Introduction:The philosophical tenets of yoga such as Ashtanga yoga (AY) andTrigunasare seldom considered while designing yoga programs for chronic diseases. This randomized control trial explored the impact of AY principle-based yoga on the anthropometric indices, personality traits, and quality of life (QoL) in abdominal obesity (AO).Materials and Methods:Sixty-two participants with AO were randomized (n= 31 in each arm) into an AY arm or general yoga (GY) arm. For 12 weeks, both the AY and the GY received the same yoga protocol; however, the AY received an additional AY-based orientation session fortnightly. Changes in waist circumference, hip circumference (HC), height, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist–hip ratio, Vedic Personality Inventory forgunas,and World Health Organization QoL-BREF were measured at baseline and at the end of 12 weeks.Results:By the end of 12 weeks, the AY arm significantly differed from the GY arm in HC (P= 0.05) and BMI scores (P= 0.03). The AY arm has shown a significant increase in thesattva guna(P< 0.001) and reduction in therajas(P< 0.001) andtamas gunas(P= 0.03). There was a significant improvement in the physical and social QoL domain, whereas the other variables examined remained insignificant. The increase insattva gunawas negatively correlated with waist circumference (P= −0.489) and BMI (r= −0.553).Conclusion:Exposing participants to progressive AY philosophy can change the personality traits which are further associated with melioration in the determiners of AO. Future yoga programs for chronic disorders may consider including AY philosophy for substantive outcomes.