So many poses in the Aṣtanga primary series, so little time to do. So, I practice my own Aṣtanga inspired home practice. I move the headstand before shoulder stand sequence and change a few others. At KYM, I was taught that shoulder stand is the counter pose for headstand and I understand how it works on the neck. I do mellow vinyasas with knees on floor as the practice goes beyond an hour. I cannot do too many chaturangas. Of course, PJ (Pattabhi Jois) wouldn’t approve if he saw me doing this sequence. But, I don’t approve of him either, having changed all the important Sanskrit yoga terminology. So, it is ok.

Now that my knee is slightly better, I try to practice Aṣtanga in the weekends. It takes more than 2 hours to get this done. How can anyone manage doing all this, every single day?

I was at a “vinyasa” class last week. Music was Jazz. Sade and others were taking turns to provide the vocals.  The instructor told us to press on the golden egg between the root chakra and the genitals. Some more chakra talk continued. My golden rule of thumb had always been to avoid a class where the teacher talks about chakras. I normally draw the line at bandhas. Most instructors understand bandhas. Chakra talk is so DC (Deepak Chopra) and is what I classify as saccharine sweet. It is mostly mumbo jumbo to me. I understand chakras in the real yogic sense, but not in a yoga class where the instructor is trying to sound cool.

In my home practice, I follow the KYM and astanga style. The breath is super long, the asanas look like it is done in slow motion. There is no hurry to jump through things in milliseconds. The “Vinyasa power” uses a lot of movements so quickly, that my knees buckle. Moving from a mostly hyper extended trikonasana to warrior 2 to ardha chandrasana to standing splits. What does it all mean to the knee? Is it okay to put your knee through all these movements one after the other? This style is torture to my knees and my breath. My knee screams violence. Especially the ardha chandrasana, the standing splits and the lunges. The darling poses of western vinyasa power.

One aspect of my issue is the knee injury, for sure. What matters is also the yoga instructor. I believe any style of yoga can be good if the instructor is good. I have attended amazing Bikram, Vinyasa, Hatha, Astanga classes. Each one of them can turn bad if the instructor is just so so. The yoga education, practice of a teacher matters a lot and how they translate their knowledge to guide the class. It is a combination of things.

For now, I have decided to take a break from vinyasa power in Vancouver. It is quite possible the teachers are not as good as in San Francisco. Or it may be that I am attached to my experiences of San Francisco. I have also been studying a lot about Yoga and I have changed a lot too since I went to India and KYM. My understanding of Yoga has gained a lot of depth as well.

Vinyasa power feels like Bollywood yoga and Disney combined in one. Everything is perfect, color coordinated, sweet, cute, lots of songs, nice outfits and so predictable. I have decided to go Indie and try other styles. “Hatha” seems to make sense to me as the asanas are done at a much slower pace and does not feel too scripted. I keep reading about Yin. I will try that as well. Ultimately, I will be happy in a yoga class which does not use music. Silence must be encouraged and that is the style what I enjoy the most. Astanga fits the bill for most part, but just a little too aggressive for me.

I am looking for a style that has no music and a little mild. I hope this is not too much to ask. No offense to Sade, Marvin Gaye, Beatles, Reggae, Rock, Trance and others.

I was always aware that this word has been misused. Then it slowly dawns on me that another important word in Yoga has also been redefined. Either by PJ himself or his followers. I keep hearing conversations like, “I practice hatha yoga, not astanga” or the other way around. I ask the ayogis what is the difference. They tell me astanga is where one moves from one asana to the other with a vinyasa thrown in. Hatha is where one stays in a pose longer. Ok, Patanjali would be quite unhappy to hear the ayogis speak like this. Any physical yoga practice is hatha yoga, as far as I know. Flow, astanga, power, bikram, sivananda, Krishnamacharya KYM style, you name it. All of them are hatha yoga. So, astanga is nothing but a “style” of hatha yoga.

Then the next word incorrectly used is Vinyasa. The word Vinyasa according to Sri Krishnamacharya is coordinating movements with proper breathing and the sequencing of the asanas in an intelligent way with a purpose. Each of the important asana is practiced with vinyasas meaning variations and movements.

According to this definition by Sri K, astanga does contain the vinyasa for important poses like pascimottanasana, janu sirsasana, marichyasana and so on. Of course, it is completely based off of Sri K’s sequences. But, PJ has come up with a new definition.  The actual Vinyasa is called just an asana and the jump thru has been named the Vinyasa. I really have to wonder why.

Vinyasa according to PJ is the part surya namaskar A or the jump thru (chaturanga, upward dog, downward dog and jump thru) performed between each asana. He could have easily come up with new names for all this and not confuse with the classic definitions. For example, chaturangi-jump-like-a-proud-peacock for his vinyasa or chaturangi-fly-like-a-feather.

I am so not happy with PJ for getting three important words or concepts completely wrong. I know most people don’t care about such things, but I do.

I like this approach of teaching, for one can practice on their own and not depend way too much on a group class with special music, fancy yoga outfits and lots of sweet talk. I have never needed music to do yoga or the chakra quack talk ever. So, this style works for me. What is most interesting is that it gives a chance for everyone to breathe the way they want to and however long their breathing patterns are. I notice that in other styles like flow etc, the breathing pattern of an individual is never respected. The sun salutations are so quick and never really coordinated with the long inhales and exhales. In astanga, there is so much freedom to breathe correctly and is a huge plus.

There is quite a bit of importance placed on Padmasana. There are quite a few forward bends, done in the ardha baddha padmasana. It is just a matter of time, before the full padmasana becomes doable.

Although I prefer the vinyasa style of yoga, astanga is interesting too with its standard set of asanas. You do the same thing over and over. One advantage I see is that one can observe the evolution in the asana. The sequencing seems a bit off with forward bends before the backbends. The counterposes ahead of the actual poses. The shoulderstand is performed way before the headstand. In KYM vinyasa, shoulderstand is a counterpose for headstand. So, I don’t understand how Pattabhi Jois came up with this, having learnt from Sri Krishnamacharya.

Astanga is more militant and violent. Lots of jump thru’s and chaturangas. The breathing is so loud, one can generate electricity out of this class and power the entire town of Mysore. I always thought ujjai breath need not be loud. It should be heard only by the person breathing and not perform it for the entire class to hear. Astanga class is all about performance.

Even the adjustments are pretty violent and deep. May be it is a good thing, I am not sure as of now. Time will tell, if such aggressive corrections are good for the body. I notice that the students are addicted to the adjustments. If not for the adjustments, the students might as well practice it on their own. Everybody I speak with in the class talks about the adjustments of the teacher. This is what they come to the class for.

My teacher is Mr.Sheshadri, a small muscular man. Thanks to Steven, for letting me know about him. Mr.Sheshadri can give dramatic adjustments to all the students, even to the big European and American guys, even though he is much smaller compared to the big guys in class. There is a lot of choice for yoga classes in Mysore, most of them compete with one another in how tough they are.

All in all, I am happy to be in a Mysore class in Mysore.

I wouldn’t ask for my money back for the class, that’s just about how much I liked the class. I like my teachers lean and inspiring. That way, I know they are practicing their yoga, they are grounded and in touch with yoga and are not just talk. Isn’t the body a telltale of one’s yoga practice?

I would not trust a UI designer whose website looks so bad, who has never bothered to spell check the sample writing or when the links do not work correctly. The website of UI designer or a writer has to be simply good. That is what they do and I expect a high quality product from them.

On similar lines, I think a yoga teacher cannot be fat, essentially because all teachers are students forever. A serious yoga practice needs to be done with mindfulness and the bandhas. Practice with bandhas lead to good muscular control and the body tends to get lean. Unless the teacher is injured or suffering from some health condition, there is no way, a serious student can get fat.

The classic yoga texts are a great help in taking one’s practice from a beginner level to an advanced practice, which an asana teacher must be doing. The astanga yoga in the yoga sutras says clearly that greed is something one must conquer to get serious about yoga. Greed of food and anything else is to be avoided. Moderation is highly recommended. 

Sri Krishnamacharya’s Yoga Rahasya also discusses food and its moderation.

Āhara means food. But the root word har is to kill. You eat food to kill the hunger. If you do not take care, it can kill you in excess. Eat only when you are hungry and always in moderation.

Hatha Yoga Pradipika goes into such details about the diet and how it must be followed to gain a mastery of pranayama and asanas.

What do the readers think? Can a yoga teacher be fat? Or, am I wrong in expecting a teacher to be lean?