The importance of order in asana
From the feet up: Kylie works with order in Uttansana, establishing the feet as the base and bringing the lower leg weight forward onto this base.
Did you know that there is an order to every āsana? The order begins at the origin point - where the initial action is applied in the posture. By working with order, we learn that every subsequent action must remain accountable to the first action.
Order is also known as method. It is a system developed by our senior Iyengar teacher, Peter Thomson. Peter is based in Sydney, Australia and spent many years working in Pune with the Iyengar family. With the support of our principle teacher, Suzi Carson, from Four Winds Yoga in Auckland, New Zealand, he is continuing to teach this method of Iyengar yoga well into his late 70s. The reason Peter, Suzi and I believe in this method is because it helps every student of yoga claim the practice as their own.
Why is working with order in your yoga practice transformational?
Order is important because it supports us to build a sequence of feeling, through repetition of action. It shows us how to locate the beginning of each āsana and work from the foundation up.
By using method and order, we begin to understand how to follow the actions we make and their relationships to one another. For example, in a standing forward bend, such as uttanāsana, we learn that by taking the weight to the inside of our foot (in essence, widening the heel) we work from a structurally sound place. Over time and with repetition, we begin to feel how this action in the foot supports a clearer understanding of the relationship between the foot and the lower leg. Then the lower leg and upper leg. Then the upper leg and the pelvis. Then all the way up the spine to the crown of the head.
We learn to feel the systemic nature of the relationships between the body’s different structures. This allows us the freedom to identify what we feel when we apply the first action and the subsequent relationships. We also become more proficient at locating what actions we are missing.
How order helps us to practice yoga safely
Over years of practice and repetition, this constancy allows clarity and awareness to grow. This gives us an ability to to refine our sensitivies. We become very focused on the origin of the āsana and this benefits us by delivering a stronger foundation.
With a strong foundation, we are able to practice yoga more safely, with less injury. This is because the method lets us know when load (what is above) is over-riding support (what is below). We can then make choices from that about how we choose to practice each āsana. This is hugely beneficial when we are working with more advanced postures, such as backbends and arm balances.
Putting function first
Each time we get on the mat, we have a practical pathway to follow that is based on function, not form. This means that we don’t fall folly to imposing our ideas, concepts and ego on the āsana. We are not trying to get further faster to create a certain shape.
We are instead following lines of energetic force. This eventually delivers far more strength and cohesiveness to each āsana and we progress easily and safely in our yoga practice.
As well as building up structural integrity for the muscular-skeletal system, order also supports us to slow down our brains during our practice. It removes thinking from the equation and instead focuses our awareness on a single point. Therefore each practice becomes a moving meditation.
Interesting in learning how to practice method in your Iyengar yoga practice?
