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| I ended up on Richard Freeman's web site today. It had some practice tips.
One of them was that ideally you should practice 2-3 hours a day for advanced students.
I'm already waking up at 5:00 a.m. Doing practice 6-7:15 showering working full time and taking care of a little one.
Then I read this 2-3 hour stuff! Hang on I need a smiley  |
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| Did he say why 2 to 3 hours were required and what they were required for? What did he consider an advanced student?
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| If that is exhausting you, you are NOT doing Yoga Practice at all.
hnia - 2008-07-02 3:09 PM
I ended up on Richard Freeman's web site today. It had some practice tips.
One of them was that ideally you should practice 2-3 hours a day for advanced students.
I'm already waking up at 5:00 a.m. Doing practice 6-7:15 showering working full time and taking care of a little one.
Then I read this 2-3 hour stuff! Hang on I need a smiley |
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Location: London, England | Hi Hnia,
I thought the third series was tiring, then I had a kid-put the whole thing in perspective 
Nick |
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| I'm lucky to fit 1 1/4 block in. I guess the other way to look at it is, maybe I'm not advanced. And, that maybe I'm doing the right amount for my body.
Not tired, just don't have enough time.
Third Series! Yikes. I've never tired to do third series. |
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Location: London, England | Hi Hnia,
You know how the first series gets harder towards the end ? The third series delivers a knockout blow in the first round. I remember Danny Paradise teaching it to me-he took me through the first 10 or so postures, most of which are a headstand which you then lift up on to your hands and then wind your legs into lotus or put one leg through your arms and balance on your hands, after which your arms feel like over-cooked spaghetti, and then Danny says "when you get the hang of that, instead of headstand, you do everything from a handstand." Then he walks off, seemingly unaware that my eyes are throwing multiple daggers at his back .
Still think it's harder bringing up a child though
Nick |
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| He seems like a strange fellow. (not in a bad way) I've read about him.
Third Series sounds like gymnasts! I'm still trying to master 1st and 2nd. Maybe in a few years, I'll be ready for 3rd?
Child rearing is complicated. If you do it right.
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Location: London, England | Hi Hnia,
I've seen several articles which say that Krichnamacharya used a British calisthenics manual which he found to develop the Astanga practice-when you look at what the Victorians were doing for keeping strong, you will see that they were doing lots of body-weight exercises, exactly as astanga does. I think that's why Astanga is so different from other forms of yoga.
Nick |
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| I love Richard Freeman, but sometimes I believe he has lost touch with the average Ashtanga practitioner. There is a point in his first-series instructional video that always makes me laugh. In the voiceover of himself lifting from suptakonasana into a full handstand he says something like: “this may take a few weeks to master.” Well, Richard, I’ve been doing Ashtanga now for over ten years, and I still haven’t mastered that one. Now, admittedly I’ve had a spotty practice, but there have been periods of well over a few weeks when I did Ashtanga almost every day . . . and guess what: I can’t do that. So, when dear, lovable, and very sweet Richard says something like: “the serious Ashtangi practices for two to three hours a day,” I guess I just kind of giggle, and say: “Then I guess I ain’t a serious practitioner . . .” And that is fine with me. I think it should be fine with you too. I also have kids (two of ‘em). I think Richard does too; but then, he had already mastered Iyengar yoga (I believe) before he ever did a jump through. All I had mastered before I did Ashtanga was eating potato chips and watching re-runs of “I Love Lucy.” So, in short, I wouldn’t take his statement too seriously. Do what you can and enjoy it and don’t feel guilty on account of other’s ludicrous expectations. Life is too short.
All the best,
Andrew
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| so is this 2-3 hours of practice just going straight through various ashtanga series, or is there some amount of stopping the flow to work on individual postures at greater depth?
my practice regularly goes 3-4 hours, but there is plenty of time in between poses where i'm reflecting on actions, researching poses and anatomy, and being distracted by comic books and jehovah's witnesses (they always come by when i'm practicing).
so maybe i'm actually in poses about 1/2 or 2/3 of my time designated for 'practice.'
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| Andrew,
I really don't think our dear Mr Freeman intends to be taken seriously about the "few weeks" to master navasana to handstand - he makes the same quip about getting fully into supta kurmasana (with the legs crossed behind the head) - I took it as very tongue in cheek first time I watched the video.
As to the long practices, my practice would ideally be around 2 hours, because I'm just slow. I have to rush a little to squeeze everything into my 1h40m ritual (last pose is krounchasana), so I could see an advanced practice lasting 2-3 hours, easily. Once you move past second series, the backbending sequence gets a little crazy, and I think it's also recommended that the finishing sequence poses be held much longer than the standard 25 breaths. Aren't most advanced students bordering on obsession about the practice anyway?
namaste,
lisa |
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| I'm practicing yoga over 2 hours now. And, adding cardio or weight training for about 1/2 hour. I"m doing Ashtanga in the mornings, weight training or swimming at lunch and Bikram at night.
I figured out that I did need to spend more time on my mat if I wanted to get into these advanced postures. Everything is going well. I guess more is better for me. |
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| I thought the exact same thing when I watched the video. At first I thought he said years, but then I rewound and realized he said weeks! I'm not sure it will take a few weeks to get both legs behind my head that way. Well, we'll see! I'm going to get it....eventually!
Edited by annonymous 2008-09-19 3:29 PM
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2 to 3 hours of practice!
