Related Posts

• A Beginner's Guide to Ashtanga Yoga

  

  This week we highlight the incredible practice of Ashtanga yoga. Ashtanga yoga is a modern rigorous, disciplined, and traditional style of yoga. It is comprised of 8 limbs, with asana (the physical yoga pose limb), being a set sequence of standing and seated postures, that create inner heat, refine your focus, and challenge you physically, while keeping a single pointed focus. Basic Ashtanga sequences are well-rounded, and also feature many forward bends, the most inward facing family of yoga poses, where we meet ourselves. If you're feeling stagnant in your practice and want to take it to the next level, or feel you're craving some consistency in your yoga practice (and maybe life), give Ashtanga a try. You might find these practices are ones you can return to over and over again, as no matter how many times you practice the Ashtanga sequence, there is benefit, power, and progress. Enjoy the challenge and power of Ashtanga yoga this week, with four unique takes and versions of this transformative and powerfully simple style of yoga.

• The History and Philosophy of Ashtanga Yoga

  

  Yoga has come a long way, and in these modern times, the average yogi has a wealth of options when it comes to classes and styles of yoga. Each style of yoga can be vastly different from the next, all linked with a focus on physical and mental strength, flexibility and mindfulness. Ashtanga yoga is a style that can be the most intensive, and requires a lot of disciple and determination. Ashtanga yoga is a standard set of asanas, focusing on breath, and internal mental space. Ashtanga yoga is a rigorous workout, and it’s known for its fast pace and difficult postures. Ashtanga typically features more traditional transitions and poses are held for a longer time than in some faster modern styles of yoga. Ashtanga is a great style of yoga for those who want to get a good workout and also clear their mind. It’s most similar to Vinyasa, however, it differs as Ashtanga series stays the same every time, whilst a Vinyasa flow can differ from class to class. Ashtanga also incorporates many aspects such as chanting and breathing that are parts of traditional yoga, and vinyasa flows can sometimes leave out.

• How to Create the Perfect Meditation Space at Home: Advice from the Experts

  

  We all need to take a moment of the day to make a pause and release all the stress that we accumulate in our daily lives. A great way to do this is by introducing a meditation practice into our schedules; for that purpose, it would be ideal to have a designated space at home that you use only for meditation. There are a few things that you should consider in terms of creating the ideal space to support relaxation, focus, and concentration during meditation. If you want to know more about this, continue reading because we gathered some great tips and advice from the experts to achieve this vibe at home and succeed in your meditation practice. What do you suggest for setting up a meditation space at home? Determine the purpose of your space.

• The Foundation of Yoga Sutras

  

  I recently graduated from my 500-hour advanced teacher training. The experience was an intense and deep study not just of yoga but also of myself and my relationship with yoga. As I’ve shared with some of you in my classes, it seems that we are always just beginning our journey – the moment we identify an end-goal is the moment we stray from the very path that will help us achieve it. Some of you have encouraged me to share some of what I wrote in my lengthy 7,600+ word final exam essays. As I went back and reviewed what I wrote, I found the perfect piece to share with you today. There are so many times I reference the Yoga Sutras in my blog posts, but I’ve never really talked through them in a full dedicated post, so now is the time!

• 9-Day Ashtanga Yoga Immersion

  

  “Do your Practice and All is Coming”- Sri K Pattabhi Jois. If you love Vinyasa yoga and have wondered how it evolved, spend some time with us this week on an Ashtanga immersion and learn the foundation from which Vinyasa in the West is derived. Tap into the ancient wisdom and traditional practice of Ashtanga yoga, brought to the West by K. Pattabhi Jois, who is considered the Father of Ashtanga yoga. Ashtanga is a sweaty, vigorous yoga system based on the eight-limbed yoga path outlined in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Jois developed the Ashtanga yoga system when he was a student of T. Krishnamacharya at the College of Maharaja in Mysore, India in the early twentieth century. Traditionally, Ashtanga is taught in the Mysore style, which means students practice in the same room, at their own pace, with individual guidance from the instructor. Kind of like you, practicing yoga at home with YogaDownload.com.

• The Ritual of Yoga Asana: Making Our Bodies a Temple

  

  Fifteen million Americans practice yoga today. They set foot inside yoga studios, roll out their mats and move to their breath in a ritualized action that lasts usually between 60 - 90 minutes. Whether they practice Ashtanga yoga, Bikram yoga, Kundalini yoga or another variant of hatha yoga, these students are all participating in a modernized physical form of a millenia-old philosophical technology, which originated in India. Within the last 100 years, yoga’s face has changed dramatically as it has migrated and settled into the west with its modern day practitioners. Its evolution has led to a focus on the physical practice, known as asana, and for many who practice today’s version of yoga, the asana practice has become a powerful ritual in their lives. They honor their practice by carrying around yoga mats, drinking out of water bottles with their favorite studio name on it and wearing yoga pants from the studio out to their social events. The hallmark of the modern day yoga practitioner is that we commonly see the trappings of their practice extending into their lives, but there is a deeper and more elevated result of their practice that also extends its way into their lives, which is that yoga practitioners will commonly achieve an elevated state of mind that allows their ritual to manifest itself as a view of themselves and their life-experience as sacred.