Yesterday I spent the day shopping, I bought myself the Ashtanga yoga book, the David Swenson one that as well as accompanying the dvd I acquired, was also the most highly recommended and for good reason. I am very glad that I bought it as this type of yoga seems a bit more possible for me compared with how I was feeling after watching the video alone. For each of the poses there are many alternatives which provide an entrance level that is achievable and there was also some quite detailed discourse about the movements between poses I think I have a starting point anyway.

Yesterday and today I have been working on the Sun Salutations and the standing poses. Ashtanga Yoga is much more physically demanding than ordinary yoga and I was finding myself quite fatigued at times, but as I was practising on my own I could take the rest I needed.

The other aspect of this practice that is very different from the type I was originally taught is the Ujjayi breathing and the Bandha. I’m not going to go into what they are but the links seem to provide pretty good explanations.