After years of doing astanga, it took me a while to get used to Sivananda. The main differences for me were that you rested in between each posture, instead of doing a viniyasa (a mini sun salutation) to keep warm, and the sequence of postures was reversed. In astanga you start with the standing postures, then sitting and inversions (e.g. headstand and shoulderstand). In Sivananda the inverted postures are first, and the standing postures last. I’ve been told this is because the inversions put you in a more meditative state of mind, and by starting with them, you are inducing that state for the rest of the practice.
Also with Sivananda there should always be some pranayama (breathing techniques) at the beginning of the class. Most other types of yoga I’ve done have left this out. But in Sivananda it is a cornerstone, as it is supposed to lead to greater mental clarity. A yogi I knew once went on a pranayama course in the hope that he would gain insight into where he was going with his life.
At the moment my main practice is Sivananda. Every morning I do 5 minutes of sun salutations and then the 12 main postures (see above – note the clothing that you are suppose to wear, white for purity, yellow for learning ). Admittedly, I don’t do much resting in between postures (except after locust) so I can normally get through them in 20 minutes.
The most usual thing about Sivananda, which like me you don’t realise until you visit a centre or ashram, is that the organisation and most of the teacher training is run by Hindu monks or swamis. They have taken vows of poverty, so pretty much everything is done on a voluntary basis. It is also very religious, with idols, chanting and a strict adherence to vegetarianism (no drink, no coffee, no eggs and even no onions). Leggings and vest tops are out too — you’re supposed to dress modestly in baggy trousers and t-shirts.
The advantage of this type of yoga for me is that it’s a refreshing change from the materialistic world we live in. Also because the teachers are celibate monks and have completely devoted their lives to yoga, they know a lot about the subject, so the standard of teaching from the swamis is particularly high.
Hi, thanks for sharing. I’m a trained Sivananda teacher and cannot stress enough how important it is to start the class with Kapalbhati and Anuloma Viloma. Chanting the opening mantras sets the tone, too. I like as well that not every one is running around in a Lululemon outfit, trying to be more bendy (and trendy) than others. However, I find if one perseveres this practice for a long time, it keeps on being very “full” on a spiritual level, there’s lots of chanting, satsangs etc – but you will only ever do these twelve postures. That’s it. It’s a series developed by Swami Vishnudevananda which apparently must be followed at all costs. So if you want go forward on that level, there’s not much there to discover. But the rest is great! Enjoy discovering Sivananda 🙂
Thanks for your comment. It’s nice to hear from a fellow yogini. I’ve done a fair bit of Sivananda: the TTC in Austria, visited the Neyyar Dam ashram twice as well as several retreats in the UK. I know what you mean when you say that the 12 postures are set in stone, but I have seen some flexibility with the sequence, with teachers often adding variations to the postures. The last time I went to Neyyar Dam there was even one gentle yoga class taught by a teacher trained in yoga therapy and she didn’t appear to follow the 12 posture sequence at all.