See the Guidelines for Practice page at the top of the blog.
Basically, the breathing is long and slow, the eyes closed, bandhas engaged, Jalandhara bandha in particular. After each asana, mudra,and pranayama ( unless indicated otherwise, usually by "followed by") we are directed to lie down and rest for one to two minutes to notice the effect. See the guidelines post for more on this most important element of the practice.
In future practice sessions, points of concentration will be introduced for different asana, mudra and/or pranayama. I will be including the chart below with each post, the concentration post mentioned in the session highlighted in bold.
Points of concentration: 16 vital points. (No concentration points in todays practice)
sirsa - the fontanel
murdhna - middle of forehead
bhrumadhya - between eyebrows
nasagra - extremity of the nose
talu mula - back of the palate
lalata - root of the uvula
kantha - throat
kantha kupa - back of the throat
hrdaya - middle of the heart
nabhi - navel
sroni - centre of the pelvis
mula - perineum
jangha- point at top of thighs
janu - point at middle of knees
gulpha - point at middle of ankles
pada angusta - point of the big toes.
Also of note...
Murdhna: the point located in front of the nose
Divya Chakshush: Point behind the head (occipital)
Aditya (the sun) is the disk of the sun, black and shiny,
The star: lying on his back to look as far as possible on the sky
Taraka: the horizon point,
Kumbhaka
A.K. = Antah Kumbhaka (holding of breath after inhalation )
B.K = Bhaya Kumbhaka (holding of breath after exhalation )
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POST PRACTICE
Nice to see Tadasana in the sequence, for me this is the signature asana of Ramaswami's Vinyasa Krama and I can still hear his voice,"Stretch stretch stretch", whenever i practice it, which tends to be most mornings.
Before starting on these sequences I tend to do a short tadasana sequence and some sun salutations, I think of this as a gentle warm up rather than as part of the practice. because there was tadasana in the sequence I warmed up with some of Simon Borg-Olivier's spinal movements followed by the Sury's.
#7 In Ramaswami's Vinyasa Krama he practices this in three ways, chin to knees, nose to knees and forehead to knees. Sribhashyam just as you bring the knees to the stomach, the head stays on the ground, thankfully as I no longer seem able to reach my chin to my knees let alone my forehead.
#9 I was surprised to see Sarvangasana appear in general practice number two, I vaguely remember it as appearing later and Sirsasana later still. Sirsasana first appears in practice #9 but for awhile an alternative asana is offered ( in #9 it's Utthita pada Angusta asana). An alternative to shoulder stand is to lay on your back with your legs up against a wall. For Krishnamacharya one of the main benefits of head and shoulder stand was to slow the breathing.
Krishnamacharya also had a strange idea that these asana somehow bathed the brain in cerebrospinal fluid ( the reason for following headstand with shoulder stand is so that the cerebrospinal fluid that had supposedly run to the top of the head would then bathe the back of the head. I've taught English to several neurosurgeons over the years and they find a decidedly strange idea, which brings into question the Krishnamacharya's obsession with headstand that, along with shoulder stand, have more dangers than benefits. I choose to continue practicing them because I love them so but I'm not sure I would ever be comfortable teaching them.
Krishnamacharya's other curious notion support of inversion is that the organs start to... sag.
"He also theorized that diseases slowly developed due to the dis placement of various organs (kosas) inside the body. These intemal saclike organs-the heart, the lungs in the thoracic cavity, the
stomach, intestines, uterus/prostrate, and bladder-all tended to sag over time due to loss in tone ofthe supporting musculature. This displacement was, according to him, an important cause of
the inefficiency of these important organs. He attempted to correct this situation by resorting to some unique yogic innovations, the viparita karanis (inversions). By staying in the inverted position, with asanas such as headstand or shoulder stand and their variations, he found that the organs could be returned to their original position...," Ramaswami - Yoga beneath the surface.
This idea seems to have been based on an a medical report in the 1920s that suggested organs 'sagged'. However it turned out, that the article and theory was called into question as it was based on an autopsy and this lying dead on a slab was the most likely cause of the 'sagging'. Some prolapse of certain organ does occur but it is highly questionable that practicing inversions on a daily basis for an extended period would 'correct' it. Practicing long stays in head and shoulder stand carry more dangers perhaps than those they are questionably professed to cure.
#11 This vinyasa is familiar to me from Vinyasa Krama but my knees have seized up somewhat and I really struggled with it. One of the reasons I wanted to come back to practicing more asana is because my left knee is losing a lot of flexibility, this was the knee I had operations on many years ago. I found it useful to change my lotus around for the right side.
If lotus is a struggle for you then half lotus might be easier and failing that loosely crossed legs.
The arms outstretched above the head can be challenging because of the physics involved, that's quite a bit of extra weight to take over above your head and you need a strong core. An alternative is to have your hands behind your back in reverse prayer or have your hands outsetretched behind you back with fingers linked and palms turned out rather than above your head, it gives a bit of a counterweight and allows you to fold over more carefully. Ramaswami has these hand/arm options in several of his vinyasa.
So with the shoulder stand and the full lotus vinyasa this can hardly be thought of as a beginning practice and we will need to think about gentler alternatives right from the start.
👀
I cannot recommend Krishnamacharya's third son, T. K. Sribhashyam's book 'Emergence of Yoga' strongly enough/
It May be available on Amazon but check the language.
Also available direct from T. K. Sribhashyam's school.
I heard the website says it doesn't ship to the US but if you contact them direct it might be able to be arranged for a little extra shipping cost.
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