Krishnamacharya Yoga Festival
Ashtanga, viniyoga and sightseeing
By Sharon Steffensen
Photos of T. Krishnamacharya, courtesy of Krishnamacharya Yoga
Mandiram
Festival photos by Scott Peck
Part 1: “In the Footsteps of the Master,” November 12
and 13
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T. Krishnamacharya |
Yogis from every continent except Antarctica came to the Krishnamacharya
Yoga Festival, held November 12-16 at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in
San Francisco. The festival was to honor the 115th anniversary of
the birth of Sri Krishnamacharya, who is revered as the grandfather
of modern yoga.
Some of the major traditions of yoga practiced in the U.S. today
can be traced back to T. Krishnamacharya: Iyengar-style yoga, developed
by B.K.S. Iyengar; ashtanga yoga, promoted by Pattabhi Jois; and
viniyoga taught by T.K.V. Desikachar, who is Krishnamacharya’s
son. (Iyengar is Desikachar’s uncle.) All three of these teachers,
as well as Indra Devi, who passed away last year, have contributed
significantly to carrying on the legacy of their teacher, Krishnamacharya.
The conference was planned with the hope that B.K.S. Iyengar and
Pattabhi Jois would join Krishnamacharya’s son and grandson,
Kausthub Desikachar, in honoring their teacher. Mr. Iyengar declined
the invitation, having reduced his travel commitments to focus on
his work in India, but Pattabhi Jois said he would be glad to honor
his guru. With ashtanga and viniyoga traditions represented, the
conference was organized so that all conference participants would
attend classes with both Pattabhi Jois and the Desikachars. Those
who attended the conference tended to be primarily ashtanga students
or students of the Desikachars. (Students of the Desikachars have
gone on to teach the tradition which many have called viniyoga;
however, the Desikachars refer to it as simply yoga. For clarity,
we will call the style viniyoga in this article.)
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Tim Miller leads the ashtanga primary series |
A week and a half before the conference, while Pattabhi Jois was
teaching a workshop in New York City, his son-in-law died of a heart
attack. He canceled the rest of his tour, returned to India and
asked one of his senior teachers, Tim Miller from Encinitas, California,
to represent him. Although participants had been notified of the
change, most of them came anyway. At the opening ceremony Tim expressed
his deep regrets that the master could not be there, saying it would
be hard to fill his shoes. In an attempt to lighten the mood, he
said, “I had not registered for the conference--I heard it
was filled--but I had hoped by my association with Pattabhi Jois,
I could worm my way in. I had no idea it would come about in this
way.”
The first morning, after a brief introduction, the group split into
two, with half going into a room where T.K.V. Desikachar taught “The Yoga of Body and Breath.” The other half stayed
in the large auditorium, where Tim Miller led an introduction to
the ashtanga primary series. The groups were mixed with yogis of
both traditions. Those who were ashtanga yogis experienced through
the slow viniyoga movements how the breath influences the body,
and the viniyogis were challenged by the relatively fast-paced ashtanga
primary series.
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Krishnamacharya's grandson Kausthub
leads a yoga class |
The second morning, Kausthub taught “The Yoga of Breath and
Mind,” and Tim Miller led the full primary series. This time
some of the ashtanga students switched rooms and took Tim Miller’s
class again, and some viniyogis attended Kausthub’s class
and then went sightseeing, rather than take the ashtanga class.
Their comments were not surprising. A viniyogi said, “I’ve
done ashtanga and I know it’s dangerous.” Of viniyoga,
an ashtanga student said, “That was yoga?” (One ashtanga
student attended both of Tim Miller’s classes and then went
to the hotel’s health club to work out on machines!)
Therein lies the beauty of yoga in that there are a variety of styles
from which to choose, and there are benefits in yoga to fit all
types of bodies and personal goals. I am not an ashtanga yogi, but
I enjoyed both of Tim’s classes. He encouraged us to modify
the movements and to take breaks when necessary. I have to admit,
it felt good to challenge myself and to sweat, even though I prefer
viniyoga on a regular basis. That was the purpose of registering
the participants for both traditions--to broaden their experience
of yoga--but they didn’t have to like it. Kausthub, in the
opening ceremony, said that yoga is supposed to unify people, not
divide them. Both traditions emphasize that a feeling of well-being
is the result of practice.
After the morning classes, which were separated by a 45-minute tea
break, we had a wonderful four-hour lunch break so we could visit
Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown, the Haight-Ashbury and the ocean.
We were blessed with beautiful weather. At 4 P.M. we met back at
the hotel for meditation sessions with the Desikachars.
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Tim Miller and T.K.V. Desikachar |
After dinner the first night we saw two excellent films. One was
a documentary of a 2001 workshop in New York City with Pattabhi
Jois. Halfway through that workshop, 9/11 happened. The second film
was of T. Krishnamacharya with his family and many students, including
a young B.K.S. Iyengar doing a difficult series of poses. Afterward,
Kausthub joked that this is the only place you’ll see B.K.S.
doing ashtanga yoga!
On the second evening participants had the opportunity to attend
an insightful question-and-answer session with Tim Miller and Mr.
Desikachar. Following are some excerpts from that session:
Q: How can three distinctly different styles come from the same
master, T. Krishnamacharya?
A: by T.K.V. Desikachar
“Everybody who is doing Pattabhi Jois’ style is trying
to do the same posture in the same way. When he was very young,
Krishnamacharya also taught the same postures that Pattabhi Jois
is doing. All the postures are presented the same way, called vinyasa
krama, levels 1, 2 and 3. That’s what they teach young boys
and girls now. Children like challenges. They don’t want to
lie down and do deep breathing. You have to do something that will
make them grow.
“B.K.S. was taught differently. He had lung problems. Krishnamacharya
taught him certain ways to overcome his health problems. He focused
on postures and holding the positions. Pattabhi Jois lived in Madras
and was teaching yoga to university students, Iyengar was in Pune.
At age 16 and 17, B.K.S. was teaching sick people. He had to evolve
his own way. He began to study anatomy and physiology. He was a
self-made man. His approach is using props.
“Krishnamacharya taught different people different things.
I was lucky. I started at age 23. I could ask my father any questions.
I started learning in 1961 and continued until he died in 1989.
My teaching is based on the comprehensive teachings of my father.
I was an understudy. We lived in the same house, and had a strong
connection. I am teaching what my father taught me for 29 years.
“Pattabhi Jois has followed Krishnamacharya’s teachings,
which he learned when he was very young, and he meticulously practiced
the same teaching. B.K.S. had to develop his own method. I am just
a shadow of my father.”
Tim Miller said that he teaches exactly the same way that Pattabhi
Jois taught him, adding that in the 25 years there have been some
slight variations in Pattabhi Jois’ teaching.
Q: Why do we as yogis have such a fascination with contorting our
bodies?
A: by Tim Miller
“I can only speak for myself--my own fascination for contortion.
In the ashtanga yoga vinyasa system, there are six different sequences
of postures that are progressively more challenging and designed
to do certain things. The first sequence is to restore the body
to a good state of health. The poses are relatively simple. In terms
of my own practice, through continued practice, it began to get
easier. As it got easier, my mind would tend to wander. Then more
difficult poses are introduced to build more strength, balance and
focus to keep the attention fresh so the mind doesn’t wander.
“The second series works more on the nervous system, whereas
the first series works on the digestive system. It is a deeper level
and the feeling is different from doing the first series. Series
3–6 fall under a heading of divine stability. In the advanced
series, you are encouraged to develop a great sense of core strength
and you begin to realize the strength comes from the mind. In some
of these advanced series you are required to do postures that require
flexibility, strength and balance all at the same time. It is an
attempt to maintain your focus.
“The value of making practice more difficult is to keep the
intention involved in the practice. It is not really contortion.
I don’t know if there is any value to putting your foot behind
your head, though I have put my foot behind my head thousands of
times, and I don’t know that it has done that much for me.
Make sure your attention is correct so the opening comes in the
right place. It’s mostly about paying attention.”
Ending the evening, Tim thanked everybody for their acceptance of
him. Pattabhi Jois had said that the teaching is more important
than the teacher. Tim was sorry we were not able to receive Pattabhi
Jois’ darshan (blessing) personally but hoped that possibly
he had been able to bring a little of it.
Kausthub concurred and said that the spirit of Krishnamacharya was
there. “Yoga is too big to fit into one style,” he said.
Kausthub and his father ended the evening in a chant for world peace.
The festival was officially closed, to be followed on the weekend
by “The Rainbow of Yoga,” which included a variety of
classes taught by students of the Desikachars. But on Friday afternoon,
we were treated to a special three-hour “optional” session
in which Mr. Desikachar talked at length about his father and his
life growing up with him. We were very moved by his candid, personal
sharing, and some of us wished afterward that this session had not
been optional, but perhaps part of the opening ceremony to be heard
by everyone.
Part 2: Chanting, Chakras, Meditation and Much
More
By Julie Deife
For the second part of the Krishnamacharya Yoga Festival, which
was called “The Rainbow of Yoga,” more attendees arrived
to take the places of those who couldn’t stay for the weekend.
I was one of the new arrivals, eagerly soaking up the excitement
and information I had missed, trying to catch up while at the same
time move into the flow of the event quickly.
Many of us overlapped on the evening of November 14 when T.K.V.
Desikachar conducted a Q & A. The spacious ballroom was packed
with yogis and yoginis on mats facing the simple stage. The session
ended with Desikachar leading us in a simple chant that turned out
to be a test--and a lesson. He asked us to listen carefully, then
repeat his exact intonations. “So hum, so hum, so hum,”
he chanted and we repeated again and again. Each time he varied
the pitch, forcing us to listen carefully to get it right. The lesson:
Don’t trust your memories to determine your next steps.
That proved to be a huge clue to what the ensuing two days would
be like: intense in a methodical sort of way. Each of us attended
five one-hour classes each day; at each time slot we had six classes
to choose from. All were taught either by Kausthub Desikachar or
one of 11 students from Germany, Canada, Sweden, Brazil, the U.S.
and Mexico, all of whom study with him regularly at his center in
Madras, India.
Robert Birnberg from Los Angeles was one of the 11, and I opted
to study with him first on Saturday morning. The class was called
“Bhavana based Asana Practice.” Bhavana (visualization)
is a tool used to enhance attention and stimulate certain effects;
bha means “to become.” Robert told us that a common
myth about yoga is that we should always strive to be in the present.
He went on to point out that the Yoga Sutras discuss past, present
and future and that memory and visualization are enhanced by certain
yoga practices. “Everything that exists in the world today
was once somebody’s bhavana,” said Robert. Bhavana can
be used to intensify the effects of pranayama, meditation or asana.
Before beginning the asanas, he asked us to select a personal bhavana
and “make it concrete and specific.” We moved into a
sequence consisting of forward bend, lunge, bridge, seated forward
fold and twist. We began the specific breathing routine of inhaling
deeply as the arms flowed upward, then a long exhale preceded
the next movement. Actions followed breath, attention always on
the bhavana.
Having established a rhythm and focus in this class, I went on to
three consecutive chakra classes: “Chakras and Pranayama,”
“Chakras and Meditation,” “Chakras and Mantras.”
Each began with the viniyoga style of asana, so anyone who thought
they might not be getting a big enough hit of asana during this
portion of the conference was quickly proven wrong. The strict breath
pattern with long holds is as challenging as any asana technique
I have studied. By the beginning of the third class, we all laughed
when Pilar Enriquez, our leader from Mexico, apologized for “having
to put you through this again.” In this style, not only do
the asanas begin the session, they also precede any new technique
introduced, such that in each of the chakra classes fully half of
the time was spent in asana preparations.
For example, we flowed through surya namaskar (sun salutations)
in preparation for the pranayama technique: an inhale that actually
comprised three inhales and an exhale of three parts, building up
to seven inhales before seven exhales. We were told that a more
traditional format would be to recite mantras, some quite lengthy,
on the pause before beginning the regulated exhale. Apparently the
instructors didn’t think we were quite ready for this technique.
Chakras were described as mirrors that could help us understand
where in our bodies we feel suffering. We completed an asana
prep to encourage surrender; starting from kneeling pose, sitting
on our heels, we raised up our arms, reciting the mantra “namaha
namo namaha;” then we moved onto all fours followed by child’s
pose; next, going into upward dog we chanted “namo namo namaha;”
finally, in silence, we went back into child’s pose, then
raised the arms up again and returned to sitting. Now we were ready
to meditate on the sun in each chakra, looking for where our problems
were expressing themselves and visualizing the sun burning them
away.
On Sunday I had decided to focus on meditation classes. I was especially
interested in the differences between meditating on the gross and
the subtle. In a class with Kauthhub, after the obligatory asana
preps, which this time included numerous lunges and squats, we formed
a large circle and directed our attention to one of three large
vases of flowers that had been placed in the center. Kausthub said
that the flowers were a tool that would help us focus our attention
and improve our ability to meditate. We would be working with something
external--not a symbol but a real thing; hence, meditating on the
gross. In the next session we practiced meditating on the subtle
with a very different tool--symbols and imagery in a traditional
Indian myth that he related while we lay on the floor with our eyes
closed. In one of the exercises, we held our visual attention on
the bouquet of our choosing while inhaling five seconds, holding
five seconds, exhaling five seconds and holding five seconds; we
repeated this 12 times. We were instructed to visualize receiving
on the inhale and offering on the exhale. Closing our eyes and visualizing
the bouquet, we repeated the breath pattern eight times before lying
down, with the bouquet still in our memories. On our backs we repeated
the pattern of visualizing the flowers in our chests.
Between classes there was time to learn why others were in attendance.
Shannon Mikkelson from Calgary told me she was a “hard core
ashtangi of seven years” and a bhakti (practitioner of bhakti
yoga, the yoga of devotion). She emphasized that she loved the ashtanga
because of what it does for her physical body but that she was searching
for answers about her path. The opportunity to explore more than
one tradition here at the festival was extremely rewarding for her.
Simultaneously tired and energized, my pool of yoga knowledge
and relationship with the practice had been enhanced by the teachings
I’d received. Indeed, I think I am getting closer to understanding
T.K.V. Desikachar’s incantation, “Yoga is relationship.”
[side bar]
T. Krishnamacharya – The Legend
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T. Krishnamacharya |
Born in 1888,Tirumalai Krishnamacharya is regarded as the grandfather of modern yoga. Today his teachings have become very popular through his students, especially T.K.V. Desikachar, B.K.S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois and Indra Devi.
T. Krishnamacharya, a direct descendant of Nathamuni, a ninth century yogi, began his formal education at the age of six, at the Parakala Math in Mysore. His thirst for knowledge inspired him to travel widely and learn all aspects of the Vedic tradition from the best teachers in India. Due to his perseverance and eagerness, he mastered all the philosophical schools of Indian learning, ayurveda and Sanskrit.
At the age of 28, he trekked to Lake Manasarovar at the foot of Mt. Kailash in the Himalayas to learn yoga from Rama Mohana Brahmachari. He left Manasarovar seven and a half years later, at the command of his guru, to share his wisdom with and for the benefit of the society at large. Being a master of several disciplines, Krishnamacharya was offered high scholastic positions in great institutes of learning and in the courts of kings, but he chose to be a teacher of yoga in order to honor the promise he made to his guru.
On many occasions he demonstrated to the world the great potential of yoga, in different areas of health and self-control. His ability to stop his heartbeat for over two minutes, using yogic practices, was indeed a notable example.
Through his teachings, T. Krishnamacharya always insisted on using the spirit of yoga to enhance the quality of others’ lives. He never insisted on one particular technique, but rather emphasized that techniques must be evolved to suit the needs of the individual at the given moment. Krishnamacharya lived for over 100 years and continued to teach until the last few days of his life. |
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