What is Traditional Ashtanga Yoga: Mysore Style?

At Ashtanga Yoga Stroud (AYS), we’re preparing to open our doors on Stroud High Street, in a cosy, light-filled space just above Loganberry Café. Right now, we’re mid-transformation: Turning what was once a chaotic storage room into a clean, bright, and fit-for-purpose yoga shala (the Sanskrit term for our yoga room or studio).

It feels fitting. Because Ashtanga yoga, too, is a kind of transformation – one that starts from within. Slowly, with steadiness and breath, it reshapes us over time.

You arrive at the shala, roll out your mat, and begin.

Not a regular class: A Mysore-style practice

One of the most unique and beautiful things about traditional Ashtanga yoga is the Mysore-style method. If you’ve ever been to a yoga class where the teacher stands at the front and calls out poses, this will feel very different.

In Mysore-style Ashtanga yoga, you don’t follow a teacher’s verbal cues or move in sync with others. Instead, you learn a set sequence of postures – your own personal practice – and over time, you memorise it. You arrive at the shala, roll out your mat, and begin. We don’t all start at the same time, and our practices are different lengths (at the beginning, it might be 30 minutes, and as your practice develops, it will become longer).

You move at your own pace, with your own breath.

Why “Mysore-style”?

The name comes from Mysore, a city in southern India where this method was first developed and taught by K. Pattabhi Jois, who formalised the Ashtanga method in the 20th century. It has deep roots in the yogic tradition, and it’s still taught this way today, both in India and around the world.

It’s a slow burn. A method of transformation centred around the breath.

How we learn: Posture by posture, breath by breath

In Mysore-style practice, we learn one posture at a time (called āsana in Sanskrit). When our teacher sees that we’ve integrated that posture, physically, mentally, and with steady breath, we’re given the next one.

It’s a slow burn. A method of transformation centred around the breath. When we can stay calm and breathe steadily in a posture, we’re ready to move forward. The breath comes first. The posture follows.

It’s personal

What’s special about this method is how individual it is. Some of us find touching our toes hard, maybe we run or cycle and have tight hamstrings. Others find twisting tricky, or backbends difficult, especially with the posture habits of modern life: Sitting at desks, hunching over phones.

In Mysore-style Ashtanga, even though we’re in a group setting, the teacher doesn’t shout out from the front. Instead, they work one-to-one with each student, quietly, attentively, and over time. They offer verbal cues, gentle adjustments (with your consent, of course), and a level of support that’s truly personal.

My teacher knows exactly which posture I’ve reached, what I find challenging, and where I tend to lose steadiness. She knows when to challenge me and when to be gentle. Over time, we’ve built a relationship based on trust and respect. Some mornings it’s like she can read my mind: She knows when I’m struggling, or when I’m just being a bit lazy!

Practice becomes life

Something magical happens over time in the calmness of the shala. As we practice each morning, our breath becomes steady. It starts to feel more automatic. And we carry that breath out into our day: Slowing down, becoming more present, more grounded.

This is the quiet transformation Ashtanga offers. It’s not flashy or fast. It’s not about how flexible you are or how many poses you can do. It’s about showing up, breathing steadily, and building something from the inside out.

Come as you are – whoever you are, and however your body is.

Come as you are

So come and try Ashtanga yoga, whoever you are, and however your body is. Whether you’ve tried yoga before, already have an established practice, or are completely new. There’s no need to know anything in advance: That’s what your teacher is there to teach.

We practice in the mornings because this becomes the foundation of your day. It sets a tone of calmness and steadiness to support everything else that follows in our busy lives.

Join us any time between 7 and 9am. Come in, roll out your mat, and begin.

Message Adri at adri@ashtangayogastroud.co.uk or via our website to book your first class.