NEW DELHI (AFP) — One of the world's most influential and sought-after Indian yoga experts, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, has died at the age of 93 following a brief illness, his institute said.
Pattabhi Jois, who is credited with popularizing the ancient system of
ashtanga ["eight limbs" or Flow] yoga, died on Monday at his home in the southern city of Mysore, where his Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute is located.
Born in 1915, he studied under ashtanga pioneer T. Krishnamacharya from the age of 12 and attended the Sanskrit College in Mysore.
Pattabhi Jois visited the United States for the first time in 1975 and built up a large following of ashtanga yoga in the West, counting pop star Madonna and actress Gwyneth Paltrow [pictured at left] among his tens of thousands of students.
He continued to teach until his death, travelling the world with the simple slogan that "ashtanga yoga is 99 percent practice and one percent theory."
Ashtanga yoga is conducted in a series of six poses in a hot environment to increase sweating and improve flexibility.
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The Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Method
The Ashtanga practice is a defined set of postures always done in the same order. They are combined with a specific breathing technique (
ujjayi), internal "locks" (
bandhas), and a gazing point (
drishti).
Ujjayi breathing [throat breathing, which sounds like Darth Vader] helps to build heat, fuel cells, regulate the intensity of the practice, and is itself an object of meditation.
The locks help regulate the flow of energy. The drishti point helps maintain mental focus and aids in aligning one in the postures (asanas). These postures are linked together in a dynamic sequence taken from the sun salute called Vinyasa (linked series).
The purpose of the system is to create heat in the body. This leads to purification of the channels through internal cleansing, sweating, and increased circulation. The heat and the repetition also improves flexibility, which allows the student to practice advanced postures with reduced risk of injury. (yoga-art.com; photo Sri Krishnamacharya, teacher of K. Pattabhi Jois and many other yoga gurus)
