New Website

I have a new website, Scott Lamps Yoga.com. It has the most up to date blog entries, plus biographical info, class schedule and pictues.

Ida Teaches The Core 40/All The Good Parts Of Bikram

Last night Ida taught her first class of the Core 40 series. She had to squeeze as much as possible into 60 minutes. Gladly the class was small and populated with friendly faces.

Upon entering, the owner of Puja (where the class was held) made a joke about being ready to do "a great ab workout. This is 40 minutes of core work, right?" He was making fun of the name of the series. Obviously, the name is meant to refer the the fundamental nature of the 40 postures in the series. But he certainly pointed out a weakness in the name. It does seem like it could be a class about the abs and core. I think we need to put some more thought into the clarity of the name.

After the class we were all discussing the series. "All the good parts of Bikram with none of the crap," was one comment. "The great postures and sequencing without the intense heat and a teacher yelling at you to push harder than you should."

It is exciting that there seems to be demand for this yoga. In the past few decades, the only place to get these postures and sequencing has been through Bikram's class which comes with a whole lot of other baggage. 

Objectives Of Hatha Yoga

This is from a post by my teacher Tony Sanchez.

OBJECTIVES OF HATHA YOGA 

The trajectory and understanding of the objectives in Hatha Yoga developed in Sivananda’s and Ghosh’s systems are the same. These objectives included, maintaining a youthful body, developing physical and psychic powers (siddhis), awakening the potential energy (Kundalini-Shakti) and finally attaining enlightenment. To my understanding the Kundalini and the Vagus nerve are one of the same. It also goes by the name “the happy nerve”. Good standing or sitting postures extends this nerve. Become aware of it and it’s connection to all the different internal organs. Metal attitude plays a very important role at this level of practice. 

Ashtanga and Ghosh: Firefly, Crane and Guillotine

Another amazing similarity between Ashtanga and Ghosh. In the Ashtanga 2nd Series, there is a little sequence of postures that starts in Firefly, an arm balance with the legs on top of the arms and pointed forward, which is similar to the Ghosh postures Crane and Heron, except that Crane is done on the fingertips. Then, in Ashtanga, the feet come down to the ground and the hands immediately bind behind the back, what we call Guillotine in Ghosh. I think it is just a Firefly variation in the Ashtanga tradition. After a few Guillotine variations, Ashtanga goes back to the arm balancing Firefly/Crane before moving on. 

I am finding more and more of these similarities between Ashtanga and Ghosh. So many of the postures are identical or variations of each other. But the two traditions have slightly different ways of combining the postures, of sequencing them. This is very interesting.

I love the idea of doing Guillotine right before the Savasana in the Ghosh series. It is an inversion and a compression of the Carotid Artery, a similar heart-slowing technique to Shoulderstand which is done near the end of the complete series to slow the heart. Placed at the end of the first half, Guillotine could act as a sort of Half-Shoulderstand.

Practice: Tree, Toe Stand, Short Man

The "Practice" posts are about progress and learning. The pictures and analysis of my own practice help me find areas that need improvement. 

Here is the progression I usually follow as I do the hip opening at the end of the standing series.

Upward Tree

First I do one set of Upward Tree with my foot plugged into the inside of my standing leg and my arms stretched overhead. This pose is a lovely way to start the Tree series with its power, its centered nature, and its balanced, upward energy.

Half Lotus Tree

Next I switch to Half Lotus Tree with my foot turned forward and held in front of my standing hip. I always hold my foot, I don't bring my second hand to my chest. I find that holding my foot and pulling up on it enables my hip to open and my alignment to develop. If I let my foot go, it will slip down a bit when I start pulling my leg down and back with the muscles on the back of my leg. Notice the tight grip I have on my foot and the engaged arm pulling up. Also, as I pull my leg back, my abs and pelvis engage to keep my hips from going along for the ride. This is how I get the stretch in the hip. I do several sets of Half Lotus Tree. Usually 5 or 6 on each side, never fewer than 3. 

Toe Stand, right leg up

Toe Stand, left leg up

Finally I move on to Toe Stand. This pose reveals tightness and imbalance quickly. With my right leg up, my hip is more open so my alignment is much better. Knees even, spine straight, shoulders square. But I struggle with the balance on this side. I think it is weakness in my left foot.

Left leg up. My left hip isn't as open, and the chain reaction of wonky alignment is apparent. Left knee is significantly higher than the right, spine is curved a bit as my hips sway back to avoid the stretch, and right shoulder comes way forward for balance. Even though I can balance on this side, the alignment is not as good as the other side. 

Short Man, right knee down

Short Man, left knee down

Then comes Short Man. My right hip is much more open, so the alignment with right knee down is pretty good. I could still push my hips forward more, but generally good. Left hip is tight, so when my left knee is down you can see my hip backing away from the rotation much like in Toe Stand. It causes my whole upper body to hunch forward. You can even see it in my head and shoulders as they hunch forward. This side needs to open up a lot. 

All in all, I can easily spend 30 minutes or more on these 4 poses. They are so instrumental in opening the rotation of the hips. 

A Little Ashtanga For the Splits

I watched some videos today by an Ashtanga yogi of Splits preparations, and one of the postures is a cross between the Vinyasa Low Lunge and the Ghosh Bow Legged Posture. It consists of doing a low lunge, with back knee on the floor, bending the back knee, grabbing back foot and stretching it toward the buttocks. This opens the front of the hip in preparation for Splits. In the Ghosh complete series Bow Legged comes way after the Splits, but it would be very helpful to do this Bow Legged prep as warm up for the Splits.

Also in Ashtanga (in the 3rd Series), there is a Standing Splits Pose that is kind of the compliment of the Ghosh Standing Splits. In Ghosh (and Vinyasa) we bend forward and hug the standing leg while the back leg kicks straight up making the splits. The Ashtanga version is done standing upright, bringing the leg up and hugging it next to the body. This is very similar to the posture we do in Ghosh, Upward Stretching (One-Sided), except that in Ghosh we do it seated. The Ashtanga Standing Split will be a great compliment to the Ghosh Standing Split.

Taking these two new additions into consideration, a new little section of the series might go like this:
- Splits Prep (Bow Legged Low Lunge)
- Splits
- Pigeon
- Standing Splits (Ghosh)
- Standing Splits (Ashtanga)
- Dancer

I also want to work more toward the Straddle Splits, which isn't really in the Ghosh series. But Ashtanga has a few postures and preparations. It could fit into the Stretching Series, somewhere around Separate Legs Stretching and Frog. More on that later.

Upward Energy

In the past few weeks I have been noticing a powerful upward energy in some of my postures. The tension of the posture seems to want to uncoil and propel my body upward.

I have felt it in Eagle pose. The twisting of the lower body and the driving of the pelvis forward make it easy for me to understand the energy in this posture. No matter how low I bend my legs, the potential energy in my legs and pelvis only builds, giving me the feeling that my body just wants to explode upward.

As my alignment improves in Triangle (bent leg), the upward energy is there too. Once my hips are sufficiently down and forward on the line between my feet, I pull my upper hip open (This is different than some people teach it. Some say to bring the back hip forward, bringing a twist into the spine. In the Ghosh lineage the hip should be completely open with no twist in the spine except for a small cervical twist). My back foot rotates open a little bit, and I feel a strong upward energy through my spine.

The other pose where I have noticed it is Crow pose. I have been holding Crow for 10 breaths. The first 3 feel normal with my mind on my alignment and balance. But as I hold the pose for longer, my heels come together, my feet want to rise, my hips want to rise, my back wants to rise. I straighten my arms as much as possible without straining and I feel that, if I had a bit more strength, my body would unfold into handstand.

Tony talked a lot about grounding energy (Chi) and upward energy (Prana). For the past month I have focused a lot on the Chi, trying to stabilize my balance. I was so busy trying to find the Chi that I didn't much consider the Prana. But now I am feeling it strongly. Very exciting!