Every third Friday of the month we have our traditional Sanskrit Counted led Full Primary (instead of the Morning Mysore class), followed by a 45-60 min yoga philosophy talk.  The counted class is an excellent opportunity to review the vinyasa count, practicing at a rhythm without any added distractions while also experiencing yourself being part of the breathing moving mala created in our school.  The yoga philosophy talk thereafter stimulates much though about the underlying philosophy behind our practice, inspiring your practice.

Hereby sharing some of what we talked about during last Friday's talk.
Please keep in mind that I am merely a student of yoga philosophy myself and by no means an expert.

This sutra states that we can prevent future suffering, that future suffering is end-able. Huzzzah!  How is that possible?

One take is to live and behave (in our thoughts, words and actions) with integrity. Here an exploration of the first two limbs of ashtanga, the yamas and niyamas - how we relate to ourselves and others - could be inserted (may be another time!). Integrity in our thoughts, actions and word - Huh! That needs a lot of awareness and tending to our intentions for our words, actions... There is also an aspect then of us understanding that we are responsible and accountable for our actions and behavior, that we understand our actions (inward and outward) elicit a reaction.  With awareness to what causes a 'duhkha spinning wheel' we can learn to understand the underlying seed of that spin. That enables us to change the spin, to  try to lay down seeds that allow the wheel to spin towards more beneficial outcomes for ourselves and the world around us.

Turns out our yoga practice is an excellent playground for understanding ourselves and our spins; in our practice we encounter our short circuiting, our automated responses, judgements, self-talk, ways of attaching to *something, or ways of not showing up for what we want.  Huh! Difficult! Why did I ever sign up for this! Indeed, it's not a fun practice per se, and all the time. Yet, knowing yourself, getting to come to know your patterns is very rewarding; it allows for new perspectives, new choices, it allows you to see better what is there and what is a projection or a story of how things have been or "should" be.

Get out of your box by first understanding the nature of the box you put yourself into.
(Ahem, which Box?!?! Ahem!) :)

Our yoga practice allows us a visceral / embodied understanding of how all is interconnected (e.g. how 'this' thought leads to 'that' outcome, etc...). Our bodies thus become our very own tools to understand the world within and around us, through direct experience. Those experiences, those moments of understanding, are spontaneously arising, and probably not occurring during each practice (so sorry for the news!). Yet, a regular, towards daily, practice brings about a soil for such momentary experiences to sprout and flower.  Those moments in practice are immensely precious, they allow you to see *something* about yourself you previously could not grasp, even if you can't put it into words (may be not so bad - language itself can be limiting and restricting), your body sees and understands in its own ways and at its own pace, from here there is option to break the chain of pattern behavior you got accustomed to.  

Through regular observation in practice we get to know the language of our thoughts, emotions and sensations, and also come to understand we have been misidentifying with our thoughts, emotion and sensations (all parts of the material world, or nature, referred to as prakrti) and learn to be with our thoughts, emotions and sensations, observe them but not identify and attach to them.  

Conceptually this yoga sutra could also entail that pain is inevitable but suffering is optional. Implying that we always have a choice for how to respond to pain that presents, again understanding that all is interconnected, and understanding that our current present (and the actions of our current present) shapes our future past....

For a few impressions from our led class, have a peek here. 

"Fun" fact:  I lost and rewrote this post about 2-3 times as it always disappeared before publishing (very annoying).  Next time I will write it on a word file first and then copy it in here, instead of rewriting all from scratch.  Future suffering is to be avoided.... 

Recently, I attended a workshop by Michael Hamilton.  Michael practiced zen buddhism long before starting his asana yoga practice and study, which was influenced by different teachers in the Krishnamacharya lineage. During the workshop Michael Hamilton invited us to practically and theoretically explore subtle aspects that aid us to gain focus and rest the mind.  In the following, while talking about tristana, I will share some gems of this workshop with you - hopefully you may find (some of) this useful for your practice.

As you may know the practice of ashtanga yoga is drawn from 

1. Raja Yoga  - the practice of inward concentration 
2. and Hatha Yoga (the practice of physical awakening)  (In Ashtanga yoga we utilize Hatha yoga asanas in specialised sequences, just for the one's that just caught the ride...)

So, we set out with Ashtanga being a physical practice of inward concentration.
But what does this inward concentration mean? This aspect of the practice is also popping up in the Yoga Sutras, specifically YS2.46 [Shtira Sukam Asanam] - "The asana (as in while being in a pose) for yoga meditation should be steady, without movement, comfortable and stable in order to still the mind".  Stilling the monkey mind from it's thoughts is one hell of a task, luckily we have the concept of Tristana to help us gain focus and concentration.  

Tristana?  Yes!  Tristana means three-equal standing - on three "areas" that the mind can rest on to bind its attention and awarness.  Those three aspects of Tristana are: Gaze, sound of breath and internal alignment. 

A little bit about gaze, also referred to as drshti:

The gaze creates a gentle space of mind and has a soft, yet steady quaility. The softness of the gaze creates a feeling of compassion.  The gaze also allows us to form a relationship between our "inner" and "outer" worlds, as the gaze goes out but also takes in, and assimilates in-and output.  The art is to internalize the experience, i.e. not to project your ideas onto what you see, but seeing something as it is, without filters and conditioning; hereby allowing for a relationship between what comes in and out. Then, what you perceive is not as solid anymore, but rather becomes more transient and not to easily to grasp - exposing us to our own processes of conditioning.  Of course, this is difficult.  That's were a regular practice comes in, practicing objectivity (is of course not easy, but eventually brings benefits...).

The sound of the breath

The ujjayi breath, that we practice in ashtanga, is that slight constriction of the vocal cords. This subtle constriction allows more concentration to manipulate the flow of our breath.  Moderating our breath in a way that the phases of our breath become more consistent; with a consistent peak throughout the entire inhale and exhale, instead of peaking at the middle.
The breath also allows for expansion and making space; we can direct our breath to tense areas consciously, and subtly "create more space".
The sound of the ujjayi , an aspirant, resonant sound, should be loud enough for yourself to hear but not audible for anyone else.  If the sound is too loud, it is unnecessarily dehydrating for the practitioner, as it increases the digestive quality and therefore, takes energy away.  
Moreover, the sound increases concentration to not overstrain, and to be present.  At the same time, the sound of the breath enables us to feel more attuned / aware of our environment and finding ourselves in space as we move through space (the sound consists of vibrations moving through space).

Inner alignment (bandhas)

Inner alignment awakens us to our body.  If things are aligned a certain way, a certain impression in the mind is created and it is more likely to experience unsubjectivity as the mind becomes absorbed into the objects it is observing (i.e. the principles of alignment).  Thus, the mind becomes utterly concentrated and absorbed but fuzzy about the self (or the ego) as it becomes more integrated with it's surroundings.
The more this absorption / integration with one's surroundings is practiced, the more it becomes an imprint, and thereby, accessible to us, challenging our conditioning (samskaras). Saying this then, if practice is little, there is small residue of this imprinting process.  With more (and regular) practice, the relationship between cause and effect (consequences) fatigues; harnessing this, response patters can be adapted.

Altogether, alignment allows us to become aware of inner imprints, being aware of them we can check them and evaluate them.  The concept of Tristana is one example of rooting into the presence of what you do and let the mind rest in that presence.

This goes back to something I posted on Facebook a while back, but the bhavans are at the very root of progress in our practice! Take some time to read and observe your practice.

The Bhavanas - these are the four qualities of the mind that foster growth in your yoga practice.

Have you ever heard that inner voice telling you "I can't do that", "I don't deserve that" or "This I don't like"? Chances are high that you have. These doubts are exactly what nourishes and feeds our inner obstacles to growth. These doubts, or unadventageous inner orientations, act sabotaging to our practice, as they lead us to not practice compassionately enough and make our energies dissipate and get distracted. If we want to cultivate progress in our (yoga) practice, we need to learn to substitute those unadventageous inner orientations with beneficial ones - and this is where the bahavans, the four qualities of the mind for progress, come into play: 
1. Empathy - for your own progress and that of others 
2. Friendliness - Towards yourself and others 
3. Encouragement & Passion - for the path of progressing 
and 4. Allowance or patience - having patience and trusting the progress and that things take time...

When we don't allow the cultivation of these qualities, progress in our practice is difficult. If we want to much and force things, we stay our own's worst critics, let perfectionism sabotage our progress, and possibly get injured along the way. If we slack and don't want enough, we will always find excuses and reasons why we cannot practice and our progress will stop.

David gave us a small glimpse on how the first chapter of the Yoga Sutras {Samadhi} relates to practice.

The first chapter of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras is called "Samadhi Pada. It explains the significance of yoga and provides guidance in the disciplines of practice and detachment in order to help aspirants to reach the vision of the soul. Samadhi also refers to cognitive absorption, the ability to remain aware and mentally where you are at - basically to focus.   


In our pure self and consciousness we are (each one of us) perfect and pristine.  However, our minds like to self-criticize and thereby build up obstructions to seeing  (being awareness) of our perfection and this leads to suffering.

The good news is that the practice of yoga slowly clears up those obstructions of awareness, leading the mind to a more perceptive and reflective state.

By practicing non-attachment (through yoga) one can stop the fluctuations of the mind (that wild monkey in your head), this is called Nirodha in Sanskrit. Non-attachment essentially is the removal of coloring in our perception and it is most efficient when it transcends the qualities of the gunas (creation (sattva), preservation (rajas), and destruction (tamas)).

A person who practices intensely is closer to nirodha (ceasing the fluctuations of the mind), see Sutra 1.14 "Practice for a long time, without interruption, with consistency and enthusiasm is the firm foundation for restraining the fluctuations of the mind".  Importantly, the ceasing of the fluctuations of the mind start directly in the asana practice when ceasing movements in the asana itself (stillness in the pose) and turning and asana into a seal of awareness.

Faith in the practice, energy, memory (discipline is purifying memory), insight and samadhi (focus) help to attain nirodha.

During the led class on Friday several of us noticed that David extended the duration of time we spent in some poses, for example shoulderstand and headstand.  What was 15 counts for David G paralleled 30-something of mine (hmm....) - which made it challenging / uncomfortable mentally and physically.  Tremendously interesting this practice (as life): being confronted with something that does not fit our previous experience and existing schemes, it's easy to become a bit uncomfortable.  So let's challenge those schemes!

Some of us were then wondering about the idea behind holding asanas for different durations.  David was generous with his answer (this is great about him as a teacher, he really gives a lot).

David’s approach is to stay in an asana a little longer when it gets challenging.  Since it takes some time to get into an asana (especially the challenging ones) take a few more breaths for benefits and change to get rolling (A bit diverting from the topic of breath but also worthwhile mentioning:  Repeat the asanas that are challenging for you!).  Generally, five to eight breaths is good.  For some poses it may also be beneficial to stay even longer (very individual).

Not relying on the count per se gives us the opportunity to tune inwards.  When starting an ashtanga yoga mysore practice  the count of five breaths per pose is an important guide but slowly - as the practice matures - a more inward focus develops (and should develop).  David is not counting his breath during his practice as he wants to focus on the “inward stuff” and not to "how long the asana is taking". Thus,  counting, in a way, distracts us externally. 

Then, the length of the breath is different for different asanas, and thereby the breath is variable during one practice as all the different asanas together span the full extend of the breath. During the challenging poses the breath becomes more stiff (partly reflecting the quality of the mind: Something turns challenging, fear and panic are easy companions, as well as grunting (how about: kapotasana).  Herein, Guruji used to instruct students to “free breathing”. 
Moreover, the finishing poses are meant to rejuvenate the body, in this light a longer visit with shoulder and headstand makes sense then.

Another important notion is that there should not be any more movement / fidgeting once in the asana, the idea is to cultivate as much stillness when in the asana as possible.