Yesterday I attended Anthony “Prem” Carlisi’s workshop: Living Principles of Ashtanga Yoga, Ayurveda and Tantra in Tunbridge wells.

There must have been about 35 people attending, most of whom were Scott’s students. Scott was hosting the event and it sounds like he was a great host to Prem and Heather. I’ll link to Scott as soon as I get details of his blog.

Prem has a commanding presence, tall, tanned with intense eyes and a rather huge beard. I was struck by the ease and authority with which he spoke and his knowledge, energy and humour were great. I’d say the workshop was a taster for Prem’s book The only way out is in.

The workshop started off with a talk by Prem about the concepts from the book. I’m not going to go into detail here as I don’t really know enough about this stuff to be able to do it any justice. There were four concepts outlined:

1. Inside-out
2. Ground up
3. Gross to subtle
4. Everything moves in a vortex

These 4 headings present a clear distillation of ideas that can be applied to life/practice. Prem explained and gave examples of each which helped to contextualise the concepts. I’ve not read the book yet but Prem’s talk interested me enough to buy a copy, so I’ll be doing a book review on it when I’m done.

After a couple of hours of listening I’m sure we were all itching to get onto the mat, well after going to the toilet that is. The practice consisted of the sun salutations and the standing sequence before the primary series. Here are a couple of gems I got from the practice:

• While in Samasthitihi Heather gave me a little adjustment that changed the angle of my hips - wow!
• Ground up - Ensuring a stable base for the asana is established before moving the upper body into position. This gave a reassuring quality to the asana
• Prem’s vortex - circular motion (rather than moving in straight lines) had a great impact in exploring Trikonasana
• Raising up onto the ball of the back foot when going into parivrtta Parsvakonasana really helped me to get deeper into the asana

After lunch we got down to an introduction to Ayurveda. Prem presented practical ways of using Ayurveda to change your life and practice. Again this is not something I know much about and is a rather vast topic, although Prem emphasized a practical approach. There was a brief wrap up on Tantra and a short meditation.

For me the workshop broadened my horizons generally but due to time constraints there wasn’t time to explore any of the topics in depth, but it did serve as a great introduction. Prem clearly has amassed a huge amount of knowledge over the last 30 years or so and is keen to share his insights.

I thoroughly enjoyed the day out and getting a chance to meet more of the Ashtanga community. Hopefully Prem and Heather will be back soon. I’m grateful to have had the experience to have met them both. Namaste.

Guy

I thought I’d start off with the first book I bought. I’d been practicing Mysore style for 9 months at BNHC and didn’t know the names of the asana in the primary series. I was also curious about the illusive bandhas, mantras, dristi, ujjayi breath and the philosophy behind Ashtanga - the 8 limbs.

The book fittingly opens with a dedication to Ashtanga Guru Shri K Pattabhi Jois and the opening mantra with translation. After the blessing given in the Foreword by Pattabhi Jois I was interested Scott’s personal story and a brief history of this form of yoga. The book is organised into 3 parts:

Part 1, The way of Ashtanga Yoga starts off by introducing each of Patanjali’s eight limbs to the tree of Yoga: Yama (moral codes), Niyama (self-purification and study), Asana (posture), Pranayama (breath control), Pratyahara (sense control), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation) and Samadhi (contemplation). This section is an introduction to some deeply profound life changing principles. I was struck by the similarities between the 8 limbs of yoga and the noble 8 fold path from the Buddhist tradition.

Part 2 is a very useful presentation on Vinyasa, also covering the 3 bandhas: mula, uddiyana and jalandhara bandha in an accessible way. Scott also introduces all the different dristis and there is also a bit on the elemental state of Tristana. I can’t say I grasp what was written on Tristana, but as Scott puts it, ‘Tristana is achieved through repetition’. Sounds like more practice to me : )

With the foundation of the practice explained, the next section gets into the nuts and bolts with a detailed breakdown of the sun salutations - Surya Namaskara A and B. There is also a handy section on the transition movements, breaking down all the movements by exhale and inhale.

The 3rd part of the book is a step-by-step walk through of the primary series asana grouped into three sections: standing sequence, seated sequence, and finishing sequence. Each asana is explained, following the path of inhalations and exhalations. Nearly every asana has a tip or caution box with useful advice for that posture.

This is a great book to get explore the journey of the primary series. But like any book on yoga, it does not replace actual practice with an experienced teacher. Scott says ‘It takes a combination of dedication, discipline, motivation, and stamina to achieve lasting benefit. Ashtanga yoga is a daily practice, one that ultimately becomes a way of life.’

Hello Brighton Ashtangis!

How’s the practice going in this nice fresh weather we’re having?

There’s a lovely quote in the Ashtanga world attributed to Shri K Pattabhi Jois - 99% practice 1% theory.
Personally, I think about yoga more than I practice and have built up a little library of books on the subject. I’m sure you have too!

I’ve decided to do a short review of each book I have; perhaps it’ll be useful to those who’ve seen them and weren’t sure whether or not to buy. I’d invite anyone in the community to do the same. After all, one of the benefits of belonging to a community is that we get to share stuff : )

So I’m going to kick off in my next post with the first book I bought on Ashtanga yoga. Interested? Well, it’s John Scott’s Ashtanga Yoga - The Essential step-by-step guide to dynamic yoga.