Parsva Drishti

If there's one drishti, or gazing point, in the Ashtanga series that evokes a strong reaction from me, it's gotta be Parsva Drishti. Also known as "side" drishti, or sideways gazing point.

I mean... SIDEWAYS?! OK, so you're either looking to the right side or to the left side. But even then this is ambiguous. All the other drishti gazing points are so SPECIFIC, like the nose drishti (Nasagrai), hand drishti (Hastagrai), foot drishti (Padayoragrai), etc. Even the fluffiest-sounding one, the third-eye drishti (Ajna chakra or Broomadhya), which isn't even based on a physical body part, more like an energetic point, is so much easier to define than the ambiguous Parsva Drishti.

I mean... OK, if you're talking about Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana where you swing your leg out to either side in Utthita Parshvasahita... I'm thinking: "so I'm looking to the right, but right WHERE?! Up? Down? Eye level?"


I usually tend to just gaze a little bit higher than eyeline - somehow it just helps me from an energetic point, to keep the leg lifted, to keep the whole asana lifted together and upwards. So for me at least, this "Parsva Drishti" has always been a little bit more "sideways and UP"!

But then in Mysore, I remember in led classes noticing how most people's heads were dipped down. As in: They were looking to the side, but their focus was down on the floor!! (What great Parsva Drishti I have, that I can also spot other people's eyelines. HAHA!) I suppose in a crowded led class, there's no way you're gonna look sideways and at eye level, coz this means you'll be staring at your neighbour and if they wobble, you're gonna wobble and crash too.

So then I tried this out the next time: I looked down to the floor. SIDEWAYS, but gazing down at the floor. Wow, this really F'd up my balance. Maybe it just felt different and I wasn't used to it. But NO WAY. Never again. It felt like energetically I wasn't doing anything to keep myself in the pose either.

The other Parsva Drishti that makes me laugh is in Supta Padangusthasana. Usually by this time in the Primary series, I'm happy to be laying on my back and sometimes cheat a bit by not working so hard here. Heh. Also, with the sideways drishti here, sometimes my gaze wanders around the room to check out what other people are doing at this point. So I guess this particular Parsva Drishti is a "sideways and all over the room" drishti for me. Haha.

(I dunno why Arjuna is looking away in every Parsva Drishti picture. Maybe he's in on the conspiracy that you can't tell where the eyeline is supposed to be in Sideways Drishti.)

And then what really got my back up in yesterday's practice was Parsva Drishta in Pasasana. I was doing an evening practice at the MWF shala (no morning practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so it's evening practice there instead), and in fact I've been enjoying evening practices again so much that I'm thinking of switching over to evenings all the time now. It's only when work gets busy that it's hard to do so.

But anyways, so I digress.

Yesterday's practice was very laboured and water-retentive (that time of the month is creeping up!), and maybe it was also the big lunch I'd had, but getting the bind in Pasasana was a bit of a struggle. I got there eventually on my own, but I couldn't crane my head around fully in Parsva Drishti. I ended up looking kind of sideways to the left wall (and right wall) on either side, but usually in Pasasana I'm able to crane my head around so I'm looking more towards the back. So I suppose my usual Parsva Drishti in this is "sideways and to the back", whereas yesterday's Parsva Drishti was "sideways and... er... to the side".

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Look, for Arjuna, it looks like it's "sideways and UP!"


See what I mean by how Parsva Drishti is just a bit of a pain the ass?!

HOW DO YOU DEFINE IT?

How "sideways" is "sideways" enough?

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Moving Along...

As some of you might already know, I skipped Tuesday's practice coz I just couldn't bring myself onto the mat. Then, yesterday was moon day so no practice either. Today, I was a little bit scared to get on the mat again, for fear of blubbering my way through in the shala (this wouldn't have been a problem if I had a home practice, but somehow in order to force myself out of bed THAT early in the morning, I need to have somewhere to go to or I just wouldn't have the discipline to crawl outta bed). Go figure.

Anyways, I'm glad I did it. I had a nice practice. Nothing new to report, no breakthroughs... except you know me and my fascination with how what I eat affects the next day's practice... and I noticed the twists and binds were definitely harder today because of my soba noodles last night.

This was the first dinner in a couple weeks that hasn't been light and raw, plus... it was full of carbs... it was EXACTLY what I felt like for dinner last night so I'm not complaining. It's just an observation. I couldn't quite catch my wrists today in Mari D, had to stick to finger binds. Though I was still able to catch my fingers in Supta Kurmasana. Barely.

It's weird. Dinner was like 12 hours before practice, so don't ask me why it makes such a difference, it just does. Plus, my digestive system has always been my sensitive point, I seem to "feel my way" through there. HAHA.

The Pasasana bind came easily though. But here's the thing... I'm on tiptoes, I'm twisting and binding, but my drishti's on the floor in front of me. The moment I turn my head back to the correct Parsva drishti, my balance goes off. The same with trying to get my heels down. My coolie-squatting genes are only valid for regular squats that face forwards with no twists and binds, so I'm trying to "mutate" them further... enhance this squatting gene pool (except I'm not sure what good this will be when it comes to natural selection).

(Photo credit here)

Teacher was observing me get the bind in Pasasana, then she came to help me get feet flat and get a SUPREMO twist going. On the other side, she stopped to watch me get into the bind, then helped again with getting heels flat / more of a twist. At the end of it, she said "You'll get the next pose".

YAY!

So I stupidly did my vinyasa, then waited on the mat. (She did say I'd get the next pose, right?!)

Then I looked up, she looked at me and said "Do your vinyasa".

I said "I did!"

Then she said "Next pose for you on Sunday".

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA. How was I supposed to know?!

It's nice though, how the practice is always there for you. And gives you a little bit of joy like today. :)

Ruminating on Pasasana

So I've been thinking about Pasasana. (Haha. And then? What else would I have been doing?)

Just based on people's comments and what I've observed in the physical shala (as opposed to the cyber shala)... It seems like this is a pose that people need a bit of assistance in (me included, OF COURSE!)

Is this a case of an "over-assisted" pose? ...Kinda sorta almost like Uttitha Hasta Pandangusthasana... y'know... sometimes you just need to be left alone to figure out how to work the pose on your own but all too often you get an assist with it, then come to rely on the assistance and then it takes you longer to "get" it on your own. To be honest, my UHP became WAAAAAY improved during Sharath's workshop coz for 2 weeks I had zero assistance with it and had to work on it on my own.

So then... how would one determine when you "get" Pasasana to a satisfactory level before you're moved on? I mean, of course it depends on when the teacher feels you're ready to move on, but it seems like some people who are waaaaaaay into the rest of the intermediate series are still getting an assist with Pasasana, the first pose, without their heels on the ground too. But I don't know if they're always getting this assist or only occasionally (you see, I'm not ALWAYS rubber-necking and keeping tabs on what everyone else is doing!)

So how do you determine this? Haha, I'm not looking to move onto Krounchasana already, I'm just curious what else is supposed to be going on in the pose that I may not be aware of.

The other Pasasana question is - Why do you start with the left side first and not the right? Every other pose in the Primary series starts with right side first coz apparently that's how it should flow energetically. So... what's going on here? Anybody?

I checked David Swenson's manual and he starts it on the Right side first (bring left elbow over to outer edge of right knee... that sounds like a right twist first). But maybe his book was also written a while ago.

And then I realized that I now have to buy more books on the Intermediate series coz the Swenson manual is the only book I've got with an Intermediate reference! (Yay for Gregor Maehle's new book! Amazon, here I come!) I'm happy to take more book recommendations too for other references for the Intermediate series.

In the meantime, this is why you Advanced series people are the new cool kids. Here's a great site with more Advanced cool kids, and you can add your advanced asana pictures to the collection too.

Kiss my ass-ana! ONE HAND!

Hello Pasasana, Nice to Meet You!

I was given the long-awaited Pasasana today. The first pose of the Intermediate Series in Ashtanga Yoga.

(Photo Credit here)

So now, I officially declare all of you ashtangis practising the Advanced Series (in the shala, at home, as part of Ashtanga or Ashtanga Vinyasa Krama™... ie. Advanced Series in whatever shape or form) the new cool kids in town.

I had to plod through the ENTIRE full primary series and get to the end before I got this. Well of course! What was I thinking, that I'd start off the practice by going straight into Pasasana?!

Oh boy. Ashtanga is HARD. And it doesn't get magically easier when you move along. I was so deluding myself by thinking the heavens would open and rain down angels to make my life easier!

Halfway through Primary today, I caught myself thinking... OMG. I have an ENTIRE new series to learn. FAAAAAAARK. What have I got myself into now?! It just seemed... very DAUNTING. As Mel so eloquently put it the other day, I get to do all the "weird s**t" now! Well, not NOW-NOW or in the forseeable future... but at some point I'll get to do that WEIRD SHIT. Er... Yay.

But first... I am working on my one measly new pose right at the end of Setu Bandhasana.

Being Asian, well, specifically CHINESE... it's easy for me to get my heels flat on the floor. Hey, my ancestors were all coolies who squatted to do everything (yes, EVERYTHING)... so the ability to do a full squat with heels on the ground is in my genes. (In fact, I've even seen the modern equivalent back home in Singapore squatting with heels flat on top of a bus stop bench. He could have SAT DOWN on the bench like a normal person, but no. He had to squat on top of it. Yes, he looked like he was perched like a bird. It was so... uncivilized. And ridiculously funny at the same time.)

(Photo Credit here. See Exhibit A above on camera-left. WHY is the dude squatting?! ...Because he can. Nyah nyah!)

But still... as easily as squatting comes for me... squatting with heels flat WHILE doing a twist AND bind... that kinda messes with your head a bit. It's balance and for me at least, quite a bit of core to prevent yourself from rolling backwards.

Good thing Teacher was there to anchor me at the back, and I got a pretty good, deep twist on the first side (the left side). So deep that I surprised myself by being able to catch my wrist on the first try! And MY GOODNESS! With Teacher there to assist and keep twisting me further with each exhale, I could see everything happening behind me and to the right! (See how the chick in the top picture is twisting to her left? Imagine her twisting more so she could see even more behind her to the right. That's what it felt like.)

It felt open and expansive, and it felt good. :)

On the other side, it didn't feel as open and deep. I'm not sure if I caught my wrist on this side as well, I think I did, but I was busy concentrating on getting that twist coz it felt more like a struggle on this side, and I couldn't quite twist as far back.

It's kinda weird coz in Marichyasana D, this twist to the right is usually my easier/ more open side but somehow I wasn't able to find it in Pasasana on this side.

At the end of it, I said "Backbends?" and Teacher nodded. So that's as far as I got today. HAHAHA.

At the end of class when I waved goodbye to her, she nodded and winked at me and said something along the lines of "it comes easily for you..." or something like that. I'm not sure what she said but I HOPE that's what it was. Hehe.

So there you go. That's IT. Nothing as life-changing as I'd imagined it to be. It just feels like a slightly longer Primary session. Er... because it is, at the moment.

And life keeps going.