Recently while having a chat with my cousin about my yoga practice, she literally balked at the thought of doing the same sequence of postures every single day without change.  To her it seemed boring and restrictive, as though all joy and light were sucked out of the practice by practicing in this way.  I couldn’t seem to explain why this system is so good and why, in my experience, not only does it not suck any life or energy out of the practice but it actually energizes and rejuvenates and inspires my yoga, more so than any other style I’ve tried.

As with most things for me, I had to think about it a while to find my own answer.  Ashtanga yoga done in Mysore style (at your own pace) and done the traditional way by practicing the same series of poses in the same sequence, six days a week… well it definitely looks dull and monotonous from the outside.  But what you can’t see and what can even take a little time to truly plug into when you first start, is the powerful energy that’s generated when you focus the mind intently and develop a deep, strong and dynamic Ujjayi breath (translated as victorious breathing).

By practicing the same thing each day, you don’t need to think, to wonder or to question what you’re going to do next.  You simply follow the same pattern as the day before and it doesn’t take long til that pattern becomes second nature and begins to flow almost by itself.  Now you can really focus and tune your attention inwards.  You have your drishti (the points where you focus your eyes in each pose) and you have your energy locks deep within the pelvis (Mula Bandha and Uddiyana Bandha) that draw up the body’s energy, which together with the drishti keep the mind steady and focused. This is what allows you to sink down into yourself, to “get in the zone”.  Once in the zone, that’s where the powerful, transformative magic of the Ujjayi breathing really begins to happen.

This breath is like a strong current that runs through the practice and stirs up the inner fire deep within.  It links each pose to the next, every single movement being done either on an inhale or an exhale.  The flow of energy is strengthened even more by this constant flow of movement linked to the breath.

I believe that mindful breathing is the key to understanding ourselves and becoming aware of and finding ways to change our reactions to stressful situations and emotions.  A few weeks into my regular morning practice I remember clearly doing the extended side-angle pose Parsvakonasana.  As I came out of it, I realized my breathing had actually accelerated a lot.  In the previous poses the breath had been slow and steady, but in Parsvakonasana it had suddenly taken off without me even noticing.  This pose was hard for me back then.  I didn’t have a lot of stamina, my lungs weren’t so strong and the stretch in this pose was still tough on my relatively stiff body.  So what to do?

The next morning I did my practice again, staying alert as I entered into the same pose, ready now to take charge of the situation.  It was a little tricky at first; my nervous system was reacting on autopilot to something it found a little stressful and for the past 32 years, stressful situations had always meant it was time to freak out, at least a small bit!  So I stepped in (figuratively!) and intentionally lengthened the inhalations/exhalations, keeping them as close to the previous rhythm as possible, without forcing or imposing something completely strict and totally unnatural onto my internal system.  It was more like a loving parent firmly but gently telling a child to stop crying because everything is just fine and well, they just need to breathe a little.

After an initial slight discomfort (where my own inner child briefly resisted this tough loving!) my breathing began to slowly relax and grow steadier and stronger.  And not only did I feel a shift in my body, I felt it in myself.  In a sense, I had just rewired a part of my system.  Instead of allowing it to react automatically and fearfully to stress, I had steered it in another direction and helped it to relax and stay calm.  This was one of those moments when I realized the vast potential for deep, inner work through practicing Ashtanga yoga in the traditional Mysore style.

As one inspirational and dedicated Ashtanga teacher said once, “Yoga is a tool to get to the mind.”

I would add to that, “Yoga is also a tool to connect to your breathing and thus to know yourself.”

So although I can understand why people might not be attracted to this method of practicing yoga and while I totally understand that one single system never works for everyone, this is why it works for me and why I love it so much.  Connecting to such powerful, energizing breathing each morning has become an anchor in my day-to-day life.  It’s my base from which I start each day now.  On the days when I don’t practice, such as rest days and so on, I always feel like there’s something missing throughout my day, like something inside me still hasn’t fully clicked into place.  In order to keep that link going, I try to at least sit down and journal for 30 minutes or meditate, because they all serve as a link to an inner sanctuary, a place inside myself where I can begin to get glimpses of peace, of stillness, of the depths of my being and spirit.

The Ashtanga Yoga method is a deeply transformative tool.  It adds incredible richness and colour to my life and a connection to something profoundly spiritual.  It’s hard even to describe the experience of it, it’s so intensely full and empowering.  But I promise you, from my own experience of taking the lone journey through morning Mysore style Ashtanga these past months, whatever the effort or struggle involved along the way, it’s more than worth it.  Happy practicing!

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.  Love,

Ellie