r/ashtanga

I’m only less than a year in ashtanga—and yoga, generally—and I still don’t completely understand the parampara culture and I don’t want to make a faux pas. My question is, much or less, what’s the ethics of studying with more than one teacher at once? Do we have to strictly practice with one teacher, or teachers are quite cool if we practice with another teacher once in a while?

Additional context: I’ve been practicing with this one teacher (A) since the start at a nearby shala, but as someone new to yoga, I just wanted to explore other places in my city and get to know the broader community, in addition to preventing boredom out of practicing at the same shala all the time. So I started visiting another teacher (teacher B) initially for the sake of “exploring places”, but recently when my teacher A went out of town, I keep coming back to teacher B because I found their knowledge valuable and learned a lot from them which I hadn’t learned before, and started building a good relationship with them. Additionally, community-wise i feel slightly more at ease at teacher B, simply bcs of the younger demographics closer to my age, while the ones with teacher A are mostly middle aged women and yoga teachers. Not that it’s a big of a deal though, simply bcs the shala nearby is not teacher A’s main teaching place so there are fewer people.

I’m in good relationships with both teachers, but idk man it kinda feels like cheating when I practice with teacher B while teacher A is available and I don’t wanna make a faux pas or smth. Teacher A knows about me practicing with B but I haven’t got the chance to visit A lately bcs my friend who just started, kept asking me to accompany them practicing with teacher B. And there’s also the scheduling issue which I might have to deal later this year once i graduate and found a job; my nearby shala (A) only have mysore twice a week while teacher B’s teach full weekdays. On this matter, I even started contemplating on practicing with teacher C (lol) later because of the scheduling and distance matters (teacher A’s main teaching place is too far from my home). There’s only a handful of authorized teachers in my country so every teachers know each other, and at one point one must’ve had practiced with another. I’ve been very conflicted about this and I’d appreciate for any advice, thanks!

Hi everybody! I hope you're doing great. I am trying to come back to ashtanga after 13 years in which my body really took the toll and I am alone in this. I thought about reddit. Hoping to get some advice / encouragement. It would make me so happy.

I discovered Ashtanga yoga by mere chance in 2012 and, when it comes to my health, mobility, lack of pain, and energy, it was the best year in my life. I was younger. Everything felt easier, etc. My teacher knew I'm very agnostic and he gave me a lot space, didn't impose anything. Everything he said was meant to engage curiosity. Sadly, life happened. Work. Then he became a chaman and traveled the world. I didn't even try to look for another place and like many things in my life, it disappeared from my life. I am diagnosed with ADHD and am practically immune to whatever pill they throw at me, so I just know things come to my life, then they go, and I'm ok with that. But Ashtanga is something I want in my life again.

I gained like 2 pounds a year. Very slowly, but relentlessly. Im 5 7 (43, male) and I weigh 220 pounds now. It's not the end of the world, and losing it is doable. But again, life tends to happen and I am just a witness. I wanna take control again. I've been going through the motions for a decade, isolated myself, became a houseplant.

2 years ago I had long covid with fibromyalgia. It was hell, but luckily I tend to have more good days than bad days now. I lost both my mom and dad and I don't even know how to exist. Recently my every joint was in pain. As I know it's "just" fibro / ME/CFS, I knew doctors would just try to give me anti convulsants or tricyclic antidepressants to turn off my nervous system and make me gain more weight, like it happened before. My only chance was to get off my butt. Thankfully, these days have been somewhat good and I unrolled my mat and tried a few sun salutations A and B. After a whole decade. I would lie if I say I didn't cry. Everything hurt. I couldn't slow my breath. My belly feels and IS heavy. It crashes on the mat. I'm out of of breath. I lose my balance. I have an oxymeter and make sure my heart rate doesn't elevate too much. That was 2 days ago. I let my body recover and I tried again today, with good lighting and ambient music that I could barely hear. I made it halfway through with a lot of problems. I keep forgetting the asanas and the order, even though I have kept the guide my teacher gave me. I know I should go to a class, but I want to gain some confidence first. I know it's silly. But I need to do it in my home knowing that I can take all the time in the world to rest. But I do need help with posture and all that. So I did a google search and found a place nearby.

Sorry for the long text, I'm just trying to save my life. And I'm scared that I won't be constant and forget about it again. If anyone went through something like this, or want to share their experiences or recommendations, I would be really happy. At the least, I would not feel that I am alone in this. A simple "this is normal, it will get easier as it got easier before" will help. I know it. But I need to hear it.

I want to live again.

A second chance.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Bless you all.

Hello all 👋

In the last couple of years I've expanded my practice a bit; started attending kirtans, done some pranayama and vedic chanting lessons, I'm developing a daily seated meditation practice and quite enjoy trataka and some "body scanning" techniques.

I know people often put pranayama and seated meditation before shavansana - but I find if I sit for more than 15 minutes or so, shavansana feels a bit redundant? Like the sit feels like a good way to end the practice.

And for those who chant or do japa meditation - how do you work that into your asana practice? Or do you keep it completely separate? And other shatkarmas such as trataka or nauli? Or is it asking a bit much to fit all of that into a single practice?

Thanks

After a year of practicing and having a battle with garbhapindasana finally I managed to do the rolling, like finally could made the sync between the core strength and breath, not only that I also manage the transition to kukutasana, in the first attempt. I mean after a year of trying and trying… but then when it happen that I made it to kukutasana my breath was so still, like never before, like I didn’t have to make that much effort and I observe a part of me was like wow we did it but then another part of me was like yeah so now desidentify desidentify of the posture you continue nothing happens. I watch the teacher saw me do it, and he said nothing, like nothing happens I did enjoy that stillness and silence, after being fighting with this posture along with my teacher jajajaja. Just wanting to share, and curious about how you managed this inherent part of the practice in my opinion, the desidentification.

i am a 26F yoga teacher and somatic movement instructor, highly active (at least 1 workout and 1 class taught per day) and have been practicing ashtanga for a few years now.

I just wrapped up a mysore class and my body is destroyed. i feel like i have the flu. moving anything at all aches into my bones.

advice? am i missing something? am i allergic to ashtanga? sos.

update:
totally fine today after lots of sleep and rest. Thanks all for the kind words & love. part of the journey i suppose. love to all x

Many of the benefits of Ashtanga are discussed in terms of strength, flexibility, and discipline. For me, some of the most meaningful lessons showed up away from practice.

Sometimes it's patience, sometimes awareness, and sometimes simply noticing old habits more clearly. I'm curious what lesson from Ashtanga ended up influencing your daily life the most even if it had nothing to do with yoga itself.

Okay, can we talk about something that’s been bothering me? Don’t you think it’s a little weird that Kino MacGregor calls her session ‘Mysore Season in Miami’? Like, honestly we’re completely surrounded by power-hungry women

What I find truly strange is that Kino MacGregor has essentially crowned herself the queen of Ashtanga yoga. Ever since Sharath’s passing, everyone has been jockeying for position and going after each other politically. It’s gotten so bad that I genuinely think the whole tradition is dead.

Fairly self explanatory - a few of the teachers in my studio build rapport with the students/regulars which is normal - but have started to get 1:1 sessions privately with these students and host their own private retreats from our client base.

Any advice?

I absolutely loved yoga in my twenties and eventually found myself learning Ashtanga yoga, I was taking mysore classes but then I got a hip injury that stopped me completely. I found ashtanga yoga hard beforehand due to being hyper mobile. And then the hip issue started.

I then switched to weights/physio and fell out of love with yoga and that was that.

Now I’m post partum (second c section) and want to return to it along with weightlifting. Right now classes aren’t an option. So do I just start out mastering the sun salutations and build from there? How can I modify the cobra pose whilst I’m PP?

Anyone experienced similar I’d love to hear from you. Or anyone with advice. Now im finished having children, I want to focus on building my flexibility back and strength if it’s not too late (I’m 38)!

I just watched a video where Laruga Glaser refers to herself as enlightened.

"That's actually how I see enlightenment., is that you have processed everything, all the supressed and repressed stuff, all the conditioning has been released, and you do feel light"

I mean, that is certainly the impression she is giving prior to actually saying it out loud. The entire video is her talking down to a group about spirituality, morality, and human behavior.

video in question: Reclaiming the self through ashtanga yoga, observation & honesty

Hi all, new to Reddit.

Requesting any suggestions for teacher training institutes/school for yoga who conduct classes in morning and evening in Mysore.

I want to learn yoga alongside my work, so looking for a good school who will conduct classes outside of normal work hours.

Thanks in advance.

I live in a semi remote area and the local yoga studio has an Ashtanga class and I was curious what they were doing. I figured it would be a half primary led class.

I traded an email with the teacher and they have zero Ashtanga training and also said they add their own flair to the class.

I mean clearly it’s not Ashtanga and it’s kinda breaking Yama. I was questioned what I was talking about with “primary” and a “series” of poses.

I’m not a yoga cop lol, but i found it kinda gross and now a studio I would never attend. I’ve had major injuries in classes and seems high risk to me.

I have been practicing yoga for few years, although my journey has been somewhat inconsistent due to life circumstances and finding a teaching style that works for me.

One challenge I have encountered is that I still struggle with some of the fundamentals, such as breath coordination, body engagement, and understanding how certain cues translate into movement. These concepts have taken me a long time to grasp, and I continue to learn.

When I asked teacher questions about these topics, I’ve occasionally felt as though my questions were viewed as things I should already know. Comments such as “you know what to do” or reactions that seem dismissive have left me wondering whether I am expected to have a deeper understanding by now.

This made me curious about something, why do some teachers assume that students who have been practicing for a while already possess a solid understanding of the basics. Not everyone comes from a movement, athletic, dance, or anatomy background. For some of us, concepts that may seem obvious to experienced practitioners can take years to understand and embody.

I also wonder whether expertise can sometimes make it difficult to remember what it felt like to be a beginner. What feels intuitive to an experienced teacher may not be intuitive to a student who is still developing body awareness.

Has anyone else experienced this? How do you approach learning when you feel like you’ are expected to know more than you actually do?

I just had minor surgery a couple of weeks ago (tubes removed!), but I was medically cleared yesterday and today I returned to a mysore class for the first time.

I've been off and on sick since February, so my practice has been pretty sporadic even before surgery, so I felt like a beginner again as I moved through just the standing postures today.

With one key difference: when I first started Ashtanga 3 years ago, I was so nervous and what I was doing compared to what everyone else was doing. I worried I wasn't practicing for long enough, breathing slow enough, flexible enough.

Three years, a lot of yoga and meditation (plus anti-anxiety medication) later, I returned to the mat feeling confident. I pushed my body but did not overdo it. I didn't worry about the length of my practice. I didn't hyper-focus on other practioners in the class. I feel great!

There are many places, but only a few with authorised teachers, teaching the traditional Mysore-Style and Led Classes. Which one is tour favourite? Which have you tried?

Personally, after a bit of exploring, I found my little cosy happy place at ‘Ashtanga Yoga Zurich’ in Oliverngasse (near Kreuzplatz/Stadelhofen). Lovely, personal group and very fun mix of nationalities and walks of life. teacher is great and speaks french, english and german, which helps :)

I just noticed something interesting. Even after a 60-minute Ashtanga practice followed by pranayama and meditation, my armpits don’t smell at all—not even a bit. Has anyone else experienced this? What could be the reason?

Hello,

Can someone recommend a place to practice Mysore Ashtanga. I live in Islington and practice up to half primary. Agi Gada at Arc and Roberto Gianotti at Ashtnga Yoga here are the neareast shalas to me but I have not practised with those teachers. Also looking at Ashtanga Yoga London, Mission and Stillpint yoga.

Can anyone share any insight into the above Shalas, I like a teacher to give goodphysical adjustments

D

at what point do you just start doing intermediate series, instead of going through primary *before* intermediate?