October 10th, 13th, 16th, 17th, 23rd, 24th, 30th, 31st

November 3rd, 6th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 14th, 17th

Wednesdays & Thursdays 7-10am

Sundays 7:30-10:30am

Aṣṭāṅga Vinyāsa is a particular style of yoga practice that originated in southern India about a century ago. However, the principles and philosophy of the practice stretches back aeons. Notably, the ancient Indian sage Patañjali’s treatise Yoga Sutra, written around the 2nd century BCE, figures prominently in Aṣṭāṅga Vinyāsa lore. The name “Ashtanga” itself means “eight-limbs” and is a reference to Patañjali’s work, which contextualizes this practice. Vinyāsa, one of the most popular styles of yoga practiced today, was likely invented by the 20th-century yoga master Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya. Vinyāsa means to order things in a special way, linking movement with (ujjāyī) breathing, and implies a step-by-step process. One of Krishnamacharya’s most famous students was Pattabhi Jois, who popularized Aṣṭāṅga Vinyāsa internationally, and helped to create the vinyāsa sequences as they are known and practiced today. The Aṣṭāṅga Vinyāsa yoga tradition includes 3 major categories of postures, subdivided into 6 complete sequences, known most commonly as: The Primary Series, The Intermediate Series, and the Advanced or “Proficient” Series, which itself now consists of four individual series. The Proficient grouping of postures is referred to variously as “Advanced A, B, C, and D” or “Third Series, Fourth Series, Fifth Series, and The Sixth Series.” Every “Ashtangi” starts their practice with The Primary Series. Primary Series focuses on forward folding, and in yogic terms is predominately āpanic in nature. Even as they eventually learn the subsequent series, all practitioners of Aṣṭāṅga Vinyāsa continue to refine and practice this initial sequence. Sequences are often taught in the more common led-class style, where all students practice in unison and synchronization like a school of fish, but Mysore style classes are the preferred method for deeper learning…

Mysore classes are most often conducted 6 days a week in the early morning. There is a starting time and ending time, but students are free to arrive and leave at any time during this class window. Students learn individually in a group setting, through one on one interactions with the presiding teacher. This is an ideal way for the teacher to address your unique questions and concerns about the practice, which you learn to make your own, meeting your own circumstances compassionately. Everyone starts by learning the sequence known as “The Primary Series”, which can take several years to work through. Entering a Mysore class is like entering a yoga workshop, where every individual is focusing quietly on their own practice, at their own pace.

The Mysore Program at Innocere will provide a sacred container for dedicated Aṣṭāṅga  Vinyāsa practice and learning, 5 mornings a week, from Monday to Friday. The Mysore Program will not be open on either full or new moons, nor on major holidays. See below for the Moon Days/Holidays schedule, so you do not show up to a class that is not happening. You are free to enter the room and start your practice at 7 AM. Please do not arrive for your practice later than 9:30 AM, so that you can have at least half an hour of practice time. Please bring only what you absolutely need into the practice space, the doors are always locked and only students know the access codes which are routinely changed.

• Help to create a focus for your co-practitioners by keeping talking and noise to a minimum. If you must talk, please use a quiet voice, silence really is golden. Full conversations can be had outside of the practice space in the entryway, or next-door at the Innocere café.

• Practice in flexible, non-binding, and seasonally appropriate clothing. Do not wear socks or baggy clothing.

• Please arrive to practice clean and with clean clothing, and try not to use any self-care products with heavy scents or perfumes.

• Profuse sweating is normal, especially in the beginning, so it can be helpful to bring items such as a “Mysore-rug”, a mat-sized towel, and/or hand towels. Enjoy your sweat and give yourself the reassurance that a good sweaty warm up is one of the best protections against injury.

• Inform the teacher of any issues or injuries that you may be dealing with. If you are a raw beginner and not already familiar with the practice then do not worry, because the teacher is there to teach you :)

• Please bring only what you really need in into the practice room, like props and sweat towels. Do not leave personal items like glasses or jewellery on the floor. More space in the practice room makes it easier for the students and the teacher to move around freely without

Mysore style refers to a type of group class which originated almost 100 years ago in the southern Indian city of Mysore, now called Mysuru. The yoga master Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya taught yoga first at the Sanskrit College in Mysore, and later was given a wing of the Jaganmohan Palace by the Maharaja of Mysore to start the Yogaśālā, an independent yoga institution. This is where the “Mysore style” tradition of independent practice in a group setting likely began, a method which is akin to the original tradition of yoga wisdom transmission, namely a 1:1 relationship between the teacher and the student. Years later, Krishnamacharya’s student Pattabhi Jois would teach this method to his family as well as scores of local and international students, which led to the spread of Mysore style classes/programs around the world. Traditionally, Mysore classes will be conducted in the early morning, six days a week, with no classes occurring on full and new moons, or on major holidays. Sutra fourteen from the first section of Patañjali’s Yoga Sutra extols this approach, which the notable scholar Barbara Stoler Miller translates as: “This practice is firmly grounded when it is performed for a long time without interruption and with zeal.” To be clear, Patañjali was not advocating that the posture series of Aṣṭāṅga Vinyāsa be practiced in the aforementioned way—they hadn’t even been invented yet—but that the practice of stilling the mind must be continued enthusiastically over a long period of time in order for the practice to bear its fruits.

October 2024

Wednesday 2nd ● new moon
Tuesday 17th ○ full moon

November 2024

Friday 1st ● new moon
Friday 15th ○ full moon

December 2024

Sunday 1st ● new moon
Sunday 15th ○ full moon

Monday 30th ● new moon