Return to innocence: just like a quadruped

One of my favourite films, above. Why? You might ask. Because it portrays what I love most on this earth: children, the relationship between a parent and child, yoga and most of all, it's a silent movie. I'm a supporter of the truism less talk, more action or less is more. You get the picture.

Move the timeline of this 1938 clip of Krishnamacharya teaching yoga to his two children to the following time stamps: 00:26, 00:57, 01:26, 2:30 and marvel at the ease the young boys fly through their vinyasas. I know, I know. I keep talking about jumping back/through ad nauseum. I really should practice more non-attachment.

How does one really practice Aparigraha in a yoga class? Often teachers remind students to let go of something in their practice that they feel attached to: their ego (doing poses well or better than others), for instance. I've also seen some prod students to practice with patience.

Where I practice, it's been really effective how E asks us to meet challenging poses with a soft attitude, to approach difficult asanas with curiosity rather than ambition. Another yama, Ahimsa, is evident in how I am re-learning Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. According to John Scott, a direct student of Sri K Pattabhi Jois, knees are bent gently when reaching down to grasp the toes in the standing poses before straightening the leg. We are also taught to be like quadrupeds during asanas like the downward dog. Janu Sirsasana A-D and Marichyasanas A to D wherein we lean to our sides before extending our arms in front and wrapping them behind us to bind.

On the subject of children, I'd like to go back to that and the concept of being a quadruped when practising yoga. David Merchant, from Washington University in St Louis, writes in his Quadruped Fundamentals:

“Quadruped” is the name I give to a contemplative movement practice that re-investigates our floor-level, four-footed origins to build integrative strength and improve our fundamental coordination. Developed from principles of movement coordination investigated by F.M. Alexander, Raymond Dart, Irmgard Bartenief and others, Quadruped Applications are movement activities that can be practiced for a variety of purposes. They can be used as an exercise, and as a meditative or “somatic” practice (in a manner analogous to yoga or tai chi) to improve personal movement skill.

Quadruped re-investigates early-childhood developmental movement processes, and then extends them with adult conscious awareness and skill. We all started by rolling, crawling and cruising, before walking and running in progressive stages. Coordination develops accumulatively, building more advanced skills on the foundation of previous basic ones.

Our study of crawling did not need to stop once we could walk on two feet; it can continue, and advance into adulthood, using our increased strength, control, and conscious attention toward efficient form. By dynamically interacting with gravity and the floor, the Quadruped method recognizes our constant relationship with the ground and uses its force/support as feedback, teaching us to move as a unified Self. Thus the floor teaches us how to balance so that we are most free to move.

Makes sense, doesn't it? I'm going to re-connect with and explore my inner child at next practice, that's for sure. Back to my original train of thought. Too much citta vrtti and not enough nirodhah, haha. Here's a mantra I found online that I find helpful in calling aparigraha to mind:

"As I inhale, I open to possibility.
 I welcome change.
 I invite the present moment."

And upon exhaling, say: "As I exhale, I let go."

Om.

1% theory, the rest is practice

Practice, practice, practice. This resonates in the personal practice of Maria Villella. This Ashtanga Yoga teacher aced the jump back and jump through after four years of practice. Now that's patience, patience, patience!

Watch her float smoothly through Bhujapidasana, Bakasana, Kurmasana and Supta Kurmasana with excellent bandha control, below:

Full, counted vinyasa

Surya Namaskar A
Surya Namaskar B
Padangusthasana
Padahasthasana
Utthita Trikonasana A & B
Utthita Parsvakonasana A & B
Prasarita Padottanasana A, B, C & D
Parsvottanasana
Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana
Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana
Utkatasana
Virabhadrasana A & B
Dandasana
Paschimottanasana A, B, C & D
Purvottanasana

FULL STANDING VINYASA

 Ardha Baddha Paschimottanasana
Triang Mukhaekapada Paschimottanasana

FULL STANDING VINYASA

Janu Sirsasana A
Janu Sirsasana B
Janu Sirsasana C

FULL STANDING VINYASA

Marichyasana A
Marichyasana B

FULL STANDING VINYASA

Marichyasana C
Marichyasana D

FULL STANDING VINYASA

Navasana 5X

FULL STANDING VINYASA

Bhujapidasana
Kurmasana
Supta Kurmasana

FULL STANDING VINYASA

Garbha Pindasana
Kukkutasana
Baddha Konasana A & B
Upavishta Konasana A & B
Supta Konasana

FULL STANDING VINYASA

Supta Padangusthasana
Ubhaya Padangusthasana
Urdhva Mukha Paschimottanasana

FULL STANDING VINYASA

Setu Bandhasana
Chakrasana
Urdhva Dhanurasana
Chakrasana

FULL STANDING VINYASA

Salamba Sarvangasana
Halasana Karnapidasana
Urdhva Padmasana
Pindasana
Matsyasana
Uttana Padasana
Chakrasana
Sirsasana A & B

FULL STANDING VINYASA

Yoga Mudra
Padmasana
Utpluthih
Savasana

This is how one would traditionally practice the primary series, with full standing vinyasas after a particular set of poses. All those full standing vinyasas seem formidable? In the words of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, "You take practice, you think God."

Om.

The Play Doh practice

I have been puzzled by the plastic container of Play Doh at the corner of the room. It just stayed there, untouched, without changing position for the past few sessions until one night E announced before our led class that we would be practicing using ear plugs.

A little discomfited, I stood on my mat and watched curiously as my classmates went for the Play Doh container, nonchalantly began moulding small portions of clay and then carefully sealing their outer ears with the Play Doh. Oh, the many applications of Play Doh! It was plain to see that this was alien to me as E came over to explain that this was how they learned to tune in and focus on breathing while practicing yoga.

I was eager and willing and aspire to be a “connoisseur” of breath. As soon as my ears were covered it seemed like I had plunged into a pool: things sounded distant and muffled but my breath was crisp and clear. I was amused and fascinated at how audible my breathing was in my head and the calming effect it instantly had on me. Since we were also instructed to move as one, the whole exercise was also effective in teaching us to be patient and considerate of others.

Love, love, love how multi-faceted Mysore practices at the shala have been. The next meeting we practiced facing each other, some with their eyes closed. For me this was another exercise in cultivating patience, consideration, concentration and even humility.

Om.

hOMe is where the heart is

hOMe is where I practise now. Edith's shala as Art fondly calls it. On the 4th floor of a ladies dormitory a few minutes away from my house.

This is where I have been re-learning Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga after a long hiatus. It's not anymore just knowing which asanas come next or when to engage the bandhas, nor how to get into the full pose but really remembering that it is the breath that moves the body and circularly breathing with no stops to reach that infinite, unlimited potential.

Also keeping in mind to come back to zero, to neutral to Samasthiti after each pose. Samasthiti is Sthira Sukha Asanam when you ask yourself if you have the equanimity to go to the next pose.

Remembering also to lead with the heart on the inhalation and on the exhalation lead with the head.

My Mysore practice last weekend was a completely new experience for me. For one, I got to practice the full primary series (full, counted vinyasa) with Becky. She and Edith were kind enough to assist and adjust me in my problem poses. I felt like a dork beside her--my timing was off, my breathing was off, still I enjoyed the practice so much because it opened my eyes to a more gentle and natural style of practicing Ashtanga Yoga, the way these two teachers learned it from John Scott who, in turn, learned it traditionally from Guruji himself.

hOMe is also a place which encourages meaningful discussion. I simply love how Edith always urges practitioners to quietly state their intentions after the opening mantra and before practice. For her, with each inhalation she comes closer to God-whether he/she is Yahweh, Allah or Buddha—and God comes to her with the exhalation.

So good to be hOMe!

Meet my chakra

I saw my chakra and it was blue.  I later discovered that this is known as the Vishuddha or the throat chakra. It happened during Savasana after practice. I lay there positively satiated by my practice when my teacher, who is also a Reiki healer, ever so subtlely positioned her warm hands over my joints and finally upon my closed eyes. The light shade of blue I saw was at once calming and enhanced the "superior" Savasana I was already enjoying.

Intrigued I read up on the chakras. Mine I found out relates to communication and growth through expression. No surprise that this is my dominant chakra as I've had many, many years working in media! Visuddha is located in the throat area where the thyroid hormone, responsible for growth and maturation, is produced. Symbolised by a lotus with sixteen petals, Vishudda governs self-expression and communication, emotionally it governs independence, mentally it governs fluent thought, and spiritually, it governs a sense of security.

There are seven other chakras, or energy centres located within the subtle body and are aligned and ascending in a column that spans from the base of the spine to the middle of the forehead. And the seventh which is beyond the physical region found at the crown of the head.

Our chakras whirl around in a vortex and when they are open, bright and clean, then our chakra system is balanced. When a chakra becomes blocked, damaged, or muddied with residual energy, then our physical and emotional health can be affected. Often this occurs habitually as the result of negative or incomplete belief systems. The effects of our habits, feelings, beliefs, thoughts, fears and desires can be found in our chakras. Practicing yoga promotes the balance between chakras.

According to spiritual websites I've browsed if you "close off" your emotions because they're painful or overwhelming, your heart chakra is likely to become tight and closed and block emotional energy. If you, on the other hand, are extremely centered in your intellect, you may have a bulging and bright third eye chakra but a disproportionately small heart chakra or root chakra or womb chakra. Or perhaps you're cerebrally focused on finding answers to deep questions about "reality."

These are the seven primary chakras:

Muladhara (Sanskrit: मूलाधार, Mūlādhāra) Base or Root Chakra (last bone in spinal cord *coccyx*)
Swadhisthana (Sanskrit: स्वाधिष्ठान, Svādhiṣṭhāna) Sacral Chakra (ovaries/prostate)
Manipura (Sanskrit: मणिपूर, Maṇipūra) Solar Plexus Chakra (navel area)
Anahata (Sanskrit: अनाहत, Anāhata) Heart Chakra (heart area)
Vishuddha (Sanskrit: विशुद्ध, Viśuddha) Throat Chakra (throat and neck area)
Ajna (Sanskrit: आज्ञा, Ājñā) Brow or Third Eye Chakra (pineal gland or third eye)
Sahasrara (Sanskrit: सहस्रार, Sahasrāra) Crown Chakra (Top of the head; 'Soft spot' of a newborn)

Ancient texts documenting the chakras date back as far as the later Upanishads, such as the Yoga Kundalini Upanishad with the following translation below:
 

Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad

Translated by K. Narayanasvami Aiyar

Om ! May He protect us both together; may He nourish us both together;
May we work conjointly with great energy,

May our study be vigorous and effective;

May we not mutually dispute (or may we not hate any).

Om ! Let there be Peace in me !
Let there be Peace in my environment !
Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me !

Om.

Yoga Sutra 1.33: See Yourself in Others

Just like the ancient yogis, I have been practicing in a cave it seems. Alone, with no energy to share and none to receive. I have not been able to go to the shala because my yaya left suddenly so my yoga has been home-based. But thanks to the internet, I haven't completely become a hermit and have been able to communicate with others. I learned something valuable from someone sympathetic to my troubles and problems.


She said, when practicing inhale all the earth's goodness and exhale all its' impurities. My breath has been longer, deeper and well more pleasurable as opposed to strained. Also to calm down my inner "turbulence" she reminds me about Yoga Sutra 1.33: Maitri karuna mudita upeksanam sukha duhkha punya apunya visayanam bhavanatah cittaprasadanam.


In English:

“In daily life we see people around who are happier than we are, people who are less happy. Some may be doing praiseworthy things and others causing problems. Whatever may be our usual attitude toward such people and their actions, if we can be pleased with others who are happier than ourselves, compassionate toward those who are unhappy, joyful with those doing praiseworthy things, and remain undisturbed by the errors of others, our minds will be very tranquil.” - Translation by TKV Desikachar


Or:

“To preserve the innate serenity of the mind, a yogin should be happy for those who are happy, be compassionate toward those who are unhappy, be delighted for those who are virtuous and be indifferent toward the wicked.” -  Translation by Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati

Grateful

This is where I have been practising recently. On the corner of Sgt. Esguerra and Sct. Borromeo. So grateful for finding a shala nearby, learning from a very generous teacher and sharing energies with such a fun-loving yet serious group of practitioners. Om.