This weekend I signed up for two Ashtanga workshops with David Garrigues at The Shala in Fort Greene, NYC as part of an immersion called “Opposing Forces in Practice”.
I’ve long been a fan of David’s, and his teachings have deeply influenced the way I practice Ashtanga. I was excited to finally get a chance to meet him and learn from him in person.
Here are my notes from the Day 1 workshop titled “Extracting Strength Through Standing Postures” (Day 2 notes are here):
You can’t jump ahead and accomplish a more advanced pose if you don’t have the foundational poses down first. This seems obvious, but it was a useful reminder as we’re often in a rush to get to the “interesting” iconic poses.
David is big on leg strengthening and lengthening. Strong legs (and arms) are the foundation of all poses.
In samastithi, we focused on stamping our feet down into the floor, and having our arms also extend actively towards the ground. With all four limbs active, the spine is allowed to free up. I like thinking of both legs combined together as if the trunk of a palm tree here.
We also explored anterior and posterior pelvic tilt both standing and on all fours. Registering a felt sense of both extremes helps to find and stay in neutral. It is a good reminder to attempt to keep the pelvis neutral in this way in all poses, as we often tend towards anterior tilt and a global extension pattern when exerting effort.
Then we took that same internal energetic quality into padangusthasana (forward fold). This was a great level up from samastithi to practice a new shape, while pulling in the same internal organization of samastithi.
Although David didn’t mention “joint centration” verbatim, I was reminded of this concept from sports therapy throughout the workshop. Joint centration is the ability to feel movement potential in all directions, and with it we avoid dumping, hyperextending, or locking into a joint. A centered joint is an available, active, and working joint.
In triangle pose, he recommended the alignment of back foot arch, front foot heel, and front foot’s second toe all in one line, like a tightrope. From there, a side hip tilt before reaching forward and down. Again the legs carry the pose, the arms are active, and the pelvis works towards neutral.
We then worked on the lunging poses from the standing series. He mentioned that it’s most important to focus on the deep lunge, and would rather sacrifice raising the back foot up (e.g. in parivrtta parsvakonasana) than to sacrifice the integrity of the lunge.
He presented the lunges as layered on top of Warrior 2. For example, into parivrtta parsvakonasana (the twist), and then a version where you throw the back arm up with springiness and conviction into parsvakonasana.
He didn’t seem strict about nose-only breathing or exact count synchronization, which I appreciated. He even mentioned reversing the inhales and exhales, which is something that I enjoy doing.
He loves props and encouraged everyone to use them regardless of ability level. Props aren’t a crutch, they’re a tool for extracting more from the pose. Even if you’re advanced, reducing your range and incorporating props can still be beneficial.
He taught maha mudra where we incorporated all four bandhas simultaneously. He suggested not collapsing fully forward as in janu sirsasana. Forward folds are only one “technology” of Ashtanga — there are many more, and we need not limit ourselves to that technology only.
David is a breath of fresh air from the rigidity of more dogmatic ashtanga teachers. His approach is technical but playful, rooted in tradition without being imprisoned by it.
I look forward to practicing with him again.
I’ll leave you with these thoughts inspired by him:
Experts go where the work is. Milk the pose. Extract the prana. Find the edge of effort.
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