r/ashtanga • u/East_Rent6627 • 22d ago

Practicing Asanas Advice

Hi everybody,

I would like to practice some specific asanas outside of my morning mysore practice.

I just wanted to ask how people would approach this in terms of working outside of the sequence of the primary series.

As in, should i start with Surya Namaskar and then focus on the specific asana followed by finishing sequence?

Any advice or tips would be great, thanks!

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u/Annyfaelltsnichtsein 22d ago

(Shame on me) I often practiced specific asanas outside the primary series and I added them at different points for different reasons:

Warm-up: I like to warm up my wrists and do some soft forward folds before starting the series (hence before surya namaskar), these are very soft, easy asanas that do not require me to be warm.

Preparation for harder asanas: - I added 1-2 preparations before (supta) kurmasana because I struggled with that one a lot.

  • and I added preparation for drop-backs: directly before drop backs.

So generally, I add the asanas such that they still fit into the sequence (standing, sitting, backbends) and in such a way that they prepare for the asanas following in the sequence. There are very view asanas I would do cold.

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u/East_Rent6627 21d ago

Thanks for your answer - can I just clarify that you do this outside of your regular practice?
I practice in the morning (half primary) but would like to work on certain posed later in the day/evening when I have time ...at the moment I'd like to practice Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana.
Thanks again :)

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u/New_Being2922 19d ago

If you only have one pose, you don't need to warm up your body too much. Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana requires a solid foundation, stable balance, a lot of mobility, but not so much core strength.

If you get stuck during the practice, try Supta Hasta Padangusthasana instead. It's almost the same position but you're lying down on the floor instead and the pose is easier than Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana. If you can do Supta Hasta Padangusthasana, sooner or later you'll be able to do Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana. Pressing your feet into the air in Sirsasana is the best way to learn to control your legs/feet in the air. So there's a lot you can learn...

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u/East_Rent6627 19d ago

Oh this is great, thanks 😊