I believe John Scott’s book also lists the Vinyasa.

A good alternative, is to get Sharath’s Primary Series CD and learn the Vinyasa count from that.

A good place to start is by mentally counting the Vinyasa for Sun ‘A’ and Sun ‘B’. Once you can flow through these asana and ‘know’ where you are at any given point (without having to count again from the beginning) you will be able to work out the Vinyasa count for the next one. Pretty soon you’ll know the Vinyasa for every Asana you practise.

The following is a helpful starting point.

http://www.monkeyyoga.com/jois_english.html

doug

I definitely “dramatise” certain asanas in my head and fear falling and crashing when like you say Lousie in reality the fall may not be so dramatic and whose to say a fall would even happen … I once had a teacher who made me purposely flip over in head stand so I realised that my body would naturally bend and I would not snap or break my neck, the fall in fact was enjoyable, it felt quite acrobatic!

Learning the correct vinyasa is something I need to learn more about, in self-practice you don’t get that kind of teaching so it may well be that I could benefit from going back to a taught primary once a week or getting the book your recommend. It is only available in hardback at the moment, is it worth the investment Doug or does Yoga Mala, which is less expensive and in paperback give, the same kind of instruction?

In terms of belief systems Guy, I can totally relate to this, my belief system is stopping me from even giving it a go. Time to change my beliefs! It relates back to the “drama” point and also to the Ecstatic dance, … about just for this moment giving it a go (letting go, total surrender to the dance – or in deed to the asana) and seeing if you survive the experience … the chances are you probably will!

Shari very kindly pointed out to me that I hadn’t even tried! So my strongly held belief didn’t even let me get anywhere near to actually tackling the fear. It’s a really clear example of the power of belief influencing action – or lack of action in my case.

This faulty logic is the first stumbling block that needs to be overcome. So it was when someone challenged this belief system that I was able to see through it and actually do something about it.
So thanks to Shari for pointing it out and well done to me for actually making the change.

It has also turned out so far that I wasn’t nearly as tired as I thought I would be practicing 5 days a week.
I also recognize that what I fear nearly always doesn’t happen – something else does, sometimes worse and sometimes not.

Most people are aware of the 9 Vinyasa for Surya Namaskara ‘A’. But I’ve found most people don’t seem to explore the correct Vinyasa for each posture as they progress along the practise. There is a very precise Vinyasa count for every posture. Diligent and consistent practise of Backbending according to the appropriate Vinyasa count will help overcome fear in all Backbending.

Lino Miele’s book is a very good resource as it documents the correct Vinyasa for all Primary and Intermediate postures.

doug

So I think it really boils down to trust too – trusting that we’re not alone when we’re doing this but are supported all the time. I think de-dramatising things also helps: realising that falls and crashes aren’t so serious, and can even be quite funny!