The revered founder of modern day Ashtanga yoga, Pattabhi Jois, has passed away on May 18 2009.
The day after he died, I went for an ashtanga class. I thought about Guruji as he was fondly known as by all his ashtanga students all over the world ( with numerous great teachers like David Life, David Swenson etc and famous stars like Madonna, Sting ). Although I am not a avid practitioner of Ashtanga, my occasional practice has brought me much benefits and much respect about the founder.
Today I went for a “refresher” Ashtanga class. It’s been a long time since I did Ashtanga yoga. I used to go for Ashtanga at least once every two weeks two years back but now it has dwindled to an occasional one every now and then.
I am always in awe of Ashtanga practitioners. It takes such dedication and discipline to be able to practice every single day ( except on full moon days ) on your own early in the morning if possible. And to remember all the poses in the series? Wow… I cannot even remember past the 2nd pose after the sun salutations. Yeah, I am that forgetful. So it just shows that I need to go for more ashtanga classes to train the mind. Maybe even Mysore so that I get to train my brain.
I finally got the chance to go back to Ashtanga Led class. It has been 1 year since I went for an ashtanga class and it was refreshing “revise” the poses again. The ashtanga teacher, Celeste is an accomplished ashtanga teacher and she is known for her strict tough discipline. I heard that she wakes up everyday at 4am to practice Ashtanga, such discipline and dedication to yoga is truly admirable.
I have been thinking… Since there is not much teachers’ classes I like in the studio now, perhaps it is about time I do some self practice. But of course, I cannot do it at home as it is really small and I probably will knock over items… the next best bet?
Mysore…
What is Mysore?
Yes, if you look it up on the internet, it tells you that it is a place in south India. It is! In fact, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois has been teaching Ashtanga yoga in his Mysore school many moons ago ( well, starting in 1930s ) This Mysore style of Ashtanga yoga is the traditional way that Guruji has been teaching Ashtanga yoga.
Check out these yoga videos online at YouTube.
This one is done in India! The source of yoga… this guy is doing ashtanga yoga. See how he floats…
PS. Did you see the monkey in the tree at the start of the video?
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