The Ashtanga Diva

A few weeks ago, one of my esteemed yoga teachers remarked on my love of Ashtanga. She knows I’m easily bored (self-diagnosed ADD) and so yeah, it surprised me too that I fell in love with a practice that has a set sequence and doesn’t change from class to class (unless of course you move your practice up to the next series). So what is it about Ashtanga that struck the right chord with me?

1. The variety. And I don’t mean the fact that Ashtanga has a little bit of everything. It actually has a lot of a lot of things. Meaning it has a lot of standing poses, sitting poses, some backbends, inversions, arm balances, shoulder balances, binds, twists, easy poses, more challenging ones—you name it, the primary series has it. I like it that I can cover all the skills in the course of the series.
2. The challenge of memorizing the sequence. It’s just like remembering choreography, which greatly appeals to the dancer in me. And just like a dance routine, you can go through the motions of the sequence, or you can put life and feeling into it, perform it with more abandon and awareness.
3. The progression. The primary series is friendly to every level, from the überbeginner to the twisty pretzel. Variations on each asana abound in David Swenson’s book.
4. The ease of self-practice. I used to loathe working out on my own. Yoga was no different. Actually, yoga was even tougher for me to practice on my own because of my lack of knowledge on the asanas and sequencing. I didn’t know how to “choreograph” a proper yoga workout. But with Ashtanga, the sequence is set, and so there’s no problem with figuring out what comes next. Now, I don’t even practice with the lights on or with music in the background. No need for any of those accoutrements in Ashtanga. I just practice. I even chant in the beginning.
5. The length of the sequence. This is a subset of #2. I used to whine that The sequence so long! and I’ll never memorize the whole thing! But you know what? It’s just like anything else. The more you do it, the more you know it. Another surprise for me: because it’s movement, I seem to have an easier time memorizing it. Now I love it that the standing sequence + primary series + finishing sequence is so long, because it contributes to the variety and my lack of boredom. And it makes my brain work.
6. The jump-back/jump throughs: Ashtanga is a great combination of holding still and flowing movement. The asanas make you hold still and the jump backs/jump throughs let you flow. I think someone told me once that it was derived from British gymnasts practicing their routines next to yogis during Colonial India. Who knows? But this move is awesome. It incorporates balance, strength, core work and cardio all rolled into one (or two). Plus, it gives me an outlet to move in between holding steady.
7. The binds. The primary series has some awesome binds. This is the area where I’ve really seen a measurable improvement in my practice. Where before I could barely grab my fingertips in Marichyasana C, I can now grab my wrist on both sides. Very rewarding.
8. The noticeable improvement. Doing the same moves over and over and over again makes you work on the same asanas every time, which means you can get better because you’re practicing the same thing. My current goal: a full bind on the left side for Marichyasana D.
9. The pace. I love love love it that Ashtanga MOVES. One of my teachers actually plays techno music during class, and it fits. Ashatanga is vigorous and active.
10. Garba Pindasana. This is perhaps the funnest and funniest move of all of yogadom. You ever try it? First, there’s the impossible task of slipping your arms through your full lotus. If you’re not drenched with sweat by the time this asana comes up, lubing up is required. Then, you rock on your back around your mat, and this never fails to crack up the class. Ashtanga isn’t all serious, see? And then on the last rocking, you have to get yourself up and at ‘em into Kukutasana, a hella awesome arm balance.

There you have it. My ode to Ashtanga. It’s such a popular school of yoga that I’m sure tons of other people have done their own odes, but these are the reasons why I love it so. Shanti, shanti, shanti ommm..

This entry was posted on September 22, 2010 at 2:36 pm and is filed under Yoga with tags Ashtanga. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.