Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga
A traditional practice with an individualized approach.
If your experience of yoga has become synonymous with hotter rooms, louder music, faster movement, and increasingly difficult poses, Ashtanga may surprise you.
Yes, Ashtanga can be physically challenging. But intensity is not the point.
At its heart, Ashtanga is a structured, breath-led practice designed to build steadiness, concentration, self-awareness, and a more meaningful relationship with yoga over time. You return to a familiar sequence—not to perform it perfectly, but to notice what changes.
New to Ashtanga? Join our four-week introductory series with Emily Wall.
Why Ashtanga and why now?
Modern yoga often asks people to do more: move faster, sweat harder, achieve the pose, and keep up with the room.
As a yoga therapist and Physical Therapist Assistant, I see how that approach can be useful for some people but it isn’t what most already-overwhelmed bodies and nervous systems need.
I wanted Sanctuary to offer another direction.
Ashtanga brings us back to the roots of practice: breath, concentration, discipline, repetition, and self-study. The sequence provides structure, but the practice itself is not one-size-fits-all. When taught thoughtfully, it can be adapted to the person rather than asking the person to conform to the poses.
That is why Emily’s approach belongs at Sanctuary.
— Sharon Gordon, C-IAYT, Ayurvedic Health Counselor and Licensed PTA
What is Ashtanga yoga?
Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is a traditional method in which postures are practiced in a consistent sequence and connected through breath and movement.
Students gradually become familiar with the sequence, allowing less attention to go toward wondering what comes next and more toward breathing, feeling, concentrating, and observing.
The practice includes:
Breath-led movement
Sun salutations
Standing and seated postures
Backbending
A closing sequence
Drishti, or intentional points of focus
Adaptations based on the individual
You do not need to be flexible, advanced, or familiar with the sequence before beginning.
Meet Emily Wall
Emily has completed a 200-hour Hatha Yoga training, a 200-hour Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga teacher training with certified teacher Melanie Fawer, and a 300-hour Ashtanga yoga teacher training and mentorship at Yoga East.
She began practicing yoga regularly after college. Later, while navigating isolation and social anxiety during graduate school, she found herself wanting something deeper from the practice. That search led her to Ashtanga, which she has practiced consistently since 2016.
Emily was taught that the practice should adapt to the individual, not the other way around.
Her teaching offers students time to learn, ask questions, explore postures, and find variations that support their bodies and experiences. Her goal is not to make everyone’s practice look the same. It is to help each student develop a sustainable practice that can challenge them without overwhelming their nervous system.
See Emily’s approach before you come to class
Emily answers some of the most common questions about Ashtanga and explains how the practice can be individualized.
Try a beginner-friendly Ashtanga practice.
Experience a 60 minute practice - this is what you’ll experience in Emily’s classes at Sanctuary.
Introduction to Ashtanga Yoga: A Four-Week Series
Whether you are completely new to Ashtanga or already taking Emily’s classes, this four-week series will help you better understand the structure and foundations of the practice.
Each 75-minute class will introduce the sequence gradually, with time to ask questions, explore the poses, and learn how to adapt the practice to your individual needs. You’ll work with breath, drishti and vinyasa; sun salutations; foundational standing and seated poses; backbending; and the closing sequence.
This series is for you if you’re looking for an alternative to hot or fitness-driven yoga, want more than simply trying to keep up, or are interested in a structured practice that is both physically engaging and adaptable. You do not need to be flexible, experienced, or already know the sequence. Learning it is the reason we created the series.
By the end of four weeks, you’ll have a clearer understanding of Ashtanga and the confidence to continue in Emily’s weekly Refine: Ashtanga-Based Practice classes and any of our other Sanctuary offerings.
Dates: Mondays beginning September 14 through October 5, 2026
Time: 6 - 7:15PM
Location: Sanctuary Yoga & Wellness, downtown Exeter
Investment: $100
Space is limited to 13 students.
Questions Students Often Ask
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Ashtanga is a traditional style of yoga that links breath and movement through a consistent sequence of postures. The familiar structure helps students build strength, concentration, body awareness, and confidence while developing a practice that goes beyond physical exercise.
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Yes. You do not need previous yoga experience or knowledge of the sequence to begin. Emily’s four-week introductory series teaches the foundations gradually, with time for questions, individual guidance, and accessible variations.
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No. Flexibility and strength are developed through practice and are not prerequisites for starting. Postures can be adapted to support different bodies, abilities, and levels of experience. You will not be expected to make your practice look like anyone else’s.
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No. Ashtanga is physically engaging, but it does not require a heated room. Classes at Sanctuary are non-heated and focus on breath, concentration, sustainable effort, and learning the practice—not increasing intensity for its own sake.
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Yes. Although Ashtanga follows a traditional sequence, the practice can and should be adapted to the individual. Emily offers thoughtful variations so students can work with the intention of each posture without forcing their bodies into a particular shape.
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Repeating a familiar sequence allows you to spend less time wondering what comes next and more time noticing your breath, body, attention, and response to effort. Over time, this consistency can build strength, mobility, concentration, confidence, and the discipline known in yoga as tapas.
Still not sure?
Reach out! We’re happy to help talk you through it.