Ashtanga Yoga

Ashtanga Yoga as taught by Sri K.Pattabhi Jois and his family in Mysore, India and his son Manju Jois, is a very traditional form where the yoga postures (asana) are scientifically sequenced to bring ultimate benefit to the practitioner. When the postures are understood by the body and mind, the practice in action, is similar to a beautiful artistic dance, full of energy, grace and indeed mystery.

Ashtanga is a sanskrit word meaning Eight Limbs. These are a set of aphorisms on yoga contained within the ancient treatise, Yoga Sutras by Patanjali.

	Yama	Guidelines to help us deal with the world
	Niyama	Guidelines to help us deal with ourselves
	Asana	Practice for the body using physical techniques
	Pranayama	Practice for the body~mind using breathwork
	Pratyahara	Practice for the mind using sense withdrawal
	Dharana	Practice for the mind using meditation
	Dhyana	Practice for the mind~spirit using meditation
	Samadhi	Practice for the unification of body-mind-spirit

The Ashtanga Yoga Asana practice is presented in different series, from basic forms to very advanced forms. The first or primary series is the most important sequence as it is suitable for everyone to practice and is also known as Yoga Chikitsa (Yoga Therapy). Each individual asana has a number of health benefits and so when the entire sequence is practiced there is tremendous overall benefit to the student.

When practiced with others in a class situation it is very empowering in a similar way as meditating with a group. However, the most important practice is the selfpractice in one's own home (or a studio offering Mysore morning classes), and the ongoing exploration of yoga and one's self.

 

While the greater emphasis is placed on the physical asana, this does not at all exclude the other limbs of yoga outlined above. For example, when sitting in the lotus pose (padmasana), one is performing the asana itself, also one is breathing (pranayama), one is being aware of the external and internal worlds (yama & niyama to some extent), one is focusing on the breath (pratyahara, dharana and dhyana), a sense of expansiveness and taste of bliss comes about (samadhi). I feel that within each limb all others are also contained.