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It’s often said that yoga is timeless, but many modern methods are recent inventions. What keeps them anchored in earlier traditions? I recently explored this with Mike De Masi, who runs a discussion group devoted to the yoga of T. Krishnamacharya and his students – from B.K.S. Iyengar and K. Pattabhi Jois to T.K.V. Desikachar and Srivatsa Ramaswami.
Among other topics, our conversation covered:
* What “tradition” means when so much has changed
* Whether stories told by lineages stand up to scrutiny
* How one relates to other worldviews as a foreigner
* What scholarship on yoga can offer practitioners
* Why critique should be balanced with respect
RESOURCES
Worldwide Krishnamacharya Yoga Community
Breath of the Gods (a 2012 film about Krishnamacharya)
“The Yoga of the Haṭhābhyāsapaddhati” (Birch and Singleton)
The Goddess Pose (a book about the life of Indra Devi)
Srivatsa Ramaswami’s Vinyasa Krama website
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Traditionally, physical yoga aims to raise vital energy. This is often described as a serpent-like power that dissolves the mind. However, one influential teacher saw Kuṇḍalinī differently. T. Krishnamacharya, who taught B.K.S. Iyengar and K. Pattabhi Jois, said it was a blockage that had to be burned, not a means to liberation. Simon Atkinson's book explains why. Drawing on his experiences as well as his research, this conversation explores implications for modern practitioners. Simon has practised yoga for more than 20 years in the tradition most closely associated with Krishnamacharya's son, T.K.V. Desikachar.
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What happens if we think for ourselves, instead of taking things on faith from ancient texts? Peter Blackaby teaches what he calls “humanistic yoga”, based on “modern understandings of neurology, psychology and biomechanics.” This includes "stripping away the culturally specific aspects of yoga that might not be useful or relevant,” such as many of the theories of Indian philosophy. In which case, why call it yoga? Our conversation considers the basis for this, noting overlaps between his ideas and traditional teachings.
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