What is Mysore-Style Ashtanga Yoga?

By: Andréa Drottholm

Keeping a daily yoga practice can be quite a challenge. For beginners, remembering the sequence of asanas could be a barrier to progressing.

Luckily there’s a style of yoga that gives you the benefit of having private one-on-one session in a group and will aide you developing your own flow in your own time. It’s called Mysore Ashtanga Yoga.

What Is Mysore Yoga?

Mysore is the name of the town in the south of India in the state of Karnataka where the Ashtanga yoga system was born.

It is a traditional method for learning, deepening and perfecting your Ashtanga practice. The class is not to be guided as a group as a more common yoga class would be.

As a beginner you would get more of a one on one guidance. You will be taught one pose at a time in order to integrate the information, gradually learning the sequence and develop your own personalised yoga practice.

During a two-week period, you repeat the poses and what you have learned until you have memorised it and feel confident with the beginner sequence.

Then slowly and gradually, the teacher adds more poses, to keep deepening, opening and strengthening your body and mind.

The key to the practice is the breath, we inhale and exhale deeply, through the nose in a calm and subtle manner, to cultivate an inner heat and keep a steady flow.

The quality of the breath is what allows you to have an active meditation, and the right amount of energy to keep up with this dynamic practice.

Benefits of Mysore-Style Ashtanga Yoga

The beauty of a Mysore style yoga class, is that once you have mastered poses and become independent, you’re now ready to create your own inner flow.

At this point in your practice, you’re able to follow the sequence in your own rhythm and breath, not needing to listen to the teacher talking but allowing yourself to focus on your own inner journey.

Although students are prescribed a set sequence of yoga poses to follow, each individual is taught according to their capacity.

This style of yoga is more personal as it allows the teacher to work with you on your own limitations, be it, physical, mental or simply cultivating a solid deep breath technique.

Eventually the teaching becomes more subtle allowing the practice itself to be your guide. You don’t need to be flexible or know the sequence in order to begin.

The practice will teach you gradually, however Mysore style Yoga classes does require a commitment of minimum 6 classes to gain an insight to what this magical tradition beholds.