Alright. Hello everyone its me Ethan and on this day I am going to give you
three tips for practicing ashtanga yoga at home. So as we know practicing
ashtanga yoga by the Mysore method which is individual practice with one-to-one
guidance from your teacher lays a solid foundation for integrating
self practice as this video is being recorded in the early part of 2020
during the global lockdown, a lot of students around the world need to
integrate self practice at this time - so my intention with this video is to give
you three pillars of advice on how to make the transition from practicing in
the Shala to practicing at home very smooth and quick - so that you can start
to have some of the deepest and most introspective practices of your life. Tip
number one - replicate your routine - and what I mean by this is that as best you
can, every action on your path towards starting your practice should be exactly
as it would be if you were going to practice in the shala this is so that
you can remain single pointed in your mindset that you are moving towards
starting your practice every action should be done with
intention and with efficiency. When you wake up in the morning the tendency is
that you will have a clear head and an empty stomach, it is in this state that
the body is primed to receive the meditative experience in the ashtanga
yoga practice. This is the perfect condition for you to start to practice
asana pranayama and meditation as it is prescribed by the Ashtanga method. This
is one of many reasons why practicing in the early part of the morning is ideal
for the consistent and regular practice of Ashtanga Yoga. Some of the main
actions that you will need to go through while you're getting ready for your
daily practice are: going to the bathroom so that you can rid the body of waste
and toxins from the inside, having a shower which will ideally be a hot
shower so that you can clean the body from the outside, and getting dressed and
ready for practice. So I'm not going to go into specifics about what you should
or shouldn't wear to practice because you can certainly figure that out for
yourself but what I would recommend on this point is to wear exactly what you
would if you were going to the shala this is so that you can be comfortable
and confident. As you can imagine if you just roll out of bed and immediately
start practicing next to your unmade bed while you're still in your pajamas you
couldn't be that surprised if you begin to look within yourself and find that
you feel like a dusty old cupboard, so really the path towards beginning your
practice is a very important step in having a powerful consistent practice
tip number two - practice efficiency - this is an area that you can place your focus
into during your practice what I mean by practice efficiency is, having a clear
understanding of every position that needs to be touched on in your sequence
and its associated breathing pattern. Being very
aware of this allows you to flow effortlessly from one position to the
next without adding any positions in between, without stopping for breaks and
without skipping any part of the sequence when you go to the shala your
teacher will tend to hold you accountable by pointing out when you are
not practicing efficiently when you practice at home on your own, you will be
the only observer of your practice and you will need to hold yourself
accountable when your practice is not moving fluidly. Practicing efficiently
also helps to build and maintain heat and energy in the body which can be very
powerful while you're practicing on your own when you're in the shala
there tends to be a general energy of the room and a lot of the time it can
also be very warm from all the other Yogis moving through their practice
whereas when you're at home you need to generate all of that for yourself which
will be very difficult to do if you're continuously stopping for breaks
stopping to adjust your clothing and pausing during your practice which tends
to allow thoughts of negativity and struggle to enter, so in this point I'm
not saying that you need to move the body quickly as you go through the
practice - in Ashtanga Yoga the body moves at the pace of the breath and the breath
should be slow steady and controlled throughout your practice. Slow is smooth
and smooth is fast. I didn't make that up I heard that quote recently and it
really stuck with me - if anybody knows where that quote comes from drop that in
the comments because I'm sure everyone will be very interested to hear a little
bit more detail on that, but essentially moving slowly and steadily through the
sequence creates the moving meditation that
the ashtanga yoga is meant to be. and finally tip number three - practice for now - there
are many reasons why one would practice ashtanga yoga and none of them are more
powerful than being exactly where you belong in the present moment when I
practice with this in mind I feel like I could practice forever
I feel that I have no desire to end the sequence in no desire to end the pose
I am purely present and aware and I know that even at the worst of times in this
practice I love every aspect of the Ashtanga Yoga practice I love even the
struggle I love the way that I feel in every position of the practice even if
that position only comes by for one breath and as the breath turns you move
away from the position and don't have the opportunity to experience it again
until the next day so every position gives you a new opportunity to
experience your love for the practice experience your consciousness and
experience your breath experience pure awareness well you might have very
powerful motivation to do this practice outside of the practice itself whether
that be how the practice makes you feel afterwards or how you expect to feel
when you reach a certain level on your journey in this practice those type of
motivations, as valid as there might be, are very easy to let slip through your
fingers while you are dealing with the situation of struggle or having a hard
time getting going in the morning a much more powerful and consistent
reason to practice would purely be how you feel in the present moment because
ultimately the moment that you are experiencing is now
okay yogis thank you so much for watching the video if you guys have other little
tips that you'd like to share for practitioners transitioning from
practicing in the shala to practicing at home please feel free to drop them in
the comments below. I have quite enjoyed making these videos and hopefully I will
make a couple more so I'm looking forward to seeing you all soon