2/16/14 4:36 PMArticles by Nancy Gilgoff

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Ashtanga Yoga As It Was(The Long and Short of It)

The following is the way in which Guruji taught me, Nancy Gilgoff, the Primaryand Intermediate series of Ashtanga Yoga during my first trip to Mysore, in 1973.David Williams and I stayed for four months that trip, and had two classes perday (excluding Saturdays and Moon days).

In the first class, I was taught to do five Surya Namaskara A, plus the threefinishing postures - Yoga Mudrasana, Padmasana, and Tolasana. The secondclass, later that day, was five Surya Namaskara A and five Surya Namaskara B,plus the three finishing. In the next class, Guruji told me to only do three each ofSurya Namaskara A and B, and to keep it that way in my practice, and thenbegan adding on at least two postures per class, always with the three finishingat the end.

Guruji taught me the standing postures through Parsvottanasana, with noParivritta Trikonasana or Parivritta Parsvakonasana. After Parsvottanasana hehad me jump through to Dandasana.

In the seated postures, there were a minimal number of vinyasas. There were novinyasas between sides. Moreover, there were no vinyasas between variations -so all of Janu Sirsasana A, B, and C were done together (right side, left side ofA, right, left of B, right, left of C), then a vinyasa before Marichyasana. Then allof the Marichyasana variations, A, B, C, and D, were done together, withoutvinyasas between sides or variations; then a vinyasa before three Navasana.Baddha Konasana, Upavishta Konasana, and Supta Konasana were alsogrouped together without vinyasas between them. Ubhaya Padangusthasanaand Urdhva Mukha Paschimottanasana were also done together, with novinyasa between - we were taught to simply change the hand position afterUbhaya Padangusthasana and go right into Urdhva Mukha Paschimottanasana.

After Setu Bandhasana, Guruji added in Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana andArdha Baddha Padmottanasana - but to be put in the series back in the standingsequence, after Parsvottanasana. (Utkatasana and Virabhadrasana were not inthe series at this point, nor were Parivritta Trikonasana or ParivrittaParsvakonasana, all of which were added in later.

Once Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana and Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana weretaught and added into their place in the standing sequence, after SetuBandhasana, Intermediate began immediately with Pashasana. In fact, Davidand I had no idea that there were two separate series until the end of that firstfour-month trip, when we were leaving, at which point Guruji gave us a sheet ofpaper with a list of the postures, which were listed as Primary, Intermediate,Advanced A, and Advanced B. At this point he told us to practice one series aday, and only once a day. While we had been with him in Mysore, we hadlearned both Primary and Intermediate series in the first two months. He had uspractice both series, together, in entirety, twice a day.

Intermediate Series also contained fewer vinyasas back then. There were no

2/16/14 4:36 PMArticles by Nancy Gilgoff

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vinyasas between sides (in Krounchasana, Bharadvajasana, ArdhaMatsyendrasana, Eka Pada Sirsasana, Parighasana, and Gomukhasana). FromShalabhasana through Parsva Dhanurasana, the asanas were done in a group,with a vinyasa only at the end. Ushtrasana through Kapotasana also were doneall together, with a vinyasa only after Kapotasana. The same went for Eka PadaSirsasana through Yoganidrasana - there were no vinyasas until theChakrasana after Yoganidrasana.

The Intermediate series, as Guruji taught it to us during that first trip, includedVrishchikasana after Karandavasana. We were taught to hold PinchaMayurasana for five breaths, bring the legs into lotus and lower down intoKarandavasana, hold five breaths, inhale up, and then exhale right intoVrishchikasana for five breaths. The series ended with Gomukhasana. Davidasked for more, and so, per his request, Guruji added Supta Urdhva PadaVajrasana as well as the seven headstands - Baddha Hasta Sirsasana A, B, C,and D were taught first, with Mukta Hasta Sirsasana A, B, and C following.Guruji said these were from Fourth Series.

Backbends from both the floor (Urdhva Dhanurasana) and standing ("drop-backs") were taught after Intermediate Series, as was the rest of the finishingsequence (Paschimottanasana, Salamba Sarvangasana, Halasana,Karnapidasana, Urdhva Padmasana, Pindasana, Matsyasana, UttanaPadasana, and Sirsasana). Up until this point, we had just been doing YogaMudrasana, Padmasana, and Tolasana at the end of our practice.

Guruji taught us Pranayama after we had learned the entire Intermediate Series(at the end of our third month in Mysore, about a month after learning all ofIntermediate).

I think it was when Guruji came to teach on Maui in 1980 (in Paia) that he addedin so many vinyasas, while teaching led classes. When I asked him whether ornot to do them in my own practice, as I had been practicing without Ð as he hadtaught me, he told me to add in the vinyasas to build my strength. By that trip in1980 there was still no Parivritta Trikonasana, Parivritta Parsvakonasana,Utkatasana, or Virabhadrasana in the practice. (During another, later trip to theStates, Guruji added in Parivritta Trikonasana and Parivritta Parsvakonasana.The next time he came back to Maui to teach, he saw us doing ParivrittaParsvakonasana, asked why we were doing it, and said that this was "crazyposture" and that we should take it out. But the whole Maui crew loved it somuch that he said we could leave it in. (Utkatasana and Virabhadrasana wereperhaps added in at some point in the late 1980's.)

Originally there were five series: Primary, Intermediate, Advanced A, AdvancedB, and the fifth was the "rishi" series.