September 2024 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami--Vinyasakrama

[Srivatsa Ramaswami]

September 2024 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami–Vinyasakrama

I uploaded  chanting/recitation of complete Samkhy Karika of Iswarakrishna to You Tube. I hope to add the text to the video shortly. It is one of the important texts my Guru taught us

https://youtu.be/pWp5WYAzXDw

Vinyasakrama

I started studying with Sri Krishnamacharya in the mid 1950s and he hinted in the mid seventies that I could teach yoga if I wished. Around that time I had  a friend  who was a trustee in an educational trust. That trust was managing about five schools in Madras. There were several hundred students enrolled. He asked me to teach one class for about 15 to 20 mts  yoga in one of the schools, I went through the bare minimum vinyasas in Tadasana or palm tree pose. 

First I asked them to stand in samasthithi, with feet together–ankles touching each other. I asked them to stand straight with the hips/pelvis slightly pushed forward and shoulders slightly thrown back. Keeping the head down They stayed for a few seconds adjusting the posture to stay balanced and steady. Then with the eyes closed they focussed on the pranasthana in the mid chest. Then I asked them to do three long recaka puraka in ujjayi position  They were ready to do the vinyasas with hese simple preparations.

Firstly I asked them to raise the arms sideways, stretching fully and inhaling ujjaish for about 5 seconds, hold the pose for a second . Then while exhaling lower the arms keeping them stretched \\\\\\\\\\\\\

Then I asked them to do prishtanjali which is keeping the hands in the namaste salute position behind the back of course following the breathing routine. It would help to open the chest which is good for children ( and also elders).  Being young they were able to do it easily and playfully

Then the two torso movements, called parva bhangi. Bending to either side on slow exhalation and holding the pose for a second working with the spine. Also turning or twisting to either side on exhalation and return to starting pose samathith.

Then there were two movements for the hip joint. One half forward bend, called ardha uttanasana and then the complete forward bend or complete pelvic fold. It would be done on slow ujjayi exhalation and return to samasthiti on  inhalation.

Then for the knees. The posture is utkatasana or somewhat like sitting on your haunches except that the feet are kept together and the heels well grounded. 

Finally the ankles. On inhalation I asked them to lift the heels and stand on the toes. This completed the yoga session.The session started with a short prayer and ended withanother short prayer, uttarashanti.  I asked them to do each movement twice. In all it tool about 10 minutes.

Later on the management asked me to write it down and give it to them. I wrote the mini sequence with the sketches I had while writing some articles to a journal called “Indian Review” as a trustee (at that time) of Krishnamacharya yoga Mandiram. They included it in the Student Diary given to all the students

The whole system of Vinyasakrama method with hundreds of vinyasas which I learnt from my Guru I tried to capture in my book “Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga” and to some extent in “Yoga for theThree Stages of Life”. The system is so adaptable that you can make a brief program in the morning for children or a yoga enthusiast who would like to explore the versatility of the human body through the variety of  steady and comfortable vinyasas and pursue yoga as an art. Over the years I have taught this vinyasakrama method of doing yogasanas as learntt it from Sri Krishnamacharya in a number of places in India and elsewhere for teachers and serious practitioners and hundreds have participated in these programs. I gather a handful of them teach vinyasakrama sometimes.