I practice Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga.  It is my daily practice.  And if you know me or are one of the 11 beloved followers of this blog – this should not be news to you.

Yet I'm always amazed by the cloud of mystery and myths that surround this practice … instilling fears that will often keep people from ever trying this traditional, age-old discipline. 

Here they are.  Debunked.

Myth #1:  Ashtanga was designed for 12 year-old boys. 

Guruji said it best:  “Anyone can practice. Young man can practice. Old man can practice. Very old man can practice. Man who is sick, he can practice. Man who doesn't have strength can practice. Except lazy people; lazy people can't practice yoga.”

And yes, this includes 12 year-old boys.  And girls. 

And me too, I presume - even though sometimes i can be lazy.

Myth #2:  Ashtanga is for men. 

Actually, more specifically, for men like Richard Freeman.  Men with long limbs.  Men with skinny bodies.  Men who are strong. 

Well, somebody better not tell Kino Macgregor, who is about 5 foot nothing, with a compact little body, and just a young (actually, the youngest) woman when she received her certification to teach Ashtanga Yoga by its founder, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. 

It’s great fun to hear her share her experience as a new student, flopping around on her mat.  She was neither a gymnast nor a dancer.  Fortunately, what she lacked in strength (back then), she made up for in commitment and determination.  And she remains inspiration for this 5 foot nothing yogini of what is possible with practice.

So when I hear Myth #1 or Myth #2, what I really hear is an excuse not to try

Myth #3:  Ashtanga is really hard. 

Alright.  This one is true. Especially if you are referring to practicing the sequence inconsistently (couple times a week/year) and without a trained or authorized teacher.  

Ashtanga is a progressive series and offered to the student as the student becomes ready.  It is completely individualized, unlike the typical pre-packaged 90-minute yoga class, an Ashtanga yoga practice grows with you. 

No doubt, in anyone’s practice . . . even Richard Freeman’s – there comes a time each of us gets stuck on a pose.  Which pose all depends on your body, and that just becomes “your” posture.  Everyone has one.  Everyone.  This is where you work - this is where you pause.  And eventually this one will settle into your body, just like the ones had before, and another challenge will take it’s place.

That being said, Asthanga Yoga is to be practiced 6 days a week.  For many of us, that may be the hardest part of all.  Finding a consistent time in our busy schedules to fit those 75-120 minutes.  That’s just one of the reasons, a yoga shala (house of yoga) opens every morning (except moon days) for an early morning practice (between 5:30 and 8:00 am), Mysore style.

Myth #4:  I have to memorize the sequence before I am allowed to come to a morning Mysore practice.

We have spent our summers in Montana for many years – with a good bit of it driving around the town of Bozeman.  You would think I would know my way around.  Only, I was usually the passenger, and as the passenger, I was never really forced to remember the route.  So I didn’t . . . until I recently became the driver. 

Practicing Ashtanga, Mysore style, takes you out of the passenger seat of your practice and makes you the driver.  Leaving students fearful that they must already “know the way” before taking the leap from passenger to driver. 

So I asked my own teacher, Keith Moore, one of the few authorized Ashtanga Yoga teachers in Washington, DC, and this is what he had to say:

“It doesn’t matter how much a student knows or doesn’t know . . . I tell each student, that where they are in their practice and knowledge is perfect.  And so we begin with Surya Namaskar A and simply go from there.  When they forget what comes next, they look to me and I’ll tell them.  It’s not a test.”

If someone knows what’s next, then there’s nothing for me to do.  It’s not until a student needs help that I get to do what I’m there for and what I love.  Teach.”

Yea.  Doesn’t sound so scary, does it?

Myth #5:  It’s OK to skip the postures that are  impossible challenging

Sorry guys, not true.  The sequence is designed so that one posture readies the body for the next – or one down the line.  Skipping postures is like building your house on sand – if the foundation is weak, the house will crumble. 

Whatever your reason for wanting to move past what is difficult or challenging, examine instead.  Remember I told you, everyone has “their pose.”  I do and you will.  I learn more from the postures that I have to spend time with than the ones I can flow through with ease.  Don’t skip.  Never skip. (Or almost, never*).

Now – did I say it had to be perfect?

(Soon-to-be-authorized) teacher, Antonella Accinelli explains, “People get hung up on perfection.   The posture doesn’t have to look like the one in Yoga Journal.  The posture can simply be the closest approximation that your body and limitations can get to.  You move from there.”

*For example, someone with 3 knee surgeries can work Marichyasana D for years without ever coming close to the bind.  It then becomes the teacher’s say.

Antonella explained that it’s not that Ashtangis are rigid – they are pragmatic.  Often regarded as the yoga police, the emphasis on honoring the intelligence of the sequence is simply a way to move forward from a place of strength.  Otherwise, we lend credence to the very next myth . . .

Myth #6:  Ashtanga injures people.

First of all, you are always at risk for injury. Whether you're a runner, biker, mountain climber, yogi, or just out walking your dog . . .

The difference here is that if you were walking down the street and tripped over a curb, you would not blame the curb for your sprained ankle.  You would perhaps chide yourself for not being more mindful of where you were going.

Yet the yogi gets hurt, and immediately blames the curb the practice.  As if a posture has a life of its own.  (Which it doesn’t.) We are the ones who bring postures to life by putting ourselves into them.

Perhaps the posture you put yourself into was not one you were ready for.

As Keith reminded me, “The practice is set up to give you the strength and flexibility for the next.  The method requires you get one posture in your body before you get the next.”

Ashtanga yoga does not injure people – but the way people practice Ashtanga yoga can:

“I watched it over and over again.  Students would beg Guruji for the next posture.  They would say, ‘Please Guruji, just let me have the next.’  Those people looking for postures, they were always the ones that get hurt, every time.”

On the other hand, the first months practice, you’re bringing up all the imbalances in your body.  So the first few months can truly be the worst and yes, we may experience some pain.  (oooo, taboo.  pain is baaaad)  But since when did all pain become injury?

“What often happens to those who practice Ashtanga for the first time is that, after a month or so of regular practice, they begin to feel bodily pains they had never previously felt.  Often, they believe they have hurt themselves through yoga and will either quit or practice less frequently … often the practitioner has simply begun to awaken hurts or weaknesses that have always been present, but not aware of.”  (Larry Shultz, It’s Yoga)

Bottom line, it’s all about going slowly and working with a trained and/or authorized teacher.

Check the official webiste of the Shri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute (KPJAYI).  You can find a complete list of authorized and certified teachers here.

**(all pictures copyrighted by Rebecca Epstein Photography) **

Just remember.  Practice.  Practice.  Practice. 

And when you are tired, practice some more. 

From this devotion, all will come.

And that's no myth.

Om.

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