Yoga Journal USA – June 2017

84

june 2017

yogajournal.com

MASTER CLASS

practice well

My love of Sun Salutations is two-

fold. Like most human beings, I really

love sunlight. I was born in Hermosa

Beach, California, where I learned to

appreciate sunrises and sunsets from

my mother. On a deeper level, a Sun

Salutation, or Surya Namaskar, is

an accessible way to practice moving

meditation. Namaskar is translated

as “to bow or offer respect,” which

has more heart than how it’s often

translated—as a “salutation.”

A namaskar is an opportunity for

awe and natural reverence, which is

expressed by people around the world

in relation to the rising and setting of

the sun. This is what I’ve been delving

into during my 25 years of teaching—

embodying the state of namaskar

and how to go deeper—not just into

Surya Namaskar but also into Chan-

dra Namaskar (Moon Salutation) as

well as what came before both (and

is perhaps their origin): pranams,

or prostrations.

I learned Surya Namaskar A and B,

which are what most people think

of as Sun Salutations, when I studied

Ashtanga vinyasa with founder Sri

K. Pattabhi Jois and other Ashtanga

teachers, including Chuck Miller,

Maty Ezraty, Richard Freeman, and

Tim Miller. These are set sequences

of poses that Jois learned from his

teacher, Krishnamacharya. To keep

the orthodoxy of those sequences when

I taught Ashtanga, I never varied from

the set form that Jois taught. However,

I also studied yoga with Krishnamach-

arya’s son, T.K.V. Desikachar, and in

the Bihar School, so I have an appreci-

ation for different approaches to the

beginning of practice.

In my teacher trainings, we always

start with classical Surya and Chandra

Namaskars as movement meditations.

In Prana Flow Vinyasa we have 4o dif-

ferent namaskars, based on the ele-

ments, chakras, rasas (essences),

mandalas, and bhakti (devotion). The

first namaskar my students learn now

is Prana Flow Pranam, which we use

as a potential way to start a practice;

it is a namaskar prep, close to a tradi-

tional prostration, but a sequence I

developed slowly that can be repeated

for 3 to 1 2 rounds as a practice on its

own or as a way to begin a longer

practice. It is a moving prayer. With

this pranam, anyone can experience

bowing to the life force in every-

thing—the sky, the heavens, or your

own heart. For me, it is a way to

be intimate with my own spiritual

resources, a way that honors all faiths

and the simple power of returning to

the earth, sacred ground. When you

bring your whole body to the earth,

with your hands overhead, it is a way

to surrender and listen to your heart

or the universe. It is a very profound

moving meditation that everyone can

do. If you cannot go to the earth, sim-

ply bow forward, even just your head.

After Prana Flow Pranam, we learn

the classical namaskars, and then the

evolution of namaskars within Prana

Flow Vinyasa begins.

Just like the cycles of the day,

moon, and seasons change, our

energy changes. As the world is in

a state of flux and stress runs high,

we need a way to find balance at the

beginning of our practice. In the

mandala of Prana Flow namaskars,

practitioners learn to listen and

practice the elemental namaskar that

is energetically right for them, based

on the season and their constitution.

When you understand the roots of a

practice, you can make careful deci-

sions about how to expand it. The

shape of an asana creates its function,

effect, and feeling, or bhava. The

asana can awaken an inner experi-

ence, or a natural devotion. Forty

namaskars may sound overwhelming,

but it is an intelligent progression

that one can enjoy for many years.

It is important to transmit the

roots of a practice and then offer

its evolution. Unfortunately, these

days the practice of vinyasa feels like

a mashup: nobody knows where any-

thing comes from anymore. But

evolving from the roots is not disre-

spectful, especially when you show

your ideas to the teachers whose prac-

tices you are adapting. With the guid-

ance of my teacher G. Sathya

Narayan, I have been integrating the

Indian martial art Kalaripayattu into

a Kalari Namaskar and vinyasa prac-

tice. Not everyone can travel to India

to study Kalaripayattu, but I can bring

back a form that is accessible. Then if

those who try it want to go deeper,

they know where to go. We can always

be in contact with our teachers and

receive their guidance. We can con-

sciously evolve a practice.

“Just like we’ll have learned how

to harness renewable energy

50 years from now, we’ll have

learned to harness the power of

yoga in a positive way.”