Truths About Ashtanga Yoga That Every Beginner Should Know

For those who just started, curious, or planning to try it at least once.

I’ve heard many people say that Ashtanga yoga is intimidating. It could be. After all, this is a practice solely based on tradition. It’s rigid and it takes loads of discipline to practice.

My Ashtanga journey started like this: I went to my first Mysore class and attended another and another. It’s been a slow but sure progression. I go to the shala called AYQC. It’s located in Quezon City, Philippines.

What is Ashtanga yoga?

Ashtanga yoga is a system of yoga recorded by the sage Vamana Rishi in the Yoga Korunta, an ancient manuscript said to contain lists of many different groupings of asanas, as well as highly original teachings on vinyasa (poses and breath go together), Drishti (gazing point), bandhas (the energy flow to a particular area of the body is blocked), mudras (symbolic gestures often practiced with the hands and fingers), and philosophy.

The text of the Yoga Korunta was imparted to Sri T. Krishnamacharya in the early 1900s by his Guru Rama Mohan Brahmachari and was later passed down to Pattabhi Jois during the duration of his studies with Krishnamacharya, beginning in 1927. In 1948, Pattabhi Jois began teaching Ashtanga yoga from his yoga shala.

Source: http://www.ashtanga.com/html/background.html

Pattabhi Jois died in May 2009 but his legacy lives on.

The truths that I’ve picked up along the way are all here and I want to share them all with you today.

1. It’s the best option for beginners.

In a regular yoga class, a teacher is there to guide the students on how the poses are done for an hour.

Ashtanga is a method that follows a system or levels. You are only taught once you’re ready. You only move forward in the sequence (Primary, Secondary, Advanced) when your teacher knows you can.

2. Sharing this practice with likeminded people brings lifelong friendships.

Everyone in your class is going through the same things you are going through.

Struggling to establish a solid, consistent practice at home? Experienced an injury and wondering how to restore your passion for the practice? Feeling discouraged because you are not as graceful as the classmate beside you?

Most likely your yoga friends feel the same way. Ask for their support and be there for each other.

3. You will be taught that commitment and not flexibility nor strength is the only key to stay on course.

Mastering the pose called Supta Kurmasana takes time. For some it will be shorter, some might take years to perfect it. How do you master it? Practice.

Mastering a skill takes not just repetitive practice, but deliberate practice.

Angela Duckworth, the author of the book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, said that experts practice by setting a goal, improving weaknesses, practicing alone and then asking feedback from experts (or teachers and mentors).

This is the perfect way to describe learning the Ashtanga sequence. It’s very much like being in school, except that you don’t really graduate.

4. Feedback is critical for growth.

In the book Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by K. Anders Ericsson, a ‘purposeful practice’ involves feedback. By recognizing weaknesses, you could switch focus appropriately and come up with new techniques that would address those weaknesses.

In a Mysore class, the teacher watches the students’ every move. She gives feedback in the form of adjustments and verbal instructions. This immediate feedback is extremely helpful in identifying the weaknesses and catching them as soon as they happen.

5. Once you start practicing Ashtanga, it will be difficult to stop.

It becomes part of your system, ingrained in your psyche. The benefits that you get out of the practice — mental and physical — outweigh the ‘freedom’ that you get without it in your life.

6. You probably won’t practice anything else once you have tasted the goodness of Ashtanga.

Practicing it already takes a lot of time. When I was working a 9–5 job, I made sure to practice right after work and didn’t schedule anything else afterward, aside from dinner, reading and writing. You need to make time for it, otherwise, it’s not going to happen.

Not practicing for 3–4 consecutive days will have its consequences. It’s going to hurt once you get back! When you make it a priority and be a good student, it will return the favor.

7. Get ready — your positive and negative mental patterns will show up during your practice.

If you have problems with authority, you will react when your teacher tells you to repeat a pose 5 times. If you easily give up in challenging situations, you will notice that during shala practice, you’d want to get out fast! If you are easily distracted by other activities other than the practice, your mind will keep wandering.

One intention of the practice is to identify the mental patterns, breathe through them and eventually get past them.

Ashtanga Yoga is a humbling, transformative practice. As I said before, yoga isn’t easy nor is it fun. But you can turn it into a somewhat fun practice by following these steps — it’s all in the mind.

Have the heart of a student that’s hungry for learning and willingness to ask.

Should you decide to visit a shala near you this week, I sincerely hope that your first time is a good experience and you’d want to go back.

Finishing a novel starts with reading a page. Running a marathon starts with a few steps. Great things start from small beginnings.

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Odyssa is a writer, Ashtanga yoga practitioner, and a remote worker. Follow her tweets here. Subscribe to her weekly letters to hear her thoughts on Ashtanga yoga, shifting from the office desk to remote work, writing (of course) plus bits and pieces of her personal life.