Kurmasana+supta kurmasana. Sri K Pattabhi Jois Yoga Mala

Kurmasana has sixteen vinyasas, the 7th and 9th vinyasas of which constitute the states of the asana.
The state of the 9th vinyasa is called Supta Kurmasana [Reclined Tortoise] (see figure).
METHOD
Begin with the first 6 vinyasas of the first Surya Namaskara, as specified in earlier asanas. In the 7th
vinyasa and doing puraka, jump as in Bhujapidasana, lower down to the floor with the strength of the
arms, stretch the arms out under the thighs, straighten the legs, put the chin on the floor, lift the head to
some extent, and do rechaka and puraka as much as possible. Then, doing rechaka, bring the hands up
behind the back and take hold of the wrist; this is the 8th vinyasa. Next, cross the legs over each other,
put the head on the floor, and do puraka and rechaka as much as possible; this is the 9th vinyasa, the
state of which is called Supta Kurmasana. The next vinyasas follow those of Bhujapidasana.

Shri K. pattabhi Jois and Sharat performing Puja London 2002

Pattabhi Jois

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Andvanced A class

Sri K Pattabhi Jois and BKS Iyengar reunite…

Legends & Legacies
B.K.S. Iyengar & K. Pattabhi Jois

Translation of conversation by Sunaad Raghuram

Namarupa- Issue #4

In 1934, K. Pattabhi Jois and B.K.S. Iyengar, both still young men, were students of the fearsome…and soon to be legendary… yogi T. Krishnamacharya. India was still under rule of the British, and the Maharajas of India still had their limited roles intact as head of state. Their glory and pomp were still present, their care for maintaining the traditions of their beloved country foremost in their minds, all the more important while under foreign rule. The Maharaja of Mysore, Krishnarajendra Wodeyar, particularly well known for maintaining and archiving traditional Sanskrit texts, had a great love for traditional art, music and yoga. The inhabitants of Mysore celebrated the important religious festivals such as Dusserah with grandeur, lived in a well kept up and clean city and generally maintained the lifestyle and traditions of ancient India. Enveloped in this atmosphere, the young boys learned yoga from Krishnamacharya, who was himself under the patronage of the Maharaja.
While Pattabhi Jois was destined to remain in Mysore, and Krishnamacharya to eventually move to Madras in 1954, the young Sundaraja Iyengar was sent to Pune, in Central India in 1934 with little or no resources other than the command from his guru to go teach. He stayed there teaching and practicing, while in Mysore Pattabhi Jois attended the Sanskrit University, continued his yoga practice and eventually took a teaching position at the Sanskrit University. The two guru brothers did not meet again until 1940. Although little is remembered by the two men about this meeting, they recall that it was during one of Krishnamcharya’s yoga propagation tours- the venerable yogi had come to Pune with Pattabhi Jois, to visit a nearby Swami Kuvalayananda and his Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute. The two men stayed at Iyengar’s house for a short time.
The years passed, and after an initial spark in the 1960’s and 70’s, the practice of yoga spread around the world like wildfire, after having been practically hermetically sealed in India for countless thousands of years, just the barest whisper of it having escaped earlier on with seekers such as Madame Blavatsky, Vivekananda and others. The names Pattabhi Jois and Mr. Iyengar became familiar on the lips of untold thousands of yoga practitioners, and yet the two men had not shared so much as a cup of coffee since 1940.

And then 2005 arrived; sixty five years after their last meeting.- Pattabhi Jois had just celebrated his ninetieth birthday, Iyengar had reached his eighty seventh year, and it was now time for two of the most influential yogis of our time to meet again- but first, a cell phone call by mobile was in order:
“Yaru yaru? (who is it)”
“Pattabhi, it’s Sundaraja!”
So began the conversation preceding what was to be a historical visit.- two men who are normally fearsome in their capacity as teachers were so brotherly on the phone, it was nothing short of endearing.
Their reunion (facilitated by Alexander Medlin whose interviews were included in the last issue Namarupa and appear in this one as well) was a joyous one by any standard. Mr. Iyengar drove four hours south from Tumkur where he was being honored as part of a yoga festival. Unable to attend Pattabhi Jois’ birthday celebration due to its confluence with Guru Purnima, the day when all spiritual teachers in India are usually engaged in addressing their own students, the close proximity of Tumkur allowed for a quick visit just a few days after Pattabhi Jois’ ninetieth. Accompanied by a party of six students and his secretary Raghu, Mr. Iyengar arrived at about one pm in Gokulam. There were smiles all around as the two great masters embraced each other and began a flurry of conversation in Kannada. One of Iyengar’s students, who hails from Karnataka, remarked, “Guruji is always saying that he does not know Kannada very well, but look at him now, going on and on with you!”
Coffee was given to everyone present, and after some time, all adjourned to the adjacent room and the two men shared their first meal together since 1940.
Pattachi Jois’ daughter, Saraswati, had made sure that only the most special dishes were prepared. After the meal was finished, Pattabhi Jois’ grandson Sharath, co-director of the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute, invited everyone downstairs for a tour of the yoga sala, and Mr Iyengars’ student, Madhava, began putting questions to the two men:

Madhava: When you gentlemen started learning yoga did you imagine that it would all grow so big?
K.Pattabhi Jois: No,no, not at all. At a young age I saw Krishnamacharya giving a yoga demonstration, and was fascinated by the postures. The next day I went to him, prostrated before him and begged him to take me on as a pupil. He spoke rather gruffly to me asking who I was, and he was quite intimidating. He then asked me where I came from and who my father was. I explained that I came from the village of Kaushika five miles away and that my father was an astrologer and priest. Would I be prompt in attending classes, he asked me – I readily nodded yes.
The next day I was promptly in class. And on that very day began the beatings (much laughter!).
M: Then why didn’t you quit?
KPJ: My God, how could I? There was this great desire in me to learn.
M: If I had been you I would have run away a long time ago.
KPJ: Oh no, as I said, I really wanted to learn. I remember two friends of mine, Garuda and another chap Hassan Rangaswamy, we all would learn together. (To Iyengar) Do you remember Garudu?
B.K.S.Iyengar: Oh yes, I do.
KPJ: In 1932 the Maharaja of Mysore invited Krishnamacharya to teach in Mysore, and he opened a yoga shala near the Jagan Mohan Palace – we all used to practice there. There was this director of education, I forget his name, what was his name?… N.S Subbarao! It was this man who fixed a salary for Krishnamacharya and sent him to all the district headquarters to teach and propagate yoga. When Krishnamacharya came to the Sanskrit Pathasala in 1932, I went and stood before him and paid my respects. He said “Hey, Its you!” I said, “Yes Guruji, I am studying here.” He seemed happy and my practice under him began all over again.
On occasion we would get invited to the palace to give yoga demonstrations – me and my friend Mahadev Bhatt. Once they gave us a gift of five rupees, and a Hanuman kaccha (underwear), and we were so happy. ( To Iyengar) Remember that lady from America Indra Devi? She would come to practice at the yoga sala.
BKS: Yes, yes I do – she changed her name to Indra Devi much later, isn’t it?
KPJ: I heard she died recently.
BKS: In Brazil.
KPJ: Ahh Brazil. Well one thing led to another and we continued to practice. We had Mahadev Bhatt, Srinivas Achar, Ranganath Desikachar, and all of them.
KPJ: Yes I remember them all.
M: You have earned much more than five rupees now but I guess that five rupees that you got from the Maharaja must be special, isn’t it? Which do you think is more valuable, the five rupees or the money you have earned now?
KPJ: Well, those five rupees were very, very special. After I got the money, I put it in a trunk underneath a pile of clothes. I would open the trunk every day, look at the note, and close it back again (much laughter). You know what, I had never seen one rupee in full until then! (more laughter). Well that was life then…

And so it went, history that has become legendary in our time, casually recalled after a good lunch. More photos of the two were taken. Afterwards, all adjourned upstairs for yet more coffee, and of course conversation about coffee. There was general agreement with Mr. Iyengar that coffee is certainly the soma rasa ( the intoxicating nectar of immortality) of the Kali yuga (the present age of darkness)- to which Pattabhi Jois added, “Yes, and you get so many different brands or soma rasa in the shops these days!”
As the afternoon hour quickly passed by, the time came for Mr. Iyengar to make a move, and the conversation returned to Krishnamacharya.

BKS: The credit goes, whatever one may say, no doubt, to our guru – he was a sea (of knowledge), but he did not give what he had to all of us. He had plenty of knowledge, but he just gave a little here, a little there, a little there. Like the hen or the cock that pecks, we had to peck and take his knowledge. And we learned, and it is we who made it to grow into examples. So my advice to all of you – see that the light that has been light by Krishnamacharya’s direct pupils does not fade at all. The light (of his teachings) should be kept burning – the yoga dipa (a lamp, light). So please keep to the practice. Let it be burning, burning, burning.
KJP: We began to understand yoga the moment he made us stand in a stone court yard burning in the sun for hours on end!
BKS: Can I add something more? You have to sweat 100 percent, not only physically but intellectually then you know something of yoga. So 100 percent from the body, 100 percent from the intelligence. You have to sweat, intelligence has to sweat.

At the close of such an important day, those of us present silently acknowledged the thrill and inspiration of seeing these great men together. The years of history – the differences and criticisms between their so called “camps” of yoga seemed like a vapor , a cloud of senseless, intellectual fog that lifted as the two shared coffee. As far as Pattabhi Jois and Mr. Iyengar were concerned, they were just old yoga brothers seeing each other after a very long time: “1934 together, 2005 together. I think that’s important and a rare privilege,” remarked Mr. Iyengar.

Differences in practice, styles, philosophies and opinions always exist- these are but peripheral concerns. The message of mutual respect and friendship lies at the heart of the great Indian traditions, and in the hearts of these two revered men.

Richard Freeman Interview: Quiet Connection (yoga journal)

By the time he met his teacher, K. Pattabhi Jois, Richard Freeman had practiced yoga for 19 years, visited several ashrams in India, and taught yoga to Iran's royal family. Less than a year after meeting the founder of Ashtanga Yoga, Freeman became the second Westerner certified by Jois to teach Ashtanga. Today, Freeman lives with his son, Gabriel, and his wife, Mary Taylor, in Boulder, Colorado, where they run The

Yoga Workshop.

How did you first come across yoga?

 When I was 18, I reread Henry David Thoreau'sWalden, which talks about the Bhagavad Gita. That led me to [Ralph Waldo] Emerson and the Upanishads. My family was uneasy with the fact that I was studying even Western philosophy, because it's possibly the least useful in terms of a career. So without their blessing, I embarked on the yogic path at the Chicago Zen Center. Later I studied Iyengar Yoga, Sivananda Yoga, bhakti yoga, Tantra, and different Buddhist practices. It wasn't until 1987 that I discovered Ashtanga Yoga and met Pattabhi Jois.

What made you think "Yes! This man is my teacher"?

 When I went to one of his workshops in Montana, I could already do most asanas well. However, the way he linked them internally was interesting, because I was able to go into the midline of the body and into the nadis [energy channels]. We had a strong connection; this is where my previous studies really paid off. His English isn't very good, so we mostly talked asana in Sanskrit.

This wasn't the first time you worked with a cultural barrier. What were some of the challenges of teaching yoga in Iran? 
A friend invited me to teach at his studio there. For four years I taught yoga to the empress, the princes, and other members of the royal family. They were mostly Muslims with a strong conception about the Divine. I had to be very careful to not use terms that suggested I was trying to convert them or speak of idolatry and reincarnation. Working across cultures, I had to become honest with myself about what it is I actually know, what are theories or metaphors, and what is essential spiritual teaching and practice.

So what is essential?

  Meditation. It's focusing the mind on any pattern or thing that comes up. This mindfulness practice is something you could do as a Hindu, Christian, Jew, Muslim, or Buddhist. I enjoy quiet time. I go outside and contemplate insects, my dog's nose, the rabbits around here, or whatever presents itself. Everything is connected, and so I feel a natural affection for these things. My wife is a chef and does most of the cooking, so I make washing the dishes my meditation. I pay close attention to my breath and what I'm doing.

How has fatherhood changed your practice? 

It's been enlightening. I had to let go of some poses and studies a bit; as a father you deal with moments of crisis, which can happen at any time. My practice is more internal now—I might have time just to sit down and do a tiny little Pranayama. Still, there's no other medium that's quite as potent as raising a child with someone to either drive you crazy or open up your heart and mind to compassion to yourself and others.

Ashtanga Yoga Q&A with Richard Freeman BY Yoga International ON February 4, 2014

What are the 8 limbs of ashtanga yoga (as described in the Yoga Sutra)? Do you have a favorite limb, and

what is the main limb your students overlook?

Depending on their circumstances, students tend to overlook the particular limb of yoga—that aspect of the practice—that exposes the hidden side of their ideas about who they are. One may be likely to overlook meditation because they can’t be with chaotic, frustrated, sad, or other uncomfortable mind states. Another might, lacking compassion, overlook the effect of their yoga practice on their own body or how their actions impact others. Still another might overlook or demonize asana because of not understanding the purpose and the subtle internal technique of the practice or because they have somehow developed a fear of the full spectrum of physical and emotional feeling that will occur in a consistent practice.

The reason that there are so many limbs is so that we may learn to apply the insights of yoga to all aspects of our lives. This is particularly true in terms of how yoga impacts our relationships with other beings, for these basic relationships have the most powerful emotional influence on our body and mind.

It is the nature of any student to avoid exposing the silliness of their mind and their egotistical attachment to unimportant frills associated with yoga. So all of us, as students, must continue to inquire again and again

What is the importance of breath?

Besides keeping you alive, breath has an intimate relationship to the overall movement of prana throughout the entire body and the sense fields. One of the axioms of yoga practice is that as the breath (prana) moves, so the mind moves and as the mind moves, so the breath moves. Breath gives us a tool with which we can explore the subtle structure of our mental and emotional worlds.

Awareness or mindfulness of breathing can lead to insight into the nature of mind and freedom from suffering. Also, breath has everything to do with structural alignment and the patterns in which we hold the body, perceive the body, and move the body. Breath awareness can eliminate joint compression and other imbalances from one’s postures and attitudes and is a foundation for flowing seamlessly in movement through an Ashtanga Vinyasa practice.

We have heard about the annual Ashtanga Yoga Confluence led by the top Ashtanga teachers. What can people expect at the Confluence? Why is it so important to gather as a community annually?

The importance of gathering together as a community is that it provides the opportunity to see others who are working with the same challenges and difficulties and also experiencing exciting insights that arise from the practice. It’s a big world and it’s nice not to feel like you’re all alone and irrelevant to the greater evolution of human culture.
Another reason it’s important to meet is to discuss the details of our own particular perspectives, techniques, injuries, solutions for those injuries, and ways that we have adapted the practice to our unique circumstances. Also, it’s wonderful to get feedback from other practitioners who might see things from a new perspective. It can wake us up to see and listen to others who share a common love for the practice, but who might have seen aspects to it that we have overlooked. Even though we are all working within a single tradition, that tradition is still evolving and is bringing in threads of insight from other traditions. A confluence allows this to happen in an above-board, open atmosphere.
People can expect from the confluence to have fun meeting all of the remarkably friendly and humble Ashtanga practitioners from around the world, and to get re-enthused by fresh and new ways of bringing an ancient tradition to life in the present moment.

What do you hope people take with them into their daily practice? What does the yoga community need to do to take the practice of yoga to the next level?

I would hope that people take from their daily practice a taste and enthusiasm for mindfulness which can be experienced as a brighter flame of intelligence that allows one to work more subtly and precisely with sensations, feelings, and thoughts as they arise. Also I would hope that all of us could be a little more curious about the roots of the yoga tradition, the variety of its expressions, its philosophies, languages, art, and its various beliefs. In other words, I would encourage us all to remember to come back again and again to an open-minded application of the attention of samadhi to everything in the whole world.
Practicing with mindfulness in this way can help us to take the practice to the next level because it requires that we act compassionately toward both ourselves and all others. This can remove the obstacle of hiding within a communal narcissism and can open the door to self-reflection and the ability to truly experience the interconnectedness of all things that is reflected through the practice.

https://yogainternational.com/article/view/ashtanga-yoga-qa-with-richard-freeman

From the book "Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students" Richard Freeman excerpts part2 (2/2)

ls it a spiritual practice he's teaching?
Yeah, i think it's spiritual in the way most people use that word. You
could also say it’s beyond spiritual. If someone has a concept of spiritual-
ity, this is much more interesting than anything they could imagine. But

it's definitely a totally spiritual practice. However, if someone comes to it
and has no interest in what they believe spirituality to be, if they just take
up the practice for improving their health or fixing some biomechanical
problem in the body, it'll prove effective but it will also put them in touch
with their core feelings. And just by touching those core feelings they
will start inquiring into what is real. They'll start to ask: "Why am I suf-
fering all the time?" “What is true?" And so they've come to the right
place. And so yoga in a sense is like a fountain. People will go to it, for
many different reasons but because they've gone to the source they start
to get a taste for it, and they might not really understand why they like it
but they'll keep coming back to the source and eventually they'll just
jump right back in.

It is spiritual in the sense that the Atman, the soul, is revealed, but at the
same time there is a methodology as well, so is it somehow a fusion of those
two things?
Exactly. If we say that what is of most interest to the open mind, to the
open heart, is beyond expression, beyond words, also therefore beyond
technique. our first reaction is “I won't do anything." But the fascinating
thing about practice is that what is manifesting as the body and the mind
is composed of strings and strings of techniques, and so yoga is actually
the art of using techniques with incredible skill and through that one
naturally arrives at a place where there is no technique anymore but free-
dom. This is one of the major themes of the Bhagavad Gita, one of the
extremely illusive themes, that the truth is ultimately formless because it
generates all forms. How can it be approached? How can you realize it?
lt’s actually through seeing forms with an open mind and allowing the
body and the mind to complete their natural tendencies to complete
their forms. and in that you release form.

So you have to see all the forms that your mind wants to manifest to actually
see behind them, mul that goes for all the different asanas as well.
Yes, each one is sacred, each one is like a mandala, or in the Hindu tra-
dition they use the word "yantra," which is a sacred diagram. Yantras have
very distinct forms, so a yoga asana has a very distinct outer form and a
very distinct internal form. and if you are able to go into it, in sometimes

excruciating detail and intensity, and you see it as sacred, if you are sim-
ply able to observe it without reducing it to some concept or theory, then
you are free from that form. The very heart of the yantra or mandala is
you. Then another form comes which happens to be the next pose in the
series, and eventually you are able to see all of these as an expression of
the same internal principle. lt's just that at certain points we get con-
fused and we're not able to see it as sacred, as spiritual.

Has Guruji described to you diflerent mental forms that relate to the differ-
ent asanas?
No, he hasn't. just practice. What he has clone is he's given me a lot of
things to study, books to read. hoping that I will be fascinated and extract
information from them.

Why is there such a strong emphasis on asana practice in this system? What
is the function of going back to the same place daily?
The practice is like a mirror. We go to the mirror every morning to tidy
ourselves up before going out into the world, and the practice is like a
mirror for what's in your heart and what's in your mind. If you are able to
approach the practice from an internal space, it's always new. The same
old pose is always fascinating because you are using it as an object of
meditation rather than as a means to get something. And that way you
are able to practice and practice and practice—perhaps forever.

What is the attitude one needs to get that experience?
I think the key to ashtanga practice is bhakti. which is devotion or love.
The eight limbs are accessories to that heart. Bhakti is probably the clos-
est thing to what yoga is. And so guru bhukti, which is a direct relation-
ship or love for the teacher. is one aspect of bhakti that is extremely
helpful.


From the book "Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students" Richard Freeman excerpts part1 (1/3)
From the book "Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students" Richard Freeman excerpts part2 (2/3)

From the book "Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students" Richard Freeman excerpts part2 (2/3)

Guruji and Richard Freeman

So how does Guruji's system bring you face-to-face with that experience? Or does it? Is it specific to this type of yoga, or is it part of any yoga teaching?
It would be part of any yoga teaching. The question is: Does the system
work. or does the collection of systems and methodology work? And in
many cases, in many schools of yoga, not a lot is happening. Yoga tradi-
tionally has been passed down from teacher to student over thousands of
years. and often the lineages are broken, so it is like a wire that is broken
and no current flows through it, so the actual internal teaching doesn't
get transmitted.

Do you know how far back this lineage goes beyond Krishnmnacharya's
teacher? Do we know anything about Rama Mohan Brahmachari's teacher?

No, we don't. Of course, Guruji has a family lineage which is the lineage
of Shankaracharya. And he is constantly making reference to Shankara-
charya. to teachers in the Shankaracharya lineage, and he has much in-
volvement in that, and his yoga gum, Sri Krishnamacharya, also has his
yoga guru and his family lineage. It's a complex thing to study.

Shankaracharya

.
How important is a guru when practicing yoga, and how does Guruji perform that function of separating the light from the darkness?
The guru is practically the key to the whole system. I suppose in theory,
if one were extremely intelligent and extremely lucky and extremely kind,
you could learn yoga from a book and you could do very well and get very far. But with a teacher, you develop a relationship. and something right at
the heart of that relationship carries the essence of the practice, and so
the various techniques that you might learn, even the various philoso-
phies you might leam, are placed in an immediate context by the guru.
That context is simply one of complete, open relationship, complete
presence. It's a great thing. So if there's a great teacher around, take ad-
vantage of it! If there's no teacher around, practice anyway.

How would you characterize Guruji's teaching method?
When I first met Guruji, he reminded me very much of a Zen Buddhist
teacher in that he used very few words in his classes. The words he
would use were like koans, they were puzzling, at least to most of the
students. And often, he was just trying to wake you up with what he was
doing. It wasn't so much the content of what he was saying. He would
sometimes try to distract you or to place you in a kind of double bind
where you might just laugh and let your breath flow and all of a sudden
find yourself doing a posture that you had feared two minutes before.
l remember doing backbends in Mysore with Guruji. We were just
standing and arching back and grabbing our knees which is, if you think
about it, very scary at times. I was all set to do it with my arms crossed
and he looked at my shorts which were soaking wet and cotton and he
said, “Oh, nice material!" just as I was starting to drop back and made me
completely forget my preconceptions. And the backbend was no problem
at all.

When there is fear going into a pose, does he have a technique to take you
deeper, beyond your body's apparent natural capacity?
l think what he does is he makes you drop your presuppositions, your
preconceptions about your body and therefore about your limitations.
Oftentimes you'll approach him and say, “Oh Guruji, this muscle is hurt-
ing" or "This bone has this problem." And he'll just look at you and say,
“What muscle?" In other words, he is inviting you again to look with a
completely fresh mind to see if there is anything really there. And by
dropping the concept you have around a sensation or feeling, you release
them. Many times the concept is the limiting factor. He's a master at
that: seeing if there is some fear or some attachment. And usually, in a
very kind, sometimes gentle, sometimes abrupt way, he'll get you to re-
frame a situation.

ls he imparting that skill to Sharath?
l think naturally he is. That's just the way he relates to people, and so
Sharath is bound to pick it up I think.

Guruji and Sharath

It's interesting because Sharath is still involved with practicing with
Guruji immediately present, which is an intense way to practice. So
Sharath experiences sometimes a lot of pain, sometimes his own fear,
and so he is very sympathetic with the students, very compassionate, be-
cause he has learned to be compassionate with himself when he prac-
tices. Guruji is also that way, but he doesn't do asana practice anymore
and so he just takes you right into it.






From the book "Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students" Richard Freeman excerpts part1 (1/3)
From the book "Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students" Richard Freeman excerpts part2 (3/3)

Ashtanga 2nd Series with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois - Solana Beach, CA '89

From the book "Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students" Richard Freeman excerpts part1 (1/3)

Richard Freeman met Guruji after an extensive period of spiritual un-

dertakings which began in I967 and included living as a monk in India,

becoming an avid yoga practitioner, and devoting himself to philosophi-

cal studies. He has been instrumental in spreading aslmmga yoga in lhe

West.

How did you first find out about ashtanga yoga, and how did you find your

way to Mysore?
I don’t remember when I first heard about it, but I knew of its existence
for a number of years. First, through the work of Desikachar—the concept
of vinyasa, that things occur in sequences and that you can practice yoga
asana in sequences. And then I learned that Pattabhi jois was going to
come to the United States and lead a workshop at the Feathered Pipe
Ranch in Montana. and so I signed up right away. When I met him I was
enthralled by his radiance and his kindness. We almost had an instant
connection. And fortunately; we were in a place that was isolated. There
were two classes every day and hours of time in between to talk, and it was
an exciting experience. I was swept off my Feet by Guruji when I met him.

What was your first impression of him?
I was impressed by his smile, his radiance, his overall sweetness. I found
him extremely accessible. He was willing to tell me anything I wanted to
know, and that was actually rare in teachers. I was swept off my feet.

I 've often heard Guruji say he teaches real or original Patanjali yoga. 
What was your experience of him as a teacher of true yoga?
When someone says they teach Patanjali yoga, the eight limbs of yoga,
they are implying that not only do they teach asana and pranayama but
also samadhi and all of the stages of meditation and then the release, or
the self-realization through samadhi. My experience of Guruji is that this
is what his interest is. Practically his only interest in life is to fulfill the
whole yoga system. His emphasis is, of course, on intense asana practice
at first. but through that asana practice with the vinyasa methodology he
is also teaching the fundamentals of pranayama and meditation. And
much later on in his system, these particular parts are separated out and
refined. But in a sense he is teaching the eight limbs initially through
asana practice, and when one picks up the thread inside, we find that the
other limbs are very easy to practice. And so he is saying the first four
limbs of yoga—yaama, niyama, asana. and pranayama—are very difficult,
but if you are grottnded in them, the intemal limbs are easy and occur
spontaneously. naturally.

Does he actually teach them  themselves or are they just incorporated in
the asana practice?
He teaches them on a one-to-one basis when he wants to. If someone is
really interested, dying for it, he teaches the internal limbs. Practically,

you have to be experiencing them already so that it's easy to teach. If
someone is burning with desire. then they are so close that the teacher
doesn't have much to do except say yes, that's it.

Is samadhi far off for us?
Samadhi is very close. according to my understanding. Practicing yoga,
you gradually develop the ability to observe what is happening in the
present moment, and when you observe very closely what is actually occurring, then that is samadhi. And what is occurring is very close to us.
Usually we are looking at some other place rather than at what is actually
happening. So yoga asana and pranayama allow the attention to focus on
what is actually happening. Present feelings, present sensations, and the present pattem of the mind become sacred, they become the object of
meditation. So many people try to practice meditation but are trying to
practice by observing what isn't present. They are trying to look behind
this, they are trying to look anyplace, let me see anything but this. But
when you practice asanas enough, when you practice pranayama, the very
sensation that you are having presently is what is sacred. You stop looking
elsewhere and samadhi starts to occur.

From the book "Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students" Richard Freeman excerpts part2 (2/3)
From the book "Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students" Richard Freeman excerpts part2 (3/3)

Sri K Pattabhi Jois clips

Yoga and Therapy From http://ayny.org/category/blog (Eddie Stern)

From http://ayny.org/category/blog (Eddie Stern)

Yoga and Therapy
By Sri K Pattabhi Jois

Mind is very fickle, like mercury. Fickle mind, with no discrimination of purity and impurity, flows arbitrarily, conducts itself with no restraints. Because of its unrestrained conduct, the mind influencing the organs of the body not only causes them to become sick, but endangers itself. If the mind becomes one-pointed or fixed, it regulates the organs of the body and protects them from disease. Illusion is also a function of the mind, leading to many sicknesses.


The process of control and purification of mind is called yoga. Maharshi Patanjali has expounded this in an aphorism, Yogah cittavrtti nirodhah, which means that yoga is the process of controlling all the waves of the mind and fixing them on a specified object. This is also called “Astanga Yoga” which has eight fold factors: yama: restraints; niyama: observances; asana: posture; pranayama: breathing practice; pratyahara: sense control; dharana: concentration; dhyana: meditation; Samadhi: contemplation.


These eight factors are divided into two groups called external devices and internal devices. Restraint, observance, posture and breathing practice belong to the external devices. Sense-control, concentration, meditation, and contemplation belong to the internal ones. It is far from easy to practice the internal devices without practicing the external. Therefore, to start with, one should practice the external devices.


Among the external devices, posture and breathing practices stand pre-eminent. Those who are sick and weak, with defective organs, are hardly able to practice restraints and observances. Therefore, we must equip ourselves with sound bodies and organs free from defects, in order to practice restraints and observances. All the Upanishads and all yogis well versed in yoga consider posture and breathing practices as pre-eminent factors among the external devices. An authority for this in the Upanishads reads thus:


Asanam pranasamrodhah pratyharashca dharana | dhyanam samadhiretani shadangani prakirtitah ||


Sri Svatmarama explains this in the Hathayoga Pradipika:


Hathasya prathamangatvat asanam purvamuccate | Tasmat tadasanam kuryat arogyamcangalaghavam ||


This means that one hardly accomplishes any task without good health and buoyancy of limbs. Health and activity of body are essential and hence the importance given to posture and breathing practices.


Asanas are conductive to abating disease and bringing concentration of mind, while the methods of recaka-puraka (exhaling-inhaling) are prerequisites for the practice of posture. Sri Vamana explains in detail the methods of practicing posture. If one practices the postures with no understanding of inhaling and exhaling technique, he is liable to invite untold diseases instead of getting his ailments cured.


Sri Vamana has therefore made it clear:


Vina vinyasa yogena asanadinnakarayet ||


One should not practice posture without the method of inhaling and exhaling


Sri Patanjali also explained breathing practices in his discourse:


Tasmim sati shavasaprashvasayorgati vicchedah pranayamah ||


Pranayamah is a process of inner suspension of the breath (kumbhaka), stopping the inhaling and exhaling.


While inner suspension of breath (kumbhaka) is pranayama, the regulation of recaka and puraka must be adopted in the posture, he adds, which means postures can be practiced only by regulating the exhaling and inhaling.


This method can be learnt only from an experienced yogi well versed in Yoga Shastra. Practicing thus, one is able to drive out physical and mental diseases and fix one’s mind steadfast. As to this yoga, Yagnavalkya says:


Tritiya kālastho rivah svayam samharate prabham | Tritiyange sthitho dehi vikaram manasam tatha ||


Just as the Sun in his third phase, that is, in the evening, drawing forth his sharp rays creates a peaceful atmosphere, in the same way the yogi, practicing the third factor, the postures, frees himself from mental defilements and becomes tranquil.


Hence, the necessity of postures is essential.


A regular practice of postures with regulated breathing can cure many diseases. In order to cure contagious diseases a doctor’s help may be required, but not to cure chronic diseases. Chronic diseases can be healed by postures and breathing practices.


From my own mature experience I can say that many ailments, which cannot be cured by doctors, can be remedied by postures and breathing practices. For example, asthma, diabetes, gastric trouble and rheumatism, known to be incurable by medicines, are cured with no medical aid. These well known ailments, for which no new medicines have been invented, are considered to be irremediable. No medicine so far has overcome these diseases. But it may be repeated that all theses chronic ailments can be healed by yogasanas and pranayamas. Evidence for this is that our institution has brought relief to many chronically affected patients, by proper guidance of postures and breathing practices. Such ailments as paralysis, constipation, piles etc., can be relieved merely by the practice of anupara (liquids) without resorting to any medicine. What is needed essentially to support this yoga knowledge is faith, courage and adventure.


In this scientific age, the criteria for diagnosing diseases have been taken over by machines. We refuse to accept this standard. For example, a patient suffering from blood pressure feels dimness of eyesight, gets increasingly fatigued while doing even a little exertion in work, prefers to keep always lying down. By these symptoms it can be understood that his blood pressure is giving trouble. On the other hand, if none of the above-mentioned symptoms obtain, and if the doctor advices a patient based on the finding of medical equipment alone, the patient by mere hallucination is liable to invite blood pressure difficulty, which he did not originally have. This, therefore, compels me to say that we refuse to admit the theory of diagnosis of diseases by machinery equipment.


By the practice of yoga it is possible to purify many internal pulses, cells, veins, plasma, wind, liver, phlegm, circulation of blood, etc. Thus, the internal purification of the body alone facilitates the cure of ailments. Generally, the purification of any matter requires fire and wind. Just as the gold in a crucible purified by a goldsmith with the aid of fire and wind, which eliminates all the impurities thereof, turns into brilliant gold, similarly the elimination of diseases as impurities needs fire and wind. That is why the wise have said:


Pranayamabhyasayuktasya sarvarogakshyobhavet | Avuktabhyasayuktasya sarvarogasamudbhava ||


One who practices asanas and pranayamas properly finds that all diseases come to naught, whereas all kinds of ailments appear in the practicing improperly.


Asanas are prerequisites for pranayama, which have to be practiced by following the methods of recaka and puraka. Little gain will ensue by asanas practiced with little knowledge of breath control.


Now we have seen how asanas are important for the healing and prevention of diseases. For example, certain asanas are prescribed to cure diabetes: Janushirshasana, baddhakonasana, and upavishtakonasana.


For constipation and ailments of the anus, baddhakonasana is prescribed. In the posture of baddhakona, contracting the anus, one performs the long recakas and purakas. Sri Vamana says that this practice heals the diseases of anus. I know from experience that many have found themselves benefited by these practices.


But to ensure the stability of these asanas, many others must precede them. While practicing the posture prescribed for a certain ailment one must stay in it long enough to perform at least 50 receka-purakas. In this way the ailments become healed. But it cannot be said that by performing only those prescribed asanas, a person can cure a specified ailment. Only when all organs are functioning with proper blood circulation can the ailments recede, not otherwise. To understand this point, one should approach well-versed yogi, which means that a Guru is essential.


In conclusion, one practicing yoga with correct knowledge thereof knows no fear of diseases and sickness. But one gets hardly any benefit out of it, if at the same time he fails to have any regulation over food, habits, speech etc. Therefore, it is my experience, which agrees with the opinion of those well versed in the shastras, that the yoga practitioner practicing with regulation of food, habits, speech and contact will find himself freed from all kinds of ailments, physical and mental.





From: Yoga and Science, Buddha Vacana Trust; Bangalore, India, 1977


Proceedings of the International Conference on Yoga and Psychic Research, in May of 1977, under the auspices of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers

Ashtanga vinyasa practice advanced A fragmentos grabados en el centro Biorritmes de Tarragona

Anthony Gary Lopedota interview for Sthira&Bhaga

Anthony Gary Lopedota
Has been a great honor to interview  Anthony Gary Lopedota, one of the most important yogi in the world. Thank you very much for your time and inspiration.

You are one of the persons in the world who practices all the series (with the old advanced A&B) , i was reading a bit that you had some private sessions with Sri K Pattabhi Jois, i would love you to explain to me a bit about this experiencie with Guruji.

Anthony:I had four hour privates for about two months. It was the best time for me, really almost 4 months with a quadriplegic girl there for about two months. What I gained was imparted with his sincere touch every day and watching him work with the young girl with such inspiration and willingness to do whatever it took to bring about positive change. As much as i love and respect Guru Ji, I truly believe that we ( the yoga therapists ) have the ability to take the practice to a new and more healing level, maybe not more healing for all but definitely for some who do not respond to the ashtanga practice verbatim. I learned that we need to think outside the box form KP Jois who definitely thought outside the box. I will be coming out with a short video of a vinyasa series that addresses brain function, hemisphere balancing, addressing learning disabilities like dyslexia. Guru Ji's genius came a lot from his passion and love. When I would discover something that worked well with the practice and discussed and shared it with Guru Ji, he would get excited and showed me a lot of support and trust. I am sure that my injuries and challenges with my body are all blessings in disguise, it is no accident that doctors, therapists and clinicians have often felt like sharing their wisdom with me. Guru Ji and I would sit and drink coffee after class. He was so humble and yet very self assured. He believed in what he did. Those yogis that are inspired to learn and incorporate other body therapies are the next generation of this lineage. The fundamentalist approach is not in line with what KPJ did in his life or we would be doing exactly what Krishnamacharya taught.

You discovered that many injuries are the result of poor nutrition. And you applied a therapeutic form of ashtanga,do you think that ashtanga can be practiced for all of our lives.

 

Anthony:Ashtanga yoga puts an extraordinary amount of repetitious strain on the connective tissue of the body. If a person’s connective tissue is breaking down because of poor nutrition and acidic life style, the result will be an eventual and certain break down of the body. One could continue practicing the latter limbs of Ashtanga yoga but the asana practice would be a waste of time and would merely accelerate the breakdown of the articulating surfaces and the surrounding connective tissue. Guru Ji stopped his asana practice earlier than a lot of us would even consider. He continued with daily shirshasana and padmasana during pratyahara, pranayama, dharana, dyana, samadhi practice/experience.

why did you begin to practice yoga, and how much time did you spend with Guruji studying?

Anthony:Wow, never counted before, I believe it was eight times the longest being three times in Mysore at 3 to 4 months each.I was always attracted to yoga, martial arts, healing. It came natural to touch people in a healing way and ashtanga, like no other yoga, is practiced in that way. I remember touching and massaging relatives at gatherings when I was 9 years old and remember counseling in a spiritual manner when I was 5. Blessed to be born blind by California standards and sickly as a child, the path of healing and healer was carved out for me. 

When I was fourteen, yoga became an interest as well as martial arts; actually judo was my first practice when I was 12. At fifteen Paramahamsa Yoganada, Allan Watts, Aldous Huxley, Wilhelm Reich, Swami Ramacharacha, and many other authors became my interest and salvation. Yoga was in my stars.

Do you think you've finally taken mula bandha in full control in the physical and energy  sense to control the prana?

Anthony:As my body, subtle and gross adjusted to Ashtanga Yoga, it went through many changes some were quite radical. At one point when Brad Ramsey and I practiced together, this being after many private pranayama classes with Guru Ji, I started having convulsions. While I was sitting in padmasana doing pranayama, my body(torso) would start slamming forward so that it hit the floor with great force and total disregard for what my physical body was going through. This was an electrical response on the most subtle level of ida , pingala, sashumna nadi cleansing/reorganizing., although it looked anything but subtle. Good thing Bradley had my back. He was good at not emotional response and added only positive support. Other yogis when I explained this to them became quite scarred for me. Not everyone is cut out to meet Shiva. Later in my practice which has included three 40 day fasts in my life so far ( hand full of food and as much water as I wanted every day with some variation but not on the amount of solid food. All three times my weight ended up leveling off at 125#s.). It was during one of these fasts that the breath stopped during pranayama. I actually got scarred when I noticed and that ended the experience. Our prana and mullabanda develop at different rates. My mullabandha is quite developed but my prana is a bit behind. I have always had vices that are not yogicly pure if you will. The truth is, with grace we may have the control of both in the necessary situation and that is all that matters. Trying to cultivate siddhis is part of the egos arrogance.Siddhis naturally acquired and expressed are divine. 

interview with Sarath for the magazine yoga octuber 2011

Firstly, Sharathji, thank you for meeting
us. Can we start with your own story;how did your journey in Ashtanga Yoga
begin?
I was seven (years old) when I began
practicing yoga. But I was a child; I wasn’t
serious, so all I was doing was just playing

around with asanas. We lived in a joint family
at that point. Many students, from across the
world, would flock to our home to be initiated
into Ashtanga Yoga by my grandfather, Sri
K Pattabhi Jois. A few years later, we moved
to another place in Gokulam (a suburb in
Mysore).
Obviously, you pursued your practice?
Yes, it was the year 1989. I was 19. My
mother, Saraswathi, wanted me to go and
help Guruji (as my grandfather was known
among his students) in handling his classes.
So, one fine morning, I woke up with a decision
to get serious about yoga. I began going
to the shala at Lakshmipuram at 3am to begin
my practice at 4 am, sharp. I did that for nine
years and before I knew it, I was immersed in
its science and art.
Did yoga come easily to you?
Well, everyone has to struggle. Effort is
imperative, mandatory, almost. But slowly, the
magic began to happen. The more I invested
in it, better the results.
Also, since I’d experienced yoga early on in
life, I was able to pick it easily; I think, somewhere
I had internalized it. In two years, I had
turned into a serious practitioner.
So you had the good fortune to imbibe it straight from
Guruji?
Yes; I got individual attention from him. Also, there were only
a handful of students back then but as time went along, a whole
host of Indian students started knocking at his doors, wanting
to soak in the essence of Ashtanga Yoga.
But Guruji was kind enough to teach me everything he knew;
in addition to the practical side of yoga, he also spent time
teaching me a whole lot of theory, verses from the Bhagavad
Gita and other philosophical subjects. Like I said before, the
more I learnt, the more I wanted to learn.
Yoga, then, is a very personal experience?
That is right. Yoga is something that should really manifest itself
within you, on its own. This can happen for different people
at different levels.
Ashtanga Yoga is perceived as a highly physical practice.
Does it have a spiritual side to it?
You bet it does. It looks physical, intense even. But that’s only
the surface. Once you delve deeper, you can experience its inner
beauty. I often like to compare Ashtanga Yoga with an ocean.
What was your moment of epiphany in yoga?
Honestly, it was a slow process; I just liked and enjoyed it.
It was like a voyage of discovery that involved a great deal of
struggle. I also found that as I submerged myself in asanas (postures),

I began to feel meditative and quiet. As time went by, my urge to focus on the mat only got stronger. And that’s the thing about Ashtanga Yoga. Asanas are only one aspect of it.
So you were being trained to become a teacher?
No. I didn’t become a teacher instantly. Guruji made me understand
and experience Ashtanga Yoga and its essence before I could begin guiding others into it. Each posture, in Ashtanga Yoga, for instance, has a number of vinyasas. As a practitioner,
you need to experience it first before starting to teach others.
I remember initially, I would merely stay in a class with Guruji
and help people into certain complicated postures, etc. I did the
same in my mother’s class as well. I think a lot of it also came
with just being a silent observer. I would watch my grandfather
guide students and spend a large part of my day on research.
Swadhyay, meaning self-study is important. Only when you do
that, you’ll begin to see meaning in your practice. The other
thing is, teaching helps you discover a whole new side of things.
No two students are the same. Therefore, it’s imperative to
understand each person’s body and how much each one can
expect it to deliver.
You believe then it’s a slow and steady progression, right?
Journeying into yoga…
Yes. Becoming a master in this system requires dogged dedication
and commitment in addition to quality time. It doesn’t come
in a day. In the world we live in, one that perpetrates quick-fix
solutions, people are always looking for the fastest route to
becoming famous. This style of yoga is clearly not for them. First
and foremost, you need to like this system and want to lean and
experience it. I guess both my grandfather and I didn’t and don’t
have any desire or ambition to become famous. We just want to
practice.
Over the years of your tours and travels abroad, you’ve
managed to spread Ashtanga Yoga and its tradition to the
world. What has the experience been like?
We began traveling in the mid 90s simply because we wanted
to educate people in the West on an authentic system of yoga
practice. That, I think is imperative.
What about the classes here, in
Mysore?
Students from across the world, come
here to be guided into the basics and nuances
of Ashtanga Yoga. Twice a week, on Friday
and Sunday, there’s a led class. We also try to
educate our students on the yoga sutras and
some lessons in Sanskrit.
Can only young people practice Ashtanga
Yoga?
That’s not true. I have a student who is
55 and who has just started. He cannot do
many asanas; but that’s fine. The essential
thing is for people to understand that asana
is the foundation to understanding and appreciating
spirituality.
Are youngsters these days showing
interest in yoga, in general?
Well, we try to do our bit in inculating a
sense of interest. We
encourage them with scholarships
because we believe that each and
every person needs to learn yoga and experience
both the physical and
mental energy within us so we can all lead
better lives. Suffering is everywhere; we need
to find ways to overcome it. Yoga is a tool.
For instance, in the West, the practice of
yoga has fostered a sense of the family; it has
helped in keeping families connected with
each other.
Now at the helm of the
K Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga
Institute(KPJAYI), what are your various
plans?
In our mission to take yoga to youngsters,
we have been talking to schools to explore
the possibility of including it in their curriculum.
The Stanford University is looking at
starting classes for its students in Ashtanga
Yoga. The Virginia Tech University has invited
us recently; one of our students in the US
will be training students there. There is a
buzz about Michelle Obama, wanting to do a
programme on yoga across universities. Let’s
see…

Ilya Zhuravlev: "Mysore 1978" Interview with Mark and Joanne Darby (wildyogi.info)

Ilya: First question is common but usually always interesting for readers - how did you start practice yoga?

Mark Darby: It started when I was young. I was interested in spirituality, I wanted to be a priest. I grew up in Australia. I went to catholic school, But after I became disapointed with catholic church - I could not believe that God let only catholics go to Heaven. I could not belive that people somewhere in a jungle for example in Africa or anywhere that God would not let such people go to Heaven. I could not believe that God could be so cruel and I couldn't understand some other ideas. This was strict religious dogma... During my first trip to India I realised that spirituality is everywhere - among people on the streets, in the temples. It was living spirituality. I left India but i decided to go back. I loved this country and especially as I had felt something that was missing in me. I thought that if I visit India I will do yoga, because yoga tradition came from India. But I had no idea what yoga was - I asked different people about this, but the answers were not too clear. It was May 1978 when arrived back in India, but at this time I was not ready to commit completely to yoga. As a traveller I had heard of Goa and the parties at Christmas. This was a seed I needed to burn before I would be ready to start on my yogic journey. I liked surfing so I visited Shri Lanka to do it, then came back to India in October. I came just like a tourist, I left my bag in Mysore and went to Goa, went to many psychodelic parties, had fun. And on these parties you can hear "Boom Shiva!", some mentions of Shiva. After Goa I went to Gokarna, a place on Karnataka coast connected with Shiva, to celabrate Shivaratri, a festival for Shiva. It was like piligrimage, I walked all the coast from Goa to Gokarna like an Indian pilgrim. I stayed in Gokarna during Shivaratri and after I decided that I was now ready for yoga. I had finished the parties. I've been blessed by Shiva`s grace - and I went to Mysore, where was my bag. In the hotel I was staying I met other man - Cliff Barber. And he said: “come to see my teacher”, and it was Pattabhi Jois. And Jois said: “watch the class”. I watched. And after I asked: “how much is it?” He said: “100 dollars”. I said: “Oh, this is too much, Baba, make 75 dollars”. He said: “no”, and I said: “no”. But next day i came back and said: “I want to do this”. He said: “OK, for 75 dollars”. And I started. The reason ? - I had no idea, I knew nothing about yoga, it just was something inside me.

Ilya: So ashtanga vinyasa system was your first system of hatha yoga?

Mark: I did not know about other systems. Someone gave me the book of B.K.S. Iyengar "Light on yoga", but Iyengar system I did not know. My first teacher was Pattabhi Jois. That time were only few western students - there was was Cliff Barber, for us he was an old man, 48 years old, one German man, an English man with French lady, and myself. Joanne arrived one week later. Mostly the group was about 6 students. I stayed there 3 months.

Ilya: Some people who studied in the 70-s told me that before, students practiced both 1st and 2nd series during one class. Some people told that sequence was different.

Mark: At first we learned Surya Namaskara A, B, Padangushtasana, Padahastasana, Trikonasana, Parshvakonasana - and then Baddha Padmasana, Yoga Mudra and Utpluthi - this was first class. And my friend Old Cliff said: "Oh, he likes you - he gave you a lot of asanas". Next day I got one more posture, next day - one more. So maybe for one week I was given one posture per day, and after two more postures per week. In three months we completed Primary Series. After three month I went for holiday - my body was tired. After one month I came back - and I started Intermediate, it took two months. An every day I did Primary and Intermediate. An then we started Advanced postures. So it was Primary, Intermediate, Advanced every day. So I did three series daily, and after two years my practice was 3 and half hours. Joan was doing 4 and half hours, because she was standing one hour in Shirshasana.

Ilya: So you started visit Mysore every year?

Mark: We stayed two years in Mysore, than spend one year in Australia, than came back again for two years. And you asked about sequence - Advanced series was different. But also he made series specific for each person - I know Nancy Gilgoff practiced a different sequence. When Joanne was pregnant he gave me different postures, more strength, handstands variations - he also gave Joanne different postures. More postures focussing on hip openings and more meditative postures.

Ilya: Somebody told me that Hanumanasana was in Primary series

Mark: He gave it to Derek Ireland - Hanumanasana and Somakonasana, it was individual instruction, but Derek gave this to his students. So only his students did this. But he was advanced student. It was not given to beginners.

Ilya: Did you studied with T.K.V. Deshikachar?

Mark: Not studied, but i visited one workshop in Montreal, some things i picked up. The pranayama - I liked his approach on how to teach pranayama for beginners.

Ilya: Deshikachar also use some vinyasas but his approach is individualization of practice.

Mark: Yes, and he uses breath retention in asanas. For example in Paschimottanasana you bend 30 degree you exhale for one third, Hold this position and the breath, then you bend 30 degree more, exhale another one third, hold and then extend fully into the posture as you complete the exhalation, so he is doing holding the posture with breath retention during movement in or out of posture. Its interesting and hard. After ashtanga its very different. Same with people from other styles - they try ashtanga and find it hard, but after some time of practice, ashtanga becomes easier.

Ilya: I know the story about one man from Belgium, his name was Andre Van Lysebeth, he wrote the book about pranayama. some people said that he was first western student of Pattabhi Jois in 60-s.

Mark: Yes, i know about him. I dont think he was a long time student of Pattabhi Jois, but he did visited him.
Joan: Jois accept him because he could speak sanscrit and was an advanced student of yoga already.

Ilya: In his book we can see photo how he is sitting with Pattabhi Jois and Jois teaching him how to do jalandhara bandha. But seems he was studying only pranayama because in his book no one word about vinyasa system. He had studied with Swami Shivananda before. So, did Pattabhi Jois teach pranayama for advanced students in early years?

Mark Darby: In those years not even to advanced students. When some American advanced students wanted to study pranayama, Jois started to teach them. At that time we had studied with him for about 6 months. So he invited us also, I guess he felt we were ready. But in later years he was teaching pranayama only to advanced students, people who new third series. One time Sharath invited one student to come, he was not advanced but a long time student, and Guruji asked him - why you here? He said Sharath invited me, and Guruji had discussion with Sharath and said to the man: “You sit and watch”. So he did not practice and just watched.

Ilya: He was very strict in this.

Mark: Because it's difficult. When you do pranayama with strong retentions it can be dangerous. Body should be prepared and Pattabhi Jois said that when you do advanced series you should be ready to pranayama. I teach pranayams which I learn't from Deshikachar - its simple approach, simple pranayamas.

Ilya: When old-school students of 70-s and 80-s studied with P.Jois in Mysore, Krishnamacharya was still alive and was living in Madras (now Chennai). Do you know that time he is living and teaching in the next state or you did not have interest to meet him?

Mark: I knew about him because Pattabhi Jois one time visited him in Madras, and he went with an american student to see him. And he was able to visit Krishnamacharya. It was the first time that we had heard about him. But it was a long way from Mysore to Madras and that time we did not have much money for it. We were new to yoga, did not have so much information about Krishanmacharya. Now if I have the opportunity I`m sure I would go to see him. We knew only Pattabhi Jois and he did not speak English well, so we did not have long conversations about lineage. I don't think that Krishnamacharya himself spoke English. And at that time I think he was not teaching so much anymore. Maybe by then he was teaching yoga-therapy.

Ilya: You also practise kriya yoga of Lahiri Mahasai tradition - how you know about it.

Mark Darby: From russian yogis I received the information how to get the practice of this from Shailendra Sharma. Before for me term kriya yoga was cleansing practices, shatkarmas. We knew Yogananda`s book, Autobiography of Yogi, but we did not know the practice like the way Shailendra taught us.

Ilya: I think Yogananda`s organization is quite popular in US and Canada.

Mark: I don't like any big organisations and try to stay away from them, especially from American. In America most of such organisation become kind of "capitalistic religions". Its more business than coming from the heart. So I dont have so much interest to this American organisation but the book was good.
Joanne: When I was reading this book - I found it very interesting but there was nobody to teach us that technique.

Ilya: We have also Yogananda society in Russia but they dont teach so much practice of kriya yoga, some important things like khechari mudra etc. They sing spiritual songs, practicng simple pranayama without kumbhakas. Seems they lost original sequence of practice.

Joanne: It's too big organisation...

Mark: We feel very blessed that we met Shailendra. It was magic story - we were sitting in a restaurant in Moscow and talking with our workshop translator Katya, and she was saying that she is disciple of Shailendra Sharma. And one guy from next table came to us, he recognised me because he saw my video on youtube. He was interested to talk with us because he heard the name of Lahiri Mahasai who was founder of Shailendra's lineage. This man was also disciple of Shailendra. We talked about yoga practice, and when he was leaving he said - I want to give you a gift from my Guru, and he gave us Bhagavad Gita with commentaries by Shailendra. For us it was a sign - we have to go and see Shailendra.

Ilya: I`m traveling in India from 2001, studied in different yoga schools, but i never met a man who can teach how to perform khechari mudra and some advanced level of yoga practice, till i met Shri Shailendra. Some teachers can give yoga-therapy, some - advanced asanas but not more. I was also very surprised than in 2005 i recieved kriya from him.

Mark: This technique is a gift which we got from Shailendra. You receive it and practice it - same in ashtanga also, you have a techinque that you have to work on. If you dont work - nothing happens.

Ilya: What I see looking to old-school ashtanga guys, like you or Swenson, or Freeman, or Corigliano - from my experience every teacher has his own approach, all of them teaching the same series but with own vision how to practice, own hints. What do you think about it.

Mark: First it should be your own practice. Pattabhi Jois said to us - you practice what I teach you for 20 years - after you can change something.
Joanne: It takes many years. 12 or 20, usually indians like sacred number of 12 years.

Mark: First you start asana practice more like gymnastic, stretching, then you start to realize - it becomes more powerful, more subtle. You discover different things. The same in martial arts - first you do like physical exersices, after you start to feel the motion of energy. So after just performing yoga posture you start to feel deeper what you are doing and you have experienced and things come up. I`m keeping the ashtanga system but put my own interpretation. An then I`ll go back and understand my interpretation and remember what Pattabhi Jois said - its the same thing! He said but we did not understand. When you do it for long time, you understand what he said.

Joanne: I think it also depends from experience. Darby was very intense, like Misha Baranov, but very brutal sometimes. He injured his knee, injured his back, and from experience he understand that its better to have a more gentle approach.

Mark: Now I keep more slow rhythm in practice. More softness in shoulders and neck, more emphasis on bandhas. I feel good after practice.

Ilya: On your workshops you are talking about opening, relaxation, flow of energy - for me it looks close to systems like taichi.

Mark: We studied taichi in Canada for about one year. Our teacher said "first you move your limbs, then you realize the movement connects to your core. After you move your limbs from the core”. Its the same thing with Yoga. Now we practice Kriya - no time for taichi.

Ilya: During your first class you gave very detailed description of each asana and I think about some influence of Iyengar yoga.

Mark: For sure some Iyengar yoga. Alinement its important but not only this. You have to use energy also.

Joanne: We have a friend who is Iyengar`s Yoga teacher. Sometimes Darby and him used to work together, exchange their knowledge. In old days there was a big battle - if you are an Iyengar`s yoga student - you don't practice with Ashtanga people, and vice versa. But now most practitioners understand - you need some alightenment but you need also the flow. It's two different systems but from one source.

Ilya: In modern times so many different yoga schools and yoga brands…

Mark: Too many!

Ilya: What do you think - its good, bad or just its our times and we should just accept it?

Mark: I think you should go back to tradition as much as you can. It's been in India for thousands of years. Today we have so many approaches - personally I think most of them are commercial. Of course every person who does yoga for long time has his own approach. I teach you my practice, it works for me, maybe it doesn't work for you. But if you say "This is the only way" - it's wrong. I don't think that ashtanga is the only way. Everebody is different, people have different bodies. Even inside ashtanga it can be different approaches depending on the body of the student.

Joanne: When Pattabhi Jois was teaching western students he was very tough, but when he taught Indians he was so soft, never pushed them. They could do only what they wanted, they would talk all - it was kind of a social club.

Ilya: I think because that students were just lazy. I think his western students mostly had warrior minds, the qualities of kshatriya, that's why he gave very hard practice to them.
Joan: Yes.

Mark: Because also only westerners in that time wanted to do yoga. Indians wanted to have modern education, to find job. Pattabhi Jois could push you and next day you come again and he would again push you and you leave only after 3 months to take rest from it. Very hard. In the west I dont think it's possible to teach like this. I remember I was given blessings by Pattabhi Jois to assist him. I remember one time I was adjusting an Indian the same way that Guruji adjusted me and he said: “no, no, don`t touch”. But If we adjusted in a very hard manner and people had to work, they would stop coming. I remember one time in

Australia I met with Shandor Remete because after two years I developed a very strong practice and we got to meet very quickly and he was leaving to India to stydy with B.K.S. Iyengar so he asked me to look after his school for one month. I had 30 students and after one month - 4. Because I was teaching the same way as Jois and people just did not come back. In 1980, when Pattabhi Jois went to America he asked me to

Mark Darby

teach his Indian students in his shala. It was a great honour, but at the time I did'nt realise it. He also had one of his senior student teaching, so there was not much for me to do. There was a race between us who was going to adjust. So after a few days we went to Kodailkanal until Pattabhi Jois returned.

Ilya: Shandor was teaching Iyengar style that time?

Mark: Yes, he was very much into Iyengar.

Ilya: But later he completely changed his approach. Also from his own experience.

Mark: Yes, from his own experience as well. He got into martial arts. He was working with energy, trying to bring energy and keep it flowing. He has a lot martial arts coming into his practice from what I can see.

Ilya: That’s very interesting. Even before you told that in India there were different schools, lineages but they have one thing in common - they were following traditional yoga philosophy, Yoga Sutras. Maybe they had different techniques but philosophical part, the main thing like to realize your soul, your Atman was the main goal for them.
Mark: Yes, yes.

Ilya: But what we see in the West a lot of “yoga brands” they don’t talk about this. They are only trying to sell some techniques, like fitness.

Mark: Well, ten years ago or may be a little bit more in the West it was very much fitness, yoga in health clubs. Suddenly yoga became a place where you get healthy. But I think people felt something else. There were not just running and doing aerobics they were doing yoga with … insights, some emotional things were happening, whether they understood or not. Now people are looking much more for meditation, and inner growth. Nowadays it has become much more easier to bring meditation techniques into a class, whereas a few years ago it was difficult, people just wanted “to do” physical yoga. But now they are looking for a deeper thing. They want more philosophy, to understand more and yet a lot just come to health class to look good. But it is still good, people are still going to learn yoga and those who want, they will progress in a more spiritual way.

Joanne: I don’t know about Russia but in America, the people who are interested more in philosophy, they would go towards Buddhism. Buddhism seems to attract them more, they don’t want to do a lot of asanas.

Ilya: Why do you think they took Buddhist philosophy and not Indian philosophy?

Joanne: Because Indian philosophy is very complicated. Buddhism is easy, there are rules which are structured and easy to follow. As Indian philosophy you can spend years and years of reading and studying to understand what its all about. It is very complex for a western mind to understand all these thousands of gods and thousands of different stories.

Ilya: But also I think it is because there is a system of Buddhist centres where you can come and get some practice, to do some workshop or retreat, like 10 days vipassana course. Whereas in Indian tradition there are a lot of schools which differ from each other, sometimes have contradiction, like Hare Krishna bhakti and Advaita Vedanta. It is not so systematic.
Joanne: Yes.

Mark: And I think to study and understand Indian philosophy you have to go to Indian community and Indian community is very closed. To get into the community you have to speak their language Hindi, Tamil… So its more difficult to learn Indian tradition in the West. But we have yoga asanas, that’s what most people want and thats how they connect to their mind. We make a living by teaching yoga asana. That’s how we survive and it gives us the time and the financial support for us to go into deeper practices.

Joanne: Yes, but even then, once they start their yoga practice, they start to read a little bit about it, a little bit philosophy and then it grows. Of course its not something that will happen overnight.

Mark: When we teach intensive yoga training, we introduce philosophy and then they want more. I give them homework and they are happy to read and learn more.

Joanne: Not so long time ago in America or Russia there were not so many books about Sutras but now in the internet you can find anything you want.

Ilya: Yes, before in Russia it was only academic books.

Joanne: Yes, very difficult to read and you had to be studying Hindu philosophy or Eastern philosophy to understand, whereas now it is very open.

Ilya: This is very interesting, because in the 70-s people hardly new anything even about Ashtanga vinyasa yoga, it was not a popular style.

Mark: Yes, Ashtanga didn`t get popular until the end of the 90-s.

Ilya: I think that first Power Yoga became popular as a kind of fitness style, sort of simplified Ashtanga Yoga.

Mark: Well, yes, Power Yoga was based on Ashtanga Yoga, Beryl Birch book of Ashtanga yoga, which was a book with Primary series. Because of the word Power people got interested, people realized they could get a good body through yoga, they could run better, because Power Yoga was made for runners. It got popular in California, and from there spread around. Madonna did it, but afterwards people realized that it was very hard, too difficult for people who only did yoga one or two times a week. Then came Vinyasa Flow which left out the more difficult postures, added posture from anywhere with many variations and later all other different things came out. Different people, John Friend for example spread vinyasa flow mixed with Iyengar system, he was friends with Richard Freeman who knew the ashtanga system and so they mixed and matched. Now the most popular Yoga is vinyasa flow, where people could do what they want, they can do advanced postures if they want. People in the West or I guess everywhere want variety. I want to do this posture or that, I want to do posture from the third series, but if I'm doing only primary series I will never learn that posture…

Ilya: Bikram yoga is now coming to Russia.

Joanne: It is very popular in America.

Ilya: It looks like commercial system, like McDonald`s.

Mark: And then you have Hot Yoga, which is a vinyasa flow done in a hot room, but they don`t follow the Bikram system, because someone who wanted to do Bikram yoga didn`t want to pay franchise. He took the idea of the hot room and teaches whatever yoga he wants, vinyasa flow, Hatha, anything and does it in a hot room. This is the most popular yoga now in Canada, partly because the weather is very cold in the winter and because people want to lose weight.

Ilya: Some people start from fitness type of yoga and later develop deeper interest in yoga and philosophy. They turn to more traditional schools.

Mark: Yes, many students start in health clubs but then they realize this isn`t really yoga and they come to yoga centres and are surprised to find that yoga there is with a different approach. In health club you get good air conditioning but in yoga centres atmosphere is different- Indian music is playing, incenses, different feeling.

Ilya: You are running your own TTC in Montreal?

Mark: Yes, im doing it together with my son Shankara.

Ilya: And which subjects do you teach except ashtanga series?

Mark: We are basing on ashtanga system but teaching the postures in a very detailed manner. We are also teaching philosophy, Ayurveda course, anatomy. We have a broad range but not so advanced, say Ayurveda is 6 hours, introduction only. For instance, when we are teaching we work with anatomy, but we don’t give names of muscles and bones, we work with biomechanics - system showing how the body is all

Mark Darby

connected, how the body moves with connections. It is a one year programme 200 hours, 1 weekend a month and then we do 1 week intensive in the summer. We also encourage our students to come and practice Mysore style and we give them very cheap price for a year, so that they can come and practice. The idea is to give students an opportunity to practice as much as possible during the year. And we see a great difference after one year between people who just came for the course and those who practiced Mysore style.

Ilya: What language are you teaching classes in Montreal - French or English?

Joanne: English. Darby is English-speaking.

Ilya: My next question concerns the length of ujaii breath during ashtanga practice. When we visited David

Swenson`s workshop Baranov and I were instructed to shorten our breaths, since our pranayama practices increased lung capacity and our breathes were longer compared to other students. He also told us not to hold one posture more than for 5 breaths, but you`v told that before it was 8 breaths for each asana. Do you think that it is due to the number of students in class and time limit that counting became faster?

Mark: Yes, a lot of students come and time is limited.

Ilya: Then what is your opinion about individual practice? Is it possible to hold a posture more than 8 breaths and make breaths as long as possible?

Mark: Yes, and when David studied it was also 8 breaths. I don’t think there are any rules, if you want to make breaths longer you can, but there is such thing as vinyasa, and vinyasa becomes a movement which takes energy, and because of that we breathe faster, we need oxygen and then the breath during vinyasa become quicker, so you generally need to keep same rhythm in your postures. So that you don’t speed up to

Mark Darby

do the vinyasa and then slow down. So, I generally work with my vinyasa, but some days my breath is longer than in others, but some days I`m rushed because I don’t have time. I can make a very strong practice in one and a half hours and I can make it in 2 hours by making my breath longer. There is nothing wrong about it, but you have to keep the rhythm.

Ilya: You`ve told us before that Joanne was practicing one hour of shirshasana. Was it advice of Pattabhi Jois?

Joanne: Yes. He trained me to do that. Every day he would come and lift me up, slowly increasing amount of breaths - 10, 15 breaths; 5 minutes, 10, 15, 30... And I would only come down after he would come and lift me up. I was too weak to lift myself up and so he was teaching me how to lift up. I would wait for him to come and adjust me to come down. One time he forgot about me, he left and talked to his family, made phone calls. So, when he came back, there was no one in the room and I have been standing an hour in shirshasana. And he said: oh very good, now you do one hour every day. But he trained me to stay there for 1 hour so that I could do it by myself. But shirshasana is a special posture, it has a lot to do with nervous system. When I came to Mysore in 2001 and met with Guruji I asked him why made me to stand 1 hour in shirshasana, what were the benefits? And he answered: “You tell me, what are the benefits for you”.

Mark: Going back to the breath, if you see Jois teaching, in a way he teaches standing postures are slow, the breath is very long, when he comes to do the primary series it gets fast. And then it gets very slow again when it comes to finishing postures, because there is no vinyasa in standing and finishing postures so he makes the breaths longer. But as long as you have full breath and rhythm it doesn’t matter how long you breath.

Ilya: Not all postures in ashtanga are well compensated and when a beginner comes into this practice mostly for them the weak points are knees and low back. Why no one has ever changed the sequence to make it more balanced?

Mark: Its not the problem with the astanga system but with the individuals learning and the person teaching. In the west we do not have the same flexibility as in East. Too many chairs so the ability of movement in the hips is restricted which affects the knees.In the west we teach ashtanga to quickly, In Mysore there was no led classes, only Mysore style. You went 6 days a week and committed to 3 months of practice. Postures were given slowly. It took 3 months to learn primary series. This way the body has time to develop strength,especially in the core ( bandhas). Also many teachesr do not understand the alignment of the body and how the repetition of the vinyasa places strain on the body and nervous system. Ashtanga done well will be your best friend, ashtanga done incorrectly will be your worst enemy. We didn’t do revolving standing postures as beginners. We did trikonasana, no revolving trikonasana, parshvokonasana but no parivritta parshvokonasana, we didn’t do utkattasana and no virabhadrasana series as beginners. So, when you became advanced practitioner afterwards you put them in the standing postures. Why Pattabhi Jois changed this? Usually when students practice they copy teacher, and when beginners see advanced student doing most postures then they would put them in. So when they go to Mysore they didn’t learn from Guruji but from some students of Guruji in the west, so when they come to Mysore they`d be doing postures already, so he`d just let them do. Before, he never used to teach parshvokonasana, reversed parshvokonasana. If you look at Lino`s book, its not Sharath, its Lino is doing this posture. If you look the video of Guruji teaching in 1990 Richard Freeman, Tim Miller, Chuck Miller, he doesn’t have this reversed parshvokonasana, he only put this after 2000. And then I think he just gave up. See, if you are a teacher and you don’t want beginners to do this posture but they are still doing it after some time you give up and let them do what they want. So I think this is what happened to Pattabhi Jois.

Ilya: Individual approach is very important when working with beginners.

Mark: Yes, of course. Bodies are different, bone shapes. Many have no body awareness and some people come only once a week, so there is no need to push hard on someone who comes that rare.


Website of Mark & Joanne Darby Sattva Yoga Shala in Montreal, Canada sattvayogashala.com