Pattabhi Jois

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Pattabhi Jois
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Sri K Pattabhi Jois was an Indian yoga teacher who is credited with creating Ashtanga Yoga . He was born in 1915 and began studying yoga at a young age. In 1948, he opened his first yoga school in Mysore, India. Sri K Pattabhi Jois taught until his death in 2009. His teachings have been influential on many modern day yoga teachers and practitioners.
Sri K Pattabhi Jois was a world-renowned yoga teacher who developed the style of yoga known as Ashtanga Yoga. Born in Karnataka, India in 1915, Jois began studying yoga at the age of 12 under the guidance of his uncle, Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya. He later studied at the Sanskrit College in Mysore, where he received his teacher training certification.
He later went on to teach at Krishnamacharya’s Yoga Ashram in Mysore, where he developed the Ashtanga Yoga system. In 1937, he founded his yoga school, the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, where Jois ran classes and continued to teach until his death in 2009.
Sri K Pattabhi Jois, Krishnamacharya, and Rama Mohan Brahmachari are three of the most influential yoga teachers of the 20th century. Each of them played a vital role in shaping the modern practice of yoga, and their teachings continue to influence yogis around the world.
Sri K Pattabhi Jois is credited with popularizing Ashtanga Yoga, a physically demanding style of yoga that emphasizes strength and stamina.
Krishnamacharya is considered the father of vinyasa yoga, a flowing style of yoga that links breath with movement.
Krishnamacharya was born in 1888 in a small village in South India and was exposed to yoga at a young age. He went on to study under some of the most renowned yoga masters of his time and eventually developed his own style of yoga, which he taught to students all over the world.
Krishnamacharya is credited with reviving interest in yoga and making it more accessible to people from all walks of life. His legacy continues to inspire yogis of all levels, from beginners to advanced practitioners. Thanks to his visionary work, yoga is now practiced by millions of people around the globe.
And Rama Mohan Brahmachari was one of the first teachers to bring yoga to the West. Together, these three teachers have helped make yoga what it is today.
For more information, check out the trailer from the very informative documentary ‘Breath of the Gods’:
The Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore was founded by Sri K Pattabhi Jois in 1948 with the aim of preserving and promoting the proper practice of Ashtanga yoga around the world. Today, the Institute continues to be a leading voice in the Ashtanga yoga community, where those in the ashtanga community who want to study yoga travel from all over the world.
After his death in 2009, Pattabhi Jois’s grandson Sharath Jois becaome the lineage holder of Ashtanga Yoga, and renamed/rebranded the KPJAYI to the ‘ Sharath Yoga Center ‘ in Mysore, India.
Photo of me with Sharath Jois in 2019 upon receiving my authorization Level 1 to teach Ashtanga yoga in the original KPJAYI in Mysore, India.
Sri K Pattabhi Jois and his wife, Savitramma, had three children: Saraswathi, Manju, and Ramesh.
Saraswathi Jois currently runs the rebranded KPJAYI shala in Mysore alongside her daughter, Sharmila. Manju Jois , the oldest son of Pattabhi Jois, teacher Ashtanga yoga workshops all over the world.
The Yoga Mala book is a classic text on yoga, written by Sri K Pattabhi Jois. The book is a comprehensive guide to the practice of yoga, covering all aspects of the discipline. The book is divided into four parts: the first part covers the history and philosophy of yoga; the second part covers the asanas (postures); the third part covers the mental and emotional benefits of yoga; and the fourth part covers the spiritual benefits of yoga.
The Yoga Mala is considered to be an essential text for anyone interested in learning about yoga, and its many benefits.
One of the key features of Ashtanga Yoga is that it is a very physical practice, involving the linking of strong postures, flowing movements with breath control. This style of yoga has become increasingly popular in recent years, with many people around the world drawn to its challenging and invigorating nature.
In turn, Ashtanga Yoga has had a significant influence on modern yoga practices (such as power yoga), both in terms of its popularity and its approach to the physical aspects of the practice. Many of today’s most popular yoga styles have been influenced by Ashtanga Yoga, and the popularity of this style of yoga is likely to continue to grow in the years to come.
Below is a 1993 video of Sri K Pattabhi Jois teaching his now very well-known students:
Next is an interview with Sri K Pattabhi Jois as part of the very enlightening documentary Enlighten Up:
And finally, here is a yoga demonstration with Krishna Pattabhi Jois grandson Sharath, filmed in 1997:
Unfortunately, Sri K Pattabhi Jois’s legacy has been tarnished by sexual abuse allegations made by several women.
For more than thirty years, students of Pattabhi Jois whispered about the nature of his inappropriate hands-on yoga adjustments, while rumors of sexual abuse continued long after his death in 2009. 
And then came 2018, the year when it all came to the surface. That is when women started coming forward with stories of sexual misconduct.
In 2018 an article titled “ Yoga Guru Pattabhi Jois Sexually Assaulted Me for Years ” came out. It was written by Karen Rain, a student and victim of Pattabhi Jois who told her story and even showed photographs of Jois’ inappropriate adjustments (such as him pressing his crotch to hers in one of the postures).
Sharath Jois was initially criticized for not showing any acknowledgment of these accusations.
And then in 2019, as reported by The New Yorker , Sharath Jois wrote this: “It brings me immense pain that I also witness him giving improper adjustments. I am sorry it caused pain for any of his students. After all these years I still feel pain from my grandfather’s actions.”
The #MeToo movement has brought new attention to sexual abuse allegations, and many accusers have come forward in recent years with stories of harassment and assault.
The yoga community has been particularly affected by these revelations, as many well-known teachers have been accused of misconduct. As a result, many studios and organizations have been forced to reevaluate their policies and procedures around sexual harassment and assault.
For more information, check out the 2019 article by The New Yorker titled: “ Yoga Reconsiders the Role of the Guru in the Age of #MeToo “
While the allegations against Pattabhi Jois are serious, it’s important to remember that one person’s story does not represent an entire community. Ashtanga Yoga has brought many people incredible healing and transformation in yoga studios all around the world, and we should not let these allegations overshadow that. At the same time, it is vital that we listen to the stories of those who have been harmed and do our best to create a safe space for them to heal.
Ashtanga Yoga is a system of yoga that was codified and popularized by Sri Krishnamacharya in the early 20th century. However, the roots of Ashtanga Yoga go back much further, to the ancient texts of the Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.
In these texts, the sage Patanjali outlines eight “limbs” of yoga, which include practices such as meditation, breathing exercises, and physical postures. The word “Ashtanga” comes from the Sanskrit words “ashta,” meaning eight, and “anga,” meaning limb.
Thus, Ashtanga Yoga is sometimes referred to as the “eight-limbed yoga.”
The origins of Ashtanga Yoga can be traced back to an ancient text known as the Yoga Sutras. This text, which was written by the sage Patanjali, outlined eight different limbs of yoga, including asanas (yoga postures), pranayama (breath control), and meditation.
While many of these limbs are still practiced today, it is the asanas that form the core of Ashtanga Yoga.
According to legend, Patanjali was said to have received the asanas from Lord Shiva, who then passed them on to his disciple, Goraksha. From there, the asanas were transmitted from teacher to student, eventually making their way to Mysore, India in the early 20th century.
There, they were popularized by Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who is considered to be the father of modern yoga. Today, Ashtanga Yoga is practiced all over the world by people of all ages and levels of experience.
Ashtanga yoga, also known as eight-limbed yoga, is a type of yoga that was outlined by the sage Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. This system of yoga includes the following eight limbs: yama (abstinences), niyama (observances), asana (posture), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (sense withdrawal), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (absorption).
Alexia Koletsou is a Level 1 Authorized Ashtanga Yoga Teacher with a Ph.D. in Science Communication. She received her blessing to teach Ashtanga Yoga in 2019, from the Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute in Mysore, India, where she has had the honor of practicing with R. Sharath Jois multiple times over the years. She is the owner of her own Shala in Greece and now shares her knowledge on yogamyoldfriend.com and her YouTube channel Alexia K Yoga.







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Subramani Ananthapadmanabhan says:
© 2020 Matthew Remski. All Rights Reserved.
This site hosts over 200 original posts on current affairs in modern global yoga and Buddhist culture. If you feel this work is helpful in a way that you would like to support, contributions are deeply appreciated.
Content warning: photos of sexual assault, below. 
This post is intended to facilitate access to the following already-available images, which will be cited in Practice and All is Coming: Abuse, Cult Dynamics and Healing in Yoga and Beyond (March 2019).
In the first photo, Pattabhi Jois is seen sexually assaulting a male practitioner in Supta trivikramasana. Jois is seen sexually assaulting Karen Rain in the same posture in a similar photo. The photo below was taken in the old Lakshmipuram shala, and so dates from before 2003.
In the second photo, Jois is seen assaulting a male practitioner in a forward fold. A source says that the photo was taken in 2003 in Encinitas.
The identities of the practitioners are unknown. They remain anonymous because their faces are hidden.
I’m posting with the awareness that the practitioners might dispute that the photographs depict sexual assault.
However: victim testimony alone does not define sexual assault. Other factors can include whether there was full consent, whether the alleged victim was capable of granting full consent at the time, whether the alleged victim was in a position or condition of submission, whether the contact was administered under the false premise of medical treatment, and whether there was a significant power imbalance between the alleged assaulter and the victim.
Karen Rain commented on these photos in a thread on Facebook:
I’ve heard a couple stories about P Jois sexually assaulting men, including one story of a male digital rape. I know that the AY community likes to say that what he did to women wasn’t sexual assault because he did the same thing to men. This is the most nonsensical argument. Imagine if we used that reasoning with priests: they did the same thing to young girls as they did to young boys, so therefore it isn’t sexual abuse(??). It’s important to understand that sexual abuse/assault is about power not about sex. Unfortunately, males are perhaps, even more than females or non-binary people, conditioned in ways that prevent recognition and disclosing of sexual assault. So much for the argument that P Jois was tempted by effusive, scantily clad western women.
If Jois’s sexual assaults on men were more difficult to recognize and disclose, this may have increased the tendency, especially among the senior male students, to ignore or rationalize assaults against women as well.
Yeah, they’re just deep “adjustments,” the cult members would say…
I am very opppsed to teachers misusing power. I have taken stances on this also. However I find this a little of a stretch in the pics shown. P Jois is probably thinking that he is assisting the person. This is stupid inappropriate touch yes. Not sexual assault.
It is definitely sexual assault by most legal definitions today.
Raghu you are a fool to yourself but you don’t fool the rest of us. Of course it is sexual.
Sir.. these folks are.coming with pre-determined agenda.therefore no room for debate. It.wont be long before they attack BKS, and even Krishnamacharya.
I can not see any photos of sexual assault. Have anyone of you been in India and practiced any kind of yoga with some traditional teachers? I´m sure that answer is no.
Yes, from american point of view touching teachers body with student one means assault and I must say, I´m sorry for you. New, and we can say now modern teachers changed their techniques for people like you, so you can feel safe and untouchable. Now you can pretend how spiritual you are.
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Matthew Remski writes and presents on yoga and ayurveda in the shadows of capitalism and climate change. He is the author of eight books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction including Threads of Yoga: A Remix of Patanjali’s Sutras .
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Founder of Ashtanga, one of the most popular forms of yoga
Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning
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Sri K Pattabhi Jois, who has died aged 93, was the founder of Ashtanga yoga, the physically demanding, dynamic style of yoga embraced by millions of westerners. If ever proof were needed of the health benefits of yoga, Jois was it. Up every morning to start classes at 5am, he rarely missed a day's teaching in 70 years, instructing hundreds of students daily at his shala (school) in Mysore, southern India , until the last year of his life.
What sets Jois's method apart from other forms of hatha (physical) yoga is a technique called vinyasa. Ashtanga students jump back and forward (the vinyasa) between postures (asanas), synchronising movements with their breathing in one long flow. Expertly done, it can look more like a dance or a martial art than a relaxation class. "Ashtanga yoga is 99% practice; 1% theory", Jois would say. "Practise, practise and all is coming" was his mantra.
Over the last 15 years, Ashtanga has grown into one of the most popular forms of yoga in the world, with a large celebrity following. Jois's alumni include Madonna, Willem Dafoe, the rapper Mike D, Gywneth Paltrow and Ralph Fiennes; Sting and his wife Trudie Styler hosted him in London. Ashtanga has also spawned many new styles of yoga, including vinyasa flow, power yoga, shadow yoga, dynamic yoga and Jivamukti yoga. The UK boasts two teachers who are certified to teach Ashtanga at Jois's highest level.
For most Ashtanga students, the spiritual side creeps up slowly. In fact, Jois would teach meditation and the pranayama breathing technique only to advanced students, after they had completed years of dedicated practice. There are six series of poses in Ashtanga; it is said that, of all Jois's students, only his grandson Sharath Rangaswamy has completed all six.
Jois, known as "Guruji", was the son of a Brahmin priest and astrologer. He was born on a full moon in the small southern Indian town of Kowshika and became interested in yoga as a boy after attending a demonstration by Sri T Krishnamacharya, the man largely credited with resurrecting the millennia-old practice of yoga. At 14 he ran away from home with two rupees and a bicycle, and travelled to Mysore to study with his guru, throwing himself heart and soul into becoming a yogi. The maharaja of Mysore became a fan, and in 1937 invited Jois to set up the yoga department at the city's Sanskrit college. He eventually retired as professor of philosophy in 1973, though he continued to teach at his own school, the Ashtanga Yoga Institute, until 2008, retaining an encyclopedic memory for Sanskrit texts.
The first of Jois's western students arrived in Mysore in the 1960s. The popularity of Ashtanga began to spread, particularly in America, and over the next 40 years the school became inundated with foreigners. Jois would teach them from his modest home in Laxmipuram, eventually moving, in 2001, to the more affluent suburb of Gokulum. In 1975 he travelled with his son Manju to the US, invited to teach at schools set up in his name. He published a book about his discipline, Yoga Mala, in 1962; it was translated into English from his native Kannada in 1999.
Like many people I fell into Jois's style of yoga by chance. Returning jetlagged to London from a visit to Australia, I dropped into an early-morning Mysore-style yoga class near my house. I found it challenging both physically and mentally, and quickly became hooked. I went to India twice to study with Jois - on the first occasion meeting my American wife there - and, in 2005, made a documentary film, Guru, recording the interaction between Jois and his students and the celebrations for his 90th birthday.
What must it have been like for Jois, surrounded in the latter part of his life by so many foreigners, dressed up in Indian clothes, queueing up to bow down at his feet? He might have felt pity; instead he chose to see beyond any awkwardness or cultural difference. He opened his heart to thousands of students every year and tried to hold a space for anyone who dared to ask for his hel
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