Have you ever heard about Ashtanga Vinyasa? No? Well, Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is a form of yoga which was introduced and popularized by K. Pattabhai Jois in the 20th century. It is now promoted as a form of classical Indian yoga. Ashtanga actually stands for eight limbs/branches in which asana or physical yoga is just a single branch while breathing is the other branch. This is an encouraged Yoga asana where the first two limbs are given more attention and are often practiced in conjunction with the 3rd and the 4th limbs (asana and pranayama).
Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga
Usually, an Ashtanga Vinyasa practice starts with the chanting of the traditional mantras and the sun salutations for 5 times. Sun salutation forms the basis of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga practice and is responsible for the establishment of calm breathing, energy direction, and concentration. The sun salutation awakens both your mind and body and helps in preparing you for the next poses. You need to perform five times sun salutation A and sun salutation B, after which you need to perform a standing sequence.
Once you have performed this, you can start with the yoga series which is followed by the closing sequence. The six series of Ashtanga Vinyasa consists of:
1.Primary Series: Yoga Chikitsa aka Yoga Therapy
2. Intermediate Series: Nadi Shodhana aka The Nerve Purifier
3. The Advanced Series: Sthira Bhaga aka Centering of Strength
3. Third Series
4. Fourth Series
5. Fifth Series
6. Sixth Series
Each of the above six series starts with the traditional mantra followed by 5 Surya Namaskar (Sun salutations) of variation A and 5 Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations) of variation B which is then followed with a standing sequence. Each of these series ends with the same closing sequence only the middle section is constituted of different asanas and focus. Usually, each of these poses is learned in a specific order and are taught by a Yoga teacher in Mysore style only after a practitioner is ready for a new pose.
Ashtanga Vinyasa Primary Series
The Ashtanga Vinyasa Primary series is also known as Yoga Chikitsa which translated to Yoga Therapy and is involved in the cleansing and toning of your mind and body. The asanas of the primary series help in building strength and flexibility in your body and helps in loosening of your muscles and realigning your body.
It also helps in detoxification of your nervous system and body. The primary series starts with a few forward bends which are followed by twists and hip openers while you take a deep breath between each asana. If you practice Yoga Chikitsa daily then you get to improve your confidence, concentration, willpower and mind-body awareness while you overcome various mental obstacles in your practice. The primary series works in a way to clear the various energy channels in your body to provide you with an obstacle-free conscious so that you are better aware of your mind and its working.
Due to this removal of obstacles from your physical, mental and subconscious levels, you allow the breath of life to flow more freely through your body and mind in order to work effectively and efficiently.
The Primary series of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is said to be quite challenging and one might end up staying in the same series for several years before they are ready to move on to the next series. Traditionally, an Ashtanga Vinyasa practitioner is informed by their teacher when they are ready to step into the next series. However, a lot of yoga practitioners don’t practice yoga under the guidance of a teacher these days which can make it tricky to know when it is time to move on to the next series.
It is not about mastering the yoga poses of Primary series before you move on to the Intermediate series and it is not about how perfectly you perform each pose. It is about the how well you know the approach to each of these poses. So, one should practice Primary series for as long as possible until you are able to perform it without referring to an external guide or resource. You need to remember that practicing the Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga with awareness and patience and taking deep breaths in between is crucial for getting the best result out of it.
Important components of the Primary Series
Controlling your breathing is quite crucial in the primary series and one needs to focus on it until your breathing is in rhythm with your body movement. Understanding your breathing count is also important when moving in or out of a posture. However, if you take too many or too fewer breaths, you usually lack the control. Controlling your breathing is one of the most difficult aspects of the primary series but it is an essential one.
Another important component to keep in mind when practicing primary series is your body movement and muscles. You don’t have to focus too much on your physical posture, it should come effortlessly and flowingly.
Once you have mastered your breathing and your body, you need to pay attention to your mind and have to relax and calm your mind in order to truly master the primary series. This means that you cannot think about the work that you have to do or you think about your past, it means you have to keep your mind blank and try to stop the constant humming in your brain in order to achieve a great sense of awakening and alertness.
Read More: The Importance of Shat-Kriya in Yogic Cleansing
The Primary series requires a practitioner to combine all these three components and integrate them with each other in order to achieve cleansing and toning of your mind, body, and soul.
