True ashtanga teaching

[Guest guest]

>From Christophe Mouze

(http://indigo.ie/~cmouze/yoga_online/ttc.htm)

with John & Lucy Scott:

 

Ashtanga viniyasa yoga teachers

The authority on Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is Sri K Pattabhi Jois in

Mysore.Unlike the situation with Iyengar yoga, there is no

Ashtanga counterpart to the numerous Iyengar associations

around the world. The only official qualification is provided by

Shri K Pattabhi Jois himself and is a certificate to teach. To get

this certificate, one is required to study with Shri K Pattabhi Jois

directly for a number of years and to complete the Primary,

Intermediate and Advanced Series. As anyone who has seen the

advanced series can imagine, this is a very high standard, and

thus there are only 26 such Certified Teachers throughout the

world and only eight of them in Europe. In addition, there are

about 50 direct students of Pattahabi Jois who have been given

his blessing to share the Primary Series with others. Both the

certified and the non-certified teachers are obliged to teach

Ashtanga yoga in the traditional method, which consists of daily

"self-practice" classes as taught at the Astanga Yoga Research

Institute in Mysore. A complete list of certified and "approved"

teachers can be found on the "official" Ashtanga site.

The traditional practice of ashtanga yoga is described in the

books "Yoga Mala" by Sri K Pattabhi Jois, "Astanga Yoga" by Lino

Miele, and "Ashtanga Yoga" by John Scott.

As not all aspiring teachers are able to study in Mysore (for

several visits, a minimum of 3 months at a time), an alternative

is to study with a certified Ashtanga teacher, either through

regular classes (if one is lucky enough to live near such a

teacher) or through regularly attending workshops.

While this does not provide one with a formal qualification, all

certified teachers are very experienced practitioners, who have

studied extensively with Pattabhi Jois, and have in depth

knowledge of the Ashtanga system which guarrantees that they

are providing quality tuition in the Traditional Method.

Unfortunately, because it is so difficult to attain a formal

qualification, many people disregard the system by which one

would become certified and simply set themselves up as an

"Ashtanga teacher", and run "Ashtanga classes" without a proper

understanding of the correct method. Thus, more than with any

other system of yoga, it is important before enrolling in an

Ashtanga class to check the teacher's credentials and whether

the class follows the Traditional Mysore Method. It should be

noted that many 'Ashtanga classes' do not follow this model.

This indeed may not be an issue for new students, but they

should be aware that they may be attending a class that does

not meet with the standards set by Shri K Pattabhi Jois and his

Certified Students. It is important to know what constitutes a true

Ashtanga class, and what are variations or imitations of the

Traditional Method.