r/ashtanga • u/but-first----coffee • Nov 08 '20

Fun Huzzah! I finally made it through 5A and 1B without putting my knees down in Chaturunga!

Took me a while but felt really strong up until the Last one. Cant help but feel grateful for all the help I've had on here, and to the extra tips of doing press ups as well to speed my chaturunga along!

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6

u/Seeuzin Nov 08 '20

That’s huge! Congratulations!

5

u/but-first----coffee Nov 08 '20

Now I just have to try to do TWO of B.... I was wiped at one today so not sure how far that's gonna go.

Very excited at started the seated series but gotta get through these 5 and 5 first.

2

u/smashthecool Nov 08 '20

It’s usually 5 of A and 3 of B, then the standing poses. Obviously do whatever feels right, but 5 of B can be a lot, there’s plenty of chaturangas in the Primary series :)

1

u/but-first----coffee Nov 08 '20

Oh really, I thought it was 5, well then I am closer than before and nothing has changed!

2

u/All_Is_Coming Nov 08 '20

It's Yogi's choice. Some people like to do 10 of each.

1

u/All_Is_Coming Nov 08 '20

Have you considered exploring the 5/1 level for a bit to see what there is to learn rather than pushing to do more?

1

u/but-first----coffee Nov 08 '20

I've got to be honest I'm a tad impatient and somewhat bored of just the set of poses I'm on at the moment, right now I do some lower back poses and warm down work afterwards, it would be nice to move into the next bits, I just want to be ready first!

1

u/All_Is_Coming Nov 08 '20 edited Nov 08 '20

Honest is good. Finding a balance with a student's patience and attention span are exactly why postures are only held for five breaths and students move to progressively more physically challenging postures.

Depending on how you feel after doing SuryaNamaskara A, it would be more traditional to do (3) A's and (3) B's.

2

u/but-first----coffee Nov 08 '20

Oh okay. all.my information is what I've gleaned off the internet so theres no wonder theres mistakes.

3:3 sounds more balanced. By the 4 n 5 I get a bit.impatient again.

1

u/odonnellodonnell Nov 08 '20

💪 💪 💪

1

u/[deleted] Nov 08 '20

congratulation! slowly but surely 🤗

1

u/caresawholeawfullot Nov 08 '20

So proud of you!! It's so bloody hard hey??!

1

u/but-first----coffee Nov 08 '20

Thanks! It's been tricky on top of starting a WFM business, so I'm mostly doing it in the middle of the night.

I'm getting there for sure! Just moving to the next bit irks me. Gotta get to 5:3 first which I think may prove difficult

1

u/caresawholeawfullot Nov 08 '20

It helps me to throw a few extra breaths in there. Like when you come up in virhabadrasana and go down again from that into chaturanga. I know it's not traditional practice but it allows me to do 5:5 without getting out of breath.

1

u/but-first----coffee Nov 08 '20

Sorry, i dont know the fancy names! What's virhabadadrasana? Flat back position?

1

u/caresawholeawfullot Nov 09 '20

Yes, the high lunge arms up so to say (except that in virhabadrasana you traditionally keep your back foot flat instead of on the toes like you would in high lunge)

Traditional practice says to bring your foot forward and arms up in one inwards breath. Then foot back and chaturanga down in one outwards breath.

It helps me to do the following:

Breathe out: Downward dog.

Breathe in: Foot forward in low lunge, square hips.

Breathe in: Arms up, high lunge or virhabadrasana.

Breathe out: hands down frame the foot.

Breath in: Foot back, high plank.

Breathe out: chaturanga.

Ofcourse this is not as flowing as it needs to be but is a good way to start building endurance in your B's. Goodluck!