Ashtanga Primary Series with PattabhiJois: Full Practice Guide

Filmed in 1993 by Yoga Works Productions, this 78-minute video captures Sri K. Pattabhi Jois — the founder of the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga system and head of the Krishnamacharya Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute (KPJAYI) in Mysore, India — leading a full, counted led Primary Series class. The students are six of the most influential Western Ashtanga teachers of their generation: Chuck Miller, Maty Ezraty, Eddie Stern, Tim Miller, Richard Freeman, and Karen Haberman. The recording is one of the clearest surviving documents of how Jois himself called the practice in a led format: Sanskrit vinyasa counts, fixed breath ratios, precise dristis (gazing points), and the unbroken sequential architecture of the Primary Series, known in Sanskrit as Yoga Chikitsa — "yoga therapy."

What Is the Ashtanga Primary Series?

The Primary Series is the first of six series in the Ashtanga Vinyasa system. Its Sanskrit name, Yoga Chikitsa, translates roughly as "yoga therapy," reflecting the traditional teaching that the sequence systematically cleanses and realigns the physical body before subtler practices become accessible. The sequence is fixed — every posture appears in the same order every time it is practiced — and is linked by a specific breathing and movement system called vinyasa.

The series moves through: an opening Surya Namaskara (Sun Salutation) section in two forms — Surya Namaskara A and B — a standing sequence, a long seated sequence of forward bends, hip openers, and twists, and a closing sequence of inversions and finishing postures. The entire practice concludes with Savasana.

In Jois's system, the Primary Series is not considered a beginner's sequence so much as a foundational one — a complete practice in its own right that many senior practitioners return to daily throughout their lives.

How Does Pattabhi Jois Count the Vinyasa?

One of the most instructive aspects of this video is hearing Jois call the vinyasa count in Sanskrit. Each movement within the system has a numbered position — ekam (one), dve (two), trini (three), catvari (four), panca (five), sat (six), sapta (seven), astau (eight), nava (nine), dasa (ten) — and the breath is assigned to each count. An inhale lifts, an exhale folds or lowers. This is not decoration; in Jois's teaching, the synchronisation of breath and movement is the practice itself.

Throughout the video Jois gives instructions such as "inhale hands up," "exhale," "head up," "jump back," "inhale," "exhale" in a consistent, metronomic rhythm. Students hold each posture for a minimum of five breaths, counted aloud. The five-breath minimum is a structural rule across the entire series; Jois counts: "one, two, three, four, five" before calling the exit vinyasa. This means the pace of the class is not set by a clock but by the accumulation of breaths — a fundamentally different relationship to time than most Western exercise.

What Is the Role of Drishti in the Primary Series?

Jois gives specific gazing-point instructions throughout the video — "look your navel," "look your toes," "head up," "look I center" (meaning the space between the eyebrows, brumadhya drishti). These are the nine classical dristis of Ashtanga practice, each assigned to a specific posture.

Drishti is not simply about where the eyes point. In the Ashtanga framework, fixing the gaze steadies the mind by reducing the flow of sensory information from the periphery. Combined with the breath count and the physical alignment of the posture, drishti forms the third element of what Jois called the tristhana — the three-point attention system of posture (asana), breathing (pranayama through ujjayi), and gazing point. Practicing all three simultaneously is what Jois described as the core method of purifying the nervous system.

What Is the Significance of the 1993 Yoga Works Video?

By 1993, Jois had been teaching Western students for roughly two decades, but high-quality video documents of his led classes were rare. This Yoga Works Productions recording brings together six students who were, collectively, responsible for spreading Ashtanga practice across North America. Chuck Miller and Maty Ezraty co-founded Yoga Works in Los Angeles, which became one of the most influential yoga studios in the Western world. Richard Freeman founded the Yoga Workshop in Boulder, Colorado, and is widely regarded as one of the most philosophically sophisticated interpreters of Ashtanga outside India. Tim Miller was among the earliest American students to study directly with Jois in Mysore and founded the Ashtanga Yoga Center in Carlsbad, California. Eddie Stern went on to found Ashtanga Yoga New York and has written and spoken extensively on the tradition's classical roots.

Having these six practitioners demonstrate while Jois calls the count creates a unique pedagogical document: the teacher's voice and the students' embodied knowledge appear together in the same frame. For a system transmitted primarily through direct observation and physical adjustment, the video carries unusual authority.

How Does a Led Primary Series Class Differ from Mysore-Style Practice?

Ashtanga is most commonly practiced today in the "Mysore style" — a self-directed format in which each student practices the memorised sequence at their own pace while a teacher moves through the room offering hands-on adjustments. In a led class, by contrast, the teacher calls every vinyasa count aloud and all students move together on the same breath. This video is a led class.

The led format serves a different function than Mysore practice. It trains students in the exact timing of the breath-to-movement ratio, corrects tendencies to rush certain transitions, and reinforces the precise count of each posture. Jois used to teach led Primary Series on Fridays and Sundays in Mysore; it was considered complementary to, not a replacement for, daily Mysore practice.

In the video, the relentlessness of Jois's count — the way one posture flows into the next without editorial comment — conveys something important about the internal logic of the system. It is designed to be unbroken. The vinyasa between postures is not rest; it is part of the practice.

What Are the Major Sections of the Primary Series in This Video?

The video moves through the canonical Primary Series structure:

• Surya Namaskara A and B: The opening salutations, performed multiple times. Jois counts each of the nine and seventeen vinyasas respectively, establishing the breath rhythm for the entire practice.
• Standing sequence: From Padangusthasana through Virabhadrasana, the standing poses build strength, balance, and hip mobility. Jois directs students with cues like "straight back," "tight," and specific degree angles for postures such as Utthita Trikonasana.
• Seated sequence: The long middle of the Primary Series — Dandasana through Setu Bandhasana — contains the series' most demanding forward bends, hip openers, and the Marichyasana group of twists and binds. Jois instructs students to "take your chin," "touch your heel," and "look opposite position," giving precise physical targets.
• Finishing sequence: Beginning with Salamba Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) and moving through Halasana, Karnapidasana, Urdhva Padmasana, Pindasana, Matsyasana, and Uttana Padasana, before arriving at Sirsasana (headstand). Jois counts each posture to ten, then progressively to twenty-five for Sirsasana, calling out the numbers steadily.
• Yoga Mudra, Padmasana, and Tolasana: The final seated postures before the practice concludes.
• Savasana: Jois instructs students to "lay down, finish" — the formal close of the practice.

What Can Students Learn from Watching Jois Teach?

Beyond the physical sequence, the video reveals several key principles of how Jois transmitted the practice. First, his instructions are economical — he rarely explains why a posture is done, only how. The system is taught through demonstration and count, not through philosophical lecture during the asana itself. Second, his corrections are direct and specific: "straight arm," "close your fingers," "don't press your head down," "don't hurry." These small cues carry diagnostic precision about common errors. Third, the pace he sets treats breath as the non-negotiable unit of measurement; he does not pause the count for struggle.

This pedagogical style reflects a classical Indian guru-parampara (lineage) model, in which the student's job is to do the practice as given, and understanding accumulates through repetition over years. Jois famously said, "practice, and all is coming" — a phrase that this video makes tactile. The count goes on; the student follows.

Where to Go from Here

For practitioners who want to deepen their engagement with the Primary Series as Jois taught it, the video itself can be purchased at kpjashtanga.com. Instructional DVDs from KPJAYI are available at kpjayi.org. Several of the students featured in this video — Tim Miller, Richard Freeman, Eddie Stern, and Chuck Miller — continue to teach and have produced their own instructional resources. The Ashtanga Yoga Confluence in San Diego brings many of these senior teachers together annually. For those new to the system, finding a certified Ashtanga teacher for in-person instruction is strongly recommended: the vinyasa count and physical adjustments in a Mysore or led class are difficult to replicate from video alone.