Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, founder of Ashtanga yoga, discovered that the breath is the key to the energetic body, and used it in combination with the postures and activating so-called energy locks in the body.
The goal he achieved is that Ashtanga does not limit himself to making the (superficial) physical body healthy, but also stimulates the energetic body and makes it healthy.
Stimulating and cleansing the energetic body also increases mental well-being.
Ashtanga yoga as a lifestyle
Ashtanga yoga or 8 limbs yoga is a traditional form of yoga. This form of yoga is also a lifestyle.
Ashtangis practice the 8 limbs to achieve a state of bodhi or enlightenment.
These limbs include the following:
Yama refers to the five abstentions
- Ahimsa: nonviolence
- Satya: truth
- Asteya: don’t steal
- Brahmacharya: limited sexual contact with one’s own partner
- Aparigraha: not attaching to possessions
Niyama refers to the five precepts
- Shaucha: physical cleanliness
- Santosha: satisfaction with what we have
- Tapas: disciplined life
- Svadhyaya: Self-Contemplation, Developing Yourself
- Ishvarapranidhana: Believing in a Higher Power
Asana: Physical Exercise Pranayama: Breathing
Pratyahara: Withdrawal of the Senses
Dhāraṇā is fixing the mind’s attention (chitta) on one point or object.
Dhyāna is the steady, uninterrupted flow of attention to that object.
Samadhi: Complete Surrender
Listen here to the opening and closing mantra of Micha’s teacher Lino Miele