Thursday, September 9, 2021

Vinyasa Krama Practice Template and Practice sheets for comparison.

Vinyasa Krama Practice Template and a week of practice sheets based on Srivatsa Ramaswami’s September 2009 Newsletter (How to Practice) Vinyasa Krama. From his thirty years of study with his teacher T. Krishnamacharya.

Somebody mentioned that coming up with a daily Vinyasa Krama practice sounded complicated.

I disagree, here we have a template where only five elements need to change as the other half of the practice is pretty much fixed. All we need to do is slot in an Asana subroutine or part of a subroutine in the gaps. Here are six variations plus a Pranayama practice sheet for the seventh day.

I’ve taken one liberty with my variations in that I’ve shifted the triangles sequence and on one-leg elements at the beginning. Ramaswami also teaches them like this ( he did me) and I just find with my aging body I need a bit of standing early on as well as a few sun salutations ( I put them between Tadasana and Triangle in my practice).

These can perhaps be used as a comparison with Sribhashyam's practice sheets











How to practice Vinyasa Krama


An Excerpt from Ramaswami's September 2009 Newsletter :


VINYASAKRAMA PRACTICE


Most of the readers of this newsletter have studied Vinyasakrama Asana

practice with me for varying durations, a weekend program, a weeklong

Core Vinyasa program, a 60 hour complete Vinyasa Yoga program or the

200 hour Teacher Training Schedule. Many people see something unique

about this system, somewhat different from the contemporary mainstream

yoga. Most have read the “Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga” book and

finally ask the question, what next? How can I do a daily practice

from these sequences? There are more than 700 asanas/vinyasas and I

normally recommend doing each vinyasa three times. At the rate of

about 4/5 movements per minute (it could be even 3 per minute for good

breathers), it could take about 8 to 9 hours to do the complete

vinyasakrama. Then my Guru would commend doing a short stint of

Pranayama, say for about 15 to 30 mts and then chanting or meditation

for another 15 to 30 mts, daily. We also have to consider that in

asana practice, there are a few heavy weight poses which require one

to stay for a long time. So it is almost impossible to practice all of

it everyday even by a full time ‘practice-live-and-sleep-in-yoga mat’

yogi. The book was written to give as complete as possible, a

presentation of all the vinyasas  in a series of sequences that is

logical and easy to learn, as I learnt from my Guru. It is a book for

learning the system. Any serious student of yoga who would spend years

studying and teaching yoga should have in one’s repertoire as many

asanas, vinyasas and logical sequences (krama) as possible. So, one

should firstly study the entire range of asanas and vinyasas of the

vinyasakrama system from a teacher say in the 60 hr vinyasakrama

program. Then note down all the vinyasas that are a bit difficult to

do. One should practice daily for half hour to one hour as many

vinyasas as possible following the recommended sequence, with special

emphasis on the difficult ones. In about six months to one year of

consistent practice one would be comfortable with the system, the

sequences and especially the required synchronous breathing. This

would complete the learning process. Then one may prepare a green list

of asanas and vinyasas one would be able to do and wants to practice

regularly. There will be another list, amber list which would contain

those vinyasas which are difficult now but one would like to practice

them even if they are somewhat imperfect. Then there would be another

red list which will contain procedures that are not appropriate or

possible for the practitioner—which could probably be taken up in the

next janma. Then it would be time for concentrating on using

vinyasakrama for daily practice and also teaching to individuals for

their daily yoga practice.


Adapting yoga to individual requirements is an art by itself. We must

understand that there is no one standard practice that is suitable to

everyone. In medicine you have to give different treatment to

different patients; what is suitable to one suffering from digestive

problem would be different from the one that is suitable for one who

is suffering from some low back pain. According to an important motto

of Krishnamacharya, yoga for children and the adolescents (growth

stage) is different from yoga practice in their midlife which again is

different from the practice in old age. The body, mind and goals

change during different stages of life. Sri Krishnamacharya’s teaching

is based on this principle as we could discern from his works, Yoga

Makaranda and Yoga Rahasya.


Basically yoga for kids and young adults will have a considerable

amount of asana vinyasa practice -- many vinyasas, difficult poses,

etc. It will help them to work out the considerable rajas in their

system and proper growth (vriddhi). Of course they should also

practice some pranayama and meditation or chanting. For the midlife

yogi, the practice will still include some asana, but specifically

some of the health giving  and restorative postures like the

Inversions, Paschimatanasana, Mahamudra, etc., in which poses one may

be required to stay for a longer period of time. There will be more

emphasis on Pranayama and then more meditation, chanting, worship etc.

When I started studying with my Guru I was 15 years old. During the

beginning years of my study it was mostly difficult asanas and

vinyasas. Swing throughs, jump arounds, utplutis etc and other fun

filled unique sequences were the order of the day. As I grew up, my

teacher slowly but surely changed the mix, focus and direction of my

yoga practice. On the last day I was with him (I was close to 50 then)

it was just chanting of Surya Namaskara (Aruna) mantras for the entire

duration with him. During the third stage of life, the old age, the

emphasis is usually spiritual and/or devotional even as one is

required to do some simple movements and pranayama.

And within the group, the daily practice can be varying depending upon

the requirements and goals set forth by the yogi for herself/himself.

For instance, for the midlife yogi, the main goal will be to maintain

good physical and mental health, rather than being able to stand, say,

on one leg or even on one hand (Of course the child in me wants to do

that). He/She would like to avoid risky movements so that the practice

would be safe and does not cause injuries—immediate or cumulative. Too

much exertion (kayaklesa), like several rounds of continuous,

breathless Suryanamaskaras again should be avoided, says Brahmananda

in his commentary on Hatayogapadipika. A few may be more inclined to

have some spirituality thrown in. Many would like to develop the

ability to and the habit of visiting the peace zone of the mind daily.

There are some who are more rajasic or tamasic in which case the mix

of asana and pranayama should be properly adjusted, sometimes taking

care of even the day to day variations of the gunas. It requires some

careful attention in deciding a particular day’s practice. Hence, to

suggest a practice of a set of asanas or a routine for everyone

irrespective of the age, condition, temperament and goal is incorrect.

Such an approach does not take into consideration not only the

versatility and richness of orthodox, traditional vinyasakrama yoga

practice but also does not take the varying factors of individual

requirements. Sri Krishnamacharya’s yoga can appropriately be termed

as ‘Appropriate Yoga’.


However, as a general rule, for the serious mid-life yogi, a daily

practice of about 90 mts to 2 hrs will be necessary and sufficient.

Here is modifiable one. After a short prayer, one could do a brief

stint of Tadasana doing the main vinyasas two or preferably three

times each. It should take about ten minutes. Then one subsequence in

the asymmetric could be taken up, say Marichyasana or Triyangmukha or

the half lotus. The choice may be varied on a daily basis. Five minute

stay in Paschimatanasana and the counter poses may be practiced. Then

one may do preparation of Sarvangasana and a brief stay in it,

followed by headstand stay for about 5 to 10 minutes or more and then

staying in Sarvangasana for 5 to 10 more minutes, if one can do

inversions. Paschimatanasana, Sarvangaana and Headstand are to be

practiced preferably daily for their health benefits.  If time permits

one may do few vinyasas in these inversions. One may do a subsequence

of Triangle pose like warrior pose and /or one sequence in one legged

pose.  Mahamudra for about 5 minutes each on both sides can then be

practiced.  Why are these important? In an earlier article I had tried

to explain the unique health benefits of the twin inversions. . In

fact the inversions, Sirsasana and Sarvangasana are mudras, the

viparitakarani mudras. I remember my Guru asking us to do

Paschimatanasana sequence quite often-- it is said to be an important

pose for Kundalini Prabhoda, especially when the bandhas are also done

and the pelvic muscles/floor are drawn towards the back. You could

also observe that Paschimatanasan helps to stretch all the muscles and

tissues in the posterior portion (as the name of the asana indicates)

of the body where there are heavy muscles--thighs calves, glutei etc.

Mahamudra as the name indicates is considered to be the best/great of

Mudras. It is believed that it helps to direct the prana into the

sushumna as it is supposed to block the ida and pingala separately.

Aided by Jalandharabandha, it also helps to keep the spine straight

Then sitting in Vajrasana or Padmasana after doing some movements one

should do a suitable variant of Kapalabhati, say for about 108 times

and then an appropriate Pranayama, Ujjayi, Nadisodhana or Viloma with

or without mantras for about 15 minutes to be followed by five minutes

Shanmukhimudra and then chanting or meditation of about 15 minutes.

The efficacy of Pranayama on the whole system and mind cannot be

overemphasized. Please read the article on “Yoga for the Heart”, in an

earlier newsletter... It refers to the benefits of Pranayama to the

heart and the circulatory system.


 If interested, one may allocate an additional 30 minutes (or practice

at another time in the day, say, in the evening) during which time one

may practice a few subroutines from the other scores of sequences that

have not been included in this core yoga practice. Even though the

book contains 10 main sequences, the reader will be able to discern

more than a hundred asana sequences, each one having a unique

structure. In fact each chapter is a major sequence (wave) of many

specific sequences (ripples), which itself is made up of a few vinyaas

(dops of water). Then the whole book is a mega sequence (tide) of

major sequences in the ocean of Yoga. If you take Tadasana itself,

there are firstly the hasta vinyasas, then, parsva bhangis, different

uttanasanas, utkatasana, pasasana and finally the tadasana. Each

subroutine itself may have anywhere between 3 to even 20 vinyasas. So

there is considerable versatility in the system. It is better to stick

to the integrity of the subroutines (like Ushtrasana, Virabhadrasana

or Vrikshasana for instance), as enunciated in the book. Thus we have

a variable component and a fixed component in the daily practice.

Everyday before the start of the practice the yogi should take a

minute and decide on a definite agenda and as far as possible try to

stick to the agenda. What asanas and vinyasas, which pranayama and how

many rounds and other details should be determined before hand and one

should adhere to it. It brings some discipline and coherence to one’s

practice. It is customary to end the practice with peace chant.


Adapting vinyasakrama to individual requirements can be termed as

viniyoga krama. For instance when my Guru gets a middle aged person or

a nine year old with specific condition like scoliosis, he would

design a specific program to the individual requirement. Almost

everyone who comes to him will have a routine developed which will not

be the one that is given to someone else. I have written about the

family class we had with my Guru when we started learning from him.

During the same time period he would teach different vinyasas, poses

and procedures to each one of us, my older father, my somewhat heavy-

set mother, my supple, talented younger sister, my more challenged

brother and me. One reason why people nowadays look for a definite

routine is because a few of the more popular vinyasa systems have a

very small number of regimented sequences which are taught over and

over again almost to all students. So there is a mindset that there

should be a rigid sequence that is applicable for everyone, but that

is not the way we learnt yoga from my Guru. Firstly the teacher should

learn the whole system and then apply it to individuals as per the

requirements -- pick and choose those vinyasa sequences, pranayama and

meditation practices, dietary requirements, etc.. The question that is

to be answered is what does the practitioner want/need and how should

the yoga routine be designed to get the required benefit. Vinyasakrama

is like a yoga supermarket, and each one should put into the cart what

one needs. And the term Vinyasakrama includes not just asanas but also

other aspects of yoga like pranayama, meditation, etc. It is a

progression of different aspects of Yoga. The Vinyasakrama  has a huge

collection of asana vinyasas, a well stocked section on Pranayama,

then the meditation department and a spiritual study/contemplation

section as well. So a lot of initiative should be taken by the

individual consumer, like our practitioner who should take the

responsibility of working out with the teacher how to design an

intelligent purposeful yoga practice pertaining to oneself. To reduce

Vinyasakrama to a standard routine as is done with several other

contemporary Vinyasa systems and put it in a straight jacket is not

desirable. I have explained these ideas to many participants of the

longer versions of the programs and thought to touch upon them for the

general reader who would be wondering how to force the VK elephant (or

a camel) into the needle’s eye of daily practice.


There are some friends who after completing the program take a few

private lessons to tailor-make the VK system to their requirements. We

discuss about their physical  conditions and mental makeup, age,

obesity, pulse rate, blood pressure, breath rate and breathing

constraints, general disposition, time availability, stress levels,

etc., and design a routine for their benefit. Because there is a

bewildering array of  vinyasas, pranayama methods, mantras, etc., we

have a better choice of designing and fine-tune a program suitable to

the particular individual. If there is problem with VK it is a problem

of plenty.


There are a few serious practitioners who have their daily routine cut

out, but then do the complete vinyasakrama separately say in the

evening for about an hour so that they could go through all the

vinyasa sequences in a span of one week. In vedic chanting, the

Taittiriya saka , consists of about 80+ chapters and it would take

about 40 to 45 hours to chant the whole. Those who have learnt the

entire Taittiriya Saka duing their childhood, have to keep chanting

them all their lives. They do it by doing chanting for about 1 to 1 ½

hours per day so that they could complete it in a Mandala or about 40

days. Similarly Carnatic musicians learn several songs, but for their

practice they take a few songs per day and over a period of several

weeks they would cover all the songs they had learnt. Likewise the

yoga practice can be varied and rich. The rich variety makes it

possible to maintain abiding interest in a personal Yoga Practice at

home. It does not become a chore.


 A list of more than 120 asana vinyasa routines contained in the book,

“The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga” is added as a post script. Based

on the discussion above on the criteria for daily practice you may

decide on your daily routine by picking specific asana sequences and

have a unique program made specifically for you and by you every day.

Please stick to the integrity of the sequences in the asana. If you

teach, you may modify them for persons who are sick or physically

challenged.  Pranayama, inversions, paschimatana  mahamudra  and

meditation may be included for sure. You have myriad possibilities.

There is no one rigid universal daily practice routine in Vinyasakrama




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