Tips for Getting into the Mysore Room
1. Orienting You to the Practice
It’s great that you’ve gotten up early and made it to class! Maybe you’ve done some yoga before, or maybe you’re totally new. Both are ok! Your teacher will brief you on how the Ashtanga system works–how to start and how to begin to move & breathe through the initial poses of the sequence.
In the Ashtanga system, every breath is assigned to a movement and counted.
If you’ve done other kinds of yoga before, keep an open mind as you learn the way we approach familiar sequences like sun salutations and poses like triangle and side-angle.
(pro-tip: there’s no 3-legged dog in Ashtanga!)
2. Start Small
So new students aren’t overwhelmed with information (poses! alignment! sequence! breath! transitions!) we present shorter parts of the system for you to start with. That means initially you may be practicing for 20 or 30 minutes.
As you grow more familiar with the sequence, we’ll introduce more poses, and so your practice will get longer.
3. Begin with Opening & Closing Sequences
The overall structure of the Ashtanga system is built around warming up, moving deeper, counterposing, inversions, and cool-down/rest. Those final pieces are as important as the opening parts, so we also introduce poses you’ll see at the end, like shoulderstand and headstand.
Once you’re familiar with the opening and closing, we work to fill in the middle–it’s like a sandwich.
Everyone takes rest at the end–savasana–you can rest as long as you’d like!
4. Modify Your Practice to Your Needs
Although the Ashtanga practice is an ordered sequence, there may be times when it’s not possible to fit an entire practice in, or you’re dealing with an injury, so you shorten your practice. Your teacher can give you suggestions on how/what to edit out for time or physical limitation.
You don’t have to do everything every day; as you build a relationship with the practice and your body, learning to tune and really listen to what is best for your body today, this moment, is a gift Ashtanga gives us. Sometimes less is more.
5. Memorize the Sequence
Learning a sequence by heart, committing it to memory, means you own it. It travels with you.
So if you’re away from home–stuck in an airport or hotel or cousin’s guest room–you still have access to the practice even without a teacher. Many of us find this is a great comfort when life is upsetting or confusing. The practice then is a familiar, safe, warm space to return to.
6. Ask Questions
One of the ways your teachers will give you alignment feedback is through physical adjustments and assists and support. If we can help you know the foundation of the pose in your body, you can explore it more fully through your own power.
Although we try to keep conversation minimal in the room, it’s always appropriate to ask a question if you don’t quite understand the intention of a pose or an assist.
Feel free too, if you have more questions, to talk to us before or after class.
7. Timing & Length of Class
It looks on the schedule like the class is 2 or 2 ½ or 3 hours long - it’s not and you don’t have to stay for that entire time. The room is open for people to come and practice during that window. Some folks get there early so they can make it to work or class. Some arrive later after their kids are off to school.
8. It’s great to look around/it’s terrible to look around.
It can be tempting to check out other students and get your bearings. But it can also be intimidating and discouraging if you’re comparing yourself to students who have established practices that they’ve dedicated years or decades to.
The goal over time is to understand the pose with your body rather than what it looks like externally.