KayaYogini

Ashtanga yoga is a series of postures divided into six increasingly more advanced series. The primary series, Yoga Chikitsa- which means yoga therapy, is already quite advanced and to do the complete version of all the postures requires a lot of strength and flexibility. The secondary series is called Nadi Shodana which translates to nerve cleansing, the third is called Sthira Bhaga which is often translated to strength and grace. The primary series is therapeutic in the way that it is really beneficial for the digestive system. The secondary series is made mostly for the nervous system. The third is made for endurance – holding strength. 

Everyone beginning to practice Ashtanga Yoga starts with practicing primary series and only when being able to practice the gateway postures in primary series can we start to practice the secondary series. The gateway postures are the deepest forward bend, Supta Kurmasana, and the deepest twist, Marichyasana D. 

In Ashtanga Yoga we move deeper and deeper into the body and the mind with each series. The thing is, there is a grosser part of the body that most people need to work on before practicing primary series and working on the digestive system. This grosser part of the body is the musculoskeletal system. If you have imbalances in your musculoskeletal system (postural imbalances), this is gonna affect your Ashtanga practice (or any postural yoga practice), to the degree that they might hinder you completely in progressing in your practice. In fact you might even injure yourself due to the dysfunctional compensations that come with your postural imbalances. When you have postural imbalances, you take these with you when you move your body. If you have a closed chest (kyphosis), it will be very hard to open the chest in chest opening positions, you might be compensating by opening the TL-joint instead of the chest, or the cervical spine or both! You need to consciously reprogram the musculoskeletal system so that your body can actually open the places that it is meant to (in this case the thoracic spine). When your musculoskeletal system is healthy, you are ready to work on those deeper levels, digestion and nervous system, that we do in Ashtanga Yoga (also: working on the musculoskeletal system is in fact affecting the digestive and the nervous system). I’ve been working on this in my own yoga practice for some time now, and I’m teaching it in my classes both online and at the studio and in my workshops. It results in less pain and more ease in my yoga practice. The three things that are important to reprogram the musculoskeletal system is: 1: correct breathing 2: stability 3: movement pattern. Of course these three tie together and are almost inseparable. Anyways, this is the way to go. Follow me on all channels if you want more information on how to do this. Good luck with your practice!