What is Mysore Style?

 

Mysore Style practice is integral to the asana aspects of the Yoga Teacher Training. This practice is also open to the public and will allow students in training to practice having one-on-one teaching interactions.

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​"Mysore" allows students to go at their own pace, listen to their own bodies, discern what postures are right for them, which ones they need to practice longer, and which ones they should do less. It enables students to get fully into their own bodies rather than have their attention torn between a teacher and the students around them. There are so many other benefits to this approach as well, and so many you will discover on your own, that, like most people who  become accustomed to it, they ultimately start to prefer not to go typical "led classes" anymore.

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The Myth of Mysore Style

There are some stern practitioners of this style who disagree of the description of Mysore Style above; and they would likely be followers of a method of practice known as Astanga Yoga, as taught by "GuruJi" Patabhi Jois of Mysore, India (...a sister city of Cincinnati).  They utilize a set of postures known as the Primary Series, Second Series and, sometimes, a Third Series (...3rd is useful if you want to join the circus). "Astangians" are usually the most physically flexible yogis among the many styles. And it is of no surprise that you will also find that many of them are clearly of the Pitta Dosha type; meaning that they hold a few extra degrees of the Fire Element in their body-mind constitution; or simply put: they tend to be "fiery" people. One thing about Pitta (that I can say as an insider) is that -if we don't make an effort to consciously control our fire- then we will strive beyond the normal measure to be "right", or to dictate how things should be, and we often overly-strive to over-achieve. But just because so many firey types of people practice this method, it doesn't mean it was meant to be this way. If it qualifies as yoga, then the goal is a balance of the elements within. So if one has too much fire, like the Pitta types, then they actually should be bringing in more cooling. calming and soothing postures; also known as water element postures. Or more grounding postures (earth) if someone is too spacey (space), and so on {which you can read more about that Here} . So the fact that, in some circles, Mysore has become so much of a firey practice is contrary to original way of teaching that the original guru/creator of the Mysore Style, Sri Krishnamacharya, intended. However, it was from the students that came to Mysore, from all over the world, from which the name Mysore Style emerged. In fact, it is believed that the name either emerged or grew from the students who came to learn from one of Sri Krishamacharya's successors, Sri Patabhi Jois. Jois didn't speak English very well, and didn't give the approach that he was carrying forward a name (as far as anyone knows) so then the students who came to Mysore just started calling 'that style they are doing over there in Mysore with Patabhi Jois,' Mysore Style.   

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Unfortunately, those folks that came to Mysore were over the top in their aggressive adherence to strictly follow a sequence of stick figures, which should have been more like guidelines, but to them became like religious precepts that are to be followed with blind faith.  This is not always the case, but it has happened enough to prompt me to write this; for this style is one that should be accessible to everyone, not just firey tiger types. But, unfortunately, this rigid philosophy has largely infiltrated many places where the “Mysore Style” is offered.

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The firey Mysore Style approach did not end in the Mysore class either. Many teachers familiar with this style went on to create the Astanga style of (Asana) yoga classes. And many of you know this teacher, or know of them. They shout,  “Full Steam Ahead!" And f you’re not with the program you had better jump off! They have mistaken that beautiful series of postures (wrongly called Astanga - but more on that a few paragraphs below) to be reserved for only the lion hearted; not realizing that Kapha dosha (with symbol of an elephant) and Vata dosha (with its symbol being the monkey) could also benefit from the style; but not if they do it like the tiger, but in a way that is right for them.

 

But again, the pitta tigers in most places have taken over most any Mysore Style classes you might find, and they are usually dictating a one and only "correct" approach: the tigers approach!  

 

In Ayurvedic reality...

Back to the origin..If we take Mysore Style back to before it had a name, we find it as a very flexible approach to asana. It was meant to adapt to all Doshas (mind-body types), all characters: monkeys, elephants, tigers, monkey-tigers, elephant-monkeys, and even the occasional platypuses. Nevertheless, and understandably, most attribute the creation of the style to the late “GuruJi Patabhi Jois“. But this is sort of like saying Sri Patanjali invented yoga; and this sort of thing happens all the time. For example, Patanajli’s 8 limbed approach to the state of being called Yoga is actually what should be termed as the Astanga approach to Yoga, but the world has taken only The 3rd limb of Astanga, called Asana, and deemed it to hold the entire title of Astanga Yoga in and of itself, regardless of the other 7 limbs intrinsic to the goal; and perhaps all more adequate than asana to really hold that title -if any could on its own. But they cannot, it is all supposed to work together.

 

Masterji Vishwanath (nephew and former assistant to Patbhi Jois; as well as my teacher for 3 years) has taught that Hatha yoga is the first 5

limbs of Astanga and Rajah Yoga is the remaining 3. However, he says

 

"There can be no Hatha yoga without Rajah yoga

and there can be no Rajah yoga without Hatha yoga."

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Yoga is meant to humble the ego, but often when we find those who are ignorant of this we also often find that instead of their practice becoming humbling it is inflating. In the many decades that MasterJi has been teaching he has seen all too much, and to his dismay, how many come to his Astanga yoga training to build up their pride and ego, though unknowingly.  ~ Hence this long explanation. For, on the other hand, if we know the real goals of yoga, such as to balance our temperament, to become humble, and honor all life and all doshas, and create harmony all around us, then Mysore practice can be a most effective and beautiful approach to the more ideal goals of yoga.    

 

The Mysore Style of teaching involves providing a space for individual asana practice within a group setting, under the supervision of an asana teacher.  It enables students go at their own pace, to work on their own, or work one-on-one with the teacher, to discern and apply postures that are most advantageous when to their own unique mind~body constitution. The goal or result of this, when properly applied by acknowledging such uniqueness and acting accordingly, is a state of harmony. 

 

Balance/Harmony is the goal. 

 

The Legendary Sri Krishnamcharya

Sri K didn't even teach the primary series or any of the "Astanga series"  as they are referred to today. Although he certainly taught postures that you will find in those series, his way of teaching was to meet students where they were at, but not in location (as so many came to him from all over the world) but with their varied bone structures, proportions, doshas and temperaments. Sri K also spoke little English and had to resort to teaching from having the students begin with 'whatever they already know'. From there he would adjust and tweak them until they began to master the poses without so much of his help. It is probable that he would also give a set of postures. But it is not practical or necessary to learn, much less do, hundreds of postures as so many try to do today. Nevertheless, it is good to work with a set, but to apply one set approach for every person has proven time and again to be inappropriate and even dangerous.

 

If you read Kaushtbub Desikachar's biography on his grandfather (Sri,  K) entitled The Yoga of the Yogi, you learn that Krishnamacharya would work with all individuals in differingmanners according to their capacity, constitution and temperaments.

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If you want to know a bit more about Mysore Style, do not look to Sri Patabhi Jois, instead go to his teacher, Sri Krishnamacharya. You can trace many styles of yoga back to him and the masters of these styles (including BKS Iyengar). They were taught by Sri Krishnamacharya and in a way that is more true to what is now called Mysore Style.