Ashtanga, taught in the Mysore tradition.
Traditional Mysore-style Ashtanga yoga with a teacher in the room, plus Led Primary Series on weekends. A daily practice learned one posture at a time — at our Ulsoor Lake shala.
Ashtanga yoga in Bangalore — a set sequence, learned one posture at a time.
Ashtanga is a traditional method of yoga built on a fixed sequence of postures linked to the breath. At Ignite + Aliign it is taught two ways at our Ulsoor Lake shala: Mysore-style self-practice on weekday mornings, where you move at your own pace and the teacher gives you your next posture individually, and Led Primary Series on weekend mornings, where the teacher counts the whole room through the sequence in the traditional Sanskrit count. Complete beginners are welcome — no experience or flexibility required.
— The practice
A method, not just a class.
Ashtanga follows a consistent method: a set sequence of postures, each entered and left on a counted breath — the vinyasa. Practised in the same order each time, it becomes a moving meditation — developing strength, flexibility, balance, and endurance while calming the mind.
The Primary Series, known as Yoga Chikitsa, is where the practice begins. You do not learn it all at once. You learn it one posture at a time, allowing the body to adapt, the breath to steady, and the mind to settle.
That repetition is the point. Because the sequence is fixed, progress becomes honest: the same postures, the same breath, the same mat, repeated consistently until the practice starts to reshape how you move, breathe, and focus.
The Ashtanga programme · Ignite + Aliign
Read: Is Ashtanga good for beginners?
— Mysore-style vs Led Primary
Two ways into the same sequence.
New to Ashtanga yoga? These are the two formats to understand. Most practitioners use both: Mysore-style self-practice through the week to learn and deepen, and Led Primary Series on weekends to understand the rhythm, count, and discipline of the sequence.
- 01Mysore-style self-practice
Taught one-to-one, in a roomful.
You move through your sequence at your own pace and breath while the teacher moves quietly through the room — guiding, adjusting, and adding the next posture only when you are ready. It feels personal because it is. This is the traditional way Ashtanga yoga has been taught in Mysore for generations.
- 02Led Primary Series
One breath, one count, one room.
On weekend mornings, the teacher leads the room through the Primary Series with the traditional Sanskrit count — every breath, every vinyasa, in rhythm. It builds discipline, pace, and clarity, and gives newer students a structured way to experience the sequence.
- 03The breath
Ujjayi, drishti, bandha.
Three things run underneath the sequence: ujjayi breath, steady and audible; drishti, a fixed gaze for each posture; and the bandhas, the internal locks that carry you between shapes. Together they turn a series of postures into one continuous practice — the reason Ashtanga needs no music and no mirror.
- 04The discipline
A practice that rewards showing up.
Ashtanga is traditionally practised six days a week, but your practice begins with what you can sustain. Three steady mornings are better than chasing six and burning out. The sequence is patient; so are we.
— The teacher
Vishnu Sharma, taught in Mysore.
Ashtanga at Ulsoor Lake is led by Vishnu Sharma, whose practice is rooted in the traditional Mysore method. His journey began in 2017 at the Isha Yoga Center; by 2020 he had completed two internationally recognised teacher trainings and begun teaching, followed by two years of practising, studying and teaching in Rishikesh.
In 2023 he moved to Mysore — the home of modern Ashtanga Yoga — for long-term study under Vijay Kumar, one of the city’s respected traditional teachers. Three years of daily practice, assisted teaching and study there refined his understanding of traditional sequencing, vinyasa, breath, bandha, hands-on adjustments, and the gradual, individual progression that defines authentic Ashtanga.
He teaches traditional Mysore-style Ashtanga, welcoming complete beginners and experienced practitioners alike — consistency, patience, and individual guidance, one student at a time.
Vishnu Sharma · Mysore-style Ashtanga at Ulsoor Lake
Read Vishnu’s path to Mysore
— FAQ
Ashtanga, answered before your first morning.
The questions a first-timer asks before stepping into the studio. If yours is missing, WhatsApp us at +91 80507 71666 and we will add it.
Mysore-style is self-practice in a shared room. You move through your own Ashtanga sequence at your own breath and pace, while a teacher circulates — giving you your next posture only when you are ready and adjusting you on the mat. Named after Mysore, India, where the method has been taught for generations, it is one-to-one teaching inside a roomful of practitioners.
Yes — complete beginners are welcome, and you don’t need any experience or flexibility. Start in the weekday-morning Mysore room: the teacher builds your practice with you from the first day, a few postures at a time, at your own pace. The weekend led Primary Series class then helps you learn the rhythm and count of the full sequence as your practice grows.
Both follow the same Ashtanga sequence. In Mysore you practise at your own pace while a teacher gives individual adjustments — ideal for learning and deepening. In a led class, a teacher counts the whole room through the Primary Series in unison, setting the correct rhythm and breath. Most practitioners do Mysore through the week and led on weekends.
Ashtanga follows one fixed sequence, practised in the same order every time, so progress is measured against the same postures day after day. Vinyasa is freer — sequences change from class to class, built around a theme or a peak posture. Both link movement to breath. If you want depth in one method, Ashtanga rewards the commitment; if you want variety and heat, our Vinyasa classes run in the hot yoga studio.
Vishnu Sharma — an Ashtanga Vinyasa teacher whose practice is rooted in the traditional Mysore method. After teacher trainings in 2020 and two years of practising and teaching in Rishikesh, he moved to Mysore in 2023 for long-term study under Vijay Kumar, one of the city’s respected traditional Ashtanga teachers, refining sequencing, breath, bandha and hands-on adjustment over three years of daily practice and assisted teaching. He welcomes complete beginners and experienced practitioners alike.
At our Ulsoor Lake studio — Kensington Layout, 21 Kensington Rd, Halasuru, Ulsoor, Bengaluru 560008, about two minutes from Ulsoor Lake. This is where our Ashtanga programme lives. Mysore self-practice runs on weekday mornings and led Primary Series on weekend mornings. The studio is open daily; call Ulsoor Lake on +91 80654 25686, or WhatsApp +91 80507 71666 for current timings.
No. Ashtanga — both Mysore-style self-practice and Led Primary Series — is taught only at our Ulsoor Lake studio in Halasuru. Our Brookfield studio in Whitefield runs hot yoga, mat pilates and the cold plunge.
No — Ashtanga is not practised in the hot room. The method generates its own internal heat through ujjayi breath and continuous movement, so the room stays comfortable for a daily practice rather than an endurance one. If you are looking for the heated experience, that is our separate hot yoga studio — a different room and a different practice.
Traditionally Ashtanga is practised six mornings a week, with one full rest day — but you do not have to begin there. We would rather you come three mornings consistently than attempt six and burn out. The fixed sequence means progress is steady and honest — what matters most is returning regularly, and adding mornings as the practice settles into your week.
No — you don’t need to be flexible to start. That comes from the practising. The Primary Series is taught posture by posture, so you only ever work at the edge of what your body can do today, and the teacher adjusts postures for you in the room. Runners, lifters, and stiff first-timers all start here.
— Begin
Roll out the mat. The rest follows.
The hardest posture in Ashtanga is the first morning. Come into the Mysore room any weekday morning — the teacher will meet you where you are and start you off with your first few postures — or join a led Primary Series this weekend. Open daily at our Ulsoor Lake studio. Call Ulsoor Lake on +91 80654 25686, or WhatsApp +91 80507 71666.