Posted by philippe on February 14, 2007 @ 4:36 pm A stiff body has a good potential for learning Yoga. A flexible body is usually more caught up in Bhoga [ ].
Saraswathi Rangaswamy, daughter of Sri K.
Pattabhi Jois and Sharath Rangaswamy s mother, launched her own website this month, .
She has many insights into Ashtanga, women and family responsibility from a feminine point of view. Each page of Saraswathi s site is well-worth reading.
Her site is infused with the gentle wisdom, kindness and humor of the Jois family.
It took me ten years to learn the asanas well, then two children to forget about it, but the Yogic experience I got from that was more than any asana could ever give me.
Sharath was a real weakling in his early years, he did not like going to school and would be home for months on lying sick in his bed.
Yes now he is great, but does anybody know what sufferings he went through in order to come to where he’s at today?
The site also lists Saraswathi s and .
It specifically states that Saraswathi welcomes beginning Ashtanga students. She teaches her own class every day after assisting her father, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois.
She has an ever increasing dedicated following.
As a side note, of all the photos tagged Ashtanga on Flickr, I found so very, very few of this beautiful woman so please, can some of you capture some photos when you go to Islamorada or Mysore next? 
(Thanks to for this tipoff.
) Posted by tracy on December 31, 2006 @ 9:28 pm It s been awhile since we shared our geeky fascination with numbers with you. See and for examples. In that post, we estimated that the Ashtanga yoga student population had grown by 100% since early 2002.
Here we take a close look at the trend in Ashtanga yoga teachers during the past four years. It looks like the number of Ashtanga yoga teachers, authorized or certified by the grew by 179% from February 2002 to December 2006 (which means that we underestimated student growth earlier).
Not only that, but it also seems that the rate of teacher authorizations is increasing.
Number of teachers authorized or certified by AYRI
Do you detect a trend?
This data comes from which publishes new teachers names every month - we looked at all the newsletters from March 2002 until December 2006.
The total number of authorized Ashtanga teachers was 176 (including 34 certified teachers) as of December 29, 2006.
Since early 2002, a total of 113 new teacher authorizations have been announced on Ashtanga.com.
in Toronto, Canada
(We can t have only graphs in this post.
Boring!)
Women and men teachers are equally represented. As of December 2006, 53% of teachers were women, and since early 2002, 63% of newly authorized teachers were women.
But wait! Only 10% of female teachers are certified, while 29% of the men are.
Ashtanga.
com, by the way, gives .
We had to make some assumptions to come up with these fascinating tidbits (especially those in the next graph). If you want the gory details about the assumptions, email me at yogini @ ashtanganews.
com.
And finally, thanks to Ashtanga.com for continually keeping everyone up to date on Ashtanga yoga as taught by Sri K.
Pattabhi Jois, and without which, neither of our geeky numbers posts would have been possible. Also, all are authorized to teach Ashtanga yoga by AYRI. Welcome to Tokyo!
Lisa Hill - a contributor to AshtangaNews through her from Chicago, Illinois - is teaching at for three months, and kindly shared her blog, , and with us.
What struck me about Lisa s blog - and if you like Japan at all, you will really enjoy reading about her daily adventures living there - is the similarity between what she says about Ashtanga students in Japan, which echoed what Govinda Kai said in his post, . From Lisa:
I have been impressed with the yoga students here in Japan.
More than anywhere else I have taught, there is a natural humility and a deep respect for whoever is teaching This quality makes the process of learning very special, both for the student and for the teacher.
Additionally, I have been impressed by the level of dedication, passion and work ethic that is present in a large number of Japanese yoga students It is clear to me that the deepest levels of yearning for the fruits of yoga practice (truth, expansion and liberation) are very high.
Lisa and Mindy,
who introduced her to Tokyo Yoga
Stay tuned; more to come Lisa s agreed to do an , and we are looking forward to it.
so if you like new york, you will love tokyo. its the same, only it s japan. -
Have any of you practiced Ashtanga in Japan?
Please comment! “It’s one of Christine’s gifts – she’s very good at connecting people,” says Tre McCarney, a studio regular. “Christine will make sure that you are introduced to the person next to you.
Everyone is made to feel welcome. People who visit say how supportive this community is. It’s noticeable.
”
in another trip to Mysore, Hoar taught yoga twice a week to a group of women who had been rescued from the sex trade. They practiced on a cement roof with no mats and no stretchy yoga clothing; Hoar spoke only a few words of their language – the words for inhale and exhale, up and down – but it was enough to get them into the postures. “They kept coming back,” says Hoar.
“No one made them come, but they liked it. It made them smile.” Hoar admits that in Mysore, where a roomful of Ashtanga devotees are all practicing together, vying for the special attention of the guru, the atmosphere can get highly competitive.
“People are focusing on a single aspect of yoga – the physical asana. It can border on (and cross into) self-absorption,” she reflected in a note from India. Christine Hoar has been .
Bristol Yoga hosts many and lists Christine s travel schedule.
Christine came to my birthday dinner a couple of years ago when she visited in Mountain View, California, and she s really cool. Eh?
At first, I was shocked at the juxtaposition between my traditional thoughts on Ashtanga yoga and Basia Lipska s photo sets on Flickr. [Basia removed the photos sets from Flickr. has a variety of different, but still interesting photos.
is also active. -Ed.]
Then, I thought: Wait just a minute one of the main reasons you like Ashtanga is that it opens you physically and mentally, and helps you better experience the moment, as it is.
So, why so closed-minded?
Basia s photos do that. WAKE UP!
, they say. And get out of your head, your shala, your neighborhood and your preconceptions.
These photos are hot, they re a mental freak out and they look neat.
Don t forget to share your thoughts in the comments section!
Go to and play Basia s What s That Posture? with your friends!
Basia Lipska is an Ashtangi, , and can usually be found in Tokyo, Japan at or the .
Originally from Poland, Basia is also a scholar, a photographer and, well, a model, plus based on my emails with her, a totally nice person.
What s that posture?
And who made that belt?
Find out about more Basia s many endeavors on her website, .
The Yoga Knots photos shown here were part of a photography exhibit in Montreal, Canada in August 2006.
The shock of shallowness I immediately perceived of these fashiony, Vogue-like photos contrasts Basia s thoughtful essay on the meaning of Yoga Knots:
For the past 6 years, I literally tie myself into knots over the idea of eventually attaining enlightenment. Before sunrise, when it is still pitch black outside, I tangle my body into the form of a knot. I stand barefooted, clothed sparingly on top of a rubber thin mat placed directly onto the floor.
I breathe loudly and with determination I squeeze myself into a knot-like assemblage of the body. The same knot is formed on both sides of the body. Once there, I remain for a minimum of five very deep long breaths.
Though the intent is consistent every morning, the feel of the body wrapped into this knot has a spectrum of sensations ranging from heaviness, pain, discomfort to a lightness and ease. Everyday I wonder which it‘ll be and attempt to decipher the reasons behind the particular sensations of the morning practice. I analyze the activities of the prior day as to locate what could have triggered the ‘dis’ ease or the lack of agility in entering the same knot, at the same time, at the same place, with the same technique, with the same body…though perhaps not with the same mind?
Knots, illustrated
The noose posture, Pasasana in Sanskrit, is the term by which this particular asana is referred to in the yoga circles around the world, specifically the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga System. If you happen to be adept enough to be practicing the Intermediate Series, or Nadi Shodana (nerve purification), of this yogic system, then the noose posture appears after having completed the first 26 standing postures, and then is followed by 57 other postures. This sequence is performed five times a week within a span of 90 minutes.
And so, I knot myself up in the mornings whether alone or surrounded by up to 50 other fellow practitioners. At other times I demonstrate it to a few beginners or up to 100 viewers. I teach it, explain its constituents and assist others in exploring it as to attain its powerful benefits.
For some it is a great challenge and requires time and effort through heat, repetition and perhaps a string of grunts. The access to the posture lies not in the physique but in attaining the key to untangle the corresponding knot of the mind. This is the art of yoga.
But why intentionally ravel myself up into a state of immobility only to untangle myself? Perhaps to relive the experience of freedom and its negation, repeatedly? Or have it proven to me that anything is possible – knots can be dealt with.
That I can be taught to be my own surgeon or “doctor of the jungle,” as is recited in the mantra I repeat before commencing practice. It is a path that I trudge upon every morning, as do others worldwide.
To me, it is a symbolic study of the dialectics of knots.
I train to do and undo; to like what I dislike; to be detached from the things I love; to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations - In essence, to resolve opposition. I tackle entering unlikely and challenging situations as to be adept at undoing myself into a state of emancipation. This daily repetitive action is a practice of observation, a study of the weaving of opposites as to produce a tapestry showing the way to transcend the dualistic nature of life.
After many years of practice, this tapestry of knots is my personal map of an art of opposites. Yoga became a lifestyle for me, an art of living. And I, the artist creating my existence, painting my destiny onto the tabula rasa provided – the yoga practice mat.
Thank you, Basia! The best way to reach Basia is via her website, (under construction as of August 2006).
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 published by Lime.
-Ed.] Posted by tracy on May 24, 2006 @ 5:03 pm As much as I like finding neat photos of Ashtangis practicing in the shala for AshtangaNews, I recently came across this photo from prolific Ashtanga writer and photographer, .
David Swenson workshop in Munich, March 2001
Note the lack of Ashtangis in this photo.
There were people attending the workshop, lots, but David doesn t like anybody to take pictures in class and besides I was busy practicing. Which is exactly what I always wonder about: if you re practicing, how can you be taking photos? Nevertheless, I am grateful to all you Ashtangis and photographers who do.
I like this photo and I like Alan s comment. It s a neat abstraction of something I take for granted (mats) and the lack of Ashtangis makes me think of what Ashtangis do outside of the studio, about what we take with us when we leave the studio.
Thank you, Alan!
Posted by tracy on May 20, 2006 @ 9:54 pm 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, , - Sri K. Pattabhis Jois grandson and the Associate Director of - 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 . 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
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 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 . - Ed.]
The photos in this post are from , which seems to be in process (i.
e., more photos will be added, so check back).
Posted by tracy on May 11, 2006 @ 10:25 pm Okay, just one valuable prize, but that would be in addition to the good feeling you d get from helping out with a worthy cause.
, a certified Ashtanga teacher based in Crestone, Colorado ( ), is holding a benefit on June 9 to help fund the building of what sounds likes a really neat shala and retreat space in Crestone called Shakti Sharanam.
Annie s written a describing the property and her plans and intentions for Shakti Sharanam.
Posted by govinda on April 2, 2006 @ 10:27 pm Over the past few months, I have had the great pleasure and honor to teach s Ashtanga Yoga Mysore class at the .
A Mysore style ( ) class is a supervised self-practice class in the tradition of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India. It is the fundamental way that Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is taught.
Typically, a Mysore style class is taught in the early mornings.
Each morning I wake up around 3 AM and ride my bicycle to the yoga studio through the quiet and empty streets of Tokyo. It is such a beautiful time of the day, as there is a peacefulness and a stillness that one does not often get to experience in this intense and crowded city during the busier times of the day.
I practice for a few hours before the class begins, enjoying the deep silence that comes from practicing alone in the early morning hours. Around 6 AM, the room quickly begins to fill up with students, each one filled with intense concentration as they begin their daily practice.
Over the past 10 years or so, I have taught in many different places in the world, primarily in North America (New York City and San Francisco) and in Europe.
Teaching in these different locales has given me the opportunity to observe how different cultural settings affect the general “personality” of different student groups.
I have been impressed with the yoga students here in Japan. More than anywhere else I have taught, there is a natural humility and a deep respect for whoever is teaching.
This obviously is an integral part of the culture here in Japan. This quality makes the process of learning very special, both for the student and for the teacher. This point cannot be emphasized enough.
A combination of humility and respect makes it possible for a student to invest him/herself deeply into the practice, making it possible to learn more and progress quickly.
Additionally, I have been impressed by the level of dedication, passion and work ethic that is present in a large number of Japanese yoga students. These qualities are essential in creating Tapas (meaning heat or austerity in Sanskrit and considered to be one of the essential elements of an authentic yoga practice - ).
It is clear to me that the deepest levels of yearning for the fruits of yoga practice (truth, expansion and liberation) are very high. This kind of spiritual hunger is very important to the development of a strong yoga practice.
Additionally, there is a great deal of mutual respect and caring present among those who practice together on a regular basis.
Kindness and compassion for one another are other qualities that are vital to the development of a truly powerful yoga practice. These particular qualities also seem to be a part of the culture in Japan. The orientation towards community that I have found in this country are a great benefit to the practice of yoga.
Because the ideas and beliefs of Shintoism ( ) and Buddhism ( ) are so interwoven into its cultural fabric, Japan is an ideal place for the practice of yoga to become established and grow especially strong. The elements of respect, devotion, surrender, kindness and compassion are all vital to the authentic understanding of this great practice. Also, there is already a general understanding of such spiritual principles as Karma, Dharma and Satori.
I have found many people in Japan to be naturally very strongly spiritual and soulful.
Yoga is first and foremost a spiritual practice. Through the process of yoga, we turn our attention inwards and begin to know ourselves in very clear and deep ways.
We face fears and feelings that we never knew we had. We familiarize ourselves with aspects of ourselves that would never otherwise come to light. We consciously become students of our breath as a vehicle to developing a more and more sensitive level of awareness of ourselves and of the true nature of our reality.
Knowing ourselves more deeply and realistically, we then can begin to let go of our pre-conceived limitations and step into our higher and truer nature. We begin to act less from fear and more from courage, compassion, kindness and love.
It is because of these reasons and more that the practice of yoga has been so warmly and deeply embraced here in Japan.
I truly believe that there is the great possibility that the authentic practice of yoga has the chance to profoundly affect Japan and its people in increasingly more and more powerful ways. It is important that great care is taken to ensure that we stay true to the original and authentic intentions of this great practice. This means staying as true as possible to the roots of traditional yoga practice.
It is important that we follow the teachings of the great yoga teachers and texts of the past. We must also resist the temptation to utilize the practice purely for personal or commercial gains.
The practice of yoga is still very young in Japan.
As such, every effort must be made to preserve the sanctity and purity of the original teachings. Always seek to practice at the highest level possible. Seek the best teachers, who have remained connected to the authentic roots of the practice.
And above all else, make sure that your heart is in the right place.
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