Ashtanga Yoga

Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is a dynamic style based on coordinating the breath with a series of postures and movements in a specific sequence. Ashtanga Yoga was developed by the renowned teacher Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, who brought this yoga system to the modern world. Continuous movement and breathing through the postures warm the body deeply, encouraging circulation and digestion, cleansing the blood, and increasing lung capacity.

Sweating supports the body’s natural detoxification, and when the method is followed consistently, the body becomes strong and healthy. 

Body postures, or asanas the activation of specific muscle groups, or bandhas a longer, modified breath with a soft sound in the throat, known as ujjayi breathing, and the direction of the gaze, or drishti are combined at the same time. Asanas cleanse, strengthen, and create flexibility in the body, while bandhas direct strength and energy. Balanced breathing, with equal inhalation and exhalation, steadies the nervous system. The direction of the gaze develops concentration and calms the mind. Together, these three aspects are known as Tristhana, uniting the intention of the mind with control of the body and refined through regular practice. Ashtanga Yoga is traditionally practised in Mysore-style classes that are not led as a group sequence. The teacher is present to offer personal instruction, postures, and assistance while everyone practises together at their own place in the series. The teacher supports progress and offers ways to work with a pose because the traditional rule is not to proceed until the previous posture is mastered. This approach asks for complete trust in the teacher and the practice.

There are several series in this yoga practice. The primary series works to purify the whole body, the intermediate series focuses on the nervous system, and the remaining four advanced series refine the details, making the body lighter and stronger and the mind more flexible.

Watch some of the themes in the videos below, or find more Ashtanga Yoga classes on my YouTube channel.

My relationship with Ashtanga Yoga

A distinctive feature of Ashtanga Yoga is its choreography, repeated and refined day after day, with each series following its own sequence of postures. This allows us to stop thinking about what comes next and settle into movements that, through daily repetition, become a meditation. The style is also known for its many rules, which are followed without question in a traditional approach.

Ashtanga Yoga is a traditional style, and for people who can accept it without questioning, everything is clear.

That did not work for me. After many years of dedicated practice, learning from more experienced teachers, accepting the style as it was, and giving myself fully to it, I realised that following Ashtanga’s rules was creating an unhealthy relationship with myself. The practice develops a particular mindset that became a kind of prison for me. I felt conditioned by thoughts that I had to complete the practice every day and noticed that I used it to measure my worth: if I practised, things were good; if I did not, they were not, and I remained unsettled all day. It took time to admit that the practice was too demanding and that I often felt depleted for the rest of the day.

Ashtanga Yoga became like a parallel relationship and a support without which I barely knew who I was.

What troubled me most was the subtle but persistent comparison between practitioners: listing achieved asanas and sharing advice on how to reach them. This is human psychology, and I know not everyone experiences the practice this way, but I did. Over time, I understood that it was not cultivating healthy habits of mind for me. 

The turning point came when I began practising with an attitude of giving rather than taking. This message is not often heard in Ashtanga Yoga, yet it is essential to a healthy relationship with a practice to which we are deeply committed. The intention to help ourselves, reduce stress, or maintain health is an expression of love for ourselves, and by helping ourselves we also help others. Putting effort into practice and receiving a positive result is not wrong; pursuing achievement for selfish purposes is. The difference between selfishness and self-care lies in accumulation. Someone who cares for themselves takes what they need and shares their capacity, while selfishness never has enough for itself and has nothing for others. 

Those ten or so years were nevertheless a beautiful period, rich in intense physical experiences and the expansion of my limits. I built deep strength and stability in the tissues and created an excellent foundation for health and vitality. It was a time of deep breathing, opening the chest, expanding the boundaries of the body, meaningful friendships, and journeys connected with yoga. 

Afterwards, I kept Ashtanga Yoga as a foundation for teaching because it offers a familiar set of rules within which we can explore a focused theme.

I now teach by encouraging practitioners to feel their current state, respect what is present, and clearly understand what we are doing and where to place attention. My classes usually focus on a specific theme, so the effect of the practice can differ considerably from one session to the next. You could say that we practise a Therapeutic Mindful Ashtanga Yoga practice with the intention of supporting a particular area of the body or working with a specific concern, all immersed in meditation.