Lenten Obervances About Mysore

My second Lenten commitment was beginning a consistent mysore practice.  I've been doing it at home and using two DVD's that I picked up from the Miami Life Center in February to promote my understanding:  Sharath Jois's Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series and Kino MacGregor's Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series.   Sharah's video has helped me to learn to count the postures while Kino's video offers insightful alignment cues.   They also explicitly illustrate postures with real bodies (theirs), along with their transitions in motion.  It's essentially Sharath and Kino practicing primary with a voice overlay.  This is an invaluable demonstration for a visual learner like me in these early stages.  Both videos count breath much faster than I do, which makes a full led primary possible in a record 75 minutes, but I only do that on Sundays (more on why in a minute).


There are a number of postures I am exploring at an given day up to my stopping point.  More specifically, there are many aspects of Ashtanga's minor details that are landing on me now and I'll name two that occurred early on.  Spinning the back heel down before stepping into warrior and relaxing my arms in prasarita padottanasana C.  I've been practicing a different way of finding these postures up to this point.  The former is a new way of stepping into warrior 1 and makes for a much more grounded and deeper lunge that squares my hips before my hands leave the mat.  My shoulders release more in the latter in prasarita when I relax into gravity.  Dr. Judith Lasater talked about how postures happen in relation to gravity a lot when I studied anatomy with her two summers ago.   Now, Kino's cue to relax in a posture makes sense and I find that once my threshhold is met, gravity coaxes me deeper when I surrender to its force.  Another discovery - relaxing doesn't really mean "relaxing". The best way I can explain it is the point where physical threshhold is met with five deep breaths into an equal amount of effort and release.


There are other things I notice as well, such as how the discipline of Ashtanga has tempered my desire to achieve advanced postures allowing instead an appreciation for the totality of the practice. Which brings me back to why I only practice full led primary on Sundays.  My stopping point in mysore now is the bhujapidasana fold.   At some point very soon I suspect it will become smoother for me, and even though the transition out of this pose is accessible, I am content to remain with the fold until it becomes effortless.  Besides, my breaths are long and by the time I reach this posture, I need to wrap up in order to finish in time to get ready for work.  Herein lies the dilemma of whether to wake up earlier than 4:50 AM once bujapidasana is covered.


Now I know you've been wondering how in the world I call myself an Ashtanga teacher and I'm just beginning mysore practice.  My reality is that I can't get to Mysore India for a month.  However, I've practiced led classes for a few years now, know primary and second series and trained in Rocket Yoga with David Kyle.  It's not until now that I've had more than memory and led class experience backed by 9 years of vinyasa practice from which to impart the teachings.  For reasons unbeknownst to me I've come to mysore in this manner.  The sort of self inquiry that edifies me comes from what happens when I roll out the mat each morning in silence, when The Weaver seeks to distract, when the battle of mind over bodily desires to sink deeper into down bedding sneak in, and from being able to witness my mental and physical evolution.  It's a path I delight in taking and my teaching has evolved accordingly.


Now that Lent is over by almost two weeks and winter has turned into summer (if you live near DC you know that this isn't a typo)  in Virginia, I welcome beads of sweat that flow more readily.  I also welcome the feeling of rising earlier than 6 AM to do what I once thought wasn't possible for myself.   As moon days roll around there's a distinct change in my state of mind and energy level, and I welcome the day off from practice because the struggle over steadiness can ensue like a Game of Thrones.  Oblivious to the ebb and flow of subtle energies like this before, the wisdom of knowing when to rest eluded me and invited exhaustion, frustration and injury in the past.  These things may still occur, but hopefully for reasons deserving my attention.


At this writing it is almost bed time and The Weaver has retreated signalling that in order to rise with me, she too must get to bed early :).