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| I posted this in yoga for beginners or general, but realized I probably should have posted it here.
On the following web page it has numbers in one column, then inhale or exhale then a body part. What do the body parts mean? It says something about focus, am I concentratating on that area?
http://ashtangayoga.info/asana-vinyasa/surya-namaskara-b/vinyasa.html
Then on this page I get lost completely.
http://ashtangayoga.info/asana-vinyasa/primary-series/01b-Utthita-Hasta-Padangusthasana.html
UTTHITA HASTA PADANGUSTHASANA / UTTHITA PARSVASAHITA
VINYASA: 14
ASANA: 2,4,7,9,11,14
DRISTI: PADHAYORAGRAI / PARSVA
I get that first line is name and I am learning those in both languages, so I am ok there. But what do the numbers after vinyasa and asana mean? What is Dristi?
Then this:
1 IN right leg up, take big toe
2 EX bend forward
5BR UTTHITA HASTA PADANGUSTHASANA A (this is 5 breaths, then does it mean go to this position?)
3 IN head up
4 EX leg to the right
5BR UTTHITA PARSVASAHITA
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| Hi osutuffy,
The body parts mentioned are the dristi points. Dristi is the practice of focusing your attention on a specific part of the body. By doing this you begin the process of withdrawing your senses (pratyahara).
Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is built on the principle of vinyasa. Many people mistakenly believe that this only applies to the sun salutation type movements between asana. This is not correct. The whole sequence is actually broken down into vinyasa, which are enveloped by the breath. For example, the first vinyasa is: inhale, raise the arms above the head and look up to the thumbs. The second vinyasa is: exhale, bend forward at the waist and place the hands on the floor (or where ever you can comfortably reach). This sequence is continued throughout the practice and this is what the numbers refer to.
There are three ways that Ashtanga Yoga is taught. The talk through class, where the teacher gives all the instructions, the Mysore class where the students work at their own pace and the teacher gives individual advice and the counting class where the teacher simply calls out the number of the vinyasa and the student is expected to know what to do. The counting class falls somewhere between the talk through and the Mysore practise.
Nothing happens in Ashtanga, outside of the breath. This includes entering and exiting an asana.
So, when it says:
IN right leg up, take big toe
EX bend forward
5BR UTTHITA HASTA PADANGUSTHASANA A
It literally means, on your inhalation, enter the pose by lifting the right leg and take hold of the big toe. Then exhale and bend forward. You are now in the pose and the work starts. You now hold this position for five continuous breaths. After the fifth breath, you exhale and exit the pose.
Jonathon
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| Just to clarify it a bit further, the figure after "vinyasa" refers to the number of vinyasas (movements) in that particular sequence and the figures after "asana" are the particular vinyasas in the sequence where you stay for 5 breaths. Guriji calls them the state of the asana in his book Yoga Mala. |
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| Hi Ian,
Your right. I didn't make that clear in my post.
Jonathon |
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what does this mean?
