Sharath Jois and the Mysore legacy
See part two of this article here.
The world of Ashtanga Yoga was rocked this week with news of the passing of the lineage-holder Sharath Jois.
R. Sharath Jois took on the lineage and its manifold responsibilities after the passing of his grandfather K. Pattabhi Jois in 2009. Pattabhi Jois had learned and assembled the traditions and methods from his teacher, T. Krishnamacharya, in the 1930s and 40s. So much development occurred in the last 80 years, but a key moment was the establishment of the tiny Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in the Jois family home in Mysore, in 1948. For decades to come, increasing numbers of Westerners would visit and learn the primary and intermediate sequences.
It’s reasonable to say that most of what people would currently identify as “yoga” comes from this precise source.
Public perception of yoga back in the 1970s and 80s was quite different to today. Back then, early explorers like our own Eileen Hall travelled to India to imbibe this ancient knowledge. As yoga became more popular in the years following, we began to see Westerners who had a less direct connection with the source lineage create their own interpretations of the practice.
In the 1980s Beryl Bender Birch learned from one of Pattabhi Jois’ first Western students and she created the first “Power Yoga”. Then, a decade later Bryan Kest, seeking more freedom, created the second wave. Yet another “Hour of Power” was built by Baron Baptiste in the 2000s. Then there’s Rocket Yoga, a bit of a New York thing, and Matthew Sweeney’s Moon Sequence, and many more. All Ashtanga students.
These systems all use the Ashtanga Vinyasa sequences as a starting point, with poses taken out, shuffled, substituted to suit aims of the new style being created. But most crucially, the format of a yoga class changed from individual tuition in a group setting, to gym-style “led classes” with everyone doing the same movement in unison. See more on the traditional format at the end of this article.
So the responsibility placed on the shoulders of Sharath Jois was to continue propagating the last bastion of traditional yoga. That young man really was given no choice but to be the guru for thousands and thousands of people around the world.
Grappling with the weight of expectation from thousands of people, in a world where the method was regularly repurposed and rebranded, where he himself was plied with money and fame, Sharath learned on the job.
He lived a good life, no doubt, but it was certainly not easy. He worked through his own parental and social responsibilities, occasional injury, jostling within the student community and extended family, and his grandfather’s trouble in the wake of #metoo.
To navigate this with any degree of savvy is incredible.
He taught in his home city Mysore (Mysuru) for the last 20 years, for several months of each year, for eight straight hours each day. During the teaching season, he would get up at 1am to do his own practice before the students would start pouring in at 4am in the morning.
His family protected his peace, and it is a favourite memory of many students that his children would call out to him as they walked past the shala, to their school. He would stop teaching for a moment and go to the door, waving goodbye and telling them to behave.
Now he has passed away at the age of 53, only two weeks before this year’s batch of hundreds of students were due to come practice with him in Mysore. To step away from the physical at such a peak like this, well, I think it puts an exclamation mark on an incredible accomplishment and a life of service.
May we continue to benefit from and promulgate this esteemed method.
Yoga is traditionally taught one-on-one
In a Mysore style class there are multiple students in the room and one teacher giving direction to people individually, moving from person to person as needed. This is a commonsense way to deliver an education in yoga, and it is the historical method.
Nowadays this is known as a “Mysore style” class.
For anyone raised on the “led class” format where everyone does the same movement at the same time, Mysore style is a wonderful eye-opener. Even though Ashtanga Yoga is frequently known for its sequences, the Mysore style format is the real jewel in the crown of the lineage.
The essence of the Ashtanga is the concept that a group of people of all ages and levels can be in one room, each feeling the genuine edge of their physical and psychological capacities, while being individually and “privately” taught.
Scalable group classes create an excellent entry point into yoga, but the Mysore style format is where the action is, it’s where the evolution of the human spirit really occurs. Self-paced, but under the (often intense) tuition of a teacher.
The learning curve is a little steeper, it takes 10 or 20 classes to begin to memorise the sequence that the teacher issues to you. People need to be willing to feel like a sore thumb for a few weeks (or months). But it’s a fantastic process to undertake, wonderful for bringing in the ego, and the benefits are numerous. After that formative period – the student has a practice! It’s theirs for life.
The individuals’ practice accelerates astonishingly using this method simply because it’s the same sequence each time, at the right pace for that day, with tuition from someone who has been there and done that. With familiarity, the teacher gives more specific guidance to help you overcome issues in an individuals’ practice.
This is why those who do Ashtanga in the Mysore style format appear to be contortionists. People get very, very good at things when there is consistent practice, no matter how late in life they begin.
About the Author
Josh Pryor is CEO of Yoga Australia and a Level 3 Registered Teacher. A specialist in Mysore Style yoga, Josh’s approach is light-hearted and enthusiastic, encouraging practitioners to reimagine limitations of the physical body, translating into clear vision and heightened states of awareness.
