When is more not more?
We’re lucky at Down Under with the dedication of many long term students who have advanced practices. And we have a lot of students new to Primary series. There’s a nice, slow progression through the forward bends, boat, the rolling around poses, and the final poses from the back. After months and months (or years!) of learning, it might seem natural to continue directly into Intermediate series.
But I’m going to suggest it’s valuable to stick with Primary for a while.
There are aspects of the practice, once you ‘get’ through all the postures that aren’t just about more poses or more difficult/challenging poses. There’s consistency: showing up; showing up regularly. There’s steadiness in practice: staying on the mat. Focus. There’s rhythm in moving in and out of poses through the transitions smoothly. There’s refining what you already have.
Maybe a different way to frame this is that there’s progression and there’s depth. Depth can look like getting through all the Chaturangas. On working on jumping back and through. Honing alignment in postures you feel you know. Consistency in the closing poses. Taking proper time for Savasana. So not necessarily deeper in poses but deeper in practice, in the less glamorous parts of practice.
I was at a training with David Swenson once and he was asked what his practice schedule looked like in Mysore, back in the day. He was working through the full curriculum then, and he said that everyone did Primary on Monday and Friday, and Sunday was Led Primary. Tuesday he would do Intermediate. Wednesday was 3rd. Thursday was 4th.
So of the 6 days of practice, 3 were still dedicated to Primary regardless of how ‘advanced’ your practice was. It’s the foundation. It’s essential. Consistency in Primary is critical grounding in moving further.
For me, there’s always more to discover in Primary. Every practice I find something new, still. I’m not saying I don’t struggle or get frustrated. I do. But Primary still feels like coming home.
I guess what I’m suggesting is that you think about organizing your practice around the part of whatever series you’re working on, like a project, but reserve time every week for Primary. I’m not saying don’t do Intermediate (or more…) the backbends are a great counterbalance to Primary.
I’m trying to say build a pattern for practice that balances strength with flexibility in a way that contributes to longevity.
In Patanjali’s explanation of the Yamas and Niyamas, 3 are closely related: Asteya (non-stealing) and Aparigraha (non-grasping) in the Yamas; Santosha (contentment) in the Niyamas. If we are content with what we have and with who we are, there’s no need to steal or the constant nagging craving for more. The two Yamas address–in different ways–when our focus is directed outward to what we don’t have, to what we crave and what we feel will fix or cure us. Santosha in contrast is concerned with gratitude with what we have, what is, without need for more.
In a funny way, the structure of the practice is based around more: longer practice, more poses, challenging transitions. But that need for advancement can lead down paths that result in burnout, injury, boredom. (And likewise too much contentment can lead to stagnation, inertia). We’re looking for a balance between growth and depth where learning to cultivate contentment in practice can mean doing less, but with more joy.