Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga practice is intense, its deep, its just the feeling of existence that flows with you in the practice. The fire of breath heats you up to burn up your physical and mental propensities, the power of focus gets the inner job done, the power of bandhas (energy locks) keeps the energy do the inner work for you. With that intensity that the Ashtanga practice demands out of you, you can soften your practice to adjust to your own intensity and slowly progress in the practice?
Pushing yourself harder in any practice only causes tension, aches & pains in the body. It may also overhaul the emotions which many Ashtanga practitioners experience in their practice. Bhagavad Gita-the literature for rules on handling the mind, any Karma (action) is Yoga and every karma must be performed without any attachment to the fruit of action.
Tips to stay with your Ashtanga Vinyasa practice and build the strength to get softer in the practice overtime:
- Sri K Pattabhi Jois fondly used to quote, 'Practice & all is coming". A powerful statement that only demands from you dedication to show up on the mat daily. Waking up early & showing your sincerity to the mat already speaks a lot about your inner strength & character, rest happens on the mat naturally.
- How you perform on the mat must come from the place of your best effort everyday, your intensions begin to show up in how your practice begins to improve gradually. Practicing the quality of detachment as described in Yoga philosophy naturally brings out the best in you.
- Ashtanga practice is more about showing up than performing asanas, this reveals a bigger fact, that an intense Yoga practice like Ashtanga is the test of mental strength than the physical strength. Building a mental attitude to stay in the practice shows up in the flow of practice too, that helps you improve with regular practice!
- Next, the anatomy of pain goes through the path of mental strength. Many practitioners give-in into the pain aspect of Ashtanga practice. However, when you release yourself and give-in freely into the flow of practice, the pain becomes secondary, it becomes your strength to let-go what you are holding within. The internal pain starts to leave the body via the channel of external pain, thus, you find solace in that pain too.
- Ashtanga Vinyasa practice is less about doing and more about being a giver, be it giving your best to the practice or giving your best to the world. Beyond health, it is a reflection of your personality, character and will to survive through whatever comes. The difference between a soft and an intense practice is the faith in you to sail through the practice with your best efforts. There is also a sense of realization coming around how to perform on the mat is how your perform in life. The practice truly teaches you when you need to have faith, when you need to slow down, when you need to just flow with the flow and when you need to give your best effort.
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