Yoga Mala

In Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, we practice a set series of postures. The poses are always done in a specific order. A student will practice up to the pose they have been given by their teacher. The teacher gives out the poses based on ability. Stopping at a particular pose isn’t a punitive decision by the teacher. It’s part of the technique of Ashtanga, and it allows our body to change and adapt safely to the rigours of the practice. However, this aspect of the practice can be a source of confusion and friction for some students, so I thought I would explain why we do it this way.

There are six series in Ashtanga Yoga. Each series has about 40 poses, and each one becomes progressively more difficult as we move through them. When we get to a pose that is beyond our ability, we stop there. For example, if we are unable to put the leg behind the head in Eka Pada Sirsasana (One-Leg-Behind-the-Head Pose), then we should not move on to the next pose, Dwi Pada Sirsasana (Two-Legs-Behind-the-Head Pose). Instead, we should keep practicing up to the pose that we still need to master, and then stop there.

Being able to put one leg behind your head before you try to put both legs behind your head makes perfect sense. However, there are some parts of the sequence that are less obvious. In Ashtanga’s Primary Series, many of the poses in the first half of the sequence require half lotus, while the second half of the sequence contains other, more accessible forward bends. Many students that cannot yet do half-lotus wonder why they can’t still do the other poses in the series that seem more accessible. What I have come to understand is that the poses, in the order they have been given to us, unlock our bodies in a specific and methodical way. When we pass over the difficult asanas that we can’t do, and do postures further into the series, we risk injury. What’s the hurry, anyway?

Being stopped at a pose is never a life sentence. Since we practice six days a week, the body will eventually open, and the pose will become available. Once we can consistently do the posture we’ve stopped at, our teacher moves us on to the next one. My experience of stopping at a pose, and I’ve been stumped by many of them, is that it acts like a dam. The energy of our practice builds up behind the pose that we’re working on. As we repeat the same asana and vinyasa again and again, our bodies are shaped and evolve the way we need them to be. The heat, pressure, and surrender that come from our daily practice eventually clears whatever blocked us from doing the posture we were stopped at.

Guruji’s book on Ashtanga is titled “Yoga Mala,” with Mala meaning garland. There are many different types of malas. Pushpamalas, or flower malas, are offered to the gods, while japamalas are strings of beads used to count mantras when chanting in meditation. Sri K. Pattabhi Jois named his book “Yoga Mala” to help us see that each asana in each series is like a bead on a mala, or a flower in a garland, to be focused on, to be offered up to the divine, to help us in our quest for liberation. If we skip a pose it is like skipping a bead, skipping part of the prayer that tradition has given to us.

This technique is exactly what my Guru taught me, and I teach it because I believe in it. I believe in it not because I’m a lover of rules, but because I have personally experienced the benefits of the system. Why would I teach anything else?

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