One
History and Philosophy
Sit with the elders of Mysore. The lineage, the scholars, the three texts, and the history of the practice told by the people who lived it. This study is the heart of the program.
Enter the study
200hr Ashtanga Training · Course Home
Welcome to your year of study
You are enrolled, and the work begins now. This is your home for the year, the place to return to as you move through the three studies of the program.
A Note to Begin
You have arrived
This course is a journey into the practice and the worldview of Ashtanga Yoga, and you have twelve months to walk it at your own pace. There is no rush and no race. What matters is that you practice, that you study, and that you let the material settle into your body and your thinking over the course of the year.
I have made this home simple on purpose. From here you can reach the three studies that make up the program, and find what you need to begin. Start where you feel drawn, return often, and give the teachings time. Retention, not access, is what changes us.
The Spirit of the Study
A word before you begin. The yoga we study here is not a religion. It speaks of godhead, but it asks no one to believe in God, and in its pure form it is practiced across Asia by Buddhists, Hindus, and many others. It is closer to a science, a careful and exact way of looking at the human person, the world, and freedom.
The scholars of Mysore who teach in this program hold their philosophy in the open and their religion close and private. They never proselytize. In their lectures they quote Buddhist texts, and Plato, and Aristotle, as readily as their own. As Lakshmithathachar Swami often said, the Indian tradition is essentially a human tradition. Come as you are, think for yourself, and take what is true for you. That spirit runs through everything here.
The Program
Your three studies
The program is organized into three studies. Begin with whichever calls to you. Many students like to let History and Philosophy run in the background, like a podcast, from the very first week.
Two
Yoga Methodology
Practice and teaching. The Primary Series, how to adjust postures, how to lead a class and speak to students, the building of a beginner's class, and the inner work of pranayama and mudra.
Coming into place
Three
Physiology and Healing Arts
Yoga as a healing art. Therapeutic movement, somatic work, self massage, Thai massage, and how to customize practice for real bodies and the difficulties that arise in them.
Coming into placeOrientation
How to study this year
Twelve months, at your pace
You have twelve months to complete the program. Work at your own pace, and favor a steady daily rhythm over long and occasional efforts. The course is designed to take about nine months, with three more in hand if you need them.
A daily practice
Each day, if you can, include three things. Therapeutic movement to care for the body. Asana, at least Sūrya Namaskāra and ideally the Primary Series. And time for prāṇāyāma and meditation. Even a few minutes, in the same place at the same time, does more than you would expect. This is your sādhana for the year.
Keep a journal
Write through the year. Note your questions, the insights that surface, and the lines that strike you. What you write down and reflect on is what becomes stable. Learning is retention, not access.
Online Studies, included
Your place in the program includes free access to every live course in the Mysore Yoga Traditions Online Studies. It is a generous library of live sessions and recorded study, and it is yours to use throughout your training.
Open MYT Online StudiesThe examinations
Your graduation rests on a few things. Essays on the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutras. Memorizing the Primary Series, including the Sanskrit names. An oral examination with Andrew. And a philosophy examination with Dr. M.A. Alwar, of the Maharaja's Sanskrit College in Mysore.
Staying connected
We are an international group, and we study together as much as alone. You are welcome at the free weekly class each Sunday at 11am CST, and at the live training weekends each month. You may also schedule up to three one-on-one Zoom calls with Andrew across the year. Write to him to arrange a time, with your questions ready.
Join the WhatsApp group
The Indian tradition is essentially a human tradition.
Lakshmithathachar Swami
The Lineage
Your teachers
You will meet your teachers in full within History and Philosophy. A brief word here, so the names are familiar when you arrive.
Guruji B.N.S. Iyengar is Andrew's teacher in Mysore, in the line of Śrī Kṛṣṇamācārya. Now one hundred years old, he is the oldest living teacher of Ashtanga Yoga.
Lakshmithathachar Swami was Andrew's teacher and the head of the Nāthamuni Sampradāya, until his final samādhi in May of 2021. Dr. M.A. Alwar, his son, is the Ācārya of the lineage. Trained from childhood, he stands at the end of an unbroken line of Ācāryas reaching back a thousand years to Rāmānuja, the last unbroken lineage of the Iyengars, passed father to son. He is Senior Professor at the Maharaja's Sanskrit College and a leading authority on Viśiṣṭādvaita philosophy. He guides the Bhagavad Gita and gives your philosophy examination.
Dr. H.V. Nagaraj Rao, a revered Sanskrit scholar with a rare gift for making demanding texts clear, leads the Sāṅkhya Kārikā and the Yoga Sutras.
Begin
Your year starts now
Take your time, and let the practice and the study shape each other. When you are ready, step into the first room of the program.
Questions along the way: andrew@ashtangayogastudio.com