The Ashtanga Starter Week
A six-day introduction to the Ashtanga method — the standing and seated sequences drilled in their fixed order, with one rest day, the traditional way.
- GOAL
- Mobility & Yoga
- LEVEL
- Intermediate
- LENGTH
- 1 week
- SESSIONS
- 6 per week
Ashtanga is a set sequence practised the same way every time; the repetition is the method, not a lack of imagination. This week introduces it at a sustainable frequency. The standing sequence and the seated foundations alternate through the week so both become familiar, with the salutation forms drilled once to sharpen the vinyasa that links everything. Traditionally the practice is six days a week with one full rest day, and moon days off — this week keeps the six-day rhythm but at conservative hold times. It is demanding by repetition rather than by intensity; the same poses in the same order is exactly the point. Practise on an empty stomach, ideally in the morning.
- →Has a steady flow practice and wants to try a set-sequence method
- →Prefers a fixed routine over choosing poses each day
- →Can train six days a week at a moderate effort
- →Curious about Ashtanga before committing to a led or Mysore class
- →Can hold Downward Dog and Chaturanga with steady breathing
- →Can sit upright in a seated forward fold without the low back collapsing
- →Has a mat and a strap; practises on an empty stomach
Learn the standing and seated sequences by repeating them in their fixed order, at hold times conservative enough to sustain six days.
- MondayAshtanga: Standing SequenceLearn the order today. Same order every practice from here.
- TuesdayAshtanga: Seated FoundationsSit tall in Staff Pose between poses — it is the pose you keep returning to.
- WednesdayVinyasa: Sun Salutations A and BSharpen the vinyasa that links the sequence. Clean transitions carry over to both practices.
- ThursdayAshtanga: Standing SequenceSecond time through. Notice what the body already remembers.
- FridayAshtanga: Seated FoundationsSkip the inversions if the neck is tired — double the Bridge instead.
- SaturdayYin: Hips and Lower BodyThe counterweight to a week of active practice. Long passive holds, nothing forced.
- SundayRest
PROGRESSIONFive breaths in each pose, right side then left, no extra poses. The sequence never changes — depth comes from doing the same thing many times, not from adding to it.
- →Keep the sequences fixed. The whole method rests on doing the same poses in the same order until the mind quiets.
- →Progress by holding five full breaths rather than counting fast, then by adding the next pose of the series only once the current ones are steady.
- →Take a full rest day weekly. Traditionally the new and full moon days are also rest days — honour at least one extra rest if the body is flat.
- →Practise on an empty stomach. An early-morning practice is easier to keep than an evening one.
- →If a pose in the seated series is not available, hold the last accessible pose for its count and move on rather than straining into the next.
- →Seated forward fold: hands to shins, ankles or feet
- →Chaturanga: clean reps through a salutation before the elbows flare
- →Marichi's pose: hands clasping, fingertips touching, or not yet reaching
- →Standing hand-to-big-toe: duration balanced on each side