Overcoming the fear of dropping back is without a doubt the most difficult obstacle I’ve had to embrace and work through in my practice. In fact if you’d have said to me 4 years ago that I’d be able to drop back unassisted I’d have laughed at you. About a year ago teachers started telling me I was ready to do it but after a few attempts (landing on my head) I seemed to get stuck. I simply didn’t believe that I’d ever have the flexibility to do this seemingly impossible feat.

Recently my teacher Sarah has been gradually increasing the pressure, weaning me off the assisted drop back and only breaking my descent at the last second. Finally this week on Wed we were standing toe to toe and she gave me an encouraging little pep talk, telling me that I’d done the work and that I wouldn’t hurt myself. I didn’t feel I had an option to not at least attempt to drop back – even if just to prove her wrong by landing on my head… But to my surprise I didn’t. Sarah let out an excited whoop when she’d helped me back to standing. I was quite stunned. Then I did it two more times. I just did it without thinking.

Now, one of my fears about dropping back is that I would be able to do it once and somehow not be able to repeat it. So I was a little nervous the next day at practice. I also wanted to be sure that I could do it on my own without having my teacher’s support. In a way I felt like I didn’t quite trust or believe what had happened and that I still couldn’t do it without a teacher standing right next to me. But again I did it without any assistance 3 times. I began to feel a little more confident. Maybe, just maybe I thought, I can actually drop back now!

It was really after this second morning that I began to allow myself a sense of achievement. Of course successfully dropping back means that I’m now faced with learning how to come back up again on my own! But right now I don’t care. Nor am I a better person because I’ve dropped back unassisted, but right now I’m just damn proud of myself that I’ve persisted when I felt a seemingly insurmountable task lay ahead.

So a big thank you to all the teachers that have encouraged me along the way – Sarah, Shari, Nick & Hamish. But most of all a big dollop of gratitude must go to my partner Hannah who has patiently put up with my almost daily complaining for over a year.

In my opinion there are only two short books that I regard as essential reading for Ashtangis (These were first suggested to me by Shari Berman and after reading both books I wholeheartedly agree).

• Yoga Mala – By Shri K Pattabhi Jois
• Astanga Yoga – By Lino Miele

For students and teachers

Yoga Mala is Guruji’s book on Ashtanga Yoga originally published in the Kannada language in India back in 1962. It’s written from the source of Ashtanga Yoga and includes essential information on Patanjali’s Ashtanga yoga (8 limbed path). It details the correct vinyasa count and health benefits of each posture in the primary series. It’s interesting to note that there is no sign of Urdhva Dhanurasana at the end of primary series. This must have been included in the practice later.

Yoga Mala is not naturally pallatable to the modern Western reader – for example sexual intercourse for yogis should only be engaged in when the air is moving through chandra nadi. So when one feels air travelling more clearly through the left nostril. There is however a yogic framework for living that the book adheres to and that the Ashtanga practice is very much a part of. This is one of the reasons I think it makes for essential reading. There is more going on than what happens on the mat!

Yoga Mala only covers the primary series which is partly why Lino Miele’s book is such a useful addition. It covers both primary and intermediate series. The great feature of Lino’s hardback is the format of how the vinyasa count and dristi are all so clearly laid out for each asana. It’s super clear – including inhalation, exhalation, sanskrit count for each vinyasa, drsti and number of breaths held in the asana. There is also a really good section on the 5 vayus, pranayama and the chakras. It also includes the closing mangala mantra with translation. (John Scott’s book also includes both opening and closing mantras.)

Recent books on Ashtanga Yoga

Gregor Maehle has also written two great books on Ashtanga Yoga. They’re packed with lots of detail – both anatomical and philosophical. The first book also includes a modern commentary on the Yoga Sutras. Mr Maehle keeps the practice firmly rooted in it’s philosophical tradition and context which I really appreciate.

• Ashtanga Yoga – Practice & Philosophy
• Ashtanga Yoga – The Intermediate Series – Mythology Anatomy and Practice

Ashtanga Practice Manuals

This is an interesting category and although most books on Ashtanga Yoga contain pictures on Asana and instructions on drsti, bandhas, they aren’t designed to have open while you practice. (I’ve never done this myself but I understand that home practitioners would do this while learning the sequence.)

• Ashtanga Yoga – The practice manual – By David Swenson
• Astanga yoga as it is – Matthew Sweeney

Both books are ring bound so you can open them up and have them on the mat next to you. Matthew Sweeney’s book is definitely far more in depth and comprehensive than David’s. The only downside is that in order to incorporate 4 Ashtanga series the pictures are much smaller than in David’s book. But it’s a small trade off to make. You really get a sense of the scale of the practice from Mr Sweeney’s book. He also has an engagingly direct writing style that I enjoyed.

Books for beginners

• Ashtanga Yoga – John Scott
• Ashtanga Yoga – Practice Manual – David Swenson
• Astanga yoga for you – Tara Fraser

I still think that every Ashtanga practitioner should read Yoga Mala. But it’s not entirely accessible to practitioners who are new to yogic concepts and language. In this category I’d included David Swenson’s practice manual (it has good modifications – I’ll write a post on this topic too one day!

John Scott’s book was my first purchase with his primary series DVD and it’s a great introductory guide, with lots of colour photography, it’s also well laid out and very useful. There’s a great section on advanced back bending (or assisted drop backs). His DVD is positively inspiring or depressing depending on your mood.

Finally I’ve included Tara Fraser’s book because while she’s not an Ashtangi she explores the Ashtanga practice in a very approachable clear way. Again the layout is good with lots of tips and variations for beginners.

If you’ve made it this far then you deserve a cup of tea before you hit Amazon and start expanding your library!

Tell us a little about DevonRed and its beginnings

DevonRed came into being after I had finally crammed my yoga mat into a drawstring tube one last time. I set about looking for a funky zipped bag and was disappointed with what I found. So I made my own, then I made a couple for people in my class and then a few more… slowly it grew!

And the bags themselves?

The process begins with me searching out some great fabrics (I wish I could keep them all!) and then the cutting and stitching begins.

Each bag features a full length zip (no more forcing your mat down a tube), a zipped inner pocket perfect for your phone, keys and other bits of essential clutter, and a long strap just right for slinging over your shoulder and cycling off into the sunset (or just keeping your hands free..!).

Give us 3 reasons to shop at DevonRed

- The bags are pretty, practical and made in the UK. With most yoga accessories being produced overseas there aren’t many opportunities to buy direct from the maker, so grab the opportunity!

- As well as bags we also make yoga-inspired greeting cards: perfect for the yogi/yogini in your life!

- And as if you needed a third…! Readers of the Ashtanga Brighton Blog can treat themselves to 15% off by quoting the discount code “Brighton” until the end of September 2010.

This year was a particularly special festival for us as Hannah’s sister was visiting the UK from New Zealand with her two boys. We went down on Monday before the festival started as Hannah’s mother is one of the managers of the Buddhafield cafe. I really enjoyed being there with the crew before the festival started. There were a few hundred people on site by the Monday we arrived.

We quickly found a few other Ashtangi’s in the cafe crew to practice with so it was back to practice again on Tuesday morning. If you’ve ever been to a yoga camp or practiced yoga at a festival you’ll no doubt be aware of challenges of practicing outdoors in a tent. Firstly even flat ground is not flat and it’s generally much cooler than practicing indoors.

So all the standing postures become rather challenging. Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana is a hoot, jumping back and through in the seated postures is also a bit crazy depending if you’re on an uphill or downhill angle. Postures like Marichyasana C and D are also made rather interesting too! My first response was: ‘why don’t the organisers build a nice flat platform?’ but that’s just the city boy in me. You do have to maintain a sense of humour and adventure when practicing closer to nature. I also think there’s a lesson in letting go and allowing things to be imperfect (or perfect) whichever rocks your boat.

I really enjoyed our self practice mornings in our little group while things were still quiet. The festival officially started on Wednesday and more and more people steadily arrived. Joey Miles (now based in Leeds) regularly teachers at Buddhafield or at least has done the last 3 years I’ve been going. He taught the 6:30 – 8am  Ashtanga class which was billed as ‘intermediate’. I’ve only ever done led classes with Joey and I love his direct no nonsense style. He really does inspire you to work hard. The class was a mix of primary, intermediate and one cheeky little modified posture from 4th series or advanced A – Astavakrasana. It’s not actually as difficult as it looks!

During the festival we had opportunities to chat with Joey on a range of topics including going to Mysore with children and how having children affects one’s practice. We don’t have children yet but it was really interesting to hear Joey’s experiences. The one thing that struck me while hanging out with Joey is his love for the practice, there’s a twinkle in his eye when he talks about practicing in Mysore and attempting really challenging asana from 4th and 5th series.

This has inspired me to approach my practice with a joyful attitude. I can’t recommend Buddhafield festival highly enough. It really is a treat! For more about the festival, music, ecstatic dance, tantra workshops, check out my posts from previous years: Buddhafield 2008 – Connecting with abundance and Buddhafield 2009.

This is a great opportunity for Brighton/Sussex based practitioners looking to deepen their practice and get a professional yoga teacher training qualification. The course will be led by Brian Cooper and his team from Union Yoga in Edinburgh and it’ll be happening at our very own Brighton Natural Health Centre in September 2010.

As far as I know it’s the only Ashtanga based teacher training qualification of it’s kind in the UK. Brian is also the author of The art of adjusting which will forms part of the course reading. Here’s an extract of the foreward written by Matthew Sweeney: “I think Brian Cooper has done an excellent job of covering the key points of adjusting most of the postures of the Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga. He clearly explains the main focus of each posture, the direction to take with each posture and eventually how to learn to do each posture unaided without an adjustment.”

If you’re interested the prospectus is well worth downloading.

You can also find out more under teacher training on the Union Yoga website. If you have any queries you can contact Brian by email at admin@unionyoga.co.uk.

This looks really good. I’m on the verge of booking – taking a deep breath (ujjay of course), before comitting the 200 quid! Is anyone else interested?
Louise

So here are some fascinating (if you like reading about Ashtanga Yoga practice that is!) blogs from some of my friends from the Twitter Shala. I’ve never met any of these people but feel a strong identification through the shared trials of our daily practice reformatted into blog posts or tweets!

If you read any other Ashtanga blogs please lets have them. Happy reading.

Yoga Mama London

Skippetty Street

Life on and off the mat

Ashtanga yoga Helen

Ashtanga Vinyasa Krama Yoga at home

Donuts Zen Mom

YogiSacrilicious

The journey of my practice

Why 108 sun salutations?

The number 108 is considered sacred in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism & Sikhism. A mala normally has 108 beads for reciting mantras. Guruji’s book is called YogaMala. For more on the number 108 check out Wikipedia.

Hamish is one of 2 certified (see footnote) teachers in the UK and he’s backed by a team of highly regarded authorised teachers at the shala. You can check out their biographies on the AYL website. You really do get a sense of the lineage of Ashtanga Yoga at the shala which I really appreciate.

Door to door the journey took 2 hours. The shala is a house with the front rooms converted into practice rooms, changing rooms and what may have been a shower or toilet. You start practicing in one room and Hamish calls out ‘One more’ and you move into the bigger room as someone else is finishing up.

The room was much warmer (hot!) than I’m used to so I was sweating profusely half way through the sun salutations. I was also really nervous. I’ve not practiced Mysore style outside of Brighton and I’d never met anyone (teachers or students) so it was all new, exciting and a bit edgy. In order to keep myself grounded I really focused on my breathe and dristi.

I may have been a little too focused because I couldn’t identity in a police line-up any of the people who I practiced with this morning!

The atmosphere in the shala is amazing and it reminded me of the first time I experienced a Mysore room here in Brighton. It’s a place of warm, silent, sweaty devotional intensity. I love it! I flew through my practice and what normally takes 2 hours took 1.5 hours. I’m not sure how that happened!

It’s well worth the trip and I’d love to do a couple of weeks practicing there and am just in the process of working out the costs. A big thank you to my friend who shall remain nameless for all the details on getting to the shala, most helpful indeed

Now it’s time to cook dinner and get an early night to get to practice in Brighton tomorrow. Oh the luxury of a short walk!

Footnote: The other certified teacher is Philippa Asher who teaches at Triyoga Soho.