Krishnamacharya and Modern Lineages

Lineages:

KRISHNAMACHARYA (Film at 50) (From the awesome Daviv Garrigues)

(1)

(2) As another point of comparison, one might understand Iyengar as "detail oriented in its instruction", where "pedagogical approximation" is relied upon to "modify" postures and the use of props to modify the body in postures. Both of these modifications allow for access into the system by those with different skill levels.

Ashtanga on the other hand relies on repetition and a holistic sense of embodied flow. Here, students in the Mysore tradition practice only concepts they are capable of mastering at that moment. Their practice accommodates the system.

(3) Iyengar went the way of science as he developed and exported his system to the West. He partnered with a medical doctor and justified his techniques according to Western corporeal concepts of the time. He also created "prescriptions" for different ailments and conditions which were "modified" for individual students. The end of Light On Yoga is full of these.

Ashtanga Vinyasa remained rooted in alchemy, remaining close to Tantric understandings of transmutation and the evolutionary principles found in both Samkhya and Tantric philosophies. (Food becomes blood becomes all the vital organs and components of the body in a fixed sequence of action-mirroring the sequence itself).

(4) Both systems rely on "sequences" Ashtanga began with 4 which were later divided into 6 to facilitate student progress. Iyengar has fixed sequences which act as "prescriptions for various conditions. These sequences are seen as "perfected" for effect.

Iyengar

Focuses on the structural alignment of the physical body through the development of asanas. Through the practice of a system of asanas, it aims to unite the body, mind and spirit for health and well-being. This discipline is considered a powerful tool to relieve the stresses of modern-day life which in turn can help promote total physical and spiritual well-being.

It can be said that Iyengar differs from the other styles of yoga by three key elements: technique, sequence and timing.

Technique refers to the precision of the body alignment and the performance of pranayama.
Sequence means the sequences in which asanas and breathing exercises are practiced. Following the specific sequence is important in achieving the desired result, because only the combination of certain poses and breathing techniques can ensure the expected positive effect.
Timing is the third key element which defines the time spent in each pose or pranayama.

Iyengar Yoga is characterized by great attention to detail and precise focus on body alignment. Iyengar pioneered the use of "props" such as cushions, benches, blocks, straps and sand bags, which function as aids allowing beginners to experience asanas more easily and fully than might otherwise be possible without several years of practice. Props also allow elderly, injured, tired or ill students to enjoy the benefits of many asanas via fully "supported" methods requiring less muscular effort.

Unlike more experiential approaches where students are encouraged to independently "find their way" to the asanas by imitating the teacher, an Iyengar Yoga class is highly verbal and precise, with misalignments and errors actively corrected. Iyengar teachers complete at least two years of rigorous training for the introductory certificate. They may complete subsequent intermediate levels and senior levels of certification, potentially entailing a decade or more of training.

Iyengar also targeted various ailments, diseases, and disorders with his practice. Chronic back pain, immunodeficiency, high blood pressure, insomnia, depression and menopause have specific programs of yoga associated with them. Iyengar worked with those who had myocardial infarctions. The asanas are designed to be adjusted based on a person's stage of recovery.

Original Flows

SEQUENCES

Anusura?

Anusara School of Hatha Yoga draws from classical Indian texts, such as the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Bhagavad Gita, and reinterprets them from a non-dualistic viewpoint known as Shiva-Shakti tantra. Anusara School of Hatha Yoga's philosophy is then applied to more physical aspects of the asana practice:

The Three A's

The practice of Anusara School of Hatha Yoga is broadly categorized into three parts, known as the Three A's:

Attitude, writes Friend, is the "power of the heart as the force behind every action or expression in an asana." It is "the aspiration to reawaken to our divine nature, and the celebration of life."
Alignment, according to John Friend, is the "mindful awareness of how various parts of ourselves are integrated and interconnected." Anusara's Universal Principles of Alignment are refinements of this principle.
Action, according to Friend, is the "natural flow of energy in the body, which provides both stability and joyful freedom."

Universal Principles of Alignment

Anusara School of Hatha Yoga works with five major alignment principles. When assuming a yoga pose, Anusara School of Hatha Yoga practitioners make refinements on the pose's alignment by performing the principles in order. Within each principle, there are further refinements.

Universal Principles of Alignment
Principle	Elaboration
Opening to Grace	The practitioner intends to place him/herself in alignment with the flow of Supreme Consciousness. For asana practice, this includes having an attitude of soft-hearted devotion, and open-mindedness. Refinements of this principle include, "inner body bright", "outer body soft" and "side body long."
Muscular Energy	A drawing of energy from the periphery of the body into a central location in the body, called a Focal Point. Muscular Energy seeks to increase stability, strength, and physical integration in the pose.
Inner Spiral	An expanding energy spiral. In the legs it runs from the feet up through the pelvis into the waistline area to rotate the legs inward, move the thighs backward, and widen the thighs and pelvis. In the arms Inner Spiral spins the forearms inward from anatomical neutral
Outer Spiral	A contracting energy spiral. In the legs it runs from the waistline area down through the tailbone and out through the legs and feet to draw the pelvis and thighs closer together, move the tailbone and thighs forward, and rotate the legs outward. In the arms, Outer Spiral spins the upper arms out and away from each other from anatomical neutral, refining the heart-opening action of the Anusara School of Hatha Yoga practice.
Organic Energy	An outward extension of energy from the Focal Point through the core lines of the body to the body's periphery, which increases expansion, flexibility, and freedom in the pose.

Focal Points

Anusara School of Hatha Yoga's alignment principles highlight three Focal Points in the body:

Pelvic Focal Point, located in the core of the pelvis.
Heart Focal Point, situated at the bottom of the heart.
Upper Palate Focal Point, found at the roof of the mouth.

In any given pose, only one Focal Point is active, that being the one nearest the most weight-bearing part of the pose. Muscular Energy draws into the active Focal Point, and Organic Energy extends out from it. In a pose where more than one Focal Point is equally weight-bearing, the pelvic Focal Point becomes the active one by default.

Energy Loops

In creating his style of yoga, John Friend noticed that there were further alignment refinements that corresponded to loop-shaped movements in the body. Looking at one's body in profile, each of these loops has its origin in the vertical center line of the legs, trunk, or head, rotating toward the back plane of the body and looping either upward or downward and back in the other direction (down or up) along the front plane of the body. Each loop intersects with adjacent loops above and below it and has a right and left component. The seven energy loops are:

Ankle Loop, starting from the center of the ankle bone, running down to the heel, under the sole of the foot and back up to the ankle.
Shin Loop, starting from the center of the ankle bone, moving up the calf to just below the knee, then returning down the front of the shin.
Thigh Loop, starting at the pelvic focal point, running down the back of the thigh to just below the knee and back up the front of the thigh.
Pelvic Loop, originating in the core of the lumbar spine, looping down the back to the pelvic focal point and back up the belly.
Kidney Loop, beginning at the lumbar, running up the back ribs to the heart focal point and back down the front to draw floating ribs in.
Shoulder Loop, originates at the upper palette, runs down the back of neck and shoulder blades, through the heart focal point and back up across the front upper ribs and throat.
Skull Loop, starts from the upper palette and runs over the back of the skull and down the face.

John Friend's new gig: THE ROOTS

Ashtanga (Pathabhi Jois)

The Yoga Korunta is a purported ancient text on yoga, transmitted by oral tradition to Tirumalai Krishnamacharya by his teacher Ramamohana Brahmachari in the early 20th century, and further to Sri K. Pattabhi Jois beginning in 1927, who then used it as the basis of his system of Ashtanga Yoga introduced in 1948.

The existence or historicity of this oral transmission cannot be verified, and the text itself has not been preserved. It is said to have been made up of stanzas using rhymed, metered sutras, in the manner common to texts transmitted orally in the guru-shishya tradition.

The text is said to have described several lists of many different asana groupings, as well as highly original teachings on vinyasa, drishti, bandhas, mudras and general teachings.

The name Yoga Korunta is the Tamilized pronunciation of the Sanskrit words Yoga grantha, meaning "book about yoga".

There is also evidence that the Ashtanga Yoga series incorporates exercises used by Indian wrestlers and British gymnastics. Recent academic research details documentary evidence that physical journals in the early 20th century were full of the postural shapes that were very similar to Krishnamacharya's asana system.In particular, the flowing surya namaskar which later became the basis of Krishnamacharya's Mysore style, was not yet considered part of yogasana.

Krishnamacharya has had considerable influence on many of the modern forms of yoga taught today. Among his students were many notable teachers of the later 20th century, such as K. Pattabhi Jois, B.K.S. Iyengar, Indra Devi, and Krishnamacharya's son T.K.V. Desikachar. Krishnamacharya was well known for tailoring his teachings to address specific concerns of the person or group he was teaching, and a vinyasa series for adolescents is a result of this. When working under the convalescing Maharaja of Mysore, Krishnamacharya set up a shala, or yoga school in the palace grounds and adapted the practice outlined in the Yoga Korunta for the young boys who lived there. Ashtanga Yoga has since been thought of as a physically demanding practice, which can be successful at channeling the hyperactivity of young minds. This system can also be used as a vessel for helping calm ongoing chatter of the mind, reducing stress and teaching extroverted personalities to redirect their attention to their internal experience.

Ashtanga Yoga History (Andrew Eppler)

Sequences & Series (cheat sheets)

Ashtanga Yoga is different from many yoga classes in the west in that the order of asanas is completely predefined.

A practice will comprise four main parts: an

"opening sequence,"
one of the six main "series",
a back-bending sequence, and
a set of inverted asanas, referred to as the "finishing sequence."

Practice always ends with savasana.

The opening sequence begins with 8 to 10 Sun Salutations and then several standing asanas. Next, the practitioner will do one of the six main series:

The Primary series (Yoga Chikitsa: Yoga for Health or Yoga Therapy),
Intermediate series (Nadi Shodhana: The Nerve Purifier) (also called second series),
The Advanced Series (Sthira Bhaga: Centering of Strength):

Advanced A (also called third series),
Advanced B (also called fourth series),
Advanced C (also called fifth series) and
D (Sthira Bhagah) (also called sixth series).

The 6 series are designed to be practiced over 6 consecutive days, a different one each day. Newcomers to Ashtanga Yoga practice the primary series, after learning the standing sequence. The Primary Series is the most important series as it forms the basis of the entire system. Practitioners may advance to more difficult series over a period of years or decades, but the goal of this style is not to learn the more difficult asanas but rather to learn to maintain internal focus throughout the practice. A challenge to a simplified version of the practice being taught to public schoolchildren in the US as an unlawful promotion of religious beliefs failed.

Daily Practice

Daily or regular practice is highly emphasized in Ashtanga Yoga. Students are encouraged to practice 6 days a week, preferably in the morning, and to take rest on Saturdays as well as the days of the full and new moon (commonly referred to as moon days by ashtanga practitioners).

Mysore Style

Ashtanga Yoga is traditionally taught in Mysore style (supervised self-practice, named after the city in India from which Ashtanga originates). In this self-led style of practice, each student moves through the practice at his or her own pace and level, as directed by the instructor.

An individual with an established Ashtanga practice might take between an hour and two hours, depending on his or her own personal speed; whereas a beginner will likely have a shorter practice. Yoga studios that teach Mysore-style practice are sometimes difficult to find.

It is more common to find classes devoted to a specific series, often at a standardized pace, guided by an instructor. However, even traditional Mysore-style teachers offer "led" classes either weekly or monthly.

_________

Ashtanga Yoga

Discipline and authority lie at the heart of Traditional Yoga (But how do we deal with this in modern TNY in the USA?) How is authority established through teaching and practice in the West?

· GURU-S’ISYA (teacher –disciple) relationship

· Physical Challenge of Daily Practice

· Textual foundations and antiquity of practice

· Physicality of teaching and traditional authority of the teacher

· Progressing through teacher’s touteledge

History

· First trained Norman Allen, David Williams and Nancy Gilgoff.

· 1974 brought PJ to calif

· Now popular around the world mostly in urban contexts

· Purpose: keeping fit and flexible and managing stress

Seriousness of Practice

· Physically demanding nature of asana practice

· Emphasis on daily practice

· Programmatic form guided by teacher

· Orientation toward PROGRESS (DRIVEN PERSON)

Role of HEAT

· Internal heat (TAPAS) integral to practice

o With heat even iron will bend

o Aestheticism, discipline and generation of actual INTERNAL HEAT

o Leads toward the perfection of the body-samadhi-blissful state

o Ritual heat is linked to personal transformation and spiritual refinement

· AGNI: purifying heat (burning out the impurities)

o Head heat turns one into a seer as well

o Tapas practice is in al important yoga textual sources

§ Gita: austerities of body speech & mind

§ Manusmriti: methods are prescribed for priests- to minimize their attachments

§ Yoga sutras: part of the definition of Kriya yoga (action)- Tapas is essential to the achievement of perfection alongside self study (Svadhyaya) and the worshipping of god (isvara pranidhana) 2.1

· Also third of the NIYAMA observances – activities conducive to the achievement of spiritual liberation. They provide the foundation for the higher LIMBS of yoga 2.43

· 4.1 foundation for Siddhis (extraordinary powers) and achievement of perfection

· YOGA MALA

o The strength gained through practice …we can come to know the method for bringing the mind and sense organs under control

o Yama, Niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana Samadhi

o The perfection of the body and sense organs …due to the intensity in spiritual practice (tapas), being the elimination of impurities.-observances performed to discipline the body and sense organs.

o Purification is about the GROSS PHYSICAL BODY, and the SUBTLE/ENERGETIC BODY.

§ SIRA- kind of nadi (internal mechanism) Dhamini, nadi sira…gross, subtle and very subtle channels which move internal energies within the body. (from the HYP)

§ When the body is purified, so is the breath, and then the mind because of this subtle linkage of the body to the “message center” through the siras.

o Pranayama (Ujjayi)

§ The breath regulates the vinyasa and ensures efficient circulation of blood. The result is a LIGHT, STRONG body.

§ Asana plus pranayama purifies the blood. 32 days and 1 drop of blood make VITAL NECTAR *Vria-life force). Stored in the crown chakra. Vria travels downward and is consumed by the upward flow of agni (digestive fire). If it is gone, we are lost. Asana and INVERSIONS safely store and maintain this vria in the AMRTABINDU

· Teaching authority

o Highly regulated by PJ and grandson now

o Emphasis on sweating as an indication of internal heat production

o Rub in sweat (LIGHT SHEEN is better than profuse sweating) (HYP)

o Sweating after the casting out of impurities leads to the trsansformation of the body which is the first stage of yogic transformation. (HYP) FIRM AND LIGHT

Achievement, Discipline, and Authority in Practice

· Controls yoga teachers certification and authorization

· Performance of spirituality (Nevrin) is regulated by PJ

· High energy atmosphere characteristic of the shala-COLLECTIVE NATURE

· No nonsense style of teaching

· Reverence for the guru

· Control over development of each students practice

· Weekly “conference” with guru, seated on a chair or raised dias while students sit on floor and listen

· Students wait in line to bow down in front of their guru and kiss or tough his feet three times in the traditional gesture of devotion

· Use of Sanskrit quotations in question and answer sessions, limited English tio answer questions. Relies on parable

· Challenging ADJUSTMENTS of AYRI-authority of teacher

o “openings” or injuries?

o Inherited from K who emphasized fierceness???

· Practices seen as CORRECT or INCORRECT by PJ

· Sequences confirmed by the YOGA KARUNTA and are unalterable

o Eaten by ants, acquired by K, but taught directly to PJ by K

In the WEST, the emphasis the PJ had on internal heat as a way of achieving spiritual transformation through cleansing the BODY (foundation for higher practices) is often replaced by the idea that the practice is about PERFECTING the body as a lean, strong and flexible machine through the perfect performance of asana. Tapas=EAST: (HYP)

· Elimination of toxins through the skin

· Internal purification of the gross and subtle aspects of the body

· Transubstantiation of bodily fluids into vital essence of AMRITA

*Heat will destroy all obstacles to transformation vs heated practice will perfect the body.

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Power Yoga

Power Yoga, taking from its Hatha Yoga roots, consists of both a standing and sitting sequences of movements linking the usage of physical movement, breath-work or pranayama (Sanskrit: प्राणायाम) and meditation. Power Yoga strikes a balance between the originating values of yoga (Sanskrit: योग) found in India and the North American societally driven demands for physical exercise.

Power Yoga is often practiced in a hot room held at a temperature approximate to 105 °F or 40.6 °C (László & Smith, 2009).

Power Yoga has been argued to be the fundamental style of Hatha yoga that allowed for cultural acceptance of yoga in North America. According to the North American Studio Alliance, 30 million people are practicing yoga in the United States of America. This includes practitioners not just of Power Yoga, but the entire practice of Hatha Yoga. Its popularity has led the sharing of sequences and movement across all of the following forms of Hatha Yoga.

Power Yoga sequences can vary dependent on the other Hatha Yoga knowledge held by the teacher, sometimes adhering to the Ashtanga Primary Series or working into variations thereof. Power Yoga was founded by the following people, (which except for Baptiste were all once students of K. Pattabhi Jois):

Baron Baptiste, founder of Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga
Beryl Bender Birch, author of the books Power Yoga, Beyond Power Yoga and Boomer Yoga, based in New York.
Bryan Kest, based in Los Angeles.
Larry Schultz, creator of Rocket Yoga.

Jois disagreed with providing access to all poses to all students and referred to Larry Schultz as "The bad man of Ashtanga Yoga." Jois criticized Power Yoga for "degrading the depth, purpose and method of the yoga system", thereby turning the practice of asana into what Jois considered was "ignorant bodybuilding". Jois sought to distance himself from the new Power Yoga and said in a letter he wrote in 1995 to Yoga Journal Magazine: "Power is the property of God. It is not something to be collected for one's ego...The Ashtanga yoga system should never be confused with 'power yoga' or any whimsical creation which goes against the tradition of the many types of yoga shastras (scriptures). It would be a shame to lose the precious jewel of liberation in the mud of ignorant body building."

Babtiste
Brian Kest
Ana Forrest
Beryl Bender Birch
Jivamukti
Viniyoga (Deskishar)
Viniyoga ™ is a comprehensive and authentic transmission of the teachings of yoga including asana, pranayama, bandha, sound, chanting, meditation, personal ritual and study of texts. Viniyoga ™ (prefixes vi and ni plus yoga) is an ancient Sanskrit term that implies differentiation, adaptation, and appropriate application.

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Exercises: Stuff to Think About

(1) What if Ashtanga was invented by a female sage for women (instead of 14 year old boys)?

(2) What if women were as prominent in Indian Yoga as in Western Yoga?

(3) Why are there so many women in yoga in the West today?

(4) What happens when the charismatic originator of an orthodoxy or system dies? Why does this matter?

(5) What is "critical acceptance"? What's it good for?

(6) How should props be used? When? Why? Why NOT?

(7) What do you think about "trophy postures"? What can be their uses? Their drawbacks?

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