Last Wednesday, I went with an officemate Ces to Yoga Manila for an Intro to Ashtanga class. The last time I attended this class, it was Hoze teaching. But with Hoze out of Manila, the task fell to Kitty Arambulo.

In this class, expect a good part of the class to start with a lengthy discussion on breathing (pranayama), locks (bandhas) and focus (drishti). As I listened to Kitty, I realized that this is truly what a beginner of yoga should be able to learn: how to breathe properly (when to inhale/exhale in an asana), how to engage the bandha properly in order to develop that core strength, and how to use drishti to get that right balance in every asana.

While I already knew pretty much the discussions on pranayama, it was the discussions on bandhas and learning to use drishti that got me really interested. Kitty gave pointers on where to focus one’s gaze as one went through the asanas in order to get maximum benefit on the stretches as well as to achieve proper balance. There are 8 drishti focus areas in ashtanga: the tip of the nose, thumbs, navel, toes, hands, side, upwards, and the third eye (or forehead). Every yoga movement would use one of these focus areas.

A beginner would do well to know these “gold nuggets” of info. As Kitty said, it is harder to undo or unlearn wrong habits if we do not start our yoga practice being fully aware of the basics.

Kitty took us first through the primary series A & B. Unlike my last class with Hoze where I chose the easy route for restorative practice, I tried deepening this time by jumping back and forward each time. We did 5 sequences each of A & B and with that it got the sweat streaming out of my body already.

As time was consumed by the lecture, there was only enough time to do 2-3 more asanas before Savasana. One was the hand-to-toe forward bend (pretty straightforward in a basic class).  Second, Kitty made us try a full lotus, then with hands behind our back in crossed position, we were to try to grab our toes (of course, the more basic position was just to cross the arms behind the back) while bending forward to try to touch forehead to floor.

 

But — the last asana she made us do was probably what distinguishes ashtanga practice from others. She made us do lotus (full, if possible) and lift ourselves with our hands OFF THE FLOOR! I did manage to get off the floor for a few seconds, pshew!

 

In VYC where I practice, arm balances are usually introduced in intermediate classes. I remember doing this with blocks initially or doing it in half lotus — until I realized that it is easier to lift one’s self off the floor in full lotus than it is in half lotus. Since ashtanga is all about power, it does make some sense to try some balancing challenges even at the onset just to gauge what one can (or cannot) do yet and work on it in succeeding classes. I recall blogger friend Jayvee who, in his first yoga class, actually managed to do the Crane (whoo!). That’s arm power for you!

Back to basics for a regular yoga practitioner should probably not be viewed as a setback, a regression, a demotion (if you can call it that). In our prayer community, we often talk about “back to basics” as a way of reconnecting with our roots, with our God, in a way that we may have already forgotten and overlooked as we moved along in our faith. I think the same is true with yoga. We progress in our practice and always long for improvements, more difficult poses, more deepening postures. But it is good sometimes to step back and reconnect with the precepts that underlie our practice, review what is important (the breath, the core, and the gaze). That way, we do not forget our foundations and actually work towards further improving our yoga practice.

As a “connect”, here’s a quick heads up on a future Yoga Manila event: a series of workshops on alignment which Hoze will be handling. That’s another “back to basics” that I would have wanted to attend, except that all workshop hours conflict with my office hours. Liana tells me to attend the Saturday workshop (the only time available to me) but….it is on headstand.

Should I?

🙂