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Wil
Sweden
150 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 23 2021 : 5:30:28 PM
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Hello,
Please give me advice or your personal experience of which asana you feel the greatest inclination to release sutras in(do samyama)?
A sidebar question, do you have any specific sutra that you return to while doing asana?
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maheswari
Lebanon
2516 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2021 : 09:44:04 AM
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Hi Wil
Ayp does not mix samyama with asanas |
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Wil
Sweden
150 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2021 : 12:02:52 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by maheswari
Hi Wil
Ayp does not mix samyama with asanas
What about this lesson then https://www.aypsite.org/300.html ? |
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maheswari
Lebanon
2516 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2021 : 12:36:07 PM
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I forgot about that lesson
Well if you enjoy it , good for you
Sorry can't help, never tried both practices together
Maybe others can pitch in |
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Dogboy
USA
2193 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2021 : 12:24:34 AM
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| My suggestion would be to open your chest (especially if you release sutras from the solar center) with arms outstretched as in mountain pose, or perhaps forward folding as you release the sutra, and rising up before releasing the next one. |
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BlueRaincoat
United Kingdom
1730 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2021 : 1:41:30 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Wil
which asana you feel the greatest inclination to release sutras in(do samyama)?
The asanas that I perceive as difficult.  Releasing a sutra is an aid.
Having had to deal with a serious blockage in my spine for the last few years, I went easy on postures that required bending backwards. As I'm returning to them, releasing the intent into silence before approaching the asana feels helpful. I use "arch back" before the cobra posture. The same before bow.
Of course this is just a snapshot of my personal experience. There is nothing to stop you having sutras for all the asanas in your routine. A sutra may be asana specific, or it may fit two or more different asanas.
Your choice of sutra will depend on what you want to take away from an asana. Some years ago, I used to associate the cobra pose with "open heart". The association of course is still valid, but for me at present "arch back" fulfils a more pressing need, hence my current choice of sutra. |
Edited by - BlueRaincoat on Jul 25 2021 3:30:04 PM |
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Blanche
USA
859 Posts |
Posted - Jul 26 2021 : 12:55:56 PM
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It is wonderful to see how the practice works for each of us.
Here the asanas become a meditative practice, and their Sanskrit names come up and they are released into silence like a reminder of their specific "flavor." If you are inclined to try this, simply do samyama with their English or Sanskrit name as you practice your asanas. Start with one or two asana names, and add a couple more every week.  |
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BlueRaincoat
United Kingdom
1730 Posts |
Posted - Jul 26 2021 : 2:23:09 PM
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Hi Blanche
I think it is part of the AYP Samyama instructions that each of us make the sutras ours, is it not? Whether that means translating the sutras into our most familiar language or using the expression that best captures the essence of the original sutras.
Also, with asana names, there is a lot of figurative use of the language. Take "cobra", for instance - to me personally that evokes the poisonous snake. Maybe it will work for some practitioners, but my deepest reaction to this word is alarm, even with the word "pose" included. I'm unable warm up to it as a Samyama sutra.
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kumar ul islam
United Kingdom
791 Posts |
Posted - Jul 26 2021 : 6:43:49 PM
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| sthira and sukum springs to mind ,steadiness and ease ,leading to peak experience during a practice a flow from one to the other intention and attention being utmost or not as tension appears release ,emotional physical, let them come and go just like seated meditation ,intuition also plays its part one sutra today may not fit tomorrows practice |
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Wil
Sweden
150 Posts |
Posted - Jul 27 2021 : 10:34:08 AM
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| I like how the cobra opens the chest, to me it makes sense to release a sutra there. |
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Blanche
USA
859 Posts |
Posted - Jul 28 2021 : 2:00:22 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by BlueRaincoat
Hi Blanche
I think it is part of the AYP Samyama instructions that each of us make the sutras ours, is it not? Whether that means translating the sutras into our most familiar language or using the expression that best captures the essence of the original sutras.
Also, with asana names, there is a lot of figurative use of the language. Take "cobra", for instance - to me personally that evokes the poisonous snake. Maybe it will work for some practitioners, but my deepest reaction to this word is alarm, even with the word "pose" included. I'm unable warm up to it as a Samyama sutra.
Hi Blue,
When we practice samyama during our asana sequence, we could use a descriptive name in our most familiar language, the English names of asanas, or the Sanskrit names, as Yogani writes in lesson 300:
The names of the yoga postures we use in the AYP approach, which can be used as sutras for the corresponding postures, can be found in this illustration of the 14 postures comprising the AYP Asana Starter Kit.
The posture names can be translated to suit any language. The Sanskrit names can also be used, if the meanings are clear to us in terms of the physical attributes of the postures.
There is no right or wrong, and it is good to allow the practice to lead us. One of my first teachers was consistently using the Sanskrit names, so I got in the habit of calling the asanas by these names. Each asanas is like a mandala with different levels: there is a physical level of the body set in a certain pattern, an energetic level as the asana triggers a specific energetic circuit associated with distinct nadis and chakras, an emotional level experiences as emotions-colors-patterns, an intuitive level with insights coming up at times. As we relax all the muscles not involved in holding the pose, other levels of the being relax, and we “melt” in the pose, which becomes a meditative state.
Asana practice is an expression of all eight limbs of yoga: For example, as we hold the pose, we practice non-violence (yama), as we hold the pose without hurting ourselves; we practice tapas (niyama), discipline; our breathing changes with each pose (pranayama); we practice pratyahara, bringing the senses to the inside, paying attention to our inner experience; we focus (dharana) on our experience, be that physical, emotional, or meditative (dhyana), and we start to “melt” in the pose, coming “in touch with the infinite” as Patanjali says (samadhi).
It is good to practice with an open mind, and to allow what may come to teach us, to heal us, to lead us.
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BlueRaincoat
United Kingdom
1730 Posts |
Posted - Aug 01 2021 : 12:37:30 PM
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HI Blanche
Thank you for sharing details of your practice and your experience of asanas.
quote:
Originally posted by Blanche
One of my first teachers was consistently using the Sanskrit names,
Ah, yes Didn't stick here...  I can remember a handful of Sanskrit asana names. I struggle even with the English names. I have mostly visual representations of asanas.
quote:
Originally posted by Blanche
It is good to practice with an open mind, and to allow what may come to teach us, to heal us, to lead us.
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Dogboy
USA
2193 Posts |
Posted - Aug 01 2021 : 12:56:11 PM
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quote:
Asana practice is an expression of all eight limbs of yoga
 This is the first I’ve heard this after decades of practice!  |
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Asanas to do samyama in
