Grounding in your Ashtanga practice

November 5 2020 | Asana, Ashtanga yoga

In yoga practice and in life I always try to remind myself that the sense off grounding is something I should start every step and every conscious thought with.

When your shoes are tight, its painful to walk. When your feet are cold, its hard to cheer up. When now we have a limited connection to each other, which is also grounding, we feel uprooted, all over the place, maybe, hyperactive or agitated. When we can’t see properly, it is ungrounding. When we can’t sit steadily and easefully for an extended time, our chance to be open for the meditative state of stillness is limited.

I invite us all to focus our practice on grounding. If you  are an Ashtangi, we can acknowledge how grounding this practice actually is!

•  So many Dog  asanas – to get a sense of quadruped, of connecting to the earth with all four limbs.
• In standing asanas: 11 out of 15 asanas are with both feet and hands on the floor.
• Primary series in many respects is so much about the hips – this is where our connection to mother earth is.
• Primary series is so much about bowing to the earth and connecting with the pelvis, with legs, arms with the ground. 15 out of 24 in the Primary are forward bends.

I invite us all to attempt not to rush towards the final expression of the asana, but ground in each pose first and then move forward.

• Focus on your feet, hands first and then the pelvis and the spine. See how it shifts your practice.
• Feel how to move the way that each movement is initiated from the centre of the pelvis and centre of the torso rather than from your limbs…

Good luck!