Since my bike/car accident-I was on the bike-I’ve been working my way back to this amazing practice we share.  I am humbled anew at the brilliance and healing power of the primary series.  I’ve learned that if I am willing to be very patient, those poses that were completely impossible a few months ago are now returning pain-free.  To be able to step back into that rhythmic flow of the ujjayi breath feels like coming home.  It feels, like the word ujjayi, a victorious experience of prana, life force.

I’ll be returning to teach an evening Primary Series class this Spring Quarter, and I cannot tell you how much I’m looking forward to sharing this inspirational practice with you.  I’m taking over my dear friend Gail’s Wednesday 5:45p class; be assured that we treasure Gail as an integral part of Yoga on High, and that we are finding her another spot on the schedule.

In other ashtanga news, we are changing one of the Morning Mysore classes- the Monday class-into a Modified Primary class to be offered at 6am.  We are continuing to tweak the schedule to find the mix that best serves as many of our community of ashtangis as possible.  So this will be a bit of an experiment to determine if it is the early morning time that is challenging, or the open style of the Mysore class itself.  Vote with your feet on your mat in class!

We are looking at ways of making the full Primary Series more approachable for you as well.  If you’ve been a Modified Primary student for a while, I’d love to help you move through the whole Primary Series on Wednesday evenings or Thursday mornings.  The poses from the Primary Series not included in the Modified are the very ones I’m working with again-they are the first to leave you when you can’t practice regularly and the last to come back.  In addition, look for some upcoming clinics and workshops for other opportunities to gain the confidence to move from Modified to Primary.

This year we are anticipating visits from three ashtanga yoga masters-Tim Miller in April, Maty Ezraty in July and David Swenson in November.  I hope you will consider investing in a weekend with one of these senior teachers to deepen your practice and to connect to the wider ashtanga community, as these teachers attract students from all over the world.

As I write this in February 2010, it was exactly ten years ago that I was in Mysore, India, studying with Pattabhi Jois.  I was so fortunate to be there at a time when we were still in the old shala where only 12 students practiced at a time.  I worked with Guruji on a daily basis for seven weeks.  He gave me his blessing to teach the Primary Series.  When I take you through the Primary Series, I aim to offer to you the transmission Guruji gave-of love and energy and utter confidence in the transformative power of this practice.

Blessings and love,
Martha