8 Reasons why I chose to practice Ashtanga (and continue to do so)

Posted by on Aug 7, 2010 in Ashtanga | 0 comments

I find it very interesting how our vision of why we chose a practice can change.  When I first wrote this post for my “108 yoga secrets” blog I thought that Ashtanga was not really a practice for “everyone”.  That view has completely changed.  After watching certified teachers instruct new comers with great patience and seeing how very stiff or even big bodies are molded and become supple I have to say, this system does indeed work for anyone, old, young, big, small, you name it, it does.

Picture is from the wonderful yoga magazine Namarupa

I still do not ever preach, or try to convince anyone of anything, but I can tell you “some” of the reasons why I came into Ashtanga, why it has worked for me and continues to work.

1-Regularity and no mind
It is practiced every day, six times a week, (no Saturdays, and no full moon or new moon), no questions asked, no excuses. I liked this because it gave me a tremendous sense of discipline, and a focus for the day. There is also a great feeling in knowing that you have “accomplished something” and it is not even 9 AM.
2-I like to travel  
The practice is portable. Whenever I land anywhere, primary series is the first thing I do, and I don’t need a teacher (unless I want to go to a studio).  Primary series re-aligns me, and helps in easing the jet lag symptoms.
3-Weight release happens
It revealed to me how out of shape I really was, quickly, and it also corrected that, even quicker.  Primary series helped me in releasing 30 pounds and becoming leaner, or as a friend puts it: restored my body to its original blue print.  As I embark in the intermediate series, I feel now very clearly how the area around the abdomen is being targeted. 
4-More than a workout
The Primary series shattered the belief I had that yoga was: “easy and calm” and “not really a workout”, really?, with a fixed set of over 30 poses there was no way I could just “skip” some, and at a minimun of 1.5 hours practice daily there was nothing easy or calm about it. The system is determined and we just surrender, practice, and learn about patience and discipline.
5-It is not just a pretty face
This one is a confesion. When I started practicing I wanted to look good, and I noticed that most of the people (about 90%) who practice the poses of ashtanga look really good. Their bodies seem evenly proportioned, their muscles toned but nothing stands out in a grotesque way, it is all very elegant.
It revealed to me a much deeper sense of what practicing with discipline really means, not just physically but also mentally, and spiritually.

6-Guaranteed
“Do your practice and all is coming” said Pattabhi Jois, and it is true.  It is a proven system, ask anyone who has been practicing it for over a few years and you will see how much they love it, and how their lives would not be the same if they were to stop it.
7-It’s a challenge
The series (6 in total so far) increase in difficulty. Pattabi Jois is known to have told students that the primary is the most important, the other ones are good, but the first one is really the most important one.
The primary series is called Yoga Cicitsa, and it means the yoga of purification, and that is a good place to start.  The journey overall is so long (I mean six series!), that surrendering to the life-long process is somewhat easier.  And even if we are in the latest stage of life and the upper series are not in our radar, just going through primary has so many interesting and challenging aspects it is guaranteed to keep us entertained, even hooked until total mind surrendering happens and we are able to go down the rabbit hole (see 8) .
8-You go down the rabbit hole
At some point it happens, maybe we visit Mysore or maybe we come accross a very good teacher that encourages scripture reading, and we read the yoga sutras, or the Gita, or the Upanishads, and all of a sudden we find ourselves in a whole new world, where the possibilities opened by yoga go far deeper than we ever dreamed of, and the magic happens just as our lives become more stable and happy.  Coincidences start to happen, we begin to be in the right place at the right time, life becomes a thread of well being, and we find ourselves on the path to samadhi, curious about all limbs (branches of yoga) and deeply interested.


So these are my basic 8 reasons, what are yours?

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