Ashanta Yoga

In Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga is considered to be one of the oldest styles still practiced today. It can be dated back to the ancient texts, Yoga Korunta, which were compiles many centuries ago. In both Indian forms of wrestling and British forms of gymnastics, one can find various aspects of Ashtanga Yoga.

Also known as Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, this style was developed by Krishnamacharya whose teachings have held a considerable amount of influence on most styles taught today. In its original use, Krishnamacharya developed Ashtanga Yoga while working under the Maharaja of Mysore. It was at this time that he developed Ashtanga Yoga for the homeless adolescents of the region.

Ashtanga Yoga is considered to be a more demanding version of Yoga when compared to Hatha which is the most commonly practiced style today. It is more physically demanding because it needed to be in order to challenge and help the overactive minds of adolescents achieve enlightenment. This also helped to reduce their stress levels as well as develop inner peace with one’s self. If one is overactive, irregardless of their age, Ashtanga Yoga may be a better alternative to choose from.

In practice, one makes use of dynamic postures that essentially flow when compared to the more static postures found in Hatha. One must be ready to control their breathing while performing this style as one’s breathing is done in direct correlation with their movements and is done for specific periods of time. Furthermore, while in Hatha one can switch from one posture to the next, even though it appears jagged, in Ashtanga Yoga all transitions are done in a flowing manner with one another to appear as if it is but one complete posture. The most commonly practiced postures used in Ashtanga Yoga and that has been accepted into many other forms of Yoga, is the Sun Salutation which consists of 12 different positions.

The ultimate goal of practicing this form of Yoga is to ease the mind while at the same time generating heat within the body. This heat generation helps to rid the body of toxins and therefore cleanse and purify the body completely.