Asanaaah!

I started practicing Ashtanga through the teachings of my roommate in Utah (thanks, Casey), who had himself only recently become interested in yoga. We learned from David Swenson's Practice Manual, picking and choosing from the poses, leaving out things like Janu Shirshasana B, that involved jamming heels into groins. I never did the full primary series, and often, towards the end of a practice, I would turn on some Tupac and skip ahead to poses like handstand, trying them until my head spun or my lunch hinted at its desire to be revisited.

Last year, before my first trip, I had just barely started to practice regularly. Part of the reason for traveling here was to test the depth of my interest in Ashtanga in particular, which stood out to me among other schools of yoga because of its system of vinyasa* between poses and its lack of flowery Westernization**. I figured immersing myself in a few months of daily practice at the source of the tradition would adequately test my validity as an "aspirant," as the Yoga Mala would put it. While here, I usually struggled to wake up at 5:30 for class. Often, in the midst of some sort of digestive agony or a car horn-induced deafening, I would even question my decision to be here at all, dreaming of American comforts like air conditioning, beef, and tap water that doesn't end up coming straight out your butt. But eventually, I started to look forward to the practice, and on returning to the US, found myself seeking out spaces and teachers where ever I went.

This trip started with a few hurdles (see the post about bedbugs and diarrhea) that had me briefly convinced that I was an idiot to sign up for another four months of India, but after a few weeks things have smoothed out considerably. I have a solid foundation in the primary series this time around and motivation is no issue. I go to bed at 8:00 and wake up at 4:00 psyched to go spend a couple hours sweating and bending.

A few days ago, Sharath (Pattabhi Jois' grandson), told me to start adding Pashasana to my practice. It looks easier than it is; the combination of squatting, twisting, and wrapping an arm around your knees to grab the opposite wrist is tricky. It's the first pose of the intermediate series. Until I am given enough intermediate poses to warrant splitting the two series into separate days of practice, I'll be tacking on poses to the end of the primary series. This eventually turns an hour and a half of work into more like over two hours.

I was also recently Saraswathied. This is what they call it when Patthabi's daughter, Saraswathi, cranks you into Chakra Bandhasana, which looks like this:


Thanks to David Gellineau for the photo and the flexibility.

First, I did several dropbacks on my own, and then Saraswathi spotted me as I walked my hands in towards my ankles. Once my fingertips touched my feet... WHAM! SPLOW! BAMMO! Saraswathied! Shaky and panting, I lost grip of my sweaty ankles after just a breath or two and came up with my eyes rolling. Saraswathi laughed and smiled. The look on her face said "Yeah, I know. Crazy, isn't it?"

*Vinyasa is a Sanskrit term that literally means "to place in a special way," but in this case means something more like "breath-synchronized movement."
**Refer to Anusara Yoga.