Ashtanga Yoga: My 90-Day Journey from Skeptic to Convert
Let me be straight with you. My concept of fitness involved the use of iron, grunting and a stopwatch. Yoga was an activity I considered… supplemental. A cool-down. Perhaps it is a stretch after a real workout. I believed it to be singing and performing gentle poses.
Then, I hit a wall. My body felt tight, my lifting gains had stopped, and my body was always under low-grade stress due to work. One of my friends reminded me to try Ashtanga yoga, and he was a former special forces member and looked more of a spiritual seeker than a yoga practitioner. He said, “It’s not what you think. It’s a workout with a capital ‘W’.”
That was the case with me–skeptical yet desperate, I resolved to make it an experiment. I gave myself 90 days. I would do the Primary Series, six days a week, as it is traditionally taught. I did not measure my development as to spiritual aspects, but as cold, hard facts: the measurements of flexibility, strength levels and clarity of mind.
This is my case study. That was what I came to know about what Ashtanga yoga can be.
What is Ashtanga Yoga? The System Behind the Sweat
I had to know what I was getting myself into before I walked into the shala (that is the Sanskrit word of a school or place of practice). I’m an analytical guy. I don’t jump into things blind.
Ashtanga Yoga in the teachings of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India is not a free-for-all. It is an exact step-by-step system. Ashtanga literally translates to eight limbs and this is an eight-fold path of Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. However, be honest, when you ask the masses about Ashtanga; they are referring to the 3rd limb, Asana, the physical practice.
And how physical an art is it? Here’s the core of it:
It’s a set sequence. You don’t make it up. You do the same poses, in the very same order, each and every time. This was a tremendous psychological change to me. I was continually changing my exercises in the gym so as to confuse the muscles. The philosophy of Ashtanga is the contrary: learn to repeat the sequence.
It’s linked with breath. Any movement is associated with either inhalation or exhalation. This gives a meditative, flowing rhythm known as Vinyasa. The breath is made the engine of the practice. Not only breathing, but ujjayi breath, a particular, distinct method, which is like the ocean. This breath develops heat in the body.
It uses bandhas (energy locks). This was the strangest idea to me. Internal muscular engagements are known as bandhas. The primary one is the Mula Bandha, the action of the pelvis floor. Imagine it as an internal weight belt. My fundamental strength was boosted by many times when I learned to activate it.
It’s a Mysore-style practice. This is the traditional way Ashtanga is learnt. You do not follow a teacher shouting in a group course. Rather, you learn the order and rehearse at your leisure in a room with other children. When you are ready, a teacher provides you with personal readjustments and new poses. It is a self-paced yet not a lonely one.
I liked this organization. It was a system. A method. It had rules. I was not there to attend to do some yoga. I was attending to demonstrate a particular technique.
Ashtanga yoga Primary Series: A map to cleanse.
The Ashtanga system is the first series known as Yoga Chikitsa rather translated as Yoga Therapy. It helps to cleanse and re-align the body. The Primary Series has a duration of about 90 minutes including the beginning and the closing sequences.
I wanted to get through this entire series within 90 days. The following is a breakdown of what it took me through.
The first sequence (Surya Namaskar A and B):
It is here that the sweat begins. You have 5 rounds of Sun Salutation A and 5 rounds of Sun Salutation B. At the fifth round of B I was already soaked. It is a full body warm up involving all major muscle groups. This was in itself a workout in the first week. My heart was pounding. It was humbling.
The Standing Poses
This is a part that establishes ground strength and stability. Postures such as Utthita Trikonasana ( Extended Triangle Pose ), Utthita Parsvakonasana ( Extended Side Angle Pose ) appear easy but absolutely devastating in terms of leg endurance and opening the hips. My point of data here, then: I was barely able to bend my knee to reach my ankle in Triangle Pose in week one. And in 90 days, I was flat on the floor.
The Seated Poses & The Real Challenge.
This is what the Primary Series is all about. It is unrelenting one-pointed bends, hip openers, twists all bonded with vinyasas (mini flow of Plank, Chaturanga, Upward Dog, Downward Dog). It is here that I encountered my arch nemeses Marichyasana D and Supta Kurmasana (Sleeping Turtle Pose). These are very severe binds and they demand high levels of hip and shoulder movement. During the first 60 days I was not even able to approach. It is an art of patience. You do not push it, you simply turn up.
The Finishing Sequence
These involve inversions, back bends and the last resting position. The backbends such as Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Bow Pose) came as an eye-opener to me. Having spent many years bent over a barbell, my back was hard. These systematically stretched out my chest and shoulders. The culminating inversion, Sirsasana (Headstand), of 25 breaths, became the daily one-point concentration and integrity test.
My 90-Day Primary Series Practice Data:
Forward Fold Flexibility: My fingers hung 6 inches above the floor at the beginning. After 90 days, I was able to put my palms flat on the floor.
Shoulder Mobility: My depth overhead squat has increased by 40 percent, as determined by a physical therapist.
Core Endurance: My plank hold time was improved to a greater than 4 minutes without shivering.
Resting Heart Rate: This fell to 68 BPM to 58 BPM.
Body Composition: I lost 5 pounds of what I believe was fat, yet I did not make any drastic change in my diet. My core and shoulders developed a better definition on the muscle.
The Primary Series is no joke. It is a hard, grueling physical training that gets your body re-programmed internally.
My Practice Forming Ashtanga Yoga Poses.
Although the progression is the star, some of the poses played a central role in my transformation. These are the ones that were the most informative to me.
Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose): This is the Ashtanga world push-up. Dozens of them you do every practice. It is mostly done wrong by most including me initially by sinking the shoulders. When properly performed, a real Chaturanga develops incredible triceps, chest and core strength. It is the foundation of the vinyasa.
Navasana (Boat Pose): Pose to be taken, five breaths at a time, five times consecutively. This is a core incinerator. It showed me the importance of muscular endurance and how the breath can help you to overcome severe pain.
Marichyasana D (Pose Dedicated to the Sage Maricht): This was my white whale. A deep seated bind which involves external rotation of the hips, forward bends and internal rotation of the shoulder. Week after week I sat there trying it. Only the day when I finally tied the knot even once was a greater accomplishment than any new personal record at the gym. It taught me that it is better to be clever and work hard, rather than to be strong.
Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Bow Pose): As a guy who grew up being strong I was staggered by how weak I was in this posture. I could not initially do a complete backbend when lifting my body. It is systematically trained by the practice. This is a very effective anti-pose to the modern curled-up way of life.
Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Training? My Two Cents.
After two months, I began to think of teacher training. Not because I had the desire to become a fulltime teacher, but I needed to learn more about the system. I looked into it heavily.
An Ashtanga Authorized teacher training, commonly referred to as a traditional one, is no joke. It is not a 200 hour weekend certification. It has to do with a long-term and intensive apprenticeship to a licensed teacher.
This is what I found out in my research and interviews with teachers:
It is About Apprenticeship You know, Ashtanga teaching is really learned through years of daily Mysore practice, serving a senior teacher, and imbibing the subtleties of the method. It’s a lineage-based system.
The Physical Requirement is Exorbitant: You must have a high level of personal practice, as well as learn how to adapt others. It is physically and mentally exhausting.
It is a Language of Adjustments: You learn to provide physical adjustments, which is a skill that must involve intuition, strength and good grasp of anatomy.
In my case, it is a future objective at this point. My 90 day experiment was on being a student. In order to be a teacher in this system, I think you have to be a committed student much, much longer. It commands respect.
Why Repetition is a Superpower: The Unchangeable Ashtanga Yoga Sequence.
I have been thinking that daily doing the same thing would create plateaus and boredom. Ashtanga sequence made me wrong. It is all about the repetition. Here’s why it’s a genius design:
It Tells you Your Progress: The only variable in a sequence where there is no variation is yourself. You will come to a point one day that you can now go further in a forward bend or that you can now hold a pose with a lot more stability. The development is indisputable and very encouraging.
It Breaks your Head: Since you do not need to keep wondering what comes next, your mind is free to look inwards. You concentrate on the breath, the bandhas, the fine tune. The meditation is a moving meditation.
It Makes You Disciplined: waking up on Tuesday morning when you are sore and tired to do the same thing you did on Monday is a way of developing some form of mental toughness, which can be applied to all other aspect of life.
The sequence is a mirror. It reveals to you where you feel tight, where you have weakness and your state of mind on a particular day. You can’t hide from it.
FAQs: Responding to the Questions I got on the First Day.
Q: Does that mean that Ashtanga yoga is only done by flexible, already-fit individuals?
A: This was my biggest fear. The answer is a resounding no. You start where you are. The teacher provides you with changes. It may take you weeks to do the initial few poses. It is a flexible practice and makes you fit; you do not necessarily have to be so to begin with.
Q What makes it different with Vinyasa or Power Yoga?
A: Vinyasa and Power Yoga are typically a variation of Ashtanga, but more of a free-form. Each time the teacher has a different sequence. Ashtanga is a set sequence. It is the difference between learning a particular composition of music note-by-note and jamming. They are both worthy, but Ashtanga is more about learning a particular form.
Q: Does it mean that I have to practice six days a week? That seems impossible.
A:The customary plan is six days per week, on Saturdays and moon days. This was the most difficult part to me. I began with three days a week during the first month to become customized. Be realistic. Three regular days a week is by far better than attempting six days a week, becoming burnt, and dropping out. Start where you can.
Q: I’m a guy. Is this for me?
A: Absolutely. The founder is a man called Pattabhi Jois. Most of the most famous teachers are men. It develops functional, lean strength, enhances mobility that is important in other sports, and decreases the risk of injury. Ashtanga is full of masculine discipline, the stamina and the ability to master a system.
Final Rep: What I Learned Not on the Mat.
My 90 day experiment did not finish on day 91. It turned into a lifestyle. These advantages were tangible and quantifiable. But the intellectual change was more significant.
I discovered another type of strength. Not the type that allows you to pick up a heavy weight once, but the type that allows you to support a hard pose to the count of five deep breaths as your muscles are screaming. The type that has you on your mat day after day. I was taught to direct my aggressive and goal-oriented energy towards a practice that involves patience and humility.
Ashtanga yoga is not a stretch. It is an arduous, strenuous and great rewarding field. It forges resilience. It showed me how physical and mental my limits were than years of weight lifting.
My advice? Locate a good Mysore program. Enter. Leave your ego by the door. Get ready to sweat, to struggle and be humbled. Yet you will develop some kind of strength, which you will have despite having rolled up your mat.