New to Ashtanga Yoga
A question that can often come up is how to start Ashtanga Yoga? It is also common to hear that potential new students feel intimidated to begin practice and feel they need to know Ashtanga before they come to class. Especially the Mysore style setting, which is how Ashtanga should be taught.
What is Mysore Style?
Mysore room
Mysore-style Ashtanga yoga is the traditional, self-paced method of practicing Ashtanga yoga where students practice individually within a group setting. Named after the city of Mysore, India—where modern Ashtanga was popularized by Sri K. Pattabhi Jobs.
Self-Paced Practice: There is no teacher calling out poses for the whole room. Instead, you move through a set sequence of postures at your own rhythm and breathing pace.
Individual Guidance: The teacher moves around the room to give you one-on-one help, personal adjustments, and tailored posture advice.
Memorization: You learn the sequence step-by-step over time. The teacher gives you a few new poses at a time until you memorise them, turning the practice into a moving meditation.
Shared Space: Beginners and advanced students practice in the same room together. Everyone works on their own level—one person might be finishing a shorter sequence while another is moving deeper into a more advanced series.
In this way, the Mysore style setting for teaching is perfect for beginners, as you will only learn as much as you can remember, and as much as your body is ready for. This process is closely monitored by the teacher where new postures are given when the student is ready for more.
In the more modern setting for yoga classes where each class is separated into levels, students might do more than they are ready to try to keep up with everyone else, or feel stagnated if the class isn’t challenging enough.
Mysore style, in this way, caters for all abilities and ages, where everyone is moving at their own pace defined by how they are feeling that day.
There is no need to perform or keep up with any ideal or keep up with the instructors' energy of that day. Each student checks in with their own energy each day and practices accordingly.
In the beginning, you will learn a very small amount of asanas. Usually, within the first week, a new student will learn the first two sun salutations of Surya Namaskar A and B, and potentially a handful of standing / finishing postures as the mind and body slowly integrate these new movements.
This is a holistic approach to learning yoga which is defined by each student's individual ability.
At JHY in Oslo, we offer a ‘Test Month’ membership where you will have unlimited access to the Mysore room, which is a good amount of time to learn the basics of Primary Series and to get to know the teacher and a feel for the space.
Usually, after one month’s regular practice, you will know if the energy of this practice resonates with you or not.
If you are not in Oslo and would like to undertake an entry into Ashtanga Yoga online, I recommend you take my 7-day yoga challenge online course, which is completely free.
Here you will slowly, day by day, learn the sun salutations and standing postures in the Primary Series, which is perfect for anyone new to yoga.
Beginning yoga
For more detailed information about Mysore Style head to the link below:
