About Ashtanga

The second verse of the Yoga Sutras says:

"Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind."

Ashtanga yoga is a comprehensive system designed to allow any serious practitioner to realize this stillness of mind and transcendence of duality.

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, South India, has been teaching this method for 65 years. He believes it to be a powerful method for self-transcendence.

Jois learned the practice from his guru, the legendary yogi T. Krishnamacharya, under whom he studied for 30 years. He was entrusted by Krishnamacharya to develop and teach the system. In 1948 he founded the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in his adopted home city of Mysore, where in his nineties he still teaches daily and personally welcomes hundreds of students every year. Jois is the world's leading authority on Ashtanga yoga and its living embodiment.

The system has the Sanskrit name Asht-anga, or "eight-limbed" yoga, after the eight traditional limbs of yoga described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Indeed, Jois believes that the Ashtanga yoga he learned and teaches and that of Patanjali are one and the same.

The starting point for practice is the third limb, the activity of moving into, holding, and then moving out of a series of postures, or asanas, following the breath. Over time, regular practice of the third limb naturally fosters the growth within each practitioner of the other seven limbs.

The postures are in a specific sequence, starting with Sun Salutations and ending in Padmasana (Lotus posture), followed by relaxation. The transitional movements between postures are known collectively as Vinyasa, the counted movement-breathing method that is at the heart of Ashtanga yoga. Students begin by learning the Primary, or introductory, series, one posture at a time, usually not being taught a new posture until the current one has been solidly established. Careful attention is paid not merely to gaining proficiency with postures, however, but also to proper breathing technique, visual focus, mental concentration and the awareness and application of internal locks, or bandhas, all of which form the real basis for proper practice.

The Primary Series is known in Sanskrit as Yoga Chikitsa, or Yoga Therapy. When done with correct breathing, the postures of Primary Series powerfully stimulate the body's internal heat, producing a purifying sweat. With daily practice, toxins are released, the organs are toned, and overall health is improved, allowing the mind to become steady and clear, and integrity to take greater root. The body becomes lighter, stronger and more flexible, and areas of tightness and even trauma may open. At the same time, awareness of the breath energy (prana) as it moves in the body is developed, allowing the practitioner to observe internal life more closely and even awaken dormant sources of energy. With consistent practice, one can learn to face things calmly, sensibly, unafraid, without avoidance or attachment.

Depending on a student's age, physical abilities and dedication to practice, learning the entire primary series can take anywhere from a few months to several years. Once Primary Series has been completed, students may begin the more challenging postures of the Second, or intermediate, series known in Sanskrit as Nadi Shodhana, or nervous system purification. (For very experienced practitioners, there are then several advanced series of postures beyond that. These advanced series are not commonly taught in the West, except by Certified Teachers. They are not taught at Ashtanga Yoga Boston.)

Mysore-style and Led Practice

Daily classes are conducted "Mysore-style," as taught by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois at his shala, or school, in Mysore, India. Each student does his or her individual practice, with assistance from the teacher. Beginning and experienced students practice side by side. All students are taught postures one at a time, adding to their practice as they learn and demonstrate command of each one. During class, an atmosphere of concentrated silence is maintained.

Ashtanga yoga as taught by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois is a daily practice. Indeed, the consistency and discipline of daily practice enable us to learn it at the outset, sustain our practice over time, and fully realize its benefits.

It is hoped that every student will at some point attend class six days per week. Understandably, some lifestyle changes may be required to achieve this, but generally these are well worth it. Where a student has work or other commitments that do not permit daily class attendance, he or she is still welcome to enroll in the school and come fewer than six days per week, in consultation with the teachers.

Once a week, on Friday morning, class is led, or counted, in Sanskrit, the traditional language of yoga. As this is the last day of the practice week, everyone does Primary series together. Students doing less than full primary should stop their practice where they normally do and wait for finishing asanas.

Ashtanga yoga is appropriate for students of any age or background. The only prerequisite is a willingness to learn the practice. Students who are not physically fit or who may have a limiting physical condition can usually learn the practice, but should be prepared to be patient. Progress happens gradually.

For more information on the practice, please visit www.ayri.org.

Some photos from the Primary and Intermediate series. Click on any thumbnail to go to photo gallery.

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