What Is Astanga Yoga?
Understanding the Methods
By Rebecca
Prescott
Ashtanga yoga, also known
as power yoga, is quickly gaining popularity among
practitioners. So what is Ashtanga yoga? It is the form of
yoga most used by athletes and those interested in quickly
increasing strength and stamina. Because of that, Ashtanga
yoga postures have a higher degree of difficulty than those
in other styles. Additionally, they are done as part of
series.
Usually, students doing
Ashtanga yoga postures will move quickly from one to the
other to maintain that focus on strength. That is in
opposition to many other forms of yoga where the emphasis is
on breathing, relaxation, and flexibility.
Who Should Practice
Ashtanga Yoga?
Ashtanga yoga poses are for
most anyone who is in decent shape. If you are new to
exercise, this is probably not the form of yoga with which
you should start. Even the very easiest of Ashtanga poses
are very demanding on the body, especially since you will
even start with a body warming routine that is designed to
activate your muscles. Overall, Ashtanga yoga can provide
you with a build up of strength, stamina, and even some
flexibility which explains its popularity with those
involved in athletics.
If you decide to give
Ashtanga a try, you should expect things to progress
quickly. You will likely start right off with a sequence of
yoga poses. Those will be practiced until the teacher feels
you have mastered it fairly well and have complete
understanding of its fundamentals. Then, you will move on to
another series and a higher level of difficulty. Overall, it
is a very fast moving form of yoga.
Ashtanga Poses
As for the Ashtanga yoga
poses, they range widely in terms of positioning. You will
find yourself moving from standing, backbent, inverted,
balancing, seated, and even twisting poses. In power yoga,
the sun salutation sequence of poses is very popular as
well, so you will often use standing forward bend, upward
dog, downward dog, and many other poses sprinkled in as
well.
Though much of the focus in
Ashtanga yoga poses is on the development of stamina and
strength, you will also, as with any yoga, be focusing. You
will be asked to focus your eyes on a point as you move
through the poses given out by your instructor. In order to
get the full effect and benefit of Ashtanga, you should make
sure that your muscles and perhaps even the rooms are very
warm. This ensures maximum flexibility and minimal injury as
you work through the demanding postures.
If you are into athletics,
exercise, or just want a new physical challenge, perhaps you
should consider giving Ashtanga yoga a try. The clear choice
of athletes and an increasingly popular form in general, it
is perfect for those that are in decent shape and want to
increase their strength, stamina, and flexibility. Power
yoga is a series of poses taken in a quick and free flowing
sequence. Even the classes move quickly with teachers adding
more difficult sequences every time one is fairly well
mastered. So if you learn fast, like to work hard, and think
you are up to the challenge of power yoga, then you may
benefit greatly from Ashtanga yoga poses.
References: yoga.org.nz/what-is-yoga/yoga_styles.htm.
About the
author:
I have studied computer programming, shiatsu and various
natural therapies including herbs, macrobiotics, oriental
healing and swedish massage.
http://www.vitaminstohealth.com.
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I wish you all the best on your yoga adventure!
To your health,
Thomas T :)
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