The first series of ashtanga vinyasa yoga is known as yoga chikitsa, chakitsa is the sanskrit term for therapy. So the primary series is a therapeutic practice specifically designed to strengthen and realign the body. But before we enter the primary series with a meditative mind we must follow the sequence in its entirety by incorporating an awareness of our breath and its direct relationship to mind. If we allow the mind to wander then the breath will follow and the practice will be nothing more than us making body shapes or sitting on the floor.

Before beginning our practice sit in an easy cross legged position with the spine straight and the pelvis tilted forward and begin to develop a relationship between your mind and body starting with the big toe on the right foot, work your way up the body, toe by toe, limb by limb, finger by finger. The abdominal's, shoulders, vertebrae, right up until you get to the top of the head scanning the body all over for tension and trying to release that tension by using exhaling and inhaling into that specific area where you feel tension. After a about ten minutes take your focus to the breath but do not try and manipulate it in any way, just sit and witness what arises in the mind without any attachment to thoughts, let them all go and keep bringing the mind back to the breath without force. Sometimes the mind may wander a lot depending on how much coffee we drink, what we eat, how our day has been but eventually and with practice we should begin to feel relaxed and ready for the moving meditation that is suryanamaskara A.

Every series begins with suryanamaskara A (sun salutations) which then leads to sun salutation B. This is the foundation from which we build our practice.

The practice taught at our retreat center is based around the first series and the second series, taught in a way that allows young and old, experienced, inexperienced practitioners to enjoy a detailed led practice. We teach in a way that allows conscious awareness of the breath, bandha's and the relationship between the muscles, tendons, ligaments involvement in our movement.

When using Drishti, Ujjayi breathing and the bandha's correctly we begin to fan our internal fire (Agni) which allows the muscles to become more malleable and the postures less of an effort. As we move through the asana series each and every organ in the body gets stimulated, this enables stagnant blood to be put back in to circulation wthin the body and allows the organs to be flushed with fresh oxygenated blood improving the function of our organs and ultimately clarity to our minds.