AshtangaNews Ashtanga Yoga Matters (as taught by Sri K Pattabhi Jois)

For more than 10 years Ashtanga yoga has had a process for authorizing and certifying teachers (there is a difference between authorization and certification - the latter is a lot harder to achieve). As with the teaching of the practice itself, this process has also slowly evolved. The requirements to become an authorized or certified Ashtanga yoga teacher were updated this week. These are the requirements set forth by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois.

from MMillerNH

We wondered what exact changes were made to the Ashtanga teacher requirements between this week and the last time they were updated in October 2006. Both Ashtanga.com (more detailed) and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois’ Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute site list these requirements.

by MasTaPiannis

Fortunately, the Wizard of the Interweb (whiz kid sister to the Wizard of Oz) was able to help us. The two main changes are:

NOTE: A student should by no means visit AYRI in Mysore for the sole purpose of getting authorized. Their visit should primarily be for their own education of the lineage to further their own practice under correct guidance of Pattabhi Jois.

and

NOTE: AUTHORIZATION SHOULD NOT BE REQUESTED BUT GIVEN. The decision to give authorization or certification to teach is by no means solely dependent on the number of times a student has visited Mysore. It is based upon Guruji and Sharath’s evaluation of the person, his/her commitment and full respect of the lineage of the practice. Authorization is given with the trust that an AYRI student will teach as he/she has been taught in Mysore by Guruji and Sharath.

from Paleja

For an exact comparison between the October 2006 and April 2007 guidelines, here’s a PDF of the Ashtanga teacher requirements with revisions marked.

by YogaSurf

The information for how to register for class in Mysore is here: AYRI’s class information and Ashtanga.com’s class information.

Ashtanga.com maintains a list of authorized and certified Ashtanga teachers along with workshops taught by these Ashtanga teachers. That information is not available on AYRI. The workshop list can be sorted by location, date, instructor and date added to the list. Handy!

Hope this helps! By the way, what is the theme of this post’s photos?

from KevinHoth

We’re happy to present these photos of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois’ new shala in Islamorada, Florida courtesy of Erin and Govinda Kai (via Flickr).

Now you can find it. Sign to the Shala from Govinda Kai

Acres of free parking in Islamorada from ElkesMom

Clear signage from Govinda Kai

This is the entrance - from ElkesMom

The backyard - ElkesMom

Closeup of Nataraj - Govinda Kai

You’ll be in here someday, the waiting room - ElkesMom

All our best to Guruji. - Govinda Kai

All our good wishes to Guruji.

Thank you to Erin and Govinda Kai for sharing photos with us.

(Choose either link above to see more photos of Islamorada.)

If you have photos or thoughts about your visit to Islamorada, let us know with the Comments section or by emailing info(at) asthanganews (dot)com.

With 500 days to go until the Opening Ceremony, we’ve just learned that Ashtanga Yoga was chosen to become a demonstration sport at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, joining BMX cycling!

pictogram representing yoga at the 2008 Olympics

Yoga has been considered for a long time, but due to its non-competitive nature it had never made it before. The organisers feel that with the inherent implicit competition present in Ashtanga Yoga, it was not too much of a stretch to include it as a sport. Rajashree Choudhury, who organized yoga competitions in the past, estimated that India has held yoga pose competitions for about 100 years, and recent contests have sprouted up in Brazil and Japan. Says a famous teacher who wished to remain anonymous:

Finally it will make it more acceptable to openly ask “what posture are you at?”

Another hurdle faced by the Olympic committee was which style of yoga to choose, since there are hundreds in existence.

“We felt Ashtanga was a natural choice, with its predetermined sequence and various series of practice. Iyengar was too slow for TV, Bikram yoga too revealing, Anusara yoga too touchy-feely, and Vinyasa, well, too free-form” said an official.

Beijing 2008

The event will be structured similarly to the decathlon. There will be 6 different rounds held for men and women, each representing a series in Ashtanga. Competitors who make it past the first round of the Primary Series will then compete in the Second Series round and so forth. “We think that Sharath will win because he is the only one in the world who knows the sixth series” said an old-timer, “but that should not make it any less interesting.”

Judging will be similar to gymnastics, with yogis and yoginis evaluated on various aspects of their practice: depth of breath, bandha and dristi control, levels of sweat and flexibility. There was even a call to have an artistic interpretation score but it was rejected by the traditionalist faction of the Olympic committee.

Prana and Nike are already vying to be the official suppliers of the competitors’ shorts.

We cannot wait until August 8 2008 at 8:08 and 8 seconds!