Andre Van Lysebeth (1919-2004) was the first western to arrive at Pattabhi Jois' shala in 1964. I was not even born then... Wikipedia does not say much about him, perhaps because he is Belgian and his website is in French or perhaps because... I don't know why.
I got curious about him when I read that he arrived so early at Jois' place, and looked him up, also got his book Yoga Self Taught
. It turns out he spent quite a bit of time in India, mostly in the Sivananda tradition and the Vishwayatan ashram in Dehli, one I had never heard of before.
Reading Yoga Self Taught, it is clear that he was not very influenced by Jois' teachings at all. For example his name does not appear in the book -although I do realize that this is a later edition, Wikipedia says that in the first one he did mention him and that is what prompted other western students to follow-.
I get the sense that Andre was a very prominent teacher in Belgium, perhaps the most famous -his teacher training course is four years long-, and he mostly did his own style of yoga with a Sivananda flavour.
In the book, the first thing that caught my attention was the one-liner he chooses from his guru, Sivananda: "An ounce of practice is worth several tons of theory".
Perhaps you also catch the similarity to the "99% practice 1% theory" or even the: "Do your practice and all is coming" of Jois...
The sequence he chooses to show is one he learned at Sivananda's and the most surprising thing to me is that it starts with the shoulder stand.
When I say surprising what I mean is that I feel weary of a sequence starting with the neck in such a possible compromising position before the body has even had a chance to warm up through a standing sequence.
I guess he anticipated people would question it on it and so he maintains that the rishis suggest starting with the inverted pose for circulation purposes. I am left scratching my head.
This is the sequence:
Also of note is that the word "vinyasa" (or how to move from out of one pose and into another one) does not appear in the index.
He has some interesting explanations of why the poses are named the way they are as in for example matsyasana -fish pose- which he says is because the belly goes up and resembles a fish floating in the water. And he also goes extensively into how important it is to breath and to clean the body -great tongue scrubbing explanation-
Anyone out there in Belgium that has had any experience learning from him?
I got curious about him when I read that he arrived so early at Jois' place, and looked him up, also got his book Yoga Self Taught
. It turns out he spent quite a bit of time in India, mostly in the Sivananda tradition and the Vishwayatan ashram in Dehli, one I had never heard of before.Reading Yoga Self Taught, it is clear that he was not very influenced by Jois' teachings at all. For example his name does not appear in the book -although I do realize that this is a later edition, Wikipedia says that in the first one he did mention him and that is what prompted other western students to follow-.
I get the sense that Andre was a very prominent teacher in Belgium, perhaps the most famous -his teacher training course is four years long-, and he mostly did his own style of yoga with a Sivananda flavour.
In the book, the first thing that caught my attention was the one-liner he chooses from his guru, Sivananda: "An ounce of practice is worth several tons of theory".
Perhaps you also catch the similarity to the "99% practice 1% theory" or even the: "Do your practice and all is coming" of Jois...
The sequence he chooses to show is one he learned at Sivananda's and the most surprising thing to me is that it starts with the shoulder stand.
When I say surprising what I mean is that I feel weary of a sequence starting with the neck in such a possible compromising position before the body has even had a chance to warm up through a standing sequence.
I guess he anticipated people would question it on it and so he maintains that the rishis suggest starting with the inverted pose for circulation purposes. I am left scratching my head.
This is the sequence:
Sarvangasana - Shoulder Stand or Candle - for 1 minute
Halasana - 2 minutes
Matsyasana - 1 minutes
Paschimotanasana 2
Upward dog - Cobra - 1
Shalabasana 1
Dhanurasana 30 seconds
Ardha Matsyendrasana 1 min
Headstand Shirshasana 1 to 10 minutes or more
Uddyana and Nauli 1/2
Breathing 3 mins
Relax 3 mins
Also of note is that the word "vinyasa" (or how to move from out of one pose and into another one) does not appear in the index.
He has some interesting explanations of why the poses are named the way they are as in for example matsyasana -fish pose- which he says is because the belly goes up and resembles a fish floating in the water. And he also goes extensively into how important it is to breath and to clean the body -great tongue scrubbing explanation-
Anyone out there in Belgium that has had any experience learning from him?
This is fascinating Claudia! I'd wondered about Andre van Lysebeth after I read the Guruji book too. It would be so interesting if someone who had practiced with him chimed in. I'm very curious what his experience in Mysore was like and what he took away from his experience with Guruji.
ReplyDeleteClaudia, I am scratching my head too and this is very strange indeed. I am a Sivananda teacher and that sequence is mostly Sivananda...except I don't see the Sun Salutations and usually headstand is first before the shoulderstand. And pretty much missing here also are the standing poses which are at the end...triangle poses, balancing poses. The breathing is also not expanded upon and in a Sivananda class is prominently at the beginning of class for at least 15 to 20 minutes - kappalabhati and alternate nostril. So really what he is writing about is an incomplete Sivananda practice and no Ashtanga!
ReplyDeleteChristine, yes fascinating indeed... Let's hope someone who knew him pops up.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, the sequence part appears when he is talking about asana in particular, the book does have another huge section on breathing... I will look again to see if does mention that as the beginning of a session...per say... As per sivananda starting with a headstand and placing the standing postures at the end, that is so different I am left trying to imagine the feeling and flow of it... Very interesting
Actually, Claudia, if you look at the asana sequences recommended by Mr Iyengar in Appendix I of Light on Yoga, he also recommends that one begins one's practice with long holds in headstand, starting from somewhere in Course 2. So the idea of starting with inversions is not entirely foreign to the Krishnamacharya lineage.
ReplyDeleteHi Nobel, thanks for pointing that out, I have not looked at the courses in Light on Yoga in a while, might be a good time... which leaves me wondering if HE might have had some Sivananda influence... cause I do not think AG Mohan or Ramaswami start their classes with inversions, but then again, I could be proven wrong any second!
ReplyDelete(Different anonymous)
ReplyDeleteAs an ashtangi I'd always wondered why headstand comes towards the end really - I guess because it's hard to fit it into a warm-up sequence like suryanamaskar to some extent, but it could come after Surya B if whoever had wanted it to. Personally I wish it was earlier, because I find it far from effort-free and think I'd appreciate it more if it wasn't after more-or-less everything else. Maybe that will change as I learn to relax more into it...which reminds me, there seem to be conflicting views on how much weight to put on the head. Off topic, but my teacher says as long as the spine is straight, as much as you want, whereas others (e.g. Swenson) take the 'no weight on the head, all the work in the shoulders' approach. Personally find the former a lot easier, and hasn't affected my neck (yet).
(The first anonymous :)
ReplyDeleteSivananda is considered "chakra opening" hatha yoga style so by starting with the inversions, you begin to focus on the upper chakras first then move your way down to the root when you come up for standing postures at the end of the sequence. While there are not as many poses as ashtanga, you end up opening every single energy center and are quite in the meditation mode by the end of the practice which on an advanced level does include many, many ashtanga poses from all the series. I actually asked my ashtanga teacher for permission to practice some second and third series poses that I am not up to and may never be in ashtanga but that I love to do when I am in Sivananda mode i.e. several arm balancing poses. She agreed to let me do so after visiting a Sivananda ashram with me and seeing why I was so interested in doing so :)
Hi Claudia,
ReplyDeleteInteresting, I have been curious about this book. He has written a book on pranayama which was on my reading list for teacher training. I'm pretty sure he mentions P. Jois in this book, but I can't remember what he says, nothing much I don't think, just that he is his teacher, I think. It is a great book.
First anonymous who was also stcratching his or her head: OK, so I went back to the book
ReplyDeleteI guess one thing we need to keep in mind is that he intended it for the very beginner yogi.
He has a table that lists 8 stages, something like weeks from Iyengar I suppose? or levels? the "Breathing" and another part called "Self Awareness" appear first and they are marked from the beginning.
Although the book has almost 3 chapters dedicated to proper breathing, he gives a very basic exercise and demonstration for how to do it.
He also has 3 as in THREE!!! chapters on relaxation
Oh, and the sun salutations do not appear in the sequence until the student is in level 3 (week 3? level 3? not sure what "stage" means"
Perhaps will have follow up post with picture
Different anonymous, that is interesting to me because as I started practicing I always wanted them (inversions) at the end cause they seemed so daunting... I am getting a whole new sense of how other people perceive the inversions, whole new world here. I wonder about the teachers differences, as well, in what you said. In the beginning I remember all the weight was in my head, and it did not affect my neck, just like is your case, then in Thailand we had a teacher -not Paul- that callenged us to get up on our arms and lift the head. That was the first time I tried. Now a days I find it is a bit of a balance but most of the weight goes in the arms... and I even find myself trying to lift the head "just for fun" which is news even for me... I appreciate you commenting and sharing.
ReplyDeleteFirst anonymous: you are back!!! :-) I see, so chakra opening... I must read more Sivananda! Sometimes I get tempted to just do things that will aid in meditation, sometimes I doubt my own practice, but in the end I keep on coming back to it because of all the benefits I feel from it... but I have noticed that other bloggers have an evening practice that is separate from the morning practice and that could be more conducive to meditation... then again, Goenka -where I have studied meditation- encourages no preparation at all... but I get a sense that a sequence like that "opening the chakras" could quiet the mind... as does pranayama... I found also interesting that your teacher was open enough to let you do those poses. Yoga is such an interesting topic! :-)
Helen: Yes I noticed he has that other book and of course I am curious now... here we go! good to read from you :-)