Ashtanga yoga pioneer K Pattabhi Jois dead at 93
Shri Krishna Pattabhi Jois, a world renowned yoga guru who popularized its vigorous form ashtanga in the West, died in his Mysore home on Monday at the age of 93. Among top celebrities who are his followers are singers Sting and Madonna and Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow.
Born on July 26, 1915, Jois first started practising ashtanga at the age of 12 after attending a session by noted yoga teacher Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya. Later in 1948, he set up the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Lakshmipuram in Mysore, Karnataka.
His first tryst with the West was in 1964, when a Belgian, André Van Lysebeth, trained under him and then wrote a book on ashtanga, mentioning the yoga guru. Post that, many foreign students visited Jois to train under him.
He visited the US in 1975 and even Europe, gaining many followers and students, including those in the celebrity circuits.
Power yoga and pilates are believed to be offshoots of ashtanga, which focuses on synchronizing one’s breathing through different postures. The rigorous form of yoga is believed to create intense heat inside the practitioner’s body, thereby cleansing it and releasing hormones required to keep it healthy.
Jois called yoga a form of exercise that strengthens not only the body but also the mind. “Ashtanga yoga helps people balance mental, physical and spiritual pressures and stresses posed by the modern world we live in today,” he had said to the media earlier. Jois’ own health was a testament to the efficacy of his belief. He lived till the ripe old age of 93 and is reported to have died of natural causes. Jois continued travelling to foreign countries even in his late 80s. He taught the yoga form for 63 long years.
Followers and ashtanga centres across the world have decided to hold memorials and tributes for the deceased yoga guru. The Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute, which he founded, will hold a memorial service on May 31. Jois’ grandson, Sharath, is the director of the institute.
