The difference between Ashtanga and regular yoga (vinyasa)

If you have ever tried a yoga class, I would put money on it being a what is commonly described as a “vinyasa” class.
Considering what I said in the last post about the origin and meaning of the term “vinyasa” – this is not a bad descriptor for what is going on in these classes. Often in timetables of yoga studios, these classes can be called confusing things like “flow” or “foundations” sometimes even “yin and yang” – this is an attempt to differentiate what is deemed to be a “general” yoga class from a class which has a specific style or format.
Sometimes you will see variations like “power yoga”, “hatha yoga” or “yin yoga”. These styles are quite specific and are influenced by a variety of methods and teachings. I’ll do an explainer post about them at some point too.

Typically in a vinyasa class, you will do some rounds of modified sun salutations before working on some other poses. That’s probably all you could point to across the board to describe vinyasa yoga classes because they are essentially freestyle yoga.

I have already mentioned that in the Ashtanga style, the sequence of postures is set in each series. That means you do the same set of poses in the same order. Not so in vinyasa – every vinyasa class you attend is probably going to be different. The teacher has likely written a new sequence for each class and you could be doing an entirely random selection of postures. Most experienced teachers find a general structure that works for them and they stick with it. This saves time and energy but still leaves room for a lot of creativity and variety.

The pros of vinyasa yoga classes.

Vinyasa yoga classes can be great experiences. They are wonderful, fun introductions to the world of yoga asana for much of the population. When properly crafted, body awareness can be increased through drills and strengthening exercises, incorporated as part of the class. The level of the class can be easily modified for those in the room. You get to move and breathe with others. You get to experience a great variety of asanas. Especially if you are an experienced practitioner, you may get a lot out of vinyasa classes in terms of trying new sequences which may expand your understanding of a posture. All these things are awesome.

The cons of vinyasa yoga classes.

The main drawback with this type of class is the same thing which makes it attractive to newcomers – the variety. Variety is distracting by nature. When I go to a vinyasa class, I spend a lot of time pre-empting the next asana or wondering what is going to happen next. After a while practicing this way, I find that it gets a little tiring. Once you get past the surface gloss of yoga in the west, where it is framed as either exercise or a “mindfulness” practice, you will see it as something deeper than what is able to be presented in these classes.

How are you going to improve your body’s steadiness and strength in any asana if you don’t practice it often enough to really master it? The obsession with variation is a drawback of this style because it assumes that routine is boring. This is far from the truth. It’s my experience from practicing the same series of movements every day for over a year, that boredom is far less likely to crop up than we believe. In fact, it may be our anticipation of boredom and habitually poor attention span that needs to be fixed through mindful movement.

Attempts to remove spirituality from yoga asana practice are not bound to any one style, however, vinyasa has a reputation for valuing flair over function. There are many amazing vinyasa teachers who would never fall prey to this, but the nature of the style does allow for the freedom to present the asana as simply physical exercises or a “work out”.

If you are naturally flexible, or have practiced dance or gymnastics before, you will generally do well in a vinyasa style class. Often, the postures are chosen not to strengthen or facilitate balance or mould the body slowly over time. They are often chosen for what the teacher considers to be fun, or they might look cool, or simply flow together well in a sequence of movement. By contrast, postures within the Ashtanga Primary Series have been chosen specifically to build strength, balance and flexibility gradually amongst those who show signs of the typical symptoms of modern living.

In a style with lots of repetition and routine like Ashtanga what the pose looks like is beside the point because there is a focus on knowledge of the individual body and changing it gradually over time. There is no attempt to make everyone in the room look the same while doing the same posture. There is also a commitment inherent in these styles which is not always found in vinyasa. Established yoga schools and methods like Ashtanga facilitate a dialogue with the teacher and a sense of community among students. If the series of movements doesn’t change significantly, we learn very quickly to notice what does change over time – our mind, our body, our breath. Both on a micro level, second to second, and on a macro level across weeks, months and years of practice.

Krishnamacharya saw yoga asana as a deep physical healing and purification method as much as a spiritual practice. He saw the value in introducing an element of variety in the types of asana which he taught to different students. However, when variety distracts us from consistency it is not serving its true purpose. When yoga is practiced in a deeply consistent way, it has astounding psycho-emotional effects on our being which are not adequately addressed or built through most typical vinyasa classes.