Ashtanga Vinyasa for Beginners: How to Start and What to Expect

Ashtanga Vinyasa is a dynamic style of yoga in which you practise a fixed series of postures in the same order every time, linking each movement to one breath. It was taught by K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India, who learned from T. Krishnamacharya. Beginners can start it: you learn the Sun Salutations, a few standing poses and the closing sequence first, and add postures one at a time.

What Ashtanga Vinyasa means

The name is two Sanskrit words:

• Ashtanga (ashta, eight + anga, limb): "eight limbs". The term comes from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, where it names the eight steps of yoga practice, from ethical rules to meditation. Our guide to the 8 limbs of yoga goes through each one.
• Vinyasa: "placing in a special way". In this method it means the counted movements that take you in and out of each posture, one breath per movement.

Outside India the style is often called Ashtanga yoga for short. That can confuse. Patanjali's Ashtanga is a philosophy that covers every kind of yoga. Ashtanga Vinyasa is one physical method of practising the third limb, asana, with the breath and focus of the other limbs built in.

How the Ashtanga system is built

Ashtanga is organised in series. Each one is a fixed sequence, and you practise one series at a time:

• Primary series, Yoga Chikitsa ("yoga therapy"): forward bends, hip openers and twists. This is where everyone starts, and where most practitioners stay for years.
• Intermediate series, Nadi Shodhana ("cleaning the channels"): backbends, deeper hip work and arm balances.
• Advanced series A, B, C and D, Sthira Bhaga ("steady grace"): strength and flexibility that few people reach.

Every practice has the same frame. You open with Surya Namaskar A and Surya Namaskar B, move through the standing postures, then the seated postures of your series, and finish with backbends, inversions and the closing sequence before rest in Savasana (Corpse Pose). The full list, pose by pose, is in our guide to the Ashtanga primary series postures.

The three things you work with: breath, bandha, gaze

Teachers in this lineage call it tristana, the three places of attention. They matter more for a beginner than any single pose.

• Breath. Slow, even breathing through the nose with a soft sound in the throat, close to Ujjayi Pranayama. Inhale and exhale the same length. Each movement gets one breath, and you hold most postures for five breaths.
• Bandha. A light lift of the pelvic floor and the lower belly. Mula Bandha, the root lock, is the one you hear about most. For a beginner it can start as "keep the lower belly gently drawn in".
• Gaze. Each posture has a set point to look at: the nose, the navel, the thumb, the toes. Drishti, the yoga gaze, keeps your eyes and your attention from wandering around the room.

How to start Ashtanga as a beginner

The traditional way is to learn the sequence in small pieces. A teacher gives you the next posture when the last one is steady. Nobody expects a beginner to do the full primary series, which takes about 90 minutes.

1. Learn Sun Salutation A. Nine counted movements, one breath each. Practise three to five rounds until you know the order without thinking.
2. Add Sun Salutation B. It brings in Utkatasana (Chair Pose) and Virabhadrasana A (Warrior I). Three rounds is plenty at first.
3. Add the first standing postures. Padangusthasana, Padahastasana and the two Trikonasana variations. Five breaths each side.
4. Close with the finishing sequence. A short version is fine: a seated forward fold, a few breaths in a simple seated posture, then Savasana for five minutes.
5. Repeat before you add. Practise that short sequence several times a week. Take the next posture once your breath stays even in the ones you have.

Twenty to forty minutes is a good length for the first weeks. Bend your knees in the forward folds. Step back to plank instead of jumping, and lower your knees to the floor in Chaturanga Dandasana until your arms and shoulders are ready for the full version.

Mysore style and led classes

You will meet Ashtanga in two formats. In a led class the teacher counts every breath in Sanskrit and the whole room moves together. In Mysore style, named after the city where Pattabhi Jois taught, each student practises the sequence they have been given at their own breath, and the teacher walks around and helps one person at a time. Mysore style suits beginners better than its reputation suggests, because you only do the part you have learned.

Traditional practice is six days a week, with Saturdays off and rest on full and new moon days. That is the tradition, not a requirement to start. Two or three regular sessions a week will teach you the sequence.

Props, adjustments and safety

Traditional Ashtanga uses a mat and little else. Many teachers today allow a block under the hands, a strap in the seated forward bends or a blanket under the knees, and for a beginner they make sense. Stiff hamstrings and tight hips are where Ashtanga beginners most often push too far.

Hands-on adjustments are part of the tradition. Some help you find a posture. Some go deeper than your body is ready for. You can always say no, and good teachers now ask first.

Take extra care in the postures that load the knees, such as the half-lotus variations and the Marichyasana twists. If a posture needs Padmasana (Lotus Pose) and your knee complains, use the modification without the lotus. Our 10 tips to avoid yoga injuries apply to Ashtanga more than to most styles, since you repeat the same postures every day. If you are pregnant, recovering from an injury or have high blood pressure, talk to a teacher before you start.

What Ashtanga does, and what it does not

The Sun Salutations raise your heart rate and warm you up, and the vinyasas between postures build strength in the arms, shoulders and core. The seated series works the hamstrings and hips. Holding each posture for a counted five breaths trains your focus. Those effects are easy to defend.

Older texts about Ashtanga, including our own earlier version of this article, promised that the primary series purifies the body and the second series purifies the nervous system. The Sanskrit names say therapy and cleaning the channels, and in the yoga tradition that is what they mean. No study shows that a yoga sequence clears waste from your organs or nerves, so we leave that claim out. It is also a demanding practice. If you need to slow down after a stressful day, a gentle class will do more for you than a fast one.

Where the sources disagree

The Yoga Korunta. The traditional story says Krishnamacharya learned the system from an ancient text, the Yoga Korunta, attributed to Vamana Rishi, and passed it on to Pattabhi Jois, who began studying with him in 1927. No copy of the text has ever been shown. Jois himself said the manuscript crumbled. Historians such as Mark Singleton argue that the flowing, jumping style grew in 1930s Mysore, where Krishnamacharya taught energetic young students at the palace, and drew on Indian and European physical culture as well as older hatha yoga. Both views agree on one thing: the sequence as practised today took shape in the 20th century. Our article on the yoga styles in Krishnamacharya's lineage places Ashtanga next to Iyengar and Viniyoga, which came from the same teacher.

Is it for beginners? Some teachers say Ashtanga is too hard to start with and suggest a slower style first. Others point out that Mysore style is built for beginners, since each student gets only as much as they can do. Both are right in part. The fixed sequence and fast pace can overwhelm if you try to keep up with a full led class. Taken in small pieces, it is one of the clearest ways to learn yoga, because you always know what comes next.

The breath. Many teachers call the Ashtanga breath Ujjayi. Some senior teachers in the lineage prefer "free breathing with sound" and keep Ujjayi for seated pranayama. On the mat the difference is small: breathe through the nose, keep the sound soft, and keep inhale and exhale even.

If you want a teacher to take you through it, start with the 5-minute What is Ashtanga yoga video and the 45-minute Ashtanga Vinyasa Intro class, then follow Sofia Soori's 4-week Ashtanga Fundamentals program, which builds from the Sun Salutations and standing postures to a 60-minute flow. Level 1-2, no props needed.

Frequently asked questions

Is Ashtanga yoga suitable for beginners?

Yes, if you learn it in pieces. Start with the Sun Salutations, a few standing postures and the finishing sequence, bend your knees where you need to, and add postures one at a time. A full led primary series is a lot for a first class.

Is Ashtanga the hardest yoga?

It is one of the most physically demanding styles, because of the fixed sequence, the pace and the vinyasas between postures. The advanced series are among the hardest things in yoga. The first part of the primary series, practised slowly, is within reach for most healthy beginners.

What is the correct order of Ashtanga yoga?

Every practice follows the same order: Surya Namaskar A and B, the standing postures, the seated postures of your series, then the finishing sequence of backbends and inversions, and rest in Savasana. Beginners practise the primary series and add its postures one at a time.

Can you learn Ashtanga by yourself?

You can learn the Sun Salutations and the first standing postures at home with a video. A teacher helps a lot once the seated postures and the vinyasas between them start, since small errors in the knees and shoulders repeat every day. Online classes and an occasional class in person work well together.

How often should a beginner practise Ashtanga?

Two or three times a week is a good start. The tradition is six days a week with rest days on Saturdays and on full and new moon days, and many students work up to that over months or years.

How long is an Ashtanga class?

The full primary series takes about 90 minutes. Beginner classes and short practices usually run 30-60 minutes and cover the Sun Salutations, some standing postures and the finishing sequence.

What is the difference between Ashtanga and Vinyasa yoga?

Ashtanga follows the same fixed sequence every time. Vinyasa flow borrows the breath-linked movement from Ashtanga, but the teacher changes the sequence from class to class. If you like knowing what comes next, Ashtanga suits you. If you like variety, Vinyasa does.