Practice

I'm now in my fourth week of the practice, and sad to say this is the last week for the practice with Lino. The type of practice that we have been doing does not come easy and even as an instructor I find myself doing the same things that students do all the time. That is think I can do it all and push myself sometimes harder than I should. In my classes I'm always saying "Its all about the journey, not the destination." So I keep telling myself to practice what I preach!

For the first several weeks one day I would feel really good, warm and loose so I could go very deep into the poses, then of course I would be sore from that practice so the next day I'm tight and hurt, so that practice wouldn't be as good. Week three I learned to take advantage of the journey, and not worry about the destination. Getting to that thought process has helped me move farther into the practice sometimes without thinking about it.

In Ahstanga Yoga practice, there are four parts to the practice. Surya Namaskara A & B (Sun Salutations) In the west we consider these the warm up for many of the yoga classes. We preform A five times, then B from 3 - 10 times depending on how you feel and how cold/warm it is. Because of the temperature 3 or 4 is usually enough. Next come the standing asanas (poses). There are several of these asanas that are coming along great. The hardest one for me is reversed side angle. (Utthita Parsvakonasana B)

After the standing asanas, you move into the seated asanas - I am practicing the primary series. There are actually 6 different series in Ashtanga yoga. Getting through the second series takes years and actually getting to 6 is a lifetime. The seated asanas is what changes as you progress through Ashtanga Yoga. It wasn't until the third week that I was able to go all the way through the seated asanas. The way Ashtanga is taught is you go to the point where you can no longer do the asanas, then you move onto the finishing asanas. I was so happy the day I went through the entire series by myself I felt like I was walking on water. My personal greatest accomplishment in the asanas is Marichyasana C, (seated, bound spinal twist). I just never thought that pose would come as fast as it did. Now, I still need help getting into it, but once there I am comfortable. I'll continue to work on that one so I can get into it by my self, hopefully before I return home.

The finishing sequence is designed to restore you. Shoulder stand, head stand, and several other inverted asanas. The finishing sequence is just as hard as the seated because you do about 60% of the asanas upside down! The majority of these asanas are not taught often in western classes because of risk of injury if not done correctly. However, they are very beneficial once you learn how to do them.

The last pose of the seated sequence is Urdva Dhanurasana (wheel pose, or full backbend) In the perfect series you go into the back bend from a standing position and return to a standing position. As you are learning this pose you go in and out of it from laying on your back on the floor. After taking my third back bend, as you do the asana three times, 5 breaths each, Lino came over and told me I was ready to try the standing portion, assisted by him. So I was able to do Urdva Dhanursana with the help of Lino, but from standing and back to standing!

Friday's are a led class by Lino, very western in thought as we all go through the asanas as Lino leads us. During the whole practice we have been doing half vinyasas between the poses. Basically going through up-dog down-dog asanas. This Friday is a full vinyasa class, which means between every pose we do a full vinyasa or Surya Namaskara. The practice will take about 2 1/2 hours to go through and I think we will all head back to bed after that!

I have learned much from this practice that I can't wait to bring back to the states not only for myself, but for my classes! It seems like its been a very long time since I was the student, and being assisted into asanas, and not having to think about what everyone is doing in each pose has been very beneficial to me. I am however, looking forward to teaching once again!