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

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!

We thought the height of the yoga boom happened when yoga made it to the cover of Time Magazine on April 23, 2001.

Time scoops BW by 6 years

Well, here we are in 2007 and Business Week has published an article, not just on yoga, but on Ashtanga and Mysore! The article is listed under, of all things, a section of the magazine called Executive Life.

Published in the January 29, 2007 issue, Business Week’s Pilgrimage to the Heart of Yoga describes practicing at AYRI, mentions some of the famous Ashtangis who’ve visited and gives recommendations for hotels, restaurants and attractions. Plus, the article quotes non-celebrity (yet?) Ashtangis, Russell of mysore musings…

Russell Smith, a New York entertainment lawyer, says part of the attraction of Ashtanga yoga is the physical rigor. When he first took classes in New York, “I couldn’t do any of the poses, and I felt awful,” he recalls. “Even so, I was on a cloud. The class really opened me up—the combination of movement and breathing was amazing. I’m hooked.” Since 2004, Smith has spent at least three months a year studying in Mysore.

…and local Ashtangi, Marcus Fontoura. (Thanks for the tip, Marcus.)

Yum! What’s this?
courtesy Business Week

Classes start at 5 a.m. and ends at 8:30 a.m., after which many students adjourn to nearby cafés. Whatever they order must be vegetarian. Alcohol, too, is off-limits. The strict regimen doesn’t seem to be a problem for the students, according to Marcus Fontoura, a senior research scientist at Yahoo! Research in Sunnyvale, Calif., who is on his first pilgrimage to Mysore. “I practice at 5 a.m. in California, too. I’m used to it. Everyone is.”

Guruji & Sharath in the slide show

The best part is the slide show with some great photos and information.

Now these photos we’ve seen before
and BW didn’t give credit (also from the slide show)

The best times to visit are winter, fall, and—if you don’t mind the monsoons—summer. The Institute is closed in April and May because it’s just too hot, even for those who seek to transcend the physical.

So, what now, corporate retreats at AYRI?

Speaking of which, just in from Bindifry, aka Lisa Hill from Tokyo…

today a tv crew came and filmed mysore class. they will show an 8 minute segment saturday night about yoga for businessmen-the early morning wake up.

Find the TV crew at Tokyo Yoga. (Thanks, Lisa.)

Just in case you haven’t seen this, No Sleep Til Mysore, a popular Ashtangi blog, recently published translated portions of an interview with R. Sharath from the Times of India.

Seat of Wisdom
from Govinda Kai

In the article, Sharath says that he plans to “always stay in Mysore” and that

Yoga is an integral part of my life and it takes up 85 percent of my time. I love every moment of it and feel blessed because not everyone finds their vocation in life and not everyone is privileged enough to make their passion their primary activity in life.

He intends to build a yoga retreat center in the near future.

I have also started a charitable trust in the name of my grandfather and we are involved in assisting the local community in various causes such as providing artificial limbs to handicapped and helping mentally-challenged children.

He also says that Pattabhis Jois and his family travel 4 months of the year to “spread the message of yoga”. They stay with Sting in London and with Mike D. of the Beastie Boys in New York. The only person to ever get a private lesson from Sharath was Madonna (and that was only for the free t-shirts she gave him). Hmmm.

I couldn’t find the full article online. According to No Sleep Til Mysore, it seems that the article may have only been published in India. Thank you for the translation!

[If you want to read more about Sharath and his thoughts on yoga, we recently highlighted an interview with him published by Lime. -Ed.]

We get so many calls from westerners. They call, “How can I become a teacher?” They write to us, “How can I become a teacher?” You have to become a student first. For a long time. Maybe ten years.

In a recent interview on website, Lime, R. Sharath Rangaswamy - Sri K. Pattabhis Jois’ grandson and the Associate Director of AYRI - emphasized the importance of being a student, not a teacher.

R. Sharath Rangaswamy

R. Sharath also discussed the benefits of Ashtanga, contrasting common ideas in the West with traditional Indian thought on yoga.

Some people think it is only about asana, exercise and practice. Yet still they receive the benefits to their health. Problems will solve. They become concentrated.

Philippe briefly highlighted this article from Lime in his post about Craig Snyder’s thoughts on yoga in the West. I think the contrast between Craig’s, um, Western-style of delivery and Sharath’s is striking. The content of both Ashtangis’ message is similar…but how they express themselves is very different.

Then again, how many of us gave extra weight to Sharath’s words, primarily because he is the grandson of the guru, Sri K. Pattabhis Jois? Ah, the meaning of guru right there.

Guruji in San Francisco, 2006
The Guru’s Joy from Govinda Kai

This is called guru parampara. In Indian culture, you go to a teacher and learn from him, like you in the west go to a school and learn the ABC’s. But we devote everything to this lineage, from the teacher’s guru through to you. It transfers like that.

Thank you to Spiros Antonopoulos for publishing this insightful interview. Spiros gives a clear, concise description of Ashtanga yoga and lots of space for R. Sharath’s own words.

Don’t miss this article. It’s the only interview with Sharath I’ve seen.

[For a little more of Sharath's words, see our post on the making of his new Primary Series DVD. - Ed.]

The photos in this post are from R. Sharath’s Gallery, which seems to be in process (i.e., more photos will be added, so check back).

Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana at AYRI

Bhujapidasana at AYRI

Namarupa Issue 3 Fall ‘04

Namarupa magazine recently made its wonderful article — 3 Gurus, 48 Questions: Matching Interviews with Sri T.K.V. Desikachar, Sri B.K.S. Iyengar & Sri K. Pattabhi Jois — free for all to download. The article is an in-depth interview of the three living yoga masters conducted by Alexander Medin over a period of months in Madras, Mysore and Pune.

Alexander asked the same questions of all three gurus, but their answers were wildly different. These differences highlight each guru’s unique approach to yoga and teaching.

The connection between the three gurus is Krishnamacharya, their legendary teacher. Each has a very different relationship to him:

Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya

• Desikachar is his son
• BKS Iyengar is his brother-in-law
• Pattabhi Jois is his disciple

It is often striking how each has a totally different take on Krishnamacharya’s teachings:

Did Krishnamacharya teach everybody the same way?
Iyengar: “No”
Pattabhi Jois: “Yes”

What was the most important thing Krishnamacharya taught you?
Desikachar: “Humility.”
Iyengar: “What he taught me was only a few asanas. That seed was what he gave me and I developed it as well as I could.”
Pattabhi Jois: “When he left for Madras he told me, Make this yoga method the work of your life.”

Krishnamacharya later in life

What are the criteria to become a good yoga teacher?
Desikachar: “Faith in God.”
Iyengar: “One has to work really hard and show the qualities of sincerity, honesty, and virtue.”
Pattabhi Jois: “Be a dedicated student for many years before you even start to think about teaching.”

What is your personal yoga practice like these days?
Desikachar: “Next question, please.”
Iyengar: “I will not boast. Everybody will tell you that I am still practicing. I do my sadhana [meditational practice] and still do the postures. I do all the postures you see in Light on Yoga and do them every day.”
Pattabhi Jois: “I continue to practice pranayama and recite the Vedas for an hour and a half to two hours every day.”

TKV Desikachar

BKS Iyengar’s opinion of Ashtanga Vinyasa also emerges out of the interviews:

I had to question the jumping and vinyasas [synchronized movements and breath] and see what they were…What Pattabhi Jois was taught in 1934, he is still teaching now. I’m not saying this is wrong—I also taught it—but the people I talked to said it was nothing but physical movement, callisthenic-style. But now, today, the very same method is spiritual, according to some people. I don’t understand the mentality of humans.

BKS Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois

But as you can see from the photo, he’s made up with Pattabhi Jois since.

This article is such a rich and valuable record that I cannot possibly do it justice here. If you want to find about more about how yoga came to the West and what its foremost teachers think of it, 3 Gurus, 48 Questions is a must-read.

So much material came out of these interviews that the work is being expanded into a book. We’re looking forward it!

Dersy Beach, Agonda, Goa
by Kastekephoto

A new generation of pilgrims, including Ashtangis, have been hitting India’s hippie trail according to a New York Times article today about Goa, India. (Thanks for the tip, Bala.)

The article - an entertaining read - explains how this enclave was a destination for the Haight-Ashbury crowd in the sixties and has become a destination “for the yogaphiles and Burning Man groupies of today.”

Foreigners have flocked to tiny Goa — whose statewide population of 1.4 million is about one-tenth that of Mumbai, 300 miles north — ever since the Portuguese established a Spice Route colony there in the 1500’s.

Lonely Planet kindly indicates Goa’s location
for curious Ashtangis, Burners & Hippies

Talking of yogaphiles, Goa also happens to have one of the foremost centers of Ashtanga yoga at the Purple Valley Yoga Center. The NY Times specifically mentions the Purple Valley:

Come daylight, Goa’s dedication to partying is matched by its dedication to the healing arts, the yang to the night’s yin. At Purple Valley yoga center, rejuvenation might take the form of Ashtanga poses or vinyasa flow exercises, two of the daily courses offered. The leading name on Goa’s yoga circuit, the center has brought in pretzel-limbed luminaries from the globe’s four corners, including the sometime teacher of Madonna and Sting, Danny Paradise.

Purple Valley Yoga Shala in Goa

The quality of the Ashtanga teachers who visit Purple Valley is remarkable. Here is a non-exhaustive list for 2006:

• Nancy Gilgoff
• Both of the Swenson brothers, David and Doug
• Matthew Sweeney
• R. Sharath Rangaswamy

Coming up later this year and in 2007 are Sharath Rangaswamy (again), Manju Jois and Michael Gannon.

Purple Valley Yoga Center also publishes a newsletter that we recommend.

A cow on Baga Beach in Goa
from Skinnyde at Flickr

For a little more color on Guruji’s World Tour in London and Mysore Style, the new book of Ashtanga photographs, check out this article Yogis flock to ashtanga guru in Brick Lane in the Guardian Unlimited from March 13 2006 (tip ashtanga.com).

The art director for Mysore Style, Giles Kershaw, said about the book:

There was always this myth of Mysore … This book is a way of demystifying that experience and capturing the essence of it. We wanted to show that it was not the body beautiful - we wanted those who picked up the book to be able to smell the hot and sweaty atmosphere and feel the energy.

I think Graeme and Giles definitely achieved their goal. Philippe provided some thoughtful insights about Mysore Style, too.

For more on the London stop of the World Tour, see Lori’s review and photos.

Guruji signs an autograph for a London Ashtangi
Another of Lori’s photos

“The opening scene alone is worth the $15 for the DVD.”

That was a friend’s comment and I definitely agree.

After reading Lori’s review, as a practitioner of Ashtanga and as a fan of documentaries and independent cinema, I was definitely not going to miss the showing of Guru, a new documentary about Sri K. Pattabhis Jois, at San Francisco’s Victoria Theatre.

Warm, human and highly informational, this movie, to me, really encapsulates the attraction of Ashtanga yoga for so many of us. I was so amped after seeing it that I decided to practice at the rest of the World Tour days even though my practice is completely lousy right now.

Guru features lots of footage of people practicing in the AYRI shala, street scenes of Mysore, Pattabhis Jois’ 90th birthday celebration, and interviews with advanced students and with the guru himself, of course.

around 150 people attended the SF screening of Guru

The best part for me was learning more about Guruji - hearing his thoughts about Ashtanga and what it means to him to be a teacher, along with Sharath, Saraswati and Manju’s thoughts and those of some senior practitioners. I learned a lot about Ashtanga and its history in the West, too.

Other favorite bits were:

• Hearing Saraswati and Manju speak about growing up with Pattabhis Jois as a father
• Seeing all levels of Ashtangis practicing in the shala. I think it’s nice to see really advanced Ashtangis pratice, but seeing mere humans do it is more interesting to me
• Seeing scenes of Mysore and its citizens. I didn’t know that 1,000,000 people live there. I think it’s nice to be reminded of the actual community of non-Ashtangis who live around AYRI.

And, finally, I was happy to see Philippe — one of my favorite Ashtanga teachers — so psyched to see some of his teachers in the movie.

the audience - with Julie of ashtangi.net on the left

Robert Wilkins, the filmmaker and an Ashtangi for only 2 years, is a professional, experienced filmmaker and it shows in the quality and breadth of the story. He is also a warm, compassionate person and this also is reflected in his film.

For those of you in New York, Guru will screen there on March 26. Robert Wilkins will be there, and hopefully, will speak before the showing as he did here.

The 30-minute documentary, however, is not only for Ashtangis. It’s something anyone curious about other cultures, and about the teacher-student relationship would find worthwhile.

Robert and yours truly

I also think Guru would be great to share with friends and family who wonder exactly what it is you Ashtangis do and why you’d expend so much effort to follow a 90-year old man in India.

I should mention that the DVD has “extras”, including an interview with Sri K. Pattabhis Jois conducted in Kannada (with subtitles) where he speaks in much more detail about Ashtanga. Pattabhis Jois was much more serious in this interview than he is in English-language parts of the film. He is asked tough questions about his status as a Guru, and he emphasizes that he does not call himself Guru, his students do.

I am really looking forward to watching the coconut stand bit when I get my copy of the DVD.

I recommend buying this video. The DVD is available at the Guru, the Movie site for US$20 plus p&p and Ashtanga.com has the US version.

The new documentary about Sri K. Pattabhis Jois, Guru, will be screened in New York on Sunday, March 26 at 2:30 pm (length: 30 minutes) at the:

Anthology Film Archives
32 2nd Avenue (@ Second Street)
Tel: (212) 505-5181

Google map

Entrance fee of $7 to help cover costs

Lori reviewed the London premiere of Guru. Philippe & I saw it in San Francisco and here are our thoughts.

If you will be around NY and would like to help promote this event, you can download the flyer here: 190 k jpg file

Guru, the Movie, in NY

Anthony Carlisi &
Chris Martin from Coldplay

The San Francisco Bay Guardian recently wrote about what exactly makes ColdPlay so good…and how Chris Martin maintains his amazing energy during concerts. The writer thought Chris’ Ashtanga practice might have something to do with it and asked Anthony Carlisi, a teacher Martin has studied with, what he thought:

Anthony responded:

Absolutely !!!!!!!!!!! (sic) In fact I just saw Chris in Phoenix before the concert there. He has been practicing now for several years. I visit and teach him and Gwyneth [that is Paltrow of course - Ed]when I am in London. He was telling me that he loves how it has enhanced everything he does. His energy was electric at the concert…………….Great Show!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love Anthony’s use of !!!!!!! (the quote is from an email, so those are his actual !!!!!!s).

And now I want to buy Coldplay’s X&Y even more than I already did, not because Chris Martin practices yoga, but because the writer thought the quality of the music might be influenced by Martin’s practice.

Other musical Ashtangis include Madonna and Sting, confirming that the practice must be good for musicians.

Two very famous Ashtangis