Ashtanga Yoga News and Mysore India Travel Information

Krishna Pattabhi Jois, Leading Expert in Yoga, Dies at 93
New York Times, May 20, 2009

MUMBAI, India — Krishna Pattabhi Jois, a prominent and influential teacher who drew a global following that included Western celebrities like Madonna and Sting, died on Monday in his home in the southern Indian city of Mysore, his family said. He was 93.

Known to his followers simply as guruji, a term of respect for teachers, Mr. Jois (pronounced JOYCE) had an ulcer in his throat that made it difficult for him to swallow food, according to Sharhat Rangaswamy, his grandson and the director of his yoga institute. In the days before he died, Mr. Jois was also struck by a urine infection and pneumonia, Mr. Rangaswamy said in a telephone interview.

Long before yoga studios sprang up in shopping centers and gyms across America and Europe, Mr. Jois began teaching yoga at the Sanskrit University of Mysore in the late 1930s, according to a biography on his Web site. He eventually opened his own school, the Ashtanga Yoga Institute, which has drawn students from around the world.

The son of a Brahmin priest and astrologer, Mr. Jois was inculcated in ancient Hindu teachings from an early age. He was first exposed to yoga when he was 12. He learned from Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, a guru who also taught another famous Indian yogi, B.K.S. Iyengar.

Mr. Jois popularized the school of yoga known as Ashtanga, which literally means eight limbs and is characterized by fast-paced exercises that involve pronounced, but controlled, breathing while holding varying postures. Unlike some other forms of yoga, Ashtanga is meant to induce profuse sweating, which Mr. Jois said was necessary to cleanse the body.

Though he enjoyed success and international acclaim in recent decades, Mr. Jois had a difficult early life. According to his biography, he left the village of Kowshika, in Karnataka State, with two friends and 2 rupees (about 4 cents at today’s exchange rates) when he was 14. He hoped to attend the Sanskrit University in Mysore, which is about 90 miles east of Bangalore.

In a chance encounter, he reconnected with his yoga guru, Mr. Krishnamacharya. Later he met the ruler of Mysore, who made it possible for him to teach yoga at the Sanskrit University.

While there, he married Savitramma, who died in 1997. They had three children, two of whom survive him: a son Manju, who lives in Encinitas, Calif., and a daughter, Saraswati, who lived with him in Mysore. His son Ramesh was killed in an accident. He is also survived by three grandchildren, including Mr. Rangaswamy, and four great-grandchildren.

Mr. Jois’s following in the West brought him fame and influence, but people close to him say that it did not appear to have changed him much. He never altered his early morning prayer rituals and put all of his students, including the celebrities, through the same tough regimen, Mr. Rangaswamy said.

“Everybody got the same training,” he said. “There was no difference, even for me. Even his own grandson had the same training that his students had, maybe a little tougher.”

Mr. Jois’s first exposure to the West came in the form of a student from Belgium, André Van Lysebeth, whose 1967 book “Yoga Self-Taught” highlighted Mr. Jois. Since then, Westerners have sought him out and have come to his institute by the hundreds.

Mr. Jois was never fluent in English, but he knew enough that most of his students could understand what he wanted them to do or focus on, Mr. Rangaswamy said, adding, “He could teach us what he wanted to teach.”

To Whom It Might Concern,

I would like to inform you that I have three well furnished rooms for rent to the students of yoga who are coming to Mysore. The rooms are fully furnished with Kitchen, Western toilet, Solar hot water and very near to the Yoga shala in Gokulam. The rent is Rs.5000/- per month for single person and Rs.6000/- for two persons. If any one interested can contact the following email or phone.

email : tataaji_m@yahoo.co.in

Cell:  9845045951
Phone: 0821-4263573

M.Tataji

Many westerners who are in Mysore to learn yoga, come to Shantala to take classes on Ayurveda.

Dr.Shantala Priyadrshini M.S. (Ayurveda) M.A.
Asst Professor -Government Ayurveda Medical College
(Affiliated to Rajiv Gandhi university of Health Sciences,Bangalore
Chief Consultant at Dr.Vijay’s Ayurveda Research and Treatment Center
Sri .Dhanwantari Krupa, Hootagalli
Mysore, Karnataka, India 570018
CEll-9448011503.Residence-91-821-2404559

http://www.completewellbeing.com/magazine
http://myhealthiswealth.blogspot.com/
http://mysoreayurveda.blogspot.com/

Yogic Supplies has been in the service industry for 24+ years, specializing in serving the needs of YOGA STUDENTS from around the world. Our services starts at your arrival at the airport till your departure back to your home country with a variety of services in between. We are proud to claim that our patrons have not just rated us “Best in its Class”, majority of them also become repeat patrons. Many of our inaugural patrons are still with us and have helped us develop every aspect of our business.

Features of the New Guest House:

• 3 to 5 minutes walk to Yoga Shala
• Short & Long term accommodation
• 3 Double bed rooms with attached rest rooms
• Private balconies
• 24 hrs Hot water & western style toilet
• Each room have been equipped with closet & dressing table
• Shared equipped kitchen with Refrigerator & washing machine
• Spacious hall with furniture and dining area
• Television
• Cots, beds & sheets will be provided
• Telephone & Wireless Internet connection
• Pooja room
• Fans, Lights + backup generator
• 24 hrs security

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Knowlewdge Net
October 10 , 2008

Thousands of students flock to the Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India each year in hopes of finding that missing piece to life’s puzzle. The Institute’s style of Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga is particularly attractive to Westerners because they enjoy the physical rigor and discipline. While many forms of yoga are more about relaxing, this style is more about physically challenging poses that evoke mental release. Some people say the method attracts the “overachiever” personality type, but in reality it caters to people of every level.

Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga was first brought to the Western world by the teachings of Patanjali Maharishi, a sage from Mysore India. He spoke about the significance of reaching internal purification and reconnecting with the “Universal Soul” through eight principles: moral codes, self-purification and study, posture, breath control, sense control, concentration, meditation and contemplation. He believed that each step built upon one another, much in the same way each posture (or “asana”) builds upon the next. Read more…

Express Buzz
K Shivakumar
04 Oct 2008

The ancient, time-tested practice of yoga will be another tourist attraction at the Dasara festivities at Mysore this year. Yoga teachers affiliated to the Pathanjali Yoga Shikshana Samithi, the Vivekanada Yoga Kendra and other institutes have coalesced under one banner, the “Mysore Yoga Okkuta.” Free yoga classes will be organised in sixty centres across the city.

In a bid to help tourists visiting the city get a feel of the ancient practice, the Okkuta has orgainsed yoga classes for occupants at Hotel President and Hotel Viceroy between 6 and 7 am. Tourists here may learn the basics of yoga and meditation. The Yoga Dasara Committee hopes to reach out to at least 3,000 people during the festival this year. Read more..

LA Weekly, CA - 1 hour ago Noah Williams, seemingly sweet and sparkly, will sadistically whip your Type-A Ashtanga practice into Pattabhi-perfect shape in Silver Lake.If you’re looking for a kick-ass flow, perfectly sequenced to the sounds of classic rock & roll, with a little New York humor thrown in and around the hip openers, Vinnie Marino’s your man (see Best Yogi Rock). Bryan Kest holds down yoga for the masses in Santa Monica, with his suggested-donation classes geared toward the advanced practitioner and her 80-year-old grandmother alike (see Best Yoga Class for the Masses). ... Best Compassionate Yogi