about ashtanga

Ashtanga yoga literally translated means 8-limb yoga. The physcial practice is actually the third limb and this dynamic and physical form of yoga consists of 6 series of set asana (posture) routines with a vinyasa (connecting breath and movement) between each posture.

Ashtanga yoga has been brought to the west and made popular in modern times by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, of Mysore India, known as “Guruji” by his students. The tradition of teaching is carried on today by his daughter Saraswati and grandson Sharath Rangaswamy at their yoga ‘shala’ (school) in Mysore. Students travel from all over the world to learn from them and to experience or recharge themselves through the special energy of the lineage.

Today there are Ashtanga teachers in most cities who keep a connection to the Shala in Mysore and hand down this knowledge of the practice through their own teaching. It is an important facet of Ashtanga Yoga that there is a clear lineage in the transmission of the teachings. Yoga is a precise science, hence it is imperative that guidance in the practice follows the exact same manner as it was orignally conceived in by the sages, “Rishi’s”, of ancient times.

Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga as taught by Sri K Pattabhi Jois

This style of yoga is unqiue due to the ‘vinyasa’ or connecting breath movement between the postures.

With Ashtanga yoga students start at the beginning and work their way through the series’ according to their ability. The postures are categorized in such a way that one posture works and builds towards the next creating a holistic and systematic opening of the physical, pyschological and energetic body of the student.

Primary Series

The Primary Series or Yoga Chikitsa in Sanskrit translates as “yoga therapy”.

There are 21 postures in this series which begins with the Surya Namaskar sun salutations. These movements, particularly flowing and aerobic, warm up the body for the preceeding deeper stretches, and cultivate a humble and devotional atittude through the prostration/bowing like action involved.

Standing and balancing postures follow; demanding a gradual build up of poise, concentration and physical stamina. Once these can be performed with relative ease the seated postures are included. In the Primary Series they are predominantly forward folds, and hip openers / aligners.

The closing sequence always remains the same and is practiced in its entirety after any practice involving the regualtion and balancing of the subtle nervous / parasypathetic system.

The Primary Series may be a life times’ work for many. It is a very demanding sequence, but after some time benefits of health such as efficient metabolism, increasing energy and clarity of mind give encouragement to the student to keep working on deepening their practise. Impurities/toxins are purged from the deep tissue of the body and the student experiences a degree of freedom fro bodily ailements that allows him/her to explore the subtler dimensions of energy present.

Intermediate Series

The Second Series, “Nadi Shodana” is introduced by the teacher posture by posture and works on “nerve cleansing”. At this point is is fundamental due to the depth and intensity of practice that the student is devoting 1.5-2 hrs daily 5-6 times a week to yoga. This sequence emphasizes a greater degree of flexion in the spine; focusing on twists and deep backbends; which stimulate the three major energy chanels or “nadis” that run it’s length.

Eventually, the nervous system is considered cleansed to a degree that the practice becomes more internal still.

Advanced Series’

The advanced series, of which there are 4 (a,b,c,d) are collectively known as “Sthira Bhaga” or “steady strength”. Demanding a greater degree of physical ability, they also work more subtely on the energy of the body, further puriifying the mind due to requiring a deeper degree of humility and concentration in their performance. Pattabhi Jois has only taught the 5/6 series/advanced c/d, to his Grandson Sharath Rangaswamy, so there is some mysique around what is involved, with speculation that the final work is on slowing and controlling the heart.

“Practice, practice, practice and all is coming” although we are not 100% sure what the ‘all’ actually is.

8 Limbs of Ashtanga Yoga

Ashtanga yoga literally translated means 8 limbed yoga (ashto = eight).

Yama: Defines ethical conduct within society, similar in many resepcts to Jesus “Ten Commandments”.

Niyama: A personal code of conduct for the aspiring yogi involving ascetic discipline for the cultivation of a clear and focused mind.

Asana: The third limb is asana, pysical postures of yoga.

Pranayama: Breath control technique, involves harnesing the subtler and more profound vital energy or “winds” of the body.

Pratyahara: The fifth limb to the eigth are experienced as fruits of effort in the proceeding limbs. Pratyahara is the gradual ability of the practioner to turn the minds awareness away fom external, wordly objects and concerns, toward the internal elements of body consciousness.

Dharana: Concentration or “one pointed focus” of the mind is finally obtained, “citta banda” (mind control) is achieved and mental attention towards one object of contemplation becomes possible.

Dhyana: Meditation, the unceasing flow of understanding on whetever object the yogin chooses to direct attention towards.

Samadhi: Enlightenment, true knowledge.

“If we practice yoga without fail, we will then attain physical, mental and spiritual happiness, and our minds will flood towards the Self.” Sri K. Pattabhi Jois.

History

Shri Krishnamacharya was born in 1888 and lived to be a 101 years old, finally leaving his body in 1989. He is credited with being the grandfather of modern yoga as we know it; instruciting his son T.K.V Desikachar, B.K.S Iyengar, and Pattabhi Jois, the three teachers credited with bringing yoga to The West.

A great Sanskrit and Ayurvedic Scholar, he had already achieved a great deal of success and notoriety by the time he decided to seek out the hermetic Yogi Rama Mohan Brahmacharya then living in a remote cave with his wife and family in Tibet.

Having made a long and arduous journey over 5 months on foot across the Himalayas from India to meet this man he stayed for 7 years and was instructed in a number of texts including the now legendary “Yoga Korunta” which it is said Rama Mohan Brahmacharya had in his posession at that time. In this ancient scripture of uncertain origin (many claim authorship to Vamana Rishi) he found the details of the current ashtanga method of systematised postures and breath counts.

Asking how to repay him, the Guru told him to go back to India, start a family and teach yoga; which he did, settling in Mysore in 1924 after being given a wing of the Maharaja’s Palace as a Yoga Shala in exchange for curing he ailing Maharaja.

Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois, the father of Ashtanga Yoga as we know it, was born on the full moon of Guru Purnima 1915 in a small village in Southern India called Kowshika.

He met his Guru, Sri Krishnamacharya at the age of 12 when the yogi gave a demonstration in the local facinity. Overawed with what he saw he immediately vowed to become a dedicated student of this man, and ran away from home to study with him at The Mysore Palace, Mysore, where he was at that time teaching under the patronage of the Maharaja.

With very little money to his name the first years were hard for Pattabhi Jois; frequently he hadn’t even enough money to feed himself adequetely, but with his determination and commitment to the path of yoga he was soon supporting himself as an assistant in teaching to his Guru and due to his diligent scriptual studies, by 1937 he was also made a professor of Sanskrit at the Mysore University where he taught for over 30 years.

Unknown outside Mysore and the lowest earning professor at the college, it was not until the late 60’s when the first Westerners started to turn up on his doorstep requesting instruction that he finally began to gain the recogntion and status that he deserved. It is an often neglected fact that by this time he had already been teaching yoga to the locals of Mysore for almost 40 years!

Finally passing in 2009 at the age of 93 he has handed over the mantle to the continuation of the teaching to his grandson, Sharath Rangaswamy and daugher; Sharath’s mother, Saraswati. They have been assisting him for many years and were both taught and reached a great level of expertise in yoga from their early childhood.

Mysore

Mysore is a city in South India, famous for its’ palace, university,
food, an generally; as one of the cultural capitals of South India.

Pattabhi Jois lived in Laxmipuram Mysore for most of his life, aquiring reknown enough in the city, that, when western students first came to Mysore asking for him, they were shown straight to his door.

Since that time, over forty hears ago, his fame has spread worldwide with students from pretty much every country seeking him out as their Guru. More recently in 2005 he moved to a new Shala in Gokulam, Mysore, which at the busiest times of Jaruaury and February can accommodate over 200 students a day passing through it’s doors (practice times are staggered so there are about 50 students at a time practicing in the room).

Mysore style yoga refers to the assisted self practice in the style of Ashtanga vinyasa yoga which Pattabhi Jois made famous.

When not doing yoga, western students spend their time with local Indian teachers offering courses in subjects like Sanskrit, chanting the yoga sutras and ayurveda. There are many places of interest to investigate as well.

Guru Lineage

“Guru-Parampara”, or the transmission of the teachings in the same true form from teacher to disciple, has always been stressed by all spiritual and religious teachers as a fundamental consideration when choosing a teacher.

Pattabhi Jois often mentioned it’s importance in providing credibilty and inspiring faith in the Ashtanga Yoga which he taught. Here is a very basic lineage of the teaching up to the modern day:

Rama Mohan Brahmachari – a sage living in Tibet at the turn of the 20th century, who taught the yoga Korunta (sacred Hindu scripture – of uncertain authorship) to..

Shri Krishnamacharya – a Sanskrit scholar from Tamil Nadu India who subsequenty set up the first recored yoga school in Mysore, Karnataka
where….

Shri K Pattabhi Jois studied and taught yoga from the late 1920’s starting his own school around the 1940’s and then finally teaching his grandson…
Sharath Rangaswamy in the 1980’s the complete 6 series of Ashtanga Yoga (the only person who received this transmission) and carries on his teachings to this day with…

Saraswathi Rangaswamy, Pattabhi Jois’ daughter; mother of Sharath.

Classes today

Half Led Primary: Beginner Level

A slower class with much more explantion and guidance covering the first half of the Primary Series. Here we concentrate more on descriptions and modifications to help
those students relatively new to yoga to work efficiently and safely towards the Full-Primary class.

Full Led Primary: Intermediate Level

This class encompases the entire primary series of asanas and students work in their way in and out of the postures in time to the teachers count. Each posture has a certain number of movements with synchronized breath counts that are called Vinyasa. Students should be familiar with the full sequence and able to move between the postures in time with the count. Modifications will be given.

Mysore Style Self Practice: All levels including beginners

Within a group setting, each student is taught on a one to one basis with the teacher using both verbal instruction and physical adjustments to correct the alignment of the postures. Students enter the room at a time that suits them between 6.00 am and 7.00 am and the length of their practice will vary according to their level.

As a complete beginner on the first day of practice you will learn the basics of the Ashtanga technique and will be shown the sun-salutations. Practice will be a short one, but before long, with everyday you come, more postures will be added as you make your way through the entire series.

People often express feeling nervous about coming to a Mysore class, however, we are very welcoming and with time there will be new beginners starting next to you and you will see advanced students also struggling with their new postures and you will feel part of the ashtanga community.

There is no other yoga which comes close to the energy created in the Mysore room as a group of dedicated people move through their yoga individually, yet together. The early morning, the intent and sound of the breath, and sometimes the laughter are part of the powerful experience and the practice becomes a meditation which leads to personal growth on many levels.