Astanga Yoga in the modern world

“There has been a Yoga boom in the West. It started in America and has spread across the whole of the developed world and even back to India, where it was still considered a rather fringe activity until relatively recently. In the US, a poll commissioned by Yoga Journal found that more than 6 million Americans practice Yoga and close to 17 million more expressed an interest in Yoga.
Times have changed since Astanga Vinyasa Yoga first evolved. Modern Westerners live very different lives from those of Krishnamacharya and his contemporaries. Part of the appeal of Yoga for many is that it originates from a ‘simpler’ time, when life was less pressured and more in tune with nature. As such, Yoga is often perceived as a short-cut to a more holistic, balanced lifestyle. The danger in this is that, unless we make a fundamental shift in lifestyle, adding Yoga to an already hectic schedule can simply serve to increase our overall stress levels and sense of performance pressure. It is not the same to practice Yoga in monastic seclusion as it is to combine it with a full-time job, family and social life.
Astanga Vinyasa Yoga has become one of the more fashionable styles of Yoga in the West and there are several reasons for this. Many high-profile celebrities practice Astanga it is popularly perceived as a way to develop a beautiful, toned and muscular physique. The highly acrobatic and aesthetic appearance of the postures themselves are also appealing and impressive to many people...
... In a more positive sense, the strict methods and sequence of postures of Astanga Vinyasa Yoga may also account for its popularity - in a culture in which we are overwhelmed by variety, Asatanga Vinyasa Yoga provides a welcome respite. Traditionally, you just do it - you don’t ask questions!
Astanga Vinyasa Yoga is a remarkable tool for enabling calm. It offers an oasis in a hectic world. for those devoted to this practice it provides a way to free the body of pent-up tensions and release the mind from stress - ultimately it is a good way to know your limits and develop the strengths you need to cope in a modern urban environment...”

The article continues to discuss Astanga Vinyasa Yoga under various headings, including benefits and drawbacks, its spirit, and variations on the practice. It also provides several suggested modifications. Astanga Yoga in the modern world is reproduced courtesy of Healthy Living: ASTANGA YOGA FOR YOU by Tara Fraser ©Matthew Ward/Duncan Baird Publishers and available on SPECIAL READER OFFER. See page 5 of July 2007’s issue of Yoga & Health magazine.