K. Pattabhi Jois 'Authorized Level 2' teachers are able to teach up to where they learned in intermediate series. Certified teachers have learned the third series and beyond and are able to teach accordingly. His first trip to the West was in 1974 to South America, to deliver a lecture in Sanskrit at an international yoga conference. In 1975 he stayed for four months in Encinitas, California, marking the beginning of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in the US. He had said on many occasions that only twenty or thirty students practiced Ashtanga Yoga in America then, but, 'gradually, gradually, in twenty years, it will
Ashtanga vinyasa yoga the teacher is to guide as well as provide adjustments or assists in postures. In other locations, twice per week Mysore-style classes are now substituted with led classes, where the teacher takes a group through the same series at the same time. The inclusion of two led classes per week was only included in P. Jois' senior years. Usually an Ashtanga practice begins with five repetitions of Surya Namaskara A and five repetitions of Surya Namaskara B, followed by a standing sequence. Following this the practitioner begins one of six series, followed by what is called the closing sequence. The