Vinyasa - Taking Flight

By Vedran

Vinyasa is one of the key elements of Ashtanga yoga practice. Vinyasa gives the practice its distinctive sense of flow and it keeps the heat up so that the body opens up and becomes agile and pliable. It is easy to forget this getting caught up in the acrobatics of asana. Yet, it is precisely the understanding and application of the vinyasa principle that fuels asana in Ashtanga sequences.


What most people seem to think of when they think of vinyasa in Ashtanga are the transitions between the positions that come after the standing sequence - the lift-offs and the jump-backs and the subsequent fly-throughs. This is probably due to the fact that these present a formidable challenge for most people, especially novices. In addition, they have a yogic acrobatic aesthetic quality that stimulates our egos, making us feel strong and agile when mastered. This is not to be looked down on, of course. Mastering unusal movement patterns is one of the tools yoga offers that teach us about moving beyond what we considered absolute limits, physically, energetically and otherwise.
Still vinyasa is much more than this. An often used translation of the word vinyasa is the "breath and movement system". John Scott writes in his "Ashtanga Yoga" book that in the literal translation of the word, "vi" means "to go" or "to move", while "nyasa" means, amongst other things "placing" or "planting". Vinyasa is co-ordinating breath and movement, so that they become one. In Ashtanga, there is no movement without breath. The concept of tristana - the union of vinyasa, bandha and dristi, points to the complexity of the system. In Ashtanga, there can be no vinyasa without ujjayi and these two without the gaze focus, or dristi, make for an incomplete practice. Every transition from position to position and within a single asana, every movement, has its own in- or exhalation. Surya namaskar A, for example, has nine vinyasas, starting from the first lift of arms putting palms together, to the last re-entering Samasthitih. I once read that Vinyasa in Ashtanga yoga practice isn´t something you do betwen the asana, but asana is what you do between the Vinyasas. This is actually a constructive way of thinking yoga practice. Vinyasa, supported by bandha, ujjayi and dristi is where the strength of our practice comes from. When the focus in Vinyasa is good and properly applied, one can feel stronger and more charged the further into the practice one gets. So, by the end of a practice session, when one would feel exhausted practicing most any other system of physical exertion, in Ashtanga practice with Vinyasa and bandha applied, one is more energized than when one started. Many yogis have experienced this: dragging oneself to the mat, tired and unmotivated and leaving the mat stronger and more energized.

Apparently, Vinyasa Yoga was designed specifically for householders. Householders are people who have social duties outside of their personal yoga practice. Unlike renunciates (sannyasi), householders (grihasta) cannot devote their entire existence to concentrated practice. Vinyasa yoga is meant to compress the practice of all eight limbs of Ashtanga into a two hours practice. The postures are not held for a long time, so that a yogi can´t identify with them. Vinyasa creates a relatively fast flow of one posture into another and, ideally, we create an awareness that witnesses our presence in different asanas. This is yoga.

The flow

The distinctive flowing quality of Ashtanga yoga is due to Vinyasa. Take Utthita trikonasana, for example: you breathe in - arms out - you breathe out - you bend to one side with your body centered over one leg. After five breaths, you breathe in to come up, breathe out and change side and so on. Every breath-coordinated movement is one Vinyasa, meaning that the flow comes entirely from Vinyasa. For people who are new to Ashtanga, this is one of the most fundamental things to learn, alongside understanding bandha and breath. Perfecting of individual asana can never happen without perfecting the transitions between the postures and between the fragmenst within a specific posture. The Vinyasa transitions are as much a crucial part of any posture in Ashtanga practice as whatever you might be doing while holding any posture. There are no pauses in a strong practice. It is all about movement linked by inhalations and exhalations. Very often, when people who have had too much focus on mastering the asana without paying attention to linking the postures, actually start learning Vinyasa, the whole practice and the feeling of it changes. This can feel like a fresh beginning og like being adjusted backwards and re-learning the practice. This is why the best way to start learning is to start with the fundamentals: ujjayi, Vinyasa, bandha dristi. This is what creates the flow.
Ashtanga yoga has spawned a great number of other practices, where different teachers have restructured the sequences and given the practice different names. You´ve got a gazillion types of power yoga, Vinyasa flow, Baptiste power yoga et cetera. A common denominator in all of these is Vinyasa. No matter what the sequences look like or how advanced or not the practices are, the movements are linked by breath and the focused by dristi. The rhythm of this powerful style of yoga comes from this linking of principles. And from this rhythm comes the beauty and strength. And the strength, of course, is built through the application of Vinyasa - this is how the practice gets its flowing ease. It might sound like a paradox, ease coming through exertion but this is perhaps the core of yoga - the ease and weightlessness amidst possible difficulty and challenge.

Vinyasa, bandha and dristi

For the flowing quality of Ashtanga practice to be possible, both strength and flexibility need to be built. The one doesn´t work without the other. Yoga give us countless insights about the operating principles of the body. One of the reasons for this is the fact that energetically and movementwise, yoga works by quite intricate principles. You can be strong, each part for itself, but if the strength can not be integrated, there will be yoga postures that just can´t be reached. Take arm balances, for example. If your arms, back and abdominals are strong, you will have a good physical platform for these postures. Still, if you can´t integrate the strength from these different bodyparts into a singular flow of energy and strength, you will probably have trouble balancing. That is why one sometimes sees people who don´t seem perticularly fit float up into handstands with their legs straight, while people with more obvious muscular strength can struggle to get their feet off the ground. This is first of all because it is not about the muscles but about sending the energy through your body by using bandha and channeling it into Vinyasa. And second - arm balances are about integrated strength. You can use only your arms to get up but you will lose strength rapidly. If the system works together, the energy will be rationed correctly and the movement will be executed with less physical effort.
This integration is reached by the union of Vinyasa, bandha and dristi. The energy locks, bandhas, need to be there for Vinyasa to happen at all - the psoas muscle well used is what swings you between your arms in float-through Vinyasa - and dristi, together with the ujjayi breath helps you to keep your focus. People often forget the importance of the focused gaze, dristi, while practicing. And yet, if you want to turn your practice into a moving meditation, which is what we are aiming for, the gaze needs to be focused. Just like every movement has its in- or outbreath, every asana has its focus point, or dristi. The efortlessness of a strong yoga workout is derived from a disciplined mind. If your mind is to be disciplined during physical exhertion, you cannot let your eyes go zooming from one place to another. Changing the visual focus will entertain the mind and there will be NO focus. This is the role of dristi - creating focus. Noticing where you are and observing. Even if you don´t know what the correct dristi is in a perticular asana, a rule of thumb can be to look in whichever direction you are streching. This will not always be correct according to the traditional Ashtanga method but it will, all the same, give you more focus than if you let your eyes rest on, say, whatever a person practicing next to you is doing. Focus the dristi, bandha and Vinyasa and you will breeze through your practice, no matter how hard it is.
Vinyasa heats up the body and makes the muscles more pliable. It also accentuates the importance of balancing the flexibility out with the strength. the lifting and jumping between the sides in each asana creates the stability needed to "bind" what has been obtained in the way of flexibilty. This is one of the most important methods of avoiding injury. The muscles need to be warm and where strength is used, flexibility creates the balance and vice versa. One should not aim for flexibilty that one is unable to support with strength.

Fly!

Vinyasa is perhaps the heart of Ashtanga. One of the biggest mistakes many yoga practicioners make is giving all their attention to the individual asanas, while Vinyasa gets neglected. You are not doing Ashtanga if you forget Vinyasa. It is as simple as this. It is not so unusal to see practicioners who skip the lift-offs and jump-throughs between the sitting asanas. Because they find it easier. And the thing is that it actually gets easier if you do it the hard way and do your lift-offs etc. If you never spread your wings, you don´t fly. You fall. And crossing those ankles, pushing up and jumping back and so on and so forth is how we learn to fly.

The beauty of the Ashtanga vinyasa method is in this incredible ease amidst the apparently bone breaking movements. It is not what you do but how you do it. Being able to contort into the most difficult postures is not what makes your practice yoga. If it was, all gymnasts would make grand yogis and they don´t. Breath, focus, what happens inside and, in the case of Ashtanga, Vinyasa, is what makes it yoga. I once read that Krishnamacharya wasn´t impressively flexible. But his bandha control, and through this, his Vinyasa, was so strong that he executed the practice beautifully. You can see this in some contemporary superyogis: Edward Clark doesn´t consider himself to be especially flexible but his flow is phenomenal, his bandhas strong and vinyasa breathtaking. So, his practice is powerful and truly amazing. It is HOW he does what he does and not about how flexible he is or not.

And what does it all boil down to? Perhaps to the simple fact that the fundemental principle in all forms of Vinyasa yoga is that the emphasis shifts from posture to breath. Asanas, as everything in life, are impermanent. What we search for is the formless. Gregor Maehle writes that the yogis search is for the formless, for what was here before the form arose will be here when the form ceases. The Ashtanga system is therefore organized in such a way that nothing impermanent is held on to. "Vinyasa Yoga is a meditation on impermanence", he writes.

Don´t hold on - let it flow. Feel the heat arise. And see yourself burn. What arises from the ashes might just be the real you.

Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Explained

“I have found Ashtanga Yoga to be the most complete and balanced routine of physical for the development of stamina, strength and flexibility. Further, its application as a therapeutic tool in the treatment and recovery from sports related injury is unsurpassed.”
Dr Calvo (President, Texas Center for Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery)

So you think that Ashtanga is that Power Yoga practice, where you need to be an athlete to do it? You're burning calories and working up a sweat. This is the Yoga to take if you want to get into shape. It's not about that meditative-type stuff. Let`s separate the myths out – yes you do get pretty sweaty practicing Ashtanga Yoga and actually, yes, you will become very physically fit if you practice it regularly but it's also all about focus and meditation, along with breathing. If you want to get really literal about it, Ashtanga is Yoga.

The heart of Ashtanga practice is the six series of linked postures which last anywhere from 90 minutes to three hours. Most people only get as far as the first two series, the Primary Series, or/ and the Intermediate Series. The Primary Series is the foundation and meant to detoxify the body. Many Forward Bends are included. The Intermediate Series cleanses the energy channels, and back bends are involved. The four advanced series were originally only two, but they were eventually divided up into four because of their inherent difficulty. Those who accomplish them have an extraordinary amount of strength, flexibility - and humility. Linking the breath to the moves is what Vinyasa (flowing posture) is all about. Ashtanga is sometimes called Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga (and occasionally you'll also see its alternate spelling, Astanga).

Repetition of a sequence is part of the nature of the style but it is a comprehensive physical routine – working every facet of the body – the ritualistic nature enables the meditation because you don’t need to be concerned with what posture comes next and this allows you to focus on the breath.

Pranayama, or breathing, is one of three additional aspects which are crucial to Ashtanga. The specific pranayama performed is Ujjayi, in which the breath is inhaled and exhaled through the back of the throat, making an echo-like sound (some call it the "Darth Vader" breath). The other important practice involves the Bandhas or locks - tensing up parts of the body to control and enhance energy flow and protect the body. The two locks most often used are the Mula Bandha, or root lock, located around the perineum (between the sex organs and the anal orifice). The second lock is Uddiyana Bandha, or Upward Lock, in which the lower part of the belly, below the navel, tightens. There's also a third lock, the less-discussed chin lock or Jalandhara Bandha. The third key element is the Drishti (or gaze point) which is the focal point for the eyes. This soft focus point on or around the body stops the eyes and mind from being distracted by things around you, allowing you to focus on your own body and mat.

Sun Salutations are practiced to warm up the body (and usually Ashtanga is practiced in a warm room - although it's not as hot as some styles). Then comes the series of poses for whichever level of Ashtanga is being taught. Every Ashtanga class ends the same way - with a set of cooling-down postures and a good, long Shavasana.

Because Ashtanga Yoga is strenuous, it is possible to injure yourself and in truth, most injuries that happen during Ashtanga Yoga are the fault of the student themselves. The students that Ashtanga draws in are often go-getters who tend to be ambitious. Sometimes they push themselves far harder than they should, and that's when they get hurt. That is why humility and patience are so important in Ashtanga practice. And while Ashtanga doesn't have the precision of some forms of yoga, it is very important to get the technique right - the combination of breathing, locks and Asana. The proper technique, combined with the proper attitude, will keep injury at bay.

Ashtanga’s physical nature does not however mean that it is not accessible to everyone – irrespective of age, conditioning, fitness, flexibility, weight, etc. By using variations to suit you, focusing on the breathing, not being competitive and taking breaks whenever you need to, you can tailor the practice to meet your daily needs. As David Williams (one of the first Westerners to learn the style in the ‘70’s) says: "Real yoga is what you can't see. It's invisible. Otherwise you would have to tell people with physical limitations that they can't do yoga. Yoga is about union. You can't exclude people. You don't have to do this to do yoga . If you're not flexible, don't worry - there will always be someone with more flexibility, more strength, better hair. Ashtanga is for everyone, but the poses don't look the same on every body.”

The best aspect of Ashtanga is its freedom to teach you about yourself. It is not an easy Yoga style, and it will bring out all your frustrations, delusions of grandeur and petty emotions. The only real way to progress is not by becoming more strong and flexible, but by conquering these negative ego traits first. If you master your ego, the strength and flexibility will follow. Always remember - you outer world is only a reflection of what is going on inside you.

For a beginner to Ashtanga, we recommend guided classes. In the Self Practice format, students can practice Ashtanga at their own pace with more individual attention from the teacher, which provides an opportunity to move into new postures when it's appropriate. Guided classes are great for learning how to practice and also for the energy and esprit de corps that comes from everyone breathing and moving together.

Generally, most serious students gravitate toward Self Practice classes, where they are expected to know the proper pacing and sequencing of the practice, and supply their own motivation. Once Suryanamaskar A and B (Sun Salutations) and the traditional sequence of standing poses have been committed to memory, then one is ready for it. Some people prefer being told what to do and when to do it (another option here would be to do a Beginners Course to develop a foundation for your practice). For these people, obviously, a guided class is good. Others prefer to work independently and figure things out on their own. For them, a Self Practice class is good. But perhaps another perspective is that some independent spirits may benefit from the discipline of a guided class and some more dependent spirits could benefit from the independence that the Self Practice format provides. The most important thing, of course, is to practice, both regularly (at least 2/3 times a week) and for a sustained period of time.

“Practice is the best of all instructions.” Aristotle

Sources: Yoga Journal, All Spirit Fitness and David Swenson.

Embodying The Spirit: Understanding The Meaning Of Asana

I recently read Judith Lasater`s incredibly insightfull article on the meaning of the physical side of yoga practice: asana, or yoga postures. I wanted to share it with you, so here it goes:

All I remember of my first asana (posture) class is the ceiling. Between movements we would be instructed to lie down on our mat and rest. I do not remember very much about what we did, but I do remember I wanted more. The next morning at home I practiced what I did remember; I was hooked and asana became a central part of my life.
What drew me to the practice of asana was an intuitive feeling that these movements were not just “stretching”; they seemed to have some greater connection with my soul. It was only later after years of training that I began to learn the deep symbolism each asana represents. I now believe that each
asana represents an aspect of myself and as such offers me a powerful doorway inward. Thus for many people the practice of asana can become more than a physical act; it can be a form of moving meditation.

The word “asana” is Sanskrit and is actually the plural form; the correct word for one pose is “asan”. However in English we tend to use “asana” as singular and “asanas” as plural even though this word does not exist in Sanskrit. Whichever word we use, asana are virtually as ancient as civilization itself. In fact, there are carvings dated from 3000 BCE which show figures sitting in the
lotus pose.(1) It is sometimes reported that each asana was created or “emerged” when a “rishi” or “wise forest dweller” spontaneously moved into an asana during deep meditation. Asana both reflect and are named for animals and objects as well as being named after sages from the Hindu tradition. Instructions for the practice of specific asana can be found in such ancient Indian source books such as the Siva Samhita and the Gheranda Samhita as well as the Hatha Yoga Pradipika.

Paradoxically, in the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, generally considered the most well-known source book on the wider practice of yoga, no specifics of practice are given and asana is only mentioned in three verses, chapter II v. 29, v. 46 and v 47. Patanjali presents asana as the third step or rung in his ladder of practice after the ethical precepts (yama) and prescribed practices (niyama), and
apparently expects the disciple to explore more about asana on his/her own. More interesting to me than specific practice techniques however, are two other ideas about asana. First, that asana is both a spiritual practice all its own and secondly, that the practice of asana can beneficially effect our relationship to living a spiritual life in the modern world, far from the protected ashrams and retreats of ancient India.

In our Western culture of the late twentieth century asana has taken on a different face from what Patanjali would probably recognize. As asana practice has become more known and accepted it has permeated many corners of society. Yoga asana can be seen in the slickest fashion magazines as well as in popular health magazines, and the media quickly informs us which movie stars are now
practicing yoga. Asana has become a popular form of exercise for those suffering from over-doing strenuous physical fitness techniques. Asana is therefore being used as a palliative and therapeutic for physical injury.

Traditionally many teachers have taught that the main value of asana is to prepare the body for meditation by creating a strong back and supple legs so that the disciple can sit still for long periods of time. From this teaching comes the belief that asanas are “lower” or not as “spiritual” as meditation. But I feel the practice of asana has an even greater potential in the West. We may be captured at first by the lure of flexibility and strength, but we stay for another reason. Scientists are continuing to “discover” the pathways of connection between mind and body; in fact, some even say there is virtually no separation. (2) Yogis were aware, I believe, of this connection thousands of years ago and the asanas honor this connection. When we practice asana we honor that connection as well. But in the end we stay with the practice of yoga asana because it is a powerful non-verbal expression of the sacred. And practicing and living the sacred part of life is often sadly lacking for many people in the West today.

The expression of this sacredness has to do with the nature of asana practice itself. No matter how many times one has practiced a certain asana, when it is practiced now it is absolutely new. When one practices an asana that particular asana has never been practiced before; each asana is absolutely of this moment. Thus the practice of asana is a living artistic creation that has never existed
before and will never exist again, just as this moment is fresh. When we practice asana we have a chance to become present in this very moment. When we practice asana we have the chance to bring our attention to here and now, to the sensations and awareness we are feeling. We can observe our reaction, both positive and negative, to the pose; we can observe the sensations of ease and difficulty that arise as we stretch and bend. This is what meditation is, the consistent willingness to be in the here and now without being lost in our thoughts about the here and now.

The practice of asana, and especially savasana or corpse pose, is meditative. It can be the doorway to deeper states of meditation and gives the student the most important gift that can be given. This gift is called dis- identification. In Chapter I of the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali discusses the false identification of thoughts and Self. He teaches that this false identification is at the root of all misery. He further teaches that the practices of yoga are about dissolving this false identification. The great gift of savasana, for example, is that the student can begin to separate from his/her thoughts. As one moves more deeply through relaxation one begins to enter another state in which thought is experienced a surface phenomenon. Then one can begin to experience a little space between the thought and what is perceived as Self. One teacher has said, “The problem with our thoughts is that we believe them.” The problem with believing our thoughts is that we then act from them in a way that can cause suffering in ourselves and others. When a little space is experienced between one’s thoughts and the consciousness which is the background for thought, then thought does not have the same power. Thus with this dis-identification comes choice. When one dis-identifies with the thought one can chose to act from that thought or not; it no longer has as much power to control.

When one can act from choice this leads to freedom. The gift of beginning to understand the process of dis-identification is arguably the most powerful gift there is to receive. Another immediate gift that one can gain from asana has to do with the contrast between movement and stillness that each asana represents. In verse 46 Patanjali defines asana by writing, “Staying with ease is asana”. This means that asana has two main components. First, an asana is about staying still.
The word that Patanjali uses is translated as “abiding”. It is ironic that most people think of asana as the “movements” of yoga when actually asana represents the ability of the practitioner to stay still. And this staying still is a powerful practice. When one learns to hold the pose one learns to let the
stillness of the body become a backdrop for the constant movement of the mind.

This art of consciously staying still begins to teach the art of meditation. To explain further, during normal waking time, we tend to move the body around; we rarely sit still. I can remember the torture of my early years at school. I abhorred sitting still in my desk for hours at a time. Because we are normally moving our body around the movements of the mind are not so apparent. But when we learn to hold the pose and remain still, suddenly we notice clearly how
agitated the mind is. This “noticing” is at the heart of a meditation practice. When we notice something we then have choice, we have the choice to continue with that agitation or not. The second point that Patanjali makes about the definition of asana is that not only is it about being still but it has another. Patanjali teaches us that in order for a position to be an asana we must abide there with “sukham”, or ease. This is the most challenging of ideas. It is usually true for most of us that when we move into an asana we are at first most aware of the difficulty, the tightness and even the resistance we are feeling at that moment. It is rare that we have a sense of ease. So what can Patanjali mean by the use of the word “ease: in relationship to asana? One way I have come to interpret this “ease” has to do with my willingness to be in the pose. The ease then comes in my interpretation of the difficulty, not in the difficulty itself. In other words, the pose can continue to stretch and challenge me; perhaps that will never change. But I can become “easeful” in my interpretation of that difficulty. I can choose to remain present and allow the difficulty to be there without fighting it, reacting to it or trying to change it.

The wider practice of yoga is not about arranging our life so that it is perfect and easy and non-challenging. Rather it is about using the discipline we find in asana practice (and in the other practices of yoga as well) to be able to remain “easy” in the midst of difficulty. That is the true measure of freedom. When we learn this then everything we do and everything we say becomes an“asana”, a position of body, mind and soul which requires the attention that brings us into the present.

Footnotes

(1) Barbara Stoler Miller. Yoga: Discipline of Freedom. New York City, New York: Bantam Books, 1995. Page 8 back
(2) The New York Times. “Complex and Hidden Brain in the Gut Makes Cramps, Butterflies and Valium”. January 23, 1996. Page B-5 and B-10.

Good Yoga?

By Vedran

The quality of your practice is, for the most part, defined more by what you bring into the practice than what you get out of it. Because what you brought in tends to color what you get given.

I used to be a freak about yoga. I struggled with my discipline in a following way: I would practice almost every day but I had a preconcieved notion of exactly what I had to get done in order to be able to see my practice asy "good". This, of course, resulted in quite a bit of strain as my daily yoga turned into a chore. So, "good" meant that I reall made myself feel the burn, that I was satisfied with the definitiaon of my muscles when I was done or that I finally did some position right. While I practiced, my mind was erratic. If I did my asana practice, I was good. If not, I was bad.

Over the years, I have come to learn that putting labels such as "good", "bad" or whatever on my yoga practice not only limits the practice but that it actually dulls it. Judith Lasater says that practice is being present in each moment. No matter if you are working the coolest bakasana ever or doing the dishes - you are practicing.
Yoga is not so much about thinking - it is very much about doing. This is reflected in what we often call good discipline: Overthinking what you are going to do, when you are going to do it, if you are hungry or not or maybe if you are tired often results in NOT getting things done at all. Do not think too much: Just roll out your mat. I find that this approach works well for me. I do it from the point I am at at that given moment. Wholesome practice is maybe not so much about the level of your athleticism but about you doing what you`re doing in the best way that you can. This means that 20 minutes of flowing, breath fueled practice done regularly is better than two strained huffing and puffing hours during which your thoughts race from yesterday`s bowel movement to today`s dinner. Yoga requires focus. In many ways yoga actually IS focus. So, we have to practice the dristi and we have to focus the breath and be aware of bandha control. If we are not, it means that we are preocupied by something else. In this way, your asana is not necessarily yoga.
Having said that, a little bit of self indulgence now and then can support your practice. Most of us who are mere humans aren´t always capable of keeping that guru-esque 100% fixed gaze on just the right points and that mula bandha sometimes gets forgotten. Or maybe a little bit of music helps you get through your practice? Maybe you don´t exactly follow the prescribed asana sequence?
On the one hand, you have got the so called bhoga yoga that Mr B.K.S. Iyengar calls "look good, feel good, do no good yoga" that pets your ego parading as your deepest Self, telling you that your pincha mayurasana makes you look like a yogic god(dess). On the other hand, there´s being honest about wherever you stand at any given point and simply taking your practice from there. This is not to say that you should aim for a sloppy practice. On the contrary - by being honest about the state of your body and mind when you are about to practice, you can practice truthfully and constructively.
It is naive to expect the same standards in your yoga practice no matter what state you yourself are in when you are getting on the mat. If you are agitated or nervous, a vigorous, strong practice can help you vent and balance out your energy. If you are tired or sleepy and expect yourself to have a vigorous practice (especially home practice), sometimes it will work but you will mostly have to push yourself instead of focusing on what you are doing and the practice will be strained and exhausting in an unwholesome manner. So, if you are tired or coming down with a cold, it might be better to do a softer practice or even restorative practice than doing nothing at all or going too strong and spending all your energy on asana practice.
90 minute full Ashtanga Vinyasa practice is great but if the options are doing nothing or doing something shorter or softer, go for the milder alternative.

What it boils down to, I think, is the following: What we aim for in yoga is far beyond words. It is beyond bendy hamstrings and supple spine. We train our bodies to be good transporting vehicles or containers, if you will, for kinder and more loving human beings. We are training and disciplining our minds as much as we are working our muscles and bones. If the body is strong and healthy, it will not be an obstacle when you are working on your Spirit, which of course is what we really are doing (so if you think you are the ultimate aim is scultping those gorgeous yoga arms, isn´t it great to know that the arms are just a bonus you get from working on becoming a better person? :-D ).

So, if there is anything that can be named "good yoga", then it would have to be a truthful practice that honours your body and mind. It is doing what you can, as often as you can. So, you have only 15 minutes? Well, do 15 minutes. You are guaranteed to feel much better just having done a modest practice on those days when less just has to be more. This is the best way of developing a regular home practice. Small chunks several times a week, or every day. This builds habit and regularity. Doing yoga becomes like brushing your teeth. You wouldn´t dream of skipping brushing your teeth when you are tired and in the same way, you wouldn´t dream of skipping your yoga.
Aim for longer practice when you can. When you can´t, there are myriads of approaches, depending of how much you can do. For example, do some Sun salutations, pick three standing postures, three forward bends, three backbends, three twists and throw in an inversions at the end. End doing at least five minutes of Savasana (basic-relaxation-posture). Selections like this can take you anything from 15 minutes to about 45. Make sure you always do some core work (remeber your bandhas) and some upper body work. No matter how little you do, always do at least one asana that you find difficult. This never fails to give you a kick. And don´t go crazy. Remember, you should love your practice. Difficult times that make practice difficult to hold regular show you, in a way, that you are NOT your mind. Your mind will try to trick you into thinking that you should drop it. I recently had an entire day when I was tired, scandalously unfocused and sleepy the whole day. My mind was telling me "Oh, no practice is the best practice today!". This is when the "no-thinking" approach is useful. I chose not to delve into why I should or should not do my asana practice. At one point I just rolled out my mat and did a modest, rather soft practice of 30+ minutes. I can´t tell you how delicious it felt! I felt better and my lack of focus was no longer a problem. What´s more, I rememberd what matters in life. It might sound mundane but it´s not. It is simple but not mundane. When I say, "don´t think", I don´t mean that you should turn into a moron. On the contrary, this is about a much deeper intelligence. Intelligence is much more that what is happening between your ears. Intelligence is not being the slave of your thoughts (who hasn´t experienced thoughts that tell us things we intuitively know are wrong?) and instead being aware in every fiber of your being! THIS is the real intelligence. This is what we are doing with our yoga practice. This is not the obsessive compulsive kind of control but calmly knowing what your real priorities are. It honestly turns you into a better person.

Finally, as if it is necessary to repeat it, your practice is not about how well you do any position. It is about you lovingly and truthfully doing all you can. Every day. Or getting there!

Here Comes The Sun

That most familiar of asana sequences, Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) is as rich in symbolic and mythic overtones as it is in physical benefits.

By Richard Rosen

In many cultures, light has long been a symbol of consciousness and self-illumination. "The world begins with the coming of light," wrote Jungian analyst Erich Neumann in The Origins and History of Consciousness (Princeton University Press, 1995). "Opposition between light and darkness has informed the spiritual world of all peoples and molded it into shape."

Our primary source of light is, of course, the sun. When we look at our closest star, we may see nothing more than a big yellow ball. But for thousands of years, the Hindus have revered the sun, which they call Surya, as both the physical and spiritual heart of our world and the creator of all life itself. That's why one of Surya's many other appellations is Savitri (the Vivifier), who, according to the Rig Veda, "begets and feeds mankind in various manners" (III.55.19). Moreover, since everything that exists originates from the sun, as Alain DaniŽlou wrote in The Myths and Gods of India (Inner Traditions, 1991), it "must contain the potentiality of all that is to be known." For the Hindus, the sun is the "eye of the world" (loka chakshus), seeing and uniting all selves in itself, an image of and a pathway to the divine.

One of the means of honoring the sun is through the dynamic asana sequence Surya Namaskar (better known as Sun Salutation). The Sanskrit word namaskar stems from namas, which means "to bow to" or "to adore." (The familiar phrase we use to close our yoga classes, namaste—te means "you"—also comes from this root.) Each Sun Salutation begins and ends with the joined-hands mudra (gesture) touched to the heart. This placement is no accident; only the heart can know the truth.

The ancient yogis taught that each of us replicates the world at large, embodying "rivers, seas, mountains, fields...stars and planets...the sun and moon" (Shiva Samhita, II.1-3). The outer sun, they asserted, is in reality a token of our own "inner sun," which corresponds to our subtle, or spiritual, heart. Here is the seat of consciousness and higher wisdom (jnana) and, in some traditions, the domicile of the embodied self (jivatman).

It might seem strange to us that the yogis place the seat of wisdom in the heart, which we typically associate with our emotions, and not the brain. But in yoga, the brain is actually symbolized by the moon, which reflects the sun's light but generates none of its own. This kind of knowledge is worthwhile for dealing with mundane affairs, and is even necessary to a certain extent for the lower stages of spiritual practice. But in the end, the brain is inherently limited in what it can know and is prone to what Patanjali calls misconception (viparyaya) or false knowledge of the self.

History and Practice
There's some disagreement among authorities over the origins of Sun Salutation. Traditionalists contend that the sequence is at least 2,500 years old (perhaps even several hundred years older), that it originated during Vedic times as a ritual prostration to the dawn, replete with mantras, offerings of flowers and rice, and libations of water. Skeptics of this dating maintain that Sun Salutation was invented by the raja of Aundh (a former state in India, now part of Maharashtra state) in the early 20th century, then disseminated to the West in the 1920s or 1930s.

However old Sun Salutation is, and whatever it may originally have looked like, many variations have evolved over the years. Janita Stenhouse, in Sun Yoga: The Book of Surya Namaskar (Innerspace Map Studio, 2001), illustrates two dozen or so adaptations (though several are quite similar). Our sequence here consists of 12 "stations" composed of eight different postures, the last four being the same as the first four but performed in reverse order. In this sequence, we'll start and end in Tadasana. (Station 12, not pictured, is the same as station 1 on p. 91).

The eight basic postures, in order of performance, are Tadasana (Mountain Pose), Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Salute), Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend), Lunge, Plank Pose, Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose), Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward-Facing Dog Pose), and Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose).

The transition from posture to posture is facilitated by either an inhalation or an exhalation. As you move through the sequence, watch your breath closely. Slow your pace or stop and rest entirely if your breathing becomes labored or shuts down altogether. Always breathe through your nose, not your mouth: Nasal breathing filters and warms incoming air and slows your breathing down, thereby lending the sequence a meditative quality and reducing the risk of hyperventilation.

To perform the sequence, start in Tadasana, with your hands together at your heart. Inhale and lift your arms overhead to Urdhva Hastasana, then exhale while lowering the arms down and fold your torso into Uttanasana. Then inhale, arch your torso into a slight backbend with the fingertips or palms pressed to the floor or blocks, and exhale while bringing your left foot back into a lunge. Inhale forward to Plank, then exhale and lower yourself into Chaturanga Dandasana. On an inhalation, arch your torso up as you straighten your arms into Upward Dog. Exhale back to Downward Dog; step the left foot forward on an inhalation into Lunge. Swing the right leg forward to Uttanasana on an exhalation, then lift your torso and reach your arms overhead on an inhalation to Urdhva Hastasana. Finally, lower your arms on an exhalation and return to your starting point, Tadasana.

Remember, this is only a half-round; you'll need to repeat the sequence, switching left to right and right to left to complete a full round. If you're just starting out, it might help to work on the poses individually before you put them together. (Visit www.YogaJournal.com for more how-to information.)

Many of the variations of Sun Salutation begin in Tadasana with the sacred hand gesture mentioned earlier. Most students know it as Anjali Mudra (Reverence Seal), but—in honor of the ancient yogis—I like to call it by one of its other names, Hridaya Mudra (Heart Seal). Touch your palms and fingers together in front of your chest and rest your thumbs lightly on your sternum, with the sides of the thumbs pressing lightly on the bone about two-thirds of the way down. Be sure to broaden your palms and press them against each other evenly, so your dominant hand doesn't overpower its nondominant mate. The pressing and spreading of the palms helps to firm the scapulas against, and spread them across, your back torso.

Since the sequence is, in essence, a humble adoration of the light and insight of the self, it's essential to practice Sun Salutation in a spirit of devotion and with your awareness turned always inward toward the heart. Make each movement as mindful and precise as possible, especially as you near the end of your rounds, when fatigue can lead to sloppiness.

Deepening the Practice
The sequence itself is fairly straightforward, but beginning students often stumble in two parts of it. The first of these is Chaturanga Dandasana: Lowering from Plank, students who lack sufficient strength in the arms, legs, and lower belly commonly wind up in a heap on the floor. The short-term solution is simply to bend the knees to the floor just after Plank, then lower the torso down so that the chest and chin (but not the belly) lightly rest on the floor.

The second sticky part is in stepping the foot forward from Downward-Facing Dog back into Lunge. Many beginners are unable to take the full step smoothly and lightly; typically, they thump their foot heavily on the floor about halfway to the hands, then struggle to wriggle it the rest of the way forward. This is a consequence both of tight groins and a weak belly. The short-term solution is to bend the knees to the floor right after Downward Dog, step the foot forward between the hands, then straighten the back knee into Lunge.

Success with Sun Salutation, as with all aspects of yoga practice, depends on commitment and regularity. An everyday practice would be best, but you might at first aim for four times a week. If possible, don't skip more than a couple of days in a row, or you might end up back at square one.

Traditionally, Sun Salutation is best performed outdoors, facing east-the location of the rising sun, a symbol of the dawn of consciousness and jnana. This might be a perfect wake-up routine in India, where it's usually warm outside, but it's probably not feasible in Michigan in late December. Nowadays, Sun Salutation is used mostly as a preliminary warm-up for an asana session. I do 10 to 12 rounds at the start of every practice—or after a few hip and groin openers—and a few more on each equinox and solstice to acknowledge the change in the light. On days when only a quickie practice is possible, an intense 10-minute Sun Salutation and five minutes spent in Savasana (Corpse Pose) will do you just fine.

Launch your practice slowly with three to five rounds, gradually building up to 10 or 15. If this seems like a lot, remember that the traditional number of rounds is 108, which may take you more than a few weeks to work up to. You can pace the sequence briskly to generate heat and cleanse the body-mind, or more moderately to create a moving meditation.

If you're looking for a more vigorous Sun Salutation, consider the approach of the vinyasa traditions such as K. Pattabhi Jois-style Ashtanga Yoga, which uses a jumping version of Sun Salutation to link the individual poses in their fixed series.

Variations of Sun Salutation are legion, and because of the sequence's malleability, it's easy enough to cook up a few of your own. For instance, you can make things more challenging by adding one or more poses: Insert Utkatasana (Chair Pose) after Urdhva Hastasana, or from Lunge, keeping your hands on the floor, straighten the forward leg to a modified Parsvottanasana (Side Stretch Pose). Let your imagination run wild and have fun.

Richard Rosen is a YJ contributing editor.

Come Rain, Come Shine

By Vedran

All too often, when the Sun is shining bright and the weather is all nice and summery and I step into a yoga class, I think to myself "Naw, I don`t think that many people are coming today!". And all too often, it actually turns out to be true. It is very human and not at all strange to think that "On a beautiful day like today, why not skip my practice?". But what about those days when it rains and it`s too dreary and we skip our yoga classes? Or it snows and "it`s too cold to go to a class". Or something or other happens and we chose to do something other than our yoga practice? There is always and there will always be a reason to skip yoga practice. Observing things like these is a good opportunity to try to find out what your yoga is all about. Is it just about lifting your bottom a notch or three, streching your hamstrings or looking like your trendiest self as you strut through the streets carrying your yoga mat? Or is it about changing much more than your muscle tone? Yoga is a demanding lover. You get a lot but you have to put in a whole lot yourself. Yoga practice is not merely an excercise system. It is a spiritual, devotional practice that accidentaly (or not) includes amazing physical benefits. Our yoga practice mirrors the rest of our lives, like it or not. The physical part of it is there to remove physical obstacles form your path toward self-realization. If you skip practice in order to go get some suntan, it does say something about your priorities.
Yogananth of Pure Yoga, Hong Kong, quoted one of his teachers who said that doing one hour of yoga a day keeps the doctor away. And if you are a yoga practicioner and you think that you don`t have time to do half an hour of yoga practice daily, you might want to consider what this says about how much you value your life. You don`t have HALF an hour? Exactly what did you spend those thirty minutes doing? How much tv have you seen? How much time do you spend blindly surfing the internet? Or on mindless chatter about nothing and everything? So, you don`t have time to do your yoga?
Far from me fanatically propagating yogic asceticism, I think it is important truthfully reflecting on what you practice yoga for. We should all practice yoga because we LOVE it. We love it when it`s a breaze and we should love it when it`s hard. In his fabulous book "Light On Life", B.K.S. Iyengar says that there is so much focus on the negative in yoga because that is exactly the stuff we are working on. Those are the things we are working our way out of, be it physical weakness or rigidity or their mental and emotional counterparts. That is why we talk so much about the negatives. Our apparent helplessness in face of all things that stop us from being all the amazing stuff that we can be. In all respects. So, you want more strength, flexibility, you want to develop wholesome discipline and focus, you want to free your mind? You want to be the master of your mind? You want to get that vinyasa or your headstand right? And you don`t want to practice because it`s sunny or raining or snowing or because your favourite talk show host has announced a "shocking surprise" on television? Well, maybe you should reconsider. Nothing comes without a cost. The Sun will be there when you get off your mat.
Having said all this and having ranted about how we should practice relentlessly, I do firmly believe that not practicing is sometimes the best practice. Yoga practice should never be your bondage. It doesn`t always have to be pleasant, because often it isn`t, but fundamentally you should always love it. Yogis can sometimes slip into a kind of obsessive compulssion that torments them when they don`t get to practice. There will be times when you sleep in and you don`t get to do yoga. Or you`re somewhere where you just can`t roll out your mat. Or you`re exausted. There will be times when you in all honesty know that you just can`t practice. Well, rest, I say. Your yoga shouldn`t drive you nuts. At these times, we have yet another chance to remember that yoga practice is not just what you do on the mat. It`s also everything else! It`s being present where you are. It`s about honouring every breath and every moment. It`s about being your best self given the circumstances. It`s about seeing yourself mirrored in everything, knowing that awareness can take you through anything, being ancored in your breath and the feeling of your feet on the ground (or off). THAT is what makes you a yogi! And that is exactly the attitude that will get you on the mat when you actually both can and should practice, come rain, come shine.

Redefining Great Abs

Forget all about the six-pack. Yoga builds strong, balanced abdominal muscles in a healthy, holistic way.

By Carol Krucoff

The instruction seemed so shocking, I assumed I'd heard it wrong. Then the teacher repeated herself: "Soften and release your abdominals." This was the early 1980s, and I'd just started taking classes in Iyengar Yoga. Conditioned to hold in my abdominals by more than 20 years of dance training, traditional fitness classes, and our "suck in your gut" culture, I found it surprisingly difficult to let go in that area. Yet over time, I learned to relax my belly and fill it up with breath. Free at last!

Then I moved to another city and began taking yoga classes with different teachers schooled in various styles of hatha practice. Each instructor presented an alternative approach to working with the abdominals. In one class, we were told to "draw the pit of the abdomen up" and "hollow the belly." In another, we were instructed to "lift the side waist" and "pull the belly toward the spine." A third class emphasized Uddiyana Bandha (Upward Abdominal Lock), engaged by "contracting the abdomen above and below the navel toward the back." When yet another teacher asked us to "lift from the center but without creating hardness," I found myself wondering if I was the only one who didn't quite get it.

Were these completely different viewpoints about the abdominals? Or were my teachers saying the same thing in different ways? Everyone seemed to agree on the belly's energetic importance--as the body's center of power, the abdomen initiates movement and is a repository for strong emotions, or "gut feelings," ranging from fear to anger. But the directions for engaging the abs were often very contradictory, esoteric--more metaphysical than practical--and at times, frankly, quite puzzling. What does it mean to have strong and healthy abdominals? How much does the yogic view differ from that of Western fitness? And just what did all those teachers really mean by their cryptic instructions? I intended to find out.

Clearing Up the Confusion

"There's a quagmire of confusion about the abdominals," says Jean Couch, yoga teacher, author of The Runner's Yoga Book (Rodmell, 1992), and owner and director of the Balance Center in Palo Alto, California. The central problem, she says, "is that people think they should hold their stomachs in, because the shape our society values as healthy and attractive is abnormally thin and held.” Since most people hold a low amount of tension in their abdominals all the time, she says, "they're unable to build abdominal strength, because you can never, ever strengthen a tense muscle. The only way you can strengthen your abs is to continually relax them--then you can exercise them as much as you want."

Despite the American fascination with rock-hard, washboard abs, she explains, a healthy muscle is actually "springy and elastic." Yet most people's abdominals go from "being held to being flaccid," says Couch, who urges her students to release their bellies and "align their bones naturally" so their abs can relax. "I never say, 'Pull your belly in,'" she adds. "I tell people, 'Elongate your spine,' which makes the belly automatically pull in." From this pulled-in--yet relaxed--place, she says, the abs are soft enough to allow deep breathing but elastic enough to be contracted when called upon, for example, to stabilize the body while balancing on one leg in Vrksasana (Tree Pose). Abdominal strength is important, Couch explains, "not to create washboard abs but to support vital organs and stabilize the skeleton."

This strength should be balanced with flexibility, says Joan White, an advanced Iyengar teacher and national chair of certification for Iyengar Yoga in the United States, "so we don't create further hardness and tension, but also so we're able to soften and release."

Many in the yoga community point out that the sedentary American lifestyle has created an epidemic of weak abdominals and a dangerous tendency to use back muscles to compensate. "Many people don't understand the difference between moving from the lower back and moving from the abdomen," says White. "When the abdominals aren't strong enough to do a pose, such as a [supine] leg lift, people will lift their legs by pulling from the lower back, which can cause injury."

Most yoga teachers agree that a strong, healthy abdominal region is essential to a strong, healthy practice. But it is difficult to find consensus about how to use yoga to develop that area. It's not as if each school of yoga consistently teaches abdominal awareness in the same way, using the same language. In fact, many teachers reacted strongly--almost as if offended--when asked how to examine this area in a detailed, muscular way. Because yoga is a discipline that seeks to unify, pinpointing one body part can seem inappropriate, almost baffling.

As Shandor Remete, an instructor at Shadow Yoga in Australia, explains, "Yoga isn't an exercise system, it's an energetic system. It's not about the size of the muscles but about the quality of the circuitry of wind, blood, and nervous energy that flows throughout the body." In fact, overdevelopment and hardness of the abdominals--or of any single muscle group--can be harmful, because excessive muscle bulk can obstruct energy flow and decrease the body's vital forces.

The Western focus on the body's physicality often ignores the emotional importance of the abdominal region, says Ana Forrest, yoga teacher and owner of the Forrest Yoga Circle in Santa Monica, California. "Some of our abdominal problems are related to lack of skillfulness in dealing with our gut feelings," she says, adding that "whatever happens on the mat is a paradigm for our lives. If we're not good at connecting with our center, perhaps we're not good at taking a stand for our truth and ourselves."

Forrest emphasizes abdominal work in each class, believing that it is helpful "for relieving emotional and physical constipation." But this very emotional component prompts some teachers to shy away from abdominal work in certain circumstances. "I've observed a lot of psychological baggage connected with the abdomen," says White. "It's a common place for people to hold anxiety, so if someone's feeling anxious, I don't want to create further anxiety and tension by giving them the chance to harden and tighten more in this area."

The Anatomy of Abs

Although many yogis are reluctant to focus directly on the abs, most exercise physiologists and fitness professionals have no such compunction. In our midriff-baring culture, "abdominals are one of the main areas people want to develop in an exercise program," says Tom Seabourne, an exercise scientist, martial artist, and coauthor of Athletic Abs (Human Kinetics, 2003).

Many fitness enthusiasts focus on developing the "six-pack" muscle, or rectus abdominis, which is actually a "10-pack" that runs from the pubic bone to the breastbone. "A straplike muscle designed for smooth, long movement, its main purpose is to raise your body from bed each morning," Seabourne explains. "The rectus is the most superficial and visible of four abdominal muscle groups that work synergistically."

The internal and external obliques, on the sides of the torso, rotate and bend the torso. "Your obliques are used in almost every activity," Seabourne says. Twisting is the key to training them.

The deepest layer is the transversus abdominis, which is located horizontally underneath the rectus abdominis and the obliques. One of the few muscles with fibers that run from side to side, the transversus generally functions along with the autonomic nervous system to flatten the stomach in "bearing-down" activities, such as childbirth and defecation, and is activated in expelling actions, such as coughing and vomiting.

Yoga is excellent for building healthy abdominals, Seabourne says, because it involves moving the body in various directions and angles through postures requiring stability and balance--often in an unusual relationship to gravity. "The key is flexible strength, and that's what yoga develops," he explains. "Too many people still think ab training is doing crunches, which does nothing for flexibility. If you just train for strength, your muscles can actually shorten. And if you train in only one direction, you're limiting your range of motion."

Alternative Perspectives

Building strength and flexibility in the abdominal and back muscles, which form the body's "core," is the main goal of Pilates--one of the most rapidly growing exercise systems in the nation. Unlike in yoga, students in Pilates always "exhale through pursed lips, because this creates a resistance that helps people feel the abdominal contraction," says Moira Merrithew, program director of Stott Pilates in Toronto. Throughout all Pilates exercises, she says, the inhalations are done through the nostrils and the exhalations are done through the mouth to help students focus on their core and strengthen the deep abdominal muscles.

Several classic Pilates exercises focus on strengthening the abs, with the goal of creating "optimal functional fitness," Merrithew says. One of the best known is the "hundreds," performed supine with the head and shoulders raised while the arms pump up and down by the sides in time with the breath to the count of a hundred.

To help people learn the often subtle engagements of the abdominals, "hands-on work is invaluable," says Michael Feldman, a certified Rolfer in Sausalito, California, who teaches functional-anatomy workshops. He suggests that instructors teach people how to engage the transversus by first palpating the hip points at the front of the pelvis, then asking the person to "draw the two hip points together by lengthening the back and hollowing the belly." Another important aspect is finding the sitting bones, "so people can learn to sit on them properly," Feldman says. "One reason the abdominals are so weak is that most people sit with their backs rounded, which makes the abs go slack."

Using alternative modalities and systems, such as Pilates and Rolfing, to access the abdominal region can be a helpful way to create a connection if you're not feeling it in your yoga practice. To truly augment your yoga, be sure to take what you have learned and experiment with it the next time you're on the mat.

Let Your Breath Be Your Guide

Tuning in to your breath through yoga practice offers yet another way to access and tone the abdominals. Many yoga teachers find it most effective to teach ab work and awareness through breathing exercises.

Toronto yoga instructor Esther Myers recalls that after a hysterectomy, she experienced "an inner emptiness that left me feeling unstable in standing poses in a way I found surprising." Deep abdominal breathing proved particularly restorative for Myers, who used pranayama (breathwork)--especially the pumping action of Kapalabhati Pranayama--to strengthen and tone her abs without the shortening and contraction of sit-ups and crunches. Intended to clear the nostrils, ears, and other air ducts in the head, Kapalabhati--which means "shining skull"--activates the deepest abdominal muscle, the transversus, to perform an action she describes as similar to a controlled sneeze.

Kathleen Miller, a yoga teacher and therapist in the Viniyoga tradition, says that "many people find it difficult to access the [lower belly] area from the pubic bone to the navel." To help students awaken this "sleepy area," she has them lie on their backs with their legs bent, feet on the floor and one hand just above the pubic bone. She then has them tune in to their breath and contract this area on an exhalation, feeling how the navel moves back toward the spine, stabilizing the pelvis and lengthening the lower back. "In time," she explains, "people begin to feel that every exhalation can be an abdominal event."

The lower abdominal region is the site where Uddiyana Bandha is performed; this bandha "has the effect of bringing one's awareness to this energetic core," says Tim Miller, director of the Ashtanga Yoga Center in Encinitas, California. "At the end of the exhalation, there's a natural flow of awareness to this area. Uddiyana Bandha occurs in a very specific location and is a subtle contraction that is fairly light and mostly energetic in nature." To locate this area, he suggests "exhaling the breath completely, then sitting for a moment in that state of emptiness."

In response to the many people looking to strengthen their abdominals, Miller assures them, "Each time you take a complete breath, you're toning the muscles of the abdomen." In addition, he says, "there's an incredible amount of ab work within the [Ashtanga] vinyasa--jumping back and jumping through require grace and control in the center of the body so you get a sense of lightness." A large part of the Ashtanga practice--especially the primary series--is "detoxifying and ridding the body of waste material," he says. "And a common place that tends to get stored is in the gut."

Once it's clear to a student that yoga practice centers on energetics and unification--rather than getting something exactly right muscularly--some teachers will suggest specific asanas for abdominal development. For example, Shandor Remete recommends working the abdominal region in many different directions, such as in Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation). This series contracts the abs in forward bends, such as Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend), and lengthens them in backbends, such as Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward-Facing Dog Pose). He also suggests doing Hanumanasana (Pose Dedicated to the Monkey God, Hanuman) and Mayurasana (Peacock Pose), because they both build and require strong, supple abdominal muscles, as well as Navasana (Boat Pose) and Nauli (abdominal churning).

Go Exploring

Since weak abdominals and damaged lower backs are common in our culture, Forrest encourages her students to perform ab exercises daily to help stay injury-free. "Core strength is essential in every pose--and absolutely mandatory for doing advanced 'gravity surfing' postures and series," she says--for example, moving through a series of Handstand variations or doing arm balances such as Eka Pada Bakasana (One-Legged Crane Pose), Tittibhasana (Firefly Pose), and Astavakrasana (Eight-Angle Pose). Plus, Forrest says, "building core strength and awareness in the abdominals can translate to feeling centered and strong in daily life."

Forrest includes at least 15 minutes of abdominal strengtheners in every class, in part because she found that strengthening her own abdominal area was critical to her recovery from a back injury. "At first, people tend to really hate doing abdominal work, because it's a painful area that many find hard to access," she says. "But after a while, it feels really good to wake up and cleanse our insides."

On the quest to create healthy abdominals, it's crucial that students learn to trust the body's messages. As Esther Myers explains, "If pulling the belly in improves your posture and makes you feel energized and confident, that's telling you something. If it makes you feel tense and strained, that's also telling you something. In yoga, you can make decisions based on an inner knowledge of what the practice is doing for you."

And how to develop that trust? "Go exploring," says Forrest. "Find out what works best for you."

A frequent contributor to Yoga Journal, Carol Krucoff is a journalist, registered yoga therapist, and yoga instructor in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She is coauthor of Healing Moves (Crown, 2000).