Do you remember the handstand picture that Wang Ziwen posted on her Weibo? Oh, and this is the asana in Ashtanga Yoga.
Wang Ziwen said: My shoulders are neither strong enough nor open enough, and the core strength is not enough, so I can't complete it independently at present, but fortunately, the waist is relatively soft to barely touch the head, and the road ahead is still a long way to go, I wish me good luck.
South Korean national leprechaun Lee Hyo-ri also demonstrated this asana on a show.
Awesome! Li Xiaoli this level!
This scorpion handstand is even harder.
It is a combination of backbends with handstands and scorpion styles. This is the pose in the fifth and sixth series of ashtanga yoga. With control, place your feet on your head and straighten your hands so that the scorpion tail becomes one with your body.
Looking at these pictures, do you think Ashtanga Yoga is very difficult? A bit like acrobatics?
Yes, these are asanas in Ashtanga Yoga, but these are all high-level asanas. It is the body's muscle strength and flexibility to reach a certain level, and the asanas that have been mastered before this can be practiced. Not everyone has to practice.
Ashtanga is divided into six sequences.
The often heard worship a, bai ri b is the beginning of Astanga, any sequence is the beginning of the practice of Japanese worship.
In fact, the asanas in the first half of the primary sequence are not difficult, as long as there are a few months of yoga foundation to master the Hatha ontology, it can be practiced step by step, but with the guidance of a professional teacher.
The following figure is a asana diagram of the first sequence, you can see how many you can do.
Astanga Primary Sequence Asana Pattern Atlas
The founder of Ashtanga Yoga was Pattabhi Jois, and both he and Iyengar were students of krishnamacharya, the founder of modern yoga.
Sharath Jois is the grandson of Pattabhi Jois and served as a teaching assistant for Pattabhi Jois for 19 years. He has been exposed to yoga since he was seven years old and began formally studying it at the age of fourteen. He is now the head of the Messoastunga Academy.
As the current head of the Astanga school, sharath introduces the unique features of Ashtanga Yoga in great detail in Lineage.
"First of all, Ashtanga Yoga is unique. The most important thing in Askanga is not only movement, but also the correct way of breathing, that is, free breathing with sound and the tandem steps of breathing and movement. This exercise is inherited from Krishnamacharya, it is strong and powerful, and the effect on the body is obvious, so I think this practice system is completely different from other factions. It energizes the body and the practitioner feels the difference. In philosophy, if you refer to the book of ShangKarra, you will find that it always mentions that asana practice must be accompanied by root locks.
Asana is the foundation for exploring the true self. If asana practice is done correctly, your mind and body will transform, you will find their changes, and you will see differences before and after.
It is difficult to take vows and internal systems, but through the practice of asanas, we can gradually understand the meaning of taking vows and internal systems, as well as the other eight branches of yoga.
Pattabhi Jois and Krishnamacharya teach us to use many asanas to promote physical and mental changes. Even if you can't do a few movements, with the right practice, you can still understand what yoga is.
... Even if you read a lot of books, it is difficult to understand these truths without actual experience. A lot of people read a lot of books and have a lot of yoga knowledge, but lack practical experience, so their knowledge is useless. ”
Sharath Jois said:
"People in modern society don't have much patience and always want to go beyond basic exercises, such as practicing handstands directly. But in fact, just the primary sequence, it takes a long time to master, at least two years, or even two years down can not be said to be mastered, can only be said to understand it, can be practiced relatively easily.
Do you think advanced sequences are more important? This is not the case, the primary sequence is the most important. When you have mastered the breathing technique and practiced effortlessly, you can move on to the next stage, which is the practice of the intermediate sequence, which we call nāḍī shodhana (meridian cleaning sequence), but the primary sequence can also help clean up the meridians, but the intermediate sequence will be more intense.
We have to practice step by step, and only after mastering the primary sequence can we slowly enter the practice of the intermediate sequence. Not only to increase the flexibility of the body, but also to enhance your nervous system and internal organs, your body may be very flexible, but your internal organs are not ready, so we need to slowly strengthen your internal organs through practice, so that the body slowly adapts to the next stage of asanas. ”
In Ashtanga's practice, breathing and asanas are perfectly combined, either the body follows the breath in and out of the asana, or in a stationary asana, using the breath to slowly increase the strength of the body or gradually opening the body. It's a wonderful feeling.
Through the breath, our consciousness can be connected to the body so that we can look inward, just focusing on the body and the breath, although occasionally there will be thoughts flying around, but over time, the attention will increase.
In addition to breathing, Ashtanga Yoga also attaches great importance to the point of gaze, which is where your gaze is focused. Breathing, asanas, and gaze points constitute the three most important elements of Ashtanga Yoga. Each asana of Ashtanga Yoga has a fixed and focused gaze point (drishti), so that a drishti can bring more balance to the asana, bring more awareness to the practitioner, better shield the interference of the environment, and allow the practitioner to better practice with the breath.
Breathing and staring points, which cannot be reflected in the video, so learning Ashtanga Yoga must follow the professional teacher to learn on the spot, and more importantly, the assistance of professional teachers is also very important.
In short, Ashtanga Yoga is a set of yoga practice methods with a strict system and a very scientific system, you say that you are no longer old, physical strength is not enough, then it is also very good to practice Japanese worship, the key is that the breathing, asana and gaze point combination can play a very good effect.
Finally, I would like to emphasize that Ashtanga Yoga has a strict practice system, and the previous asanas are not mastered, and the later asanas cannot be practiced. In addition, if you have the conditions, please seek the guidance of a professional teacher, the practice process should be practiced with awareness, do not break through your own limits, otherwise it is easy to get hurt.
Resources:
Inheritance (Taiwan Publishing Chinese Edition)
The picture comes from the Internet, and the text is original.
end