What is Ashtanga “Vinyasa”?

Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is a subset of Hatha Yoga originated by the the teachings of Yogi Vamana in his text Yoga kurunta. His teachings we carried on by a great guru, T. Krishnamacharya and then finally to his student, Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois who set and founded the sequences known as Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga today. Ashtanga Vinyasa is a dynamic style of Yoga aimed to clear illness and disease in the body. Once we have control over our physical body, Ashtanga Vinyasa allows us to then explore the deepest parts of our mind and soul. The Ashtanga Vinyasa tradition follows closely with the Ashtanga Yoga path laid out by the father of modern Yoga, Patanjali who gave us a systematic 8 limb step to enlightenment (Samadhi). There are 8 steps as follows, Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. The Ashtanga Vinyasa series fit under the Asana limb and follows the Raja Yoga path to becoming one with the universe. (See previous post).

The word Vinyasa means “Movement with Breath”. It was Ashtanga Vinyasa where we see the first exploration of 1 breath, 1 movement. It is a continuous flow that requires focus, stamina and dedication. According to traditions, there are 6 sequences of Ashtanga Vinyasa. Each of the six series in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga consists of a fixed number of postures (asanas), each held for exactly five breaths. The rhythm of the breath in combination with the movements is exactly predetermined. of the postures is practised in a sequence that never changes.

The sequences start with Primary series “Yoga chikitsa’’ which is means Yoga therapy and is the foundation of all the series. Until this series is mastered, it is unadvised to go further onto the other sequences due to risk of injury of physical body but also impacts on the mind and soul. The follows series are the Intermediate series (Nadi Shodhana) and Advanced series A, B, C & D.