Download - Yoga-its Resurgence and Modern Practice
Resurgence of Yoga and Its Modern Practice
N K Srinivasan Ph D
[ "Yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory."
--- Pattabhi Jois ]
Yoga is practised by millions of people both in the east
and in the west. According to one estimate, nearly 12
million Americans learn this form of physical and mental
exercise. As one writer puts it: Yoga has taken the world
by storm.
A little bit of my bio!
[I love yoga and has been practising for well over 60
years--from the age of twelve. I have tried different
methods, but I would strongly recommend "Iyengar style of
yoga" ,after B K S Iyengar. By the way, I am also an
Iyengar from India and I had watched T Krishnamacharya
taking a yoga class in the late 1950's. I learned Yoga
from my "uncle" -my father's nephew in Chennai.
I learned later various meditation techniques, including
'Kriya Yoga' from SRF/YSS , with initiation from a monk of
YSS,Ranchi.
I consider the Vinyasa method and the Ashtanga methods
(Pattabhi Jois) more difficult ,though they may suit
certain yoga students.]
What is the essence of hatha yoga ?
Yoga as a spiritual discipline was developed in India from
ancient times---as given in various Sanskrit texts. This
method or discipline includes strengthening body and mind
and then tune into spiritual realms. We are concerned here
only with the physical and mental well being of
individuals and the "use" of Yoga for this purpose. This
part of yoga is included in what is commonly called "Hatha
Yoga".
HATHA YOGA is largely physical and includes asanas
[postures or poses], pranayama [breath regulation],
bandhas [physical locks] and mudras [gestures].
A Yoga teacher near you may teach mostly the asanas and a
bit of pranayama and perhaps give a small introductory
lesson of bandhas and mudras. Please note that bandhas and
mudras are more important for tantra yoga and for
spiritual seekers or sadhaks.
Yoga system involves two essential principles: 1 Breathing
is to be regulated for proper functioning and healthy
organs.
2 The spine is to be kept healthy and strong and properly
aligned.
Much of the work in yoga is towards your breath cycle and
spinal manipulation.
You may hear the word "prana" in yoga circles. "Prana" is
the life force, triggered and stored by breathing
system.Thus prana is a more intricate entity than the
breath, but breath becomes an easy way of controlling and
directing this prana. Prana is also identified with nerve
currents which are regulated by body movements or postures
and directed to specific organs of the body.Thus prana is
the current or energy coursing through our nervous system.
For instance prana can be directed to our digestive system
where it would create the ' gastric fire' for digesting
the food properly.
[Those interested to learn more should study the chakra
concepts. Chakras are nerve nodes which are activated
by yoga methods and influence the various glands in the
body.]
Pioneers in Modern Yoga
To place the development of modern yoga in proper
perspective, I have to mention the works of pioneers in
this field in India. It is a fascinating story how yoga
spread to the west from India in the past few decades.
Thirumalai Krishnamacharya,[T K] often called the "Father
of Modern Yoga", taught yoga in a systematic manner in a
yoga school or yoga shale in Mysore, India, under the
patronage of the then Maharaja of Mysore, Krishna Raje
Wadeyar [from 1936 onwards.]He trained some of the
greatest teachers of yoga who established the teaching
schools and traditions that we find today.
The important students of TK include: B K S Iyengar,
Pattabhi Jois, TKV Desikachar (his son) , A G Mohan ,
Srivatsa Ramaswami and Indra Devi.
I mention Indra Devi for a specific reason. She was a
Russian aristocrat who came to India and learned music,
dance and finally yoga under T K. TK acknowledged her
proficiency after a year and sent her to teach in the
West. [The legend says that at first TK refused to teach
her because she was a woman and the Maharaja had to
intervene to convince TK to accept her. Contrast it with
the scene a generation later. TK's student ,B K S Iyengar
was teaching several women in London and elsewhere, both
housewives and rich aristocrats, free of charge.]
Indra Devi came to the USA and popularised yoga ; she
taught yoga to several celebrities and movie stars in L A
and also wrote books "Yoga for Americans", "Yoga for You"
. She later moved to Argentina and taught for 12 years and
died at the age of 102 years.
The other students mentioned are so well known that I need
not write about them here.
[I had the good fortune to witness TK's yoga classes in
1950's in Chennai, though I had not formally studied under
him.]
Another great pioneer in Yoga was Swami Sivananda who
founded "Divine Life Society", in Rishikesh. A doctor by
profession, a great yogi and jnani, he was largely
responsible for wider dissemination of yoga knowledge in
India through his inexpensive books and around the world
with his students. The list of his renunciate students
(monks)is a long one and reads almost like a "Who is Who "
of modern yoga: Swami Chinmayananda, Swami
Vishnudevananda, Swami Satyananda , Swami Satchitananda
and Swamini Sivananda Radha. Swami Vishnudevananda
established several Sivananda Yoga Centers in USA and
Canada. Swamini Sivananda Radha , his first female
disciple , hailed from Germany but settled in Canada and
built the Yashodara Ashram.
Paramahansa Madhavdasji was a great saint-yogi in Gujarat.
He settled after wandering upto the age of eighty and
taught yoga. His two illustrious students were Yogendra
and Swami Kuvalaynanda. Madhavadasji lived upto 123 years.
[Incidentally Sri Aurobindo was also inspired by
Madhavadasji.]
Yogendra, a yoga teacher who experimented with yoga
therapy established the "Yoga Institute" in Mumbai and
trained many yoga teachers like Hans Raj Yadhav and his
son Jayadeva.
Swami Kuvalayananda set up another yoga institution in
Lovala near Mumbai in 1924 ; he also developed the
healing methods of yoga for thousands of patients.
Raja of Aundh,[Aundh-- a small princely state in
Maharashtra] was an avid sportsman and a yoga enthusiast.
He taught 'surya namaskar' or sun salutations to school
children. This work was carried on by his able son Apa
Pant. While he was the Indian Ambassador in Egypt, Apa
Pant taught sun salutations to local Arabs and at their
request wrote a book on Sun Salutations in Arabic and
English, which was also published in India.
[An American pioneer was Theos Bernard, who wrote great
books and taught yoga, but had early death.]
The Siddha tradition in Tamil Nadu had many adepts in Yoga
who taught many students. They were to be found near
Palani hills near Madurai and in
Chidambaram/Thiruvannamalai. They also practiced native
medicines. I had read several of the old texts in Tamil.
There were several other teachers who were pioneers in
India; they not only taught hundreds of students, but did
serious 'experiments' and extended the scope and knowledge
of Hatha Yoga.
I have written this section on "pioneers" only to
emphasize that the yoga as practised today is the fruit of
labors of these pioneers in India, often working under
very trying circumstances. There is a long and well
established tradition behind modern yoga, which is often
ignored or made slight of by some academic writers [
mostly Ph D scholars] with limited, bookish knowledge of
history and traditions of yoga.
Modern Yoga in the West
The practice of yoga came to the west mostly due to two
teachers or yogis in the early 1940's and 1950's:
Yesudian Selvarajan and B K S Iyengar.
Yesudian Selvarajan [YS] was a doctor from Chennai, India.
He grew up as a sickly boy but became strong through Yoga.
So he committed himself to propagate yoga. Yesudian came
to Hungary to study graduate school in medicine at a wrong
time---the year was 1938 and the world war II was brewing
up. After some struggle, he began to teach yoga to a few
persons in Budapest. With the outbreak of war, he was
about to leave Europe when some friends invited him to
teach yoga in Switzerland. He moved to Zurich and with
the help of Elizabeth Haitch founded the first yoga school
in Europe .His book " Yoga and health" became immensely
popular in Europe.
B K S Iyengar came to Switzerland in 1954 to teach yoga
to Yehudi Menuhin, the famous violinist and then received
devoted students like Vanda Scaravelli and Dona Hollemann.
He later taught a few students in London including Diana
Clifton. He authorized Diana Clifton to teach on his
behalf and thus she became the first 'certified" teacher
of " Iyengar Yoga". She also taught in Los Angeles the
Iyengar style of Yoga. Thus the yoga movement got started
in the west, around the time of World War II.
Yoga as therapy
The present scenario is mainly yoga as a means for
physical health and mental calmness for persons with
various ailments.
Yoga as a cure had been used in India for several decades,
especially for chronic diseases. I recall how one of my
aunts used to practise yoga every day to avoid asthma
attacks.I had seen several persons practising yoga for
cure in Chennai , along with native 'ayurvedic" medicines.
Thus yoga therapy is not a recent development.
As I had mentioned, Yogendra and Kuvalayananda have been
treating several persons in Mumbai under controlled
observation and care. T K had been treating several
persons in Chennai where he moved from Mysore in 1955.
B K S Iyengar started treating patients over the years.
His main contribution is the use of props and supports for
elderly and the sick to perform yoga. His use of chairs
have led to his nickname "furniture yogi' in some
circles! He founded the "Ramamani Iyengar Institute" in
Pune where treatments are regularly given, assisted by his
daughter Geeta Iyengar and son Prashant Iyengar.
Dr Swami Gitananda Bhavnani , a practising doctor in UK ,
born to Indian father and Irish mother, returned to India
and set up ' Ananda Ashram' in Puducherry , a coastal town
and former French colony near Chennai and developed yoga
programs and yoga treatment. [I had met him a few times.]
Dr Phulgendra Sinha taught yoga for treating many
patients and had an institute in New York.His book "Yoga
cure for common ailments" was widely popular.
Bihar School of Yoga ,founded by Swami Satyananda , a
disciple of Swami Sivananda, has been teaching advanced
methods of classical yoga.
H R Nagendra developed a Yoga center in the style of a
regular university near Bangalore in the last three
decades.
Several masters have taught yoga in various towns using
native languages. Many yoga institutes and yoga treatments
have been established throughout India.
Easy yoga, gentle yoga and yoga therapy
The recent trend in the west is to teach yoga to seniors
with easy,gentle and simple poses, with the liberal use of
props,chairs , belts and bricks for support.
Many senior centers and enrichment programs offer such
courses for better health and to improve mobility and
flexibility at little or no cost.
Another important and significant trend is the yoga
treatment of back pain, joint pains, arthritis and other
serious degenerative diseases. These are backed by doctors
who have studied yoga in India or in the west and who had
been willing to do extensive study and research in yoga
therapy. While the methods have been known in India for
many decades, these are validated by modern methods and
attested by western doctors. It may be noted that these
diseases have reached almost epidemic proportions in
industrialized countries, especially among the young ,
professional age-groups.
The rich harvest of this cross-cultivation between Indian
yoga and western medicine is that valid and reliable
treatments are possible for these diseases now at very
little cost and without surgery. This trend has been
growing in the past 10 years of so. A number of practical
books have appeared to help those in need. Such treatment
can be alternative therapies to expensive and painful
surgeries and provide better quality of life for millions
of persons . Methods from yoga , with a qualified and
experienced teacher, can be safe and simple.
What is more, certified yoga teachers [with 200 hours or
500 hours of training] are readily available in most towns
in the USA, Europe , Russia and China.
Yoga for Longevity
Yoga is credited with conferring longevity in many
practitioners. TK lived for 101 years ; Indra Devi lived
for 102 years; Pattabhi Jois lived upto 94 years in good
health. Swami Madhavdasji, guru of Yogendra and
Kuvalayananda, lived for a pretty long time--1798 to 1921
--that is 123 years.
B K S Iyengar and his student Diana Clifton are in
their nineties.Such instances are many.
[We cannot ,however, conclude that yoga alone confers
longevity. These masters were vegetarians. I had known
many vegetarians, not doing yoga, living upto 90 years or
longer in good health.Therefore diet also may play a large
part.]
Can Yoga reverse aging ? Serious investigations are
required to answer this question, but many yogis will
attest to the youthful looks that can be attained.
Yoga and Hinduism
There had been several cynical remarks that Yoga is a
Hindu based system and is used to propagate Hindu faith or
Hindu forms of worship in the West. In the first place,
Hinduism is not a proselytizing religion. Hindus have no
religious creed to convert others to their faith [ as in
the case of Christianity or Islam.](In fact one should be
born a Hindu to practise this religion.) If a student is
keen, he/she can learn Yoga and Hindu philosophy and
adopt Hindu lifestyle---that is all.. Yoga is universal
and not confined to Hinduism ,though its roots stem from
Hindu religion.
Several teachers have modified the yoga system to suit
their milieu and their group of students. For instance,
hard-pronouncing Sanskrit names and terms can be easily
replaced by common English words---thus 'adho mukha
svanasana" is termed easily as "downward facing dog pose"
or simply "downward dog" pose. The preliminary Sanskrit
chants can be replaced with Christian or Jewish hymns or
dispensed with. Thus the spirit of doing yoga is more
important than the styles used . [In fact a "Christian
Yoga movement" has been promoted by some teachers and yoga
classes are held in some churches in USA. I welcome this
trend.] Practices such as burning incense , using
classical music and chanting are less important , though
seen as mood creating actions in Indian style. Whether
one should have them or not would depend on the teaching
environment.Thus a yoga teacher in a corporate setting
may not like them, but such things may lend an aura of
peace in a countryside yoga retreat .
Yoga and Spiritual Progress
Spiritual progress may be attained with or without hatha
yoga.But hatha yoga would help a great deal as this forms
part of "ashtanga yoga"--the eight -part yoga. Asasa and
Pranayama are third and fourth part of this sequence.
Many jnanis shun the hatha yoga for its emphasis and
obsession with human body. Often they become
obese,unhealthy and have a short life. Many swamis,wedded
to Jnana or bhakti paths ,without hatha yoga practice ,
are pot-bellied, fatty and suffer from many ailments.
Hatha yoga has its place in the scheme of many yogas.
Yoga-- American Style
Some would say that yoga has been "americanised" ,
branded and commercialised, to suit the mental framework
of Americans, much like pizza has been converted into an
American dish in many ways--no more an authentic Italian
item. Such changes are inevitable when yoga has become a
'common commodity' sold in DVD's in malls. That is
'product innovation" American style! There is 'hot yoga',
'power yoga', 'nude yoga','beach yoga'--some with fanciful
Sanskrit names. The 'authentic yoga' or classical style
would probably be hard to find in a decade or so.
[Yoga has also spawned a "yoga shop" industry, with a
multiplicity of products such as books, DVD's, yoga mats,
bricks, props and benches sold off line or on-line. The
commercial value could be a few billions of
dollars,feeding into American economy--thanks to yoga
masters.]
Many known to me prefer to go to India to learn yoga in an
ashram setting which is a more expensive undertaking and
have to be a short course for a few weeks for many
beginners. The learning could be more rigorous and also
tough for many students. But there is the added attraction
of vacationing or touring in India.This approach is
alright for young persons.There are easier 'beach yogas'
in Goa too.
Even then the 'yoga tourists' should contend with
limited 'comfort zone' and vegetarian food there and would
miss Macdonalds and Star Bucks outlets nearby. But if one
intends to become a yoga teacher, I would strongly
recommend learning at least a short course in an
established ashram or reputed residential institute in
India. That training would be invaluable to the individual
and for a teaching work later.
Yoga in China
B K S Iyengar was invited by the Chinese govt to teach in
China in 2011. He gave a lecture at the Yoga Summit
,jointly organized by Indian Embassy and Chinese govt on
16th June 2011. He took a class of 1600 students,standing
for nearly 3 hours--he was 93 years!. Later he taught at
Beijing with 700 students.
Iyengar was stunned at the rapid progress of Yoga in
China;all his books have been translated into Chinese
languages and there were 75 yoga centers,with about 30,000
students following "Iyengar Yoga", run by one of his
former students. The Chinese Post issued a commemorative
stamp honoring Iyengar. Iyengar quipped: "China may
overtake India in Yoga"! .
I am sure yoga would soon be taught in other countries
like South Korea and North Korea.
Urge to teach yoga
There is a subtle mechanism working through yoga learners.
Sooner or later, often sooner, they get the urge to share
their special knowledge with others--they want to teach
yoga to others--either informally in a small group or
they want to open a yoga studio or institute or Indian
style ashram for retreats. This inner mechanism is one of
the reasons for fast expansion of yoga activities. When
you see that others can acquire good health and cure
themselves of many diseases, you want to teach them yoga.
As I know very well, there are hundreds of yoga teachers
in India and in the West who teach without charging any
fees.
The Future of Yoga
As long as Yoga is useful in healing chronic and
debilitating diseases, people will learn to use it,
however toned down it might be. Therefore the spread of
yoga is a clear indication of its usefulness in modern
context. The yoga teachers, meanwhile, with their
imagination, can modify the form to suit their students.
Several therapeutic questions and medical issues, however,
remain to be explored in the use of yoga.
A time may come, sooner than we may imagine, when yoga
will be taught as a regular subject with practice classes
in many schools in India and in other countries. This
would depend on training of a large number of teachers.
Yoga clubs devoted to senior citizens and yoga health
centers for healing also would multiply severalfold.
Meanwhile research on cure of several diseases by yoga
would be undertaken all over the world.
At the same time, yoga is both art and science.As one yoga
teacher puts it: it is useful and beautiful! Thus
rhythmic flow and integration with dance forms may see the
light of the day. Yoga could be an art form, besides
contortions of pretzel like poses.
Contact: [email protected]
Some references
There are literally hundreds of books and DVD's available.
Here are a few classics:
1 B K S Iyengar Light on Yoga