December 2020
Mary Taylor
Q: When practicing Marichyāsana C and D are both sitting bones in contact with the floor?
For most people they are not. The vinyasa or transitions of breath and movement during various stages of moving into (and out of) twists is important in order to go deeply and avoid injury while maintaining a sense of spaciousness in the core of the body. As you enter a twist allow the pelvis to rotate in the direction of the twist. If you’re standing this of course will impact rotations in the femurs. When sitting, as in Marichyāsana, it impacts the sitting bones.
The sitting bone on the side of direction you are twisting becomes light and for most people lifts away from the floor. This is part of the primary action. As secondary actions are introduced the pelvis counter-rotates and, in the case of the Marichyāsana family, the sitting bone that has lifted drops closer to the floor. It should feel heavy, but does not necessarily come in contact with the floor.
Staying in the twist for a number of breaths, you can then play back and forth with the primary and secondary actions to go more deeply, but usually that sitting bone does not drop all the way back down to the floor. If you force the lifted sitting bone to touch the floor you are likely to contract or pinch the psoas muscle on that side which will cause the twist to become constricted or crunched.
Twists should feel spacious and open. Play with primary and counter spins around the hip joints so it works!!
Q: What yoga text does the opening mantra of the ashtanga vinyasa tradition come from?
The opening chant has two independent verses from two different sources. The verse that begins with “vande gurūnāṁ” is the first verse of the Yoga Tārāvalī by Śaṅkarācārya.
The second verse included in the opening chant begins with “abahu puruṣākāraṁ” and is a visualization chant about Patañjali. It is unclear exactly in which text it first appears.
One can find the other famous verse about Patañjali (that begins with yogena cittasya) in the Patañjali-caritam. There are many myths and stories about the sage Patañjali and so verses glorifying him appear in various South Indian temples and texts.
Q: What do you see as the future of Ashtanga yoga? Over the past few years there have been shifts that have impacted the system profoundly—from the revelations about sexual misconduct to tensions between different approaches to the practice. Sometimes, especially in private conversations, there seems to be confusion, negativity and politics. What can we as teachers and students do to address these things and also help the lineage evolve?
We are very hopeful as to the future of yoga ashtanga yoga. This includes both the modern interpretation by asana practitioners as ashtanga vinyasa and the more traditional understanding of a deep, eight-limbed practice.
The fact that we as a modern ashtanga community have acknowledged and are communicating about the sexual abuse that took place is a starting point. Though it was confusing and painful, it has given us opportunity to deepen and evolve as individuals and as a lineage of practice. We have and must continue to learn from this making certain that in the present and future sexual, physical and mental abuse and manipulation is recognized and stopped. This will strengthen ashtanga yoga.
As practitioners and particularly as teachers we should cultivate the ability to see through the human tendencies to become absorbed by our egos, create cults and power dynamics within which these and other sorts of abuses occur. This boils down to cultivating truthfulness, honesty, communication, study, inquire and sincere respect for others.
If you've got a burning philosophical question or one about yoga asana, meditation or pranayama or if you wonder about how yoga intersects with your life, please submit a question here. We'll try our best to answer! We'll publish one or two in our newsletter as well.
