Ekam - Traditional Ashtanga Yoga

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Here's an article I've been writing for the last two years, and it's still very much a work in progress and not yet perfect. It's based on data that I've collected about my daily yoga practice since 2007. When you fill out the indemnity form and you say 'yes' to yoga-related research, this is what I'm talking about...

Establishment and Maintenance of a Yoga Self-Practice, Yates, S.

Introduction

Yoga is an ancient philosophy having its origins in the East, specifically India. This philosophy, and its associated practices, seeks to unify or yoke the body, mind and spirit. Yoga philosophy describes many ways to achieve this union however, this article presents the establishment and continuation of a yoga asana practice, the most dominant practice of yoga in the West.

The Ashtanga (‘eight limb’) yoga philosophy describes eight limbs or stages of yoga practice from internal observances (yamas and niyamas) to enlightenment (samadhi). The third limb of this staged practice is asana or posture, literally meaning ‘seat’. The sage Patanjali describes asana as having ‘the dual qualities of alertness and relaxation’ (2:46).

Asana practice may be dynamic or static. In the static form, asanas are held for a finite period of time with the purpose of stilling the mind and gaining control of the senses. Eliade hypothesized in his book Yoga: Immortality and Freedom that yogi sought to defy death, finding immortality in the ability to sit in a specific posture for an indefinite period of time. The dynamic form of asana practice involves a series of specific postures chained together by the inhalation and exhalation of the breath. This style originates from the Yoga Korunta which exhorts: ‘O Yogi, do not practice asana without vinyasa!’ This form of asana practice also has the benefits of calming the mind and increasing focus and concentration. Both systems have the additional effects of cleansing the body of toxins and building strength and flexibility.

Regardless of how the asana is practiced, it is like any discipline: repetition is the key to proficiency and continued benefit. As Sri K. Pattabhi Jois is often quoted: ‘99% practice and 1% theory’ or as David Williams elaborates: ‘Before you’ve practiced, the theory is useless, after you’ve practiced the theory is obvious.’

Therefore the establishment and continued practice of yoga asana is critical to the mastery of this specific limb. Patanjali, in his seminal work the Yoga Sutras, qualifies:

1:13 Practice is…the correct effort required to move toward, reach, and maintain the state of Yoga.

1:14 It is only when the correct practice is followed for a long time, without interruptions and with a quality of positive attitude and eagerness, that it can succeed.

In these two sutras, Patanjali illustrates important key qualities of a yoga practice:

1. Practice must have the ‘correct effort’ or investment, essentially a personal commitment.
2. There are three successive phases that a practitioner will progress through: moving toward, reaching, and maintaining.
3. The qualities of a successful practice are duration, focus, and a positive attitude.

Though Patanjali was referring to yoga as the union of body, mind and spirit, for the scope of this article we will use it to describe the smaller scope of a yoga asana self-practice. What the yoga gurus so easily describe can be a significant stumbling block for many yogis seeking mastery over their chosen yogic discipline. In the day-to-day world of career, family, and personal obligations, it is difficult to establish and sustain the commitment required for a dedicated yoga practice.

Presented here is a single example of the establishment and maintenance of a yoga asana self-practice documented over time. From the information collected we hope to qualify the documented self-practice according to Patanjali’s sutras and offer recommendations to other practitioners for the development and maintenance of his or her own self-practice.

From the information collected can the phases of ‘moving toward’, ‘reaching’, and ‘maintaining’ be defined? And if so, can the qualities of duration, focus and positive attitude be confirmed as helpful in the development of a self-practice?

Methods

Yearly standards were established for yoga asana self-practice in the following way:

1. A yoga practice journal was created each year to document the practice of yoga asana on a given day.
2. At the beginning of each year (2007, 2008 and 2009) a goal was made to practice a specific number of times/week.

A practice journal was used to collect daily information, including: the date, the sequence practiced (primary series, moon sequence, led class, etc), if no practice was done why (e.g. ladies holiday, moon day, pure laziness), and any notes about the practice such as the success or failure of a particular asana, breathing, thoughts, etc. Data collected in the journal was then entered into an excel spreadsheet by week number (1-52), and number of days practiced that week (0-7).

In 2007, the author established a goal of ‘any yoga practice (of any duration) at least  3 times/week’. In 2008, the goal was increased to ‘any yoga practice of any duration at least 6 times/week’. In 2009, based on information collected over the previous two years the goal was ‘any yoga practice of any duration at least 5 times/week’. In an attempt to align the self-practice with the traditional Ashtanga Vinyasa system ‘practice’ was qualified as:

1. Yoga practice (predominantly the Ashtanga vinyasa primary series) 6 times/week, except:
   • One day off/week (Saturdays) (n=52 days/year)
   • No practice on full and new moon days (n=26 days/year)
2. No yoga practice of any kind on the first two days of the menstrual cycle (n=26 days/year).

Over time it was accepted, that an alternative sequence could be practiced on moon days, ladies holidays and Saturdays (i.e. moon sequence) as desired by the author.

From the above criteria the following numbers of practice days/year can be defined:

Table 1. Practice Days/Year.

Results

The overall frequency of days practiced increased over time (Table 2). This takes into account the greatest possible number of days and the widest variety of practice regimens (primary series, moon sequence, etc).

Table 2: Percentage change 2007-2009.

Between 2007 and 2008 frequency of practice  increased by 9% overall (N=365), but by 13% when looking only at possible practice days in the stricter sense (N=261). Between 2008 and 2009 the percentage of days went down slightly, but could be interpreted as ‘plateauing’ of the practice. However, it can also be said that 2009’s practice maintained the gain that was made over 2008 from 2007.

Mean (average) values indicate that the 2007 practice goal of 3 days/week was more closely adhered to than the 6 days/week goal set for 2008. The 2007 mean of 2.8 being closer to 3 than the 2008 mean of 4.7 is to 6. The mean change between 2008 and 2009 increased by less, indicating that the author might be reaching a plateau with regards to the greatest number of practices per week. However, we see again that the mean of 3.9 in 2009 is much closer to the target of 5 days of practice/week and that author may becoming more realistic in terms of goal setting.

From the pie charts below, we can see that the distribution of the number of days practiced per week also changed between 2007 and 2008. In 2007, weeks in which 0, 1, or 2 practice days were recorded made up exactly half of the total weeks in the year. In 2008, weeks in which 5, 6 or 7 practice days were recorded made up over half (55%) of the weeks in the year. Of note, there are no weeks over these three years where practice was noted for every day of the week (n=7).

Table 3. Distribution of Practice Days/Week for each Year. 

A different way to look at frequency of practices per week is the Table 4, showing the distribution of days practiced/week for all three years side by side. The blue bars are 2007 showing the most weeks with one day of practice/week, followed by 6 days of practice/week from the yoga teacher training. The red bars indicate 2008, wherein many more weeks consisted of a 2-4 days/week practice schedule and higher numbers weeks with 5 or 6 days/week practice. The green bars are 2009, wherein the majority of weeks contained 4 or 5 days/week of practice, a significant shift from 2007.

Table 4. 2007-2009 Frequency of Practices per Week.

Examining the frequency of self-practice recorded over time (Table 5) we can also see significant differences between 2007 and 2008. As previously stated, in 2007, the average days practiced/week was 2.8, increasing to 4.7 in 2008. However, as seen in the graphs below, 2007 had a more sustained consecutive number of weeks recording target number of practices (2007=3, 2008=6) as compared to 2008, where the line has more variation over time. Between 2008 and 2009 it can clearly be seen that the author’s practice went from being widely variable to more consistent, yet still maintaining relatively the same overall average practices/week (2008 mean=3.4, 2009 mean=3.9, median values identical at 4.0).

Table 5. Practice Over Time (2007-2009).

Looking at the trend line for each year (black line), a sharp increase in the number of days practiced/week over 2007 can be seen, but still showing varying practice investment over time. In 2008, self-practice appears to be reaching a maintenance phase with a shallower trend line over the course of the year, however sharp ups and downs show that the practice was not settled. In 2009, we see a distinct leveling of the trend line with a slight decline. Even though there are still spikes and dips (corresponding roughly to monthly ladies holidays), it is a much more consistent self-practice.

Of note, for each year, late December and early January prove fatal to the overall practice.

Discussion

When reviewing the author’s yoga practice journals, several recurring factors were seen to influence the number of days practiced per week:

1. The establishment of a yoga practice journal in April 2007 enabled data to be collected and reviewed and the reasons for not practicing to be identified. Keeping a journal seems to have increased the number of practice days/week.
2. The rigorous practice schedule of the yoga teacher training course (practice every day, 6 days/week) during September-November 2007 sustained an increased practice schedule.
3. Joining an existing group of people who self-practiced together 3 times/week in January of 2008 increased and sustained the number of practices/week.
4. The author’s preparation for a 3-week trip to Mysore, India in September-October of 2008 and the subsequent 3 weeks of practice there in November-December 2008 sustained the number of practices/week.
5. Significant decreases in the number of practices/week occurred around weeks of extended travel by the author (February, June-July and December of all three years) and during a period of relocation in August 2007. These dips decreased in duration, but not frequency, when the decision was made by the author to carry a yoga mat on trips.

The initial assumption was made that the three phases as Patanjali describes them could be represented in the following graph:

Table 6. Assumed Progression of a Practice.

However, upon reflection the author proposes the following:

Table 7. Proposed Progression of a Practice.

If there are three stages, what is the catalyst that moves a yoga practice from one phase to the next? And what prevents it from slipping back to the previous phase? Using the author’s yoga practice journals, it is easier to answer these questions. Each significant, sustained increase in self-practice was preceded by a reinforcement of the self-practice, first in the form of daily self-documentation of the practice and second in the identification of an external method of support, either the yoga teacher training or the identification of a dedicated group of people with which to practice. In contrast, it is the absence of these factors: travel away from or departure from the supportive environment, that causes self-practice to slip.

With the data collected, and the above generalizations, can a trend be seen, in the data collected thus far, of the three phases of moving toward, reaching, and maintaining a yoga practice? And for each year, does the practice described by the data meet Patanjali’s qualifications of correct effort, sustainability, focus and positive attitude?

Though it is perhaps too soon to tell, the trend lines illustrate a distinct period of ‘moving towards’ an established self-practice in 2007 (increasing consistency of practices over time) to a more intense overall practice in 2008. However, it would be premature to describe 2008 as a year of ‘reaching’ a sustainable level of self-practice. In contrast to 2007's lower frequencies, but longer periods of sustained practice, 2008 shows increased variability in the frequency of self-practice. It was hypothesized that 2009 would prove to be a year of sustained intensity, with the correct effort required for practice six times per week having been realized. This proved to be true, however at a lower overall frequency of practice than expected. Therefore, the graph above could better be represented as follows:

As for focus and positive attitude, with the correct effort a more intensive practice would necessitate increased focus, both mental and physical as the demands of time, effort and awareness increase with the amount of time practiced.

Recommendations

It appears in this case that increased intensity of practice leads to greater variability of practice, at least initially. In order to prove sustainability or maintenance of the self-practice this variability this would have to level off over time, which will be seen over successive years of practice. In the end, these three qualities are interrelated, and when balanced create a state of union, or yoga which is the essentially purpose of any practice. The union of sustainability, focus and positive attitude, or of body, mind and spirit. 

References

Patanjali. The Yoga Sutras. Translated by Desikachar in The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice. 1995. 

Eliade, M. Yoga: Immortality and Freedom. 2^nd ed. 1970.

Acknowledgements

This is the accumulation of many hours on the mat by me and with many others who support me in my practice. Thanks to: AB, KW, NK, SR, and S&S. Special thanks to MP for help with the statistics and interpretation. ‘Practice and all is coming!’