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-Sharath Rangaswamy, Sri K. Pattahi Jois, and Saraswathi-

We’ve noticed that there hasn’t been much Ashtanga Yoga news coming from Mysore lately, which has kind of bummed us out because we like reporting on the Ashtanga world. Well today, folks, we finally have some news to relay!  You’ve probably heard of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois’ official Ashtanga Yoga center is Islamorada, Florida – the one that was built a couple of years ago with financial help from a wealthy Ashtanga-practicing married couple.  This was the first official Pattabhi Jois-sponsored yoga center in the U.S. (and as far as we’ve heard, Jois has made one trip to this center for a two-week workshop in May of last year.)

Well, the news of the day is that a second official Pattabhi Jois-sponsored Ashtanga center will be opening in Connecticut in April.  This seems like a location which might draw more attendance on a regular basis than the Islamorada spot (which lies in the far-flung Florida keys) because the abundance of Ashtangis living throughout the Northeast will be able to access it relatively easily.

And wait… hold your breaths… we have more Ashtanga news to report to you!  The biggest piece of news coming from Mysore is that 93-year-old Pattabhi Jois, the founder of Ashtanga Yoga himself, has officially stopped teaching.  The teaching lineage has been taken over by his grandson Sharath, who teaches alongside Jois’ daughter (who is also Sharath’s mother) Saraswathi.  After decades of teaching students who made their way to his Shala in Mysore from all over the world, and after some semi-serious health scares, Pattabhi Jois has finally, deservedly, retired.

Additionally, in an effort to strengthen control over the practice of Ashtanga Yoga as it moves forward in the world, the Jois family has made some interesting changes to the ‘branding’ of the practice.  What was fomerly known as the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute (AYRI) has been re-named the K Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute (KPJAYI), “to distinguish Guruji’s method from any other yoga labelled ‘Ashtanga’” (quoted from the KPJAYI website).  Students who wish to travel to Mysore to practice Ashtanga at the KPJAYI must now submit an official application no later than 60 days before arrival date.  Again from the website: “Your application will not be accepted if received after the 60-day cut-off period.”  One more item of note is that KPJAYI now states that the list of “certified” and “authorized” Ashtanga teachers on their website “constitutes the only official record of teachers approved by the KPJAYI”.  This makes us wonder what will become of the often-referenced list at the respected website Ashtanga.com.

Whew, we did have quite a lot of Ashtanga news for you today, didn’t we?  We were pleased to see so many noteworthy changes coming from the Ashtanga world, which keeps the discussion and awareness about this community active amongst Ashtangis as well as people throughout the yoga world in general.