yoga with pragya Archives - Page 6 of 32 - Pragya Bhatt

Books

The Pune International Lit Fest

September 23, 2019

A free flowing conversation about the process and experience of putting the book together.

I’ve been attending literature and art festivals forever. The Jaipur Lit Fest many years ago, the Kochi Muziris Biennale, the Bangalore Lit Fest, the Venice Biennale and finally the Pune International Lit Fest. For years I’ve always been an attendee, always wondering if I would ever be on the other side. The writer’s side.

And this weekend, at the Pune International Lit Fest, it happened. I was officially on the writer’s side.

Always good to see your work next to those you admire.

It was amazing. I registered as a speaker and was shown into the author’s lounge where I met other speakers and writers. I checked for my book at the bookstalls, signed books, took photos, hobnobbed with other writers.

Our session was scheduled for the last day, to ensure that my RIMYI schedule didn’t clash. Joel Koechlin (the man behind the beautiful photos in the book) and I were speaking about Beyond Asanas with our editor Gurveen Chadha of Penguin Random House. The three of us had interacted with each other extensively during the making of this book, and the comfort level was evident on stage. We had a free wheeling chat about the process of creating the book, the challenges we faced, the importance of yoga, why it is worthwhile to read the history and mythology of asanas, inspiration….the hour went by pretty quickly. We fielded as many questions from the audience as time would allow.

The fest was well-organized, the sessions were varied and interesting, the goodie bag was great and the bookstalls were well stocked. A heartfelt thank you to the organizers for this amazing event.

With poetess and friend, Tanushi Singh. Check out her latest collection of poetry called, In Pursuit of Sunshine in Rain.

Always thankful for those who can share my little joys with me.

Came with a great goodie bag too!

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RIMYI Experiences

Prop or Crutch?

September 19, 2019

This beautiful shot is part of the photos we took for ‘Beyond Asanas: The Myths and Legends Behind Yogic Postures”. Get your copy of the book on Amazon and Flipkart.

I had a 7 am class with Gulnaz Dashti today, my second with her this month. I’ve recounted my hilarious class in 2016 with her here. And last year here. As evident in these blogs, she’s energetic, lively and funny.

Lately I’ve been having problems with the sirsasana. It’s confounding. I’ve been practicing sirsasana for years, even doing variations. Here’s a video of me doing advanced variations too. But suddenly one day I felt my neck starting to cramp up. I hadn’t changed anything and I got a bit worried.

I decided that maybe I should change the way I use the blanket under my head. Until now I was using a folded blanket between a folded mat. I started to fold the blanket in the Iyengar “three fold long” style. I felt it would give me height . But that also didn’t feel right. I spoke to Gulnaz about it last week. “Is it possible for someone to do a pose for many years and all of a sudden to lose it one day?”

She said in her quick rapid style, “Until now you’ve learned how to do the sirsasana. Now you’ll understand the posture. Go, I’ll see next week!”

So today before I went up I asked her for help.

“Why are you using a blanket?!” she screeched. “You people become so used to the props! Keep the blanket aside and go close to the wall, I’ll adjust.” She reached down and lifted my shoulders away from my ears. I felt the weight shifting forward to my elbows. My wrists and elbows woke up, and I pushed them firmly into the mat. I teetered for a bit as I got familiar with the new center of gravity.

“Props were invented to teach you how to do a posture, not to become a crutch for you. You people don’t even question the necessity of a prop! You become so dependent on the prop that that’s all you see! You don’t see the pose, you stop learning the pose!!!”

“Don’t be in a hurry to get away from the wall,” she cautioned me. “Stay there and understand the pose.”

Got it Gulnaz – learn the pose with the props, and understand them without the crutches.

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Poetry

Dissolution

September 17, 2019

The above is my entry for the #SashaktWordsmithContest. It’s being organised by Sashakt – The Ovarian Cancer Foundation in collaboration with my literary agency called The Book Bakers. The theme is “Ovarian Cancer”.

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Yoga Travels

Practicing Together

September 12, 2019

I don’t remember when I came across the word ‘jugalbandi’ for the first time. Until now I thought the word meant a collaboration. Before writing this blog I thought I should probably check the meaning and found that it literally means ‘entwined twins’. The word is used to refer to a collaboration between two artists, usually a duet between two solo artists.

I’ve attended a few jugalbandis in the past and enjoyed them immensely. There is magic when great artists come together. They bring their art and ‘entwine’ it with the art of another artist. And it creates magic. It’s not only a mingling of art, craft, technical excellence but also a mingling of hearts, souls and great minds.

If you go to yoga class and take a look around you will see many things. Lithe bendy bodies and also not so lithe bendy bodies. People straining to touch their toes, and people balancing on their fingertips. But there is a common purpose that brings us together: to keep our bodies and minds healthy.

Which is why every once in a while I love to train and practice with different people. I came across Dayananthan on Instagram one day and was blown away by his asana practice. So I ‘followed’ him. And to my surprise he followed me back and said he finds my practice inspiring. I was thrilled. More thrilled when he invited me over to his studio Nrityog to practice together.

Teaching yoga (or maybe teaching anything) can get lonely. You’re either attending class, teaching class or practicing. You have few ‘work friends’, don’t go out for drinks after work and have no team-building retreats. So it’s always refreshing to find teachers who reach out.

I arrived at Nrityog early on a Saturday. Dayananthan was finishing a class. He is really as awesome as his Instagram profile makes it out to be. We chatted a bit during which I showed him the postures that were my ‘goal asanas’ such as this one and this one. We started stretching and decided to work towards the ek pada sirsasana. I’ve been working on the pose for years and was hoping he could give me new insight into it.

As we stretched I got to know him a bit better. He started Nrityog with his wife who is also a dancer. The studio is open, airy, full of plants. The vibe is calm, much like Dayananthan himself. He freelances at other studios too, which he loves because he gets to meet more people that way. So you can catch him around in different part of Bangalore.

In about 35-45 minutes he was ready to tackle the leg behind head category of asanas. My muscles were screaming, but I was game.

I look forward to practicing more with him once I’m back in Bangalore. The Yoga Jugalbandi.

Meanwhile, if you’re in Bangalore do attend class at Nrityog!!!

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Yoga Books

Ardha Chadrasana: The Half Moon Pose

September 11, 2019

When I started writing Beyond Asanas, it was going to contain about 100 asanas. After all, I was writing my magnum opus. As the book took shape this number dwindled down to 30.

I chose asanas that I had been practicing for a few years. Ones which I knew and understood. There were, of course, the mundanities to consider. Visual appeal, my ability to execute the posture well, would my research yield interesting information about it?

The Ardha Chandrasana made the cut. I found a connection between this asana and the story of the near-destruction of the universe. When Shiva swallowed the halahala to save the Universe, the poison turned his body blue. Chandra stepped in to help.

Then there’s the story of why the moon waxes and wanes. Lord Ganesha and his temper are responsible for the moon manifesting in its ‘ardha‘ or half stage.

The Ardha Chandrasana is Chapter 5 of my book. To read the stories and the significance in more detail get your copy of the book.

Below are the step-by-step instructions, with images.

1. Start on the right with Trikonasana.

For more on Trikonasana see Chapter 4 in Beyond Asanas.

2. Bend your right knee and reach forward with your right hand. Place it on the floor diagonally opposite the right foot.

Note the extension on the right side of the torso as the outer edge of the left foot stays firmly on the ground.

The right arm and right foot must be diagonal to each other, else balancing is hard.

3. Engage your right arm and leg, so that you can balance and support yourself on them. Slowly lift the leg up until it is parallel to the floor or slightly above hip level.