Pranayama : Your Practice

Pranayama Sequence

Once you get the feel for quality of breath and the bandhas you can practice this pranayama sequence.

Begin with 3 ujjayi breaths (3 full breaths with sound)

I. Baya kumbhaka - exhale retention

Take a deep breath in and then exhale fully. Hold the exhale. Engage mula bandha, uddiyana bandha and jalandara bandha. Begin with a 5 second hold and build from there. Repeat 3 times

3 ujjayi breaths

II. Antara kumbhaka - inhale retention

Take a full inhalation and hold. Engage the bandhas. Begin with 5 second hold. Repeat 3 times.

3 ujjayi breaths

III. Antara kumbhaka and baya kumbhaka

Inhale fully and hold 5 seconds. Exhale and hold 5 seconds. Engage all three bandhas. Repeat three times. As your abiliity to control your breathe improves, increase the

seconds of the holds. Lay down and rest at the end to integrate the pranayama practice.

Feel the effects on your body and mind.

your practice

Integration

The Challenge

The true challenge is not can you do a handstand, but can you apply yoga to your life?

Yoga truly begins when you leave the classroom.Yoga is a way of living.

Every posture reflects something about our internal state. Some days you may have trouble with the balancing postures and notice you are having trouble juggling all the different things in your life.

Another day you may discover you’re not as flexible as the day before, perhaps you’ve become a bit less fluid in your thinking or actions, resistant to stretching yourself a bit further.

Flexibility • strength • grounded • balance • centered • clarity • lightness • wholeness • peace – these are all directly applicable, translatable to our daily lives. Nothing is separate. The path of least effort is one of union, yoga.

Take the lessons of yoga and apply them to your life.

Helpful Hints

1. Listen to your body. Only through your own internal awareness will you come to understand when to work harder or deeper and when to move more slowly.

2. The breath should always be louder than your internal dialogue.

3. Never force yourself into a pose, no posture is worth injury.

4. Take the ambition out of it. You are competing with no one.

5. Less is more with yoga. Take your time and build your practice slowly, there is nowhere to “get” to.

6. Set up a regular practice for yourself. Practice is the key to the entire science of yoga.

7. Enjoy your practice. Acknowledge and receive the gift you are giving yourself.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Asanas

Image
Asana is not a particular posture, but a state. Within the word asana itself are the connotations of strength and firmness, as well as the connotations of pleasantness and comfort. This is the balance we are trying to achieve, strength and flexibility, not only in the physical postures, but also in our mental state. Take The Ambition Out Of It Everybody is unique and their progression in yoga is going to look differently than the person next to them. It is important to allow the asanas to arise out of an internal place rather than some externally imposed idea of what the posture should look like. As long as you are working at your peak, combining breath, bandhas, and movement, and you are gaining that internal sense of stretching and strengthening, you are exactly where you needto be. In the beginning, the physical aspects of the postures will affect you the most. In time, and as you progress, you will become more aware of the flow of prana, life force, moving through your
Read more

The Primary Series : Standing Asanas

Image
XII VIRABHADRASANA A-B • WARRIOR Vira=hero A From downward dog, Adho Mukha Svanasana 1. Inhale, step right foot forward between hands, bend right knee to 90 degrees, square the hips, press back heel and outside of foot into floor, as you lift arms up over head, palms together, gaze upward and really emphasize mula bandha. Drishti: thumbs. Hold for 5-8 breaths. 2. Inhale, straighten right leg, come up and turn around to other side, bend left knee, arms up over head. Virabhdrasana A, left side 5-8 breaths. B 9. Inhale, keep the trunk straight, a feeling of being pulled from four directions, revolve hips open to right, arms out to sides looking over middle finger of left hand. Bend left knee, tuck pelvis, lift chest. Press back heel and outside of back foot into floor. Drishti: tip of middle finger. Hold for 5-8 breaths. 10. Inhale, come up, straighten legs, revolve around to other side, bend right knee over right ankle, Virabhadrasana B, right sid
Read more

The History of Ashtanga Yoga

Image
Twenty years ago Ashtanga yoga was very much a fringe activity. Our small, dedicated group of students in Encinitas, California were mostly young, hippie typeswith little money and few material possessions. We did have one precious thing – Ashtanga practice, which we all knew was very powerful and deeply transformative. Practicing together created a unique and magical bond, a real sense of family. Over the years the Ashtanga family has grown considerably throughout the world and I’ve had the opportunity to share the practice with many wonderful people as both a student and teacher. In Austin, Texas I met Larry Schultz 15 years ago when he was just beginning his Ashtanga practice with my teacher, Pattabhi Jois. Even though the practice was very challenging for him, Larry approached it with great enthusiasm, optimism, and gratitude. He, like so many others, recognized immediately that this was exactly what he had been looking for and was very excited by both the practice and the people i
Read more