This past Sunday evening, Santa Barbara yoga instructors Steve Dwelley and Michele Nichols hosted a gathering to honor the life of their teacher, Ashtanga founder Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (or “Guruji“, as he was more affectionately known). The event took place at Santa Barbara Yoga Center, the yoga studio in which Steve and Michele hold their Mysore-style Ashtanga program. This specific evening was chosen because it fell very close to the full moon in July, which would have been Guruji’s 94th birthday (and which happens to be today, July 7! Happy Birthday, Guruji!! 
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The evening started off with a daunting practice of 108 non-stop sun salutations – wow! (At least they were A-series and not B-series sun salutes, right? Heh heh.) 108 is a sacred number in India, and practicing this specific number of sun salutations as a group was considered to be a prayer or offering to Pattabhi Jois. Here is a quick picture that we took of this practice:
Steve & Michele are the 2nd and 4th people in the first row; the rest of the group are their students.
After the conclusion of the sun salutations, everyone enjoyed a nourishing vegetarian potluck complemented by delicious chai tea. When the meal was finished, the group gathered in a large circle and shared fond memories of Guruji. Did you know, for example, that Guruji held a workshop at White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara in 1987, back when most people had hardly heard of the practice of “yoga”, let alone “Ashtanga Yoga”?
Throughout this sharing of thoughts and recollections, a fun rotating slideshow was projected onto the curved wall which featured iconic photos of Guruji and scenes from his hometown of Mysore, India. Here are a few photos we took of the slideshow itself (we were off at an angle, so we didn’t have a straight-on view of the images, but you can still get the idea of the cool ambiance that was created in the room):
This is a fairly recent photo of Guruji.
This classic image taken from Guruji’s book Yoga Mala shows him in the crazy-lookin’ pose garba pindasana.
This is the iconic sign which hung in front of Guruji’s Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore for years.
After the sharing of memories accompanied by revolving photos, Steve and Michele screened the excellent Ashtanga documentary Ashtanga, NY. Featuring engaging interviews with Guruji, his family, and several long-time Ashtanga students, this great movie always inspires some extra Ashtanga motivation in its viewers!
And here is the last photo from the evening we’d like to leave you with! There were several adorable youngsters in attendance at this gathering, and for some strange reason they seemed more interested in running around and playing with each other all evening than in sitting in thoughtful reflection of the life contributions of Pattabhi Jois. Apparently they found a way to have some fun with the Iyengar yoga ropes in the studio next door – check it out!
Photo by Robyn McClaine.
