Ageing - March 2017 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami Plus links to some other posts on ageing.

"Surely healthy lifestyle, yoga practice will certainly help slow the the ageing process but one has inevitably to come to terms with the process of ageing". Ramaswami

My photo choice not Ramaswami's.
Krishnamacharya at 84 - see http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/2015/02/krishnamacharya-practicing-at-84.html post
Photos from krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu see my Free Download page

Right now I am teaching a 15 day 100 hr Teacher Training program in Vinyasakrama Yoga. 60 hrs of asana vinyasas, 20 hrs of pranayama,yoga for internal organs and introduction to dharana meditation and then a 20 hr component of Yoga Sutras constitute the entire program. This is being organized by Yiga Vahini in Chennai. Last year I did the same program for Yoga Vahini in Chennai. I will be doing the same 100 hr Vinyasakrama Yoga program for Yoga Institute in Sydney Australia from April 22nd of this year. The registration is open. Here is the link
http://yogainstitute.com.au/april-22-2017-100hr-advanced-vinyasakrama-yoga-training-program/

Ageing

Changes take place all the time. Patanjali recognizes three changes or transformations called parinama-s.One is changes in a person due to circumstances called avastha parinama. Then the changes that come about due to efflux of time called lakshana parinama. Then of course transformations brought about by specific individual efforts on oneself. These specific activities which help to brings about fundamental changes of dormant but inherent qualities or dharmas are called dharma parinama-- like with yogic practice one is able to transform a habitually distracted mind to a mind or chitta which can remain in a state of intense focus called ekagrata. This transformation is called ekagrata parinama.

Everyone goes through the changes brought about by time.These changes or avastha parinama are seen over a period of time. Black hair turns grey or thins.The skin loses moisture slowly and becomes wrinkled. Muscles lose their tone and start sagging. Ageing signs are unmistakable

Just as changes are visible, there are invisible changes taking place inside the body with time. My Guru would say that several internal organs including the heart tend to get displaced from their positions over a period of time and these changes and regular inversions(sirsasana, sarvangasana) would help to slow down the descent of these organs. But one also would understand that the changes to the various vital organs may be retarded by Yoga and healthy lifestyle but can not be prevented altogether.

Cells age and become less efficient. Further old cells die and may not be replaced. This leads the vital organs to function less well. In some organs some cells die but are not replaced and thus render it less efficient. The intercostal and other accessory muscles of breathing including the diaphragm become weak. The lungs also become weak and unable to fight infections like pneumonia, pleurisy etc. The kidneys tend to shrink and this leads to many complications. The heart and the blood vessels start losing their elasticity. There is an all round decline in health as one ages. Surely healthy lifestyle, yoga practice will certainly help slow the the ageing process but one has inevitably to come to terms with the process of ageing.

There are several systems that are said to be helpful in coming to terms with the process of ageing and the inevitable termination.The Vedic philosophies Samkhya, Yoga and Vedanta reveal the stunning truth about the real self. The real self which is unwavering consciousness or awareness and in the midst of the ageing of all parts of the body it remains without an iota of change, they declare. That is the truth about oneself and they commend that one start considering the atma as the self and not the decaying body. Thus while all parts of the body decay, the core of each one -the self- does not undergo any change and thus is immortal. Could this awareness be a way to meet the depressing changes of old age and the inevitable end to the body?

Srivatsa Ramaswami
--
http://groups.google.com/group/vinyasa-krama

See my Ramaswami Resource Page at the top of the blog

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See also my Iyengar post on ageing...  

On yoga practice and ageing

My page at the top of the blog....

Ashtanga and Ageing / Maturity : Flexibility within the system of Ashtanga

And perhaps my previous post on the goal of Ashtanga yoga..., another reminder that asana is but one limb and though we may continue practicing (some) asana throughout our life, for health and fitness, discipline..., as a support for our concentration practice, as we age we may wish to add more focus, give more attention, to the other limbs and the goal of Ashtanga, though we may only travel so far.

Yoga teaches itself, or should.

but why wait until we are ageing?

*

Below my earlier post on Krishnamacharya practicing at Eighty-four,. Krishnamacharya taught an integrated practice, not only asana. Below the aspect of Krishnamacharya practice that we can see, we might wonder at his internal practice after sixty, seventy years of practice, the aspects (limbs) of yoga we can't see.

Krishnamacharya practicing at 84

Photos from krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu see my Free Download page

What does practice look like after 70 years?

Krishnamacharya's Yogasanagalu ( Link to translation) was originally published in 1942, these photos are from the 3rd edition 1972

 

*

Or perhaps practice after 70 years just looks like this...

from Breath of Gods

*These pictures were taken for and added to the 1972 edition of Yogasanagalu putting Krishnamacharya at 84. Krishnamacharya was first taught asanas by his father from when he was six.

See the follow up post here

Krishnamacharya seems to have practiced along with his students.

Yesterday I posted 120 odd pictures of Krishnamacharya demonstrating asana from the 3rd edition of his second book Yogasanagalu, he was 84 at the time. The pictures were remarkable, how did he manage to stay that strong, that flexible, his eldest son Desikachar gives us a clue,

".....Of course, he was also doing Āsana for three to four hours daily in addition to his Prāṇāyāma. His practice was extremely rigorous and that may account for his being able to handle these large quantities of spicy and sweet foods.”

and the third post in this series

Krishnamacharya's own asana and pranayama practice Plus Krishnamacharya's Life saving practice.

Yoga teaches itself, or should.

Sit on the edge of your chair, 

breath in, 

breathe out twice as slowly, 

follow the breath with your mind.

That is surely all you ever REALLY need to teach/suggest, everything else follows from this, it's practice teaches itself.


After a time the breath will slow further, you will notice the breath more as you move about your day, movements align with the breath and you might try some other simple, more formal, movements... with the breath. You might find ways to sit more comfortably, for longer, practice for longer, you might try breathing through one nostril and out of the other.... or not. You might notice the natural pause between the inhalation and exhalation and attend to that as much as to the inhalation and the exhalation, you might sit and focus on that stillness, the infinite between inhalation and exhalation, or you might focus on one point that feels natural, comfortable to you, you might forget about the breath altogether and focus more on that one point. The feeling of peace and calm, of contentment perhaps, that comes from this, from just sitting, might allow you realise that this is perhaps sufficient, and as attachments drop away compassion might arise for those who are as wrapped up in their attachments as you were. Samadhi might arise within you, a profound contentment and experience of sufficiency. As your samadhi becomes stable, consistent, it might naturally direct itself at the objects of the senses, at the senses themselves, at the mind, all dropping away until all that remains is awareness itself.

It's Euclid, everything follows.

The Vitruvian Man  by Leonardo da Vinci around 1490
inspired by the architect Vitruvius

A pretty a picture than the first page of Euclid

On question from the comments on the previous post

Anonymous 

"Grim, if you don't teach, why the meticulous syllabus above (the previous post on teaching Vinyasa krama to an Ashtangi)? Bit ironic. Is it just that you don't have the time to teach physically?"

*

My Reply (edited)

I'm not sure where sharing practice ends and teaching begins Anon. I don't teach yoga, not regularly, not currently. The blog has always been about sharing my own practice, experience(s).

My inclination is always towards solitary home practice. As a teacher I would be kicking everyone out of the shala after a couple of weeks and suggesting they check-in perhaps in a year or so, the shala would be bankrupt in a week.... or my thinking would change which perhaps worries me the most and perhaps why I resist teaching.

Money/livelihood and yoga don't/shouldn't mix, in my mind.

That said, I understand that not everyone can practice at home (circumstance, kids, space etc.), or that some may require the little extra motivation that the company of others can bring..., in the beginning.

The problem I feel is that many (most?) 'teachers', whether intending (realising? ) it or not, tend to try to hold on to their students, suppress the awareness that one could and perhaps should be practicing yoga alone and at home.

Even right at the 'top', the inclination/motivation is to preserve a system of asana.

Ashtanga Vinyasa, by accident perhaps, is almost designed to keep students coming back for asana practice...., deepen the asana, improve alignment, the next asana, the next series ( and the next for those whose bodies are flexible enough). Support the community, don't miss a practice, go to Mysore, go again... and again.

Then we have the 'international yoga teachers' who promote themselves and their workshops/merchandise, through asana, maintaining the focus on asana, the next asana, the next series.

And of course, if one IS interested in pranayama, feels ready for pranayama (despite being told more and more asana first), then the one pranayama is not enough for a teacher, you need pranayama workshops, intensives, books, dvds to teach all these other marketable Hatha pranayama's. To make it worthwhile, you need a pranayama series.

What did those Raja yogi's do/practice before Hatha came along.

Yoga?

It can take ten years to learn

 that what we really need to do

 is unlearn 99% of what we learned 

in those ten years.

If the class was half a series worth of asana followed by twenty minutes of simple, straight forward, pranayama, forty minutes of Sitting..., and given that the asana are always the same in ashtanga, would students keep coming back six days a week or would the system collapse, would they just practice at home, come once a week say, once a month, would that support a shala, a teacher?

I would be/am tempted to teach such a class once a week, once a month and encourage home practice the rest of the time, success for me would be marked by a mostly empty class.

I've never understood the pride in having the BIGGEST Ashtanga program in...wherever.

I have great affection for those who merely provide a space, almost taking a vow of poverty to do so, for those who require one for practice.

The 'meticulous syllabus' you mention that  I share above (on the previous post teaching Vinyasa krama to an Ashtangi) is so one can practice at home without me teaching because I don't believe you need a teacher, practicing this teaches itself, deepens itself.



Sit on the edge of your chair, breath in, breathe out twice as slowly, follow the breath with your mind.

That is surely all you ever REALLY need to teach/suggest, everything else follows from this, it's practice teaches itself.

After a time the breath will slow further, you will notice the breath more as you move about your day, movements align with the breath and you might try some other simple, more formal, movements... with the breath. You might find ways to sit more comfortably, for longer, practice for longer, you might try breathing through one nostril and out of the other.... or not. You might notice the natural pause between the inhalation and exhalation and attend to that as much as to the inhalation and the exhalation, you might sit and focus on that stillness, the infinite between inhalation and exhalation, or you might focus on one point that feels natural, comfortable to you, you might forget about the breath altogether and focus more on that one point. The feeling of peace and calm, of contentment perhaps, that comes from this, from just sitting, might allow you realise that this is perhaps sufficient, and as attachments drop away compassion might arise for those who are as wrapped up in their attachments as you were. Samadhi might arise within you, a profound contentment and experience of sufficiency. As your samadhi becomes stable, consistent, it might naturally direct itself at the objects of the senses, at the senses themselves, at the mind, all dropping away until all that remains is awareness itself.


It's Euclid, everything follows.


That said, I know there are wonderful Ashtanga vinyasa teachers out there who aren't really teachers at all perhaps but service providers, maintaining a space, giving a little guidance where necessary and letting the practice teach itself, deepen itself.

Some wonderful teachers in Yoga therapy, who have studied the body deeply and can give relief. Yoga culture teachers, chanting teacher, sanskrit teachers.

There are 'teachers' (enablers, facilitators?) who encourage, give guidance and support in meditation, who make moving on to meditation as natural an option as the next asana/series.

Teachers who preserve the the system of practice they love, just as they learned it themselves, passing it along to others in the belief it might benefit others as they feel it has benefitted them.

And I'm grateful to the teachers who did and do the above, that I was able to encounter a practice in the way that I did, through a book in a library... and later through DVDs and Youtube, through other practitioners, occasionally teachers and teachers of teachers, grateful to all who have done and continue to inspire me to practice and reflect on my practice.

"He (Krishnamacharya) divided the practice of yoga into three parts.When one wants to develop muscular power, power to concentrate, power to do more difficult postures etc, it was called sakti krama in the sense of power. The second type of practice that he taught was called adhyatmika krama, that is, to go beyond the physical and to understand, say god or oneself. The third type was called cikitsa krama, yoga for therapy. For this he would modify the asana and the breathing so the problem was reduced." The Purnacarya.


Each morning before practice I say..

Thank you to all teachers and practitioners, past and present, 

for bringing me to and maintaining me in this practice.

We can learn asana from teachers, hundreds of asana, asana systems, asana tricks and flourishes, ever more alignment in asana, visualisation in asana, safer practice in asana. We can learn pranayama from a teacher, lots of different pranayamas, all kinds of ratios. Some teach yoga history, yoga philosophy, yoga therapy, chanting, sacred texts. We can learn to chant the yoga sutras from a teacher, the meaning of the yoga sutras.... teachers seem to teach everything about yoga, around yoga, everything EXCEPT yoga...., perhaps because yoga isn't taught, isn't learned, it's just experienced.

Sit and focus your attention, don't be distracted by all these teaching ABOUT yoga, on the whole they are likely yet more hindrances to pass through, just sit and watch the breath, do yoga rather than learn about yoga.

Trying to stretch the above sentence into a class, a program, workshop, intensive, teacher training, book and DVD would be one more hinderance.

I remember thinking, during the few workshops I presented, that everybody would be better off staying home and doing their own practice. Rather than attend a workshop for the day or weekend, stay home and practice, at dawn, at midday, at dusk and at midnight.

If I ever do offer a retreat again it will be this, a slow, Krishnamacharya ashtanga practice followed by pranayama and a Sit at dawn, a little asana, pranayama and a sit at midday and again at dusk and at midnight.

Don't read about yoga, blog about yoga (myself included obviously), just get on and do yoga.

That said I feel an obligation to pass along the approach to practice that Ramaswami generously shared with me from his teacher Krishnamacharya, as well as my own research into Krishnamacharya's life (that continues to fascinate me) and of my practice of his Yoga Makaranda instruction. I hope I fulfil that obligation here on the blog to some degree.

I  also see people around me, the elderly especially, who might benefit from what little I do know about moving the body and am considering sharing some of that knowledge, teaching some movements.... if I can learn enough not to do more harm than good.

On being asked to teach Vinyasa Krama to an 'Ashtangi'

I received a letter last night asking if I would be prepared to teach some Vinyasa Krama, over a month or two, here in Japan, to a visiting Ashtanga practitioner (who practices Ashtanga Primary series). Below is my response, I thought it might be useful for others interested in Vinyasa Krama as I (currently) understand/view it.

Mtyresponse in Courier font, additions in Times.


Dear  XXXX

Thank you for your mail and your interest but I'm really not a yoga teacher, though I may have taught a few workshops in the past.

Given that you live in the States I believe it would be so much more beneficial to spend a week or ten days with Ramaswami on one of his workshop/intensives (Ramaswami's schedule). You are so lucky to have him there in the US.

Perhaps if he was no longer with us I might consider teaching more.

I don't live in Osaka but in a small country village and travel into Osaka to my job as an English teacher.


'VINYASA KRAMA ASANA'

Note: In Vinyasa Krama we don't tend to practice the Ashtanga Suryanamaskar so much, perhaps the mantra version, or possibly with the 2 hour surya namaskar chant on Sundays. 

I though, still practice my Ashtanga sun salutations out of habit and for general fitness given the fewer jump back and throughs in Viyasa Krama

We generally begin practice with some simple movements in tadasana. I tend to include a few of these before my sun salutations. Below a video of a ten minute version, I may do a few less movements, five minutes worth say. On my Youtube channel there is the full fifty minute Vinyasa Krama Tadasana sequence https://youtu.be/EEHx32PUfdY.

One of the things I've tried to communicate in my book and on my blog is that if you are practicing Ashtanga then you are already practicing Vinyasa Krama. The Ashtanga Primary series is made up of Vinyasa Krama subroutines. 

Example of subroutines in Ashtanga primary Series.

For it to 'look' more like Vinyasa Krama all you need to do is cut out most of the jump backs and through ( perhaps just between each subroutine) and breathe much more slowly (around 8-10 seconds for both inhalation and exhalation, perhaps take three breaths if required to enter a posture rather than folding straight in. Stay for longer in certain key postures, paschimottanasana, maha mudra, sarvangasana, sirsasana. There are some movements/variations options in head and shoulder stand that are a little different from Primary but otherwise Primary series makes for an ideal Vinyasa Krama practice, except that breathing more slowly and occasionally staying longer in a posture will likely mean you will have to divide a Primary series over two or even three days. 

On another day you might practice those first few back stretching postures from Ashtanga 2nd series, Salambhasana,Urdhva dhanurasana, ustrasana, which is also a Vinyasa krama subroutine.

Vinyasa Krama Bow sequence subroutines, similar to the first half of Ashtanga Intermediate series

The sequences Ramaswami presents in his workshop and book are for teaching and training purpose only, once you have an idea of how the asana relate to each other, build up to, and then extend beyond the key asana you would then just choose the appropriate asana  and subroutines for you each morning. Pattabhi Jois (perhaps Krishnamacharya) has already done that for us with Primary and Second Ashtanga series. 

For me, with the occasional modifications, and perhaps partly due to familiarity and affection, I find the Ashtanga series appropriate. They of course closely match the order the asana as placed in Krishnamacharya table of asana in yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941).

Link to post on the asana tables

An integrated practice

Perhaps the biggest difference is that Vinyasa Krama is more of an integrated practice. 

Although some more experienced Ashtanga practitioners do include Pranyama, Sitting etc. Actually many beginner Ashtanga practitioners already have a Sitting practice from another tradition, Zen, vipassana etc. I have a  Zen monk friend Hyon Gak Sunim who has  only recently come to Ashtanga


Mirror of Zen /// A Day in the Moment of a Modern Zen Monk from Christine Schmitthenner on Vimeo.


So after your slower, modified, half Primary and perhaps 36 or 108 rounds of kapalabhati breathing, practice, 6, 12, 20 rounds of nadi shodhana with the pranayama mantra on the kumbhaka ( see my pranayma page for the mantra), sit for five minutes in Shanmukhi Mudra turning the senses inwards and then sit and meditated on a mantra, say Om hrim namashivaya, for 10, 20, 30, 40 minutes. 


Of course if you haven't practiced pranayama before you will need to build up to it, 3-6 months of nadi shodhana without kumbhaka just as Sharath suggests, then (perhaps after discussing it with your doctor)start to introduce a kumbhaka after the inhalation - checking your pulse for any dramatic increase in heart rate.


'VINYASA KRAMA' PRANAYAMA

So start with 

nadi shodhana

4s inhalation, 8s exhalation

 then 

5s, inhalation 10 exhalation

finally after a few months or when twelve rounds of that is comfortable, introduce kumbhaka

4s inhalation, 4s kumbhaka, 8s exhalation

5s, inhalation 5s kumbhaka, 10 exhalation

5s, inhalation 10s kumbhaka, 10 exhalation

at this point, if the pranayama mantra interests you you could split the mantra into three, spread over each stage

5s, inhalation 15s kumbhaka, 10 exhalation

mantra chanted quickly on the kumbhaka

finally

5s, inhalation 20s kumbhaka, 10 exhalation

which is the standard pranayama Ramaswami teaches.

6/12/20 rounds of that after asana each morning

or twenty rounds four times a day if committed and traditional.



'Vinyasa Krama' Pratyahara (5 to 10 minutes)

Shanmukhi Mudra is pretty much automatic, once you engage the mudra the mind automatically turns inwards, to internal sounds for example. 

I chose Shanmukhi Mudra for the cover of my book
rather than a fancy asana

'VINYASA KRAMA' MEDITATION


As for Sitting. Ramaswami teaches Japa, with the mantra 

Om hrim namashivaya

But you could use any Samatha (calm abiding) approach, sitting with the breath, Zen.... 

If and when Samadhi ever arises THEN, it gets tricky and you have to start applying your samadhi to different objects. See Patanjali.

That's basically Vinyasa Krama, it tends to be practiced at home rather than in a studio or with a teacher, no need to stress about fancy techniques to attain postures, visualisations, and/or be obsessed with alignment, just let the breath align you, choose an easier variation of an asana from Ramaswami ( or my) book if required.


YAMA/NIYAMA

Reflect on the yama/niyama as much as possible or the cultural moral/ethical codes of your own upbringing and perhaps each evening before falling asleep, with compassion, reflect on how far your day fell within them.

This is Patanjali Ashtanga Yoga, Hatha is something else altogether with different goals and objectives, hatha deals with bindu and/or kundalini and/or prana, Patanjali is concerned with developing focussed concentration that can then be applied to gain knowledge of the self.


VINYASA KRAMA RESOURCES

Hope that helps, I really hope you manage to make it to Ramaswami at some point, all of the above will make a little more sense but if you practice Primary, have seen my book, have read closely Ramaswami's book(s) and or seen some of my videos or those with Ramaswami teaching I would suggest you have all you need, the rest is practice.

Ramaswami's Yoga Beneath the Surface answers any questions you might possibly have,

his book

Yoga for the three stages of Life is an absolute treasure,


his Complete book of Vinyasa Yoga is excellent as a reference for choosing modified postures to Primary.


Best wishes for you practice and travels


Sincerely

Anthony


PS. As this reply has become longer and more detailed than I expected when I started, I think I might turn it into a blog post. Hope that's OK

New Mysore Traditions Movie Trailer and why go to Mysore

Great new look at the Mysore Yoga Traditions movie currently in production, looking beautiful, and a whole bag full of quotes in this trailer alone. I'm going to need a bigger notebook when it finally comes out.

Perhaps I'm inclined to go to Mysore after all, do my practice in my room then go around and try to hear more about yoga from some of these fascinating Mysore Yoga teachers.

Mysore Yoga Traditions Official Trailer from Dallos Paz on Vimeo.

Website for Mysore Yoga Traditions

"Mysore Yoga Traditions is an inquiry into the cultural background of yoga in Mysore, how it has evolved, and the philosophy upon which this global practice rests. The film will be an intimate glimpse into the yoga of Mysore as the elders, scholars, philosophers, yogis and spiritual leaders of the community express their views on what yoga is, its original intention, and how they feel about the way it is being taught and practiced around the world. Much has been said about yoga in Mysore by western scholars. Now it is time for the people who are the keepers of this vibrant yoga tradition to speak about how they see their own legacy." from the webite

It would be great if somebody organised a Mysore 'confluence' or 'festival', two weeks or better still a month where you could just turn up and attend public talks by some of the teachers and practitioners we see here. A two tier pass perhaps so you could include asana or pranayama or just attend lectures/talks. We focus on asana but really, it has so little to do with yoga (or does it), breathe through your asana practice, include some straight forward pranayama (nadi sodhana), then go learn (seek to better understand) some (your) yoga. 

BNS Iyengar

I'm happy enough with my asana practice, with my pranayama...., I'm sure an Iyengar teacher could make my asana better aligned, that Simon (Borg-Olivier), could make my asana choices and approach more beneficial anatomically and physiologically but it'll....do, an ongoing work in practice. I have no desire to learn more asana ( I've let go of plenty in preference to a slower practice), no wish for strong adjustments, to go deeper into a posture ( why for heaven sake), no need of promotional, tricks, floats and/or flourishes, my steady, comfortable, familiar physical practice feels quite sufficient.

But yoga, what it is and why it is and what/where it's directed and why that should be relevant/desirable to me? That strikes me as worth traveling to Mysore to reflect upon. To reflect more deeply on Yama/niyama, on how to live and practice in this world. Are the responsibilities of the householder also to concern oneself with the location of that household, to make it, safe and good and just... for all, not merely those within the household, your household..., before one retires to the metaphorical forest and pass the task along? How does one work with withdrawing the senses, how do we support that hardest perhaps of practices? Is Hatha really of any relevance or did Krishnamacharya ultimately distract us, do I, should I, want to be free (kaivalya)? What is the experience of progressing through the sheaths and are they a model that's still of value, are the yoga body, subtle body models of any benefit to us today or should we just abandon it and go back before the 8th century or so and the models construction, go back before kundalini, before shushumna, before bindi, before bandhas and mudras? What was Mysore yoga then? And is Mysore yoga really any different from the yoga of my own culture, traditions and world view? where are the similarities, the resources I already have within me, the amrita/ambrosia in the marrow of my own bones and being? Is there any reason to leave this lake, my own Manasarova and what it can teach me?

Is there any reason to leave this lake, my own Manasarova and what it can teach me of yoga?

Krishnamacharya's Mysore Yoga students 1941 Yoga demonstration photos

In 1941 Life magazine featured a demonstration of Yoga in Mysore by Krishnamacharya's students. photos by Wallace Kirkland.

*

This is Real Yoga

from Life Magazine 22nd February 1941

Speaking of Pictures

...This is Real Yoga

"These pictures present a catalogue of 20 of the countless contorted postures by which the soul of an Indian yogi seeks to escape from the mortal imprisonment of it's human body. They show yoga not in the side-show of a bearded street fakir, but as practiced in it's pure form  by lithe young devotees of an ancient and honourable religion. This is the second set of pictures to be published from the hundreds taken by LIFE Photographer Wallace Kirkland on a sixth-month expedition into the strange museum of human achievement and eccentricity that is India ( The first set was Photographer Kirkland's call on the Viceroy of India Life January 27.)

   Yoga via Aryan family connections, is the present word for the English word "Yoga" and means just that. Yoga seeks to yoke the soul of the individual to the all-pervading soul of the universe. This beatitude is achieved only after death by one who during life has thoroughly extinguished the esential will to live. It may be tasted before death in the ecstatic trance which a practiced yogi can achieve by a lifetime of physical and mental discipline. Unlike other Hindu cults, yoga postulates no mere ascetic subjugation of the body to the yearning of the soul. It's catalogue of contortions is best understood as exercises which seek to make the body healthy, serene and free from disease and disorder that distract the soul with carnal concerns.

    The yogi shown here were photographed at the school in Mysore which received liberal support of the Sri Krishnaraja Narasimharaja Wodeyar Bahuder Maharaja of Mysore and india's greatest prince. Demonstrated are advanced postures, such as few yogi today take the time to master. They are assumed in calm, deliberate fashion, held for long intervals. Each pose is thought to bestow it's own special benefit, but the general result is a physique as well toned as any US athlete's. They give also the most extraordinary control over both the voluntary and involuntary musculature. A typical example is the control of the diaphragm, by which a yogi can reduce respiration from about 1,100 an hour to 70 and, with the help of mental discipline, attain blissful trance union with the soul of the universe." Life Magazine (22nd February 1941).

*Notice the reference to the long stays in asana and the slowing of the breath, here in 1941 just as indicated in Krishnamacharya's Yoga Karandavasana text of 1934. Long slow breathing, kumbhaka, long stays were not a shift in Krishnamacharya's later teaching, they were there from the very beginning, back when Pattabhi Jois was a boy and Krishnamacharya's student.

Original cover

1941 was also the year Krishnamacharya published his 'original' Ashtanga vinyasa book Yogasanagalu (Mysore 1941) which includes the table of asana divided into three groups, Primary, Middle and Proficient.

Page 1 of the Table of asana - see HERE for the full table

The translation of the book is now complete and is available from my Free Downloads page.

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/p/free-downloads.html

See also the full text on the Yogasangalu translation project page

http://grimmly2007.blogspot.jp/p/yogasanagalu-translation-project.html

Photos from the Life Magazine article

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

T R S Sharma

Note: TRS Sharma is interviewed in the upcoming documentary 

'The Mysore Yoga Tradition', see at 1:48 in the movie's trailer 

at the end of post.

 

Set 4

Set 5

Set 7

*

below, from Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda (Mysore 1934)

The Yoga shala

....and Mysore today

Mysore Yoga Traditions Official Trailer from Dallos Paz on Vimeo.

"Mysore Yoga Traditions is an inquiry into the cultural background of yoga in Mysore, how it has evolved, and the philosophy upon which this global practice rests. The film will be an intimate glimpse into the yoga of Mysore as the elders, scholars, philosophers, yogis and spiritual leaders of the community express their views on what yoga is, its original intention, and how they feel about the way it is being taught and practiced around the world. Much has been said about yoga in Mysore by western scholars. Now it is time for the people who are the keepers of this vibrant yoga tradition to speak about how they see their own legacy." http://www.mysoreyogatraditions.com/