Ashtanga (Vinyasa) yoga
Ashtanga (Vinyasa) Yoga is an Indian Hatha Yoga system in the tradition of T. Krishnamacharya , which mainly includes Asana (postures) and Pranayama (breath control) for western students . Meditation was very rarely taught to Western students. Today it is z. B. taught by members of the family of Krishna Pattabhi Jois in Ashtanga Yoga Nilaya (school in Mysore , India ) or by Manju Pattabhi Jois (in Encinitas, California, USA) and is one of the most important and sophisticated, but also most difficult systems of Hatha Yoga . This method of Ashtanga Yoga means, among other things, to synchronize the breath with six (in an older counting method, partly still in use today: four, in the systematics originally taught by Krishna Pattabhi Jois: three) defined series of dynamic yoga postures. Usually only the first series, “Yoga Chikitsa” (Sanskrit for “yoga therapy”) or even only part of it is taught. Many modern hatha yoga styles (all “dynamic”, “power”, “vinyasa”, “flow” etc. styles) are derived from this yoga.
This school of Hatha Yoga should not be confused with the more philosophical system of Raja Yoga , which is mainly based on the "Yoga Sutras" of Patanjali and for which the expression "Ashtanga Yoga" is also used. If you look closely, the Hatha Yoga system (with the two limbs Asana and Pranayama) is a part of the philosophical system (with the eight limbs Yama , Niyama , Asana , Pranayama , Pratyahara , Dharana , Dhyana , Samadhi ).
The most famous Indian students are Manju Pattabhi Jois and Sharath Rangaswamy (the son and grandson of Krishna Pattabhi Jois). Well-known Western students include David Williams, Nancy Gilgoff, David Swenson, Tim Miller, John Scott, Richard Freeman, and Lino Miele.
history
It is not known how old the system is and how long it has been passed down orally. According to the Sanskrit and yoga scholar Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888–1989), the oldest written source for this Ashtanga yoga system is the manuscript " Yoga Korunta " (Sanskrit for yoga groups ) by Vamana Rishi, who wrote it Is said to have been described on palm leaves for centuries. Krishnamacharya claims to have found a copy of the manuscript in the Calcutta library . From 1927 he taught this yoga to Krishna Pattabhi Jois and others. From 1937 KP Jois taught this yoga himself at the Sanskrit College in Mysore. In 1948 he founded the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in his home in Mysore. In 1964 he had his first western student ( André van Lysebeth ). In 1973 he first began introducing a Westerner, David Williams, to the full system. It was only in the 1990s that it became better known through celebrities like Madonna and Sting . Today there are well-trained teachers for this in most western countries, including Germany.
Sources and literature
- K. Pattabhi Jois: Yoga Mala . North Point Press, New York 2002
- David Swenson: Ashtanga Yoga, The Exercise Manual . Ashtanga Yoga Productions, Houston 2008
- Lino Miele: Ashtanga Yoga, Under the Guidance of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois . Angelo Miele, Roma 1994