Kickin it old school

Sri Tirumala Krishnamacharya (1888-1989) is considered the grandfather of modern yoga. His students include many of today’s most influential teachers: Sri BKS Iyengar, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, the late Indra Devi and Krishnamacharya’s own sons T.K.V. Desikachar and T.K. Sribhashyam. Krishnamacharya “believed Yoga to be India’s greatest gift to the world.” It is said that his greatest strength was the ability to take “the ancient teaching of Yoga and Indian philosophy” and combine them within a modern day framework. By doing this he was able to revive the practice of yoga in a manner that is as “accurate and powerful” as it is “practical and relevant”.

Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, we are now able to see Krishnamacharya in action. It really is amazing to see all the accoutrements of modern day yoga stripped away (no fancy mats, no aesthetically pleasing studio, no cute outfits unless you are into loin cloths). You can see the asanas and pranayama techniques in their purest form. Watching this video really says something about how far we’ve come. We either need to give some serious props to the marketing skills of guys like Iyengar and Jois who brought Yoga to the West, or acknowledge that there really is a growing consciousness in the world. I like to think it is the latter! Take a few minutes today to check out where all this Yoga stuff came from. Namaste.