Ashtanga vinyasa yoga, as taught in the lineage of K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India, is practised as fixed series of postures linked by breath-synchronised movements (vinyasa). Every practice has the same frame: opening sun salutations, a standing sequence, one of the series, and a finishing sequence. This page explains how those parts fit together and links each of them. For the style itself, see Ashtanga yoga.
The series and their names
- Primary Series, called Yoga Chikitsa, usually translated “yoga therapy”. The name is a traditional title, not a medical claim.
- Intermediate Series, called Nadi Shodhana, “cleansing of the channels”. The series shares its name with an alternate-nostril breathing practice; they are different things.
- Advanced Series, called Sthira Bhaga. Older lineage material divided them into Advanced A and Advanced B; today they are usually counted as Third to Sixth Series. The labels depend on the period and teacher.
“Primary” does not mean “for beginners”
Primary means the first series in this system. It is where every student starts, but it is not a beginner sequence. It contains full lotus, legs-behind-the-head shapes (Supta Kurmasana), deep binds and a full backbend. In the traditional Mysore-style class, students are given the postures one at a time by a teacher and stop where they are stopped; many people practise only part of Primary for months or years. Lineage practice sheets from AshtangaYoga.info mark the point where further postures are added “only when a regular practice has been established”.
How a practice is put together
The order is the same every day: five rounds of Sun Salutation A and five of Sun Salutation B, the standing sequence, then the series you are working on, and the finishing sequence with a final rest. Between seated postures, a short vinyasa (often a jump back through chaturanga, upward dog and downward dog) links one posture to the next. Breathing is ujjayi, with a fixed gaze point (drishti) for each posture. Intermediate is added to the end of Primary, posture by posture, before replacing it on most days.
How the counting works
Every movement in Ashtanga has a number. The AshtangaYoga.info practice sheets explain the idea: each movement sequence (vinyasa) begins and ends standing in Samasthitiḥ, and every movement is counted from there, so a posture is always reached on the same count. The sheet marks that count, with the count for the left side in brackets, along with the breath (in or out) and the gaze point. In the seated postures, once the rhythm is familiar, the sequences partly merge: the sheet notes that for most of them the first six and last three movements are left out, and you pass simply through downward dog instead of coming all the way back to standing. The numbers themselves never change.
Two more rules shape every practice. Each final posture is held for five breaths, as the sheets show for almost every posture. And all postures are practiced on both sides, right first, even though the sheets picture only one side. The same sheet explains the name of the first series: Ashtanga is described as a journey “from the coarse to the subtle,” and the Primary Series sits at its beginning, so strength, vitality and the health of the physical body are at its center. That is the reason given for the title “yoga therapy.”
Rest days
Traditionally there are days off. The Mysore shala, now the Sharath Yoga Centre, lists Sundays and the days of the new and full moon as holidays, when it is closed. Our moon days calendar shows the coming dates in your time zone.
Where the sequences come from
Pattabhi Jois said he learned the system from his teacher T. Krishnamacharya, who in turn attributed it to a text called the Yoga Korunta; no copy of that text is known, and some members of the Jois family have said the sequences were Krishnamacharya’s own. We report these accounts without deciding between them. The practice was set out in Jois’s book Yoga Mala and is taught today by teachers authorised by the Mysore institute (KPJAYI, now the Sharath Yoga Centre) and many others.
How to start safely
Begin with the sun salutations and standing sequence, with a teacher, ideally in a Mysore-style or led beginners class. Ashtanga is physically demanding; lotus-based postures need healthy knees, and the jump-throughs and backbends need preparation. With injuries, high blood pressure, or during pregnancy, talk to a health professional and an experienced Ashtanga teacher. These pages have not yet been reviewed by a qualified teacher.