What is Mysore-style Ashtanga Yoga?
The first thing to strike you when you walk into a Mysore-style Ashtanga yoga class is that it seems like total chaos. Here’s one student doing a headstand in the corner, while another is coming into the triangle posture and a third is struggling to balance on her arms. What is going on here? If you stay a while and watch closely, you start to notice a pattern emerging. Everyone seems to be on a path, following a precise choreography. Also, compared to other yoga classes, the silence is striking. Occasionally the teacher will whisper something to a student, but the dominant sound is the collective breath. You’ll notice the teacher move swiftly from student to student, giving adjustments as appropriate. Here’s a poem describing Mysore-Style classes: In Mysore-style Ashtanga yoga Postures are given One by one By the teacher In charge. In Mysore-style Ashtanga yoga Mysore is a city in the south of India (see map) where Ashtanga yoga has been taught by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois since the 1930’s
