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When practiced consistently and for a long period of time, yoga can make the seemingly impossible possible, right?
Have you ever witnessed a yogi demonstrate a jump back or a jump through? They make it look so simple and graceful (maybe you’ve experienced a few “crash and burn” attempts yourself—I know I have). For those of us who haven’t given up and are still working on this transition, the road tends to seem long and steep—and from time to time our toes and egos may get a little bruised.
Level-2 Authorized Ashtanga Yoga teacher and co-owner and director of the Ashtanga Yoga Centre of Toronto, David Robson, has recently released the second series of Learn to Float. This DVD is an instructional video on jumping back and jumping through.
David Robson leads one of the world’s largest Mysore programs at Ashtanga Yoga Center of Toronto (AYCT). He’s also created a Led Primary Series MP3 to the beat of a hypnotic, subtle drum beat played by Matthew Stephens…and, he let me ask him a few questions about it…
After a late night and non-stop day, I consider cancelling my first Mysore session at the Ashtanga Yoga Centre of Toronto. That is, until a little research turns up the fact that the centre’s director, David Robson, gets up at 3 a.m. to practice Mysore-style – the traditional way of learning Ashtanga, which involves progressing through an increasingly difficult series of poses – five mornings a week. He then spends another five hours working with students at what has become the largest Mysore program outside of India. I decide to suck it up and stick with the plan.
Blog article: Correct Vinyasa: It's Really, Really F*cking Hard
I’ve just recorded an MP3 of the Ashtanga Primary Series, set to the beat of a drum. The drum provides a measure for each breath: four seconds for the inhalation, four seconds for the exhalation.
I made this recording as an experiment. My teacher, Sharath Jois, says when we practice the breath, it should be even; inhalations and exhalations should be the same duration and intensity. In order to experience even breaths throughout the practice, I recorded Ashtanga’s traditional vinyasa count along to the drum. And, finally, after practicing along with the recording, here’s what I have learned: It’s really, really fucking hard.
The drum revealed that I lengthen some breaths and shorten others, I take extra breaths getting in and out of poses, and the vinyasa count is, in parts, almost impossible to match. I can’t do the whole Primary Series along the with the correct vinyasa count if the breaths are even. And I’m not referring to just the notoriously difficult poses and transitions, like Marichyasana D, or Supta Kurmasana; Utthita Hasta Padangustasana nearly killed me.
Does this mean that I’m doing the practice wrong?
When you think about your Ashtanga practice, what is the first word that appears in your mind?
