Changes in Contemporary Aṣṭāṅga Vinyāsa Yoga

From where my Guruji i.e. T Krishnamacharya left, I proceeded. I want my students to proceed from where I left. That’s all, that’s as simple as it is. Science is progressing. Art is progressing. So, yoga as being an art, a science, it has to progress. Otherwise there is a stagnation again. There is a mingling of the western feeling in the eastern mind which is contributing in the evolution of yoga[1]. 

The following important changes are occurring in Aṣṭāṅga now.

01 Anatomical Knowledge Expansion A higher level of training of teachers in yogic anatomy and how to adapt it to individual student’s needs. More teachers are learning how anatomical knowledge must inform technical instruction in Guided and Mysore style classes. "Knowing the anatomical limitations of bodies, which adjustments are unsafe and how far the safe ones can be taken. This is not something that can be learned by watching or simply by adjusting. It can be learned from somebody who is a long serving teacher/ practitioner and at the same time has done formal training in anatomy. Unfortunately, students are often hurt because teachers believe no formal study is required[2]". 

02 Individual Uniqueness framed into Universal Principles 

Understanding the differences between bodies and how they must be accommodated by altering the sequences if necessary. Many students have left Aṣṭāṅga for good because their teacher could not or would not modify their sequence. There are however, two 2 plus 1 universal principles that I have distinguished so far through the years of practice namely 01 force transmission and 02 energy cycles which apply to everyone beyond individual uniqueness-s or special characteristics that might exclude him / her for certain āsana guidelines. These concepts are not naturally a self-discovery but more of a combination of two separate approaches experienced in the world of physiology.

A Force Transmission 

Force transmission can be understood as a wave-like motion of force through the body produced by a counter-force of equal measure i.e. a simple expression of the third Newton-ian law in the kinematic chain of muscles and non-tendinous connective tissues or fascia of the human body.

A practical understanding of this would be the following examples: the harder the press on the ground through the feet, the higher you shall jump. The stronger the push on the ground through the leg the stronger the kick on the opponent. Force travels through action and counter action in open or closed kinematic chains that produce various effects. 

Equally, when practicing yoga and especially what we have come to experience as T Krishnamacharya’s legacy format-wise it is currently one is bound to the somehow be in contact with the ground and some part of his body. To keep things simple, let us approach the scheme through a fairly simple standing posture such as Paścimottānāsana.

"Teachers should look more for force transmission instead of right alignment" [ref Fields J. during her interview in the J Brown podcast]. "Force that is not converted into movement does not simply disappear, but is dissipated into damage done to joints, muscles, and other sections of the body used to create the effort" [Feldenkrais 1987 p 58], thus it is necessary to frame the concept of force transmission into the effects of the energetical cycles see next paragraph.

 B Energy Cycles 

All āsanas are designed to form energetic cycles – especially postures where the hands are connected to the feet. The earth being receptive draws out energy. These cycles are thought to have a profound influence on the pranic sheath pranamaya kosha which is reduced when the energy flow is interrupted through belts and straps putting their use into question.

"When properly directed and graduated, the amount of energy needed to perform an āsana is considerably less and thus allows one to flow easier through the demanding vinyasas and āsanas of the series. Energy not converted into movement turns into heat within the system and causes changes that will require repair before the system can operate efficiently again" [Feldenkrais 1987 p 58].

The use of a strap or belt might seem like an easy solution for students with certain difficulties, however as pointed by K P Jois the use of props interrupts the energy cycle of the posture [2006 p 65]. I personally find the use of props equally therapeutic only when supplementing the work of the student and not when implemented to abide to a systematized framework of impossible physiological geometry-ies.   

C Amalgamation 

These concepts are not new as such, nonetheless, when combined they form a clear picture on how āsana should be approached overall. Force transmission should be contextualised and understood in the closed-kinematic-chain[3] framework that characterises yogāsana applying the energy cycling concept.


During one’s practice it is fundamental 01 to harness the energy from the earth or ground upward see force transmission 02 lock it in using the work on the bandhas and 03 recycle it through the body in the means of āsana work. The effects of this energy span from a building strength and flexibility to b nourishing the muscles and internal organs with therapeutic or healing effects in the long run.


During this entire process there is another factor that comes into play, that of resistance i.e. the amount of opposition one is experiencing towards achieving a physical goal. Resistance just like the previous principles although ubiquitous is not a constant for every person, its value fluctuates according to the special characteristics of the musculature of each student along with their past experiences and habits. It is valuable in the postural yoga since it provides feedback for physical intensity[4], mental blockage-s and internal focus. 

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[1] BKS Iyengar interviewed in the UK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_gw-T9oSJw&list=WL&index=26

[2]Maehle, G (2020b) ‘Gregor interviewed in the Japanese Yogini Magazine’, March 28, available at: chintamaniyoga.com, accessed at: 28 March 2020.

[3] there are two 2 kinds of kinetic chain exercises i.e. open and closed. In open kinetic chain exercises, the segment furthest away from the body — known as the distal aspect, usually the hand or foot — is free and not fixed to an object. In a closed chain exercise, it is fixed, or stationary definitionby healthline.com. With the exceptions of very specific āsanas yoga is fundamentally characterized by close kinetic chain movements that cycle energy through the body.
[4] Remember that above all, muscles speak the language of tension [Cavalier, J. interview in London Real WebTV] and not the side diagrams of a yoga manual or of a sequence cheat sheet. The most complicated yoga postures can easily be segmented into simpler principles which are gradually synergistically combined to bring the results we see in advanced practitioners.