Firstly, we have to pay homage here to the orginator of this idea David Swenson. His Ashtanga short forms have been invaluable to the Ashtanga community, as well as me, personally, in coming up with my framework of how to break the practice down into building blocks; ones that we can then move around skillfully when we don’t have time to do the whole thing.
So, firstly, what I want to say here is that doing your whole practice every day is an ideal and not a prerequisite if you remain in doubt, or feel guilty about, not having the time to do a full practice consistently.
Indeed, what does this full practice even mean? The Ashtanga practice is, like any method or tradition, surely one defined by its’ effectivity and not simply doing the ritual exactly. This is the simple criterion I apply to practice; it works for us daily. To which end, sometimes less is, in fact, more in the first place.
Yoga is not dogma
Often, we don’t have the physical energy or inspiration to do a full series or everything we’ve been taught by our teacher (or in Mysore). Then, it is only physically depletive to push against the natural demands of our body, as well as emotionally/mentally so; dragging ourselves against our will through a long practice because we think we have to do everything (or can’t practice at all).
What a shame. Especially, as this was not the spirit in which Ashtanga was originally taught and practiced. Students did what they could and there was little to no judgement on this. Not least, it was assumed by Jois that when his students returned to their country and their quotidian obligations, jobs, and families there, they would not be practising to the kind of intensity they were in Mysore.
I cannot prove this to be the case; but it is enough proof (for me) to see how Jois and his grandson Sharath Jois taught the Indian students who, until recently, always had separate classes in the afternoon. They taught them much more gently and pragmatically, knowing that they had a full day of work and responsibilities. A fact corroborated by David Williams to me in conversation regarding the way he saw Jois teaching the locals when he first arrived to Mysore.
I would suggest that the original conception of Ashtanga yoga as a method of asana practice was to use the sequences as a general blueprint as a framework to be adapted to the variables of daily life and not the other way around. Something which only makes sense when we consider that most of us are not career yogis, but rather ‘householders’ who don’t have the kind of time and energy to practice an idealized form of Ashtanga.
And, if one reads The Yoga Makaranda, the primary book on asana written by Pattabhi Jois’ guru Sri T Krishnamacharya, it is patently clear here that he wanted the yoga he taught to be available to everyone at whatever level of health they found themselves. Or, of course, regarding the time and inclination they had to practice.
Indeed, his teaching was incredibly democratic; to do something, once more, was infinitely better than doing nothing. A sentiment echoed in the fundamental philosophical text on yoga The Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna tells Arjuna that even the smallest amount of practice will never be lost and will only be useful in the future.
So, I take this as the precedent for using Ashtanga as we need – not being used by the practice! This means practicing suiting how we feel each day; both in mind and body. In the linked PDF, Short Ashtanga Practices I hope to make it a little easier to envisage how this modified or amended practice might be regarded, by breaking it down into various sections with their various aims.
When this is understood, it is then remarkably easy to move the various building blocks around from day to day. I will say two final things. Firstly, if you can do your whole practice – meaning, you feel okay in body and mind to do so; why not? The principle of vinyasa is best understood in repetition so, this being the fundamental tool of yoga, it is still ideal to follow each day in a similar format.
On the other hand, life isn’t ideal. Therefore, it is better to do some practice than none and leave feeling inspired and invigorated rather than wrung out and thoroughly bored by doing more than you really can or should do that day.
Often a modified practice then is the best practice – not lesser in any way. Our yoga practice isn’t just about feeling good, but we have to also feel good in it to continue dedicating ourselves to it with energy and enthusiasm. This must always be kept in mind. If the practice isn’t serving you, however conventionally correct it is, it’s not right.
So, following on from this, we can’t go wrong in adapting our practice as we need to from day to day. Indeed, practice is our experiment. And, so long as we learn from our experiment, there is no wrong practice. Try different things then and see what works for you. Because, ultimately, this is the only thing that matters in your practice; that you can see the tangible, beneficial results in your daily life and relationships.
