The dual forces are starting to reveal themselves: 1)pure energetic strength and relaxation from practicing so much asana and mindfulness, and 2)physical exhaustion from practicing so much asana. My body is at once tired and energized. My mind craves both practice and release. I need to sleep and also I am too energized to sleep.

My right knee is sore. It is my medial collateral ligament, and I keep irritating it every time I do a hip opening posture. So my challenge is to back off of those postures to let my knee heal. Luckily (and frustratingly) Tony is attentive and constantly offering modifications for me, telling me to back off and chiding me for my ego. "Is it hard to let go of the postures?" he asks. Yes and no. I am here to practice the advanced postures with him. I want to be pushing myself physically. Instead I struggle mentally, trying to protect my knee from my own desire to progress.

He goes over all of the Lotus positions in detail. It is a thing of beauty to see someone execute the positions with such ease and precision. But we have to be careful with these postures. They are generally not good for the knees, especially if we do them frequently and for long periods of time.

In the morning's 'short series', Tony does everything starting with the left. He is determined to show us how flexible yoga can be. All the things that we think are rigid, the things we have done thousands of times, can be changed. In this afternoon's class he does something different. He omits some postures, does 2 sets of other postures, does the whole Cobra series as mudras, and then includes all the inversions. It is enlightening to experience Tony's freedom and control over the yoga.

This morning began a little after 6. I did some simple exercises on the patio as the sky got lighter. It is hard to complain about the lifestyle here. The weather is warm, the ocean and the sky are beautiful.

We seem to be hitting our stride with Tony. The group is becoming more familiar with each other, so the discussion is flowing more freely. Tony seems more comfortable and more fluid, moving from topic to topic and addressing everyone's issues, concerns, questions and a whole lot more. 

This morning's 'short series' includes all of the so-called "advanced postures," with the Bow Leg, Tortoise, Plough, Full, Peacock, Headstand, Tiger and Handstand sequences. It is nice to get to the advanced postures with more energy and strength. And with class this afternoon, it means we will get to do them all for a second time today.

He shows us the second step of Nauli, engaging the sides of the abdomen separately. Discussion comes around to Hell-Bent, Bikram and other dramas of this yoga community. Sometimes it seems like a better idea to just ignore the crap and focus on what is important. We put so much energy into discussing the flambouyant and frustrating. Perhaps it is our way of sifting out the meaningful tidbits, working our way toward the truth and a good direction. On the other hand, perhaps it is our way of avoiding important questions, like 'what do YOU think is the best way to practice, or teach, or build a community? Will you stand by it? Fight for it? Or just criticize those who have tried.'

This afternoon we begin with a lengthy discussion about alignment in Life Pose that turns into a discussion of history, competition, art and the purpose of yoga. 

Our afternoon practice of the Complete Series begins with a few qi gong exercises. They are so calming and grounding, very beneficial to the yoga practice. It all goes well. The Complete 84 doesn't feel like an over-long terror anymore. It is starting to feel normal and even peaceful. 

Only bad part about today is that my right knee continues to bug me. I have to back off of many postures that twist the knee. A blow to the ego, but the right decision for the health of my body.

This morning, as expected, we were quite sore. 4 1/2 hours of posture practice yesterday, and we'll do it everyday for the next 5 days. At 6am we walked down to the beach to get our bodies moving and loosen up our muscles.

Each day Tony is teaching us the Mudras (specific postures with breath control) and Bandhas (muscular control with held breath) from the Ghosh tradition. This morning we worked on Uddiyana Bandha, an important exercise that is a precursor to Nauli, which we will get to later in the week. I'm excited for that. I've learned Nauli on my own over the course of the past year. I am eager to study it with a master teacher.

This morning's 'short series' was essentially the Master's Core System. A nice round system that is intermediate in difficulty. No really advanced postures, so it felt comfortable. Nothing that required incredible exertion or caution.

The afternoon session was the Complete Series. Tony seems intent on destroying me. I am working on dropping back into Wheel. Once I am in Wheel he urges me into One Legged Wheel on both sides, then tells me to drop to my elbows (I am beyond toast at this point). He helps me a bit to get down to the elbows, then says "Tiger!" and lifts my legs up into the arm balance. I gave as much as I could to lift up into a respectable Tiger, but I don't think it was anything to write home about. When I finally came down, I was excited, grinning and completely spent.

It is great to be here practicing under the watch and guidance of such a great yogi.

Last night we arrived in San Jose del Cabo to spend a week studying with Tony Sanchez. The next 6 days will be dedicated to "Advanced Practice," whatever that means. I still don't know what to expect from Tony or these coming days. Inevitably they will include lots of practice of Ghosh's complete series of 84 postures, but I'm sure there will be much more.

This morning begins as all things begin: with introductions. There is a french woman, an irish woman, a canadian, and a few Americans from across the country. 9 of us in total. I look forward to the close attention we will get from Tony as we practice and discuss, and the relationships that will surely form as we get to know our fellow yogis.

He begins by explaining that he will be splitting up the Advanced Series (the Complete 84) into 3 shorter series. We will practice these short series in the mornings and then practice the Complete Series in the afternoon. This morning's practice includes the Lotus Series. 

In the afternoon, we waste little time before diving straight in to the Complete Series with all of the variations and additions that have been made over the years. It ends up being something like 104 postures. He is clear at the beginning of class: "If you start strong, finish strong. I don't want you to expend all your effort in the first 20 minutes of class." He advises us to pace ourselves. The class takes about 3 hours.

At the end, during the final two sequences, Tiger and Handstand, Tony gives us all personal attention. One at a time we do the postures with him nearby. He assists and advises.

As I am doing my handstand (which by no means am I an expert at), Tony grabs my legs and says "Scorpion, bend your knees." I laughed out loud. I have never attempted Scorpion with any earnestness and was not expecting it. But with his help I gave it an honest go, the results of which were captured for posterity above. Who knows? By the end of the week, maybe I'll be close.

These days when I attend a yoga class, I make a point to enter the room a few minutes early. I sit silently on my mat, usually in Firm Posture (Vajrasana), bring my hands together in front of my chest and close my eyes. I commit myself to paying attention to my own practice with humility. Whether it is mental or physical, I commit to noticing my body and mind and honoring it as I practice. 

Since I have begun this pre-class intention, my practices have become more peaceful and focused. I no longer notice the other bodies moving around me. All of my attention and energy is contained within myself.

"Yoga is said to be the union of the individual self and the supreme self (divine)... These are the limbs: yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi. Yama and niyama are subdivided into ten types. Eight asanas are important and among them, three are the most important. Dharana is said to be of five types. Dhyana is of six types; among them, three are said to be more important. Samadhi is one, but some think it to be of many divisions."

From the Yoga Yajnavalkya.

Thinking about a still mind
Is like talking about being quiet.

How should a yogi relate to food and eating?

CALORIE COUNTING
Sometimes people do yoga and exercise so they can eat more and eat more unhealthy foods. This mentality only works if you treat the body as a zero sum equation, where as long as you use more than you put in you will be healthy. The body is certainly more complex than that. Its response to 100 calories of blueberries is different from its response to 100 calories of cake. Nutrition (and health) is far more complex than just calorie counting.

DOWNWARD ENERGY & FASTING
Our body has strong natural digestive energy. It is a downward energy in the body that helps us digest, absorb and eliminate the food we eat. It also causes us to crave eating. One of the major goals of yoga is to turn this digestive energy into intellectual energy, redirecting the strength and vitality into our minds and spirituality. This is one reason why fasting is such a powerful spiritual tool. By halting digestion it greatly diminished the downward nature of the body's energy, making it easier to turn the energy upward.

WITHDRAWING THE SENSES
The sense of taste and the physical sensation of eating are powerful distractors of the mind. This is why we eat when we are stressed and when we are tired. The mind seeks comfort and distraction. An important practice in yoga is the Withdrawal of the Senses, well known as the 5th limb Pratyahara. Withdrawing the senses means not letting them dominate the attention of the mind. We see something and our mind goes there, we hear music or conversation and our mind goes there, we stroke our face and our mind goes there, we eat and our mind goes there. 

We need to explore our taste and hunger when we practice Withdrawal of the Senses. Try not to let the mind be dominated and distracted by the sensations or thoughts of the sensations of eating.

I just finished reading A.G. Mohan's book Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings. Mohan was a longtime student of Krishnamacharya and his book benefits from first-hand stories and a deep understanding of yoga. It is by far the best book I have read about Krishnamacharya. Here are some of my favorite parts:

"The purity of truth is often lost in unnecessary speech. To speak the truth, we would be wise to begin by practicing moderation in speech: to speak less and, when we speak, to do so clearly."

"He would say, 'What is this "boring" you all say? Nowadays even children say everything is "boring"! Nothing is "boring." None of you have control over your senses and so your mind becomes restless. Now some activity seems pleasing to the senses, and a little while later, another activity seems more pleasing. Because your mind is not able to stay steady and the senses pull the mind to different things, you want to keep on changing what you are doing. If you have sense control, there is never any question of "boring."'"

"In an interview, Krishnamacharya once said...'Group teaching is not good. When teaching asana we have to take into account the individual bodies since each body is different. One person may easily practice uttanasana while another cannot.'"

"Krishnamacharya used these broad categories to define purposes for the practice of yoga:
1. siksha: fitness - yoga for people who are healthy, to maintain their health or increase their wellness
2. cikitsa: treatment - yoga as therapy
3. upasana: spiritual practice or discipline - yoga for personal transformation

All quotes are from Mohan's book Krishnamacharya. Mohan's website is here.

For a couple of weeks I have been at 21 counts in my Samavrtti Pranayama,the even-counted breath. Unlike all the previous counts it has been pretty effortless from day 1. I continued at 21 counts for several days to allow my body and mind adjust instead of just moving forward right away. In doing so I learned a little bit about the state of my mind and body.

This has been the first count that was long enough to challenge my mind, at least for the first few minutes of each session. My mind expected to breathe faster and shorter. I had to consciously slow it and extend the inhales and exhales. This was the first time it felt like territory beyond "breathing deeply and slowly." I expect this challenge to continue for a few more weeks or months - my mind will be uncomfortable with the slowing of the breath. But eventually I expect it to settle and even crave the slow controlled breathing of Pranayama practice.

Because the count is starting to get long my lung capacity is being challenged, a big reason to progress slowly and patiently. I want to allow the lungs time to develop. I notice my upper lungs starting to come into play, a whole new world of breath capacity that is yet untapped. Along with this is muscular control of my upper ribcage to expand and draw air into the upper lungs. Occasionally it happens spontaneously to accommodate a huge breath, but I need to develop more consistency and control.

Tomorrow I will increase the count to 22.