Can beginners do ashtanga yoga is one of the most asked questions
This is a question I often get asked about Ashtanga yoga. The short answer is yes, Ashtanga yoga as taught in Mysore is a great way to learn any yoga. Yet, it’s not just the immediate beginning of something that we need help with. Finding someone or some resource to help you begin is the easy part. However, what we need help with, or to rephrase the question, is how can we start in such a way that’ll make it more likely that it will be possible to continue?
If you’re anything like me, at the beginning of most things, I tend to dive in head-first without much reflection as to the best or most efficient approach. Yet, this is imperative if we are to stand a chance at building something sustainable. It’s easy to start; continuing is another matter that involves creating well. This, in turn, means beginning in a methodical, structured and pragmatic manner.
Obstacles to beginning well – the deadly due of ambition and impatience
The most apparent difficulty we encounter here is running before we can walk. With the vast amount of information available, our eyes and minds get the better of us. Perhaps, idealistic, ambitious, and impatient by our very nature, we aspire to do too much, too quickly. So, beginning as we mean to go on means a careful and pragmatic taking of small increments of learning and practice.
The body responds similarly; gradually, in fits and starts, it begins to get the idea that we are instilling in it regularly. Muscles are trained like horses; they must be coaxed and convinced slowly. That is, muscle memory takes a while to alter and then, similarly, develop. On the other hand, when we are sold beautiful images of advanced postures from every corner of yoga online, it’s hard to refrain from our temptation to rush forward too quickly.
Honesty is the key
The antidote to the above enemies of ambition, idealism and impatience is honesty. If we can be straightforward about our current level, this will be inordinate help to us in the long run. Maybe, this also means a more cautious use of social media. Don’t get me wrong; it’s not that we won’t arrive there; we develop the advanced asanas we would like most. Instead, the fastest way to reach this is to ascertain one’s own ability at present. Only here can we work effectively. An essential aspect of beginning ashtanga well then is that you can challenge yourself to the right degree.
Don’t neglect the basics as a beginner in Ashtanga yoga.
Probably the one thing every teacher says, and the one thing the beginning student is most resistant to is to do with the invaluable nature of getting the foundations to practice right. Of course, we do not want to build our house on uneven ground.
As they say, a stitch in time saves nine, and to have to take it all down and rebuild again is incomparably more complicated and, usually, a lot more painful than getting your basics under your belt. Because everything else is a development of an original understanding, it is as well to get this understanding as straightforward as one can in one’s head (and body) before moving forward.
Pick the right teacher – a good one, not a popular one.
In this current marketplace, it is sad to say that the teacher doesn’t always have the beginner ashtanga student’s best interests at heart. Instead, they are indisputably in the process of selling to the student. It must be remembered that to be a yoga teacher is now a job, furthermore, a popular one. To this end, they need to attract students if they are to pay the bills. Indeed, like any economy, it’s one of scale, so the more, the better. All this means that the teacher often delivers to the student what they want and not what they need.
As we have said, what we want when we begin, may not be the best place to move from. For this reason, we need to be careful in picking a teacher, looking for one who will challenge us, without a doubt, but not one who will sell to our natural sense of ambition and wish for a most apparent accomplishment.
Checking in with our aims
The first piece of advice we might offer, the very most important, is to check in with ourselves before even starting. It might be worth reflecting on our aims and aiming as high as possible. I don’t necessarily mean in asana here; holding those aspirations in mind (whilst we build up more gradually) is no bad thing. We also need this kind of inspiration to continue.
However, when I suggest aiming high, I mean to aim for the most significant thing we might imagine. Which, in my mind, is an inner peace that comes through self-knowledge/self-acceptance. Keeping this in mind every step of the way is most helpful in facilitating progress most suitable to oneself. As well as a most sustainable and fruitful one. One must keep returning to this question, for, equally, at every step of the way, as one moves away from being a beginner, the risk is that we start to build pride in our newfound ability.
Pride comes before a fall.
We are all, to a degree, proud of our progress. Indeed, we should be when progress is hard won. On the other hand, the capacity to keep one’s sites set on our practice pays dividends. To mitigate the very worst in pushing ourselves at the beginning, the only thing one can do is bear in mind one deeper aim and recognise that this practice doesn't matter to anyone other than ourselves. In other words, it’s to no one else’s benefit, or interest, apart from ours, whether we can put our leg behind our head or not.
We are all, to a degree, proud of our progress. Indeed, we should be when progress is hard won. On the other hand, the capacity to keep one’s sites set on our practice pays dividends. To mitigate the very worst in pushing ourselves at the beginning, the only thing one can do is bear in mind one deeper aim and recognise that this practice doesn't matter to anyone other than ourselves. In other words, it’s to no one else’s benefit, or interest, apart from ours, whether we can put our leg behind our head or not.
The value of consistency in whatever we do
Finally, here are some practical ideas of how to begin. All of them are framed by an attempt at consistency. Only through this quality can we truly progress in the world with anything. In contrast, starting and stopping, doing loads one day or week and none the next is not a recipe for sustainable progress. This is what we should aim for because the opposite of this is an injury in ashtanga.
This is why most people stop, so we want to avoid this as best we can. Everyone has little obstacles, pulls and tweaks that are part of the process. But, a full-blown injury usually stems from inconsistency in approach.
So, how might we avoid this most fundamental mistake?
Find a teacher who encourages you to the right degree. Doesn’t over-push you or make over-claims to attract you.
Check your foundations. A clear understanding of the information is essential before moving forward. The underlying quality of this is consistency itself.
Do a little, often. It’s easy to get carried away. Restrain the temptation to over-practice one day. This can easily lay you up for days after.
Do something. There will be many days you don’t want to practice. This must be admitted. On the other hand, just get on the mat and do something. In this way, we save the space for when motivation and inspiration return in full force (they indeed will if you have begun well).
Getting stuck on the Plateau
As we have been discussing, beginning very quickly relates to continuing. For this reason, we need to understand how to deal with the plateau. At the start, we seem to progress incredibly soon; almost daily progress can be seen with our own eyes. However, when this progress slows down, which it inevitably does, we enter onto the plateau with yoga. Or, to make it more familiar, graduate from the honeymoon phase.
This means we must use every method and trick in the book to keep us at it. As already stated, all of these are around consistency. Whereby yoga, in the end, becomes enmeshed in our very lifestyle – yoga as a lifestyle. Then, it is harder not to do it than to do it, for it is part of our daily routine.
So, how do we make this happen?
Try to pick the same time and place to practice each day. Regularity helps us with motivation. We build strength through habit, and familiarity is a big part of this.
Use online resources carefully for motivation. A little can help, or the wrong type can be dispiriting.
DO NOT beat yourself up if you can’t face doing ALL of it. Instead, roll out your mat anyway and do what you can. As they say;
Don’t let the great get in the way of the good.
DO NOT judge yourself. Sometimes, you just have to focus on it and not look to the left or the right.
Watch for any little sign of something you did better today.
Get your information clear. There is nothing like doubt and uncertainty to make you inconsistent in your approach to what you do.
I hope some of these thoughts have been helpful to you. I think Ashtanga yoga for beginners is an ideal way to start; how many do it in Mysore?
I want to stress that it is your practice from day one and that there is no level of expertise better than a beginner’s mind, as they say. On the other hand, you also have to build on this carefully. Go slowly, and allow the suck it and see methodology into your approach. If it works, keep it; if it doesn’t, let it go. This means one must work pragmatically and with the long-haul in mind. Remember, nothing is worthwhile that comes effortlessly, and few things that come too quickly prove sustainable or profitable in the long term.
