How do the masters do it?

Sputa hasta padangusthasana, January 2021

To be a student of yoga and the same time the own teacher can be a challenge. It’s not possible to see oneself from the outside. Picture allow this and it’s worth using this tool. Often one can realize rather fast what needs to get improved. Some tinier things like thumbs who point in the air can be corrected at once. One can discover next steps to improve a pose.

By chance I flipped through the book by B.K.S. Iyengar yesterday. I saw him performing supta hasta padangusthasana. Wow. I know that this pose is challenging. I realized that I avoid the pose.

1. I obviously tend to move my elbow away from the body. This is something that I could correct easily.

2. Both legs are stretched. Als the arm that lies on the thigh is stretched. This gives body tension.

3. When taking care of these things it becomes suddenly a challenge to lift up the body. I couldn’t reach the shin with my chin anymore. My abdomen are too weak. This pose strengthens the abdomen.

The posture on the picture looks so much better than my first attempts.

It’s a very effective method to take pictures of asanas. It goes a step further if one compares these pictures with the asanas of the masters.

As an autodidact or home practitioner one must learn how to learn.

A daily practice is only the beginning…….

How long shall one hold a yoga postition?

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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Practicing effectively - the timer

During the last 2 years I had enough time to reflect on my practice. I came to the conclusion that the method of learning the asanas and vinyasas can be improved. It’s not enough and rather ineffective to hold an asana for five breaths only. If one wants to learn an asana one must do more than this.

1. I use a timer. I hold several asanas for 1 minute these days. Today I practiced primary. I held marichyasana B for 1 minute as it’s a good preparation for one of the most difficult asanas of this series, which is supta kurmasana. I also held the twist marichyasana C for one minute to balance all the forward bending asanas and I held the headstand for 1 minute at the end of my practice. One minute can be rather long. Scientific research have found out that the body needs time to relax. 5 breaths is not enough, this can not be repeated often enough. When the body is relaxed stretching is possible. One must also hold the position for a while to make it last.

2. It’s useful to look for external clues. The timer is an auditive external clue. It has much more authority than my inner voice that is counting. The timer is also more precise. Another external visual clue can be the wall. When I stretch I aim for reaching the wall. This will never be possible as the wall is so far away, but the thought alone helps to lengthen the body more than without this external clue. Stretch your body is less effective than trying to reach a wall that is far away, also when it’s only a thought.

3. The timer also tells me when 90 minutes are over. I aim for a daily practice that lasts 90 minutes. It’s so much easier to have a time frame than to practice till all poses are done. It intensifies my practice.I have no orientation how late it got already when I practice. To look at a clock again and again is only distracting.

To practice before breakfast is wonderful. The stomach must be empty in order to get deep into the twists.

The plan when practicing primary:

I want to hold a forward fold, a twist, my most difficult pose and headstand for 1 minute. The goal behind this goal is to get so used to be in asanas that one can finally enjoy these asanas. It must feel good to be in a pose. Breaths must flow easily. It would be good if the face is relaxed, too. If the pose looks as if it’s a piece of cake, if you can sleep in that pose, you’re there.

I wonder how to get stronger again……