Ashtanga POWER yoga at the lounge
You may have read about the recent passing of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. He died May 18that the age of 93 and was the founder of Ashtanga Yoga. His passing is significant in the yoga community because he developed a form of yoga that is unique in its intensity and therapeutic qualities.The Ashtanga community is tight knit since Ashtanga practitioners are typically very devoted to the practice due to its physically demanding nature. As one teacher told me, “Ashtanga is not something you can dabble in.”
Ashtanga is a form of hatha yoga in the vinyasa style, meaning the postures flow one to another using vinyasas, or mini sun salutations, to connect them and you continue thorough without pausing in order to retain the heat. It is also a prescribed sequence, so you perform the same postures in the same order each time, with specific cuing on breath and rhythm. The pacing is considered an important part of the practice therefore you work through the series the best you can, sometimes attaining a posture, sometimes not, but always keeping on the with the breath and the sequence, striving to complete the Primary Series (first sequence) in 1.5 hours.
There are four series and many people practice the Primary series for years before mastering it. The discipline dictates you do not progress to the next series until the previous one is mastered and this is required to limit injuries, as each series gets progressively deeper and more difficult. The series were defined by Pattabhi Jois, and now his grandson, Sarath, at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India. The series have great appeal and all of the now popular forms of power yoga or gym yoga have been developed using the vinyasa and power postures of Ashtanga yoga.
Some people wonder what can be so interesting about a defined sequence. Doesn’t it get boring to do the same postures, in the same way over, and over? The surprising fact is, it is never the same. Sometimes you feel incredibly open and flexible and the vinyasas, backbends and balance postures come easily. Sometimes you are very strong and easily power through the standing postures but then struggle with the surrender required for the deep stretches. When all of the components come together: strength, concentration, flexibility, balance, lightness of being, your practice transcends what you thought was possible.
Ashtanga is a study in body awareness like no other. If the sequence is the same, what is changing in my body, my mind, my emotions and my environment to make things so different? Ashtanga has taught me many lessons about what works best for me on the mat: a calm mind, release of expectations, disinterest in the outcome, not trying too hard, patience and trust in the process, and these lessons prove immeasurably helpful in my work and social life as well. Each time I practice, a gift is presented to me.
We lost a great teacher in Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and my heart reaches out to those who knew him personally. I am grateful to him for his dedication to yoga, his passion for teaching, and especially his diligent efforts to bring the practice to the west. His students now become the teachers and his legacy continues. He was often quoted as saying, “Practicing and all is coming.” I agree.
Mary Lasky
Note: We will be adding power yoga class to the lounge calendar starting September 15.
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