What is Ashtanga Yoga?

Ashtanga yoga is a structured, physically rigorous practice developed by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (1915–2009) at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India — a school now continued by his grandson Sharath Jois. The practice is organised into six series of increasing difficulty, each sequence performed in a fixed order. Practitioners begin with the Primary Series (Yoga Chikitsa — "yoga therapy") and advance only when the teacher deems the student ready, not by self-assessment. This traditional progression is considered non-negotiable in orthodox Ashtanga circles.

The method rests on three foundations called the Tristhana: breath (ujjayi pranayama), energy locks (bandha), and gaze point (drishti). Each posture is prescribed a specific number of breaths, a specific drishti, and a specific bandha engagement. The practitioner moves between postures via "vinyasa" — a short linking sequence — which creates internal heat (tapas) and purification. The traditional teaching method — called Mysore-style, after the city where it originated — is taught individually: the teacher circulates around a silent room, adjusting and instructing each student in their own practice at their own pace. There are no demonstrations and no music.

Ashtanga is not a beginner's practice in its traditional form. The Primary Series alone contains approximately 75 postures and typically takes 90 minutes at an intermediate pace. However, it is also — paradoxically — one of the most democratically accessible serious yoga practices in the world, because the Mysore format allows each student to start from their current level and build incrementally over months or years. The practice rewards daily consistency above all else. Its traditional schedule is six days per week, resting on moon days and Saturdays.