Finding Out About Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga And It’s Many Advantages
Thousands of students flock to the Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India each year in hopes of finding that missing piece to life’s puzzle. The Institute’s style of Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga is particularly attractive to Westerners because they enjoy the physical rigor and discipline. While many forms of yoga are more about relaxing, this style is more about physically challenging poses that evoke mental release. Some people say the method attracts the “overachiever” personality type, but in reality it caters to people of every level.
Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga was first brought to the Western world by the teachings of Patanjali Maharishi, a sage from Mysore India. He spoke about the significance of reaching internal purification and reconnecting with the “Universal Soul” through eight principles: moral codes, self-purification and study, posture, breath control, sense control, concentration, meditation and contemplation. He believed that each step built upon one another, much in the same way each posture (or “asana”) builds upon the next.
In the beginning of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, a yoga instructor will help students master “external cleansing practices.” They learn about morality and study, while practicing specific postures and breathing. Instructors help beginners find the correct positions and inspire students to live a just and moral existence. Next, after days of mastering the proper poses and gaining strength, students will learn to control their minds. Through posture, breathing and focusing, the practice purifies the body, nervous system and mind over time.
In practice, Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga involves six specific postures (otherwise known as “asanas”) that are always completed in the same order. In the opening asana, there are ten standing “Sun Salutations” or “The Primary Series,” which is intended to align and detoxify the body. The “Intermediate Series” works on the nervous system by opening and clearing internal energy pathways. “The Advanced Series A, B, C and D” helps students achieve maximum flexibility, strength, definition and humility. Teachers emphasize the mastering of each level before moving on, with special focus and attention given to each step of progress.
The ujjayi (meaning “victorious breath”) method of exhaling and inhaling, combined with the fluid, dynamic asanas, heats the blood and generates a detoxifying sweat, or what is known as “internal cleansing.” Advanced methods of breathing techniques (bandhas) teach students how to “lock” or “seal” energy and redirect it to one of the 72,000 energy channels within the body. To obtain maximum benefit from the asanas, learning to lock in positive energy is crucial. Nine different focus points seek to purify and stabilize the mind, facilitating concentration.
Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga welcomes all different levels and allows individualized attention from a yoga teacher who wishes to help students master each posture (and corresponding breathing and focus) perfectly. Many beginners start with Hatha Yoga, but people who are serious about fitness and mental determination will love this life-affirming workout!
Perhaps more than any other form of exercise, Yoga has been around the longest. Originating in India, this popular form of exercise has been practiced around the world. Why? The physical portion of the workout is very low-impact and can be performed by anyone of any age. The same cannot be said of kick boxing classes or Jazzercise. But there is more to Yoga than just working out the body. It is also a lifestyle that can bring clarity to the mind through spiritual exercises of meditation and concentration. Are you ready to begin your path to a healthy body and mind? Click here to find out more: Yoga Journal and at Yoga Books also at Yoga Poses
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