I have been practicing Ashtanga for a very long time, and I feel like the body is now-a-days asking me for things, for example, asking me to move the neck in a direction other than front and back.
Ashtanga, at least the primary series which I practice as well as part of the intermediate is pretty linear, it goes back and forwards, there is little circular rotation other than maybe for the hips, but when it comes to the neck, not that much. This was beginning to cause me some tensions which seem to be eliminated when I start (before I launch into the practice) with this two simple exercises.
1) The first one is rotating the shoulders backwards and then forwards. I borrowed the move from my theater years in Venezuela, where they had us move every part of the body. I dare you to do 10 forward rotations and ten backward rotations and not "feel it" . It is almost immediate that the sides of the neck begin to pack heat, and loosen up. I love the move.
2) The second is from dance classes and it is the regular neck rotation, which I do carefully when I rotate it on the back and more aggressively towards the sides (pushing the limit) and up and down.
3 The third one is not on the video because I normally do it in savasana (relaxation pose). It involves moving the eyes and making a cross with them, and then rotating them all around. Noticing the areas where they tend to "jump", rather than take one little step of movement after the other.
Perhaps the more interesting thing about the eye exercise is putting together how much relation there is between the need for the eyes to jump around and the willingness of the mind to stay in the present moment.Lots of food for thought right there.
Ashtanga, at least the primary series which I practice as well as part of the intermediate is pretty linear, it goes back and forwards, there is little circular rotation other than maybe for the hips, but when it comes to the neck, not that much. This was beginning to cause me some tensions which seem to be eliminated when I start (before I launch into the practice) with this two simple exercises.
1) The first one is rotating the shoulders backwards and then forwards. I borrowed the move from my theater years in Venezuela, where they had us move every part of the body. I dare you to do 10 forward rotations and ten backward rotations and not "feel it" . It is almost immediate that the sides of the neck begin to pack heat, and loosen up. I love the move.
2) The second is from dance classes and it is the regular neck rotation, which I do carefully when I rotate it on the back and more aggressively towards the sides (pushing the limit) and up and down.
3 The third one is not on the video because I normally do it in savasana (relaxation pose). It involves moving the eyes and making a cross with them, and then rotating them all around. Noticing the areas where they tend to "jump", rather than take one little step of movement after the other.
Perhaps the more interesting thing about the eye exercise is putting together how much relation there is between the need for the eyes to jump around and the willingness of the mind to stay in the present moment.Lots of food for thought right there.
I always noticed the jumping of my eyes and correlated it with the lack of stillness in my mind, but I never saw any reference to that anywhere else. When I sit for meditation I don't feel like I'm centered until my eyes can flow smoothly.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this thought-food. It's delicious.
I agree, that is a good point, the eyes have a co-relation with the mind.
ReplyDeleteTruthfully, there's some things that I wish were included in the Primary Series, too, but I just tend to do them as research outside of my regular practice. I call them "living room postures" and tend to do them when I'm hanging with the family while they watch TV (vs. sitting like a potato on the couch, which is what I would do otherwise!)
ReplyDeleteBut, don't you think the traditional drishti covers most, if not all, of these eye positions? Eventually in practice, your eyes do go to these points: down (nose drishti) up (third eye) the side (parsva drishti) upper corners (drishti in parivrtta parsvakonasana?). The only quadrant not covered would be the lower corners, I guess, yet you could possibly do them in Mari C&D and the twists in second series, too, looking back and slightly downwards.
What do you think? :)
Michelle you are right, the drishti does take care of some of it. Yet, using the eyes in rotation just for the sake of it proves more effective for me... outside of practice... I like your living room postures way of naming it... nice!
ReplyDeleteLove you, love what your blog offers. However, when we speak of sa tu dirghakala in the ashtanga lineage, we mean practice over many decades (and according to Guruji, many lifetimes), not 6,7, 8 years.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, let's be careful of claiming to have practiced "for a very long time". Remember, we need 12 years, or 10,000 hours, to be considered experts in whatever it is we pursue. With love from Greece, Tina.
स तु दीर्घकाल नैरन्तर्य सत्कारादरासेवितो दृढभूमिः ॥१४॥sa tu dīrghakāla nairantarya satkāra-ādara-āsevito dṛḍhabhūmiḥ ||14||Success can definitely be achieved via sound and continuous practice over an extended period of time, carried out in a serious and thoughtful manner.