand. Legs towards the chest good, chest to the thighs bad.

But that's OK, lots to play with in the VK inversion and or Supine sequence until it settles back down again.

UPDATE: Pandava, once a day, yogi diet,

Actually it's not once a day yet, working up to that( this week and next will be more interesting). I started exploring this last Thursday so it's been a week today. This first week I dropped to two meals a day, Breakfast and Dinner and cut out any snacking in between. For some reason recently I'd been eating a lot of biscuits ( McVities Caramels) and the odd bar of chocolate, anything not tied down actually. Think I must have had a sugar rush when I had the tooth out and lived on trifle and ice cream for a couple of days and have been craving sugar ever since.

Anyway, the discipline of deciding to eat just twice a day seems to have cured that. I've been having a big bowl of porridge or Alpen with fruit on and that's set me up, pasta, risotto, Japanese curry etc in the evening. Was tempted a couple of times, several packs of biscuits open in the workshop and our customers keep binging us boxes of chocolate but so far I haven't caved. Felt a little hungry a couple of times but just enough to make me feel noble.

Today I moved into the next stage of the experiment, eating less in those two meals. The idea is to explore this from Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda

'... fill the stomach until it is half full. After this leave a quarter of the stomach for water and the rest empty to allow movement of air'. then he (K ) writes something interesting, ' For example, one who normally has the capacity to eat 1/4 measure of food should eat 1/8'.

This morning I had half as much for breakfast as usual and got through the day well enough. Perhaps I feel a little hungrier but I'll probably get used to eating less over the next couple of days. Next week I'll drop to eating once a day, I'm thinking Lunch.

The irritating thing is that because of the back issue above I haven't been able to keep my practice regular so can't really tell if I'm eating enough to sustain the practice. It's seemed OK, but then I haven't been doing full primary or 2nd. A preview then, will need to explore this more thoroughly after Christmas/new Year is out of the way.

I know some of my readers are uncomfortable with this, my mistake was perhaps to refer to it as a diet. But I meant that, not in the sense of a fad but rather as a style of eating. I'm not looking to lose weight, I've been the same weight for a couple of years and feel comfortable at this weight (77, give or take a kilo).

Weight hasn't changed that much this week

Wednesday 78.4 (I'm usually around 76/77 , as I said too much Junk recently).

Thursday 77.7

Friday 76.8

Saturday 76.6

Sunday 76.6

Monday 76.9

Tuesday 76.5

Thursday 76.8

So pretty much my usual fluctuation

It's all inspired by two comments ' Eat enough to sustain your practice' and '...the Pandava's, like the Yogi's, ate once a day'. How much IS enough to sustain my practice? If the Yogi's of old ate once a day, is that enough to sustain my practice today? What's it like eating once a day? Obviously the meal I do eat will need to be as nutritious as I can make it and going by the Makaranda above, it can't be binging out. One small, nutritious meal a day, is that enough?

Just curious.

Ramaswami's December 2010 newsletter; Standing postures and the Story of Durvasana

December 2010 Newsletter

Warm Greetings from bright and sunny Chennai, Madras that was. It is

almost the fag end of the monsoon season here, a three month period

when the Northeast monsoon is very active and brings copious rains to

the south eastern part of India. It has been a vigorous monsoon this

year I hear. The reservoirs, village tanks and millions of wells are

quite full., In the city of Chennai, during the last few years,'rain

harvesting' has been resorted to to recharge the underground waters.

Most of the households, and buildings with a terrace, direct the

rainwater to deep holes (about 20 feet) filled with small rocks and

sand and rain water quickly drains into these and helps to raise the

underground waster level. Due to the city being with roads asphalted

and pathways concreted, the rainwater has less chance to seep through

and hence this rainwater harvesting has been found to be quite

helpful. In my own house now the well water is hardly three feet

below the ground level. Of course it will quickly recede when the rain

stops and the early summer starts. But still this is good for the

city's water supply position during the long hot summer months.

Thanks to the kind efforts of our friend Jyoti Chittur, I will be

doing a 5 day 20 hour full yoga sutra program at Long Island

University in New York. I am also likely to teach for the Teacher

Trainees at Ananda Asram in New York State. I hope to be able to do a

couple of other programs outside of USA during 2011.

Standing pose sequences

(I've added some links to sequences mentioned in Ramaswami's newsletter : Grimmly)

In Vinyasa krama yoga practice there are three major standing

sequences. Each one has its own charm and challenges. The tadasana

sequence is very comprehensive routine, working on the major joints

and muscles. There is a certain nicety about the sequence involving

simple to involved vinyasas and asanas. According to my Guru this

sequence helps to align the chakras in the body and is perhaps the

best sequence to start one's practice and it helps to first normalize

the body. The various arm movements actually help to open up the

chest. The trikonasana series with such asanas as Trikonasana,

Virabhadrasana etc affords using the major joints and muscles in a

very powerful and graceful manner. Prasiratapadottanasana and

samakonasana may be considered as extensions of this sequence.

I have written earlier about the poses requiring balancing on one leg,

which may be termed as Tapas poses. This sequence requires

considerable focus or ekagrata while practicing and does help to bring

a sense of balance not only to the body but also the mind. There are

quite a few poses and vinyasas and some of them are quite challenging.

It helps to develop attention and patience.

For more details please refer to my book “The Complete Book of Vinyasa

Yoga”.

Story of Durvasa:

Siva means auspiciousness, peace. But one aspect of Siva is Rudra,

which name indicates extreme anger, rage. It is said that Sakti once

told Siva that it was getting impossible to live with Him because of

His anger and short tempered nature. Siva took the cue and shed a part

of his anger and created a sage called Durvasa, the name Durvasa

itslef would indicate one who is impossible to live with dus meaning

difficult vaasa meaning to live. In fact it is common to refer to

those who are short tempered as Durvasa. You often find a daughter, a

wife or a son or a subordinate showing great reluctance to deal with

'that durvasa'. But being Siva's amsa or aspect, he was a great

tapasvin and was revered for his knowledge and because of his short

tempered nature many would not come near him as they were afraid of

his nature and his curses which because of his tapas could come to

pass. At the same time if ever he would be pleased he would confer

unprecedented boons.

King Ambarisha was a great king, highly venerated and a great devotee

of Lord Vishnu. He faithfully followed the religious observances and

rituals which he did with great devotion and sincerity with his

wonderful wife. A just king he was revered by his subjects. He was

also very charitable by nature. He regularly observed fasting on every

Ekadasi and on the next day as per the religious practice would

take an early meal on the following dwadasi (12th day after moon days)

day. He would piously follow the procedures faithfully including vedic

chanting like the Taittiriya Upanishad. Once he and his wife after a

day of ekadasi fasting were about to break the fast the following

morning when sage Durvasa came with a large number of his disciples

and landed at the doorsteps of King Ambarisha's palace. He grandly

announced that he and his wards would be the athitis (guests without

notice or invitation). The King immediately fell at his feet and said

that he was honoured to have him and his men as guests on such an

auspicious day as dwadasi. The sage said that he would go to the

river, have his bath and come back for meals.

Once in the river he and his men took an enormous time to complete

their ritualistic bath. In the meantime the King was waiting for his

guests, but it is stipulated that one should have the meals on Dwadasi

day very early, it being the day after a day of complete fasting.

After a while the priests of the palace—including sage Vasishta-- said

that the sastras demand that he should not delay having the meal but

the King said that with the guests expected to come, one should not

have a meal without the guests. Either way he would be violating some

dharma or the other the priests opined and suggested to the King that

instead of a regular meal he could just take a basil leaf and break

the fast and it could be construed also as not having a meal. This via

media suggestion finally appealed to the reluctant Ambarisha. So he

took one small basil leaf and put it into his mouth with a spoonful of

water and just then Durvasa made a dramatic entry. He shouted at the

king and said that he had insulted a great sage and would have to bear

the brunt of his curse. Durvasa, using his enormour tapas power,

created a demon to destroy the King for insulting him. The pious King

with the head bowed prayed to Lord Vishnu for guidance. The Lord

immediately sent His weapon the chakra, called Sudharsana chakra or

wheel which came whirling and instantly destroyed the demon and

quickly went after the sage. It is said that the Lord may sometimes

tolerate any disrespect to Him but never any insult or harm done to

His devotees. So the chakra went after the sage and the sage started

running for his life. He first went to brahma the creator and one of

the trinities., but he politely said that he has no powers to go

against the just actions of the Lord. Then the sage ran to Siva and he

also said something very similar, but advised him to go to Lord Vishnu

whose weapon was threatening him So finally after almost a year

running helter and skelter, the sage finally fell at the feet of Lord

Vishnu and prayed for forgiveness. The Lord then said that the only

person who could save him was King Ambarisha with whom he had behaved

very badly, The sage came running to Ambarisha's palace. As Durvasa

was about to fall at the feet of the king, the king bowed to him

instead in great reverence and directed the Sudarsana chakra to return

to Lord Vishnu without causing any harm to the great sage. Then the

sage granted extraordinary boons to the king and left chastened.

A similar story about Durvasa appears in the epic Mahabharata. The

Pandavas were in the forest incognito as per the conditions of their

exile. The Pandavas with their mother Kunti were hiding in the forest

for a year. They prayed to lord Krishna for food as they were not

wanting to be seen openly in the forest looking for food. The Lord

gave them a vessel which had the ability to give one meal a day for

the family. Kunti used to feed her sons, the Pandavas everyday with

the limited food from the vessel. The cooking vessel would be washed

with water and thereafter they could get food only on the following

day. So the Pandavas like yogis were eating once a day.

It is said that sage Durvasa wanted to create problems for the

Pandavas. So one day he came to their place after they had had their

lunch from the magic vessel. Then it was washed and kept aside to be

used only the following day. In the olden days, any stranger asking

for food should be provided with food. It is considered a sin not to

give food. So the sage with his army of followers descended on the

hide out of the Pandavas and asked them to keep the lunch and they

would return after bath in the nearby river. There was no way they

could get food because the vessel would not give food once it is

washed and kept aside. So Kunti prayed to Lord Krishna to save them

from the predicament and the wrath of the short tempered sage. The

Lord appeared before them and took the vessel and found a minute

particle of spinach sticking to the cleaned vessel. Smilingly, he took

it in his finger and put it his mouth with mouthful of water. As he

swallowed the piece of spinach, Durvasa and his army who were taking a

river bath, suddenly felt that their stomachs were full and started

bloating. They felt as though they had eaten a sumptuous meal and had

no space for even a morsel of food. They decided discretion was

better than going for a lunch, and teaching a lesson for which they

did not have the stomach. They quickly disappeared into thin air

giving a sigh a of relief to the Pandavas who praised the Lord for His

divine help.

Of course there are a few episodes that show Durvasa in a better

light. But Durvasasana is an exquisite pose though a difficult one.

Another one legged pose that is awesome in the one leg up pose called

Trivikrama. This truly is a majestic pose. Trivikrama is actually an

avatar (incarnation) of Lord Vishnu and story of the avatar of Vishnu

as Trivikrama is very absorbing. A few temples in South India have the

icon of Lord Trivikrama. It is also one of the 12 names of the Lord

used in daily prayers.

With best Wishes

Sincerely

Srivatsa Ramaswami

NB. The picture above is of Chris and I on Ramaswami's Vinyasa Krama Summer TT course. Chris has his own blog, here. Grimmly

In Ramaswami's book 'The Complete book of Vinyasa Yoga' , the pose Durvasana comes up in the 'On one leg' sequence. Grimmly

The hyperlinks that direct you to sequences mentioned in the letter were added by me, not Ramaswami. Grimmly