Guest guest Posted November 22, 2000 Report Share Posted November 22, 2000 i'm not sure if the sentiments that follow will be shared by others on this forum or not, so do with my unsolicited input as you will. <br><br>i think your article of the neophytes approach to learning ashtanga yoga in an unsupported fashion is a great one. if you do the article, i would request/suggest that you not review beryl bender birch as a teacher of ashtanga. <br>while i think she has an excellent book for helping beginners learn the postures, and while her version of Power Yoga probably comes closer to ashtanga yoga than most others, by her own admission she does not teach ashtanga yoga. she teaches Power Yoga. if we communicate to others that they are essentially the same, i think we do risk misinforming those to whom we communicate. we also cheapen or dilute the actual practice of ashtanga for those prospective yogis. sure, let them know there are both entities, but please take care to distinguish them.<br> there are so many wonderful teachers of ashtanga around, tim miller, chuck miller, richard freeman, eddie stern, norman allen, manju jois, etc, ad nauseum. they would be wondeful subjects, as would mr swenson. teach your readers about those who choose to maintain a disciplined and focused approach to the actual practice of ashtanga, as taught by its originator, not about near-facsimilies and pretenders. let them know there is a difference--a form of respect for and adherence to the precepts of pattabhi jois Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 22, 2000 Report Share Posted November 22, 2000 okrgr1 --<br><br>I understand your concern about B3. She's been very kind to me, however, and she sent me her books with the expectation that I would honor my word and include her in my Ashtanga review. <br><br>While I realize you and others may not think Power Yoga is Ashtanga Yoga, she states very clearly in her book that she believes they are generally synonymous. <br><br>That, however, doesn't mean that is the truth, but a careful consideration of that claim will be divined during the research and review writing process. <br><br>Comparison and contrast is a valuable and imperative tool when comparing texts, ideas and disciplines. <br><br>I sent email to Chuck Miller and Richard Freeman (among many others found on the ASHTANGA.COM website) and the decision for inclusion in my review is now in their hands. <br><br>If you know them, let them know they're being called forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 22, 2000 Report Share Posted November 22, 2000 by all means print what you believe. i believe ms birch has earned a lot of karmic points because she has made yoga so approachable to so many.<br><br>there are a lot of similarities between her description of power yoga and the ashtanga yoga that i know so far. more similarities than differences actually. the term Power Yoga is a very loose one, however. it seems that it is often used to mean any kind of yoga in which there are some vinyasas, whether or not there is any kind of relation to asthanga or any recognition of or teaching of other aspects of yoga. to paraphrase guruji, the power yoga i have heard of seems to be little more than vigorous bending.<br> <br>so, my concern is that people who read such a review be given the opportunity to know that there is a distinction between the different forms. perhaps i am splitting yogic hairs a little to finely. i just don't want people to think that that ashtanga tradition has no more depth than health club stretching classes. i'm no spiritualist but i do think we owe sri jois at least that much--to protect and respect the practice and traditions of ashtanga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 23, 2000 Report Share Posted November 23, 2000 okgr1 --<br><br>Have you read both of BBB's books? I have several times and I don't share your description of how far Power Yoga is removed from Ashtanga. Ashtanga and its principles and practices are prominent in both books and are clearly the base, spine and spirit from which Power Yoga bounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 23, 2000 Report Share Posted November 23, 2000 Hey! Thanks for a great posting, except B3 DOES claim to be a "leading Ashtanga yoga teacher in the world today" which is all the more reason to run, run, run as fast as you can and never look back. B3 teaches excercise, not yoga, and when you ask her questions about what she does, she gets very defensive and hides behind 'ahimsa.' Just FYI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 23, 2000 Report Share Posted November 23, 2000 i don't know about you but this thread is frustrating in it's trend towards confusion and misunderstanding. it remind me of a conversation in which two people are saying much the same thing in different ways but are so tuned in to what they are saying that they are unable to learn from the other and in the process become convinced that the other person has no idea wht they are talking about.<br><br>in the post you responded to, i stated, "there are a lot of similarities between her description of power yoga and the ashtanga yoga that i know so far. more similarities than differences actually."<br>i'm sorry but i don't follow the logic of your response:<br><< I don't share your description of how far Power Yoga is removed from Ashtanga.>><br><br>perhaps this will, for the last time, clarify what i am stumbling to say. i don't object to ms birch teaching power yoga. i don't object to anyone else teaching all those other things that have come to be collectively called power yoga. many of those other teachers are teaching things that have nothing to do with what she calls power yoga, no doubt to her chagrin. <br><br>i personally would prefer to keep all that confusion and dilution away from ashtanga yoga. when i use that term, i am meaning ashtanga yoga as taught by pattabhi jois. i also do understand that he does not view himself as the possessor of a brand or patent on a particular system. he has been quoted here and elsewhere as describing what he teaches as, "the yoga of pantajali". he does not try and claim it by naming after himself as others from his geneation have done. he just tries to preserve the tradition as a pure one. i would like to do what i can, without coming across as too puritanical, to encouraging that where distictions exist, like the differences between ashtanga and that great collective diaspora of stuff that goes by the name of power yoga, (meaning there's more there than just ms birch's and a lot of it is not very good) then that distinction is owed to the readers. if in your "research' you do not see that distinction, then more power to you. <br><br>nuff said on a tired topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 23, 2000 Report Share Posted November 23, 2000 <<he just tries to preserve the tradition as a pure one>><br><br>But wasn't P.Jois the one who created the tradition? Krishnamacharyas other students have their own traditions, would it be so if ashtanga was the only 'pure' tradition? <br><br>I read somewhere that the ancient documents describing astanga were eaten by ants! What do you think about this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 23, 2000 Report Share Posted November 23, 2000 Sharath is the keeper of the flame, so to speak, and when Guruji passes away he will become director of the ashtanga yoga institute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 23, 2000 Report Share Posted November 23, 2000 <<But wasn't P.Jois the one who created the tradition?>><br><br>as usual, please accept my, "i'm no expert" rejoinder in advance. <br><br>my understanding is that after discovering and studying the korunta (hopefully i got that name and spelling right) krishnamacharya encouraged KPJ to continue his pursuit of that form of yoga as a pure approach, as apposed to integrating the information into their already existing practices.<br><br>so in that respect, i think it would be fairer to say that KPJ is not the inventor of what we call ashtanga yoga but rather he is the preserver of that ancient tradition.<br><br>as to whether ants destroyed the document--all the more reason to get out that windex. actually, i've heard different versions of the story, either ants and/or rats ate the leaves. moot point. they're not around. <br><br>for those who don't like to accept tradition for tradition's sake, if you have not yet read anne cushman's questioning article, here's a link courtesy of mr link, TL slade.<br><br><a href=http://www.ionet.net/~tslade/yj99.htm target=new>http://www.ionet.net/~tslade/yj99.htm</a><br><br>a lot of what we have been taught as fact or come to accept is given a healthy going over. makes for an interesting read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 23, 2000 Report Share Posted November 23, 2000 John-<br>You stumble not at all, but express your points clearly and logically. I have been following this thread for a while and agree with you completely.<br>Anonymity - some do, some don't. Some have posted fotos and links to very personal websites and have "exposed" themselves, while others have not. It doesn't matter really as long as each posts their own thought-out views - this forum is about the exchange of ideas and views... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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