"Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength."
My sister, Arine, who is also a yoga practitioner gave me a fridge magnet with the above saying on it. As I read the words, I started to link it to my yoga practice and remembered Azmi telling us to keep our practice light when we do the asanas.
Often during the Ashtanga class, there would be a loud thump when a fellow yogi does a jump back into chaturanga during the vinyasa. This may be due to lack of core strength and stability but it can also be due to working too hard without awareness of the breath and the movement.
The crux of an Ashtanga practice lies in the breath and knowing how to intertwine the breath and the movements until there is no distinction between them. As it is a 90 mins class, learning how to conserve your energy by keeping your movements light and fluid would help to maintain your awareness and focus throughout the practice and that's when gentleness becomes the real strength of an Ashtanga practice.
Below is a video on Ashtanga Jump Back and Jump Forward.
1 comment:
Chaturanga is not always the easiest pose for me. Thanks for showing the jumps. I found that Leeann Carey has a great free yoga video on chaturanga dandasana. Your readers might want to check it out: http://planetyoga.com/yoga-blogs/index.php/chaturanga-dandasana-four-limbed-staff-pose/
Post a Comment