Breathshare

breathshare

The name breathshare

signifies a connection with all beings that breathe in some way. Plants, animals (human and non-human)…

Breathshare

doesn’t have a curriculum or agenda for peace or the end of suffering by any method of austere, academic or devotional orientation. Not even just a sign for those who reflect even for a second, it only suggests a matrix of hopefulness that exists as present as any darkness around us.

The cartoon image of meditation is not intended to be cynical, mocking, patronizing, sarcastic or deluding. Observing the breath is simple and difficult but it also brings lightness and stability. The image is imbalanced, awkward, asymmetrical and primarily infantile.  It is also fun, colorful, serene and happy.

Personally, it is a presentation of the lessening fear of showing that I have some aspiration to peace, non-violence, honesty, courage, love and a faith with-in from which there is an attempt to express those qualities to others.

Almost sixteen years ago I began sitting cross-legged and observing or at least trying to observe my breath through the nostrils and the movements of the body connected with the course of the breath. Along with readings and teachings from many monks, yoga teachers, doctors, counselors, teachers, activists, social workers, healers, priests, native elders, spiritual teachers, friends, co-workers, and family etc, the common connection to breathing that we share became a strong, viable truth. Now I try to bring awareness to breathing in day-to-day activities i.e. cleaning, cooking, walking, standing, waiting and communicating. It doesn’t always work and I have a lot of practicing to do. It helps to bring clarity to my mind so that I can see clearly before me where I am and make choices that won’t create more trouble for myself.

I like gatherings where people connect by joining hands or doing yogasana or performing some symbolic act simultaneously with others around the world. Perhaps one day we can all sit down at a given time on our “mat”… this earth… and just breathe 10 breaths or so together. Isn’t it time we had a breather?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owFjEh6xxEA

We do breathe together and it is this breath which slows us down and makes us take notice as well:

…the others in our life and their connection to this breathing tapestry of nature…

Aum Likhita Japa

Aum is mentioned in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali first at

1.27. “tasya vacakah pranavah” ” the expression of that(ishvara) is Aum or  pranava”

Likhita Japa is a form of mantra recitation (japa) that can be written out  repeatedly on paper, metal, cloth or other materials. Since most malas (garland or rosary) used for counting during  mantra japa saddhana contain 108 beads I have chosen 108 times to write out the symbol AUM.

Ashtanga Practice

Here’s another video of part of my daily practice:

Astanga Healing Journal

These are just practice videos I have taken so I can observe my practice. They aren’t intended as instructional videos nor as performance demos. After several years of daily practice I realize that the real journal of our practice is in the physical and energetic bodies and in the mind.

 

bhujapidasana to kurmasana

Here is a link to my flickr site. This video clip shows part of the primary series practice. Bhujapidasana, or arm pressure pose and then the vinyasa thru to  kurmasana.

bhujapidasana to kurmasana a video by breathshare on Flickr.

Surya Namaskara A/B

Surya Namaskara A

Surya Namskara B

Teacher

    I have been reading a lot of novels recently. Mainly because they seem to be more insightful than the yoga books I have been reading.  I need to practice though and often we get caught up the information and knowledge that is gained through the artificial media that we forget, or give up on, the real practices that generate knowledge that is more sublime and attained through practicing and not through reading.

Reading a book and writing have certain positives to them. But they are symbols to focus on and soon have to be discarded or released to enter a stream of faith, wonder and mysticism that is persistently awakening , joyous and loving truth.

My first yoga teacher said not to read fiction. This was usually in reference to a discussion on how to practice or cultivate truthfulness “Satya“. At first I thought  he was correct since fiction is a fabrication of the truth and as such deluding. But non-fiction is incomplete, as we see from the continuing debate of old theorems, historical accounts, philosophy, ethics and so on. Of course  eternal truth is never a best-seller forever and it is in the process of discovery, rethinking, re-inventing that  learning and knowledge can be witnessed.

Books are just rectangular solids of thin paper bound together on one side with various markings of ink in some pattern. Not reading fiction then may mean not reading anything without the awareness of the true nature of the object of your reading. A computer screen, a book, a manual, a newspaper, a road sign etc.

How many times have you read a book on spirituality or about the nature of truth or reality and it begins by saying that truth cannot be expressed in words? Or the true path to liberation, freedom , enlightenment is not attained by merely reading a book about it. Quite often this revelation appears in the first few lines or page of such books. Normally after I read it I feel like, “ yeah your right “ and place the book back on the shelf.

Similarly, there are several yoga books authored by many famous and highly regarded teachers that repeatedly emphasize the need to learn from a teacher. And, that yoga cannot be learned through a book or DVD. Then why are they making so many books and DVD’S about yoga? Don’t we have enough already?! Surely with all the books, DVD’s etc. on yoga that are available do we really need someone to write another one? Is it necessary for us to know that a teacher is  a good teacher because he/she wrote this or that book or made this DVD?

I want to stop writing in this blog. Recently, I spent 2 weeks wandering around the city after deciding to leave the place I had been in for almost 3 years. To lighten my load I threw out several journals that contained quotes, notes, diary entries, training documentation and short stories, poetry and other creations. I threw them in a BFI bin. I have thrown out many journals over the years. I have been writing since I was fifteen and eventually it occurs that this writing, the process of writing at least… is… the act in itself reveals ….

Oh, I forgot!…

… I also had compiled a book of the whole Yoga Sutras with each separate Sanskrit word written underneath with defn’s based on several interpretations and commentaries (mostly modern) that I read and re-read over last 4-5 years. I was hoping that this could be the only book I needed to carry around with me and I still feel somewhat it is really all I need. Certainly not this big clunky, dusty laptop.

Unfortunately, it is not what other people need. Other people need certificates, resumes, posters, proposal applications, insurance forms..

proof, proof, proof

that I was, am and will be a teacher.

Proof that my passion is here in yoga;

that I am attached to it;

that I am dependent on it;

that I am manipulated by its excess;

its lack;

its exclusion;

it’s presence

and

can be rescued through my attraction to its  form

or

cast down by my thirst for its illusion.

OK. let’s say I’m not a teacher,

but neither are any of the people who have shared their information with me either. I mean there is a teacher. There is an ideal of a teacher. Strong, sure, graceful, loving, understanding, clear, true, friendly, indifferent, honest, sensitive, powerful, compassionate, respectful, inspiring, present, all-knowing, nurturing, motivating, healing and many other qualities. I always tell those who attend my classes that the breath is the teacher, at least for the duration of the class. More importantly it is the attentiveness of the practitioner to his or her own self-discovery that creates learning. The teacher’s words, directions and comments are guidelines based on their own practice and are limited by the dualism of language which can’t expres intuitive awareness.

I didn’t say the practice was going to make you immortal. I didn’t say you wouldn’t feel pain. I did say that I believed it to be a pathway to healing. I said follow and trust your breath and use that as a guide as to how much you should do in the practice. If you do the practice then you get results from how you do it.

So  forget my students then and me as teacher…

me…

Where am I?

Happy. Excited. Inspired. Devoted. Obsessed  Confused. Angry. Depressed. Same as most people …  A little sure of how I feel but frustrated at the lack of attention I get or more so the lack of direct honest response I get from people. Same as most people….

Wondering….

Am I direct and honest with people? Can people rely on me?

Why do I always reverse the judgements I express about others back onto me?

Is anything going to be perfect? It is perfect for God…

                                                                                                     Oh… GOD?!

Yeah cause God knows everything and is the seed of all knowledge.

PYS 1.25 Tatra niratishayam sarvagjnabhijam.

Is that why people don’t like “God” or don’t believe there is a God or in God because if there was then they would be happy and not suffer as if that was a condition on who God is. As if God were responsible for my or your happiness.

I do find things in my readings that resonate with me. Recently the best example of this is from:

 the Numerical Discourses of the Buddha.

The “Upajjhtthana  Sutta”

“The discourse of the five contemplations for everyone.” 

 

1. I am sure to grow old
2. I  am sure to become ill
3. I am sure to die
4. I am sure to be separated from all that is dear to me
5. I am the owner of my actions, heir of my actions, actions are the source from which I am now present.

I feel my body sometimes in its form. The toes, the legs, ankles, knees, and thighs. The hips and pelvis. The places where my intestines and organs may be. The chest and ribs and lungs and the asymmetry of my lungs and off-centred heart. The neck and inside of my skull, tongue and mouth while lying and breathing. Sometimes the consciousness of this breaks away from the reoccurring thoughts and recollections of others whose voices, faces, names and forms re-appear and disappear like the images of passing clouds or swells of traffic.

Here you are Andrew. The choices that you have made in your life have brought you to this place.

                          what about your faith?

Your faith in some pure consciousness or god that will help you. That is always there for you to touch and know and seek refuge in. I like God. I believe in God. I think God is as real as any thing. I believe that God is not only all-knowing but is all loving too. That God loves me if I let God in to my heart and wait for God to appear to me.

Yes, that’s it. I just have to wait for God to appear to me. To feel God’s love for me.

How can I know what God is like? Do I know what god feels like in me? If God is love then have I had any experiences in my own life where I have felt this love?

I saw a dog attack a crow in the field at a park and injure it’s wing. The dog’s owner tried to get the dog to stop but not after the crow had its right wing injured. I tried to go after it, but it limped off and after returning to get my bags it had disappeared.  I called some local agencies to see what I could do but I couldn’t find it anywhere…

I know I have felt pain or worry or a sense of compassion for others sometimes. Especially when I see them in pain. Recently the crow being attacked. When I see some birds or other animals around me I stop to talk or just be in their presence because they are so small and beautiful. I feel some sort of love for them but I wonder is this maybe some misguided innocent fascination? How about with humans?  Less rarely but still sometimes, I stop and talk with humans or sometimes just hang out in their presence because we are so small and beautiful.

Feeling pain in the presence of other’s suffering or feeling pain at some loss in one’s life… is this a sign of the presence of love or the ability to love and feel love? Certainly, I have felt the pain of loss at not being able to see or talk with my daughter.

How many times have I cried while feeling some painful or loving compassionate connection to my father’s pain or understanding my mother’s pain or the pain of others whose suffering is familiar to me?  This understanding comes to me through he practices I do daily; through self-examination or meditation.

Sometimes I lament and complain and have even complained to God, “why me?!”.

Or…. “Please god give me a break…” But this means I am not with God . I guess I expect God to be always there following me but if God is all knowing and all powerful etc. then shouldn’t I be the one that should be following and with God always.

God is just a word for me that is a sign post along the path to understanding. It is something I focus on and work on developing like a gardener develops a plot and plants or how artists mold clay pots or a carpenter builds a house or parents raise a child.

I know everyone has an idea, more or less developed, about who or what God is or isn’t

or

nether is nor isn’t

or

is and isn’t…. and so on.

I could easily just as well focus on a Clay pot for this search for truth.

Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad Fifth Adhyaya 1st Brahmana

                                                                                  “Om!

                                                            The yon is fulness; fulness, this.   

                                                      From fulness, fulness doth proceed.

                                                    Withdrawing fulness’s fulness off,

                                                     E’en fulness then itself remains.”

 

                                                        Om purnam adah purnam idam

                                                          Purnat purnam udachyate

                                                        Purnasya purnam aadaaya

                                                        Purnam eva avishishyate

                                                         Om shanti shanti shanti

 

 

I can’t seem to find it anywhere but I do remember imagery of the pieces of a clay pot being used to describe the notions of non-difference and difference.  Like a piece of a hologram that has all the information of the whole picture were we able to examine it that closely.

the pieces of clay pot being made of the same materials as the whole clay pot itself.

The usefulness of the whole clay pot is in the empty  space it creates to  carry, store, receive, contain etc.

Without the material and the effort of the potter there would of course be no space.

Sometimes we’re Humpty Dumpty. Sometimes we’re the royal subjects that help. Sometimes were the horse or clouds in the sky that day or tree and birds near-by. Indifferent observer, ignorant passer-by, transcendent spirit or concerned loyal yet unable friend.

Some days when this clay pot piece of mine refuses to submit to this  haste of will, I approach Jeremiah with intention to destroy the beauty I’ve molded from previous practice.

… despite a sheen of holographic glaze

….the fire latent interferes the wInd

“Forget it! …then I can’t bend .. friend… not your foe..

“Forget it!… “I’m through with trying to shape you… you weaken in descent and crack in furious ascendance

                                 

Only the warm wind can blend the sand and water earth and fire

 

                                                                   

                                       into this still-life

with fruit

More “Your Mat”

Today, I washed my cotton mat. I clean it regularly. At the laundromat. I have even cleaned it by hand. Sometimes I throw it in the drier and sometimes I hang it to dry. Sometimes I don’t use it in my practice at all.  A mat that I  bought in Mysore, India at the Krisna Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute. It’s just a mat, but it does remind me of my teachers. It almost seems like a cobblestone brick piece that fits in the building of some road or path.  Or even a patch ready to be sewn  into the quilt. Most of time it is  just a large heavy piece of cotton that helps absorb sweat and provide some friction and softness to the practice. It also, as myself and probably many yoga neighbors over the years have noticed, carries the residues of past practices. Smell, dried skin, hair, lint and maybe even a trickle of blood. In Mysore, I saw and experienced the crowded tradition of yoga culture. Knees overlapping to the next mat in Baddha Konasana, smelling the heal of the foot of someone in Supta Padanghuastasana B or more recently, at Kino’s workshop, kicking over a friend while jumping into Bhujapidasana. How many times did I receive and administer a kick-to-the forehead from the jump back into Chaturangadandasana?

When, I went to South Korea and later even India, a grown man of a vast prairie “town” (Winnipeg), traveling for the first time to the overpopulated cities of Asia, I immediately felt suffocated, imposed upon and a loss of privacy and space. Many of the Korean people I met, either laughed at the foreigner’s frustration at the closeness of the lifestyle. Others were strangely aloof and dismayed.  Even though Vancouverites consider it the “big city”, it in no way compares to the lack of space in Seoul. Now I find I don’t want as much space. With the help of yoga and meditation training I learned to cope with the lack of opportunity for my conditioned  forms of true, free expression in a foreign crowded city and the inability to physically escape into the observance and immersion of blue skies, freshwater lakes or rivers, starry nights or endless fields and meadows wild…

(you know the words)…

I have always been interested in my soul’s relationship with nature and the physical world. Since my youth, I have written poetry, composed music and stories and made artwork. It has always been an important way for me to find a healing voice or expression for some magnificent faith I feel in a notion of existing pure spirit. I have been through many trainings of physical discipline such as competitive basketball, swimming, triathlon and now yoga and meditation.  The poetic truth of the Yoga Sutras and the effort and exertion required to achieve the grace and stillness of yogasana practice resonated with my search for the harmonious resolution of these two aspects of my life. Instead of always looking out for refuge, for peace, for love… through focus on the body and the breath and with the guiding chart of Sage Patanjali’s wise aphoristic matrix there is more clarity. Cleaning.

PYS II.40  sauca svanga jugupsa pariah asamsargah

with practice of purity comes the aversion of the body and  contact with others

The result of this seems to be more concerned with the potential of the body to generate realization of spirit and eternal values, as well as a natural development of non-physically based relationships with others.

I can speak, read and write Korean, French and English and have studied and used ASL in past employment positions.  As a residential care worker and teaching assistant involved with youth and adults with incredible challenges to express and communicate with others, I was fortunate to see hope in the devotion  and determination of these people with whom I explored, developed  and created  language and communication skills and techniques. We used bliss boards, ASL basic signs and for one Autistic Adult Man documented, translated and created a glossary of english words and phrases based on his gestures and sounds that he repeated. Sometimes communication meant hugging or intense pressure applied to the head or body.

Much of my time was also spent in direct physical care of people. i.e. washing, showering, lifting, carrying, hugging and restraining, brushing teeth and combing hair among other often disagreeable tasks.  Mostly these relationships helped to bring about a profound change towards more contentment and finding meaning and happiness in immeasurable feelings of joyous true connection with another being.  Now with yoga, I see a simple common medium not only for expression and self-reflection but also for communication, healing and strengthening trust and peace with oneself and with other individuals and community.

These relationships were intensely physical and intimate but with an intent to reach over a vast void of mutually shared language. Connection was strongly based on allaying fear, showing patience and respect, perseverance and a sense of humor. But the resulting relationship was significantly profound, as the need to connect and understand resulted in a unique trust based on the aforementioned values and not as many relationships begin, based on physical intimacy, comfort and pleasure or one’s sullied by the conditions of money, authority, fear of admonition or punishment.

My teaching experience varies from coaching basketball and masters swimming; teaching CPR/First-Aid workshops; organic urban gardening; ESL for adults and kids; and finally Yoga. I have also been active as  a performer of original kid’s and contemporary folk music performing in cafes, theatres and music festivals in Canada and, through the vehicle of song and chanting,  in many ESL and Yoga lessons. Teaching for me,  inevitably involves  trying to connect to who is the teacher  and to lead classes from that mystical source.

Now my mat is clean again. Dry and a little stiff. Sort of how I felt after this morning’s frolic through the vinyasa of  Vamana Rishi’s ashtanga  masterpiece…

Master

peace

Om

Your Mat II

Were there mats?

The sidewalk. A cement pad beside a fountain. The lawn near the beach. A pagoda in a park. A room in a homeless shelter. My sister’s backyard. A high school foootball field. A small closet size rented room(go si won) in downtown Seoul. A kindergarten classroom during lunchtime. The fireplace lounge of a mountain chalet resort beside my teacher. The observation deck at a swimming pool. A pool deck.  A weight room floor. A hallway in a Rec centre. An outdoor basketball court. A outdoor tennis court. A rubber/cement composite pad amongst a kids playground set. The roof top of a brownstone. A flat rock at the top of a mountain. A wide wooden park bench. My friend’s kitchen while her mom made us supper. Outside a Buddhist Mountain Monastery. In a narrow space behind my friend’s couch. Again on the sidewalk.  A skating rink (summer time). Beside the Han River, the Cauvery River, the Fraser River. Outside train stations, outside subway stations, in an airport terminal, outside a ferry terminal…

“Sa tu dirgha kala nairantarya satkara asevito drdha bhumih” PYS 1.14

Yet this practice … an uninterrupted truthful action, for a long time pursued…  is firmly grounded.

Ashtanga

Ashtanga Yoga or Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is a breathing/movement practice method that incorporates energy locks and focal points in which (asana) postures are linked by moving with a deep, directed breathing method in  precisely ordered sequences. An intense internal heat is created that releases toxins from tissues; stimulates production of hormones; increases circulation to joints; and purifies the body, emotions, mind and spirit. Ashtanga literally means eight limbs and is derived from the root “astau” – eight and “anga” – limb. It refers to the disciplined path of a practitioner as outlined in the second Pada of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras .

The eight limbs enumerated in these Sutras:

 Yama – Guidelines on behaviour in one’s relationship with one’s environment.

Niyama – Attitudes and practices that are developed to purify the mind and attitude of the Sadhaka (practitioner).

Asana – Physical postures

Pranyama – Energy Control through control of one’s breathing and prana (bio-energy)

Pratyahara – Withdrawal/detachment from or disinterest in objects of sense; the act of sensing; and/or our sense organs

Dharana – Concentration

Dhyana – Meditation

Samadhi – Transcendence of Duality/Absorption.

 The contemporary form of Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga evolves from a system that was developed by Sri K Pattabhi Jois under the guidance of his guru Sri T. Krisnamacarya. Sri T. Krisnamacarya  is also the guru of BKS Iyengar, Indra Devi, BNS Iyengar and Deshikacar (his son), each of whom developed individual styles of yoga influenced mainly through their guru’s teaching. In turn these teachers unique approaches to Krisnamacarya’s teaching have influenced greatly, the course of evolution of modern postural yoga.

Sri K Pattabhi Jois began his studies with his guru  a few years after seeing a demonstration with some of Krisnamacarya’s students in 1927. According to current accounts, Krisnamacarya’s knowledge of “vinyasa” was imparted to him from his teacher, Rama Mohan Bramacarya, and from a text called the Yoga Korunta which is attributed to the ancient sage Vamana Rishi. It is said to have contained lists of groupings of asana and details of practices regarding vinyasa (i.e. precise counted sequencing of asana breathing and movement), bandha or energy locks and drishti or focal points as well information on mudras and philosophy. No copy of the book presently exists and the validity of its existence is frequently questioned. The order of vinyasa continues to evolve and has changed and developed throughout the years. For example, Krisnamacarya  may have had students practice several asana/vinyasa on one side before switching to the other side. The current ashtanga sequence in the tradition of Sri.K.Pattabhi Jois are set and following the correct order and “vinyasa” count provides opportunities for involuted awareness and focus approaching a meditative state. 

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois opened the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India in 1948 and continued to teach this method of yoga in the tradition of Guru Parampara or disciplic succession. Since that time many western students have made regular pilgrimages to Mysore to receive his teachings and help spread the practice of, not only Ashtanga Yoga, but yoga and Indian Philosophy, Religion, Mysticism, Ayurvedic Medicine and Indian Culture to the west in contemporary times. It is from this time and location that “Mysore Style” practice developed.

“Mysore Style” is a self-practice method that reflects the teaching style of Sri T. Krisnamacarya . Individualized instruction, guidance, adjustments and progress is a characteristic of this method that allows the student to develop at their own pace, according to their own abilities.  As there is a unique, yet similiar, relationship between each student and the teacher,  distractions such as competition and comparison with other students is lessened. 

Most important to the practice is the cultivation of Ujyaii breathing. Awareness of the breath rather than concern for performance ofthe external form of asana is constantly given priority in learning this method. This is what makes,  Ashtanga practice and yogasana in general,  more than just a physical exercise. Through proper breathing all other aspects of the practice, including flexibility, energy control, focus, steadiness and strength develop. By focussing on breathing qualities we naturally connect the body with the mind and inner being and a deeper knowledge of ourselves begins to manifest in our lives. The Ujyaii breathing method involves a slight contriction of the muscles around the glottis, which narrows the stream of the breath. The main respiratory muscle, the diaphragm, and its role in the breathing process, is recognized and strengthened. “Ujyaii” is a sankrit term that can be interpreted as meaning “upwardly victorious” as it develops a lightness in the body and encourages the upward flow of energy.

  The practice of asana comes first in this style despite it being the third limb of the “ashtanga” referred to in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. There are many interpretations to the sutras regarding practice and the Ashtanga method. As “anga” is more closely regarded as limb,  there is no step-by-step progress, but rather a movement towards a better idea of “self-knowledge” through the reciprocal and supportive aspects of all limbs. Rather than think in terms of absolutes, I believe the degree of discovery and frequency of occurrence are better guideposts to follow. Below is a brief explanation as to the reasons behind doing asana first in the Ashtanga Vinyasa method.

 “[T]he practice of asana is spoken of in the shastras – aasanam poorvam uchyate – as coming first. Why? We do not have enough energy in the body; the body is very weak. We do not have the listening power to comprehend things clearly. If we have enough shakti, energy, then it is possible to get things accomplished. That is why we must first do asana (Jois, Nama Rupa p. 10, Spring 2003).

Traditionally, according to the Mysore method, following the opening Mantra chant, one begins by learning the two Sun Salutations – Surya Namaskara A and B – each with 9 and 17 vinyasa respectively. After that, Standing and  Seated Asana  Sequences are learnt one asana at a time with the corresponding vinyasa. The practitioner performs each asana and vinyasa to an acceptable level under the guidance of his/her guru before moving on to the next in the sequence. At some point the practitioner will be stopped by the teacher at one asana. The reason for stopping at a particular asana may be a combination of the degree of ability to perform the asana, the student’s energy level, the state of mind or attitude of the practitioner and length of commitment to the practice, as well as other factors. Then some variation of padmasana is done, an attempt to lift into Utpluthih before returning to samasthitih. The closing mantra is chanted followed by one cycle of Surya Namaskara A and then resting on one’s back .

This method is passed on orally direct from guru to student, “Guru Parampara”. An Ashtanga practitioner learns the vinyasa sequences in order until he/she becomes not only proficient in the performance of each asana but more importantly learns and commits to memory the exact count and order of vinyasa that link one asana to the next. Many teachers and long time practitioners are fond of saying that vinyasa is not in between asana but that asana are pauses in between vinyasa as if to emphasize the importance and prominence of vinyasa in the practice. The complete Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga practice consists of 3 Series: Primary, Intermediate and Advanced, the latter having been subsequently broken down into four separate series Advanced A,B,C,D. Primary Series is called “Yoga Chikitsa” which means yoga therapy. The Intermediate Series is called Nadi Sodhana or “nerve cleansing” and the Advanced Series(A,B,C,D) is called Sthira Bhaga which means “steady strength”. All series begin with Surya Namaskar A and B and Standing Vinyasa and end with the Finishing Sequence following Urdhva Dhanurasana. The student will often practice the Primary Series solely for many months before moving on  to attempt new asana in the Intermediate series. Once the student moves on to the Intermediate series his/her Primary practice, in whole or in part, continues both as a preliminary to the Intermediate practice and as well as being practiced at least once weekly on its own –  usually in a class led by a qualified instructor. There are many exceptions and variations to teaching even amongst Authorized and Senior teachers. However the Vinyasa/Asana sequence remains relatively the same. The self-practice method is also a characteristic that practitoners will find common amongst teachers and Ashtanga studios.

Ashtanga classes and traditional vinyasa sequences are led and taught by many teachers and studios around the world.  Students at the beginning or early stages of practice are encouraged to learn under the guidance of teacher who has a deep, long practice and has sought out instruction and guidance from senior teachers.  The Ashtanga/Vinyasa system as taught by Sri K Pattabhi Jois and his followers is not the only strain of Vinyasa style  yoga that emerged from Krisnamacarya’s tutelage,  although it is certainly the one of the most popular and well-known . Many teachers both in India and around the world have developed vinyasa style practices that incorporate many similar aspects of the modern Ashtanga system (e.g. Sri Vasta Ramaswami). Common to all seems to be the emphasis on breath awareness, vinyasa or breath and movement harmony in counted exact sequences, and daily regular practice under the guidance of an experienced teacher.

The Primary series, which follows Surya Namaskar A, B and the Standing Sequences, consists mainly of forward bends. It’s function is to cleanse and strengthen the internal organs of the body, as well as body tissue. The purification process is a result of an intense internal heat and sweating induced by the practice of vinyasa , Ujjayii breathing and the application of Moolabandha and Uddiyana bandha. The application of Uddiyana bandha and Moolabandha prevents the downward flow the energy released during the performance of vinyasa and asana while the Ujjayii breath fuels the “fire” developing in the core of the body. The friction caused by the subtle constriction of the muscles near the glottis warms the incoming air flow,  tranferring this warmth to the blood. This in turns loosens tissues that release toxins and increases the flow of oxygen and nutrients to areas that, heretofore, may have been receiving an insufficient supply. The toxins are released through sweating that is also a result of the heat produced. Although, “Primary” may be interpreted as “first”, the therapeutic nature of this series (Yoga Chikitsa) also conveys the notion of  “primary in importance”.

The practice begins with an opening mantra dedicated to the Sage Patanjali, the medium through whom the yoga sutras have been conveyed.