In this lifetime, I have been blessed to practice a form of yoga known as Ashtanga. The practice combines physical postures with breath, specific gazing points and engagement of energetic locks in the body to bring about a secession of the senses. The yogi retreats into an inner world as though they were in deep meditation. Ashtanga is also sometimes referred to as moving meditation.
Ashtanga burns its way through the six poisons that cripple mankind – namely kama/desire, krodha/anger, moha/delusion, lobha/greed, matsarya/envy, and mada/laziness. The breath is the main guiding force of yoga and when one starts to practice, they become aware of the subtle play of energy within the body and also around them and how the whole universe is in sort of unified dance where things work in harmony. Yoga cannot be talked about, yoga can only be experienced and once someone tries it, the yoga pulls you in and shows you a world of infinite possibilities.
The first word when attempting to describe Ashtanga would be discipline. The second word would be difficult – note that I did not say impossible. Pattabhi Jois would say: “Anyone can do yoga – the old, infirmed, weak, fit, unfit – all but lazy people.” He also used to say: “The body is not stiff, the mind is.” Indeed it is that most resistance and inflexibility, stems from the mind. Is Ashtanga, then, the best form of yoga for you? Depends on who you are.
The practice begins with an invocation to the sage Patanjali following which come a string of poses called Surya Namaskara A and B (or sun salutations), which fire up the body and cause it to sweat. The blood is then said to “boil” in the traditional texts, alchemically healing, moving out diseases, injuries and a deep detoxification takes place. The sun salutations are followed by a knit sequence of standing, seated, forward bends, back-bends and inversions. The series ends with a cool down and a closing prayer for peace.
The Ashtanga Primary Series
Movement combined with breath in between each posture is known as Vinyasa. For example, in Surya Namaskara A there are nine vinyasas. Each asana (posture) is done either on an inhalation or an exhalation. The teacher counts throughout a practice or a student has to know the count of the breath while practicing. Nothing is left to chance; it’s all been carefully crafted for the learning. The Primary Series of Ashtanga yoga, is also called Yoga Chikitsa in Sanskrit. Ashtanga has six series in total and primary is just the beginning of this magnificent practice.
There are specific poses and stringent rules on how the practice is to be done. In Ashtanga, one does not ever deviate from the set sequence. Practice is recommended six days a week with one day off for rest. There is no practice on full or new moon days or if one is menstruating. The ashtanga practice is a long-standing traditional one handed down via a lineage of gurus, which can be tracked originally to the sage Vamana Rishi and currently to the family of Shri K Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India.
The late Shri K. Pattabhi Jois and his grandson Sharath Jois (current lineage holder) in 1992
A steady ashtanga practice will reward you with a sense of infinite calm and freedom. One cannot write and express what practicing yoga feels like – only when they get on a mat and start moving and breathing can yoga be understood. As Pattabhi Jois is famous for having said: “Yoga is 99% practice and only 1% theory.” The flow of movement and breath brings about a state of being that feels like existing in another dimension altogether, one of absolute presence and absorption.
Diseases are cured and people can experience a range of reactions in the form of headaches, boils and skin eruptions, rapid weight loss etc. The dreadful stench of an ashtanga classroom can leave the senses unrivaled as people release years and years of accumulated toxins. The practitioner builds strength and becomes more confident. The general recommendation in case of injury is to modify but continue the practice. I once tore the cruciate ligament in my knee and was surprised as my teacher scolded me for missing class the next day. I did not know I would have healed if I had kept on going instead of spending the next six months hobbling about. Although sometimes I think I now know better, the truth is I am still learning and I have a feeling I will spend the rest of my life doing just that.
What do you need to start? Fierce dedication and zero ego. Its normal to fail a hundred times before one can even hope to begin. The discipline of ashtanga yoga can change your life; the backbends open the heart chakra and make you fearless. The spine stays perpetually flexible – making you young and strong. One learns to let go of pain, anger and sadness and arrive at a place of balance where you hate less and love more. It balances. Where there is less or more of something the practice increases or decreases accordingly. While the physical symptoms are soon noticeable, the mental purification is far subtler, however just as potent. The meditative aspects of practice causes one calms down and begin to observe their own actions. It directs us to areas where the ego has been causing us pain, encouraging transformation by working on a subconscious level.
Krishnamacharya teaching his students at Yogashala in Mysore Palace, India, in 1934
In conclusion, here is a bit of wisdom from one of the greatest gurus modern yoga (and the teacher of Shri K Pattabhi Jois), Tirumalai Krishnamacharya:
“Inhale, and God approaches you. Hold the inhalation, and God remains with you. Exhale, and you approach God. Hold the exhalation, and surrender to God.”
Anika Rabbani is a certified yoga teacher who teaches at Studio107 on Road 107, House 14, Gulshan 2, Dhaka. You can find her Facebook Page – Anika’s Yoga or group YOGANIKA. Twitter @yoganika
