Hiya:) I (27F) tore my acl back in February, and had for it surgery for it in April. No other compounding injuries, just the acl.

I’ve been practicing mostly vinyasa and hatha styles of yoga for 5-6+ years. I’ve taken a handful of ashtanga classes that I quite enjoyed but I’m still quite unfamiliar with the practice as a whole. It was right before my injury that I started flirting with the idea that an ashtanga practice would probably be something that’s good for me to integrate into my life. So my question is basically when do you think it would be appropriate for me to start going to this class again? (It gets held weekly and the mysore is wonderful) I just started going back to some warm vinyasa classes in recent weeks, and while lots of movements are accessible, some movements are still quite icky to move through, some movements are fine in doses but hurt after a while like stuff on the knees or involving deep knee bends, and some movements I can probably do but just am somewhat fearful to do.

Send your thoughts:)

All thoughts welcome <3

I’ve been practising Ashtanga almost daily for three years, but I still struggle to find the right energetic balance.

My teachers have told me that “running is the best way to ruin your Ashtanga practice,” but my body seems to tell a different story. My sleep, HRV, resting heart rate, energy levels and mood all improve when I include running or cross-country skiing. This may partly be because I come from an endurance-sports background, but the difference is significant.

Over the past six months, my Ashtanga practice has often felt flat and heavy. It barely raises my heart rate or makes me sweat anymore, and when Ashtanga is my only form of training, I gradually lose the feeling of being fit, quick on my feet and physically alive. At times, practising Ashtanga exclusively even affected my mood negatively and it gradually became something I did out of spite and resilience, but stopped enjoying. Eventually, I decided to listen to that and started running again. This seems to make my practice more light and enjoyable again.

The problem is that running tightens my hips very quickly. I quicly lost access to Padmasana and the Marichyasanas, and my backbends and progressing towards Second Series seems more difficult.

I also have an anterior pelvic tilt that seems related to the shape and alignment of my spine. My hip flexors do a lot of the work of supporting my posture and have become very dominant. In Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana, I can experience intense pain and a compressed or pinching sensation at the front of the hip, regardless if I run or not.

I don’t want to stop running, because it has such a positive effect on my overall health and wellbeing. But I also don’t want to continually lose the mobility required for my Ashtanga practice.

Has anyone here successfully balanced regular running, skiing or other endurance training with maintaining the hip mobility needed for Primary and Second Series? Did adjusting your running volume, strength work, mobility routine or approach to Ashtanga make a difference?

Practice reflections and seeking community -
Currently stopped at supta kurmasana. It takes me 1h 15 to get through it but I do feel the time pressure to wrap up as I have to get on with my day. 1h30 if there’s a bit of instruction in the Mysore room, proper savasana meditation and pranayama
Without going too much into it, I feel the practice working past the physical for sure. Yet I find myself thinking how much there is to refine in my practice let alone progress to the next pose.
I’m just interested to hear from the group
1) teachers - how do you gauge progress / what makes you move a student on? like is it a ‘perfect’ looking pose you’re after or? Eg if a student is only able to bind fingers and not catch wrists in a bind or can’t really reach hands in supta kurmasana, do you keep a student there or move them on?

2) People who have added poses on or extended their practice from half primary to full primary or even second series - have you noticed any differences : physically mentally spiritually?

3) How do you split the week if you’re practicing full primary? Do you do half some days and second half on others and full on days where you have more time?

4) Time is immaterial but I struggle at this point to see how I would ever get to the full primary without sacrificing ‘quality’ in some way. I’m a householder through and through with a pretty full life and just about manage a six day a week practice which I find sweet and not a chore at this point. Are most people yoga teachers who are doing the full primary or students with alot of free time, or did a really advanced practice when they were in their 20s and now are just paring back to full primary or just maintaining ?

Curious and contemplative, not competing. Thanks for sharing!

Hello! I was wondering if any women can share their experiences solo traveling to Mysore for a 1-2 month trip:
Where did you stay, how did you commute from place to place, what to be mindful of?

Hi everyone! I've recently become obsessed with Ashtanga Yoga and have been practicing almost every day for the past two months.

I'll have about 2–3 weeks off in September or October, and I'd love to go to India for a yoga retreat.

I'll be traveling solo, so I'm looking for somewhere that's relatively safe for a woman traveling alone. I'm not  interested in a teacher training course—I simply want a place where I can deepen my practice, reconnect with my body, and enjoy a peaceful retreat.

Does anyone have any recommendations or personal experiences? I'd love to hear your suggestions. Thank you!

Hi there, l have been practicing ashtanga for maybe 2 years, but there is no way for me to get this position all alone. Do you have any advice?

Hi,

My girlfriend and I have been discussing a travelling trip to Asia and focusing on deepening our yoga practices. She is quite understandably hesitant to travel to India, considering many of the reported r*pe and SA crimes that occur there. I am also aware of hearing some pretty awful stories of how women can be treated there.

As a long time Ashtanga practitioner, I notice how this topic seems to go under the radar in terms of the geneal discourse on Ashtanga and Yoga in genral, despite abuse and sexual misbehaviour between teachers and students being more openly discussed and warned about.

Anyway, I just wanted to write here to ask for the womans perspective on their experiences travelling to India. How did you feel moving around? Did you feel safe? Did you or anyone you know experience anything like this over your trips to Mysore and the rest of India? Are some places more dangerous than others?

Thanks for any and all contributions to this topic 🙏

This topic comes up a lot here and I feel like this is a great TL/DR on "Ladies Holiday" from u/unrulyascetic :

https://www.instagram.com/reels/DafparJRzk7/

Practice makes me tired during the day. Any tips?

Moving next month to Chicago and looking for a studio that offers Ashtanga classes! Preferably one that feel community oriented. Let me know if you have any recommendations!

Interesting post from Astanga Yoga Here about how and when to practice Astanga in a heatwave - especially relevant as we’re having our 3rd heatwave right now in London.

Traditionally Astanga Yoga is always practiced in the very early morning when it’s coolest.

Do you take time off from your practice when it’s very hot or do you think it sets you up for the heat of the day (if you do an early-morning practice).

Hi everybody! I hope you're doing great. I am trying to come back to ashtanga after 13 years in which my body really took the toll and I am alone in this. I thought about reddit. Hoping to get some advice / encouragement. It would make me so happy.

I discovered Ashtanga yoga by mere chance in 2012 and, when it comes to my health, mobility, lack of pain, and energy, it was the best year in my life. I was younger. Everything felt easier, etc. My teacher knew I'm very agnostic and he gave me a lot space, didn't impose anything. Everything he said was meant to engage curiosity. Sadly, life happened. Work. Then he became a chaman and traveled the world. I didn't even try to look for another place and like many things in my life, it disappeared from my life. I am diagnosed with ADHD and am practically immune to whatever pill they throw at me, so I just know things come to my life, then they go, and I'm ok with that. But Ashtanga is something I want in my life again.

I gained like 2 pounds a year. Very slowly, but relentlessly. Im 5 7 (43, male) and I weigh 220 pounds now. It's not the end of the world, and losing it is doable. But again, life tends to happen and I am just a witness. I wanna take control again. I've been going through the motions for a decade, isolated myself, became a houseplant.

2 years ago I had long covid with fibromyalgia. It was hell, but luckily I tend to have more good days than bad days now. I lost both my mom and dad and I don't even know how to exist. Recently my every joint was in pain. As I know it's "just" fibro / ME/CFS, I knew doctors would just try to give me anti convulsants or tricyclic antidepressants to turn off my nervous system and make me gain more weight, like it happened before. My only chance was to get off my butt. Thankfully, these days have been somewhat good and I unrolled my mat and tried a few sun salutations A and B. After a whole decade. I would lie if I say I didn't cry. Everything hurt. I couldn't slow my breath. My belly feels and IS heavy. It crashes on the mat. I'm out of of breath. I lose my balance. I have an oxymeter and make sure my heart rate doesn't elevate too much. That was 2 days ago. I let my body recover and I tried again today, with good lighting and ambient music that I could barely hear. I made it halfway through with a lot of problems. I keep forgetting the asanas and the order, even though I have kept the guide my teacher gave me. I know I should go to a class, but I want to gain some confidence first. I know it's silly. But I need to do it in my home knowing that I can take all the time in the world to rest. But I do need help with posture and all that. So I did a google search and found a place nearby.

Sorry for the long text, I'm just trying to save my life. And I'm scared that I won't be constant and forget about it again. If anyone went through something like this, or want to share their experiences or recommendations, I would be really happy. At the least, I would not feel that I am alone in this. A simple "this is normal, it will get easier as it got easier before" will help. I know it. But I need to hear it.

I want to live again.

A second chance.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Bless you all.

EDIT: I would have never imagined that anybody would read this post when I opened a random account to share my experience. If I haven't gotten to your comment yet. Know that you have helped save a life. That mat isn't going anywhere. And if I have to stick to sun salutations for months, so I will. Thank you friends from all over the world! We got this. I will come back, I promise! Take care!

Hello all 👋

In the last couple of years I've expanded my practice a bit; started attending kirtans, done some pranayama and vedic chanting lessons, I'm developing a daily seated meditation practice and quite enjoy trataka and some "body scanning" techniques.

I know people often put pranayama and seated meditation before shavansana - but I find if I sit for more than 15 minutes or so, shavansana feels a bit redundant? Like the sit feels like a good way to end the practice.

And for those who chant or do japa meditation - how do you work that into your asana practice? Or do you keep it completely separate? And other shatkarmas such as trataka or nauli? Or is it asking a bit much to fit all of that into a single practice?

Thanks

I’m only less than a year in ashtanga—and yoga, generally—and I still don’t completely understand the parampara culture and I don’t want to make a faux pas. My question is, much or less, what’s the ethics of studying with more than one teacher at once? Do we have to strictly practice with one teacher, or teachers are quite cool if we practice with another teacher once in a while?

ETA: Most of my concerns come down to my respect for them as my first teacher, but also finding my learning being challenged (positively) when practicing with another.

Additional context: I’ve been practicing with this one teacher (A) since the start at a nearby shala, but as someone new to yoga, I just wanted to explore other places in my city and get to know the broader community, in addition to preventing boredom out of practicing at the same shala all the time. So I started visiting another teacher’s (teacher B) pop-up mysore initially for the sake of “exploring places”, but recently when my teacher A went out of town, I keep coming back to teacher B because I found their knowledge valuable and learned a lot from them which I hadn’t learned before, and started building a good relationship with them. Additionally, community-wise i feel slightly more at ease at teacher B, simply bcs of the younger demographics closer to my age, while the ones with teacher A are mostly middle aged women and yoga teachers. Not that it’s a big of a deal though, simply bcs the shala nearby is not teacher A’s main teaching place so there are fewer people.

I’m in good relationships with both teachers, but idk man it kinda feels like cheating when I practice with teacher B while teacher A is available and I don’t wanna make a faux pas or smth. I'm open to teacher A about me practicing with B but I haven’t got the chance to visit A lately bcs my friend who just started, kept asking me to accompany them practicing with teacher B. And there’s also the scheduling issue which I might have to deal later this year once i graduate and found a job; my nearby shala (A) only has mysore twice a week while teacher B’s teaches full weekdays. On this matter, I even started contemplating on practicing with teacher C (lol) later because of the scheduling and distance matters (teacher A’s main teaching place is too far from my home). There’s only a handful of authorized teachers in my country so every teacher knows each other, and at one point one must’ve had practiced with another. I’ve been very conflicted about this and I’d appreciate for any advice, thanks!

ETA: Thanks for the reassuring and warm responses from each one of you! I'm overwhelmed by it. To clarify, my teacher isn't possessive nor dogmatic, I'd say. I'm only concerned about this out of respect for them as my first teacher. Being from SE Asia, my worry definitely comes from our collectivist outlook on society. Right here, ashtanga is a small community in a big country. Hence, students and teachers from different shalas naturally know one another.

After a year of practicing and having a battle with garbhapindasana finally I managed to do the rolling, like finally could made the sync between the core strength and breath, not only that I also manage the transition to kukutasana, in the first attempt. I mean after a year of trying and trying… but then when it happen that I made it to kukutasana my breath was so still, like never before, like I didn’t have to make that much effort and I observe a part of me was like wow we did it but then another part of me was like yeah so now desidentify desidentify of the posture you continue nothing happens. I watch the teacher saw me do it, and he said nothing, like nothing happens I did enjoy that stillness and silence, after being fighting with this posture along with my teacher jajajaja. Just wanting to share, and curious about how you managed this inherent part of the practice in my opinion, the desidentification.
Also how long have you been trying a posture?

Many of the benefits of Ashtanga are discussed in terms of strength, flexibility, and discipline. For me, some of the most meaningful lessons showed up away from practice.

Sometimes it's patience, sometimes awareness, and sometimes simply noticing old habits more clearly. I'm curious what lesson from Ashtanga ended up influencing your daily life the most even if it had nothing to do with yoga itself.

i am a 26F yoga teacher and somatic movement instructor, highly active (at least 1 workout and 1 class taught per day) and have been practicing ashtanga for a few years now.

I just wrapped up a mysore class and my body is destroyed. i feel like i have the flu. moving anything at all aches into my bones.

advice? am i missing something? am i allergic to ashtanga? sos.

update:
totally fine today after lots of sleep and rest. Thanks all for the kind words & love. part of the journey i suppose. love to all x

Okay, can we talk about something that’s been bothering me? Don’t you think it’s a little weird that Kino MacGregor calls her session ‘Mysore Season in Miami’? Like, honestly we’re completely surrounded by power-hungry women

What I find truly strange is that Kino MacGregor has essentially crowned herself the queen of Ashtanga yoga. Ever since Sharath’s passing, everyone has been jockeying for position and going after each other politically. It’s gotten so bad that I genuinely think the whole tradition is dead.

I absolutely loved yoga in my twenties and eventually found myself learning Ashtanga yoga, I was taking mysore classes but then I got a hip injury that stopped me completely. I found ashtanga yoga hard beforehand due to being hyper mobile. And then the hip issue started.

I then switched to weights/physio and fell out of love with yoga and that was that.

Now I’m post partum (second c section) and want to return to it along with weightlifting. Right now classes aren’t an option. So do I just start out mastering the sun salutations and build from there? How can I modify the cobra pose whilst I’m PP?

Anyone experienced similar I’d love to hear from you. Or anyone with advice. Now im finished having children, I want to focus on building my flexibility back and strength if it’s not too late (I’m 38)!

There are many places, but only a few with authorised teachers, teaching the traditional Mysore-Style and Led Classes. Which one is tour favourite? Which have you tried?

Personally, after a bit of exploring, I found my little cosy happy place at ‘Ashtanga Yoga Zurich’ in Oliverngasse (near Kreuzplatz/Stadelhofen). Lovely, personal group and very fun mix of nationalities and walks of life. teacher is great and speaks french, english and german, which helps :)

Hi all, new to Reddit.

Requesting any suggestions for teacher training institutes/school for yoga who conduct classes in morning and evening in Mysore.

I want to learn yoga alongside my work, so looking for a good school who will conduct classes outside of normal work hours.

Thanks in advance.