17 posts tagged “ashtanga”
I’ve recently been reading It’s a Long Way to the Floor by David Byck (check out his website!) and couldn’t help but think that he and my favorite Chinese History professor in college may have been separated at birth. While the book has been a decent read so far, I’ve been incessantly perplexed by the possibility that he has a long-lost twin that he doesn’t know about. It just makes me laugh how similar their pictures are. Anyhow, expect a review of David’s book in the near future. Later!
908 Poses by Dharma Mittra
I apologize to all those who have been faithfully checking out Daily Cup of Yoga for the not so “daily” content recently. Spring break hit me with a vengeance and I’m taking a few days break in Portland, Oregon. In the meantime, if you’re looking for a good read, check out The Yoga Bums, an older article from The New Yorker (2000) that provides a colorful look into the yoga movement spawned by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Be forewarned that the article is long, but I think you’ll find it amusing and informative.
Just thought I’d let you know that Part 3 of the Ashtanga Primary Series on Yoga Today is ready for download. Right-click and save this link to begin downloading now, or click here to watch it on-line. I’ve enjoyed these practices, but out of curiosity, does anyone have a favorite Ashtanga yoga DVD to recommend? Leave a comment if you have a recommendation for our readers!
This clip contains Pattabhi Jois teaching part of the Intermediate Series.
Here Pattabhi Jois teaches the last part of the Primary Series.
If you enjoyed the first Ashtanga Primary Series segment on Yoga Today, here’s the link for Part 2. You can either click on the links to play them now or right-click and save to download and use for a later home practice. I haven’t actually done the Part 2 practice yet, but I enjoyed the first class, so I imagine this will be about the same. Have fun!
As a follow-up to yesterday’s post on Yoga Today’s free on-line yoga classes, here’s a link to another Ashtanga Primary Series class from a few weeks ago. I’ve noticed that Yoga Today’s video archive only has about four classes to choose from at a time, but if you want an easy way to find previous classes just subscribe to the archive feed (here’s the feed link) and then it’s pretty easy to scroll through and find a class that sounds interesting to you. With 271 classes to choose from as of March 2, 2007, it should be pretty easy to find something that suits your style.
I’m sure you’ve already seen the ads in your favorite yoga magazine for Yoga Today and thought to yourself, “Yeah right, free yoga, whatever. There’s got to be a catch.” Well, if you haven’t taken the opportunity to get some free yoga instruction from Adi, Neesha and Sarah, filmed on location in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, it might be time you took a look at what Yoga Today has to offer and download an episode or two. Other than a few advertisements at the beginning of each session, there really is no catch. You have the option of either streaming the session you’re interested in or downloading it for later viewing. It’s also an added bonus that the visual quality of the videos is pretty dang good. If you don’t mind waiting for a 1 GB download, you can even watch the lessons on your computer in high-definition (although they also have smaller size downloads of lesser, but still great quality). For anyone who doesn’t have ready access to a yoga class or is just too cheap to actually pay for yoga instruction, Yoga Today totally rocks.
The classes vary in their ability levels, although from what I can tell it seems like most of the classes are either for beginner or all levels. Yesterday’s session (number 269) was the first of three sessions focusing on the Primary Series of Ashtanga. [Click here to view it now or here to download it in Quicktime to view whenever you have time]. Other than the four interruptions I had from my daughter (who was watching Curious George at 6 o’clock in the morning) I felt like I got a pretty good workout. While video yoga will never replace good old-fashioned personal instruction, if you’re looking for a way to spice up your home practice Yoga Today just might be the ticket.
A favorite quote of mine from Pattabhi Jois:
If we practice the science of yoga, which is useful to the entire human community and which yields happiness both here and hereafter - if we practice it without fail, we will then attain physical, mental and spiritual happiness, and our minds will flood towards the Self.
Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois
Perhaps you’ve already read the article, “Pilgrimage to the Heart of Yoga” in BusinessWeek Online about the wave of yogis ascending to Mysore, India to practice at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute, but if you haven’t read it yet, I’d recommend taking a look at it. If you’ve never been to India, you’ll wish you could go, and if you have been to India, you’ll start planning your next trip. Here’s a quick excerpt:
At 5 p.m. on a breezy Saturday, the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in the southern Indian city of Mysore is buzzing. Students from around the globe are thronging the steps of the three-story, light-gray concrete building. Clad in light-colored cotton pants and T-shirts, their backs ramrod straight, their eyes and skin aglow, they are queuing up to greet Sharath Ranga-swamy, 35, a master of Ashtanga yoga, and his grandfather, Guruji K. Pattabhi Jois, the institute’s founder. Some are there to inquire about their classes, which start at 5 a.m. the next day, and some are still hoping to enroll….[Click here to read more!]
If you want to see some good pictures of one pilgrims trip to Mysore, click here. And for some pictures inside the shala click here. Let me know if you have some good pics of your own!
