ashtanga yoga

Kasypasana - Philippa Asher

ASHTANGA YOGA

What is Ashtanga Yoga? 

Now incredibly popular worldwide, Ashtanga yoga is a powerful discipline that creates a calm and healthy mind, body and nervous system.

Ashtanga means Eight Limbs in Sanskrit.  Each limb (aspect) is a method by which one can achieve a deep state of conscious awareness and thus live in harmony with the universe.

Asana (posture) is the third limb and its aim is to purify the body and prepare it for meditation.  The mind has to be cleaned also, as do speech and behaviour.  The other limbs invite us to do this via our:  moral, ethical and social conduct (yamas);  personal behaviour (niyamas);  breath control (pranayama);  sensory control (pratyahara);  concentration (dharana) and meditation (dhyana).  With mastery of the aforementioned limbs, the superconscious state of final limb (samadhi) may be experienced.

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras 

Around 2000 years ago the Indian sage Patanjali defines classical yoga, shares insights into the human mind and offers direction on how to achieve the state of yoga, in a collection of 196 aphorisms called Yoga Sutras.  As well as summarising the eight limbs of Ashtanga yoga, he describes the nature of human suffering and guides us to understand the root of consciousness and gifts to be gained through the practise of Ashtanga yoga and having a balanced approach to life.

Patanjali outlines five human afflictions (kleshas), that must be overcome in order to achieve absolute liberation.  These are: attachment; aversion; egoism; ignorance (of self) and fear (of losing self).  Cited in other scriptures too, are obstacles/poisons of the mind (known as shadripu or arisha dvargas), that prevent us from connecting with our true self or ‘soul’.  These include: desire; anger; greed; delusion; arrogance and jealousy.  Patanjali claims that through the practise of Ashtanga yoga, our debilitating traits may dissipate and inner peace can be attained.

It is the yamas (ahimsa: non-violence;  satya: truth;  asteya: not stealing;  brahmacarya: controlling/being responsible with ones sexual energy;  aparigraha: non-possessiveness);  niyamas (sauca: cleanliness of body, mind and speech);  santosa: contentment with what one has;  tapas: austerities/disciplines to remove impurities); svadhyaya: self study;  isvara pranidhana: surrender to the universal consciousness and having faith without expectation);  asana (postural practice, to detoxify and open the body and mind);  pranayama (breath control and expansion);  pratyhara (control of/withdrawal of the senses from external stimulation); dharana (concentration of the mind);  dhyana (meditation: focusing the mind on a single entity);  samadhi (a higher state of conscious awareness, where the mind goes beyond the object of meditation and the individual self) and concepts of Samkhya philosophy that are described in the Yoga Sutras, that form the basic principles of the dharmic way of life, for an Ashtanga yoga practitioner.  The aim is to connect with pure consciousness (purusha) and to be free from the delusion (maya) that the nature of our mind (prakriti) causes.

Ashtanga Asana System

The asana (posture) system is characterised by powerful, synchronised ‘breathing and moving to a precise count’ (vinyasa); gaze points (drishti) and internal energy locks (bandhas).  The aim of the Ashtanga asana practice is to attain the perfect alignment of the breath, looking place and movement (tristhana) and through doing so, to develop a moving meditation.  Throughout the practice, very slow inhalations and exhalations through the nose, allow prana (vital energy) to be carried around the subtle body.  Coupled with the correct execution of tristhana, stagnant energy in the nadis (energy channels) and around the chakras (energy centres) may be unblocked.  In turn, this allows prana to flow freely around the body, dissolving any physical or mental disturbances that are causing dis-ease.

Through regular practise of a precise sequence of flowing asanas, the body becomes flexible, strong and light, toxins are removed and the blood is cleaned.  Many aliments can be improved.  Slow controlled breathing and deep concentration create incredible focus and a quiet mind, resulting in a feeling of calmness and peace.

Today, there are six ‘series’ of Ashtanga yoga asanas: Primary (Yoga Chikitsa) to align, detoxify, balance, open and strengthen the body;  Intermediate (Nadi Sodhana) to purify the nervous system;  Advanced A, B, C and D (Sthira Bhaga Samapta) to demonstrate high levels of strength, flexibility, grace and humility.  When one asana is mastered in a controlled manner within the context of its vinyasa (with tristhana, good alignment and calm deep breathing), the next is added until a complete series is practised regularly.  When one series is mastered, the asanas of the next series are learned one by one, in the same way. When more than half of the asanas of the next series have been mastered, the different series are ‘split’ and practised on different days. With time (as the body and mind purify, grow stronger and become more open), the other aspects of Ashtanga yoga transpire organically, allowing us to find our true nature and connection with the universe. 

For more information about how to practise and concepts of the method click here!

Ashtanga Yoga Lineage 

The Ashtanga asana system is said to have been first illustrated by Vamana Rishi, in an ancient text called Yoga Korunta.  Early last century guru Rama Mohan Brahmachari shared many ancient teachings of yoga and concepts believed to have been described in this work, with his student Sri K Krishnamacharya.

From the early 1930s to 1950s, the Maharaja of Mysore sponsored Krishnamacharya and gave him a yoga space (shala) in the Mysore Jaganmohan Palace grounds.  His remit was to popularise yoga.  Krishnamacharya’s teaching changed and adapted to his students, throughout his life.  He was influenced by a range of hatha yoga texts, scriptures, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, asanas that he learned from his guru and by elements of physical culture in India, during that time.  One of his first students was Sri K Pattabhi Jois (the architecht of today’s Ashtanga asana system), whom he taught for over twenty years.  In 1937 the Maharaja of Mysore asked Jois to open a yoga department at the Sanskrit College in Mysore.  He was made Professor of Yoga nineteen years later and taught there until 1973.

Pattabhi Jois established the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore in 1948 and since then, has shared his extensive knowledge of Ashtanga yoga, with thousands of students all over the world.  It took him around fifty years to ‘set’ the final six series of the Ashtanga asana system and these sequences evolved and changed during this time.

He passed away in 2009 (at the age of 93) and is succeeded as Director of the renamed Krishna Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute (KPJAYI), by his highly asana-proficient grandson Sharath Jois.  In 2019 Sharath opened a new shala called Sharath Yoga Centre.

For more information about Krishna Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute/Sharath Yoga Centre check out: KPJAYI.org 

Click here for ASHTANGA ASANA PRACTISE SHEETS: Primary, Intermediate, Advanced A & B Series

Marichasana F - Philippa Asher