Advanced Yoga Poses

How does one start doing advanced yoga poses? I have several books and videos that show advanced yoga poses and how to do them and the benefits of them. But I am not finding a single resouce that describes in details on how and when you know you are ready to attempt one?

I did not start counting “11-20” until I starting counting “1-10” I did not start doing multiplications and divisions until I knew how to do addittions and substraction. I did not start doing fractions and functions until I…You get an idea.

In the same way I would like to know what simple basic pose one should be able to before attempting a advanced pose. What intermediate pose one can do before attempting an advanced pose. I am sure there are resources out that that describes this in detail but I have not found it yet.

For an example, here is a list of some of advanced poses I found online, what should one be able to do easily and to what length duration/degree before one can attempt those:

Headstand Pose ? Salamba Sirsasana

King Dancer Pose ? Natarajasana Pose

Monkey Pose - Hanumanasana

Pendant Pose - Lolasana

One-Legged King Pigeon - Eka Pada Rajakapotasana

Revolved Half Moon Pose ? Parivritta Ardha Chandrasana

Scorpion Pose - Vrschikasana

Side Crow Pose - Parsva Bakasana

Warrior III - Virabhadrasana III

Wheel Pose ? Urdhva Dhanurasana

That is a lot of poses you want us to look at Yalgaar. It would really require a lengthy e-mail to answer those. Without me seeing you or working with you, It would be dangerous for me to really get into it. Seems like you need a good teacher.

How do you start doing advance poses? Start with beginning postures, move into intermediate, and work your way to it. Look at each posture individually, notice the muscles being used and the areas where range of motion is occurring and discover simple postures to help with those particular areas.

[QUOTE=Bridgette;20469]How do you start doing advance poses? Start with beginning postures, move into intermediate, and work your way to it. Look at each posture individually, notice the muscles being used and the areas where range of motion is occurring and discover simple postures to help with those particular areas.[/QUOTE]

It would be very nice for someone to list basic, intermediate and advanced poses. Would be great help.

I do not think I have enough understanding of postures at this point of time to determine the muscles being used and areas of motion. I mean it may seem simple to me and I may be able to guess it but I also know I could be completely wrong. Perhaps soon someday I would know.

[QUOTE=lashannasmall;20468]That is a lot of poses you want us to look at Yalgaar. It would really require a lengthy e-mail to answer those. Without me seeing you or working with you, It would be dangerous for me to really get into it. Seems like you need a good teacher.[/QUOTE]

Thanks. Any books you recommend that would show me this. I mean how does one advance from basic to intermediate and to advanced poses? Something that would show what one should be able to do first before doing each of the intermediate ot advanced pose.

A good sequence to practice at home that takes out the guess work is Ashtanga yoga. It is sequenced so that the poses build on each other and they get more advanced as your work through it. That will take out the guess work. A few good books on that would be Power Yoga by Beryl Bender Birch and Ashtanga Yoga: The Practice Manuel by David Swenson.

What you do is just learn the sequence pose by pose. You start out by learning sun salute A. When you memorize that and feel comfortable, add sun salute B. Just continue that way through the book. Don’t go to the next pose until you feel you have a handle on the the previous ones. That doesn’t mean that you do them perfectly, but that you feel comfortable with the pose and you have them memorized up until that point. David Swenson’s book is really good at showing modifications.

Both books give good information for beginners and how to ease into the practice.

When you feel comfortable, you can attend an Ashtanga Workshop. They have them all over the world and I am sure you can find one somewhere.

I would advise you to practice suryanamaskara daily. When you feel you are flexible enough & could do more than 50 rounds in a single stretch in let say a week than that may be the time you can slowly start practicing some advance asana !

As to what classifies as advance asana can not be very clear but you should just try to stretch your limits slowly but steadily everyday and be relaxed, do not over exert yourself. Read all the precautions before picking up any new asana.
Hope it helped a bit.

Sirsasana and Urdhva Dhanurasana are not considered advanced poses in any Hatha system I’m aware of. Of course some “practices” do not do any inversions at all. But that’s a different matter.

One does not worry about how one advances in Yoga. It is not an academic pursuit. It is not a pursuit of intellect or rational mind. It is merely a tool for self-exploration.

In order to learn the basic poses, their actions and alignments, in order to develop a foundation there, one really needs to study the art and that study simply must involve a well trained teacher.

This question doesn’t work particularly well on a forum because the answer could be so different for each person who would try to just give you the info you asked for. Your body could be differently mobile than mine, so just 'cause I am steady and joyful in a pose as long as I can hold j, b, and w poses for 10 breaths doesn’t mean you will.

This was the first convincing reason I came across to find a teacher, and I resisted that idea pretty well when I started learning yoga from books. (I think it helped that my books’ authors had different edges from mine, and so they labeled ‘beginner’, ‘intermediate’, and ‘advanced’ asanas with a method that my development did not follow.)

Dearest Yalgaar,
I have been practicing yoga (hatha, raja) consistently
for 36 years, and yet in many ways I consider myself a beginner.

Approach asana with a fresh, beginners mind.

Do not worry my friend about being advanced, or
learning advanced asanas. Follow your heart…and all will be revealed to you.

The first sutra says simply: "A mind free from disturbance is yoga."
Ah…wrap yourself around [I]that[/I] while in a pose.

:wink:
Namaste

Beautiful!

[QUOTE=aka360Yogini;20545]Dearest Yalgaar,

The first sutra says simply: "A mind free from disturbance is yoga."
Ah…wrap yourself around [I]that[/I] while in a pose.
Namaste[/QUOTE]

I think that’s the second?? yogascitta vritti nirodhah? (well almost the first :))

As I see it in yoga we shift from from ‘doing’ to ‘being’…

Advanced postures in terms of flexibility/strength ok

but shavasana is really difficult and I don’t ‘apparently’ need ‘to do’ anything…

…many say it’s the most difficult of all asanas!

Perhaps it could be worth while mastering!

but shavasana is really difficult and I don’t ‘apparently’ need ‘to do’ anything…

— just thought it was worth repeating. ----

Light on Yoga, by BKS Iyengar, contains a graded practice that goes on for 300 weeks. That shoud keep you busy for a while. A good Iyengar teacher could help, or a good Ashtanga teacher.

[B]YOGA-MANO-VIJNANA-DARSANAM
Cosmic Pschology, The Absolute “I-am”

(The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali)[/B]

[I]Chapter 1 Samadhi Padah[/I]

  1. ATHA-YOGANUSASANAM
    Now the discipline of yoga is explained.

  2. YOGAS CITTA-VRTTI-NIRODHAH
    Yoga or union is the cessation of the thinking mind: “Who am I?”

Translation from [I]The Textbook of Yoga Pschology:
The Definitive Translation and Interpretation of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras,
page 390,[/I] by Rammurti S. Mishra, MD (known as Dr. Mishra),
recognized authority on Sanskrit.

…and from B.K.S. Iyengar: (about the first two sutras of Patanjali)

[I]“In the first two sutras he (Patanjali) says that when the mind is stilled, the self rests in its abode.
If things were as simple as that, then Patanjali could have ended there.
But he goes on to amplifly those two sutras with a hundred and ninety-four further sutras
in which he defines the technical ways of reaching that state.”[/I]

                   -- from [I]The Tree of Yoga[/I], page 119

Thanks joga yuggler for clarifying…you’re right.
I sometimes group the two together (bad habit) as the first only…
I refer to the first as sort of a ‘sub-title’…as for the 2nd:
“A mind free from disturbance is yoga.”
(I can’t remember who translated it [I]exactly[/I] this way?)
Maybe Georg Feuerstein, PhD…?
Anyone know?

PS For any newbie yogins and yoginis…anything by Feuerstein
is great…a must for your library is his [I]The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga[/I], Shambhala, 2000.
:wink:

Namaste

[QUOTE=InnerAthlete;20518]

In order to learn the basic poses, their actions and alignments, in order to develop a foundation there, one really needs to study the art and that study simply must involve a well trained teacher.[/QUOTE]

In my opinion, these yoga instructors from Toronto are very well qualified.
They started their yoga training in India, Himalayas, from the age of 10.

http://yogagta.com/

[I]Originally Posted by InnerAthlete

In order to learn the basic poses, their actions and alignments, in order to develop a foundation there, one really needs to study the art and that study simply must involve a well trained teacher.[/I]
Yes…Ditto.

To oak333:
With respect…I was surprised to see the
photo of a man in Sirsasana on the website homepage
you recommended as “very well qualified” from Toronto.
Is this photo supposed to be a ‘good’ representation of headstand?
Or are they trying to illustrate common mistakes in the asana…?
If he was my student, (the man in the photo) I would change
the position of the head immediately as it looks as if his [I]entire forehead [/I]is
on the floor (extending the neck) taking the weight, rather than the crown (top) of the head.
As the 4/5th cervical vertebrae have the greatest range for flexion and extension…
one needs to be extremely careful not to make this mistake.
This imbalanced position can lead to neck injury
by placing stressful compression on the cervical intervertebral disks…

From [I]Light on Yoga [/I]by BKS Iyengar, page 186:
“In Sirsasana the correct position should be mastered, as a
faulty posture in this asana will lead to pains in the head, neck and back.”

Also his back is very arched. (again, I’m discussing the photo)
One should lengthen up as in Tadasana–up-side-down.
Their should be a small circle of energy felt in the center of the crown of the head while balancing.

Even Swami Vishnu (founder of The Sivananda School), cautioned one to [I]not[/I] place the parietal part
of the head (frontal, near the forehead) on the floor during this asana.
“If the portion nearer to the forehead is used, the spine will suffer a curvature…”
[I]The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga[/I], page 91.

[I]Posted by oak333
In my opinion, these yoga instructors from Toronto are very well qualified.
They started their yoga training in India, Himalayas, from the age of 10.

http://yogagta.com/ [/I]

Perhaps you may wish to suggest (since you know them and posted their site link for us all to visit)
that they articulate their homepage a bit more effectively.
They may indeed be wonderful teachers…just not discerning web-designers, as “a picture tells a thousand words.”

A new student–someone like yalgaar (who started this thread)–can learn by your linked photo: what [I]not[/I] to do in headstand.

From yalgaar post: For an example, here is a list of some of advanced poses I found online, what should one be able to do easily and to what length duration/degree before one can attempt those: Headstand Pose ? Salamba Sirsasana

See [I]Plate 190 of BKS Iyengar demonstrating a ‘good’ Sirsasana from his aforementioned classic text.[/I]

Namaste,
Nancy

[QUOTE=yalgaar;20461]How does one start doing advanced yoga poses? I have several books and videos that show advanced yoga poses and how to do them and the benefits of them. But I am not finding a single resouce that describes in details on how and when you know you are ready to attempt one?[/QUOTE]

I also practice from books (being unable to attend classes) and am slowly coming to really understand that the most basic poses are never ending. My ego and desired esteem from others have tortured me about making advances.

But it’s all in my head and I don’t actually NEED to do the headstand.

Brooke

This site classifies the asanas by degree of difficulty.

http://www.santosha.com/asanas/

As you have their web site, I might wish to suggest you ask them directly. It would be interesting to see their reply.