The Ashtanga Institute - Day 1

Wow! That was intense. It's currently 7:45am on Sunday, November 1st and I am sitting in a cafe digesting my first class at the Ashtanga Institute. For those that don't know, the Ashtanga Institute was founded by the famous yogi, Shri K Pattabhi Jois (also known for teaching Madonna how to yoga). He passed away in 2009 but the institute is still run by his grandson (Sharath) and his daughter (Saraswathi). The Ashtanga style of yoga is very popular among Westerners and is a very physical (i.e. sweaty) practice. I was so happy to be accepted since the competition is fierce and everyone wants to come practice at the little shala. I signed up for Saraswathi's class since her classes are not in as high demand as Sharath's (as he is the only one who can authorize people to be a certified Ashtanga teacher) and my availability was not flexible so I wanted to make sure I got in for November. But due to the increased demand, the shala added a new rule this year that you could only practice with Sharath if you could prove two months of training with certified teachers, of whom there are only a handful (none in Ottawa). So anyways, her class ended up being completely full but I got in wahoo!

My class time is 6am but the shala clock is 25 minutes fast so that really means 5:35. On Sundays we practice at the main shala and Saraswathi leads us through a class. On Monday through Friday we go to her own shala a few blocks away and do Mysore-style class. Mysore-style just means that you do your own thing and the teacher comes around and adjusts as needed (so the person beside me could be working on one arm peacock pose while I struggle with shoulder stand).

So this could be the guy next to me:

And this would be me:

There is another girl staying at the same house as me (Aksana from Russia) and is also studying with Saraswathi so we both got up at 4am and walked together to the shala. We were the third and fourth people there and I was the first one to put my mat down. It was a pretty incredible feeling to be in this room where so many accomplished yogis have been before me and feel the energy in the room. And I was the first one since the shala was closed for the summer/fall. So cool!

Class started abruptly. There was no introduction, she just started counting in Sanskrit and we all jumped up to the tops of our mats to begin the primary series. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that with Ashtanga you do a set series of poses, the first is called the primary series, then second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth. One arm handstand (yes, that's ONE ARM handstand) comes in the fifth series and regular handstand makes its first appearance in the primary series, which is where I am at. I don't even know what happens in the sixth and will probably never know. It was around this time that I realized how insanely packed the room was. Six people had to practice up on the little stage beside her, many people were sideways along the walls and several people were in the front hallway and could not see anything. Note to self: go early on Sundays. Actually, always go early.
Here's a photo of Sharath teaching in the same room. It was like this but the mats were even closer together and there were two more people on the stage.

I was really happy that November 1st happened to be a Sunday, which meant we got to start with a led class. Other than the one Ashtanga class that I took in Rishikesh, it has been a few months since I've done the primary series and my memory is rusty, which is not good when you're expected to have the full series memorized. With Ashtanga you only do as many poses as you can do properly and then when the teacher thinks you are ready, they'll give you another one to add on.

I was super nervous and expected her to tell me to stop when I didn't get the bind (i.e. grab my wrist) in Marichyasana D (see pic below) but she didn't (or maybe she didn't see). As the class went on she told many people to stop (which means they just sit crossed legged on the mat waiting to join the rest for the closing sequence). I kept waiting for her to point and me and say "you, stop" but she never did. I made it the whole way through! (This is a big deal.) I guess it paid off to get up early and go over the sequence a few times. She only gave me one adjustment at the beginning but the rest was pretty smooth (and sweaty) sailing all the way to sweet savasana (aka lying on back). After class, I walked outside to a waiting coconut vendor eager to give fresh coconuts to all the yogis. It's a pretty sweet life here.

So that's it for day one. I feel amazing and am looking forward to a cold bucket shower (not really but it's better than a swim in the Ganges). Have a feeling I'm going to be sore tomorrow.

Namaste
~Amanda

p.s. Sorry if my non-yogi friends find this boring! I'll try to spice things up next time.

p.p.s. I want to document my progress over the next month, so here goes (non-yogi people probably want to skip this part):

Kept hip in line for trikonasana but could not touch toe. Work on a wider stance.

Work on wider stance in padottanasana to get head to ground. (And better stagger so don't hit neighbours bum!)

Work on bind in Marichyasana D.

Work on getting chin to touch ground in Bujapidasana.

Figure out how to fit legs behind head/body for supta kurmanasana.

Work on setu bandhasana without supporting hips.

Work on holding sirasana (headstand) for 15 seconds.

Work on holding half headstand for 15 seconds.

Hold utpluthih for 10 breaths.

Study all of the mantra chants that Saraswathi recited after baddha padmasana

If any yogi friends have tips for how I can improve. Let me know :-). ❤️