Ashtanga Lineage

Ashtanga Yoga

Traditionally, Ashtanga Yoga is recommended to be practiced daily. For busy Americans, this can be a huge commitment, but the benefits of a weekly yoga practice can spill into all areas of a yogi’s life. The Yoga Shala has two levels of membership: 3 days per week, or monthly unlimited. As in India, students at The Yoga Shala are asked to make a monthly commitment and come to class 3-6 days each week. We also offer drop in option for all classes. Anyone can drop into our Led Ashtanga Yoga classes, but students must have an established Ashtanga practice to drop into our Mysore classes.

The Ashtanga system is designed to purify the body, promote proper functioning of the digestive system, build strength, and restore range of motion to the body. The method of practice taught in Ashtanga Yoga relies on linking postures with deep, even breathing and steady gazing with the eyes. The system of linking the breath with movement is known as vinyasa and encourages the blood to circulate properly allowing the removal of unwanted toxins. The gazing point helps to facilitate a state of meditation, having a profound effect on the steadiness of the mind.

What is Mysore?

Our Lineage

At The Yoga Shala, we build our teaching on the Traditional Ashtanga Mysore Method, remaining true to the Ashtanga lineage. Obtaining knowledge of this lineage will provide a clear understanding of how this ancient system of yoga was built and what values and traditions we continue to honor at the shala.

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, referred to by his loyal students as Guruji, was born on July 1915 in a small town near Mysore, India. At the age of 12, he attended a school yoga demonstration and became inspired to learn the ancient practice of Ashtanga. Almost immediately following this new desire for yoga, Guruji met with renowned yogi, Sri T. Krishnamacharya, who agreed to take him on as a student. Shortly after turning 14, he ran away from home to secretly study at the Sanskrit University of Mysore to begin true dedication to this practice.
In 1948, Guruji established the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute, a school that many Yoga Shala teachers attend following their apprenticeship. Over the next 20-30 years, word of Guruji spread across the globe and his number of students increasingly grew. Guruji eventually passed his teachings on to his daughter and grandson at the end of 2008, after becoming ill. He passed away the following year at the age of 93, leaving behind a great legacy.

Saraswati Rangaswamy, daughter of Guruji, played with different yoga postures very early on and began formal studies of asthanga at the young age of 10. She eventually became the first women admitted to the Sanskrit College in Mysore, India. Between the years of 1971 and 1975, Saraswati assisted her father in his Lakshmipuram yoga shala. She later went on to teach on her own at the Balaji Temple in V.V. Mohalla for the next 25 years. It wasn’t until, 2002 when her father opened his new yoga institute to Gokulam, that she returned to teach along side him. Today, she is a familiar face at Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute, teaching yoga students from around the world.

Sharath Jois, Saraswati’s son and Guruji’s grandson, was born into a family of dedicated yoga practitioners. At the young age of 7, Sharath learned his first asanas and began practicing experimenting with an advanced series of postures until he was 14. After taking a three year break to obtain a degree in Electronics, he began his formal studies of yoga at the age of nineteen. Since then, he has maintained a daily practice of Ashtanga Yoga, and is dedicated in his role of Director of the K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute.