Ashtanga Yoga School Raleigh

Tomorrow is a Moon Day, so come practice today and rest tomorrow!

Just a reminder~the shala is closed tomorrow.

Breath leads. Movement follows.

Join us tomorrow morning for guided pranayama followed by Mysore practice.

Every practice is an opportunity to begin again. Come begin again with us tomorrow morning starting at 8am.

The first Asana Clinic for our mentorship students.
After practicing their counts for standing, they had an opportunity to learn as well as practice adjustments and assists on each other.

☀️ Summer Solstice ☀️

The Summer Solstice has always felt like a quiet reminder to appreciate what has grown—not just in nature, but in our lives.

So much of what matters isn’t built in a single moment. It’s cultivated through small daily actions, steady effort, and the willingness to keep showing up, even when progress isn’t obvious.

My practice continues to teach me this. From my experience, real transformation rarely comes from mastering a posture. It comes from returning to the mat each day and allowing the practice to shape how I move through the world.

As we welcome the longest day of the year, I’m feeling grateful—for family, our community, this practice, and the many people who continue to walk this path alongside me.

See you tomorrow!

Join us Saturday 6/20 for a traditional Full Vinyasa Led Primary in honor of the Summer Solstice🌅.

Ashtanga Primary Series is most commonly practiced in the “Half Vinyasa” form, meaning that between seated poses, we flow through to Downward Dog and then back to seated.

In “Full Vinyasa” we flow all the way to standing (Samastitih) between poses and then back to seated again for the next pose.

This traditionally led class is both relaxing and stimulating and truly embodies the idea of a moving breathing practice or meditation 🧘🏽‍♀️💫

Tomorrow June 14th is a Moon Day🌖

This month’s New Moon is also a Super Moon and is regarded by many Vedic astrologers as a potent time for reflection, renewal, and new beginnings. Arriving during a month of significant planetary activity—including Jupiter’s recent transit into Cancer—this Amavasya may inspire a reassessment of priorities and a deeper connection to what truly matters.

In Vedic astrology, the Moon represents the mind, emotions, instincts, and our everyday experience of life. New Moons mark the start of a new lunar cycle and are traditionally seen as an opportunity to pause, turn inward, and reset. Many astrologers suggest that this Super New Moon may amplify these themes, making it an especially supportive time for quiet reflection and intentional action in the months ahead.

✨Don’t forget-no pranayama or Mysore tomorrow. Instead, join us for Guided Moon Sequence starting at 8:30am.✨

Mindfulness practice is curiosity without a motive to solve, observation without an impulse to fix, and acceptance with no underlying dogma or judgment directing the flow.

The finishing sequence is vitally important and has many benefits that go beyond just strength and flexibility.

Unfortunately, it is often rushed through or left out altogether-leaving you ungrounded and unsettled making relaxation less accessible & peaceful.

The finishing sequence rounds off the dynamic nature of the practice. The standing, seated & backbending postures all cultivate & rouse energy within the body. It is important to consolidate and ground that energy before moving out into the world. The poses in the closing sequence of are designed to:
✨calm the nervous system
✨cool the body
✨return it to balance.
It includes counterposes and inversions.

There are 7 finishing postures with correct vinyasa that links each posture in the sequence into a beautiful routine that is performed in sequential order. They bring the body into balance, circulation, heat production, heart rate & breathing all return to a steady level.
With the first 5 refresh the whole body & the last 2 are counter postures.

Sirsansa follows & has the same benefits as Sarvangasana. Both are the method for storing the vital life force within the body.

The last 3 postures - Padmasana - is traditionally done by first placing the right leg then the left leg on top because the internal body is assymetrical (spleen on the left and liver on the right side of the abdomen).
When we bind the lotus for baddha padmasana, it is to close off the circuit of energy within the body. Folding forward, the heels lightly press into the lower abdomen stimulating digestion.

Utpluthih is for strength & abdominal control along with making the body light.

Finally, rest.
Complete relaxation is important for the assimilation of prana. The physical postures open up the body to be more receptive to the prana, when we lay down to relax we allow the body to soak it all in and in order to allow this, it is suggested that for every hour of practice we are to rest for 10 minutes.