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Lavazza
69 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 27 2006 : 10:43:04 AM
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Hi there!
Are any of you into ashtanga yoga?
I am a beginner, but since participating in two retreats I have gotten more into it, even though I still just practice once or twice a week. My teacher has invited me to practice with him at lunch time when he is doing his own practice, so I might up my dosis to 2-3 or 3-4 times a week. Is there anybody her doing the full 1,5-2 hours 6 days a week, plus the AYP twice a day?
I have not started with the AYP yet, but I do bastrika and sitali every morning. |
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Feb 27 2006 : 1:11:36 PM
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Welcome!
I'm concerend, because 90 to 120 mins of asana plus 40 to 60 minutes of AYP is a time commitment not sustainable in the long term. At some point you're going to develop another interest, fall in love, get a demanding job, grow bored, etc, and you'll start dropping things. Which is fine for the asana.....but not for the AYP. AYP is a looooong term thing. We aim to make it a bedrock habit in our life, like tooth brushing. And a 3 hour package of practices can never be bedrock, unless you're living in a mountaintop monastary or something (and never ever leaving the monastary!).
So if you can mentally make a division: consider the asana to be stuff you're "into" right now (and may be "into" for a long while more!). But consider AYP to be something you do like clockwork no matter what, that'd be fine. But I'd caution you to keep your AYP practice basic. Meditation and spinal breathing. Don't take on lots of other practices. Don't get too ambitious, in terms of time. Because at some point you'll get that job or fall in love or something, and you need to bring AYP along no matter what (you'll agree with me on this as soon as you start on it!), and if it starts expanding too much, it might be a weight you'll eventually drop. Keep it sustainable.
People told me this for years, and I nodded sagely and totally ignored them. Don't make my mistake. A little practice, continued faithfully over the long term, is worth vastly vastly vastly more than a lot of practice done in spurts now and then. Please take this to heart. Your happiness depends on it.
Oh, and if you do start AYP, I'd suggest you drop the bastrika and sitali. Do as much asana as you'd like (I do a lot, too), but on the interior stuff, you really don't want to mix-and-match. If you want to see more rationale on this, let me know and I'll dig up some old discussion of the topic. If you don't like AYP, you can always go back. But you'll like it, I think!
J&K |
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Lavazza
69 Posts |
Posted - Feb 27 2006 : 6:39:22 PM
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| Thanks for your reply, JK. I have met a lot of people who start the day with pranayama and a full ashtanga serie 6 days a week minus full and no moons. I guess it is a long way before I will get there. I have never had a continuing daily practice of anything this far in my life. When I was doing zen meditation it was also only on a few days a week basis, plus some intensive sesshins once or twice a year. The pranayamas I have only done for a month, but that is still like a record for me. I think the bastrika has helped me to get closer to understanding the mulabanda. |
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cosmic_troll
USA
229 Posts |
Posted - Feb 27 2006 : 7:29:22 PM
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Hi Lavazza!
For my lifestyle, I found that trying to do a full 1 hour of asanas, then 40 minutes of AYP was too much for me. For you, it may not be too much. Only you can say. I enjoyed doing a full routine like that every day, but it left me with little rest and less time to pursue other things.
When I got into crazy overtime at work, the asanas had to go. I even cut down on my AYP time, but really didn't want to. I highly recommend starting AYP... when I started doing it regularly, it quickly became my core practice, asanas became secondary.
If you can dedicate enough time to asanas and meditation, and still live a balanced life (with enough rest and leisure), I say go for it! I think it's a wonderful thing. Asanas enhance the results you get from AYP practices, and are pleasant on their own. For me, an occasional yoga class is a delightful treat.
I agree with Jim that AYP is a long term commitment... you'll understand why once you start doing it regularly. If a time comes when you have to drop or cut back on something, you'll know exactly what to do 
I wish you success and *highly* recommend you give AYP a try. |
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Ashtanga yoga
