Halasana, December 2020
There is a story about a yogini who practiced Ashtanga yoga with P. Jois in Mysore. She was practicing sirsasana (headstand) when he told her: Stay. He left the room. Then he might have forgotten about her. An hour later he returned and the yogini was still in sirsasana.
I learned about Indian yogis who moved the body in a position and never left this position for decades. Surely some stories might be legends.
In Ashtanga yoga most asanas are held for five breaths. In former times eight breaths was the standard. Some of the asanas of the closing sequence are held for 25 breaths like sirsasana, padmasana. Most asanas of the closing sequence are held for ten breaths. It’s recommended to remain in rest pose at the end of the practice for 10 minutes.
Last year I joined yoga classes of the Sivananda community. The basic asanas were always held for five minutes. This can be a challenge. Yet it’s more likely that a position has an effect on the body. The more advanced a student is, the longer she holds the asanas. To hold an asana up to ten minutes is the goal.
Lately I flipped through the book ‘Light on Yoga’ by B.K.S. Iyengar *and realized that he also recommends to hold asanas up to 5 minutes or longer. Salamba Sarvangasana shall be held up to 10 minutes.
I learned from other disciplines like gymnastics that it’s important to hold a position minimum a couple of minutes. The body needs time to relax. Only a relaxed body will stretch. Progress comes much faster when an asana is held longer.
The reality can be cruel sometimes. I know back bending asanas that I can hold for one breaths. When I aim at holding urdhva dhanurasana for one minute I struggle. I’m yearning for the peep of my alarm clock when practicing this back bending asana. It’s a process. First one must find out how long one can stand in a position. Then one can stay longer. My timer always helps me to get a feeling of the time. Getting deeper into a position and holding it longer can be done in steps.
My next step is to hold halasana for 5 minutes. I’m very curious.
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