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Spotlight on Ashtanga Yoga

This form of yoga is intensely physical and athletic. Ashtanga yogis practice a prescribed set of asanas, channel energy through the body using bandhas (locks), and concentrate on singular points using drishti (gaze) in asanas. Classes typically begin with an invocation to Patanjali chanted in Sanskrit.

WHAT IT LITERALLY MEANS: Ashtanga yoga translates as "eight-limbed yoga" and refers to the eight limbs outlined by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutra, which include moral and ethical guidelines, postures, breathwork, sense withdrawal, concentration, and meditation.

WHAT IT HAS COME TO MEAN: In America, "Ashtanga Yoga" most often refers to the system taught by Indian yoga master K. Pattabhi Jois. Sometimes called Ashtanga vinyasa yoga, Jois's Ashtanga comprises a precise series of poses done in sequential order, linked together with the breath.

WHO FOUNDED IT: The practice that Jois teaches is detailed in an ancient Sanskrit text called the Yoga Kurunta, which was rediscovered early in this century by T. Krishnamacharya. Jois studied with Krishnamacharya in Mysore, India.

TEACHERS TO KNOW: Maty Ezraty, Richard Freeman, Chuck Miller, Tim Miller, Natasha Rizopoulos, John Scott, David Swenson, Doug Swenson


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Reader Comments

Robin Feinberg

Other prominent Ashtanga yoga teachers to know are David Williams, Bery Bender Birch, and Nikki Doane and Eddie Modestino.

Leslianne Premdipika

Last weekend, during a workshop given by Gary Kraftsow, entitled "Yoga for Transformation", I understood that Ashtanga/vinyasa yoga was primarily taught to and meant for practitioners in the "sunrise" stage of life, as its rigorous practice may be harmful over time for less "fit"/older/differently-abled bodies.

Joe

Yes Bonnie, David Williams should be near the top of the list but don't forget Norman Allen who introduced David Willliams to Pattabhi Jois. Norman was actually the first westerner to introduce Ashtanga to the west.

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