109-414: Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (18 November 1888 – 28 February 1989) was an Indian yoga teacher, ayurvedic healer and scholar. He is seen as one of the most important gurus of modern yoga , and is often called " Father of Modern Yoga " for his wide influence on the development of postural yoga . Like earlier pioneers influenced by physical culture such as Yogendra and Kuvalayananda , he contributed to
218-412: A strict vegetarian diet , excluding stimulants such as tea, coffee or alcohol. Their yoga was taught without payment; gurus were supported by gifts and the philosophy was anti-consumerist. According to one theory, the system of physical education practised in the 19th-century Young Men's Christian Association , adapted by ex-military gymnasts for the schooling system in colonial British India , became
327-658: A boy in 1934. Krishnamacharya was born on 18 November 1888 in Muchukundapura, in the Chitradurga district of present-day Karnataka , in South India , to an orthodox Telugu Iyengar family. His parents were Tirumalai Srinivasa Tatacharya, a well-known teacher of the Vedas , and Ranganayakiamma. Krishnamacharya was the eldest of six children. He had two brothers and three sisters. At the age of six, he underwent
436-480: A city of hundreds of temples and a highly regarded North Indian center of traditional learning. While at university, he studied logic and Sanskrit, working with Brahmashri Shivakumar Shastry, "one of the greatest grammarians of the age". He stated that he learned the Mimamsa from Brahmasri Trilinga Rama Shastri. In 1914, he once again left for Banaras to attend classes at Queens College, where he claimed that he earned
545-490: A combination of standing poses such as Trikonasana, sitting poses like Dandasana, and balancing poses like Navasana; it may end with some reclining and inverted poses like Setu Bandha Sarvangasana and Viparita Karani , a reclining twist, and finally Savasana for relaxation and in some styles also for a guided meditation . A typical session in most styles lasts from an hour to an hour and a half, whereas in Mysore style yoga,
654-485: A fixed pattern of 2 breathing exercises and 24 asanas. Iyengar Yoga emphasises correct alignment in the postures, working slowly, if necessary with props, and ending with relaxation. Sivananda Yoga focuses more on spiritual practice, with 12 basic poses, chanting in Sanskrit , pranayama breathing exercises, meditation , and relaxation in each class, and importance is placed on vegetarian diet . Jivamukti Yoga uses
763-660: A flowing vinyasa style of asanas accompanied by music, chanting, and the reading of scriptures. Kundalini yoga emphasises the awakening of kundalini energy through meditation, pranayama, chanting, and suitable asanas. Alongside the yoga brands, many teachers, for example in England, offer an unbranded "hatha yoga", often mainly to women , creating their own combinations of poses. These may be in flowing sequences ( vinyasas ), and new variants of poses are often created. The gender imbalance has sometimes been marked; in Britain in
872-590: A half years studying the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali , learning asanas and pranayama , and studying the therapeutic aspects of yoga . He was supposedly made to memorize the whole of the Yoga Korunta in the Gurkha language, though no evidence of that text exists. As tradition holds, at the end of his studies with the guru, Krishnamacharya asked what his payment would be. The master responded that Krishnamacharya
981-400: A highly specific three-part structure that matches Arnold van Gennep 's 1908 definition of the basic structure of a ritual : 1. a separation phase (detaching from the world outside); 2. a transition or liminal state; and 3. an incorporation or postliminal state. For the separation phase, the yoga session begins by going into
1090-437: A job as a lecturer at Vivekananda College. He also began to acquire yoga students from diverse backgrounds and in various physical conditions, which required him to adapt his teaching to each student's abilities. For the remainder of his teaching life, Krishnamacharya continued to refine this individualized approach, which came to be known as Viniyoga . Many considered Krishnamacharya a yoga master, but he continued to call himself
1199-519: A list of asanas that substantially overlaps with Iyengar's, sometimes with different names for the same poses. Jois's asana names almost exactly match Iyengar's. Three changes around the 1960s allowed yoga as exercise to become a worldwide commodity . People were for the first time able to travel freely around the world: consumers could go to the east; Indians could migrate to Europe and America; and business people and religious leaders could go where they liked to sell their wares. Secondly, people across
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#17328016419251308-601: A master named Yogeshwara Ramamohana Brahmachari, who was rumored to live in the mountains beyond Nepal and had supposedly mastered 7000 asanas. For this venture, Krishnamacharya had to obtain the permission of the Viceroy in Simla, Lord Irwin, who was then suffering from diabetes. At the request of the Viceroy, Krishnamacharya travelled to Simla and taught him yogic practices for six months. The viceroy's health improved and he developed respect and affection for Krishnamacharya. In 1919,
1417-517: A means of accessing the spiritual... they use their asana practice as a vehicle for transcendence ." He cites yoga teacher Vanda Scaravelli 's 1991 Awakening the Spine as an instance of such transcendence: "We learn to elongate and extend, rather than to pull and push... [and so] an unexpected opening follows, an opening from within us, giving life to the spine, as though the body had to reverse and awaken into another dimension." In mindful yoga ,
1526-437: A neutral and if possible a secluded practice hall; worries, responsibilities, ego and shoes are all left outside; and the yoga teacher is treated with deference. The actual yoga practice forms the transition state, combining practical instructions with theory, made more or less explicit. The practitioner learns "to feel and to perceive in novel ways, most of all inwardly"; to "become silent and receptive" to help to get away from
1635-565: A number of teaching certificates. During the first year he had little or no financial support from his family. In order to eat, he followed the rules that were laid down for religious beggars: he was to approach only seven households each day and offer a prayer "in return for wheat flour to mix with water for cakes". Krishnamacharya eventually left Queens College to study the ṣaḍdarśana (six darshanas) in Vedic philosophy at Patna University , in Bihar,
1744-592: A qualifying test (RET) followed by an interview. Since 1974, the university also has a Directorate of Distance Education for conducting postgraduate studies in distance education. Central Library of the Patna University was set up in 1919. Besides the central library, there are also departmental libraries in each department of the university. The university library has a collection of more than 4,00,000 volumes which include books, journals, manuscripts, patents, and other valuable collections. Patna University
1853-432: A reminder of their forthcoming deaths. Equipment, too, was scanty; sometimes yogins used a tiger or deer skin as a rug to meditate on. Haṭha yoga made use of a small number of asanas, mainly seated; in particular, there were very few standing poses before 1900. They were practised slowly, often holding a position for long periods. The practice of asanas was a minor preparatory aspect of spiritual work. Yogins followed
1962-823: A scientific and medical basis for yogic practices. In 1925, Kuvalayananda's rival Paramahansa Yogananda , having moved from India to America, set up the Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles, and taught yoga, including asanas, breathing, chanting and meditation, to "tens of thousands of Americans". In 1923, Yogananda's younger brother, Bishnu Charan Ghosh , founded the Ghosh College of Yoga and Physical Culture in Calcutta. Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888–1989), "the father of modern yoga", claimed to have spent seven years with one of
2071-555: A secular context, the journalists Nell Frizzell and Reni Eddo-Lodge have debated (in The Guardian ) whether Western yoga classes represent " cultural appropriation ." In Frizzell's view, yoga has become a new entity, a long way from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and while some practitioners are culturally insensitive, others treat it with more respect. Eddo-Lodge agrees that Western yoga is far from Patanjali, but argues that
2180-625: A spiritual path before they start yoga, replied "Certainly not. A person's spiritual life is his or her own affair. People come to yoga for all sorts of reasons. High on the list is health and the desire to become de-stressed." Kimberley J. Pingatore, studying attitudes among American yoga practitioners, found that they did not view the categories of religious, spiritual, and secular as alternatives. However, Haṭha yoga's "ecstatic ... transcendent ... possibly subversive" elements remain in yoga used as exercise. The yoga teacher and author Jessamyn Stanley writes that modern Western society "does not respect
2289-599: A state in eastern India. He received a scholarship to study Ayurveda under Vaidya Krishnakumar of Bengal. Krishnamacharya claimed that he was invited to the coronation of the Rajah of Dikkanghat (a principality within Darbhanga ), at which he defeated a scholar called Bihari Lal in a debate, and received rewards and honors from the Rajah. He stated that his stay in Banaras lasted 11 years. He further claimed that he studied with
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#17328016419252398-541: A student because he felt that he was always "studying, exploring and experimenting" with the practice. Throughout his life, Krishnamacharya refused to take credit for his innovative teachings but instead attributed the knowledge to his guru or to ancient texts. Although his knowledge and teaching has influenced yoga throughout the world, Krishnamacharya never left his native India. Yoga Journal wrote: You may never have heard of him but Tirumalai Krishnamacharya influenced or perhaps even invented your yoga. Whether you practice
2507-635: A way of life. Patna University Patna University is a public state university in Patna, Bihar , India. It was established on 1 October 1917 during the British Raj . It is the first university in Bihar and the seventh oldest university in the Indian subcontinent in the modern era. It offers different undergraduate and postgraduate degree level courses. Patna University was established by an Act of
2616-437: A week, or vigorous aerobic exercise for 20 minutes three days a week. Treated as a form of exercise, a complete yoga session with asanas and pranayama provides 3.3 ± 1.6 METs, on average a moderate workout. Surya Namaskar ranged from a light 2.9 to a vigorous 7.4 METs; the average for a session of yoga practice without Surya Namaskar was a light 2.9 ± 0.8 METs. Since the mid-20th century, yoga has been used, especially in
2725-483: A widely shared distaste for India's wandering yogins. Yoga asanas were brought to America by the yoga teacher Yogendra . He founded a branch of The Yoga Institute in New York state in 1919, starting to make Haṭha yoga acceptable, seeking scientific evidence for its health benefits, and writing books such as his 1928 Yoga Asanas Simplified and his 1931 Yoga Personal Hygiene . The flowing sequences of salute to
2834-520: A yoga therapist. The Maharaja met Krishnamacharya and was so impressed by the young man's demeanor, authority, and scholarship that he engaged Krishnamacharya to teach him and his family. Initially, Krishnamacharya taught yoga at the Mysore Palace . He soon became a trusted advisor of the Maharajah, and was given the recognition of Asthana Vidwan — the intelligentsia of the palace. During
2943-483: Is steady and comfortable , but no further elaboration or list of postures is given. Postures were not central in any of the older traditions of yoga; posture practice was revived in the 1920s by yoga gurus including Yogendra and Kuvalayananda , who emphasised its health benefits. The flowing sequences of Surya Namaskar (Salute to the Sun) were pioneered by the Rajah of Aundh , Bhawanrao Shrinivasrao Pant Pratinidhi , in
3052-597: Is acceptable as long as they are aware of modern yoga's origins, others like Paul Gosbee stating that yoga's purpose is to "open up chakras " and release kundalini or "serpent power" which in Gosbee's view is "from Satan", making "Christian yoga ... a contradiction." Church halls are sometimes used for yoga, and in 2015 a yoga group was banned from a church hall in Bristol by the local parochial church council , stating that yoga represented "alternative spiritualities." In
3161-509: Is an affiliating institution and has jurisdiction over the Patna city. Eleven colleges are affiliated with this university. The university and its affiliated colleges and institutions offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses in fields including law, teacher training, science, arts, commerce, medicine, and engineering. Admission in these courses is mainly based on the result of common entrance test (CET) conducted by Patna University. The aspirants for research-level programs have to sit for
3270-599: Is being stolen from one place by another. Yoga as exercise has been popularized in the Western world by claims about its health benefits. The history of such claims was reviewed by William J. Broad in his 2012 book The Science of Yoga ; he states that the claims that yoga was scientific began as Hindu nationalist posturing. Among the early exponents was Kuvalayananda , who attempted to demonstrate scientifically in his purpose-built 1924 laboratory at Kaivalyadhama that Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) specifically rehabilitated
3379-597: Is complex and contested; some Christians have rejected it on the grounds that it is covertly Hindu, while the "Take Back Yoga" campaign insisted that it was necessarily connected to Hinduism. Scholars have identified multiple trends in the changing nature of yoga since the end of the 19th century. Yoga as exercise has developed into a worldwide multi-billion dollar business, involving classes, certification of teachers , clothing such as yoga pants , books, videos, equipment including yoga mats , and yoga tourism . The Sanskrit noun योग yoga , cognate with English " yoke ",
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3488-479: Is continued in post-lineage yoga , which is practised outside any major school or guru 's lineage. Yoga as exercise consists largely but not exclusively of the practice of asanas. The numbers of asanas described (not just named) in some major Haṭha yoga and modern texts are shown in the table; all the Haṭha yoga text dates are approximate. Asanas can be classified in different ways, which may overlap: for example, by
3597-520: Is derived from the root yuj "to attach, join, harness, yoke". Its ancient spiritual and philosophical goal was to unite the human spirit with the divine. The branch of yoga that makes use of physical postures is Haṭha yoga . The Sanskrit word हठ haṭha means "force", alluding to its use of physical techniques. Haṭha yoga flourished among secretive ascetic groups such as Nath yogins in South Asia from c. 1100-c. 1900. Instruction
3706-478: Is effective at least in the short term for both neck pain and low back pain. A review of six studies found benefits for depression, but noted that the studies' methods imposed limitations, while a clinical practice guideline from the American Cancer Society stated that yoga may reduce anxiety and stress in people with cancer. A 2015 systematic review called for more rigour in clinical trials of
3815-730: Is evidence that practice of asanas improves birth outcomes, physical health, anxiety and worry in older adults, quality of life measures in the elderly, whilst also reducing hypertension . From its origins in the 1920s, yoga used as exercise has had a "spiritual" aspect which is not necessarily neo-Hindu; its assimilation with Harmonial Gymnastics is an example. Jain calls yoga as exercise "a sacred fitness regimen set apart from day-to-day life." The yoga therapist Ann Swanson writes that "scientific principles and evidence have demystified [yoga, but] ... surprisingly, this made my transformative experiences feel even more magical." Yoga practice sessions have, notes yoga scholar Elizabeth De Michelis ,
3924-399: Is in a particular area of the body, he assumed that many other systems in the body, both mental and physical, would also be affected. At some point during or after an initial examination, Krishnamacharya would ask if the patient was willing to follow his guidance. This question was important to a patient's treatment, because Krishnamacharya felt that if the person could not trust him fully there
4033-459: Is measured in units of metabolic equivalent of task (MET). Less than 3 METs counts as light exercise; 3 to 6 METs is moderate; 6 or over is vigorous. American College of Sports Medicine and American Heart Association guidelines count periods of at least 10 minutes of moderate MET level activity towards their recommended daily amounts of exercise. For healthy adults aged 18 to 65, the guidelines recommend moderate exercise for 30 minutes five days
4142-579: Is now held annually in Los Angeles. By the 21st century, yoga as exercise had become a flourishing business, professionally marketed . A 2016 Ipsos study reported that 36.7 million Americans practise yoga, making the business of classes, clothing and equipment worth $ 16 billion in America, compared to $ 10 billion in 2012, and $ 80 billion worldwide. 72 percent of practitioners were women. By 2010, Yoga Journal , founded in 1975, had some 350,000 subscribers and over 1,300,000 readers. Fashion has entered
4251-559: The Yoga Yajnavalkya . Whereas Krishnamacharya was deeply devoted to Vaishnavism , he also respected his students' varying religious beliefs, or nonbeliefs. A former student recalls that while leading a meditation, Krishnamacharya instructed students to close their eyes and "think of God. If not God, the sun. If not the sun, your parents." As a result of the teachings he received from his father and other instructors, Krishnamacharya approached every student as "absolutely unique", in
4360-452: The Hindu scriptures , and retreating from society. From the 1970s, yoga as exercise spread across many countries of the world, changing as it did so, and becoming "an integral part of (primarily) urban cultures worldwide", to the extent that the word yoga in the Western world now means the practice of asanas, typically in a class. For example, Iyengar Yoga reached South Africa in 1979 with
4469-731: The Imperial Legislative Council passed in September 1917. It started the journey in October 1917 as an affiliating and examining body when JG Jennings took charge of this university as the first vice-chancellor. In the modern era of India, it is one of the oldest universities in this region. Later in 1919, the governing bodies of the university—the Senate and the Syndicate—were formed. The iconic Wheeler Senate House of
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4578-598: The Vyayama Dipika , a Western-based gymnastics manual written by the Mysore Palace gymnasts. Mark Singleton argues that he was influenced by the 20th century yoga pioneers Yogendra and Kuvalayananda , and that all three "seamlessly incorporate[d] elements of physical culture into their systems of 'yoga'." Krishnamacharya, unlike earlier yoga gurus such as Yogendra , "severely criticized his students" including his young brother-in-law, B. K. S. Iyengar. He
4687-462: The endocrine glands (the organs that secrete hormones ). He found no evidence to support such a claim, for this or any other asana. The impact of yoga as exercise on physical and mental health has been a topic of systematic studies (evaluating primary research), although a 2014 report found that, despite its common practice and possible health benefits, it remained "extremely understudied." A systematic review of six studies found that Iyengar yoga
4796-451: The esoteric or spiritual at all", making people skeptical about any alignment of yoga as practised in the West with " chakras or spirituality". Stanley states that it is possible to start a practice without considering such matters, and that styles such as Bikram do not mention them, but that a deepening yoga practice will bring "an overall evolution of the self." Syman suggests that part of
4905-445: The fashion house Gucci , noting the "halo of chic" around yoga-practising celebrities such as Madonna and Sting , produced a yoga mat costing $ 850 and a matching carry case in leather for $ 350. In India, participants typically wear loose-fitting clothes for yoga classes, while serious practitioners in yoga ashrams practice an arduous combination of exercise, meditation, selfless service, vegetarian diet and celibacy, making yoga
5014-443: The "Hindu origins position." Farmer writes that Syman identifies a Protestant streak in yoga as exercise, "with its emphasis on working the body. This effortful yoga is, she says, paradoxically, both 'an indulgence and a penance'." Authorities differ on whether yoga is purely exercise. For example, in 2012, New York state decided that yoga was exempt from state sales tax as it did not constitute "true exercise", whereas in 2014
5123-582: The "ego-dominated rationality of modern Western life." The final relaxation forms the incorporation phase; the practitioner relaxes in Savasana , just as dictated by the Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.32. The posture offers "an exercise in sense withdrawal and mental quietening, and thus ... a first step towards meditative practice," a cleansing and healing process, and even a symbolic death and moment of self-renewal. Iyengar writes that savasana puts
5232-499: The 1920s, Krishnamacharya held many demonstrations to stimulate popular interest in yoga. These included suspending his pulse, stopping cars with his bare hands, performing difficult asanas, and lifting heavy objects with his teeth. The Palace archive records show that the Maharaja was interested in the promotion of yoga and continually sent Krishnamacharya around the country to give lectures and demonstrations. In 1931, Krishnamacharya
5341-654: The 1920s. It and many standing poses used in gymnastics were incorporated into yoga by the yoga teacher Krishnamacharya in Mysore from the 1930s to the 1950s. Several of his students went on to found influential schools of yoga: Pattabhi Jois created Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga , which in turn led to Power Yoga ; B. K. S. Iyengar created Iyengar Yoga , and defined a modern set of yoga postures in his 1966 book Light on Yoga ; and Indra Devi taught yoga as exercise to many celebrities in Hollywood. Other major schools founded in
5450-542: The 1970s, women formed between 70 and 90 percent of most yoga classes, as well as most of the yoga teachers. The tradition begun by Krishnamacharya survives at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Chennai ; his son T. K. V. Desikachar and his grandson Kausthub Desikachar continued to teach in small groups, coordinating asana movements with the breath, and personalising the teaching according to
5559-624: The 20th century include Bikram Yoga and Sivananda Yoga . Yoga as exercise spread across America and Europe, and then the rest of the world. Haṭha yoga's non-postural practices such as its purifications are much reduced or absent in yoga as exercise. The term "hatha yoga" is also in use with a different meaning, a gentle unbranded yoga practice, independent of the major schools, often mainly for women . Practices vary from wholly secular, for exercise and relaxation, through to undoubtedly spiritual, whether in traditions like Sivananda Yoga or in personal rituals. Yoga as exercise's relationship to Hinduism
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#17328016419255668-465: The British, a belief reinforced by then-current ideas of Lamarckism and eugenics . This culture was taken up from the 1880s to the early 20th century by Indian nationalists such as Tiruka , who taught exercises and unarmed combat techniques under the guise of yoga. The German bodybuilder Eugen Sandow was acclaimed on his 1905 visit to India, at which time he was already a "cultural hero" in
5777-609: The District of Columbia was clear that yoga premises were subject to the local sales tax on premises "the purpose of which is physical exercise." Similar debates have taken place in a Muslim context; for example, restrictions on yoga have been lifted in Saudi Arabia. In Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur permits yoga classes provided they do not include chanting or meditation. The yoga teacher and author Mira Mehta , asked by Yoga Magazine in 2010 whether she preferred her pupils to commit to
5886-592: The Indian tradition." The contemporary yoga practice is the result of "radical innovation and experimentation" of its Indian heritage. Jain writes that equating yoga as exercise with hatha yoga "does not account for the historical sources": asanas "only became prominent in modern yoga in the early twentieth century as a result of the dialogical exchanges between Indian reformers and nationalists and Americans and Europeans interested in health and fitness". In short, Jain writes, "modern yoga systems ... bear little resemblance to
5995-473: The Patna University was built in 1926 for which Raja Devaki Nandan Prasad of Munger donated the money. When the university was first established it had jurisdiction over all higher educational institutes of Bihar, Odisha, and the Kingdom of Nepal. It oversaw examinations for educational institutions ranging from school finals to the postgraduate levels . This situation continued almost for four decades, until
6104-631: The Russian Eugenie V. Peterson, known as Indra Devi (from 1937), who moved to Hollywood , taught yoga to celebrities, and wrote the bestselling book Forever Young, Forever Healthy ; Pattabhi Jois (from 1927), who founded the flowing style Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga whose Mysore style makes use of repetitions of Surya Namaskar, in 1948, which in turn led to Power Yoga ; and B.K.S. Iyengar (from 1933), his brother-in-law, who founded Iyengar Yoga , with its first centre in Britain . Together they made yoga popular as exercise and brought it to
6213-401: The Viceroy made arrangements for Krishnamacharya's travel to Tibet, supplying three aides and taking care of the expenses. After two and a half months of walking, Krishnamacharya arrived at Sri Brahmachari's school, supposedly a cave at the foot of Mount Kailash , where the master lived with his wife and three children. Under Brahmachari's tutelage, Krishnamacharya claimed to have spent seven and
6322-450: The Western world became disillusioned with organised religion , and started to look for alternatives. And thirdly, yoga became an uncontroversial form of exercise suitable for mass consumption, unlike the more religious or meditational forms of modern yoga such as Siddha Yoga or Transcendental Meditation . This involved the dropping of many traditional requirements on the practice of yoga, such as giving alms , being celibate , studying
6431-449: The Western world has continued to grow rapidly. By 2012, there were at least 19 widespread styles from Ashtanga Yoga to Viniyoga . These emphasise different aspects including aerobic exercise , precision in the asanas, and spirituality in the Haṭha yoga tradition. These aspects can be illustrated by schools with distinctive styles. For example, Bikram Yoga has an aerobic exercise style with rooms heated to 105 °F (41 °C) and
6540-487: The Western world, as physical exercise for fitness and suppleness, rather than for what the historian of American yoga, Stefanie Syman , calls any "overtly Hindu" purpose. In 2010, this ambiguity triggered what the New York Times called "a surprisingly fierce debate in the gentle world of yoga". Some saffronising Indian-Americans campaigned to "Take Back Yoga" by informing Americans and other Westerners about
6649-496: The Western world. Iyengar's 1966 book Light on Yoga popularised yoga asanas worldwide with what the scholar-practitioner Norman Sjoman calls its "clear no-nonsense descriptions and the obvious refinement of the illustrations", though the degree of precision it calls for is missing from earlier yoga texts. Other Indian schools of yoga took up the new style of asanas, but continued to emphasize Haṭha yoga's spiritual goals and practices to varying extents. The Divine Life Society
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#17328016419256758-476: The attraction of Bikram and Ashtanga Yoga was that under the sweat, the commitment, the schedule, the physical demands and even the verbal abuse was a hard-won ecstasy, "a deep feeling of vitality, a feeling of pure energy, an unbowed posture, and mental acuity." That context has led to a division of opinion among Christians , some like Alexandra Davis of the Evangelical Alliance asserting that it
6867-617: The belief that the most important aspect of teaching yoga was that the student be "taught according to his or her individual capacity at any given time". For Krishnamacharya, the path of yoga meant different things for different people, and each person ought to be taught in a manner that he or she understood clearly. Krishnamacharya's students included many of 20th century yoga's most renowned and influential teachers: Indra Devi ; K. Pattabhi Jois ; B. K. S. Iyengar ; T. K. V. Desikachar ; Srivatsa Ramaswami ; and A. G. Mohan (born 1945). Ashtanga Yoga Manual with Lino Miele 2003 Krishnamacharya
6976-433: The brand's high standards, he apologised publicly and took steps to protect the brand, in 2012 stepping back from running it and appointing a CEO . Jain states that yoga is becoming "part of the pop culture around the world". Alter writes that it illustrates "transnational transmutation and the blurring of consumerism, holistic health, and embodied mysticism—as well as good old-fashioned Orientalism." Singleton argues that
7085-457: The changes cannot be undone, whether people use it "as a holier-than-thou tool, as a tactic to balance out excessive drug use, or practised similarly to its origins with the spirituality that comes with it." Jain argues however that charges of appropriation "from 'the East' to 'the West'" fail to take account of the fact that yoga is evolving in a shared multinational process; it is not something that
7194-534: The choice of his yoga over other brands to choosing "a fine restaurant " over "a fast-food joint ." The New York Times Magazine headed its piece on him "The Yoga Mogul", while the historian of yoga Stefanie Syman argued that Friend had "very self-consciously" created his own yoga community. For example, Friend published his own teacher training manual, held workshops, conferences, and festivals, marketed his own brand of yoga mats and water bottles, and prescribed ethical guidelines. When Friend did not live up to
7303-622: The class is scheduled in a three-hour time window during which the students practice on their own at their own speed, following individualised instruction by the teacher. The evolution of yoga as exercise is not confined to the creation of new asanas and linking vinyasa sequences. A wide variety of hybrid activities combining yoga with martial arts , aerial yoga combined with acrobatics , yoga with barre work (as in ballet preparation), on horseback , with dogs , with goats, with ring-tailed lemurs , with weights , and on paddleboards are all being explored. The energy cost of exercise
7412-630: The commodity is the yoga body itself, its "spiritual possibility" signified by the "lucent skin of the yoga model", a beautiful image endlessly sold back to the yoga-practising public "as an irresistible commodity of the holistic, perfectible self". In 2008, the United States Department of Health and Human Services labelled September as National Yoga Month. From 2015, at the suggestion of India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi , an annual International Day of Yoga has been held on 21 June. The anthropologist Sarah Strauss contrasts
7521-564: The connection between yoga and Hinduism. The campaign was criticised by the New Age author Deepak Chopra , but supported by the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary , R. Albert Mohler Jr. Jain notes that yoga is not necessarily Hindu, as it can also be Jain or Buddhist ; nor is it homogeneous or static, so she is critical of both what she calls the "Christian yogaphobic position" and
7630-779: The country. The anthropologist Joseph Alter suggests that Sandow was the person who had the most influence on modern yoga. The first handbook of asanas in English, and the first to be illustrated with photographs, was Seetharaman Sundaram 's 1928 Yogic Physical Culture . Yoga was introduced to the Western world by the spiritual leader Vivekananda 's 1893 visit to the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, and his 1896 book Raja Yoga . However, he rejected Haṭha yoga and its "entirely" physical practices such as asanas as difficult and ineffective for spiritual growth, out of
7739-466: The default form of mass-drill, and this influenced the "modernized hatha yoga". According to the yoga scholar Suzanne Newcombe , modern yoga in India is a blend of Western gymnastics with postures from Haṭha yoga in India in the 20th century. From the 1850s onwards, there developed in India a culture of physical exercise to counter the colonial stereotype of supposed "degeneracy" of Indians compared to
7848-404: The dynamic series of Pattabhi Jois , the refined alignments of B. K. S. Iyengar , the classical postures of Indra Devi, or the customized vinyasa of Viniyoga, your practice stems from one source: a five-foot, two-inch Brahmin born more than one hundred years ago in a small South Indian village. By developing and refining different approaches, Krishnamacharya made yoga accessible to millions around
7957-564: The educational sacrament of upanayana . He then began learning to speak and write Sanskrit , from texts such as the Amarakosha and to chant the Vedas under the strict tutelage of his father. When Krishnamacharya was ten, his father died. At the age of twelve, he went to Mysore , then the largest city in Karnataka , where his great-grandfather, Srinivasa Brahmatantra Parakala Swami, was
8066-573: The effect of yoga on mood and measures of stress. The practice of asanas has been claimed to improve flexibility, strength, and balance; to alleviate stress and anxiety, and to reduce the symptoms of lower back pain . A review of five studies noted that three psychological ( positive affect , mindfulness , self-compassion ) and four biological mechanisms (posterior hypothalamus , interleukin-6 , C-reactive protein and cortisol ) that might act on stress had been examined empirically, whereas many other potential mechanisms remained to be studied; four of
8175-666: The establishment of the Tribhuvan University , Kathmandu , and the Utkal University , Bhubaneshwar . On 2 January 1952, it was converted into a purely teaching-cum-residential university with territorial jurisdiction over only metropolitan Patna . The university buildings are mostly located on the bank of the River Ganges and in the Saidpur Campus. Patna University, which is 107 years old,
8284-478: The facts of his own life, sometimes denying tales he had told earlier, and sometimes mischievously adding new versions. According to one such tale, recounted by Mohan, during the vacations, which would last about three months, Krishnamacharya made pilgrimages into the Himalayas . Krishnamacharya claimed in his Yoga Makaranda that at the suggestion of Gaṅgānāth Jhā, he sought to further his yoga studies by seeking
8393-556: The few masters of Haṭha yoga then living, Ramamohana Brahmachari , at Lake Manasarovar in Tibet, from 1912 to 1918. He studied under Kuvalayananda in the 1930s, and then in his yogashala in the Jaganmohan Palace in Mysore created "a marriage of Haṭha yoga, wrestling exercises, and modern Western gymnastic movement, and unlike anything seen before in the yoga tradition." The Maharajah of Mysore Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV
8502-483: The first Chief Minister of Mysore State, and the school eventually closed in 1950. After leaving Mysore, Krishnamacharya moved to Bangalore for a couple of years and then was invited in 1952 to relocate to Madras (now Chennai), by a well-known lawyer who sought Krishnamacharya's help in healing from a stroke. By now, Krishnamacharya was in his sixties, and his reputation for being a strict and intimidating teacher had mellowed somewhat. In Madras, Krishnamacharya accepted
8611-564: The goal of classical yoga, the isolation of the self or kaivalya , with the modern goals of good health, reduced stress, and physical flexibility. Sjoman notes that many of the asanas in Iyengar's Light on Yoga can be traced to his teacher, Krishnamacharya, "but not beyond him". Singleton states that yoga used as exercise is not "the outcome of a direct and unbroken lineage of haṭha yoga", but it would be "going too far to say that modern postural yoga has no relationship to asana practice within
8720-503: The head of the Parakala Matha . He continued his studies under his great-grandfather's guidance and at Mysore University. Krishnamacharya spent much of his youth traveling through India studying the six darśana or Indian philosophies: vaiśeṣika , nyāya , sāṃkhya , yoga , mīmāṃsā and vedānta . In 1906, at the age of eighteen, Krishnamacharya left Mysore to attend university at Banaras , also known as Vārānasī,
8829-568: The mechanisms (positive affect, self-compassion, inhibition of the posterior hypothalamus and salivary cortisol) were found to mediate the potential stress-lowering effects of yoga. A 2017 review found moderate-quality evidence that yoga reduces back pain. For people with cancer , yoga may help relieve fatigue, improve psychological outcomes, and support sleep quality and life attitudes, although results vary from reviews published in 2017. A 2015 systematic review noted that yoga may be effective in alleviating symptoms of prenatal depression . There
8938-413: The needs of individual students. Yoga sessions vary widely depending on the school and style, and according to how advanced the class is. As with any exercise class, sessions usually start slowly with gentle warm-up exercises, move on to more vigorous exercises, and slow down again towards the end. A beginners' class can begin with simple poses like Sukhasana , some rounds of Surya Namaskar, and then
9047-534: The opening of its institute at Pietermaritzburg; its Association of South East & East Asia was founded in 2009. The spread of Yoga in America was assisted by the television show Lilias, Yoga and You , hosted by Lilias Folan; it ran from 1970 to 1999. In Australia, by 2005 some 12% of the population practised yoga in a class or at home. As a valuable business, yoga has in turn been used in advertising , sometimes for yoga-related products, sometimes for other goods and services. The market for yoga grew, argues
9156-509: The position of the head and feet ( standing , sitting, reclining, inverted), by whether balancing is required, or by the effect on the spine (forward bend, backbend, twist), giving a set of asana types agreed by most authors. The yoga guru Dharma Mittra uses his own categories such as "Floor & Supine Poses". Yogapedia and Yoga Journal add "Hip-opening"; the yoga teacher Darren Rhodes, Yogapedia and Yoga Journal also add "Core strength." The number of schools and styles of yoga in
9265-475: The postures ( asanas ) of yoga and meditation ( dhyana ) to reach the desired goal. Krishnamacharya "believed Yoga to be India's greatest gift to the world." His yoga instruction reflected his conviction that yoga could be both a spiritual practice and a mode of physical healing. His style of yoga is now known as Vinyasa Krama Yoga. Krishnamacharya based his teachings on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and
9374-457: The practice of asanas is combined with pranayama and meditation, using the breath and sometimes Buddhist Vipassana meditation techniques to bring the attention to the body and the emotions, thus quietening the mind . The idea of competitive yoga has been called an oxymoron by some people in the yoga community, such as the yoga teacher Maja Sidebaeck, but the fiercely contested Bishnu Charan Ghosh Cup , founded by Bikram Choudhury in 2003,
9483-579: The practitioner in "that precise state [where] the body, the breath, the mind and the brain move toward the real self ( Atma )" so as to merge into the Infinite, thus explaining the modern yoga healing ritual in terms of the Hindu Vishishtadvaita : an explanation that, De Michelis notes, practitioners are free to follow if they wish. The yoga scholar Elliott Goldberg notes that some practitioners of yoga as exercise "inhabit their body as
9592-455: The revival of hatha yoga . Krishnamacharya held degrees in all the six Vedic darśanas , or Indian philosophies. While under the patronage of the King of Mysore, Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV , Krishnamacharya traveled around India giving lectures and demonstrations to promote yoga, including such feats as apparently stopping his heartbeat. He is widely considered as the architect of vinyāsa , in
9701-419: The scholar of religion Andrea Jain , with the creation of an "endless" variety of second-generation yoga brands , saleable products, "constructed and marketed for immediate consumption", based on earlier developments. For example, in 1997 John Friend , once a financial analyst , who had intensively studied both the postural Iyengar Yoga and the non-postural Siddha Yoga, founded Anusara Yoga . Friend likened
9810-1130: The sense of combining breathing with movement; the style of yoga he created has come to be called Viniyoga or Vinyasa Krama Yoga . Underlying all of Krishnamacharya's teachings was the principle "Teach what is appropriate for an individual." While he is revered in other parts of the world as a yogi, in India Krishnamacharya is mainly known as a healer who drew from both ayurvedic and yogic traditions to restore health and well-being to those he treated. He wrote four books on yoga— Yoga Makaranda (1934), Yogaasanagalu (c. 1941), Yoga Rahasya , and Yogavalli (Chapter 1 – 1988)—as well as several essays and poetic compositions. Krishnamacharya's students included many of yoga's most renowned and influential teachers: Indra Devi (1899–2002); K. Pattabhi Jois (1915–2009); B. K. S. Iyengar (1918-2014); his son T. K. V. Desikachar (1938-2016); Srivatsa Ramaswami (born 1939); and A. G. Mohan (born 1945). Iyengar, his brother-in-law and founder of Iyengar Yoga , credits Krishnamacharya with encouraging him to learn yoga as
9919-550: The sun, Surya Namaskar , now accepted as yoga and containing popular asanas such as Uttanasana and upward and downward dog poses , were popularized by the Rajah of Aundh , Bhawanrao Shrinivasrao Pant Pratinidhi , in the 1920s. In 1924, the yoga teacher Kuvalayananda founded the Kaivalyadhama Health and Yoga Research Center in Maharashtra , combining asanas with gymnastics, and like Yogendra seeking
10028-403: The time that India gained independence , a new government came into being and the powers of the maharajas were curtailed. Funding for the yoga school was cut off, and Krishnamacharya struggled to maintain the school. At the age of 60 (1948), Krishnamacharya was forced to travel extensively to find students and provide for his family. The yogashala in Mysore was ordered to be closed by K.C. Reddy ,
10137-823: The world of yoga, with brands such as Lorna Jane and Lululemon offering their own ranges of women's yoga clothing. Sales of goods such as yoga mats are increasing rapidly; sales are projected to rise to $ 14 billion by 2020 in North America, where the key vendors in 2016 were Barefoot Yoga, Gaiam , Jade Yoga, and Manduka, according to Technavio. Sales of athleisure clothing such as yoga pants were worth $ 35 billion in 2014, forming 17% of American clothing sales. A wide variety of instructional videos are available, some free, for yoga practice at beginner and advanced levels. By 2018, over 6,000 commercially produced titles were on sale. Over 1,000 books have been published on yoga poses. Yoga has reached high fashion, too: in 2011,
10246-554: The world, especially in the US and Europe. It is derived from medieval Haṭha yoga , which made use of similar postures, but it is generally simply called "yoga". Academics have given yoga as exercise a variety of names, including modern postural yoga and transnational anglophone yoga . Posture is described in the Yoga Sutras II.29 as the third of the eight limbs, the ashtanga , of yoga. Sutra II.46 defines it as that which
10355-401: The world. Krishnamacharya was a physician of Ayurvedic medicine . He "possessed enormous knowledge of nutrition, herbal medicine, the use of oils, and other remedies". Krishnamacharya's custom as an Ayurvedic practitioner was to begin with a detailed examination to determine the most efficient path to take for a patient. According to Krishnamacharya, even though the source or focus of a disease
10464-486: The yoga master Sri Babu Bhagavan Das and passed the Samkhya Yoga Examination of Patna, and that many of his instructors recognized his outstanding abilities in yoga, some asking that he teach their children. Krishnamacharya told his pupils, including Iyengar, "an imagined history, it turns out, of thousands of asanas". Mark Singleton and Tara Fraser note that he provided contradictory descriptions of
10573-776: The yoga systems that preceded them. This is because [both] ... are specific to their own social contexts." The historian Jared Farmer writes that twelve trends have characterised yoga's progression from the 1890s onwards: from peripheral to central in society; from India to global; from male to "predominantly" female; from spiritual to "mostly" secular; from sectarian to universal; from mendicant to consumerist ; from meditational to postural; from being understood intellectually to experientially; from embodying esoteric knowledge to being accessible to all; from being taught orally to hands-on instruction; from presenting poses in text to using photographs; and from being "contorted social pariahs" to "lithe social winners". The trend away from authority
10682-592: Was a leading advocate of physical culture in India, and a neighbouring hall of his palace was used to teach Surya Namaskar classes, then considered to be gymnastic exercises. Krishnamacharya adapted these sequences of exercises into his flowing vinyasa style of yoga. The yoga scholar Mark Singleton noted that gymnastic systems like Niels Bukh 's were popular in physical culture in India at that time, and that they contained many postures similar to Krishnamacharya's new asanas. Among Krishnamacharya's pupils were people who became influential yoga teachers themselves:
10791-441: Was about kuṇḍalinī. To him, kuṇḍalinī is not an energy that rises. Rather, it is a blockage that prevents prāṇa (breath) from rising. Yoga as exercise Yoga as exercise is a physical activity consisting mainly of postures , often connected by flowing sequences , sometimes accompanied by breathing exercises , and frequently ending with relaxation lying down or meditation . Yoga in this form has become familiar across
10900-628: Was directly from guru to individual pupil , in a long-term relationship. It was associated with religions, especially Hinduism but also Jainism and Buddhism. Its objectives were to manipulate vital fluids to enable absorption and ultimately liberation . It consisted of practices including purifications , postures (asanas), locks , the directed gaze , seals , and rhythmic breathing . These were claimed to provide supernatural powers including healing, destruction of poisons, invisibility, and shape-shifting. Yogins wore little or no clothing; their bodies were sometimes smeared with cremation ash as
11009-527: Was equally bad-tempered at home with his family. In the view of the historian of yoga Elliott Goldberg , Iyengar "would never recover from or anywhere near comprehend the damage inflicted on him by Krishnamacharya's abuse" during his teenage years. In 1940, Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV died. His nephew and successor, Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar (1919–1974), less interested in yoga, no longer provided support for publishing texts and sending teams of teachers to surrounding areas. Following political changes in 1946, around
11118-649: Was established on the lines of the University of London. When it was established in the year 1917, it was the only university in the three regions of Nepal, Bihar and Orissa. The Chancellor of the Patna University is the governor of Bihar . The Vice-chancellor of the Patna University is the chief executive officer of the university, currently K. C. Sinha. Dr. Ajay Kumar Singh is current Pro Vice Chancellor. Patna University has 30 departments organised into eight faculties: Science, Humanities, Commerce, Social Sciences, Education, Law, Fine Arts and Medicine. The university
11227-666: Was forced by circumstance to work in a coffee plantation in the Hasan district. It was after a lecture on the Upanishads in Mysore town hall in 1931 that he attracted the attention as a learned scholar that eventually led to his employment at the palace. In 1926, the Maharaja of Mysore , Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV (1884–1940) was in Varanasi to celebrate his mother's 60th birthday and heard about Krishnamacharya's learning and skill as
11336-621: Was founded by Sivananda Saraswati of Rishikesh in 1936. His many disciples include Swami Vishnudevananda , who founded the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres , starting in 1959; Swami Satyananda of the Bihar School of Yoga , a major centre of Haṭha yoga teacher training, founded in 1963; and Swami Satchidananda of Integral Yoga , founded in 1966. Vishnudevananda published his Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga in 1960, with
11445-666: Was highly regarded as a scholar. He earned degrees in philosophy, logic, divinity, philology, and music. He was twice offered the position of Acharya in the Srivaishnava sampradaya , but he declined in order to stay with his family, in accordance with his guru's wishes. He also had extensive knowledge of orthodox Hindu rituals. His scholarship in various darshanas of orthodox Indian philosophy earned him titles such as Sāṃkhya-yoga-śikhāmaṇi , Mīmāṃsā-ratna , Mīmāṃsā-thīrtha , Nyāyācārya , Vedāntavāgīśa , Veda-kesari and Yogācārya . One of Krishnamacharya's most distinctive teachings
11554-557: Was invited to teach at the Sanskrit College in Mysore. The Maharaja, who felt that yoga had helped cure his many ailments, asked Krishnamacharya to open a yoga school under his patronage and was subsequently given the wing of a nearby palace, the Jaganmohan Palace , to start the Yogashala, an independent yoga institution, which opened on 11 August 1933. In 1934, he wrote the book Yoga Makaranda ("Essence of Yoga"), which
11663-422: Was little chance of his or her being healed. Once a person began seeing Krishnamacharya, he would work with him or her on a number of levels including adjusting their diet; creating herbal medicines; and setting up a series of yoga postures that would be most beneficial. When instructing a person on the practice of yoga, Krishnamacharya particularly stressed the importance of combining breath work ( pranayama ) with
11772-536: Was published by Mysore University. In the introduction to Yoga Makaranda , Krishnamacharya lists the Sritattvanidhi , a 19th-century treatise containing a yoga section by Maharaja of Mysore , Krishnaraja Wodeyar III (1794–1868) as one of the sources for his book. In The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace , Norman Sjoman asserts that Krishnamacharya was influenced by the Sritattvanidhi and by
11881-581: Was to "take a wife, raise children and be a teacher of Yoga". According to the tale, Krishnamacharya then returned to Varanasi . The Maharajah of Jaipur called him to serve as principal of the Vidyā Śālā in Jaipur; but as he did not like being answerable to many people, Krishnamacharya shortly returned to Varanasi. In accordance with his guru's wish that he live the life of a householder, Krishnamacharya married Namagiriamma in 1925. After his marriage, Krishnamacharya
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