AshtangaNews

On the last day of the 2006 tour in San Francisco, there was a single class at 6 am. The atmosphere was electric, the room was full with over 200 students.

The strong bonds of community were apparent before practice, with groups of people chatting dispersed throughout the big hall – it was still only 5:45.

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There was an urgency in Guruji’s voice today. I wondered how many thousands of times he had called out this practice, and at his complete devotion to it.

It is apparent both in the mere fact that he is 90 and continues to teach the same vital teaching. It is also apparent in what he has chosen not to do – he has chosen not to dilute the practice, he has chosen not to call it Jois Yoga, he has chosen not to analyze it.

It was the exact same count of vinyasas, and yet it was completely different, a new and unique affirmation of his belief in the practice. And by extension, all 200 of us were accepting this affirmation and embraced its transformative power. The last few postures were truly emotional. We came back up to standing following a 2 minute Utplutih to chant the closing prayer. Then, Guruji counted a last vinyasa, and with “Sapta – lie down!” everyone burst into spontaneous applause. There were cheers for several minutes.

Sharath took the stage, thanked the organizers and his last two words summarized for me the essence of Guruji’s teaching: “Keep practicing.”

This year the World Tour’s only Intermediate Series class took place in the San Francisco leg of the tour during the second week of practice.

First, a little context.

Sharath demonstrates Kapotasana (part two)

Intermediate is a bit of misnomer for this remarkably challenging series of postures – it starts with a deep twist in pasasana, then off to deeper and deeper backbends culminating in kapotasana, followed by several leg-behind-the-head postures (note the sequencing – straight after the backbends), a strength intensive section including the near impossible karandavasana, and concludes with 7 difficult headstands. You can see a detailed description in David Swenson’s book, or on Arjuna’s site.

In and of itself, it is many handfuls. The way the class is taught though takes this series to another level:

• You are stopped at the posture which the teacher deems too much of a challenge for you
• The more difficult poses are often held for much longer counts that the usual 5 breaths
• The Who’s Who of the Asthanga World (West Coast Chapter) is there practicing along merrily with you

How and when Guruji holds postures really demonstrates his complete mastery of the inner psychological states of the students. In postures such as kapotasana, I often felt as if I was hanging on to a cliff by the edge of my fingernails. It sometimes feels like a miracle not to have fallen off.

Guruji smiles even more after Intermediate
World Tour 2006 in San Francisco

As you go through the class, there is always the worry that this will be your last posture. One thing I did not mention was that there is no prior requirement to attending this class – anyone is welcome. This does not imply you will last through the end, though. During the first class, we started off 60 optimistic yogis. Some uber-optimists were gone by the first posture of the Intermediate series, pasasana. By the end only about 30 were left for the 7 headstands, with the rest watching in stillness.

Guruji also took to visiting the bathroom during headstand. He would count “One! Two!” then you would hear footsteps and a door closing. Quite a few breaths later, he would re-emerge with a booming “Three!” at which point the whole inverted class burst out laughing.

This alone was worth the price of admission.