AshtangaNews

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.]