Happy Birthday Krishnamacharya: 5 Things I Learned From Him!

Krishnamacharya (the grandfather of ALL yoga you see out there these days) was born November 18, 1888. Should he be living today he would turn 123!

As an expression of gratitude here are five things I've learned from him, without ever knowing him, and that inspire me daily:



Low Profile but Fierce Propagation of the Message of Yoga

As a teacher he kept a low profile but that did not mean he stopped propagating the message of yoga, he just did it wisely.  Matter of fact, when A.G. Mohan was to go onto a yoga  conference in the 70's that was the direct advise that Krishnamacharya gave him: "Propagate Yoga Wisely".

For more on this picture see this article

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Selective in the Students He took on Board

He was picky of the students he took on because he knew that they would reflect on him and he wanted more than anything to please the wishes of his guru Bramacharya, who asked him to go into the world and propagate yoga.  That he did.

All the yoga we know today we know because of him.  Every yoga teacher out there has been influenced by Krishnamacharya weather we know it or not.

Krishnamacharya favored students that were serious and interested in all branches of yoga.  He would make them wait for an hour under the hot Indian sun if they were ever late (Ramaswami tells this story). He took yoga very seriously
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He practiced all his life

Up until his 90's when he suffered a fracture in his hip because he did not realize he had moved a chair and sat down falling to the floor.  But before that he continued his asana practice as well as pranayama, meditation and chanting.

When a local institute in India asked him to teach he said he would but when the management wanted to change his teaching style he turned around and said 'no' highlighting that this would give him more time for his own practice.
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Different Interpretation of the Yoga Sutras

His interpretation of the yoga sutras is unique, as passed from him to Ramaswami.  For example, Krishnamacharya is the first to say that yoga is not all about union, it is also, more pragmatically, about separation, about the constant discrimination in our daily lives of what is real and what is not.

For exapmple, this anxiety I feel right now, is not real, the only reality is the silent observer, the one behind the curtain that is beyond life/death and anxiety too.  Identification with the observer rather than the experience is what we are after.

He also had a very peculiar interpretation as of where it is in the Yoga Sutras that Patanjali mentions 'vinyasa', an interpretation that you will not find in Iyengar or Sivananda, a very unique take by Krishnamacharya and his guru Bramacharya of the Himalayans.  See here.
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Dedication and Perseverance

At the age of 16 Krishnamacharya walked about 1,000 miles chasing what he heard in a dream, that an ancestor of his was to teach him all about yoga.  This is the story.

Now, how much energy and dedication does it take to walk 1000 miles? I guess after that the thought of just doing primary series on this fine Friday pales in comparison!

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Krishnamacharya inspires me to get on the mat every day. His serious and determined eye gaze seems to pervade all around the place where I practice. I know he is watching!