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About

Mysore Style Classes

        These are classes where each student is accompanied individually in their practice, although in a group context. All practitioners are introduced to the Ashtanga Yoga sequences in order, posture by posture. The students memorize the posture sequences and the teacher guides them to learn, deepen, or advance as much as appropriate. With the Ashtanga Yoga sequences, the practitioner will learn to connect breathing to movement. The sequences, although fixed, are always adapted to the practitioner's abilities, whether in the evolution of the variant postures to their final state or in the length and duration of the practice.

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     In this type of class, practitioners are required to achieve autonomy and independence in practice by practicing the sequences by memory. The memory of the sequences only comes with practice, so there's nothing to do but show up for class. Practical memorization starts from the very first lesson. The practitioner may forget, but the body will remember. In this way, each practitioner can go at their own pace and connect with their biorhythms more authentically, even in a group setting.

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     In Mysore-style classes, practitioners are led to know their potential and observe their unique limits. Each practitioner always experiences unique sensations. 

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     Learning Ashtanga Yoga in the traditional Mysore Style way leads anyone to learn concentration, self-motivation, and determination. One learns about discipline and appearing every day in the face of challenges with tact and equanimity. One will learn about the mind, its thoughts, and emotions.

TRISTHANA

    The practice of Ashtanga has three fundamentals at its base, called Tristhana, the three points of attention: the posture, the respiratory system, and the place to look.

The postures (asana) purify, strengthen, and give flexibility to the body. The asanas are taught in a specific sequence that gradually opens, works and detoxifies the body.

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Breathing consists of puraka and rechaka, which means inhaling and exhaling. The inhale and exhale should be taken equally and consistently, i.e. the size and duration of the inhale should be the same as the size and duration of the exhale. Breathing in this way purifies the nervous system.

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Dristhi is the place to look at when doing the posture. There are nine dristhis: the thumbs, the nose, the point between the eyebrows, the navel, the hands, the feet, upwards, to the right side, and to the left side. The dristhis promote concentration, purification, and stabilization of the workings of the mind.

 

A breath that is not equal between inhalation and exhalation, or too fast, will unbalance the heartbeat, throwing off the physical body and the autonomic nervous system. A long equal breath between inhale and exhale strengthens our inner Fire, which in turn warms the blood in the body, promoting physical purification and burning impurities from the nervous system. When our inner fire is nourished, the digestive system, immunity, health, and life expectancy will increase.

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To cleanse the body internally, it is necessary to generate heat in the body from the inside out. Hence the practice of ujayi breathing, a sound breathing technique that focuses on the passage of air at the root of the throat. This breathing cleanses the incoming air as well as quickly generates heat in the body. Without Air, there is no Fire. That's why breathing is so important. In the same way that a Fire gets out of control with too much Air, the same Fire also dies with a lack of Air. And so it is with our inner fire.

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VINYASA

    Vinyasa means movement together with breathing. For every breath, there is a movement. Each asana is assigned a certain number of vinyasas. The Sun Salutation, for example, has 9 vinyasas: the first, inhale and bring your hands above your head and look at your thumbs; the second, exhale by lowering your torso and dropping your head with your hands next to your feet; the third, inhale, activate your back, arms outstretched and look straight ahead, and so on...

 

Internal cleansing is the result of vinyasa. Breathing combined with movement, which makes up the asana sequences, warms the blood. “It boils the blood”, as Pattabhi Jois would say. Thick blood contains impurities and causes disease in the body. The heat generated by the practice of yoga cleanses the blood, making it thinner and thus promoting its free circulation. The warm blood also travels through the internal organs, removing impurities and preventing pathologies. The removal of impurities and diseases occurs through the sweat caused during practice. This is why sweat is an important by-product of vinyasa.

BANDHAS

     An important component of the respiratory system is the practice of mula and uddiyana bandha. These are small muscle activations of the perineum and lower abdomen, which seal energy in the body and direct it to the upper body, heart, and brain, where it is most needed. Its practices give lightness, strengthen and give health to the body, balance hormonal functions, and help to build and maintain the inner fire. Without the practice of bandhas, breathing will not be correct and the asanas will not be able to give their full benefits.

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