According to some, (Patanjali et al), the Eight limbs or steps of yoga should be completed in order, through one to eight. Mastering one step then moving to the next in a sequential process.
According to others (Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Bihar yoga school), the sequential root is a virtual impossibility to achieve because of the way we live today (?), and that it is better to do the 'shatkarmas' first, then proceeding to Asana and Pranayama.
I personally feel the second way is more favourable to me. As I have become more adept at Asana and Pranayama I have been able to take on board the ramifications of the overall process of consciousness transformation, a la Yoga! If somebody had told me I had to do Yamas and Nyamas before I could do an Asana, I would never have started. I was a victim of my head as it was and needed to get some oxygen in my brain first.
The "Shatkarma's" are the six yogic cleansing techniques. They are; Neti, Dhauti, Nauli, Basti, Trataka, and Kapalbhati. I would recommend you go to Youtube and type in these names and you will probably get ample demonstrations of these procedures. Just to remind you that the people on youtube are there for there own reasons and some of the techniques may not be correct, but it will give you some idea.
The essence of Yoga is the awakening of consciousness, Yes/No?. What we are or at least 'should' be thinking about from time to time is, 'what am I doing with this stuff?' It is a powerful and radical tool of transformation, so it is important that 'you' keep your own counsel on matters relating to 'your' personal journey and you need to be very wary of someone that tells you they know more about you than you know about yourself!!
In order to do that you really need to know who you are, at least as much as you can at this point in time. That is to say, ask yourself seriously, why you want to do yoga in the first place and secondly, how is it working for you so far?
Life is the way it is and we have good days and bad days with or without yoga. Be as grounded as you can be when listening to what teachers are telling you and what they are trying to get you to do, and if it doesn't feel right, then it probably isn't.
'Avoid Nutters!' Written on a wall in north London.
We are who we are now as a result of many years of conditioning, and to change this conditioning in any way may take a long time, so don't be in a rush, because it's taken you a long time to get this way. Enjoy the journey.
Om Nama Shivaya
If we think of ashtanga yoga as steps we may come to the conclusion that they need to be completed in steps, as some have said, although I'm not sure Patanjali himself said so. I prefer to think of them as limbs each as important as the other, and this is the position that swami Satchidananda and Iyengar to name a few take. So it's ok to start your first steps in yoga by doing asana, or whatever, but eventually you have to bring the other limbs, or petals of yoga as Iyengar calls them into your practice. All in good time though. Om
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