How to practise yoga by yourself?

This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered.

Our Response

Three months of Ashtanga and your teacher moved. That's rough. But you actually have more than you think you do.

Here's the thing about Ashtanga that you've already discovered — it resonated. You said it yourself. YouTube vinyasa classes are boring you because they don't have what the Ashtanga sequence has: a logic. A system. A reason for every posture being where it is. You felt that in three months. That feeling is real and it's worth following.

The sequence you learned? That's yours now. You don't need a teacher standing over you to do it. You need a wall, a floor, and your breath. That's the whole Mysore tradition — you learn the sequence, then you practice it alone. The teacher is there to help, not to lead. So in a way, you're already set up for exactly how this practice is meant to work.

Now — three months means you probably have Sun Salutations and some of the standing sequence. Maybe some of the seated postures. Whatever you have, do that. Don't worry about what comes next. Just do what you know, with the breath count, with the drishti. Every day. Even twenty minutes counts.

If you want support without being in a room, we've built study guides for exactly this situation. The vinyasa count guide will help you remember the breath-movement links: https://ashtanga.tech/study-guide/ashtanga-vinyasa-yoga-count/

And for the drishti — where to look in each posture — this one: https://ashtanga.tech/study-guide/ashtanga-drishtis-by-pose/

You can also look for another Mysore teacher. They exist in more places than you'd think, and some teach online now. But in the meantime — you have a practice. Use it.

Related Study Guides

• Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Count
• Ashtanga Drishtis By Pose