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Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga video on how to get the most out of your Ashtanga Yoga and prepare yourself to work more efficiently at home.
3 Tips for Home Ashtanga Vinyasa Practice Yoga Video
Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is a practice with many health benefits. This Youtube Yoga Video helps you at home and keeps you motivated.
What is ashtanga yoga? Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is a form of dynamic yoga. It differs from hatha yoga by the practice of vinyasa.
Vinyasa literally means synchronized breathing and movement system. And these movements are those that link one posture with the other.
Each posture is meticulously designed with a set number of movements and breathing so that an advanced student will link the postures by faithfully following the rhythm of breaths and movements.
The sequence of postures will always be the same and the student will add postures as their practice progresses.
What is the Definition of Ashtanga Yoga?
What is the ashtanga yoga definition? According to Wikipedia, the definition of Astanga Yoga is…
“Astanga or Ashtanga (aṣṭāṅga) is a Sanskrit compound translating to “having eight limbs or components”. It may refer to:
- Ashtanga (eight limbs of yoga), the eight limbs of yoga as defined by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras
- Raja yoga, Vivekananda’s popularisation of Ashtanga Yoga
- Ashtanga vinyasa yoga, a style of asana-based modern yoga founded and developed by K. Pattabhi Jois(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._Pattabhi_Jois)
- Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of medicine, divided into eight limbs” – Source: Wikipedia.org
Apart from the vinyasa system, other elements will be decisive for the practice: the breathing (pranayama), the bands (energy closures), the dristi (gazes) help the practitioner to concentrate and increase energy throughout the practice.
Vinyasa Ashtanga yoga is fairly recent, developed by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in the 20th century, although he claimed it was based on more ancient practices.
It’s a very physical practice and takes some more effort than some other practices.
3 Tips for Powerful Practice at Home Video Transcript
Ethan Ashtanga explains on this ashtanga yoga youtube video how to enjoy the most benefits and prepare yourself to work through this program from your own home.
We have separated the video transcript into smaller sections for easier access. The sections are:
- Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Tips
- Tip 1: Replicate Your Ashtanga Routine
- Tip 2: Practice Efficiency
- Tip 3: Practice for Now
- Enjoy This Ashtanga Vinyasa Video
The video was transcribed by us, sorry if we missed any of the words.
Ashtanga Online Teaching Yoga Tips
00:00-01:06 – “Alright. Hello everyone. It’s me, Ethan. And on this day, I am going to give you three tips for practicing Ashtanga yoga at home.
So, as we know, practicing Ashtanga yoga by the [my] method, which is individual practice with one-to-one guidance from your teacher lays a solid foundation for integrating self-practice.
As this video is being recorded in the early part of 2020 during the global lockdown and a lot of students around the world need to integrate self-practice at this time.
So my intention with this video is to give you three pillars of advice on how to make that transition from practicing in the shala to practicing at home, very smooth and quick so that you can start to have some of the deepest and most introspective practices of your life.”
1. Replicate Your Ashtanga Routine
You can do the same type of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga sequence that you do in a shala in your own home.
00:07-03:06 – “Tip number one, replicate your routine. And what I mean by this is that as best you can, every action on your path towards starting your practice should be exactly as it would be if you were going to practice in the shala.
This is so that you can remain single-pointed in your mindset that you are moving towards starting your practice. Every action should be done with intention and with efficiency.
When you wake up in the morning, the tendency is that you will have a clear head and an empty stomach. It is in this state that the body is primed to receive the meditative experience in the Ashtanga yoga practice.
This is the perfect condition for you to start to practice ashtanga pranayama and meditation, as it is prescribed by the ashtanga method.
This is one of many reasons why practicing in the early part of the morning is ideal for the consistent and regular practice of Ashtanga yoga.
Some of the main, uh, actions that you will need to go through while you’re getting ready for your daily practice are going to the bathroom so that you can rid the body of waste and toxins from the inside, uh, having a shower, which will ideally be a hot shower so that you can clean the body from the outside and getting dressed and ready for practice.
So I’m not going to go into specifics about what you should or shouldn’t wear to practice because you can certainly figure that out for yourself. But what I would recommend on this point is to wear exactly what you would, if you were going to the shala.
This is so that you can be comfortable and confident as you can imagine. If you just roll out of bed and immediately start practicing next to your unmade bed, while you’re still in your pajamas, you couldn’t be that surprised if you begin to look within yourself and find that you feel like a dusty old cupboard.
So really the path towards beginning your practice is a very important step in having a powerful, consistent practice. ”
2. Practice Efficiency in Your Home Practice
Use the same Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga discipline at home that you would use in a shala.
03:07-05:22 – “Tip number two, practice efficiency. This is an area that you can place your focus into during your practice.
What I mean by practice efficiency is having a clear understanding of every position that needs to be touched on in your sequence and it’s associated breathing [pack].
Being very aware of this allows you to flow effortlessly from one position to the next, without adding any positions in between, without stopping for breaks and without skipping any part of the sequence.
When you go to the shala, your teacher will tend to hold you accountable by pointing out when you are not practicing efficiently.
When you practice at home on your own, you will be the only observer of your practice and you will need to hold yourself accountable uh, when your practice is not moving fluid.
Practicing efficiently also helps to build and maintain heat and energy in the body, um, which can be very powerful while you’re practicing on your own.
Uh, when you’re in the shala, there tends to be a general energy of the room. And, um, a lot of the time it can also be very warm from all the other yogis moving through their practice.
Whereas when you’re at home, you need to generate all of that for yourself, which will be very difficult to do if you’re continuously stopping for breaks.
Stopping to adjust your clothing, and, uh, pausing during your practice, which tends to allow, uh, thoughts of negativity and struggle to enter.
So in this point, I’m not saying that you need to move the body quickly. As you go through the practice, in Ashtanga yoga, the body moves at the pace of the breath and the breath should be slow, steady, and controlled throughout your practice.
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. I didn’t make that up. I heard that quote recently, and it really stuck with me.
If anybody knows where that quote comes from, drop that in the comments because I’m sure everyone will be very interested to hear a little bit more detail on that.
Um, but essentially moving slowly and steadily through the sequence creates the moving meditation that Ashtanga yoga is meant to be. ”
3. Practice Your Ashtanga Yoga Routine in The Now
This makes sense because, as they say, the only moment we really have is now. So enjoy your Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga practice today.
05:23-06:35 – “And finally tip number three, practice for now.
There are many reasons why one would practice Ashtanga yoga, and none of them are more powerful than being exactly where you belong in the present moment.
When I practice with this in mind, I feel like I could practice forever. I feel that I have no desire to end the sequence, no desire to end the pose. I am purely present and aware.
And I know that even at the worst of times in this practice, I love every aspect of the Ashtanga yoga practice. I love even the struggle. I love the way that I feel in every position of the practice.
Even if that position only comes by for one breath and as the breath turns, you move away from the position and don’t have the opportunity to experience it again until the next day.
So every position gives you a new opportunity to experience your love for the practice, experience your consciousness, and experience your breath, experience pure awareness. ”
Enjoy This Ashtanga Yoga Video
06:35-07:58 – “While you might have very powerful motivation to do this practice, uh, outside of the practice itself, whether that be how the practice makes you feel afterwards,
or how you expect to feel when you reach a certain level on your journey in this practice, um, those type of motivations, as valid as they might be, are very easy to let slip through your fingers
while you’re dealing with the situation of struggle or having a hard time getting going in the morning.
A much more powerful and consistent reason to practice would purely be how you feel in the present moment because ultimately the moment that you are experiencing is now.
Okay, yogis, thank you so much for watching the video. If you guys have other little tips that you’d like to share for practitioners
transitioning from practicing in the shala to practicing at home, please feel free to drop them in the comments below.
I have quite enjoyed making these videos and hopefully, I will make a couple more. So I’m looking forward to seeing you all soon.”
10 Health Benefits of Ashtanga Yoga
What are the Benefits of Ashtanga Yoga? Ashtanga health benefits are many.
“Yoga, known for its mental benefits, has substantial fitness benefits, too.” – Source: Health.Havard.edu
Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is a gentle exercise for your heart that has many other benefits for your body. See our list of the most common ones below.
- Improved mobility, flexibility, and elasticity
- Increase in muscle strength and power
- Accuracy of movements and alignment
- Better posture and elimination of back pain
- Improvement and control of respiratory function
- Multiple benefits for internal organs
- Increased balance and control
- Enhancement of the immune system
- Improvement of mental functions
- Improvement of the circulatory system and heart muscle
We will be writing a follow up that describes all of the health benefits of Ashtanga in more detail.
In the meantime check out our other post Yoga Benefits for a Healthy Lifestyle.
If you wish more information you can always get The Power of Ashtanga Yoga Book Here – Developing a Practice That Will Bring You Strength, Flexibility, and Inner Peace. Available in Amazon on Paperback and Kindle versions.
We Hope You Like This Post Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Home Practice Video Tips
These tips don’t look that difficult to integrate into a regular program. They seem pretty solid.
Take them to heart and let them help you to develop and continue an ashtanga vinyasa yoga at home that helps you.
Check periodically to see if Ethan’s added any moreAshtanga Vinyasa Yoga Youtube videos and get more tips to improve your yoga experience. Namaste!
Yoga Talks with Ethan Ward (Ashtanga Yoga Authorized Level 2 teacher) You can find more of his videos at his Ashtanga Yoga Youtube Channel Ethan Ashtanga.
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