Ashtanga Yoga came to the west through students of Sri Pattabi Jois, who passed away in 2009 after establishing his yoga center in Mysore, India.

In Sanskrit, the ancient language of India, the word “Ashtanga” means eight limbs.

Ashtanga Yoga translates to ‘8 limbed yoga’, referring to the 8 limbs of Yoga. (1) The 8 limbs of Yoga are guidelines that were intended for yoga practitioners to follow in order to live a … Among its more intense forms is ashtanga yoga, a rigidly-structured variation of vinyasa (or flow style) yoga designed to encourage consistent daily practice, promote independence from your instructor, and inspire advancement within its various series as you progress in strength and flexibility. He described eight practices (“limbs”) that we should master in order to transcend suffering and recognise our true nature. In the Ashtanga yoga of Rishi Patanjali, there is an assimilation of Yam, niyam, Asana, pranayama, prataihar, dhama, dhyan, samadhi. There are five Ashtanga asana series and each student must master every pose of the first series before moving onto the second series. Ashtanga Yoga is is a highly structured vinyasa-style class. The term was first used by an ancient Indian sage called Patanjali, who wrote The Yoga Sutras; the authoritative text on yoga.