Practicing Vinyasa Krama Yoga at Home

'... Sanskrit chants I learnt from Sri Krishnamacharya and more' Ramaswami's chanting available on Sangeetha

2012-02-21T16:44:00.003Z

Ramaswami linked to this music site on FB last week

'Between 1980 and 1995 I recorded for a recording company “Sangeetha” many Sanskrit chants I learnt from Sri Krishnamacharya and more. During my recent visit to Chennai I talked to H M Krishna a partner of the firm and he said that they were about to make available online about 18 of my titles—hope it works out.

A list of my programs is available, in the following site. Open the site and type Srivatsa Ramaswami in the search window for the complete list. You may click on individual titles for more info on each program. The total chant time of all the program may be about 30 hrs. I hope they will be able to organize the on line downloading soon'.
www.sangeethamusic.com/

This is what you should see.

It's a wonderful site and there is the option of listening to a preview of most of the recordings but where to start.

Ramaswami just passed on some suggestions

'If you like vedic chanting then Suryanamaskara, Taittiriya Upanishad, Mahanarayana Upanishad and vedic chanting contained in adityahridayam and indrakshi cds will be nice to hear. I would also prefer listening to Rudram chamakam from the cd that came originally with "CBVK" book. Then one may want to study the meaning and commentaries, especially the upanishads apart from making an attempt to chant oneself. More religiously oriented people in India like to listen to Vishnu sahasranama, Lalita sahasranama. Others whose ishta devata (favorite deity) may choose the other sahsranamas like Ganesa, Siva, Durga, Gayatri, Anjaneya etc.,and if you have the patience the ten hour long Sundara Kanda from th Ramayana. Since many have their own meter and rhythm some like to chant or listen to these non vedic or laukika chants'.

Ramaswami's first recording concerned the Yoga sutras

I was rereading Ramaswami's Yoga for the Three Stages of Life this afternoon. In the first chapter, where he writes about his yoga studies and in particular his relationship with Krishnamacharya, there are a couple of paragraphs about the period in which he made many of these recordings.

' I was able to record almost all the Vedic chanting I had learned from my guru (Sri Krishnamacharya) including the surynamaskara (together) with Varunapuja, which ran for ninety minutes and was one of the earliest, and the Aditya hrdayam from the Ramayana and the Svadhyaya prakarana.' p17

This one from the Ramayana

theres a nice webpage below which has the ADITYA HRUDAYAM ('Hymn to the Sun', which Sage Agsthya’s dictates to Lord Rama in the battle field) in full with translation so you can chant along. http://www.mypurohith.com/rituals/aditya_hrudayam1.asp

Here for example is the section on the audio sample.

1. Tato yuddha pari srantam Samare Cintaya Sthitami

Ravanam Cagrato drustva yuddhaya Samupasthitam ||

Tato yuddha parisrantam = At that battle ground; Samare cintaya sthitam = with great worry engulfing in the battle; Ravanam cagrato drustva = Gazing at Ravana with Single minded attention; yuddhaya Samupasthitam = Having prepared to fight.

Seeing Sri Rama Standing absorbed in thought at the battle field, exhausted by the fight and facing Ravana who was duly prepared for the war.

2. Daivataisca Samagamya drastu = mabhyagatoranam |

Upagamyabra Vidrama magastyo bhagavanrsih ||

Daiva taisca Samagamya = Came along with the Devas to witness the war; Drastu mabhyagatoranam = Seen Rama depressed; upagamyabra-vidrama = Met him alone; Agasthyo Bhagavan = The Cosmic Rsi Agasthya.

The all knowing cosmic Sage Agastya who had come with Gods to witness the battle, approaching Sri Rama Singly spoke to him thus.

3. Rama Rama Mahabaho srunu guhyam Sanatanam |

Yena Sarva Nareehnvatsa Samare Vijayisyasi ||

Rama Rama Mahabaho = Addressing the elegant armed Rama; Srunu guhyam Sanatanam = Hear the most secret and ancient; Samare Vijaisyasi = Will win in the war.

‘O’ Rama, ‘O’ Mighty elegant armed Rama, listen to the eternal secret by which, ‘O’ my child, you shall conquer all your enemier on the battle field.

4. Aditya Hrudayam punyam Sarva satru Vinasanam |

Jayavaham Japet Nityam Akshyayyam paramam sivam ||

Aditya hrudayam punyam = The meditation of Sun in the heart highly beneficial; Sarva Satruvinasanam = Destroyer of all enemies, Jayavaham = Ensures Victory at all times; Japetnnityam = To the one who to be meditated always; Akshayam paramam sivam = The indestructible and bestows permanent happiness.

It is Aditya hrudayam which is holy, destroyer of all enemies, bestower of victory, eternal and supremely blessed, and must be recited always.

LINK

This one has better sound quality and reminds me more of listening to Ramaswami chant to us on his TT course while we rested in Savasana ( I have a ten minute recording of of one of those savasana sessions that I listen to in savasana every morning).

Link

'The Mahanarayana Upanishad, the last chapter of Yajur veda, containing the mantras recited daily, like sandhya, pranayama and so on..' p17

Link

'I have also completed the recordings of the Sundara kandam , the fifth chapter of the Valmiki ramayana. This work which contains about three thousand verses (including the coronation of Rama in Yuddha Kandam ).'

'Svadhyaya, or chanting, is an important aspect of kriyayoga and astanga yoga of patanjali. In the course of my training (over 30 years), my guru spent perhaps as much time on chanting and theoretical studies (svadhyaya) as on the physical aspect of yoga' p18.

Krishnamacharya's forgotten book, Yogasanagalu

2012-02-16T08:29:00.002Z

Yogasanagalu pdf

The Introduction (translation may be on it's way).

Notice that this is the fourth (expanded) edition and that it's written in the Kanada language which suggests Mysore. We also see above that it was published by Mysore university.

When was Yogasanagalu first published?

I'd always assumed that this was a later text and that there had been a shift in Krishnamacharya's teaching style from something more in keeping with Pattabhi Jois' Ashtanga to Ramaswami's Vinyasa Krama or Desikachar's Viniyoga. These scans of the Yogasanagalu had been sent to me while I was on Ramaswami's TT course and seemed to be exactly what I was learning from Ramaswami. How to square that with the Ashtanga style I had originally practiced, surely there had been a change of approach from when Krishnamcharya left the large group of kids at the Mysore palace to teach one-to-one in Chennai.

It appears that Yogasanagalu was actually first published in 1941, slap bang in the middle of Krishnamacharya's Mysore period, six years after his Yoga Makaranda and at the same time as he was teaching Indra Devi, Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois.

There was no early/ late Krishnamacharya, and his teaching now appears quite consistent throughout his life, no Kehre (turn), no softening of the practice with age.

Ashtanga doesn't represent Krishnamacharya's early style of teaching, it seems more a representation of how Krishnamacharya taught in a particular environment and in a particular set of circumstances i.e. the kids of the Mysore palace (and perhaps Pattabhi Jois' development or codification of that period as it seems he was asked to teach some of Krishnamacharya's classes). This would explain the 1938 movie, we see Iyengar doing an Ashtanga style demonstration (very out of keeping with the Iyengar yoga we're familiar with that he was developing in the 40's and 50's) and yet Krishnamacharya practicing in a more 'Vinyasa Krama' style.

*If anyone has a translation of the yogasanagalu or at least a summery I would love to see it, my email can be found in the ABOUT ME section of this blog.

Mantra Pranayama -Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami February 2012

2012-02-01T06:45:00.000Z

Visit this blogs Pranayama page above for pranayama practice sheets, translations, Ramaswami's mp3 mantra tutorial, my pranyama videos and now also the newsletter below.

Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami---Mantra Pranayama

After a four month stay in Chennai, India I am planning to come to USA

by middle of February. Thanks to the good efforts of Roxana Letechipia

who attended my last Teacher Training Program at LMU, Los Angeles, I

will be teaching three programs in Mexico City during the last week of

February. There will be two weekend workshops and a week long

certificate program, “Core Vinyasa Krama Yoga”. My next newsletter may

have a few Spanish words.

MANTRA PRANAYAMA

Considerable amount of literature is now available on Pranayama (from

ancient and contemporary yogis), an important anga of Yoga, even

though a smaller and smaller number of Hatha yogis do a smaller and

smaller number of pranayamas. In fact according to Brahmananda who

wrote an important commentary of Hathayogapradeepika, Hatha yoga is

indeed Pranayama. Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras succinctly gives the

parameters of pranayama along with the benefits. Hathayoga pradeepika

and several other hatha yohga texts talk about a variety of pranayamas

with different ratios in considerable detail and as I said enough

literature is available on pranayama. However since it is also the

anga prior to the antaranga or meditation, parts of yoga pranayama has

been used to prepare oneself for meditation. If in pranayama you can

introduce some noble thoughts for meditation like an uplifting mantra,

bhava thought or an image such pranayamas are called sagarbha

pranayama or pranayama pregnant with lofty ideas. Sri Krishnamacharya

in his “Nathamini's Yoga Rahasya” says that sagarbha pranayama is

several times more beneficial; more than the mechanical pranayama done

generally by hatha yogis.

Sagarbha pranayama done with pranayama mantra from the vedas, which

also includes the potent gayatri as a part of it, has been in vogue

since the vedic times. Sri Krishnamacharya in his yoga work

“Nathamuni's Yoga Rahasya” gives a number of instructions for doing

pranayama towards the end of the first chapter. He commends the use of

Pranava and the pranayama mantra with gayatri while doing pranayama

practice. Usually pranava (OM), the most potent mantra and the mother

of all mantras, as a stand alone mantra is used by renunciates like

consummate yogis and advaitins. And the gayatri impregnated vedic

pranayama mantra is used by householders and others in all pranayama.

In fact Manu in his famous Manusmriti says that the pranayama mantra

which consists of prnava, the seven vyahritis, the gayatri and the

head or siras portion should be recited while holding the breath in

Kumbhaka three times to be called as pranayama. Sri Krishnamacharya

also emphasizes the need to meditate on the meaning of the mantras

like the suggestion of Patanjali in YS.

Most people who do ritualistic pranayama in India use the pranayama

mantra referred to earlier. Manusmiti says as follows

“sa vyahritim sa pranavaam

gayatriim sirasa saha

trifpateth ayataf pranah

pranayamassa uchyate”

Here is the translation“Pranayama is that in which the seven vyahritis

(bhuh bhuvaha...) each preceded by pranava (OM) then the gayatri, then

the siris are (silently) recited.”

It should be chanted (silently) while holding the breath (kumbhaka).

When it is done three times it is called panayama. The pranayama

mantra is 64 syllables and takes about 20 seconds to chant, more or

less. The verse quoted above says three times and some interpret it as

chanting the mantra three times while holding the breath, but

generally it is chanted once and three such pranayamas will make one

bundle of pranayama. If you try to do the chant thrice in one go it

would taken a minute and holding the breath for one minute could be a

real challenge to most and so most people stick to the earlier

option.

What about the duration for inhalation and exhalation? Sri

Krishnamacharya says in Yoga Rahasya that it should be vishamavritti

indicating that the time duration for inhalation exhalation and breath

holding would vary. So many go by the 1:4:2 ratio.

One may inhale for 5 seconds then chant the mantra during internal

holding for 20 seconds and then exhale for 10 seconds. The breath

holding after exhalation is considered a hathayoga practice and many

orthodox people who do pranayama as part of the Puja or Japa ritual

dispense with bahya kumbhaka and the bandhas. The quickie pranayama is

three times but it is recommended that on should do 10 times the

samantra pranayama. (Contrast this with the hathayoga approach of

going up to 80 times mantraless pranayama).

Since children sometimes as young as 5 were initiated into vedic

studies, it becomes obligatory for them to do sandhya and hence mantra

pranayama and silent gayatri chant. But then because they are young

they may not be taught to do calibrated pranayama. Usually in course

of time they would learn to do long inhalation and exhalation say in

nadishodhana. Later they will be taught the whole vishamavritti

pranayama as explained earlier.

So the mantra is chanted silently in pranayama. But most people just

chant the mantra without the pranayama--they may merely touch the nose

but not do the pranayama. So we have one set of people who do

pranayama without mantras as most hatha yogis do and another group

especially in India who chant the mantra faithfully but do not do the

prnayama at all and thus both lose out. It even led the much revered

previous Sankaracharya of Kanchi to remark that if only Indians would

hold the breath (kumbhaka) rather than just touch/hold the nose they

would all become great yogis and spiritual persons.

My Guru also said that when doing any mantra in japa, in pranayama or

meditation, one should think of the meaning or import of the mantra.

That makes it lot more powerful and meaningful. What does this mantra

signify, many times we get initiated into a mantra routine without

knowing what it means. All yogis know that Patanjali insists on

contemplating on the meaning of pranava when doing pranava japa to get

the grace of Iswara.

“Om Bhuh, om bhuvah, om suvah, om mahah, om janah, om tapah, om

satyam; then the gayatri and then the siras which runs like this, ”om

apah jyoti rasah amrtam brahma bhurbhuvassuvarom” is the pranayama

mantra. This mantra appears in Mahanarayana Upanishad, the last

chapter of Yajur veda. This upanishad also contains several beautiful

mantras used on a daily basis like the offering to the five pranas

(before taking food), meditating within the heart etc. I got the whole

chapter (about 45 minutes of continuous chanting) recorded some 25

years back by “Sangeetha” and I believe it is available in some stores

in Chennai, India. You may learn the pranayama mantra—visit my website

www.vinyasakrama.com/chants and click on the “Learn Pranayama Mantra

chant” tab.

So what is the meaning of this wonderful pranayama mantra? Again there

are different interpretations. The conventional meaning for the seven

vyahritis is seven different worlds starting with the world we live in

to six other higher worlds. But the word loka is interpreted in a more

esoteric sense by a few scholars. They say that the words loka and

look are derived from the same root . And the seven lokas are the

seven perceptions of the ultimate reality which is Brahman the pure

non changing consciousness.

So this approach which gels with the advaita philosophy would be as

follows: According to the Upanishads, Brahman in its pristine state is

alone and there was no time or space (aksha and avakasha) in

contention. The Brahman once thought that it should become many

(bahusyam praja yeyeti). Then in the next stage It deeply contemplated

as to how it should create the universe and make many microcosmic

individual consciousness. This state was known as the stage of tapas

of the Brahman (sa tapo tapyata). Then after deep contemplation and

planning It created the entire Universe (idam sarvam asrujata). After

this creation the Brahman entered and permeated the entire Universe

(tat eva anupravisat) and every being as the individual Self.

The seven vyahrutis are considered as representing the seven states of

the same consciousness four at the microcosmic level and three at the

cosmic level. So when doing pranayama during breath holding

internally, one would say 'om bhuh', contemplate on the consciousness,

represented by pranava or 'om during the waking state. Then as the

second vyahriti 'om bhuvah ' is recited, one would think of the same

consciousness being aware of the individual dream state.

'om suvah” would refer to the same consciousness witnessing the deep

sleep stage. Om mahah, the fourth vyahriti is the consciousness beyond

the three earlier mentioned known amongst the vedantins as the fourth

state of the mind (turiya) or the yogi's kaivalya state. The same

consciousness now is identified with the Brahmana that created the

Universe (Om Janah). Then the next mantra, the sixth “Om tapah” would

represent the Brahman as one deeply contemplating and finally the

pristine state of consciousness “Om satyam” the one and only Brahaman.

With this the abhyasi is able to identify and meditate upon the same

one Brahaman as seen in different states. The theory that there is

only one consciousness that exists both at the cosmic and at the

microcosmic level is the bedrock of the advaita (No two

conciousnesses) viewpoint. So an advaitin while doing pranayama is

able to reinforce the advaitic conviction.

Then the second part of the pranayama mantra is the gayatri mantra. It

again refers to the ultimate reality as the inner light. Just as the

sun with its lustrous orb lights the entire world, the Brahman/Self

lights the entire chitta or the internal world of the meditator, so

that the chitta vrittis are experienced or 'seen' in the mind's eye .

The last portion known as the siras or the head, is an encomium to the

ultimate Brahman. It refers to It as OM., pure consciousness, the

universal light, the essence of the entire Universe, immortal

(unchanging), the source of the universe, and is known to the

individual as the inner Self during the three states of waking, dream

and deep sleep.

This meaning of the pranayama mantra is vividly brought to the mind as

the pranayama mantra is recited silently during antah kumbhaka. Then

it is known as samantraka or sagarbha pranayama. According to Manu

this samantra pranayama is the greatest Tapas/meditation.

It is said that those who are well versed in the chakras are able to

identify the seven vyahritis with the seven chakras in the body using

the respective bijakshara or seed mantras. Some make an effort to

visualize the cosmic Brahman in the seven chakras in the microcosm

itself.

There are other types of mantras used. For instance saivaites tend to

chant the siva mantras as they hold the breath as mentioned in the

Tamil Saiva classic “Tirumandiram”. The mantra “sivasiva” of four

syllables is chanted 16 times during one breath hold corresponding to

64 syllables as in the pranayama mantra referred to earlier.

Here is a pranayama for renunciates:

While doing puraka or inhalation the thought would be that the entire

universe is ultimately drawn into the Brahman. Then while in

antahkumbhaka the contemplation would be that the outside Universe and

I are no different from the Brahman. Then while exhaling the ego “I'

with the entire Universe is discarded as nothing but an illusion, not

real, not significant. And in bahya kumbhaka one would contemplate

that pure Brahman alone is real, It alone exists.

Those who believe in the reality of world and the trinity (Brahma,

Vishnu and Siva), would use pranayama to reinforce their faith.

Inhaling through the left nostril one should think of the four faced

Brahma the creator aspect of the trinity and of blood red hue (rajas

guna) while chanting Om 16 times. Then closing both the nostrils and

holding the breath in kumbhaka one should think of the white colored

(satva guna) Hari, the protector/sustainer chanting pranava 64 times.

Then while exhaling through the right nostril one should meditate on

Siva of dark color (tamo guna) chanting pranava 32 times. Then one

should start inhaling through the right nostril for 16 matras chanting

pranava 16 times and continue the pranayama for a predetermined number

of times with both mantra and bhava.

Different smritis and very old yoga texts refer to a variety of

pranayamas with and without mantras. Almost all the puranas have a

section on yoga which describe different asanas and pranayamas. (I

think with all this evidence one may say with some conviction that

Yoga is more than 100 years old). For more information on pranayama

you may consider referring to my book “Yoga for the Three Stages of

Life” pages 189 to 211.

Sri Krsishnamacharya's Yoga teachings were unique and very rich. In

Vinyasakrama asana practice, breath synchronization with slow

movements is an essential element. One would start the movement with

the beginning of inhalation or exhalation and complete the movement

with the completion of that breathing phase. The time taken in actual

practice may be between 5 to 10 or 12 seconds depending on one's

capacity and control. If it goes below 5 seconds one would stop the

practice and rest to regain the vinyasa krama acceptable breath. My

Guru, Sri T Krishnamacharya would say 'breathe with hissing sound' (a

la cobra, refer to ananta samapatti in YS) or 'with a mild rubbing

sensation in the throat'.

In this way, with long deep inhalation and exhalation, the intercostal

muscles are stretched and toned up and by the time pranayama is

started the accessory muscles of breathing are well exercised so that

one has a well oiled breathing apparatus for a very productive

pranayama practice. And while doing pranayam introduction of mantras

and bhavas helps to bring the mind to a focus which will be of

considerable help when one starts the meditation process. Thus Sri

Krishnamacharya following the tradition of yoga described in old yoga

texts like the yoga sutras, the puranas, smritis and other ancient

texts helped to understand and achieve the best of an outstanding

ancient system called Yoga.

You may access the earlier Newsletter by visiting my website

www,vinyasakrama.com and clicking on the Newsletter tab. Any comments

or suggestions please e mail to

info@vinyasakrama.com

Best wishes

Sincerely

Srivatsa Ramaswami

Ramaswami's Newsletter collections NOW available for free on your Kindle

2012-01-29T18:04:00.005Z

K. has made his compilation of Ramaswami's Newsletters available on Kindle via my Google docs site.

If you don't have a Kindle that's OK as you can download the free ibook kindle app.

If you don't have a ibook then there's still the free kindle reader for you PC, Mac or laptop.

The links take you to my Google docs hosting, just click 'Download' and you'll have the option to open them in your Kindle device or app.

They're also still available in pdf format over on the right sidebar as usual but they do look a little more beautiful on the kindle format, smaller file size too.

Ramaswami's 2009 Newsletters Kindle version

pdf version

Ramaswami's 2010 Newsletters Kindle version

pdf version

Ramaswami's 2011 Newsletters Kindle version

pdf version

Kindle

If your having trouble downloading the free version, my book is also available on Kindle via Amazon for the price of a cup of coffee

Vinyasa Krama at Home Practice book Kindle version

Many thanks to K for all the hard work.

NEW 3rd Edition of my Vinyasa Krama practice book finally available for FREE download

2012-01-10T17:34:00.003Z

Download for free HERE

Dedicated to my Teacher Srivatsa Ramaswami

The NEW, 3rd edition, of my Vinyasa Krama Practice Book is now available for FREE download from my Google docs page.

This edition includes practice notes for all of Ramaswami's Vinyasa Krama subroutines Ramaswami was a student of Krishnamacharya for over 30 years).

It's still very rough and in need of a complete rewrite to get rid of some of it's 'bloggyness'. It's also inconsistent as the style of the notes have changed over the three months I've been writing them up and posting them here.

Plus there's the havoc my mac's automatic spell checker has made of all the yoga terms and names, I'll iron them out, I promise.

It is what it is just a series of practice notes, things that came up as I practiced the subroutines each morning. Some of the notes reflect ideas I've picked up in my reading, online, from comments posted here (thank you) and from just working through the subroutines and at the postures.

Everything I mention I've tried and have found useful in my own practice, there are of course all kinds of other techniques and approaches that could be included, I'm either not aware of them, haven't tried them out or haven't found them useful for me personally.

I've tried to avoid getting too anatomical.

There are video's for all the subroutines, for some reason the links don't seem to work in ibooks but if you download it and open in the pdf reader they should work fine (My mistake, seems the links DO work in ibooks although it takes you out of ibooks to watch them).

The pranayama and meditation section are the next areas I want to work on, for now they are just a couple of practice sheets. Also, I hope to add practice notes for the Jump back library in the near future.

It is of course NO substitute for Ramaswami's own books, The Complete book of Vinyasa Yoga and Yoga for the Three Stages of Life both of which I've gained renewed respect for in the process of preparing these notes. The Complete book of Vinyasa Yoga lays out the breath for every single movement in and out of every posture, in every subroutine, in every sequence, quite remarkable. The Three Stages of Life goes into such depth that I consider it the best book on yoga I've come across thus far.

The whole thing has been brought together using Apple Pages.

Here's the new table of contents to give an idea of what's in it.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

NB: If the video links don’t work in your edition they can be found here http://tinyurl.com/7dvzm8y

VINYASA KRAMA PRACTICE NOTES AND GUIDELINES 9

WHAT IS VINYASA KRAMA ? 10

PARAMETERS ? 11

THE BREATH 12

BREATH RATE? 12

STYLE OF BREATH? 12

HOW LONG DO WE STAY IN POSTURES? 13

HOW LONG TO PRACTICE ? 14

BANDHAS? 15

PERFECTION IN POSTURE? 16

HOW TO PRACTICE VINYASA YOGA 17

CORE VINYASA KRAMA POSTURES 18

HOW TO BUILD A DAILY PRACTICE WHILE EXPLORING VINYASA KRAMA SUBROUTINES. 19

VINYASA KRAMA SEQUENCES 20

ON YOUR FEET SEQUENCE 21

Day 1 : Hasta Vinyasas Subroutine 22

Day 2 : Parsva-bhangis ( side movements) Subroutine 24

Day 3 : Uttanasana (forward bend ) Subroutine 26

Day 4 : Ardha utkatasana (half squat) Subroutine 30

Day 5 : Utkatasana (full squat) Subroutine 34

Day 6 : Malasana / Kanchyasana ( garland pose ) Subroutine 36

Day 7 : Pasasana ( noose pose ) Subroutine 38

Binding in Pasasana 40

Day 8 : Surya namaskara ( sun salutations with mantra) 42

DAY 9 : Practising 'On your feet / tadasana' sequences and subroutines. 49

TRIANGLE SEQUENCE 52

Day 10 : Uttita Trikonasana subroutine 53

Day 11 : Parivritta trikonasana (twisting )subroutine 56

Day 12 : Uttita parsva konasana ( side stretch ) subroutine 58

Day 13 : Parsva konasana ( side stretch ) subroutine 60

Day 14 : Viabhadrasana ( Warrior ) subroutine 63

Day 15 :Parasarita padottanasana subroutine 66

Day 16 : Triangle subroutine breakdown 68

ON ONE LEG SEQUENCE 70

Day 17 : Vrikrmasana ( tree pose )subroutine 71

Day 18 : Standing Marchi subroutine 74

Day 19 : Utthita Padangushtasana (stretched leg-arm) subroutine 76

Day 20 : Virabhadrasana (warrior) subroutine 79

Day 21 : Durvasana ( named after a sage ) subroutine 81

Day 22 : Natarjasana (dancing Shiva) subroutine 83

Day 23 : On one leg Subroutine breakdown Sheet 85

ASYMMETRIC SEQUENCE 87

Day 24 : Dandasana (Staff pose) lead in subroutine 88

VINYASA KRAMA STRAIGHT LEG JUMP THROUGH 90

Day 25 : Marchi (after the sage) subroutine 91

Day 26 : Ardha padmasana (half lotus) subroutine 94

Day 27 : Maha mudra (great seal) subroutine 96

Day 28 : akrarnadhanurasana (archer) & Kraunchasana (heron) subroutine 98

Day 29 : Eka pada sirsasana ( leg to head ) subroutine 100

Day 30 : Triyangmukha ( bent back leg) subroutine 104

Day 31 : Tiryang mukha Marichiyasana (Backward foot) subroutine 107

Day 32 : Ardha padma marichiyasana (half lotus sage) subroutine 109

Day 33 : Bharadwajasana (sage ) & Mahabandha (great lock ) subroutine 112

Day 34 : Matsyendrasana ( half and full Kingfisher) subroutine 114

Day 35 Asymmetric subroutine breakdown 116

SEATED SEQUENCE 120

Day 36 : Paschimottanasana (posterior stretch) subroutine 121

Day 37 : Kurmasana (turtle pose) subroutine 124

Day 38 : Purva tanasana (anterior stretch) and Vashitasana (after the sage) subroutine 126

Day 39 : SEATED : Chatushpadapeetam ( table pose) subroutine 129

Day 40 : Navasana ( boat ) and Urdhwa paschimotasana subroutine 131

Day 41 : SEATED : Upavishta konasana ( seated angle stretch) subroutine 133

Day 42 : SEATED : Badha konasana subroutine 135

Day 43 : Seated Subroutine breakdown 137

BOW SEQUENCE 139

Day 44 : Bow : Makrasana (crocodile) & Manduka (frog) subroutine 140

Day 45 : Bow : Bhujangasana (cobra) subroutine 142

Day 46 : Bow : Asymmetric Salabhasana (locust) subroutine 144

Day 47 : Bow : Salabhasana (locust) subroutine 146

Day 48 : Bow : Dhanurasana ( bow ) subroutine 149

Day 49 : Bow Subroutine breakdown 151

MEDITATIVE SEQUENCE 154

Day 50 : Meditative : Vajrasana (thunderbolt) subroutine 155

Day 51 : Meditative : Ushtrasana ( camel ) subroutine 157

Day 52 : Meditative : Ushtrasana ( camel ) to Kapotasana (pigeon) subroutine 159

Day 53 : Meditative : Standard Camel walk subroutine 163

Day 54 : Meditative : Advanced Camel walk subroutine 165

Day 55 : Meditative : Virasana ( hero pose) subroutine 168

Day 56 : Meditative : Simhasana (lion pose) subroutine 171

DAY 57 : Meditative Subroutine's Breakdown 173

SUPINE SEQUENCE 175

Day 58 : Supine : Tatakamudra (pond gesture) & Jayaraparivritti (belly twist) Subroutine 176

Day 59 : Supine : Apanaasana (pelvic floor poses) subroutine 179

Day 60 : Dwipadapitam ( Desk pose) subroutine 181

Day 61 : Madhya sethu ( mid region bridge pose) & Urdhvadhaurasana ( bridge) subroutine 183

Day 62 : Leg and arm lifts subroutine 186

Day 63 : Supta trivikramasana & yoganidra (reclining yogi pose) subroutine 188

Day 64 : Jataraparivritti (stomach twist variation ) subroutine 191

Day 65 : Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) preparation subroutine 193

Day 66 : Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) lead in subroutine 196

Day 67 : Akunchasana ( contraction pose) in Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) subroutine 199

Day 68 : Supta ardha badha halasana subroutine 201

Day 69 : Urdhva Konasana in Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) subroutine 204

Day 70 : Urdhva Padmasana (lotus) in Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) subroutine 206

Day 71 : Niralumba Salambhasana ( unsupported shoulderstand) subroutine 210

Day 72 : Halasana (plough) & Uttana mayurasana Stretched peacock) subroutine 213

Day 73 : Sarvangasana mandala (circular ambulation in plough) subroutine 216

Day 74 : Karnapindasana ( closed ear pose) subroutine 219

DAY 75 : Supine: Subroutine Breakdown Page 1 221

INVERTED SEQUENCE 224

Day 76 : INVERTED : Sirsasana (headstand) Lead in 225

Day 77 : INVERTED : Akunchasana (knee bends) subroutine 228

Day 78 : INVERTED : Leg raises subroutine 231

Day 79 : INVERTED : Upavishta konasana ( inverted triangle) subroutine 233

Day 80 : INVERTED : Urdhava Padmasana (inverted lotus) subroutine 235

Day 81 : INVERTED : Viparita Dandasana (crooked staff ) subroutine 239

Day 82 : INVERTED : Inverted Mandala Subroutine 242

Day 83 : INVERTED : Niralumba sirsasana (unsupported headstand) subroutine 244

Day 84 : INVERTED : Arm variations in Niralumba sirsasana ( unsupported headstand) subroutine 247

Day 85 : INVERTED : Handstand subroutine 251

DAY 86 : Inverted: Subroutine Breakdown Page 1 255

LOTUS SEQUENCE 258

Day 87 : LOTUS : Ardha badha-padmasana (half lotus) subroutine 259

Day 88 : LOTUS : Padmasana (lotus) subroutine 261

Day 89 : LOTUS : Badha Padmasana (bound lotus) subroutine 265

Day 90 : LOTUS : Urdhva padmasana (lifted up lotus pose) Subroutine 268

Day 91 : LOTUS : Kukkutasana & garbha pindasana Subroutine 271

Day 92 : LOTUS : Special lotus balancing postures Subroutine 273

DAY 93 Lotus Subroutine Breakdown 276

WINDING DOWN 279

Pranayama, Pratyahara, Meditation 280

Meditation and Pranayama postures 282

Kapalabhati hand and arm positions 283

Pranayama Hand mala ( for counting the breath ) Version One 284

Pranayama Hand mala ( for counting the breath ) Version Two 285

Pranayama 286

Pratyahara in Padmasana and Vajrasana 287

The Subroutines in the Ashtanga Yoga Primary series 288

The Subroutines in the Ashtanga Yoga Primary series 289

JUMP BACK AND THROUGH LIBRARY 294

VINYASA KRAMA JUMP BACK 295

VINYASA KRAMA JUMP THROUGH 296

CROSSED LEG JUMP THROUGH AND BACK 297

HIGH CROSSED LEG JUMP THROUGH 298

STRAIGHT LEG JUMP THROUGH 299

ONE LEG BENT BACK 300

HALF LOTUS JUMP BACK 301

FULL LOTUS JUMP BACK 302

FULL LOTUS JUMP BACK (REVERSE VIEW). 303

FULL LOTUS JUMP THROUGH 304

MARICHIYASANA JUMP BACK 305

DANDASANA UTPLUTHI JUMP BACK 306

EKA PADA SIRSASANA JUMP BACK AND THROUGH 307

RAMASWAMI’S SUBROUTINE NUMBERING SYSTEM 308

VINYASA KRAMA SEQUENCE PRACTICE CARDS 312

ON YOUR FEET 313

TRIANGLE SEQUENCE 318

ON ONE LEG SEQUENCE 323

ASYMMETRIC SEQUENCE 327

SEATED SEQUENCE 332

BOW SEQUENCE 337

MEDITATIVE SEQUENCE 341

SUPINE SEQUENCE 344

INVERTED SEQUENCE 351

LOTUS SEQUENCE 355

YOUR NOTES 361

DAY 93 Lotus Subroutine Breakdown

2012-01-03T20:00:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

Padmasana, the lotus posture is, of course, the classic meditation posture. Although there are other notable meditation postures, siddhasana, gomukhasana, virasana and vajrasana, padmasana holds a special place because of it's stability. There is a beauty to it's construction, it feels symmetrical, the legs bound secure allowing for the arm balances, for example, in the final subroutine of the series. It is an excellent posture for engaging the bandhas, mula bandha feels particularly grounded and the stability of the pose lends itself to exploring uddiyana and jalandhara bandhas.

As well as for meditation practice, padmasana is an excellent posture for pranayama, again, on account of it's stability.

Some however may ind the posture boring or tedious, the subroutines allow us to explore multiple vinyasas while in padmasana, creating interest that may encourage us to spend longer in the posture which will in time allow the posture to become more comfortable.

The first subroutine day 88, the half lotus, is a good preparation for developing the lotus posture as are many of the hip opening postures and vinyasas from the asymmetric and seated sequences.

In this course of subroutines I've placed the sequences in order in which I tend to practice them, starting with standing postures moving on through seated or backbend postures up to inverted. I tend to finish my practice with one or more lotus subroutines, staying in the posture for my pranayama and meditation practice.

However, while working towards padmasana the half lotus or siddhasana for example would serve just as well.

I've tried to stress that padmasana is about the hips rather than the knees so here, again are my practice notes for entering padmasana from Day 88

Getting in to full Lotus

NB: THE most important thing to remember is to protect your knees, that it's the hip joints that do all the work, the knees only bend one way it's the rotation of the ball and socket hip joint that makes padmasana possible

Right leg

Bend the right knee and bring it up towards the chest. Reach with the right hand down inside the thigh and take hold of the right ankle.

Allow the right knee to drop out to the side through the rotation of the hip joint. Focus on that hip action, of the ball and socket joint, the femur head rotating in the hip socket, encourage it.

There's a tensing of the right buttock a lifting almost and a stretching of the thigh as you encourage the rotation in the hip joint that will bring the knee down towards the mat and the ankle to come up. This action should only happen at the hips joint your NOT pulling up the ankle and your NOT forcing the knee down.

If this isn't happening it might be best to work on more hip opening postures, mahamudra in Asymmetric, badha konasana in Seated.

Lift up through the torso, support the right foot with the left and right palms and guide NOT pull the foot to the left thigh.

Lift up again and bend forward slightly, roll onto the front of the sit bones and guide the right foot a little further up the left thigh into the groin.

Again lift and roll further onto the sit bones allowing the right knee to rest on the mat.

Left leg

Bend the left knee and again focusing on the hip joint allowing the left knee to drop out to the side.

Rock your body forward and draw the right knee out to the side through the thigh muscles. Lock the knee by pressing the calf muscles against the thigh.

Reach over the left foot and support the left ankle with the left palm, cupping under the foot with the right palm, encourage the hip joint to rotate further and allow the knee to drop further out and down. Again, your not pulling on the foot but rather supporting it to allow the hip joint to do it's work.

Lift up through the torso, rock further forward on the sit bones and stretch out through the left thigh to allow the foot to come up over the right leg.

Using the strength of the thighs bring the knees a little towards each other this will bring the right foot finally up onto the right thigh closer to the groin.

Shuffle around on your sit bones if necessary, encouraging more rotation of the hip joints to tighten the lotus, this is preferable to wrenching, tugging, pulling the feet.

Ultimately, for many of the lotus vinyasas you will require a nice tight lotus where the heels are digging slightly into the belly, the soles of the feet pointing up and the knees closer together. In fact, the heels can be considered to be massaging the inner organs in some of the vinyasas by pressing deep into the belly

To release

Sit up straight lifting up through the torso, focus on the left hip joint and encourage it to rotate by engaging the thigh muscles which will press the left knee into the mat this will allow you to very gently encourage the left foot off of the right thigh.

As you allow the knees to draw apart the lotus will unfold, again allow the right hip joint to do it's work bringing the right knee down into the mat and allowing the right foot to glide off the left thigh.

Day 92 : LOTUS : Special lotus balancing postures subroutine Subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Lotus sequence

2012-01-02T19:29:00.001Z

VIDEO LINK

Practicing these arm balances and inversions together in one subroutine can be challenging, consider working on them separately at first perhaps including one arm balance a practice or every few days. Utpluthis, the raised lotus from Day 91 is another arm balance as is Kukkutasana, also from Day 91, both will build strength as will the lead in's to most of the subroutines and the sun salutation with mantra.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

This version of urdhava kukkutasana is a sliding up the arms or rather the arms are there as a guide, we don't want to rely on them too much.

Place the hands close to the knees, rock up onto the knees, shoulders over the fingers. Drop the shoulder blades down the back, engage mula and uddiyana bandha.

Exhale completely hold and pressing the hands down into the mat hoist the lotus up towards the armpits lifting up from your perineum, mula bandha.

The shoulders remember are over the fingers as you come up your shoulders may need to come even further forward to create a counterweight to your hips.

In the beginning hold for a breath and then lower on the inhalation, as you become stronger and improve your balance you may stay for longer, three to six breaths.

Padma mayurasana

Place the hands on the mat as close to the body as possible, almost tucked under your lotus.

bend your elbows slightly and allow your shoulders to drop to allow your elbows to dig into your belly.

Come up onto your knees and then stretch forward while at the same time raising your knees off the ground.

Padma Mayurasana is in effect a back stretch, tuck in the tailbone and attempt to arch the back slightly to bring the lotus up higher.

The elbows need to be together and really dig into the belly.

In the beginning hold for a breath and then lower on the exhalation, as you become stronger and improve your balance you mary stay for longer, three to six breaths.

Lotus to Sirsasana VIDEO LINK

The final vinyasa called for a tight lotus and you may wish to work towards this as a separate subroutine (see Lotus subroutines -to come).

From seated padmasana, lift up onto your knees, bend forward and place your hands on the mat with the fingers interlocked ready for headstand. Place the back of your head in the cup formed by your hands and bring your knees forward so they are touching your elbows.

To lift back up from here, exhale fully, engage the badhas and pressing firmly into the mat with your elbows draw your knees back up the back of your arms to your armpits.

Take a breath and on the next exhalation, straighten the back to bring the knees to the chest and then straighten the waist to bring your lotus the last of the way up.

Follow the directions above for the 3rd version (pic 11) to lower and raise your lotus to and from the mat.

Day 91 : LOTUS : Kukkutasana & garbha pindasana subroutine Subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Lotus sequence

2011-12-31T20:40:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

Bharadwajrasana, raise the arms and twist then lower into the pose

Kukkutasana
Push the arms through the space between your thighs and calf muscles, you may need to spray some water on your arms if your legs are bare and the weather cooler (no sweat). If this is a problem see the notes below for garbha pindasana.

Exhale fully, hold, engage mula and uddiyana bandha and drop the shoulder blades down the back. Press down into the mat to lift but keep the shoulderbaldes lowered .

As you press down visualise moving slightly forward and up. If you just push down there is a tendency to keep falling backwards off your hands. look at picture 7 and notice how there is a slight lean forward, the shoulders over the hands.

Garbha pindasana

Creating space to get the arms through
Here, once in lotus, I lift my left leg a little away from the right holding just above the ankle. this creates a little more space to get the first arm through. For the second arm I press the top side of my left foot against my right thigh flexing the ankle a little to lever the leg up a little thus creating more of an opening to pass the arm through.
Video Tutorial here http://youtu.be/chQwvJN-K98

Try taking the arms through at an angle, the right arm runs parallel to the right calf, same for the left.
Video Tutorial here http://youtu.be/Ct35la57mBw

Utpluthi (Pic 4) is all about hand placement. place the hands too far forward and the weight of the hip bones will keep your grounded, too far back and the weight of the knees will stop you from achieving lift. So place the hands just forward of mid thigh as close to your thighs as possible.

Bring your shoulders over your hands, bring your shoulders down, engage the shoulder girdle and after exhaling hold the breath out and push down into the mat through your hands and lift

Mula bandha should be engaged but engage it more strongly, tuck the tailbone under, the lower half of your body should feel tight and compact, draw your pelvis up into your torso and hold.

Keep the bandhas engaged and the tailbone tucked while your breath.

In the earlier version of utpluthi you bend the body over the lotus, in a this version the body is more erect.

Day 90 : LOTUS : Urdhva padmasana (lifted up lotus pose) Subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Lotus sequence

2011-12-30T19:30:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

HINTS\TIPS\SUGGESTIONS

To get up into Shoulder stand while in Lotus, bring you arms to your side, exhale fully and press your arms down into the mat, hold and roll the lotus up to your chest, aim your knees at a 45 degree angle up over your head and stretch/push your knees up into shoulder stand while shifting your hands to your hips and then your back either side of your spine with the fingers pointing up and the elbows not too far apart.

Alternatively, Start from regular shoulder stand, spread the legs apart, drop the left leg back a little, bring the right foot to the left thigh by rotating at the hip then bring the left foot to the right thigh again through the rotation of the hip.

Engage mula and uddiyana bandha at the end of the exhalation sucking in the belly to create more space to lower your lotus down to your chest.

Remember in Vinyasa Krama you can work towards this, lowering a little way on the first exhalation, take it back up on the inhalation, lower a little further on each exhalation.

When lowering your need to make sure your hips are high and over your shoulders or you will tend to roll back down to the mat.

Pindasana (pic 4) The fold needs to be deep, use the bad has, sucking your belly back and up into your ribcage to create space. your inhalations will be short but try to keep your exhalations long.

Ultimately your want to wrap your arms around your lotus and bind at the wrist, this requires a deep lotus with the feet high up in the groin and heels digging into the belly.

If your lotus is not as tight then bind at the fingers or just hold the thighs.

Twists

From udrdhava padmasana (lotus shoulderstand) Stretch up through the pelvis lengthening the body as much as possible, twist on the exhalation and lower/fold your knee to the outside of your forehead.

Again, work a little lower on each exhalation

Remember to keep the hips high and over the shoulders to prevent rolling back.

Counterpose (pic 8) There are two hand positions, the one in the picture with the palms supporting the sacrum and the another where the thumbs point toward but remain outside of the spine, resting lower down on the back of the hips with the fingers coming around the hip bone. I tend to prefer the later.

This is a back stretch so tuck the tailbone under and to counter the weight of the legs by pushing the chest out and up, engage jalandhara bandha (chin lock) firmly.

The posture is entered on the inhalation by bending from the waist and arching the back.

Stay in the position for three breaths, perhaps going a little deeper into the pose each time or go back and forth to akunchita urdhva padmasana (pic 3) and the counter pose on the breath if holding is too challenging.

Simhasana Subroutine VIDEO LINK. From Akunchita urdhave padmasana, stretch out the arms above your head, roll your lotus slowly down to the mat, keep the momentum to bring your arms up and over passing through regular lotus as you put your hands to the floor and come up on to your knees. Lower your body flat to the floor stretch your arms out in front of you, palms together as if in prayer.

Place the palms on the mat beside you close to your chest. Tuck the tailbone (this is a back stretch) anchor the knees, try to bring the hips as close to the mat as possible , arch the back stretching out through the waist. Stretch out through the full length of your body, pushing out your chest take the head back. The is a Bhujangasana variation and can be worked on in the Bow sequence subroutines.

Another Lion face variation

Lions face. Inhale stretching back the head and as you exhale make a long Haaa sound while stretching your tongue out and down and widening the eyes. Focus your attention on the mid brow.

You may like to repeat this three times, closing the mouth on the inhalation and taking the head back before repeating the lions face on the exhalation.

Day 89 : LOTUS : Badha Padmasana (bound lotus) from Vinyasa Krama Lotus sequence

2011-12-29T19:25:00.001Z

VIDEO LINK

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

There are some easier versions of baddha padmasana (pic 3)

1. Reach around the back with the left hand and place the back of the hand on the waist, just above the hip bone. Reach around with the right arm and place the back of the hand against the waist just above the left hip.

2. When the above feels comfortable, turn the left hand (the one resting above the right hip) over, use the little finger to draw your hand onto the hip bone.

3. When that too feels comfortable, try to do the same with the other hand, turning it over and using the little finger to leaver the hand down onto the hip bone.

This may be your bind for a little while, play with it, stretching up, arching back a little, twisting a little to the left a little to the right, explore how to get a better grip on the hip bone.

Try to lever the right elbow a little further over the left by using your right hand as a fulcrum.

4. When you feel ready to move on reach far around with the left hand and take hold of the big toe now use the hip bind above for the other hand, reaching around with the other hand but just pressing the back of the hand against the waist above the hip. Switch hands to become comfortable with both sides.

5. It's possible to use a belt, strap or scarf thrown over the feet to work your hands down to your toes or perhaps the second hand.

6. Another approach is to reach around with the left hand and take hold of the left toe then instead over throwing the right arm around the back and over the left arm, try threading your right arm between your left elbow and back. Use the left arm to work your right over your back and down toward the left hip and finally right toe.

7. To get the full bind , make a tight lotus, you feet high up in your groin, heels pressing into your belly.

Lift up out of the pelvis and twist around to the left as far as possible, keep lifting and twisting. Use your hand to press into the hip and lever you arm a little further around to enable you to take hold of your toe.

Now twist to the right leading with the shoulder, bring the back of the hand to the waist and work it down over the hip lifting and twisting all the way until your able to hold your other toe.

Straighten up the shoulders, settle and engage bandhas and take long slow breaths.

Forward bending, to the front and sides.

here we need to engage mula and uddiyana bandha, sucking in the belly to create space, this is especially importat in the forward bends to the sides where we want to stretch out over the knee.

Before folding forwards, arch the back slightly, stretch up tall out of the pelvis, push back the buttocks and stretch out over your lotus and when to the slides, your knees.

Urdha mukha padmasana (pic 7) is a back stretch, a counter pose, tuck the tailbone under and push the chest out and up.

Baddha matsyasnana (pic 10 )is a more challenging version of seated baddha padmasana, try the above variations to work towards it, ultimately you will need to arch your back and twist fist to the left and then the right.

You might find this version of the baddha padmasana bind easier as you have the floor to help you work your arm around, your also able to tilt the lotus towards.

Day 88 : LOTUS : Padmasana (lotus) from Vinyasa Krama Lotus sequence

2011-12-28T07:54:00.003Z

VIDEO LINK

Padmasana (lotus) can be a challenging posture and there are many places to work towards it in Vinyasa Krama.

In Asymmetric Sequence: Padmasana doesn't appear as such but there are several hip opening postures, janusirsasana leading to mahamudra in particular, that prepare you for ardha baddha padmasana (half lotus).

In Lotus sequence : The lotus sequence picks up where Asymmetric leaves off with more vinyasas in half lotus before moving on to full lotus.

In Seated sequence : Padmasana (lotus) follows the deep hip opening subroutines of upavishta konasana and badha konasana.

In Supine sequence : More half lotus variations, this time in dwipadapitam (table pose). In shoulder stand we have the half lotus vinyasas of Day 68 but also the extreme hip openers of the previous (Day 69 ) Urdhva Konasana subroutine.

In Inverted Sequnece : As with Supine and Seated the lotus vinyasas in headstand follow, konasana and badha konasana subroutine.

In all of the above sequences we can see that padmasana (lotus) follows hip opening postures, this is because padmasana (lotus) involves a rotation of the hip joint rather than a twisting of the knees.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Getting in to full Lotus

NB: THE most important thing to remember is to protect your knees, that it's the hip joints that do all the work, the knees only bend one way it's the rotation of the ball and socket hip joint that makes padmasana possible

Right leg

Bend the right knee and bring it up towards the chest. Reach with the right hand down inside the thigh and take hold of the right ankle.

Allow the right knee to drop out to the side through the rotation of the hip joint. Focus on that hip action, of the ball and socket joint, the femur head rotating in the hip socket, encourage it.

If this isn't happening it might be best to work on more hip opening postures, mahamudra in Asymmetric, badha konasana in Seated.

Lift up through the torso, support the right foot with the left and right palms and guide NOT pull the foot to the left thigh.

Lift up again and bend forward slightly, roll onto the front of the sit bones and guide the right foot a little further up the left thigh into the groin.

Again lift and roll further onto the sit bones allowing the right knee to rest on the mat.

Left leg

Bend the left knee and again focusing on the hip joint allowing the left knee to drop out to the side.

Rock your body forward and draw the right knee out to the side through the thigh muscles. Lock the knee by pressing the calf muscles against the thigh.

Lift up through the torso, rock further forward on the sit bones and stretch out through the left thigh to allow the foot to come up over the right leg.

Using the strength of the thighs bring the knees a little towards each other this will bring the right foot finally up onto the right thigh closer to the groin.

Shuffle around on your sit bones if necessary, encouraging more rotation of the hip joints to tighten the lotus, this is preferable to wrenching, tugging, pulling the feet.

To release

Padmasana subroutine

Ramaswami recommends coming into half lotus, taking a breath or two, continuing into full lotus, staying for a three breaths and then releasing the lotus before repeating six times.

You may wish to enter and exit your lotus for each of the vinyasa in this subroutine. Over time you may feel comfortable staying for a couple of the vinyasas and eventually the whole subroutine even sequence.

Lotus postures are excellent for working on the bandhas, the perineum is grounded allowing for greater focus on mula bandha, the lotus a stable base for deep uddiyana and jalandhara bandhas ( see practice guidelines Day 1 for more on bandhas).

Bhadrasana The hand position can be low on the thigh fingers tucked under the feet (pic 5) or closer to the knee (pic 6). If the knee be careful not to press the knees down, especially if the lotus position is still new to you.

Laghu yoga mudra (pic 8) is a deep forward bend, draw the buttocks back, come onto the front of the sit bones, engage mula and uddiyana bandha, sucking in the belly in to create more space for the body to fold forwards over your lotus. The same goes for the side vinyasas of yoga mudra (pic 11 & 12), be careful not to allow the opposite knee from the side your folding in to to raise, encourage it to stay down by grounding the sit bones.

Utpluthi (Pic 9) is all about hand placement. place the hands too far forward and the weight of the hip bones will keep your grounded, too far back and the weight of the knees will stop you from achieving lift. So place the hands just forward of mid thigh as close to your thighs as possible.

Bring your shoulders over your hands, bring your shoulders down, engage the shoulder girdle and after exhaling hold the breath out and push down into the mat through your hands and lift

Mula bandha should be engaged but engage it more strongly, tuck the tailbone under, the lower half of your body should feel tight and compact, draw your pelvis up into your torso and hold.

Keep the bandhas engaged and the tailbone tucked while your breath.

In this version of utpluthi you bend the body over the lotus, in a later version in the lotus sequence the body is more erect.

Day 87 : LOTUS : Ardha badha-padmasana (half lotus) from Vinyasa Krama Lotus sequence

2011-12-27T18:00:00.002Z

VIDEO LINK

This is almost the same subroutine as Day 26, Adha padmasana, found in the Asymmetric sequence.

This subroutine along with the half lotus subroutines found in the other sequences can be considered as preparation for full lotus

from On One Leg Sequence Day 17 Vrikmasana
from Asymmetric Sequence Day 26 Ardha padmasana
from Asymmetric Sequence Day 32 Ardha padma marichiyasana
from Supine Sequence Day 60 Dwipadapitam

from Supine Sequence Day 68 Supta ardha badha halasana

The hip opening Mahamudra subroutine from Asymmetric Day 27 is also good preparation for the half lotus as well as the Badha konasana Subroutine leading up to padmasana from Day 42

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Half lotus

See Day 17 Vrikmasana for some notes on standing half lotus.

To get into half lotus : Bend the knee bringing it towards the chest, allow the knee to drop out to the side, key here is the natural rotation in the hip joint. Bring the foot close to the opposite thigh, hold your foot in one hand and the knee in the other and GENTLY encourage the roration of the ball and socket hip joint, bring the knee forward parallel with the floor towards the opposite knee and the foot further up the thigh and ideally, eventually, towards the groin.

CAUTION

You don't want to force this action, if you feel strain on your knee it may be better to practice tomorrows subroutine built around mama mudra with the foot against the thigh rather than on top instead. Practicing the maha mudra subroutine will bring half, and eventually, full lotus closer.

As we have found in all forward bending asana, stretch out of the hips as we practiced in the standing On your feet sequences, the same goes for the twisting postures.

CAUTION.

In picture 4 (the raised hip), Vasishtasana or Kashyapasana we must be careful of the knee. Work from the top down, pushing down into the mat and lifting your shoulders then lifting the hip which will allow the leg to straighten, lower in reverse, DON'T push off the mat from the foot, knee or hip first as this will put too much strain on the knee which is vulnerable here.

DAY 86 : Inverted: Subroutine Breakdown

2011-12-26T13:29:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

Day 76 : INVERTED : Sirsasana (headstand) lead in from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

Day 77 : INVERTED : Akunchasana (knee bends) from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

Day 78 : INVERTED : Leg raises subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

Day 79 : INVERTED : Upavishta konasana ( inverted triangle) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

Day 80 : INVERTED : Urdhava Padmasana (inverted lotus) from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

Day 81 : INVERTED : Viparita Dandasana (crooked staff ) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

Day 82 : INVERTED : Inverted Mandala Subroutinesubroutine from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

Day 83 : INVERTED : Niralumba sirsasana ( headstand without support) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

Day 84 : INVERTED : Arm variations in Niralumba sirsasana ( headstand without support) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

Day 85 : INVERTED : Handstand subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

'...when sirsasana is mastered, the breath rate, which is normally about fifteen to twenty breaths per minute, automatically comes down',

Work towards two breaths a minute over time.

'Sirsasana should always be practiced in the morning, as is laid down by the authorities on yoga.'

'And, as a counterpose, it should be followed by an equal length of time in the practice of sarvangasana (shoulder stand)'.

'The procedure is thus to do sirsasanam for twenty-four breaths, followed by a two-minute rest in savasana. Then one should do sarvangasana for the equal number of twenty four breaths, followed by a sitting posture each as padmasana for a few breaths, until one feels normal and relaxed'.

from Srivatsa Ramaswami Yoga for the Three Stages of Life p142

Practicing Inverted Subroutines

Towards the end of my morning asana practice I spend few minutes in the sarvangasana preparatory postures, anapanasana, urdhva prasarita pada hastasana and dwipadapitam.

I then spend at least five minutes in sarvangasana, the first three minutes with the legs relaxed.

Then I practice for headstands for ten to twenty minutes (ten minutes minimum).

For the first five minutes I don't practice any vinyasas but try to slow my breathing towards two breaths a minute and work on engaging bandhas.

The rest of the time in headstands I spend on Vinyasas, one or more of the inverted subroutines.

Coming down from headstand I'll stay for a few moments with my forehead on the mat, when sitting up I'll bring my head up last.

After a couple of minutes in savasana I practice another five minutes of Sarvangasana (shoulder stand), this time practising vinyasas, one or more shoulder stand subroutines

Finally I'll spend a period of time in Vajrasana, padmasana or mahamudra before moving on to my pranayama practice.

Day 85 : INVERTED : Handstand subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

2011-12-25T22:38:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

This handstands subroutine takes a considerable amount of strength and stamina as well as good balance, it is something we can work towards however. Pincha mayurasana, the forearm stand from Day 83 is excellent preparation, individual vinyasas from Day 83's Niralumba Sirsasana subroutine might be included in our regular daily practice to build strength.

In this subroutine the full handstand is achieved by pushing up from kapliasana, the tripod headstand, this is particularly challenging and may take regular practice.

Another entry to handstand is from Downward dog, jumping with the feet together bringing the hips over the shoulders, the legs straight out in an inverted dandasana then unbending the waist to bring the legs vertical. We may prefer to practice this at the wall.

Another option, is again from downward dog to kick first one leg and then the other vertical.

The trick is the bring the shoulders over the hands as we kick or jump up bringing the hips over the shoulders.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Handstand from tripod

Lift the head from the mat and bring it through the arms taking the legs over the head, exhale hold and push down ion the mat engaging and stretching up through your legs to press up to handstand.

In working towards this entry we might kick up to the wall in handstand and then, with the feet against the wall, bend the elbows slightly to allow the head to lower, with control, towards the mat. Lower just a little at first and then push back up to handstand. Lower a little further each day or each week.

Vrishikasana (pic 4)

A backbend, bring the head and chest through the arms and the feet as far over the head as possible.

Engage mula and uddiyana bandha as if your taking a firm grip on the tailbone which you then tuck in as much as possible.

Push the hips forward as much as possible, stretch out through the full length of the spine, bring the chest through even further, stretch out through the hips, legs feet.

Allow the hips to drop arching the back, allow the knees to bend bringing the feet towards your head.

To return to regular handstand, unbend at the waist pushing up through the legs.

Bhuja peedasana (pic. 6)

Returning to Kapilasana, the tripod headstand, bend the knees, engage mula and uddiyana bandha drawing in the belly to allow your knees to come as high up and close to the chest as possible.

Bend at the waist and bring the knees to the outside of the armpits. Squeeze the knees as if trying to bring them together although your torso, of course, is in the way.

Allow the hips to drop at the same time bringing your head off of the mat.

Drop the shoulder blades down the back, Engage the shoulder girdle. Press down into the mat, bring the shoulders ever further forward to counter the weight of your hips. Straighten the arms and try to bring the feet as close to your bottom as possible.

To exit, bend your elbows slowly and lower your head gently to the mat, take the knees up and then unbend the knees back into kapilasana.

Bhuja peedasana variation (pic. 7)

Precede as above for buja peedasana but being sure that the knees are as far up on the outside of the armpits as possible, unbend the knees and stretch them around in front of your body and bind at the ankle. Drop the hips and bring the feet up higher and hold for three to six breaths.

To return.

Unbind the ankles, raise the hips high, bend the knees and bring your feet back behind you and up towards your bottom. Return to kapilasana as for bhjua peedasana above.

Urdhava Kukkutasana (pic 8)

This vinyasa demands a nice tight lotus.

Open your legs or drop back the left leg and bending the right knee rotate the hip joint to allow the left foot to come onto the left thigh high up near the groin. Drop back the right knee, rotate the femur head in the left hip joint to allow the left foot to come up onto the right thigh.

Try to work the right foot high up the thigh to make as tight a lotus as possible.

Engage mula and uddiyana bandha, draw in the belly to create space for the forward bend. Bring the knees as far up into the armpits as possible.

Visualise pressing your knees through your armpits so the protrude out through your arms.

Allow the hips to drop at the same time pressing down through the hands. Move the shoulders forward beyond your hands to counter the weight of the hips. The shoulders blades are dropped down the back the shoulder griddle engaged as the arms straighten and you settle for three to six breaths.

To return
Bend the elbows slightly at first and lower your head slowly and with control to the mat by bringing the hips up.
Once the head is on the floor take the hips back and unfold at the waist raising your lotus, unbind and stretch out through the legs.

Ashtavakrasana
Bend the knees towards the chest as if in Bheeja peedasana but twisting bring the right knee (with the let above it) across the chest towards the left armpit, take the knee beyond the arm and resting the knees abut the arm stretch-out the legs on the exhalation while raising the head.

Stretch out through the legs at a right angle to your bay while raising your chest and head, stretch out through the head and chest as much as possible.

The return is challenging. Lower the head back to the mat as you bend your knees and bring your feet back as close to your bottom as possible while lifting the knees off the arm and untwisting. Take the hips high to bring the knees back to the chest and return to kapilasana.

Day 84 : INVERTED : Arm variations in Niralumba sirsasana ( headstand without support) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

2011-12-24T22:03:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

In this subroutine we have four headstand arm variations, the regular sirsasana in Picture 1, arms outstretched (pic 2), arms folded in front of our face (pic 3) and the arms outstretched in front (pic4).

In the previous subroutine we also had the forearm, pincha mayurasana, version.

In the next subroutine there is yet another hand variation where the head and arms form a tripod.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Try all six headstand hand/arm variations individually and decide which two you find most comfortable, more stable.

Try switching between the two, when that is comfortable try switching back and forth between these two most comfortable variations.

Practice switching back and forth in your regular headstand practice.

You may find that although the regular headstand and, perhaps, the tripod variations are the most stable but that this is not necessarily the easiest transition.

Try switching from the regular headstand into each of the hand/arm variations to find which transition is the most comfortable.

Once found, practice this transition regularly becoming more comfortable with the shift in weight as you move first one arm and then the next. The control we develop here can then be applied to the more challenging transitions.

You might find that entering the different headstand variations from vajrasana or downward dog easier than switching hand positions while up in headstand, if so practice each of the headstand variations separately spending time in each until they become stable.

I tended to find the transition from regular headstand to the arms folded in front of the face the most awkward and the entry to the forearm headstand from downward dog was the most challenging, you might be different.

In all the transitions we want to engage the torso, the chest, stretching the front back and sides. Stretch up through the pelvis the legs, feet toes as if reaching up towards the ceiling, we want to create a feeling of lift, of lightness.

Arms outstretched

Ideally we want to have our arms and head in a straight line. the further forward our hands the more stable the position.

Shift your weight slightly to one side pressing down firmly on the right little finger, forearm and elbow, while inhaling stretch your left arm out to the side but slightly forward.

Shift your weight to the left side, the head and left hand, press down through the mat and, on the next inhalation, stretch out the other hand to the side but again a little in front.

Stay for a three breaths then reverse the process bringing first one then the other hand back to support the head.

As you practice this version, work to bring your hands further back until you are comfortable with your hands inline with your head.

The final version is to move both hands at the same time, again begin by moving the hands, on the inhalation, to the sides but a little in front, working, over time to the hands in line with the head ideal.

from downward dog

Again begin practicing with the outstretched arms slightly out of line, forward of your head as it's a more stable position.

The trick is to walk in so that your hips are as far over your shoulders as possible, this will take the most strain away from the neck.

Press firmly into the mat with the hands.

To lower bring the hips as far back as possible so that you can lower slowly and with control, bringing the knees to our chest first and then lowering the feet.

Arms folded

Shift the weight or at least line of balance to the left arm and then thread the right arm in frount of your face. Shift the weight, line of balance, to this arm and then bring the left to join it folding the arms. reverse the process, a subtle shift of weight/balance to one arm while you bring the left hand back to the starting position behind your head and then the other.

from downward dog

With the arms folder in front of your face we need to make even more of an effort to bring out hips over and even beyond our shoulders before bending the knees lifting our and bringing our knees to our chest.

Lower in the same way as for arms outstretched but shifting the hips even further back over and beyond the shoulders, as far as possible.

Arms outstretched.

We may try this variation with the palms face down at first while we gain control and stability within the posture but ideally the palms will be facing up.

We might get into the position with the palms down and then turn the palms over into the full expression of the vinyasa.

As with all the headstand hand/arm versions above, shift the weight/line of balance slightly to one side as you shift the hand position, here outstretched in front of you. press down through the first palm or back of hand, shift the weight/line of balance slightly and bring the other hand to join it, reversing the process after three breaths.

from downward dog.

We might consider entering the arms outstretched position from tripod headstand, the hands placed on the mat, palms down at a 45 degree angle to our head.

Walk our feet in to bring our hips over and even beyond our shoulders, bends the knees and bring them to our chest. Unbend the waist taking the fee behind us and then unbend the knee into sirsasana.

Shifting the weight/line of balance move first one hand further forward and then the other.

When we are comfortable entering via tripod try entering the arms outstretched in front variation with the palms down and then finally with the palms up.

Try lowering from this position, first with the palms down but latter with the palms up using the backs of the hands as support.

Lower in the same way as for arms outstretched,shifting the hips even back over and beyond the shoulders, as far as possible.

Day 83 : INVERTED : Niralumba sirsasana ( headstand without support) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

2011-12-23T21:05:00.001Z

VIDEO LINK

HINT/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Coming up to headstand with the forearms on the mat can be challenging, the trick is to walk the feet in, bringing the hips well over the shoulders.

Press down into the mat from the fingertips to the elbows.

In regular headstand where the fingers are interlocked you may find that you press your arms into the mat while attempting to draw your hands apart and yet squeezing your fingers together to prevent them parting, this pulling of the hands can help ground and anchor your arms as you lift up.

A similar effect can be had in the forearm version where you press down into the mat but also try and slide your arms apart along the mat, because the pressing into the mat is stronger than the attempt to draw the arms apart the arms stay in place and yet the action anchors the arms and gives a secure foundation as you move through the more challenging vinyasas.

The lift

Notice the 45 degree angle of the arms in Picture 7. To lift, exhale and push down though the hands, forearms and elbows and draw your shoulders back to bring your arms to a 90 degree angle at the elbow, as your shoulders come back your head lifts off the mat.

Stretch out through the full length of your body, through the trunk, hips, legs feet even the toes.

Arch your back bringing your legs over and beyond your shoulders take the head and chest through the arms, to balance.

Forming your lotus.

With your head and legs forward of your shoulders allow one leg to drop back, your left and folding the right one, rotate the hip joint to allow your right leg to rest on the left thigh as high up near the groin as possible. bring the left leg forward and bending the knee bring the left foot on to the right thigh while pressing down through the forearms and pushing the head through the arms as much as possible.

Vrischikasana

We need to create a deep arch in the back, engage mula and uddiyana bandha to support the tailbone which we want to tuck forward to create more space in the vertebrae.

take the head through the arms as much as possible, take the legs further over and push the pelvis forward. Stretch through the length of the legs and allow the weight of the legs to drop them down towards the head.

To exit, push through the legs and unbend the waist on the inhalation.

In the Subroutine we should ideally stay in pinchamyurasana as asana sthiti as we move through the vinyasas. However, as we build strength we might practice each vinyasa separately coming back down to downward dog and even taking a mini savasana to allow the heart rate and breath to steady.

Day 82 : INVERTED : Inverted Mandala Subroutinesubroutine from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

2011-12-22T22:13:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

The Inverted mandala is a more challenging version of the Sarvangasana (shoulder stand) mandala from Day 73.

It includes viparita dandasana from Day 82 but because it doesn't involve the drop back into the posture sit can be practiced as a stand-alone subroutine.

Viparita Dandasana is quite is an intense backbend so some backbend preparation is advised as warm up, the back bend vinyasas from the tadasana subroutine, Day 1, is a suggestion as are some of the pelvic lifts from Supine as well as perhaps urdhava danurasana.

More intense than the backbend is the belly twist as you flip first one way and then the other as you walk around. Twist preparation might include Parsva-bhangis, from Day 2 and especially the belly twists from Supine, Jataraparivritti Subroutine day 64.

The flip

As you lower your feet to the mat, ground your head and elbows and walk around, clockwise, on the inhalation. When you can no longer keep your feet on the floor come up on to your toes.

Exhale, take one last large step with your left foot, hold the exhalation, bring your right hip up, take the right leg over the left, twist at the waist and flip your leg all the way over so your right toes lands on the mat in front of your left foot.

The higher your able to keep your hip the more you'll be able to keep the head and elbows anchored on the mat.

Continue walking around, pause for a breath at viparita dandansana then carry on around clockwise as far as your able.

Again on the exhalation, take one last step with the right foot up on the toes, the hips high. Hold the exhalation bring the left hip over twisting at the waist as much as possible, step over with the left foot and give a last flip of the hips to bring your left foot all the way over the right landing on the toes.

Continue on round to the starting position and return to Sirsasana

Day 81 : INVERTED : Viparita Dandasana (crooked staff ) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

2011-12-21T20:45:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Fear is the biggest problem here, we're never quite sure how far our feet are away from the mat behind us.

Overcoming the fear.

Knowing our body will be comfortable in that position helps. Before dropping into Viparita dandasana from headstand, try it from the mat first. Push up into udhva dandasana then bring the hands to the head, cupping it as in headstand with your forearms and elbows on the mat. Finally walk the feet out into viparita dandasana proper.

From viparita dandasana, walk the feet back in and hop up and down a few times. your not trying to come up but just to get a feeling for how you'll drop into the position.

Walk further so you have to go up onto your toes, hop up and down again this time on your toes again just to get a feeling for how you'll land on your toes.

Notice how as you walk in your chest comes forward, this will be key for dropping out of headstand but also for hopping back up again.

If you still lack confidence consider putting some large firm cushions at the end of the mat to drop on to.

You might start with several cushions and then take one away each time until your finally dropping directly onto the mat.

Lowering the legs into urdhava dandasana (pic.2)

As you lower your legs, push your hips backwards as far as possible

Keep the lower back flat, don't allow it to round

Stretch out through the legs

If you push your hips back far enough they should act partly as a counter weight to your legs allowing your legs to stay horizontal without too much effort.

The drop (pic. 4 & 5)

As you take the legs over you need to counteract the weight of the legs as much as possible giving you time to lower them, with control, as close to the mat as possible.

Push down into the mat with your elbows, this is your anchor

Drop your shoulder blades down your back

Inhaling push out your chest, bringing it towards your chin, imaging your pushing tour chest out and down towards the mat.

Allow your back to arch

Tuck your tailbone and engage the bandhas as fully as possible

While doing all of the above, lower the legs further and further behind you you.

Your knees will be bent, allow your feet to drop to the mat landing on your toes and then your heels.

Once landed, take a breath and walk your feet out as far as possible stretching through your torso and legs.

Coming back up (pic. 7&8 )

Walk back in to the point at which you landed when you dropped.

You want to bring as much weight forward as possible

Drop the shoulder blades down your back, inhaling push your chest out and down towards the mat, arch the back as much as possible.

When your ready exhale, hold the exhalation and hop up

It's the hips that will carry you over, bend your knees and when you hop up think about lifting your hips rather than your feet and legs.

As you hop up push your hips up and forward over your shoulders and your chest down towards the mat.

You want to catch the point just before you were forced to drop, you don't have to hop all the way up just to that point and catch the point of balance.

Once caught, draw your legs closer to your body and careful release the arching of the back raising the hips, the knees and finally the feet

Day 80 : INVERTED : Urdhava Padmasana (inverted lotus) from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

2011-12-20T09:15:00.001Z

VIDEO LINK

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Padmasana (lotus) can be a challenging posture and there are many places to work towards it in Vinyasa Krama.

In Asymmetric Sequence: Padmasana doesn't appear as such but there are several hip opening postures, janusirsasana in particular, that prepare you for ardha baddha padmasana (half lotus).

In Lotus sequence : The lotus sequence picks up where Asymmetric leaves off with more vinyasas in half lotus before moving on to full lotus.

In Seated sequence : Padmasana (lotus) follows the deep hip opening subroutines of upavishta konasana and badha konasana.

In Inverted Sequnece : As with Supine and Seated the lotus vinyasas in headstand follow, konasana and badha konasana subroutine.

In all of the above sequences we can see that padmasana (lotus) follows hip opening postures, this is because padmasana (lotus) is a hip rotation rather than a twisting of the knees.

CAUTION

Don't twist the knees to get into padmasana, rather the knee is relaxed slightly and the femur head rotated in the hip joint allowing the knee to come out to the side like turning the page of a book bringing the foot up toward the opposite thigh. We bring the foot to the opposite groin by rotating the hip joint further to bring the foot into place.

Once one foot is comfortable on the opposing thigh we do the same for the other leg, relaxing the knee slightly, rotating the femur head in the hip joint but here in the inverted postures of shoulder stand and headstand we can allow the first leg to drop back a little to allow the second foot to come up smoothly on to the thigh, working the foot deeper into the groin.

Allowing the first leg to drop back to allow the second foot to come up onto the thigh more easily is something that's only available in the inverted postures. For this reason Supine and inverted may, surprisingly, be an easier option for developing padmasana.

In Sirsasana

Come into lotus via urdhva konasana. Spread the legs wide, on the exhalation, bend the right knee and rotating the femur in the hip joint bring the right foot up on to the left thigh (you may drop the left leg back a little to counter the weight of the knee coming forward to stay balanced pic.3). Inhale and on the next exhalation take your right knee back which will cause your left knee to bend slightly. Rotate the left femur head in the hip joint to bring the left foot onto that right thigh.

You may need to shuffle your feet slightly to settle into your lotus, try to do this by working from the hip joint rather than from the knee.

Twists

twist on the exhalation, a gentle twist at first, twisting a little further on each exhalation.

Anchor the head and elbows

Press the opposite elbow to the direction your twisting firmly into the mat.

Viparita yoga mudra - Lowering your lotus

These become progressively more challenging.

Version 1 (pic.7) bend at the waist while exhaling bringing the knees to the chest .

To raise your lotus, engage your bandhas and lift on the inhalation.

Version 2 (pic.9), bend at the waist on the exhalation, to the previous position, but then, while continuing your exhalation, round the back slightly to bring your feet to your chin.

To raise from there, engage the bandhas and while inhaling, straighten the back and then the waist.

Press into your elbows as you lift.

Version 3 (pic.11) on the exhalation, bend at the waist then round the back to bring your feet to your chin ( the previous position). Your knees should be almost tucked into your armpits and resting at the top of your arms.

Take an inhalation here and then on the next exhalation slide/lower your knees down the backs of your arms to rest on the mat touching your elbows.

To lift back up from here, exhale fully, engage the badhas and pressing firmly into the mat with your elbows draw your knees back up the back of your arms to your armpits.

Take a breath and on the next exhalation, straighten the back to bring the knees to the chest and then straighten the waist to bring your lotus the last of the way up.

Lifting the lotus is challenging, once lifted, pause to take one of two breaths, then when you are ready, allow your knees to draw apart, releasing your lotus back into urdhava konasana, finally bringing your legs back together into sirsasana sthiti.

Lotus to Sirsasana VIDEO LINK

The final vinyasa called for a tight lotus and you may wish to work towards this as a separate subroutine (see Lotus subroutines -to come).

To lift back up from here, exhale fully, engage the badhas and pressing firmly into the mat with your elbows draw your knees back up the back of your arms to your armpits.

Take a breath and on the next exhalation, straighten the back to bring the knees to the chest and then straighten the waist to bring your lotus the last of the way up.

Follow the directions above for the 3rd version (pic 11) to lower and raise your lotus to and from the mat.

Day 79 : INVERTED : Upavishta konasana ( inverted triangle) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

2011-12-19T20:08:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

See Day 77 for general headstand practice guidelines.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

We stay in urdhava konasana for six long inhalations and exhalations allowing us plenty of time to deepen the posture.

Spread the legs wide and allow gravity to widen them further for the first couple of breaths

Rotate the thighs outward and allow the legs to widen a little further with gravity.

Try tensing the muscles of the thighs for one or two long breath and relaxing them for the next allowing them to widen still further with gravity

Twists (pictures 3&4)

Stretch out through the length of both legs

Twist on the exhalation

Press the opposite elbow from the direction your twisting firmly into the mat to maintain balance and stability.

Urdhva badha konasana

We stay in bahda konasana for six long inhalations and exhalations also, allowing time to deepen the posture.

Bend the knees and bring the feet together for the first couple of breaths.

Fot the final breaths press the heels together and on the exhalation, working from the hips , open the knees laterally like opening a book.

Relax on the inhalation, maintaining the stretch but press into the heels once more on the exhalation while rotating the femur head in the hip joint further and allowing the knees to open wider.

Day 78 : INVERTED : Leg raises subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

2011-12-18T16:43:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

See Day 77 for general Sirsasana (headstand) practice guidelines and Day 76 for Sirsasana lead in and How to do a headstand.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS.

Urdhava akinchasana (Day 77) is ideal preparation for this subroutine.

As with akunchasana use the fill length of the forearms to control your balance, especially the elbows.

Engage the bandhas especially, uddiyana (drawing in the belly) for lowering of the leg to the front.

Lower from the hip rather than from the foot

Stretch out through the length of the leg as you lower.

Stretch through the leg that remains vertical

Ideally the vertical leg should not come forward while the other leg is lowering, nor should the knee bend.

When lowering the leg to the side press down through the elbow on the opposite side to stay balanced

In viparita garandasana, begin to wrap the leg as low as possible,

Once wrapped stretch up though the leg that is being wrapped, try to stay straight and not lean backwards.

In the back arch, twist first and then arch the back.

Anchor the head and elbows as you twist

Press down firmly into the mat, the elbow on the opposite side to which your twisting.

Engage mula and uddiyana bandha to help support the arch of the back, engage the hips and push them forward.

Day 77 : INVERTED : Akunchasana (knee bends) from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

2011-12-17T19:08:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

'...when sirsasana is mastered, the breath rate, which is normally about fifteen to twenty breaths per minute, automatically comes down',

Work towards two breaths a minute over time.

'Sirsasana should always be practiced in the morning, as is laid down by the authorities on yoga.'

'And, as a counterpose, it should be followed by an equal length of time in the practice of sarvangasana (shoulder stand)'.

from Srivatsa Ramaswami Yoga for the Three Stages of Life p142

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Towards the end of my morning asana practice I spend few minutes in the sarvangasana preparatory postures, anapanasana, urdhva prasarita pada hastasana and dwipadapitam.

I then spend at least five minutes in sarvangasana, the first three minutes with the legs relaxed.

Then I practice for headstands for ten to twenty minutes (ten minutes minimum).

For the first five minutes I don't practice any vinyasas but try to slow my breathing towards two breaths a minute and work on engaging bandhas.

The rest of the time in headstands I spend on Vinyasas, one or more of the inverted subroutines.

Coming down from headstand I'll stay for a fem moments with my forehead on the mat, when sitting up I'll bring my head up last.

After a couple of minutes in savasana I practice another five minutes of Sarvangasana (shoulder stand), this time practising vinyasas, one or more shoulder stand subroutines

Finally I'll spend a period of time in Vajrasana, padmasana or mahamudra before moving on to my pranayama practice.

the head point of sirsasana should be the crown of the head

Control your balance with your forearms and especially your elbows

Urdhva akunchasana

For these movements the neck and shoulders need to be relaxed and well stretched out, the hasta vinyasas in tadasana (Day 1) are a good place to start your practice.

Bend the knee towards the chest on the exhalation, straighten the leg on the inhalation.

The danger is to fall forward out of the headstand while bending the knee towards the chest, be sure to engage the opposite hip and stretch out through the full length of the leg.

The tendency is to lean the straight leg forward, imagine taking it backwards slightly to counter the pull forwards.

Don't try to bring the knee down too far on the first bend, work a little deeper on each repetition.

If necessary take an extra breath or two after each bend of the knee, adjusting the head arms and shoulders.

round your back slightly on the third bend to bring the knee lower.

Engage bandhas, uddiyana bandha, sucking in the belly will create more space allowing your to take the knee lower.

Bringing both legs to the cheat is more challenging as you don't have the trailing straight leg to act as a counterweight, round the back, again, go a little lower on each exhalation.

In Ardha-padmasana-akunchasana try to bring the leg as far into the goring as possible, shuffle the foot in a little deeper if possible.

In Ardha-padmasana-akunchasana the need to round the back slightly will be more apparent.

Day 76 : INVERTED : Sirsasana (headstand) lead in from Vinyasa Krama Inverted sequence

2011-12-16T08:30:00.001Z

VIDEO LINK

Ramaswami writes concerning Sirsasana (headstand) and it's subroutines

'...inversions should be considered as unique contributions of Yoga, for health. Within the first few minutes of Sirsasana practice, the leg and thigh muscles, the gluteal muscles, relax. The chest, back, shoulders and neck muscles also relax as all these are not required to maintain the postural tone as in the upright position. It has been found that due to the relaxation of the leg muscles, the blood pressure in the legs drop to about 30mm.There is no great rush of blood to the head among the adept yogis due to auto regulation; yet the gravity helps to open up many capillaries in the brain, head and face which may otherwise remain partially closed. People with high blood pressure and retinal problems will have to be careful. However persons with mild hypertension and under control with diet, life style change and even medication could benefit from this posture if they had learnt it from early life. It appears to increase pressure on the shoulders which would result in the brain trying to reduce the blood pressure. Therefore if one would practice Sirshasana regularly for a sufficient duration, one’s pulse rate tends to reduce, thereby reducing the strain on the heart. Gradually there is a reduction in the blood pressure'.

Srivatsa Ramaswami Newsletter Aug 2009

There are several approaches to headstand, the above is the standard Vinyasa Krama approach.

If your new to headstands here is a link to a tutorial http://youtu.be/J68JvZtAHN4

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Consider using a wall while building confidence ( this us useful when kicking up into headstand as you can tap off the wall - see tutorial link above)

When interlacing the fingers, engage the little fingers (pic 2)

Make a firm base with your arms, your going to press down through your arms and take most, if not all, of the weight on them rather than on your head.

Headstand is an arm balance

Walk in bringing the hips over the shoulders and even beyond them to use as a counterweight for your legs. (pic 5)

Engage moola and uddiyana bandha,

Raise the feet off the mat while exhaling and bring the legs close to the body (Pic 6)

Press down through the length of your forearms, especially your elbows as you raise your feet.

Focus on the hips or the pelvis in space.

Drop the shoulder blades down the back, this should create space stop your neck getting pinched

Stretch out through the whole length of your body, engage your legs and bring your attention to the

furthest point, your toes

Focusing the mind on the toes will control the balance when fully extended.

Come down by going back to half headstand, bring the legs to the chest

Make sure the toes are turned up so you land safely.

DAY 75 : Supine: Subroutine Breakdown

2011-12-15T20:55:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

Day 58 : Supine : Tatakamudra (pond gesture) & Jayaraparivritti (belly twist) Subroutinesubroutine from Vinyasa Krama Meditative sequence

Day 59 : Supine : Apanaasana (pelvic floor poses) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

Day 60 : Dwipadapitam ( Desk pose) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

Day 61 : Madhya sethu ( mid region bridge pose) & Urdhvadhaurasana ( bridge) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

Day 62 : Leg and arm lifts subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

Day 63 : Supta trivikramasana & yoganidra (reclining yogi pose) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

Day 64 : Jataraparivritti (stomach twist variation ) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

Day 65 : Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) preparation subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

Day 66 : Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) lead in subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

Day 67 : Akunchasana ( contraction pose) in Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

Day 68 : Supta ardha badha halasana to Halasana in Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

Day 69 : Urdhva Konasana in Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

Day 70 : Urdhva Padmasana (lotus) in Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

Day 71 : Niralumba Salambhasana ( unsupported shoulderstand) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

Day 72 : halasana (plough) & uttana mayurasana Stretched peacock) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

Day 73 : Sarvangasana mandala (circular ambulation in plough) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

Day 74 : Karnapindasana ( closed ear pose) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

Ramaswami recommends we spend five minutes in Sarvangasana (first three minutes with the legs relaxed next two with the legs straight in standard Shoulderstand) before practising the sarvangasana vinyasas

Ramaswami would also recommend a counterpose after sarvangasana so as to relieve the strain placed on the neck and shoulders, he suggests bhujangasana (cobra, Day 45) and especially makrasana (crocodile, Day 44) as ideal counterposes, stating that, 'The counterposes, as a rule, should be simple, effective and targeted' (Yoga beneath the surface p105).

Supine used to be my least favourite sequence when I first started practicing Vinyasa Krama. It's long a sequence and I was never sure what approach to take. It took quite some time to realise it was, if anything, the perfect sequence, forward bends, twists, backbends, inversions, leg behind head postures, lotus... it has everything.

That said, because of it's length I don't tend to practice it as a stand-alone sequence, I do however practice most of it's sequences regularly.

I practice takamudra as preparation for deep forward bends like pashimottanasana as well as a counterpose for backbends, pressing the lower back into the mat while engaging bandhas.

I practice Apanasana, the pelvic floor poses for the same reasons.

In advanced back bending I've realised the importance of pushing the hips forward as far as possible and tucking under the tailbone, Dwipadapitam (desk pose) is perfect for working on this and ideal preparation for urdhva dhanurasana and Charasana (wheel pose).

It has some of the best twisting postures in yoga with Jataraparivritti (belly twists).

It also has some of the best leg behind head preparation I've come across.

As well as an excellent preparatory subroutine for Shoulder stand.

Day 74 : Karnapindasana ( closed ear pose) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

2011-12-14T07:53:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

Ramaswami would also recommend a counterpose after sarvangasana so as to relieve the strain placed on the neck and shoulders, he suggests bhujangasana (cobra, Day 45) and especially makrasana (crocodile, Day 44) as ideal counterposes, stating that, 'The counterposes, as a rule, should be simple, effective and targeted' (Yoga beneath the surface p105).

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

To be able to bring the knees to the mat beside your ears, the neck and shoulders need to be sufficiently relaxed. A long sarvangasana or some halasana subroutine variations can help achieve this,

Engage jalandhara bandha, the chin lock, bringing the chin tight against the chest.

Engage uddiyana bandha, drawing the belly in and up to creat more space for the forward fold.

Kandapindasana is a posture in which we can stay for a considerable amount of time, Ramaswami recommends twelve breaths.

Because of the tight fold, the inhalation will be short but try to lengthen the exhalation.

To bring your legs through the arms, retain uddiyana and on the inhalation, stretching each vertebra, allow your back to slowly unfurl along the mat, keeping your legs as close to your body as possible all the way through the arms.

Ideally the legs should not touch the arms on the way through.

Day 73 : Sarvangasana mandala (circular ambulation in plough) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

2011-12-13T12:19:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

Sarvangasana mandala employs reveal of the movements from the previous subroutine, the forward bend halasana (day 72 & 71) in konasana (day 69) the back stretch in the previous uttana mayurasana subroutine (Day 72) and twisting in urdhva padmasana vinyasas (day 70).

If we want to practice sarvangasana mandala separately from the previous subroutines then we should make sure we have practiced some foreword bends, back stretches and twisting postures in other subroutines to be sure we are sufficiently warmed up and flexible.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

I strongly suggest you practice this subroutine after the previous halasana and uttana mayurasana subroutine (day 72) as the mandala involves a flip over from halasana to uttana mayurasana which is a twisting motion.

The mandala may be best worked towards in stages.

The flip from uttana mayurasana to halasana seems to be slightly less intimidating than the other way around.

First we need to enter the first stage of uttana mayurasana

STAGE1

Uttana Mayurasana (stretched peacock )

From Sarvangasana tuck the tailbone, engage moola bandha by drawing up the anus, bend the knees, expand the chest, arch the back and lower your feet gently to the mat on the inhalation.

Lowering on the inhalation gives more control as does engaging the bandhas.

There is no need to stretch the legs completely for now.

With the knees bent side step your legs to the side as far as possible.

Now lower your body to the mat onto your left hip, your feet will be on top of each other. Roll your right leg over the left, bringing the left hip over the right and walk shuffle your legs a little further round.

Return your hands to your back, raise your hips and walk/sidestep further around until you are in halasana.

Relax and then do the same movements in reverse.

STAGE 2

When this movement is comfortable or at least familiar, the twisting and rolling the hip over, try the movement without lowering to the mat.

From Uttana Mayurasana walk the legs around to the left as far as possible, with each extra step the right hip will rise. When you can go no further in that position, support the back strongly, take a breath and at the end of the exhalation hold the breath and flip your waist bringing the right hip over the left to land on your feet.

Continue walking the feet around into halasana and relax.

Practice going back and forth on one side, flipping from uttana mayurasana to halasana and back again.

Once you are comfortable flipping back and forth on one side practice the same movement on the other.

STAGE 3

Now you are comfortable flipping flipping from halasana to uttana mayurasana and back again your ready for the full mandala,

We begin in halasana walk around as far as possible, pause, take a breath, exhale and hold then flip over and continue walking around into uttana mayurasana. Continue walking/sidestepping/shuffling around to the other side, pause, exhale, hold the exhalation and flip over and continue back to the starting position, Halasana.

The Breath

from halasana

Inhale

Exhalation: move to the right to around 45 degrees

Inhale

Exhalation: continue on to 90 degrees

Inhale

Exhale and hold: flip your waist over and land on your feet

Inhale

Exhalation: continue moving around until you are in uttana mayurasana (180 degrees)

Inhale

Exhalation continue around another 45 degrees

Inhale

Exhalation continue around to around 270 degrees

Inhale

Exhale and hold; Flip the waist over and land on your feet

Inhale

Exhalation continue around until you are in the starting position

When comfortable with the movements repeat the subroutine counterclockwise.

Day 72 : halasana (plough) & uttana mayurasana Stretched peacock) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

2011-12-12T19:17:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

This Subroutine could follow on nicely from Day 68 : Supta ardha badha halasana to Halasana

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

For Halasana (pic 2) from Sarvangasana (shoulder stand) we first place our arms outstretched along the mat and then lower the legs to the mat above our head on the inhalation.

Lowering on the inhalation gives more control of the descent as does engaging the legs by stretching out through the legs from the hips to the feet.

Remember to lower and raise the legs from the hips rather than thinking about lowering the feet to the mat.

Uttana Mayurasana (stretched peacock )

From Sarvangasana tuck the tailbone, engage moola bandha by drawing up the anus, bend the knees, expand the chest, arch the back and lower your feet gently to the mat on the inhalation.

Lowering on the inhalation gives more control as does engaging the bandhas.

Stay for a breath and then stretch first one leg and then the other, press your feet, from the toes to the heels and both sides of each foot firmly into the mat.

Stay for three to six breaths lifting up through the hips as in dwipadapitam

Return to sarvangasana by bending the knees bringing the legs back to where you first landed them.

Support the back, exhale, hold the breath and raise your hips and thus your legs off the mat, the knees stay bent until you ar vertical again when you stretch the legs back up into sarvangasana.

Some may find the the uttana mayurasana vinyasa's, where the legs are lowered one at a time (pictures 4-7) easier or less intimidating than full uttana mayurasana, in which case, you might wish to switch them around in the subroutine, at least in the beginning.

This vinyasa is less intimidating because the trailing leg can act as a counter weight to the leg lowering to the mat behind you.

From shoulder stand lower one leg above your head (your right leg say) then inhale, hold the breath and bend the knee of the upright leg (your left) and arching your spine and supporting your back with your hands lower the left foot to the mat behind you.

As you lower your right leg will come up, stretching out through this leg will give control of the descent to the mat of the other leg. The right leg will come up to vertical as the left leg comes to rest on the mat behind you

Stay in this position with one leg bent and the other straight for three breaths. Stretch out through the vertical leg from the hip.

After three breaths on the next inhalation stretch out the left leg along the mat while trying to keep the vertical leg stretched and engaged.

Stay for another three breaths.

To return: On the exhalation bend the left leg again bringing it closer to the body, stay for a breath. Exhale, hold the breath, press down from the shoulders to the elbows, round the back and from the hip raise the leg allowing the right leg to lower back into eka pada halasana. On the next inhalation bring your right leg back up to join the left in Sarvangasana sthiti

Basically, as one leg goes down the other come up like a seesaw.

Day 71 : Niralumba Salambhasana ( unsupported shoulderstand) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

2011-12-11T19:04:00.001Z

VIDEO LINK

An unsupported shoulder stand assumes your regular shoulder stand is stable and comfortable. if your feeling any stress on your neck then you should probably avoid the unsupported version for the time being.

A good warm up is often required to allow the shoulders to relax enough for unsupported shoulder stand, the and arm variations in Tadasana from Day1 are a good place to start, these could also be done in dandasana.

Practicing forward folding postures with the chin down will also stretch and relax the neck in preparation for shoulder stands as would engaging jalandhara bandha (chin lock).

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Explore the unsupported headstand by removing one hand at a time from supporting your back may be a good introduction to finding the required balance.

In regular shoulderstand, stretch your back more, extend up through the legs and lean your torso and hips in the direction of your head, your legs will come beyond your head but remain straight up.

Your hands on your back should feel as if they are hardly necessary to support the shoulder stand.

Reach up with on arm on the inhalation and stretch it up along your thigh, remain for three breaths. Return it to your back and repeat with the other hand, remembering to stretch your hand up along the thigh, stretching through your trunk and the full length of your legs feet and toes.

If one hand at a time is comfortable, take first one hand off the back, stretch it along the thighs and then after a breath bring the other hand to the other thigh. Hold for a breath and then bring the first hand back to the back and after another breath return the second hand.

When comfortable in niralumaba sarvangasana (unsupported headstand) consider exploring the vinyasas.

When lowering and raising the leg, begin the action in the hip, while stretching through the length of the leg.

By lowering on the inhalation you keep more control of the descent.

In lowering the leg to the mat (pic.3) place one arm on the mat above your head on the inhalation, stay for a breath and then on the next inhalation lower the leg to the palm, hold the toe and ideally stay for three breaths.

You may wish to lower the leg on the inhalation and raise it on the exhalation while you become comfortable with the movement and shift in balance, repeating three times and then holding the toes on the third lowering.

Problems can come on the raising of the leg back up to horizontal. be sure to keep the torso forward and stretching up through the legs and keeping the the trailing leg forward of your head while raising the leg.

in the next vinyasa bring both hands above the head. in the beginning you might lower first one hand, stay for a breath and then bring the other to join it staying for a breath before returning the first hand on the next breath and the second hand on the following breath.

As this becomes comfortable and stable try bringing both hands above the head and stay for three breaths.

There is another vinyasa not shown, where you bring you arms behind your head clasping your elbows.

In the vinyasa in picture six, halasana (plough) lay the hands along the mat behind your head and then on the inhalation lower your legs to the mat above your head, the stretched out arms give more stability in this posture.

Day 70 : Urdhva Padmasana (lotus) in Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

2011-12-10T19:59:00.001Z

VIDEO LINK

As a reminder, Ramaswami recommends we spend five minutes in Sarvangasana (first three minutes with the legs relaxed next two with the legs straight in standard Shoulderstand) before practising the sarvangasana vinyasas

Ramaswami would also recommend a counterpose after sarvangasana so as to relieve the strain placed on the neck and shoulders, he suggests bhujangasana (cobra, Day 45) and especially makrasana (crocodile, Day 44) as ideal counterposes, stating that, 'The counterposes, as a rule, should be simple, effective and targeted' (Yoga beneath the surface p105).

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Padmasana (lotus) can be a challenging posture and there are many places to work towards it in Vinyasa Krama.

In Asymmetric Sequence: Padmasana doesn't appear as such but there are several hip opening postures, janusirsasana in particular, that prepare you for ardha baddha padmasana (half lotus).

In Lotus sequence : The lotus sequence picks up where Asymmetric leaves off with more vinyasas in half lotus before moving on to full lotus.

In Seated sequence : Padmasana (lotus) follows the deep hip opening subroutines of upavishta konasana and badha konasana.

In Supine sequence : More half lotus variations, this time in dwipadapitam (table pose). In shoulder stand we have the half lotus vinyasas of Day 68 but also the extreme hip openers of the previous (Day 69 ) Urdhva Konasana subroutine.

In Inverted Sequnece : As with Supine and Seated the lotus vinyasas in headstand follow, konasana and badha konasana subroutine.

In all of the above sequences we can see that padmasana (lotus) follows hip opening postures, this is because padmasana (lotus) is a hip rotation rather than a twisting of the knees.

CAUTION
Don't twist the knees to get into padmasana, rather the knee is relaxed slightly and the femur head rotated in the hip joint allowing the knee to come out to the side like turning the page of a book bringing the foot up toward the opposite thigh. We bring the foot to the opposite groin by rotating the hip joint further and using the hand to guide (guide not pull) the foot into place.

Once one foot is comfortable on the opposing thigh we do the same for the other leg, relaxing the knee slightly, rotating the femur head in the hip joint but here in the inverted postures of shoulder stand and headstand we can allow the first leg to drop back a little to allow the second foot to come up smoothly on to the thigh, guiding the foot deeper into the groin with our hand.

Allowing the first leg to drop back to allow the second foot to come up onto the thigh more easily is something that's only available in the inverted postures. For this reason Supine may, surprisingly, be an easier option for developing padmasana.

Because we want to use one hand to draw the foot deeper into the groin we need to make sure that we are firmly supported in shoulder stand with the other hand. Be sure to have the hand supporting the back rather than the hip. the hand should be close to but not on the spine with the fingers pointing upwards.

You may want to bring the trailing leg further over the head and shoulders in the beginning to stay stable.

Lowering the lotus (pic.3)
Engage the bandhas, draw up the anus and draw the belly in and up to create space to fold your lotus towards your head, try to keep your lotus as close to your chest as possible.

Pindasana (pic.4)
To achieve pindasana you need a nice tight lotus with the knees brought closer towards each other, the thighs almost parallel. make sure your hips are over or preferably in front of your shoulders so that when you remove your hands you don't roll back down to the mat. Swing your arms around your legs and clasp your hands and ideally bind at the wrist

If your lotus is not tight enough to bind fully you may still be able to hold the thighs while you work towards tightening your lotus and deepening the fold.

The Twists (pictures 5&6)
Assuming your right foot is on your left thigh the first twist bringing the left knee to the right side of the head is less challenging than bringing the right knee to the left side of the head due to the way the legs are folded.

Start with the twist. Twist at the waist to the right on the exhalation, stay for three breaths. then, on the next exhalation, twist a little further to the right while at the same time lowering your left knee towards your right ear. Stay for three breaths.

Pratkriya (pic.7)
The final posture of the subroutine, Sarvangasana padmasana (pic 7) is the Pratkriya (counterpose ), bending the waist backward to counter the forwards bends.

Move the hands to the hips with the fingers facing forward over the hips and the thumbs pointing towards the spine.

In the beginning bring the chest further over your head and then arch back just a little at the waist on the inhalation and then come back to vertical on the exhale, arch the back a little further on each inhalation as you become more confident.

Use the bandhas to keep stability, engage mula bandha strongly by drawing up the anus, draw the belly in and up and engage the chin lock.

Stretching up out of the hips as much as possible in this position by expanding and lifting the chest, push the hips upwards.

To return. point your lotus up on the exhalation, slide your hand back into the regular shoulder stand position with the finger pointing upwards, when vertical allow your hips to open which will bring the knees further away from each other bringing the feet down the thighs and out of the bind.

Day 69 : Urdhva Konasana in Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

2011-12-09T08:57:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Ramaswami suggests the option of opening and closing the legs into urdhwa konasana three times, on the breath, before remaining in the posture for three to six long breaths.

This is a good opportunity to work into the stretch, starting with the legs opening to quarter, half and finally full stretch.

Try not to allow the legs to come forward or the back to drop too far back into your hands, this posture should ideal happen with the hips and legs in line, on a plane as it were.

In Urdhwa baddha konasana, I find it useful to roll on to the outside of the feet to open the legs wider before bringing the feet back together.

There is the option of bringing the legs down towards the mat and then raising them back up into urdhawa konasana, three times on the breath, each time going deeper into the fold.

Engage bandhas, drawing the belly back and up to create mere space for the deep forward bend.

We can begin by holding the toes, then the sides of the feet and finally the heels, drawing ourselves deeper into the posture on each long exhalation.

Day 68 : Supta ardha badha halasana to Halasana in Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

2011-12-08T21:06:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Picture 2+3 lower the leg from the hip, try to keep both legs, the one lowering and the one remaining straight by stretching through the whole leg right up to the toes.

Engage mula bandha by drawing up your anus and then uddiyana bandha by drawing your belly back and up at the end of the exhale, this hollowing of the belly will allow you to lower the last inch or two to the floor with control.

Raise the leg back up to standing slowly with control on a long inhalation, there's a tendency to take the leg back up quickly, thinking that the important aspect of the posture is the lowering of the leg.

Both the lowering and raising of the leg are vinyasas.

Between picture 3 and 4 we can include an extra vinyasa in which we bend the knee to bring the right foot into the left groin then bend the left knee to bring the knee towards the forehead. This can act as a preparatory vinyasa for Supta ardha badha halasana.

It's also possible to include yet another vinyasa where we bring the right foot to the left goring then lower the left leg bringing the toes to the floor above our head. This is an unbound version of Supta ardha badha halasana

It may be advisable to work on the bind in the On one leg sequence or asymmetric where one foot is in half lotus and the is a more stable base.

In Sarvangasana, bing the right foot to the left groin and lower the left leg slightly. Support the back firmly with the right arm, making the right leg good and straight by engaging it strongly.

Use the left hand to bring the right foot deeper into the left groin. Return the left hand to support the back and then swing the right arm around the back twisting the hips to gain better access to the right toes.

It's may be useful to think of the action of putting on a jacket in which the second sleeve has become a little tangled.

before lowering the foot to the mat, try to straighten up and relax the shoulders as much as possible

Gain a firm hold of the right toe with the right hand and lower the left foot to the mat above your head..

In Halasana, Picture 6, lower both legs to the mat above your head first then stretch the arms to the floor

Engage bandhas, enabling you to draw in your belly to create the space for a deep fold.

Inhalation will be shorter than normal but exhalation can be long and slow, stay for 6-12 breaths.

For urdhwa-mukha-paschimottanasana, picture 8, take the the toes as in picture 7 and work towards a deeper foold as in paschimottanasana in the seated sequence over a number of breaths. For the first three hold the toes, the next three fold deeper and take the side of the feet, with the next three breaths take the heels if that feels available to you.

This is an extreme forward bend and you will want to make sure that your hamstrings have been sufficiently warmed up and loosened earlier in your practice.

Day 67 : Akunchasana ( contraction pose) in Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

2011-12-07T19:02:00.001Z

VIDEO LINK

In these vinyasas your bending the leg at the knee and bringing it down to the side of the forehead by rounding the back.

When you bend both knees together you bring them down to your forehead, again by rounding the back.

Bring your legs down while exhaling, take them back up while inhaling.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

The main concern here is with balance, try bringing the leg down just half way on the exhalation and take them back up.

Pay attention to the pelvis and keeping it steady.

As you bring the knee all the way down make sure you are keeping the other leg straight, stretching up thorough the leg.

At first come down only as far as feels comfortable and stable.

To bring the knee all the way to the forehead you may need to engage uddiyana bandha at the end of the exhalation sucking the belly in and slightly up into the ribcage allowing you to bend/curl your back further and bringing your knee closer to your forehead.

The single leg version is repeated there to six times, down on the exhalation back up on the inhalation.

In the legs together version bring the knees to the forehead and stay for three to six breaths, the inhalation will be shallow because you so deeply folded but try to lengthen the exhalation.

This is a good position for engaging and exploring the bandhas.

The legs together version can also be practiced in the same way as the single leg version, bringing the knees down to the forehead and back up on the inhalation, repeating three to six times.

The final version is to gently twist after bending both knees and bringing the the knees to the side of the forehead and eventually to the floor beside your head, stay for three to six breaths.

Day 66 : Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) lead in subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

2011-12-06T20:46:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

Ramaswami has Sarvangasana (shoulderstand0 along with Sirsasana (headstand) and paschimottanasana (seated posterior stretch) as the three postures his teacher, Krishnamacharya recommended practicing every day and for a considerable length time.

Sarvangasana, it is suggested, should be practiced for anything between five and twenty minutes daily.

Ramaswami recommended we spend three minutes in Sarvangasana with the legs relaxed then another two minutes with them straight in classic sarvangasana. After that first five minutes we might then consider exploring some of the vinyasas.

Looking ahead I think we have seven sarvangasana subroutines.

Ramaswami would also recommend a counterpose after sarvangasana so as to relieve the strain placed on the neck and shoulders, he suggests bhujangasana (cobra, Day 45) and especially makrasana (crocodile, Day 44) as ideal counterposes, stating that, 'The counterposes, as a rule, should be simple, effective and targeted' (Yoga beneath the surface p105).

HINTS/TIP/SUGESTIONS

The above practice sheet shows the advanced lead in, it requires a degree of flexibility in the neck and shoulders at picture 8 that may not be available to you.

It is important that in Picture 8 the shoulders are on the mat rather than the back of the neck, engage jalandhara bandha ( the chin lock)

Rather than risk strain in the early stages one may consider the alternative approach below.

Here a blanket is used beneath the shoulders, creating space for the neck and avoiding any strain.

Day 65 : Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) preparation subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

2011-12-05T20:16:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

Ramaswami states in The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga

'Even though all the vinyasas we have considered so far under the category of supine poses can be reckoned to be preparatory for the shoulder stand, three of them are considered essential before going in for the shoulder stand pose in the Vinyasa method of yoga practice.' p122

The three are

Anapanasana (pictures 2-5) see Day 59

Dwipadapitam (pictures 6+7) see Day 60

Leg and arm lift (pictures 8+9) see Day 62

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS
General
Ramaswami also recommends the hand and arm variations in tadasana (Day 1) from the On your feet sequence, as useful for relaxing and loosening up the neck and shoulders.

The practice sheet above represents my default preparation, I like to do all three of the pavamuktasana, neck tilts, bringing the chin, nose and then forehead to the knee (anapanasana pose is when the head remains on the mat, pavamuktasana when the head tilts). Here I've done the both legs together version but you could just as well do the single leg version on both sides instead.

The same goes for the arm and leg lifts, here too, I've gone for the both legs together version but you could do the single leg vinyasas, either same arm/same leg or cross body.

In Dwipadapitam any of the vinyasas would be acceptable or even a long stay in just the ankle hold, lengthening breath and engaging bandhas.

Anapanasana (pictures 2-5) see Day 59

In all the anapanasana vinyasas the head stays on the mat, the hip lifts to bring the knee or knees to the chest.

In all the pavamuktasana vinyasas the head lifts off the mat to bring with the chin, nose or forehead to the knee or knees.

It's acceptable to raise the head when catching the knee in anapanasana but once caught lower the head, and tighten the grip around the leg or legs and press the thigh(s) against the lower abdomen.

In the pavamuktasana vinyasas be careful not to strain when bringing your forehead to your knee, stretch up through the length of your spine and drop your shoulder blades down your back.

Engaging uddiyana at the end of the exhalation may also help to allow the forehead to reach the knee.

Dwipadapitam (pictures 6+7) see Day 60

Keep the legs strong throughout, push the feet into the mat especially the toes and stretch though the whole length of the leg(s).

Explore nutation, tilting the pelvis upwards, to create more space for the spine to arch.

Take the weight on the shoulders rather than the neck, make sure the shoulderblades are dropped down the back and not hunched up and compessing the neck

Push the chest up and almost over the shoulders.

Leg and arm lift (pictures 8+9) see Day 62

Raise the arm(s) over the head on the inhalation, raise the legs on the exhalation

Hold each posture for three to six breaths

Ideally we want to keep the sacrum, the small of the back on the mat while lifting the legs, difficult, engage mula bandha to anchor.

Day 64 : Jataraparivritti (stomach twist variation ) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

2011-12-04T19:55:00.001Z

VIDEO LINK

In Ramaswami's book The complete book of Vinyasa Yoga, the postures above come after Dakshina bhairava asana on the right side in the previous subroutine (day 63) but then then appears again after yoganidra along with a both legs taken to the side variation.

It can of course stand as a subroutine in it's own right and is an excellent twisting posture.

Ramaswami has other variations of the sequence where the legs are together.

In one variation, you take your legs up and over to the side to land on your palm in one movement, stay for three to six breaths and then return to asana sthiti and then repeat on the other side.

In another variation you take the legs up and over to the palm on one exhalation return to asana sthiti on the next inhalation and then take to the other side on the next exhalation. you can then repeat the vinyasa three to six times, resting between movements if you become short of breath.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Raise the leg(s) from the hip rather than from the foot and lower leg

Press the length of the arm(s) into the mat to give stability.

Lift the head slightly before turning the head

Twist at the hips

Try to keep the back flat.

Ideally the trailing leg should remain as flat and straight as possible, this is challenging.

Available for Download: Vol III (2011) of Ramaswami's Vinyasa Krama Newsletters.

2011-12-04T17:56:00.000Z

Ramaswami with Krishnamacharya in 1968

K. has just sent me his new volume (Vol 3) of Ramaswami's 2011 Newsletters for hosting at my google docs site along with Vol 2 (2010) and Vol 1 (2009). All are available for FREE download.

Here are the contents of the three volumes

Ramaswami's Newsletters 2011 Vol III

January 2011 Newsletter S. Ramaswami - Iswarapranidhana

February 2011 Newsletter-Thus Spake Sri T Krishnamacharya

March 2011 Newsletter from S. Ramaswami—Breath of Yoga

April 2011 Newsletter from S. Ramaswami—Mantra Cover

May 2011 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami-Advaita

June 2011 Newsletter - Statics and Dynamics of Asana

July 2011 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami—Trivikrama

August 2011 Newsletter —Yoga TT Program, What I Learnt.

September 2011 Newsletter—Spinal Exercise, the bottom of It.

October 2011 Newsletter from S. Ramaswami--AVVAIYAR

November 2011 Newsletter from S. Ramaswami—Yoga Joint

December 2011 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami-Chants

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Ramaswami's Newsletters Vol II 2010

January 2010 Newsletter-One Verse Exposition of Adi Sankara

February 2010 Newsletter From S. Ramaswami--Yoga Nerves

March 2010 Newsletter--T.T Program--Yoga vs Ach..choo

April 2010 Newsletter--Subhashita(Good Saying)

May 2010 Newsletter --Yoga and Bronchial Asthma

June 2010 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami--Chitta Vritti

July 2010 Newsletter From Srivatsa Ramaswami--Story Time

August 2010 Newsletter--2010 VK-TT Program Feedback

September 2010 Newsletter --Yoga Gymnastique

Mid-September 2010 Newsletter--Mr Mark Singleton's Letter

October 2010 Newsletter--Pancha Kosa Vidya

November 2010 Newsletter From S.Ramaswami--Yajnyavalkya

December 2010 Newsletter from Srivatsa Raaswami--Durvasa

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Ramaswami's Newsletters Vol 1 2009

January 2009 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami-Triguna

February 2009 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami

March 2009 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami -A “Creative” Hypothesis

April 2009 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami -Vajrasana Story

Sanskrit Chants April 2009

May 2009 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami - Yoga for the heart

June 2009 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami -Vedic Convocation

June 2009 1. SRI PATTABHI JOIS--- 2. Between Death and Birth

July 2009 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami -A Tale of two Bhakti Yogis

August 2009 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami - Head and Shoulders above......

September 2009 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami - Vinyasakrama Practice

October 2009 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami-Svadhyaya and Story of Tirumular

November 2009 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami - Meditating on Meditation

December 2009 from Srivatsa Ramaswami - One legged poses and story of Bhagirata

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*Many thanks to K. for compiling them and for Ramaswami, of course for producing them.

Day 63 : Supta trivikramasana & yoganidra (reclining yogi pose) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

2011-12-03T18:06:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

It is interesting to compare the preparation for the leg behind head postures in Asymmetric sequence (Day 29 Ekapadasirsasana) and here in the Supine Sequence with the Supta trivikramasana subroutine.

In the Asymmetric sequence we have the hip openers of janu sirsasana and Ardha padmasana followed by the archer and heron postures. In the Supine sequence we also have a half lotus vinyasa in the dwipadapitam (desk pose) subroutine and the hamstring stretches in the previous subroutine ( Day 62 leg and arm lifts) that include spreading the legs wide and drawing them back and down.

In this subroutine the preparation continues. Suptapadangustasana can be practise as part of the previous subroutine or here before moving into the half crossed body pose, sputa ardha-parivarta-dakishina-padangustasana.

Of course the postures and subroutines mentioned above are all valid in their own right but it's important to see that the leg behind head postures don't just appear out of nowhere, they are challenging postures and as such are carefully worked towards and prepared for.

This should be taken into account when practising at a subroutine rather than sequential level. If in our practise we wish to include some Asymmetric and Supine postures we might include subroutines that prepare for the leg behind head postures in Asymmetric E.G. janu sirsasana, archer, heron but then practice Dakishina bhairva asana (pic 4) in this subroutine. Or we might use similar preparatory postures and subroutines from the On one leg sequence, Vrikmasana, standing march and the uttuta padangustasana subroutine that also lead up to a leg behind head posture, Durvasana.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

If putting your leg behind your head is not available to you at this time you might work towards it in the eka pada sirsasana subroutine from Asymmetric Series (Day 29) by simple putting your leg over your shoulder, your right leg over your right shoulder say. I practised chakorasana this way for quite some time.

Getting the leg behind the head

If your already able to put your leg behind your head it's still important to make sure your sufficiently warmed up and stretched out. The Utkatasana is a good place to start for the work on the hips, uttanasana for the forward bend and I highly recommend the Uthita padangusthasana and especially the standing marchi subroutines. The standing marchi will do a good job of pushing your hip back.

When dipping under the the leg slightly twist in towards the inside of the knee, as the foot settles behind the head you can the straighten out of the twist taking the leg a little further and more comfortably over the shoulder.

Shuffle the foot a little further behind with your shoulder, you want to have your leg far enough around that the foot isn't pushing too strongly on your neck.

I used to try and pull my leg as far behind my head, as far over towards the other shoulder as possible, now I like to take my leg just over my head but as far over to the leg side as possible, this allows me to then shrug my shoulders further through and seems to allow the lag to settle lower and ultimately deeper. this is perhaps more easily seen on the video link above.

It's advisable perhaps. to have done some work on back bending postures to make your back stronger before moving on to leg behind head postures.

Before folding forward and dip under the leg try to stretch tall out of the pelvis just as in all other forward bends.

Lead with the chest

There is a slight twist as we bring our body over the outstretched leg

In Dakishina bhairva asana (pic 4) ground the heel into the mat, better to allow the knee to bend than let the leg come up and flap about as the grounding of the heel will give you some control and stop you from rolling over to the side.

In yoga nidra, put the left leg as far behind the head as possible, preferably slightly over the shoulder to take the strain from off of the neck. Hold the right leg lower than normal, at the calf. bring the right foot to the left and use the left foot as a pivot to bring your right foot further down over the ankle and thus deeper behind the head. ideally you want the feet to cross at the ankles and pointing straight.

In the beginning you'll be using the ankles to hook the feet together and stop them from slipping further up the neck.

Yoganidrasana tends to feel more comfortable than Dakishina bhairva asana as there is more stability. Some call this pose the sleeping yogi pose rather than the reclining yogi, the inhalation will be shallow but try to lengthen/slow the exhalation and relax into the posture.

once familiar with yoganidra it's possible to remain in the posture for a considerable time.

I like to follow yoganidra with earlier Supine postures like tatakamudra and dwipadapitam as counter poses

Day 62 : Leg and arm lifts subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

2011-12-02T19:22:00.001Z

VIDEO LINK

Urdwa-parasarita-pada-hastasana Pic. 8, along with Anapanasana and Dwipadapitam are the three postures that Ramaswami recommends as preparation for shoulder stands

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Raise the arm(s) over the head on the inhalation, raise the legs on the exhalation

Hold each posture for three to six breaths

Ideally we want to keep the sacrum, the small of the back on the mat while lifting the legs, difficult, engage mula bandha to anchor.

Suptapadangustasana pic. 6 & 7 is another vinyasa found in Ramaswami's Yoga for the three stages of life.

After raising the arm above the head and again when lowering the leg we take a couple of breaths to really stretch the leg and arm on the same side or across the body on opposite sides.

When raising the leg we begin the lift at the buttock, the hip joint rather than just with the foot and lower portion of the leg.

Stretch through the whole length of the arm and leg when lifting and lowering.

On lowering both arm and both legs, another vinyasa is to hold for a breath at 45 degrees.

In the final posture, suptaparsvapadangustasana (pic.11), spreading the legs and lowering as far as possible try to drop the femur heads in the hips socket which is really dropping the sacrum back towards the mat rather than just pulling out and down on the toes.

Work towards suptaparsvapadangustasana (pic.11) by working on the parasarita series from the triangle sequence along with trikonsasna from the same series and the upavishta trikonasana from the seated sequence.

Caution

The leg lifts are basically forward folds/bends, as such they can involve an intense hamstring stretch, be sure you are sufficiently warmed up, perhaps through some of the standing postures. Alternatively, work in to these stretches by raising the leg only half way for the first couple of breaths, going a little deeper with each vinyasa.

Day 61 : Madhya sethu ( mid region bridge pose) & Urdhvadhaurasana ( bridge) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

2011-12-01T20:41:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

We often tend to think of bridge postures as backbends, this seems misleading causing us to focus on the arch of the back rather than on the raising of the hips, of the pelvis. In Vinyasa Krama the bridge postures are a continuation of the pelvic lifts, the dwipadapitam (table poses), of Day59, the division into two separate subroutines is arbitrary.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Ramaswami describes these postures as an arching of the torso, we achieve this by 'pressing down' the arms, neck and back of the head in Madhya sethu, by 'anchoring' the back of the head and neck in the Madhya sethu vinyasa (pic 3), 'anchoring' the buttocks and crown of head in uttana padasana, 'anchoring' the crown and feet in sethubandasna and 'pressing through' the palms and feet in Urdhwa dhanurasana.

Anchoring, pressing down, pressing through, in these postures the legs and arms, shoulders neck are engaged, it is this strong support that allows us to arch the back safely. the arms and shoulders are strengthened in the arm raises hand arm variations of the on the feet subroutines, the legs strengthened through such postures as those found in the one leg sequence, the half and full squats, this strength protects the back in so called back bending postures

As a rule of thumb 'a back bend begins in the toes and ends in the fingertips', the whole body is engaged rather than just a bending of the spine.

'Backbend preparation begins in postures that strengthen the ankles, legs, hips, pelvis, shoulders, arms, neck.

In standing 'backbends it's easy to fall into the mistake of immediately bending the back in the supine postures because the back is lying on the mat and can't bend backwards we are forced to consider the other factors.

In supine we tend to think more easily of arching the back,in Ramaswami's words we 'arch the torso', ground the neck and shoulders or crown of head and lift the chest, creating an arch in the spine.

We also continue the pelvic lifts of Day59 and grounding our feet lift our hips, the legs are engaged from the toes, through the heels, calves, back and front of thighs all the way up the the hips.

The tailbone is tucked in and held in place by mula bandha, creating space for the spine to avoid any compression as we arch up.

Sethubandasana

Ground/anchor the crown of the head and as we arch up by lifting the chest and hips, roll over to the forehead, be sure to drop the shoulder blades down the back so as not to hunch the shoulders and compress the neck.

Urdhva dhanurasana

The necessary Shoulder strength can be built through surynamaskaras, lead in's to the sequences, practising the arm raises of tadasana vinyasas daily as well as some of the easier arm balance postures.

Take the urdhava dhanurasana position with the hands over the shoulders and press down without lifting up, just engaging the hands , arms and shoulders, raise the hips as in dwipadapitam but don't lift the shoulders just keep them engaged and breathe, three to six long exhalations.

When your ready to lift the shoulders, raise up for one breath and lower, repeat one more time than feels comfortable, try to include a few minutes on this every practise.

Inhale hold and lift

Rather than thinking about the arms, think of lifting the chest, rather than thinking about your legs thin about lifting the hips.

Once lifted work on bringing the shoulders the chest further over the arms as if your being lifted and drawn backwards.

Chakrasana

As we walk in we are creating a deeper arch or rather a higher arch, think Cathedrals, lifting the hips higher and higher.

Walk the hands towards the feet rather than the other way around.

We don't want to compress the spine but rather create more space for the arch to take place, tuck in the tailbone, engage mula bandha strongly to keep it tilted, push out the chest, drop the shoulder blades down the back so as not the compress the neck.

STRETCH rather than bend

As you walk in breathe, settle the breath, try to elongate the exhalations to relax into where you are, inhale strongly, hold and step in, exhale slowly.

Each time you step your hands closer try to take three steady breaths, if your feel comfortable take another small step closer to your heels. When you have gone as far as feels 'comfortable, step back out and take a couple of breaths until you have come back to where you first raised up then lower back to the mat.

December 2011 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami-- Chants, Also Pranayama question

2011-12-01T06:31:00.000Z

December 2011 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami-- Chants

I have been requesting friends to come out with videos on
Vinyasakrama. My friend Debbie Mills has uploaded a few subroutines on
the YouTube. They are deliberate, breath oriented and nice Thank you
Debbie. Here is the link.
http://www.youtube.com/user/YOGAnDHARMA

On the last Sunday in November, I gave an introductory talk on
yoga sutra in Chennai, India. It was organized by the Vishnumohan
Foundation. I will be speaking on Vishnusahasranama Mantras next
Sunday at the same place.

I managed to locate a video cassette of a series of programs I had
done on Yoga with my students in Kalakshetra some thirty years back
in Tamil. It contains some asana vinyasas of my students and
interviews with me. I was still a student with my Guru at that time
learning more asanas and vinyasas. The video however has deteriorated
very much. But still I took it to Konica labs to see if they could
salvage something out of it. They said that they would try to transfer
as much as they can salvage into a DVD. Let me see how it comes. There
were eight short duration programs I had done for the Madras
Doordarshan the national TV station at that time. I also was able to
locate another video cassette which I had made some 15 years back so
that I could use it to introduce Vinyasakrama. The quality is again
not good but still I am trying to make something out of it. If they
come out ok, I may start thinking of adding English subtitles, if it
is technically feasible.

Most of my 2012 programs are now in my website.
www.vinyasakrama.com/Events

CHANTS

Sani or Saturn, according to some Indian Almanacs, is said to transit
to Libra from November 15th 2011. According to some other almanacs, it
is said to transit late December. Sani according to Indian astrologers
takes about 30 years to complete its orbit spending approximately
about 2 ½ years in every house or Zodiac sign. Sani is considered to
be slow moving (sanaischara) and is considered a malefic by the
general populace. Considered from the moon sign if the Saturn is in
the 12th, 1st and 2nd houses it is said to cause enormous
difficulties. Additionally its transit through the 4th and the 8th
signs are also considered highly unfavorable. Actually according to
some Saturn is trouble in all the houses except when it transits
through the 3rd and and the 6th houses or signs. That means that one
can enjoy a certain amount of peace only during a sixth of one's
lifetime. This squares with a brief episode in Yoga Vasishta. Two
siddhas meet and one of them has the Siddhi of moving back and forth
in space (akasa) and time (avakasa). During their conversation the
elder Siddha yogi said that he had traveled in time and has gone deep
into the past and well into the future of human lives and has found
that on an average human beings are happy only 1/6 th of the lifetime.
Of course the other planets like Jupiter and others benifics will
mitigate Saturn's ill effects, but per se, Saturn is dreaded. But
there are a few who look at Saturn's effects on individuals life as
sobering and transformative. It is like a governor in a vehicle, so
that people do not run amuck in their lives. It is considered to be a
great teacher of life but a strict disciplinarian, one who does not
spare the rod.

Many in India tend to propitiate Sani by observing some tapas on
Saturdays, worship sanaischara and so on, so that the difficulties
become more bearable. One of the methods is to worship Hanuman or
Anjaneya . Many yogabhyasis are familiar with anjaneyasana or the
leaping anjaneya pose--the pride of some and most others' envy. How is
Anjaneya worshiped? There is a portion of the Ramayana which depicts
the heroic efforts of Anjaneya in finding the whereabouts of the
abducted Sita, Sri Rama's wife, by leaping across the sea between the
southern tip of India and Lanka. Reading this portion of the Ramayana
one tends to love and respect Anjaneya, it is a beautiful portion of
the Ramayana, as the title of this section “Sundara Kanda”, indicates.
I have already written briefly about it. It usually takes about 10
hours to recite this portion of Valmiki Ramayana. It is recited
usually at the rate of about 90 minutes everyday spread over one week.
This is done once in a while. Some attempt to do it in three days.
Occasionally one may try to do it in one day. Recently just about the
time of Sani's transit into Libra I chanted it in one 24 hour period.
Because it is long and arduous and many are not familiar with the
text, many more propitiate Anjaneya by chanting the famous Hanuman
Chalisa which takes about 20 minutes. I think this chant is popular
among Yogis also. It is not in Sanskrit but it is said to be very
powerful.
There is also a Sahasranama or one thousand names of Anjaneya. Some 20
years ago a recording company got this recording of mine. A few days
back in Chennai, I saw on the TV one of the channels broadcasting the
Puja of Anjaneya Ritual. And the mantra used in the puja was this
Sahasranama of my chanting. I understand that this channel telecasts
this video once almost every month. The channel is called Sankara
channel.

How does worship of Anjaneya help? How does it help mitigate the ill
effects of Sani's hold on one's life? It is said that Sani does not
spare anyone, even Lord Siva had to undergo trouble and tribulations
for a short period of time due to Sani/Saturn. Well how does Anjaneya
worship help? Here is a short story.

After Anjaneya finds out the whereabouts of the abducted Sita, he
returns to the mainland and informs Rama of the discovery, and Rama
decides to invade Lanka to liberate Site from the clutches of Ravana.
He needs a large Army. Sugriva the monkey chieftain agrees to lend his
army and they decide to build a road bridge over the ocean dividing
India and Lanka. The sea quiets due to the request first and then an
ultimatum from Rama and the building of the bridge (sethu) commences.
(Rama also is known as Sethurama because he built the bridge or Sethu.
Sethurama is a very popular first name in South India). Well a huge
army of workers were engaged in the construction. They bring huge
rocks from the surroundings. And Anjaneya was also busy in the task
carrying large boulders to the bridge site.

It was time for Sani to afflict Anjaneya. Slowly Sani comes near
Anjaneya and says that it was time for Anjaneya to suffer the ill
effects of Sani (sani pida). No, not now shouted Anjaneya at Sani. “I
am now engaged in the sacred work of building the bridge to go to
Lanka and liberate Sita”. But Sani said that Sani never waits but
afflicts everyone at the allotted time. He has to submit to this. Then
Sani offered a concession. ”I will get into your legs and afflict your
legs alone say with arthritis. Anjaneya said that he needs strong legs
to move around to do the arduous manual work of carrying the rocks.
“No way,” Sani said. Sani then suggested that he could creep into his
arms and Anjaneya promptly rejected it saying that he needed the arms
for lifting and dropping off the rocks. Anjaneya realized that even
before Sani got into his system his effects were beginning to show by
this persistent pestering. He felt that sani was already under his
skin.Finally Anjaneya agreed to let Sani get into his head, because he
said he need not do any thinking while doing this repetitive work of
carrying the rocks on his head. Sani crawled into Anjaneya's head.

Some of you may have seen some paintings of Anjaneya carrying the
Sanjivini mountain from the Himalayan range and leaping across the
Indian subcontinent, during the war between Rama and Ravana; yes
Anjaneya was very strong and could carry lot of weight.

After Sani got into his head, Anjaneya is said to have lifted a huge
boulder and kept it on his head and started walking towards the dam
site. The pressure of the rock became unbearable for Sani who was
inside Anjaneya's head. Anjaneya reminded Sani that that was how
everyone felt when Sani would severely affect other beings, unable to
bear the pain. Sani whispered to him that he would do anything for
Anjaneya to get out of the predicament. He then promised Anjaneya that
he would never afflict those who worship Anjaneya. The smiling
Anjaneya threw the rock at the appropriate place in the dam site and
Sani tumbled out of Anjaneya's head and ran away without turning back.
So one of the reasons for many to worship the loveable Anjaneya is
that it is generally believed that Sani's ill effects will be
mitigated by worshiping Anjaneya. What better way to worship him than
reading the Sundara Kanda of Ramayana which is a beautiful narration
of Anjaneya's greatness in all aspects, valor, scholarship,
intelligence, ambassadorship, dharma, humility, loyalty, sense of
humor,sagacity and what not.

Sri Krishnamacharya gave considerable importance to chanting-both
vedic and other (laukika) chants. It is said that originally there
were only vedic chants and they were practiced only by those who were
initiated into vedic studies, but they were only a few. It is said
that Valmiki, an illiterate hunter, due to the grace of Lord became a
poet and wrote the Ramayana in Anushtup meter, the meter found
commonly in the vedas. Thereafter Sanskrit works on divinity
proliferated and Mahabharata and several other puranas were written.
These could be studied by anyone and several of them contained
virtually everything that was found in the vedas, like works on
divinity, philosophy, rituals and others. They became accessible to
everyone. The concepts were made user friendly like for instance the
Bhagavat Gita which explains the terse concepts of the Upanishadic
philosophies to ordinary people represented by Arjuna.

One should learn Hatayoga from Krishnamacharya. One should study Yoga
Sutras and sibling philosophies from Krishnamacharya. One should learn
devotional works from Krishnamacharya. One should learn chanting from
Krishnamacharya. Yes, it is a great blessing to have studied with
Sri Krishnamacharya. He had a booming voice and an immaculate
Sanskrit diction. I learnt from and chanted Vedic chants with
Krishnamacharya for hundreds of hours. Learning from and chanting with
him has been an exceptional experience. The vedic chants are very
powerful and have profound import. The Suryanamaskara chant running
for about an hour contains the Gayatri mantra and is said to confer
health and longevity. A chapter called svadhyaya, which runs for about
40 minutes, extols the virtues of vedic chanting and eulogizes the
great gayatri mantra. In this chapter there is an advice to chant
aloud during the day and that one need not do the rituals, but mere
chanting will confer all the benefits. There are two chapters called
pravargya which again are used while boiling milk which is said to
tranform the milk into nectar. These two chapters running for about
two hours are exceptionally charming. Sri Krishnamacharya also taught
the Kataka portion of the vedas and then the Upanishad portion of the
taittiriya branch of the vedas. Chanting is uplifting. It has got
physiological and psychological benefits. Long chanting works with
different chakra centers of the body and also improves the efficacy of
breathing. It has got a calming effect on the mind. The traditional
meaning of svadhyaya, an integral part of yoga, is chanting.

The other non vedic chants that are commonly used include the various
Sahasranamas like Vishnu, Lalita, etc. And many of these chants and
recitations are said to confer specific benefits. In the form of
phalasruti the texts themselves tell us the benefits that one can
expect will accrue on chanting these.

For more on mantras please refer to the Mantra Yoga chapter in my
book, “Yoga for the Three Stages of Life”.

******

My friends Bo and Mark from Bangkok have sent the following letter

Dear Mr Ramaswami
I trust this mail finds you well. Bo and I have continuously been
practicing VK and are very much enjoying it. We have also been trying
to read up more on Shri Krishnamacharya’s works and that of his other
students as well – in that respect, I wanted to ask you a question.
We recently read in a book that breathing should be as follows:
Exhale from lower abdominals, then middle abdominals, and finally
towards the end of the exhalation, allow your chest to sink slightly
(to expel final air). And to inhale, start breathing from expanding
the chest (while maintaining slight contraction in the abdominals),
and towards the end only allow the abdominals to bulge forward only
slightly. Logic is that yoga/pranayama should be spine-centric, and as
the exhalation adds rounding curvature to the upper back; therefore we
try to minimize the rounding curvature by breathing out from the lower
abdominals/lower back first; similarly the inhalation adds curvature
to the lower back, hence we try to protect the lower back by first
breathing into the chest/upper area while maintaining a straight lower
back.
We have also taken much more interest in Pranayama after our studies
with you in LMU, reading up more on Pranayama and its various
techniques/styles. Recently, we ventured on the pranayama teachings of
another school . The school teaches to exhale starting first from the
chest (and not the lower abdominals), then the middle abdomen, and
then only towards the end to draw in/contract the lower abdominals.
(The inhalation is quite similar to the book mentioned earlier wherein
we breathe in while expanding the chest and slight contracting the
abdominals).
My question to you is:
1) Is it right to assume that the exhalation process outlined in the
book is the same as taught to you by Shri Krishnamacharya? (if you
were taught differently, please explain what you were taught to us)
2) Which of the two mentioned above exhalation types (starting with
lower abdominals vs staring with chest exhalation) would you recommend
for us in practicing pranayama? I find that the first book’s method
allows for greater contraction in the abdominals (and preparing for
Uddiyana Bandha on hold after exhalation), but at the same time
because the abdominals are contracted first (prior to chest
exhalation), it has to stay contracted for a longer period to wait for
the end process of exhalation, thereby making the abdominals muscles
harden after some time in the practice.
3) AAs we learned from you, in Pranayama, Shri Krishnamacharya
insisted on keeping Jalandra Bandha throughout – however during
inhalation and exhalation, is there a slight release of the Bandha to
allow ease of air passage?
4) What is the reason for maintaining Jalandra Bandha throughout the
Pranayama and not only during Kumbhaka (when we are trying to hold
breathe from flowing out)?
Thank you so much for your answers. We look forward to studying with
you again.
Best,
Bo and Mark
I wrote back

Dear Bo and Mark:

It is nice to hear from you.

I am glad that you are getting deeper into the study and practice of
Yoga.
To the best of my recollection, my Guru did not compartmentalize
pranayama as the modern yoga teachers seem to do. He used to show how
to do praanayama and each one drew one's own conclusions from that.
Sri krishnamacharya's pranayama was very deep, the chest would expend
substantially in inhalation and in exhalation he used the abdominal
muscles significantly. In normal breathing, two sets of muscles come
into play the-- intercostal muscles that help to expand the chest and
then the diaphragm by distension it allows more air to go in and in
exhalation the diaphragm returns to the original position. In
Pranayama we try to stretch the intercostal muscles to the maximum and
on exhalation we tend to push the diaphragm into the chest cavity as
much as possible so that maximum residual air is squeezed out and the
next inhalation you can draw in more fresh air. Naturally the spine
and posture also become important so that we do not cramp the chest
cavity by curving the back and other postural defects. That is why a
proper upright posture is needed.

My understanding is that both the chest breathing and abdominal
movement take place simultaneously , but in Pranayama, we extend the
exhalation by continuing to contract the abdominal muscles inward and
and upward to push the diaphragm further in. So the abdominal
movements take longer time than the chest movement but the way I
understand and practice is that both the chest and abdominal movemets
are somewhat simultaneous with the abdominal breathing movement taking
longer time to complete.

There are some reasons why Jalandhara bandha is helpful in Pranayama.
Of course you slightly release the bandha to allow air to go in and
out, but the J Bandha helps firstly to keep the back straight
throughout the procedure. As much as proper posture is important the
erect spine also is important in Pranayama which is facilitated by J
bandha. It is believed and can also be verified that J Bandha helps
with the mula bandha and Uddiyana bandha which are helpful in deeper
exhalation. J Bandha also helps to maintain body balance. You can
release the bandha a little bit during the inhalation and exhalation
phases and maintain the J bandha tight during both the Kumbhakas.

Thank you very much for writing and I wish you both well

With best wishes
Sincerely
Srivatsa Ramaswami

Day 60 : Dwipadapitam ( Desk pose) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

2011-11-30T23:49:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

Classic Vinyasa Krama, a key posture extend, developed and explored through a number of vinyasas.

Dwipadapitam is a deceptively simple posture, one that could so easily be neglected or practised half hearted on the way to a more complex and intricate posture.

And yet this is a key backbend preparation posture, for those postures in which we arch backwards or upwards relying on strength and control in the hips and pelvis.

And once we achieve a fair semblance of such backbends, it is perhaps strength in the legs and skill at nutating, tilting the pelvis, that will allow us to go deeper, and achieve steadiness and comfort.

Control of the hips, tilting the pelvis, developing leg strength along with improved control of the bandhas can all be worked upon here in the dwipadapitam subroutine and it's vinyasas.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Use all or part of the dwipadapitam subroutine as preparation or warm up for the deeper backbends.

Use all or part of the dwipadapitam subroutine as counterpose for deep forward bending postures and subroutines.

As warm up or counterpose pactice these vinyasas gently focusing on the breath.

For a more intense practise work on pushing the hips further up on every breath

Keep the legs strong throughout, push the feet into the mat especially the toes and stretch though the whole length of the leg(s).

Explore nutation, tilting the pelvis upwards, to create more space for the spine to arch.

Take the weight on the shoulders rather than the neck, make sure the shoulderblades are dropped down the back and not hunched up and compessing the neck

Push the chest up and almost over the shoulders.

Dont feel you have to practise all the vinyasas of this suboutine in one practise, practise some one day the others another day.

However the postures where the heel(s) are gabbed are the more advanced and challenging vinyasas.

If time is limited you might practise a couple of the simple vinyasas and then switch to the more advanced variations rather than the simple and advanced versions for every variation.

Day 59 : Supine : Apanaasana (pelvic floor poses) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

2011-11-29T19:18:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

This subroutine alternates vinyasas of two postures, apanasana, pelvic floor poses and pavanamuktasana, wind relieving posture.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

In all the anapanasana vinyasas the head stays on the mat, the hip lifts to bring the knee or knees to the chest.

In all the pavamuktasana vinyasas the head lifts off the mat to bring with the chin, nose or forehead to the knee or knees.

It's acceptable to raise the head when catching the knee in anapanasana but once caught lower the head, and tighten the grip around the leg or legs and press the thigh(s) against the lower abdomen.

In the pavamuktasana vinyasas be careful not to strain when bringing your forehead to your knee, stretch up through the length of your spine and drop your shoulder blades down your back.

Engaging uddiyana at the end of the exhalation may also help to allow the forehead to reach the knee.

Ramaswami includes anapanasana along with urdwa-parasarita-pada-hastasana ("U" formation) and dwipadapitam (desk pose) as important sarvangasana (shoulder stand ) preparation.

I also find anapanasana and urdwa-parasarita-pada-hastasana ("U" formation) to be excellent counter postures to intense back bending along with yesterday's tatakamudra ( pond gesture).

Day 58 : Supine : Tatakamudra (pond gesture) & Jayaraparivritti (belly twist) Subroutinesubroutine from Vinyasa Krama Meditative sequence

2011-11-28T20:23:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

Tatakamudra (pond gesture), so called because the pronounced abdominal cavity created by engaging the bandhas fully, resembles a pond.

We engage the bandhas and create this pond effect while the arms are by the side, above our head and also, if we wish, while in jataraparivritti, the belly twist.

To create the effect, Ramaswami writes...

'Exhale completely. Anchor your heels , tailbone, arms and back; press down through your palms and draw in the rectum; pull the lower abdomen in and towards your back. holed the locks for five to ten seconds. your chin should be locked as well' p105 Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga : Srivatsa Ramaswami

The abdominal lock in the arms raised above head position is perhaps the most effective and thus has the most pronounced 'pond' effect, the legs to the sides in jataraparivritti, the belly twist, the least pronounced.

TIPS/HINTS/SUGGESTIONS
Ramaswami recommends holding the bandhas for ten seconds, this is something to build towards, start with three and then five.

Towards the end of the exhalation begin to focus on mula bandha, and begin to prepare for drawing in the rectum at the end of a full exhalation.

I like to imagine that I'm drawing my mula bandha up but also back where it meets the uddiyana, drawing the belly back towards the spine as if a thread is attached to your belly button. Flatten the spine against the mat eliminating the space caused by the curve of the back and continue to draw back and up your belly to create a cavity beneath the ribcage.

To create a deeper cavity and intensify uddiyana bandha even more once you have drawn your belly back and up as far as it will go stretch the ribcage up and outwards.

Remember to engage jalandhara bandha, the throat lock by bringing the chin firmly down to the chest as much as possible without raising the head.

Eliminating the space between the mat and the spine seems to relax the spine making this an ideal preparation posture for paschimottanasana, especially on a cold morning or when you have had less of a warm up.

Flatening the length of the spine along the mat also works as a way of relaxing the spine after intense backbends with or without engaging the bandhas fully.

Tatakamudra is an excellent posture for beginning an exploration of bandhas

BANDHAS?
As we become more confident with our asana we should begin to work on engaging the bandhas as these can help to steady us in our postures.
Jalandhara bandha
'There are three important band has. the first is jalandhara bandha, or locking the chin against the breastbone. This may be done during kumbhkas and whenever the the posture requires the chin to be locked, which is normally the case during forward bends and when keeping the back erect. In backbends and twisting postures it is not possible to do jalandhara bandha'. p127

Mula and Uddiyana bandha
'The other two bandhas, however, should be practiced in most of the asanas, especially after exhalation. The first is mula bandha, which means "constricting of the anus" It is done after a complete exhalation. After the exhalation is over, the abhyasi (yoga student) should anchor the body in the asana he or she is in and then slowly and deliberately close the anus and draw in the rectum by contracting the perineal and surrounding muscles of the pelvic floor. Then as if in a continuous movement, the abdomen, including the navel, is drawn in, pushing up the diaphragm into the now almost empty chest cavity, which is then called uddiyana bandha ( drawing in of the diaphragm)... This technique is one of the specialities of yogic breathing' p127

DAY 57 : Meditative Subroutine's Breakdown

2011-11-27T19:25:00.001Z

VIDEO LINK

Day 50 : Meditative : Vajrasana (thunderbolt) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Meditative sequence

Day 51 : Meditative : Ushtrasana ( camel ) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Meditative sequence

Day 52 : Meditative : Ushtrasana ( camel ) to Kapotasana (pigeon) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Meditative sequence

Day 53 : Meditative : Standard Camel walk subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Meditative sequence

Day 54 : Meditative : Advanced Camel walk subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Meditative sequence

Day 55 : Meditative : Virasana ( hero pose) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Meditative sequence

Day 56 : Meditative : Simhasana (lion pose) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Meditative sequence

Reviewing the Meditative subroutines has been a rediscovery, in the past I've tended to add the Ushtrasana to Kapotasana subroutine to the Bow sequence in a backbend focused practice similar to that I was familiar with from Ashtanga Intermediate series, neglecting the other subroutines altogether.

Since practicing Vajrasana at the beginning of the week I've included the subroutine several times at the end of my regular practice in place of padmasana and Vajrasana itself as a posture for my pranayama and meditation practice.

Virasana has turned out to be excellent preparation for the work I've been doing recently on Samakonasana as it loosens and lengthens the quadriceps, it's also an excellent counter posture for any asana like Samakonasana but also badha konasana where the femur heads are rotated outwards as in Vajrasana the joint is rotated inwards, towards each other, I struggle to think of another asana that does this.

It was always a surprise to me that a sequence that included Kapotasana should be called meditative and yet Dharana, the sixth limb of Patanjali's yoga, is Concentration and few postures so readily concentrate the mind as Kapotasana. However it is the vajrasana and virasana postures that give the sequence it's name, both are considered by ramaswami as suitable for pranayama and meditation practice.

Where to practice Meditative subroutines.
The camel walk subroutine strikes me as a nice, stand alone, 'extra' practice, perhaps when you have limited time to practice, although a little preparation would most likely be necessary for the advanced version, perhaps one of the bow subroutines.

The Vajrasana, Virasana and Simhasana are ideal for the end of practice, winding down subroutines.

Vajrasana is an excellent quadriceps strengthening subroutine, regular inclusion will help prepare you for many of the back bending postures subroutines as strong legs take stress off the lower back.

Virasana with it's internal rotation of the femur heads in the hip joints is an ideal counter posture for hip openers, like the leg behind head postures in Asymmetric or any of the Konasana subroutines, especially those in the Seated sequence.

One thing the Meditative subroutines lack is twisting, Bharadwajasana from Day 33 comes to mind as an additional posture, leading into Mahabandha for bandha focus but perhaps a stronger focus on the twisting postures in the tadasana subroutine might make for a more balanced practice.

Day 56 : Meditative : Simhasana (lion pose) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Meditative sequence

2011-11-26T20:54:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

Simhasana is a Vinyasa of Virasana, as such the same practice notes apply.

Raise up off the thighs on the inhalation bringing the arms above the head, lower and place the hands on the knees fingers spread, breathe in and on the exhalation make the lion face.

Lions face: on the exhalation, exhaling with a long "haaaa" sound eyes wide, tongue outstretched.

Simhasana in utpluthi padmasana

The Virasana subroutine is excellent for working on the quadriceps, the muscles at the front of the thighs. Strong quads are important for giving support in ushtrasana and kapotasana from the previous Meditative sequence subroutines. In backbends the hips tend to want to be carried back as we arch backwards, strong quads help keep control of the hips keeping them forward and raised.

The virasana subroutine also involves nutation ( titling ) the pelvis as well as rotating the femurs inwards, two more useful tips for developing back bending.

Virasana is one of the few postures where the femurs and thighs are rotated inwards and towards each other rather than away from each other, as such it is an excellent counter posture for intense hip openers like badha konasana and samakonasana to name but two.

You may not feel ready for postures like kapotasana or dropping back into Urdhava dhanurasana but Virasana can provide some of the groundwork and skills that can be employed later.

TIPS/TRICKS/SUGGESTIONS

If your feet don't lie flat in Vajrasana you can roll up a small towel and place it between the front of the foot and the ankle.

If your knees feel stressed or tilt upwards you can place a small cushion beneath your buttocks or a rolled up yoga mat that you can sit on and even lay back upon in in pictures 7 and 8

Props don't tend to be used that much in Vinyasa Krama but because of the stress that can be put on the knees this seems a subroutine where they might be considered.

Day 55 : Meditative : Virasana ( hero pose) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Meditative sequence

2011-11-25T23:21:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

The virasana subroutine also involves nutation ( titling ) the pelvis as well as rotating the femurs inwards, two more useful tips for developing back bending.

You may not feel ready for postures like kapotasana or dropping back into Urdhava dhanurasana but Virasana can provide some of the groundwork and skills that can be employed later.

TIPS/TRICKS/SUGGESTIONS

If your feet don't lie flat in Vajrasana you can roll up a small towel and place it between the front of the foot and the ankle.

If your knees feel stressed or tilt upwards you can place a small cushion beneath your buttocks or a rolled up yoga mat that you can sit on and even lay back upon in in pictures 7 and 8

Props don't tend to be used that much in Vinyasa Krama but because of the stress that can be put on the knees this seems a subroutine where they might be considered.

The reclining supta virasana (pics 7& 8) puts the most stress on the knees and should be avoided until the other postures feel comfortable.

Virasana can also stimulate the knee complex and build strength in the muscles that cross the knee.

In picture 3 the knees stay together but the feet come wide enough apart to be able to sit between them.

The forward bend in picture 5 is surprisingly unstable, there's a point as you fold forward where you can overbalance sending our face towards the mat, in this version the arms are outstretched but we can also fold forward with the hands behind the back in reverse prayer although caution is advised, engage the bandhas stingily and press the feet firmly into the mat.

Ideally the buttocks will stay on the mat in the forward bend and our forehead and hands will touch the mat at the same moment.

When arching back in picture 7 it's acceptable to place your forearms on the mat with the hands on the heels.

When arching back tilt (nutate) the coccyx towards the pubic bone and rotate the femurs and thus the thighs inwards.

Press the toes, the feet the legs firmly into the mat as you lower backwards to help support the back. Do the same when coming back up,

It is acceptable to push down on the heels to come back up

Virasana is a beautiful posture, ideal for spending a considerable time and working on engaging the bandhas and elongating the breath.

Virasana is one of the five postures rRmaswami recommends at the end of his book, The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga for pranayama (breathing exercises) and meditation, the other four are, Padmasana, Siddhasana, Gomukhasana and vajrasana.

Day 54 : Meditative : Advanced Camel walk subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Meditative sequence

2011-11-24T20:24:00.001Z

VIDEO LINK

This is the advanced version of yesterday's Camel walk subroutine with the advanced Ushtrasana (Picture 5&9).

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

For the advanced Ushtrasana on one knee, a major concerns is of course balance. In the beginning consider stepping through slightly to the outside of the line with the hip, this will make your base more stable.

It's very important to lead with the hip when coming up from this posture.

Advanced Ushtrasana ( from Day 52 ).

Remembering to lift out of the hips and keep pressing the leg, from the toes to the knee, firmly into the mat, engaging the thighs and pushing forward the pelvis, arch back and take your arms over your shoulders towards your heels.

At first you may only be able to reach the mat behind you and may have to work towards taking your heels or ankles over time.

To avoid collapsing as you arch backwards it's necessary to keep your thighs strongly engaged and your hips forward and keep lifting out of your pelvis.

To reach your heels: one way is to land your hands on the mat and then walk them in towards and up your feet.

Ideally you will want to reach your heels from the air, this will take time but the trick is to keep the pelvis forward and the thighs engaged.

Work on strengthening the thighs and keeping the hips forward in other Vinyasa Krama postures, particularly the table subroutine in the Supine sequence.

An advanced extension of this version of Ushtrasana is Eka pada kapotasana, where we lower the head to the food and stretch out the leading leg.

Eka pada kapotasana

The same suggestions for the standard camel walk subroutine from Day 53 apply here but with some extra considerations due to the fact we're stepping up onto one foot.

Step forward about a foot in front of the trailing knee, when you arch back your knee will come forward, you want to step far enough forward that your don't over extend your knee past your toes.

Press down on all four corners of the foot, as you arch back you'll press more firmly on the ball of the foot and the toes.

Press the back toes of the trailing foot into the mat, all of them

Press the back of the foot into the mat

Press the whole of the lower leg from the toes to the knees into the mat

Keep pressing into the mat from the moment you begin to raise your arms above your head, throughout your stay in ustrasana and until you return to vajrasana stithy

Engage uddiyana bandha drawing in your belly as you fold over your leg

Engage your bandhas, draw up your anus and suck in the belly, imagine the muscles of the bandhas holding the base of the spine firmly, (Ramaswami's fishing rod example).

Engage the front of your thighs ( make the most of any postures that engage the quads so as to develop strength).

Most important of all bring the hips forward and keep encouraging them forward throughout, all the way back into ushtrasana and throughout your stay in the posture.

With every inhalation raise up your chest and with every exhalation push your pelvis a little further forward.

As you raise your arms and lift up of your knees lift out of your pelvis and try to keep lift up out of your pelvis throughout your stay in ustrasana.

Day 53 : Meditative : Standard Camel walk subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Meditative sequence

2011-11-23T20:03:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

I've split the camel walk up into two sequences the, standard and advanced depending on which version of Ushtrasana is employed.

This is a curious subroutine and has more of the feel of a sequence like the Sun salutation or of some of the other Visesha vinyasa krama's that Ramaswami brings together in Chapter 11 of his Complete book of vinyasa yoga like the Vasishtasana, Halasana, and Ajaneyasana sequences.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

The same suggestions for the ushtrasana subroutine apply here but with some extra considerations due to the fact we're stepping up onto one foot.

Step forward about a foot in front of the trailing knee, when you arch back your knee will come forward, you want to step far enough forward that your don't over extend your knee past your toes.

Press down on all four corners of the foot, as you arch back you'll press more firmly on the ball of the foot and the toes.

Press the back toes of the trailing foot into the mat, all of them

Press the back of the foot into the mat

Press the whole of the lower leg from the toes to the knees into the mat

Keep pressing into the mat from the moment you begin to raise your arms above your head, throughout your stay in ustrasana and until you return to vajrasana stithy

Engage uddiyana bandha drawing in your belly as you fold over your leg

Engage your bandhas, draw up your anus and suck in the belly, imagine the muscles of the bandhas holding the base of the spine firmly, (Ramaswami's fishing rod example).

Engage the front of your thighs ( make the most of any postures that engage the quads so as to develop strength).

In this version of ustrasana we reach around to take hold of our foot rather than taking our arms over our shoulders ( advanced version - see tomorrow Day 54)

Most important of all bring the hips forward and keep encouraging them forward throughout all the way back into ushtrasana and throughout your stay in the posture.

With every inhalation raise up your chest and with every exhalation push your pelvis a little further forward.

As you raise your arms and lift up of your knees lift out of your pelvis and try to keep lift up out of your pelvis throughout your stay in ustrasana.

Day 52 : Meditative : Ushtrasana ( camel ) to Kapotasana (pigeon) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Meditative sequence

2011-11-22T20:22:00.000Z

VIDEO LINK

This is an extended Ushtrasana subroutine (Day 51) that continues on into Kapotasana (pigeon), kapotasana is a challenging posture, it's wise to work on becoming comfortable and stable in Ustrasana then advanced Ustrasana before moving on to Kapotasna for which they prepare you.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

These are the same as for yesterdays ushtrasana subroutine (Day 51)

The danger in kapotasana is to put too great a strain on the lower back, to avoid this we want to create a strong and stable base, ushtrasana allows us to focus on developing that stability.

Press the toes into the mat, all of them

Press the feet into the mat

Press the whole of the lower leg from the toes to the knees into the mat

Keep pressing into the mat from the moment you begin to raise your arms above your head, throughout your stay in ustrasana and until you return to vajrasana stithi

Engage your bandhas, draw up your anus and suck in the belly, imagine the muscles of the bandhas holding the base of the spine firmly, (Ramaswami's fishing rod example).

Engage the front of your thighs ( make the most of any postures that engage the quads so as to develop strength).

Most important of all bring the hips forward and keep encouraging them forward throughout all the way back into ushtrasana and throughout your stay in the posture.

With every inhalation raise up your chest and with every exhalation push your pelvis a little further forward.

As you raise your arms and lift up of your knees lift out of your pelvis and try to keep lift ion out of your pelvis throughout your stay in ustrasana.

Ideally your legs and thighs should be together, this may be something to work towards as it is less stable

Advanced Ushtrasana (picture 6)

Remembering all of the above, the lifting out of the hips and keeping the legs from the toes to the knee firmly into the mat, engaging the thighs and pushing forward the pelvis, arch back and take your arms over your shoulders towards your heels.

At first you may only be able to reach the mat behind you and may have to work towards taking your heels or ankles over time.

To avoid collapsing as you arch backwards it's necessary to keep your thighs strongly engaged and your hips forward and keep lifting out of your pelvis.

To reach your heels: one way is to land your hands on the mat and then walk them in towards and up your feet.

Ideally you will want to reach your heels from the air, this will take time but the trick is to keep the pelvis forward and the thighs engaged.

Work on strengthening the thighs and keeping the hips forward in other Vinyasa Krama postures, particularly the table subroutine in the Supine sequence.

If Kapotasana is beyond you for now you will bend to come back up from advanced Ustrasana. To do so press your legs from the toes to the knees into the mat, engage the thighs strongly and most importantly lift from the hip pushing your pelvis forward.

Kapotasana
From Advanced Ustrasana inhale, press your palms, engage your thighs and tighten your buttocks, push your pelvis forward as if you were going to come back up to seated but instead lower your head to the mat as near your feet as is possible for you.

By acting as if to lift out of the pose when lowering you give your self more control in lowering into the deep back bend.

You may wish to stay in this version of Kapotasana for a number of breathes, lifting the chest on the inhale and pushing forward the hips on the exhalation.

The depth of your kapotasana will depend on your Ushtrasana, if you begin to lower while your hands are on the mat, your toes or half way up your feet that will be the extent of your kapo. To go deeper into the posture you will need to take your feet, ankles of calves in Ustrasana and then lower.

It is harder to deepen your Kapotasana once you have lowered your head to the mat although it is possible to take a rest and then straighten the arms and lifting the head and walking back in.

The depth of your kapotasana seems to be directly related to how far your able to push tour pelvis forward and keep it forward.

On the exhalation take your arms around to the side and hold your thighs.

To come back up return your arms to your heels on the inhalation and return as in Advanced ushtrasana above, pressing your legs from the toes to the knees into the mat, engaging the thighs strongly and most importantly lifting from the hip and pushing your pelvis forward.

The ideal is to perform this subroutine with your feet, knees and thighs together, this is challenging as it gives you a less secure base and there is the danger of toppling over to one side, good bandha control is necessary as well as smooth and steady breathing.

Day 51 : Meditative : Ushtrasana ( camel ) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Meditative sequence

2011-11-21T23:35:00.001Z

VIDEO LINK

In the video I enter ushtrasana from 'namaste' position, with the hands palms together, in the Book Ramaswami has you enter ushtrasana from arms raised as in the pictures above.

Day 52, tomorrow, will look at moving from Ushtrasana to Kapotasana. Kapotasana is an advanced position and challenging without a certain degree of preparation, key to that preparation is Ushtrasana.

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

The danger in kapotasana is to put too great a strain on the lower back, to avoid this we want to create a strong and stable base, ushtrasana allows us to focus on developing that stability.

Press the toes into the mat, all of them

Press the feet into the mat

Press the whole of the lower leg from the toes to the knees into the mat

Keep pressing into the mat from the moment you begin to raise your arms above your head, throughout your stay in ustrasana and until you return to vajrasana stithi

Engage your bandhas, draw up your anus and suck in the belly, imagine the muscles of the bandhas holding the base of the spine firmly, (Ramaswami's fishing rod example).

Engage the front of your thighs ( make the most of any postures that engage the quads so as to develop strength).

Most important of all bring the hips forward and keep encouraging them forward throughout all the way back into ushtrasana and throughout your stay in the posture.

With every inhalation raise up your chest and with every exhalation push your pelvis a little further forward.

As you raise your arms and lift up of your knees lift out of your pelvis and try to keep lift ion out of your pelvis throughout your stay in ustrasana.

Ideally your legs and thighs should be together, this may be something to work towards as it is less stable

Day 50 : Meditative : Vajrasana (thunderbolt) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Meditative sequence

2011-11-20T21:53:00.002Z

VIDEO LINK

A relatively straight forward posture in which, as with tadasana and it's hand/arm vinyasas, we can focus on the breath and movement of the arms but also of the hips.

This is also an excellent posture for engaging the bandhas are lengthening the exhalation in the forward bends which me may choose to stay in for a considerable time.

The forward bends are are more challenging than they look as the posture is less stable than in say paschimottanasan and upavishta konasana. As we begging to fold forward our hips want to list and it's is difficult to control the decent and not end up head butting the mat.

Vajrasana may also be used as a posture for pranayama and meditation and may be the ideal alternative if you struggle with padmasana (lotus).

HINTS/TIPS.SUGGESTIONS.

Engage the bandhas, especially Mula bandha, drawing up the anus. this seems to act as an anchor, focusing our attention on where we need to counter the weight of our arms and upper body as it folds forward.

press the lower legs from the knees to the toes into the mat, especially focusing on the toes and dorsal feet.

The counter poses in the last two pictures are excellent positions to begin focusing on raising the hips as far as possible and pushing them forward, exploring nutation( the tilting of the pelvis both clockwise and counterclockwise) and strengthening the quads, all useful preparation for the backbends that come later in the meditative sequence as well as those in other sequences.