20/05/2026
Counting in Ashtanga Yoga Led class. Helpful or not?
This is something teachers rarely talk about.
Let’s look at it from different angles:
☑️ Helpful:
- Ashtanga is an intense practice. For the students, holding poses with a clear intention of how their body should be arranged is most of the time a challenge. So hearing the count keeps their mind positive and determined (“ok I can do this, just a few breaths left!”). Knowing how much time you need to challenge yourself is always a tool to maintain the intensity easier
- Hearing all the time instructions or counting, this keeps the beginner practitioner’s focus longer on what is actually happening on the mat, and allows less involuntary jumping to day to day thoughts
- when practicing alone, the student’s brain improves, as it develops the ability to better use left/right hemisphere cooperation, as mental counting, conscious breathing and feeling sensations requires a partnership between areas of the brain that are normally not used in the same time
- We know that time is very relative, depending on your mood and your level of absorption in your object of attention. For a teacher, during a led class, keeping (a somewhat) exact time for each pose could be a challenge, especially when adjustments are generally made. So counting keeps the flow and intensity of the class more easily in the standard parameters
⛔️ not helpful:
- less focus and time for the teacher to give instructions regarding alignment or subtle inner details that the student should be paying attention to
- students is less likely to relax and just be in each present moment during his practice, like in a Hatha Yoga class, as counting tends to make the mind project and focus on the future (the moment when the pose will finish). This is counterproductive in order to develop a good meditation practice, where “not going anywhere, just being in the now” is an essential experience and quality required
- the counting can be too fast for new students to have enough time to safely and effectively enter or exit more complex poses Ardha Badha Padma Paschimottanasana, Supta Kurmasana, Bhuja Pidasana and others
What is your exp
