阿斯坦加 (流動瑜伽)

阿斯坦加瑜伽（又翻譯做阿斯湯伽瑜珈，非指波颠阇利的，即瑜伽的八個肢體）是一種由於二十世紀推廣的風格，常被宣傳為中世紀哈達瑜伽的動態形式。 Jois聲稱此系統是他從精神導師那裡學來的。此風格充滿活力，強調呼吸與動作的同步。每一個體式（asana）由稱為的流暢動作銜接起來。
帕塔比於1948年創立了他的阿斯坦加瑜伽研究所。 現今的教學風格稱為「邁索爾自主練習（Mysore Style）」，以印度原始教學城市邁索命名。 阿斯坦加瑜伽催生了多種的衍生風格。

教學方式

傳統上，阿斯坦加瑜伽學員會背誦一套固定的體位法（asana）的順序，並在無指導的情況下一起練習。教練帶領的課程則是在帕塔比晚年才引入的。這類課程通常每週上兩次，取代邁索爾自主練習課程。教師會帶領學員練習，調整與協助體位，並同時引導所有學生完成一系列動作。

 序列與系列 


阿斯坦加瑜伽的練習通常以五次拜日式（surya namaskara）A式與B式重複練習開始，接著是站立體式序列。 練習者接著依序完成六大系列之一的體位，最後進行固定的結束動作序列。

六級序列分別為：
 初級序列：Yoga chikitsa，「健康瑜伽」或「瑜伽療法」，也有做「一級序列」
 中級序列：：Nadishodhana，「筋絡脈輪清潔」，也稱作「次級序列」或「二級序列」 
 高級序列：Sthira bhaga，「神定」‘「入定」
 高級序列A，或稱作三級序列
 高級序列B，或稱作四級序列
 高級序列C，或稱作五級序列
 高級序列D，或稱作六級序列

阿斯坦加的課程體系最初只包含四個系列：初級、中級、高級序列A及高級序列B。五級序列稱為「Rishi系列」，據帕塔比所說，只有當學員精通前四系列後才能練習此系列。

 Method of instruction 

According to Pattabhi Jois's grandson R. Sharath Jois, practitioners should master each pose separately attempting the others that follow. However, Pattabhi Jois's son  disagreed; in his view, students were occasionally allowed to practice the postures in a non-linear format.

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century a new generation of ashtanga vinyasa yoga teachers have embraced Sharath's rules, teaching in a linear style without variations. Practice typically takes place in a strict, Mysore style environment under the guidance of a Sharath-approved teacher. Workshops, detailed alignment instructions and strength-building exercises should not form part of the method, neither for the practitioner nor for the teacher.  However, most teachers who claim to have been taught by Sharath do in practice employ the above methods, exercises and postures in their teaching.

 Principles 
Ashtanga vinyasa yoga emphasizes certain key components, namely tristhana ("three places of action or attention", or the more physical aspects of poses) and vinyasa (which Sharath Jois defines as a system of breathing and movement).

 Tristhana 

Tristhana means the three places of attention or action: breathing system (pranayama), posture (asana), and looking place (). These are considered core concepts for ashtanga yoga practice, encompassing the three levels of purification: the body, nervous system, and the mind. They are supposed to be performed in conjunction with each other.

Each asana in ashtanga yoga is part of a set sequence, as described above. The stated purpose of the asanas is to increase the strength and flexibility of the body. Officially, the style is accompanied by very little alignment instruction.Yoga Breathing for Stress Relief with Sharath Jois Breathing is ideally even and steady, in terms of the length of the inhalations and exhalations.

Drishti is the point where one focuses the eyes while practicing asana. In the ashtanga yoga method, there is a prescribed point of focus for every asana. There are nine drishtis: the nose, between the eyebrows, navel, thumb, hands, feet, up, right side and left side.

 Vinyasa 

Vinyasas are flowing sequences of movements that connect each asana to the next. Additionally, modern vinyasa yoga coordinates the breath with the vinyasa transition movements between the asanas.

According to Sharath Jois, the purpose of vinyasas is to purify the blood, which is supposedly otherwise heated and contaminated by the practice of asanas.

 Breath 

Although ashtanga yoga keeps a general principle of steady and even inhalations and exhalations, the particulars of pranayama during the asana practice are debated.

In his book Yoga Mala, Pattabhi Jois recommends remaining in each posture for five to eight breaths, or else staying in each posture for as long as possible. Breathing instructions given are to do rechaka and puraka (to exhale and inhale) as much as possible. "It is sufficient, however, to breathe in and out five to eight times in each posture." In an interview regarding the length of the breath, Pattabhi Jois instructs practitioners to inhale for ten to fifteen seconds, and to exhale for ten to fifteen seconds. He goes on to clarify: "[if] your breath strength is possibly ten-second inhalations and exhalations, you do ten; fifteen seconds possible, you do fifteen. One hundred possible, you perform one hundred. Five is possible, you do five". His son Manju Jois also recommends taking more breaths in difficult postures.

Various influential figures have discussed the specific process of breathing in ashtanga vinyasa yoga. Pattabhi Jois recommended breathing fully and deeply with the mouth closed, although he did not specifically term this as ing. However, Manju Jois does, referring to a breathing style called dirgha rechaka puraka, meaning long, deep, slow exhalations and inhalations. "It should be dirgha... long, and like music. The sound is very important. You have to do the ujjayi pranayama". In late 2011, Sharath Jois stated that ujjayi breathing as such was not to be performed in the asana practice, but that asanas should be accompanied merely by deep breathing with sound. He reiterated this notion in a conference in 2013, stating: "You do normal breath, inhalation and exhalation with sound. Ujjayi breath is a type of pranayama. This is just normal breath with free flow".

As far as other types of pranayama are concerned, the consensus is that they should be practised after the asanas have been mastered. Pattabhi Jois originally taught pranayama to those practicing the second series and later changed his mind, teaching pranayama after the third series.

Sharath Jois later produced a series of videos teaching alternate nostril breathing to beginners. This pranayama practice was never taught to beginners by his grandfather and it is one of the many changes Sharath has made to the ashtanga yoga method of instruction.

 Bandhas 

 are one of the three key elements of ashtanga vinyasa yoga, alongside breath and drishti. There are three principal bandhas which are considered internal body locks:

 Mula bandha or root lock at the pelvic floor (drawing in the perineum)
 Uddiyana bandha, drawing back the abdomen approximately two inches below the navel
 Jalandhara bandha, throat lock (achieved by lowering the chin slightly while raising the sternum).

Both Pattabhi Jois and Sharath Jois recommend practising mula and uddiyana bandha even when not practicing asanas. Pattabhi Jois explains: (translated quote) "You completely exhale, apply mula bandha and after inhaling you apply uddiyana bandha. Both bandhas are very important... After bandha practice, take [your attention] to the location where they are applied and maintain that attention at all times, while walking, talking, sleeping and when walk is finished.  Always you control mula bandha".

Sharath Jois says: "Without bandhas, breathing will not be correct, and the asanas will give no benefit".

Opening chant 

Ashtanga practice is traditionally started with the following Sanskrit invocation to Patanjali:

 Sanskrit  Translation vande gurūṇāṁ caraṇāravindesaṁdarśita-svātma-sukhāvabodheniḥśreyase jāṅ̇galikāyamānesaṁsāra-hālāhala-mohaśāntyai ābāhu puruṣākāraṁśaṅ̇kha-cakrāsi-dhāriṇamsahasra-śirasaṁ śvetampraṇamāmi patañjalim  I bow to the  feet of the gurus,The awakening happiness of one's own-self revealed,Beyond better, acting like the jungle physician,Pacifying delusion, the poison of Samsara.Taking the form of a man to the shoulders,Holding a conch, a discus, and a sword,One thousand heads white,To Patanjali, I salute.

and closes with the "mangala mantra" ():

 Sanskrit  Translation svasti prajābhyaḥ paripālayantāṁ nyāyena mārgeṇa mahīṁ mahīśāḥgo-brāhmaṇebhyaḥ śubham astu nityaṁ lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu  May all be well with mankind,May the leaders of the Earth protect in every way by keeping to the right path.May there be goodness for those who know the Earth to be sacred. May all the worlds be happy.

History

Pattabhi Jois claimed to have learned the system of ashtanga from Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who in turn claimed to have learned it from a supposed text called  by the otherwise unknown author Vamama Rishi.Eddie Sterne, Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students This text was imparted to Krishnamacharya in the early 1900s by his Guru, Yogeshwara Ramamohana Brahmachari. Jois insists that the text described all of the asanas and vinyasas of the sequences of the ashtanga system. However, the text is said to have been eaten by ants so it is impossible to verify his assertions. Additionally, it is unusual that the text is not mentioned as a source in either of the books by Krishnamacharya,  (1934) and Yogāsanagalu (c. 1941).

According to Manju Jois, the sequences of ashtanga yoga were created by Krishnamcharya. There is some evidence to support this in Yoga Makaranda, which lists nearly all the postures of the Pattabhi Jois primary series and several postures from the intermediate and advanced series, described with reference to vinyasa. , 1934

There is evidence that the ashtanga yoga series incorporates exercises used by Indian wrestlers and British gymnasts. Recent academic research details documentary evidence that physical journals in the early 20th century were full of the postural shapes that were very similar to Krishnamacharya's asana system. In particular, the flowing surya namaskara, which later became the basis of Krishnamacharya's Mysore style, was in the 1930s considered as exercise and not part of yoga; the two styles were at that time taught separately, in adjacent halls of the Mysore palace.

 Etymology 


Jois elided any distinction between his sequences of asanas and the eight-limbed ashtanga yoga (Sanskrit अष्टांग asht-anga, "eight limbs") of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. The eight limbs of Patanjali's scheme are , , asana, pranayama, , , , and samadhi.Scott, John. Ashtanga Yoga: The Definitive Step-by-Step Guide to Dynamic Yoga. New York: , 2000. pp. 14–17. It was Jois's belief that asana, the third limb, must be practiced first, and only after that could one master the other seven limbs. However, the name ashtanga in Jois's usage may, as yoga scholar  suggests, derive from the old name of surya namaskar in the system of dand gymnastic exercises, which was named ashtang dand after one of the original postures in the sequence,  (now replaced by ), in which eight body parts all touch the ground, rather than Patanjali's yoga.

 Tradition 

There has been much debate over the term "traditional" as applied to ashtanga yoga. The founder's students noted that Jois freely modified the sequence to suit the practitioner. Some of the differences include the addition or subtraction of postures in the sequences, changes to the vinyasa (full and half vinyasa),Lino Miele, Astanga Yoga Book - The Yoga of Breath and specific practice prescriptions to specific people.

Several changes to the practice have been made since its inception. Nancy Gilgoff, an early student, describes many differences in the way she was taught ashtanga to the way it is taught now. According to her experiences, some of the differences include: Pattabhi Jois originally left out seven postures in the standing sequence, but later assigned utthita hasta padangusthasana and ardha baddha padmottanasana before the intermediate series was given; ,  A and B, , and  were not in the series at this point; and Jois did not give a vinyasa between the same poses on the different sides of the body or between variations on a pose (e.g.,  A, B, and C were done together, followed by a vinyasa. Likewise , upavishta konasana and supta konasana were also grouped together without a vinyasa between them, as were ubhaya padangusthasana and urdhva mukha paschimottanasana.

According to Gilgoff, Pattabhi Jois prescribed practising twice a day, primary and intermediate series, with no vinyasa between sides in , , , eka pada sirsasana, , and  in the intermediate series.  to parsva dhanurasana were done in a group, with a vinyasa only performed at the end.  through  also were done altogether. The same went for eka pada sirsasana through . The closing sequence included only mudrasana, padmasana, and , until the completion of the intermediate series when the remainder of the closing sequence was assigned. Urdhva dhanurasana and "drop-backs" were taught after the intermediate series. Gilgoff states that the original intermediate series included  after karandavasana and ended with . She also notes that Pattabhi Jois added supta urdhva pada vajrasana as well as the seven headstands when another yogi asked for more; these eight postures were not part of the intermediate series prior to this.

Power yoga spinoffs

Power yoga began in the 1990s via a "nearly simultaneous invention" by two students of K. Pattabhi Jois and similar forms led by other yoga teachers.

 created what  calls "the original power yoga" in 1995.

, who studied ashtanga yoga under K. Pattabhi Jois, and , a  enthusiast, separately put their own spins on the style and provided its branding. Neither Baptiste's power yoga nor Kest's power yoga are synonymous with ashtanga yoga. In 1995, Pattabhi Jois wrote a letter to Yoga Journal expressing his disappointment at the association between his ashtanga yoga and the newly-coined power yoga, referring to it as "ignorant bodybuilding".

 Risk of injury 

In an article published by The Economist, it was reported that "a good number of Mr Jois's students seemed constantly to be limping around with injured knees or backs because they had received his "adjustments", yanking them into Lotus, the splits, or a backbend". , one of Jois's students, indicates that "the adjustments were fairly ferocious". Injuries related to Jois's ashtanga yoga have been the subject of discussion in a Huffington Post article.

In 2008, yoga researchers in Europe published a survey of practitioners of ashtanga yoga that indicated that 62 percent of respondents had suffered at least one injury that lasted longer than one month. However, the survey lacked a control group (of similar people not subject to the treatment, such as people who had practised a different form of yoga), which limited its validity.

參考文獻

相關內容






延伸閱讀







外部連結
 Ashtanga Yoga - Understanding the Method, Interview with Manju Pattabhi Jois, in English and German (2009)

Category:瑜伽流派