Main Components of Ashtanga Yoga

Main components of Ashtanga Yoga are Vinyasa and  Tristhana. Vinyasa is breathing and movement system. Tristhana is the three places of attention or action: posture, breathing system and looking place.

 These cover the levels of purification: the body, nervous system and mind. They are always performed in relation with each other.

Asanas purify, strengthen and flex the body.

Breathing purifies the nervous system.

Dristhi purifies and stabilizes the functioning of the mind.

Vinyasa is breathing and movement system. For one movement, there is one breath. All postures (asanas) are assigned a certain number of vinyasas. The purpose of vinyasa is internal cleansing. Breathing and moving together boils the blood. Thick blood is dirty and that causes disease in the body. Heat created from yoga cleans the blood and makes it thin, so that it may circulate freely. Combination of the asanas with movement and breath make the blood circulate freely around all the joints, taking away body pains. When there is a lack of circulation, pain occurs. The heated blood also moves through all the internal organs removing impurities and disease, which are brought out of the body by the sweat that occurs during practice.

Sun Salutations

The sun salutations or Sūryānamaskāra are a fundamental component of the yoga tradition. Each Sūryānamaskāra contains a set of postures (asanas) that are linked together in a smooth flow of movement syncronized with the breath.

"Sūryānamaskāra A" starts gently, allowing the practitioner time to focus the mind on breathing, and the development core awareness (mula bandha).

"Sūryānamaskāra B" becomes a little more vigorous and weaves the warrior postures into a flowing sequence with the breath.
The added movement increases the physical heat in the body creating an ideal environment for the following asanas.