International Day of Yoga: What is Ashtanga Yoga?
Although it's been passed down through generations of yoga gurus, actual Ashtanga yoga has branched off in many directions in the western part of the world. Now it is mostly the recipe for a toned and healthy body without any gym equipment. The practice helps focus the minds and energy of practitioners. This dynamic type of yoga follows a set sequence of poses.
Rishi Patanjali's legacy
Yogi Ashwini of Dhyan Ashram explains Ashtanga Yoga, saying, "Rishi Patanjali gave us the Yoga Sutras, the fountainhead of yoga. In it, Ashtang Yoga has been elucidated as Yam (abstinence), Niyam (discipline), Asan (posture), Pranayam (breathing), Prtayahar (withdrawal), Dhyan (concentration/ meditation), Dharan (concentration) and Samadhi (absorption)." "It's like an eight-legged chair; if even one leg is missing, the chair will fall."
Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga: Reaching a higher spiritual level
The actual Ashtanga yoga is a holistic approach to a better life of which yoga asanas or exercises are a part. The eight limbs that form the approach are formulated for those who can reach a higher spiritual level. It is not a mere form of workout but requires one to abstain from various worldly pleasures to attain ultimate joy in life.
Purpose of Ashtanga yoga
The purpose of Ashtanga yoga is liberation from suffering in the world. The eight limbs are the instructions for a purposeful life, of which yoga asanas form only one limb. The Ashtanga yoga practiced by most celebrities is only a part of what Rishi Patanjali prescribed. However, it helps immensely to care for the physical and mental well-being of modern humans without social abstinence.
Ashtanga vinyasa yoga: Popular among celebs
Ashtanga vinyasa yoga is an exercise style that was popularized by K. Pattabhi Jois during the twentieth century and is widely practiced in the West as classical Indian yoga. The individual asanas are linked by flowing movements. Many Hollywood celebrities have vouched for this style of exercise and credit it for their perfect physique, including Natalie Portman and Madonna.
Another simpler form for modern humans
"The modern man does not have time for the eight-stepped Ashtanga yoga, let alone himself. That's where Sanatan Kriya comes in. With all the aspects of Ashtanga yoga, it is designed in a way that one can follow without any problem," comments Yogi Ashwini. Sanatan Kriya is formulated in a manner so that one doesn't have to renounce worldly pleasures and become a hermit.
