Ashtanga vinyasa yoga system (pranayama), posture (asana), and looking place (drishti). These are considered core concepts for ashtanga yoga practice; cover the three levels of purification: the body, nervous system and the mind; and are supposed to be "performed in conjunction with each other". The asanas in ashtanga yoga follow a set sequence as described above. Their stated purpose is for strength and flexibility of the body. Officially, the style has very little alignment instruction. However, many of Patthabi Jois' earliest teachers did emphasize very detailed alignment and posture-break down instructions, based on information they gathered outside of Pattabhi Jois direct instruction. Sharath's
Ashtanga vinyasa yoga asana practice, but also stated that the breathing should be deep breathing with sound. He reiterated this notion in a conference in 2013 stating, "You do normal breath, inhalation and exhalation with sound. Ujjayi breath is a type of prāṇāyāma. This is just normal breath with free flow". In 2014 published on YouTube, Manju Jois dodged the question, "What is the difference between Ujjayi breathing and free breathing?" by saying that "the breathing in Ashtanga should be long and deep with the sound like the ocean". He also states that if you don't make sound, that is okay, too. However