Asana is firmness of body, steadiness of intelligence and benevolence of spirit. |2. 46|
Perfection in an asana is achieved when the effort to perform it becomes effortless and the infinite being within is reached. |2. 47|
B. K. S. Iyengar Light on The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali
It has been quite rightly said that Americans love to punish themselves. This is easily seen in everything from fitness fanaticism, driving daily commutes, credit debt, extreme diet trends, and prescription drug addictions just to name a few.
With such willingness to endure pain on multiple levels, one might wonder why Ashtanga Vinyasa (A.K.A. "yoga therapy") is considered the "agro" style, even among yoga studio groupies?
Barring many variables, here is a mostly tongue-in-cheek look at what a beginner may perceive as intimidating.
1) It requires students to learn things.
The sequences are constructed in a logical pattern.* Somewhat like a karate kata, it always starts the same way and follows the same series of poses to the end. To get past the initial struggle a student must learn the sequences appropriate for them. This works best if someone practices between classes.
Ashtanga studios tend to run short Introductory class series and then funnel beginners into the Mysore classroom/open practice group, perhaps with a sheet of paper that has little illustrations of the asana flow. This is to support students as they creating their own relationship with the practice. In the Mysore classroom everyone can move through the poses in their own timing. This is where many students learn progressions and modifications, and create a relationship with the Mysore teacher/s.
Some beginners feel disoriented after too short of an introduction, or that the teacher is looming over them to make sure they don't miss important alignment features. If a student doesn't want to learn the sequence, just wants to follow, this approach turns them off.
Any one of the segments (see asterisk below) throws down the gauntlet of challenge to all new practitioners, even the most athletic, flexible and strong. No matter how many Vinyasa Flow, Bikram, Iyengar, Yin and/or Kundalini practices a person has done, "Ashtanga catches everyone somewhere," as my Second Series teacher once told me.
She is so right. If a person needs to believe they can master movements within the first few tries it's going to be an ego blow. If a person HATES downward facing dog, or back bending, or shoulder standing, it's going to confront limiting ideas. If a person can't manage without music playing, they're going to feel very exposed.
Yet people keep coming back day after day, year after year... back bend after back bend. Is there perhaps some truth to that second line from Iyengar's translation above?
If a first-timer stumbles upon a Lead Primary Series class they might feel overwhelmed. A "counted" class goes at such a pace one can't possibly catch a breath much less "feel the flow" in the poses, or get 5 breath cycles in before a change. One of the most popular YouTube demonstrations of The Primary Series shows 6 advanced practitioners working at K. Pattabhi Jois' counted pace. Rumor has it this was a 6 hour video session. Jois insisted on re-doing it until everyone did it correctly.
For someone who tries to learn from scratch in the Mysore classroom there is a dynamic action happening everywhere, especially with a teacher who offers hands-on physical adjustments (always makes it harder, by the way). There's always something else to do and no music to zone out on!
In any case figuring out how to "breathe into your heart, soften the bone, lengthen the muscle" among other physical improbabilities, while jockeying around props to compensate for mobility just might make one wonder "how this is helping me?" If only that new practitioner knew how far any one of the other students in the room has come...
More accurately, it's a no-nonsense crowd with a perfectionist personality type. Vinyasa refers to the specific coordination of movement, breath and visual focus that sets up the flow. If someone is following the convention (the way it was taught in Mysore, India, by K. Pattabhi Jois) every inhale is accounted for, each exhale has a specific purpose, and the eyes move among 9 dristi (gazing points). A "type A" person revels in the precision and potential perfection of any one practice session.
Mysore classes are usually early in the day before work. The practice time is a 2- to 4-hour window. Some students will arrive early and finish before the next wave comes in. Practitioners generally have no time to chat before, during or after. People who have been changed by Ashtanga Vinyasa might hold to the convention of practicing 6 days/week whenever possible. People become familiar with each other's rhythms over time.
A new student might see this as a particularly stand-off-ish crowd. To make friends within an Ashtanga community my suggestions are to attend Intensive Trainings, or go to any open house events held at the studio.
This presses directly on the fear of change. It's extremely likely that not every pose feels firm, steady and benevolent (Iyengar's translation again) the first 500 to 1,000 times. This is, after all, a therapy practice. If someone is gradually giving themself an injury there is some part of the mind-body unit not fully engaged. Safe and useful modifications are given in Mysore practice, as a teacher sees how students practice day after day. Looking it up and trying new things is the most effective method for learning. Which brings us back to point one, the student has to learn things.
People who are "established" in Ashtanga Vinyasa may be familiar with the transformative process that begins when physical poses lead to emotional release. The physical mechanics of this type of event are very simple: the mind has put the body into a position that it (the mind) has previously avoided, and then the body has to breathe.
The physical patterns that we use in daily life have been meticulously built, consciously or not, out of convenience. Any part of our body that we don't move regularly atrophies and collects density. Flexibility narrows and discomfort in attempting full mobilization increases until we mentally give up. One of the many benefits of Ashtanga Vinyasa is to un-train old habits and "in-build" healthy posture. This takes time, concentration and consistency.
* Sun Salutations A & B, Standing Sequence, Primary (or Intermediate, or Advanced A or Advanced B...) Series, Preparation for Closing, and Closing.
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| Found on the internet, attributed to John Scott Yoga Glyphs. My Primary Series teacher gave me something like this. Many variations of the same can be found. |
So that's my take on it. For anyone in Boulder who is curious about learning this practice, I teach an ongoing Introduction to Ashtanga class on Sundays from 10 - 11:15am at GyrotonicBodhi, 3005 Sterling Circle, Suite 100.
As always, make comment or ask questions on this post below.
Wishing peace and health to all,
Christian
