The Agastya method

Not a workout.
A science of living.

Acharya Lokesh teaches yoga the way he received it from his guru, Shri Amit Sharma: step by step, from the body to the breath to the mind. No instant yoga, no quick-fix fitness. It is written down in his handbook, built on the Yoga Certification Board Level 2 syllabus.

Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.17

Prior to everything, asana is spoken of as the first part of hatha yoga. Having done asana, one gets steadiness of body and mind, freedom from disease and lightness of the limbs.

Opening of the asana chapter of the handbook

Four stages

How you learn at Agastya.

Assess first

Every journey starts with a trial session. Acharya Lokesh watches how you move and breathe, then builds a programme for you: never a one-size-fits-all class.

Asana by families

Lotus-based postures, forward bends, back bends, inversions, balances and arm balances, learned in order, each taught in four parts.

Prana and breath

Shatkarma cleansing, then pranayama such as Nadi Shodhana, with the five pranas explained: the breath becomes the bridge between body and mind.

The inner layers

The five elements and the five sheaths, from the physical body to bliss: awareness moves from muscle, to breath, to chakra.

Every posture

Taught in four parts.

Technique, awareness, benefits, precautions. Here is one, exactly as in the handbook.

Uthita Padmasana, the raised lotus →

02 The path

Five layers.
One direction: inward.

The tradition says a human being is wrapped in five sheaths, the Panchakosha. Practice at Agastya moves through them in order, from the body you can touch to the stillness you cannot.

Physical body

Annamaya kosha

The gross body, made of food, linked to the earth element.

Vital body

Pranamaya kosha

Between body and mind: the body of prana, with its five main pranas and five secondary ones.

Mental body

Manomaya kosha

Mind, intellect and ego (the inner instrument).

Body of wisdom

Vijnanamaya kosha

Discernment and higher knowledge.

Body of bliss

Anandamaya kosha

The innermost sheath, said to dwell in the cave of the heart, turned towards the inner world.

Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.15–16

Six things that destroy a practice. Six that make it.

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika (1.15-16) names six things that destroy yoga and six that make it succeed. Read them before you practise: they decide more than flexibility.

OvereatingAtyahara · destroys

Enthusiasm (Utsaha) is what makes it succeed.

Over-exertion, too much practicePrayasa · destroys

Courage (Sahasa) is what makes it succeed.

Too much talkingPrajalpa · destroys

Patience (Dhairya) is what makes it succeed.

Rigid clinging to rulesNiyamagraha · destroys

Discernment, true knowledge (Tattva jnana) is what makes it succeed.

Too much worldly companyJanasanga · destroys

Unshakable faith (Nishchaya) is what makes it succeed.

A wavering, unsteady mindLaulya · destroys

Leaving aside worldly company (Janasanga parityaga) is what makes it succeed.

03 The asanas

52 postures,
six families.

Each posture is taught the same way: the technique step by step, where to place the awareness, what it gives, and when not to do it. Open any one of them.