I guess I’m out of the Ashtanga loop down here in Arkansas.  I’ve heard rumors about “official” Ashtanga shalas opening up in Encinitas, Sydney, and Islamorada.  Now I see there’s a “Jois” yoga website (http://www.joisyoga.com) founded by Sharath, Saraswathi, Sonia Jones, and Salima Ruffin.  From reading the website, we can expect official Jois yoga apparel collection sometime soon.  Also, while I was browsing the KPJAYI teacher list, I noticed that Sharath’s last name is listed as “Jois”, although it’s still listed as Rangaswamy on the Jois website.  So…I’m kind of unclear about the significance of the last name change.

   I’ve also noticed a few other changes…famous Ashtanga teachers whose names have disappeared from the teacher’s list on the KPJAYI website.  There’s a thread on the messageboard that showed up over the weekend about this subject:  http://yoga84291.yuku.com/topic/4348/t/Jois-clothing-line.html.   It all makes me wonder where Ashtanga yoga is going to go in the future.  It will be interesting to see if any of the ‘rockstar’ teachers withdraw their certification from the institute.

    On an Ashtanga-related note, I just finished reading an amazing book that I borrowed from a new yoga friend.  The Yoga of the Yogi – The Legacy of T Krishnamacharya was written by Krishnamacharya’s grandson,  Kausthub Desikachar.  What a great read!  It’s a little bit pricey…and not available on Amazon.  But if you want to learn a little bit more about Pattabhi Jois’ guru, I definitely recommend this book. 

    Now that I’m done with school forever, I’ve been spending some time updating my yoga wish list on Amazon.  There are soooo many books I want to read.  When will I have time to read them all?  Here’s what I’ve got on my list right now (in no particular order):

• Yoga Beneath the Surface: An American Student and His Indian Teacher Discuss Yoga Philosophy and Practice- Srivatsa Ramaswami
• A Brief Introduction to Yoga Philosophy: Based on the Lectures of Srivatsa Ramaswami – David Hurwitz
• The Upanishads- Eknath Easwaran
• Yoga Nidra Meditation CD- Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati
• Yoga Wisdom & Practice- B.K.S. Iyengar
• Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi – Sri Ramana Maharashi
• The Mirror of Yoga: Awakening the Intelligence of Body and Mind – Richard Freeman
• Gurujii: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students – Guy Donahaye (waiting for the paperback version)
• Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings- A.G. Mohan
• Yoga Nidra- Swami Satyananda Saraswati
• Yoga Chants – Richard Freeman
• Yoga Mala- Sri K. Pattabhi Jois
• The Key Muscles of Yoga: Scientific Keys, Volume 1 – Ray Long
• The Key Poses of Yoga: Scientific Keys, Volume 2 – Ray Long

Okay, so…a long list.  I may order one or two this week….whatever will meet Amazon’s free shipping requirement (because I’m cheap).  I should also spend some time reading or re-reading some of the books I already have.  I’ve re-discovered some of the great writing in Gregor Maehle’s first Ashtanga yoga book.  When I first purchased his book, I was mainly focused on the descriptions of postures…but he has some very good theory and commentary in other sections.  Taking my time to re-read his commentary on the Yoga Sutras. 

If anyone has any recommendations about the books listed above (or other book suggestions to add to my ‘wish list’), I’d be thrilled to hear them. 

On a side note…today I begin teaching again.  I haven’t taught a regular class in two years (while working on my latest masters degree).  I’m starting a beginner’s class on Thursday nights.  So…hopefully all goes well. 

   I stumbled upon the passage below in a recent Elephant Journal posting.  It’s by Kelly Gray, and the except is from the book Yoga In America: In the Words Of Some Of Its Most Ardent Teachers.  You can download the entire book for free online here.  And you can view Kelly’s chapter online here.

And then the question is “what IS yoga?”. Mostly I write what is not.

I don’t believe it to be the woman in robes preaching ahimsa and accountability and then not being accountable–someone who is more invested in her status than in truth.

I don’t believe it to be in the devotees who are so invested in their status (being close to the guru) that they ignore or close eyes to the hypocrisies and conflictual events that almost always arise, excusing it because we simply cannot understand the real motives of a guru or enlightened one. In my journey, my walk, on this earth we are all human and we are all accountable.

I don’t believe it to be in the yoga teacher who postures himself as the authority of your body (not much different than today’s western doctors) and tells 55 year old women what menopause is like.

I don’t believe it to be in the yoga superstars, the tantric sex gurus or even the austere ashrams (where I was very inappropriately hit on by two swamis and a bramachari and a Reiki master).

I don’t believe it’s in the ads, the new yoga tights, the namaste bumper stickers or the new approved herbal remedies that are 90 percent grape juice and less than 2 percent herbs.

I do believe it to be in the honest moments, the hard and the gritty and the beautiful. The moments where a man who loves you cares for you while you are sick and heartbroken because you followed a spiritual teacher that simply had a bad moment and can’t own it.

I believe it to be in the Mexican mother-in-law who knows absolutely nothing about yoga and is a bit overweight and struggles with her health, but has handmade tamales waiting for you every morning for breakfast simply because she found out you love tamales.

I believe it to be in this little back alley road, in an old gutted house with no electricity and wood floors that slope off and splinter, where people come every Wednesday night to offer a bit of a donation and chant and move and laugh together.

I believe it is the beauty and love and patience I see in my dog’s eyes every time I get so busy and wrapped up in teaching and work that we don’t have time for a walk.

I would much rather perfect my heart, to unravel and travel its depths, its unknowns and terrifying void and speak from that place, laugh from that place, love from that place, than spend the next 20 years perfecting my triangle or arguing about whether it should be five complete breaths in down dog before jumping back to forward bend or is it the exhale on the fifth breath where we jump.

    I’ve never been to India.  While I  think it would be a wonderful experience to go to Mysore for a few months, I sometimes doubt that I will ever make that trip.  Maybe one day I’ll go there on a vacation…for a few weeks.  But I can’t imagine myself taking several months off of work to travel around the world to practice yoga.  Taking off work would be technically possible (I could work remotely for a few hours a day…no problem).  But to be away from my husband, my home, and my family?  That thought doesn’t appeal to me…at least not at this phase of my life.

    Maybe one day I’ll go…or maybe not.  I’d like to go to see the country…but I don’t know that I’d necessarily go for my yoga practice.  I’ve always felt bad about my lack of desire to travel to India for yoga…especially when I hear other yogis talk about their trips.  They say, “You should go!  Just save up the money and do it!  The experience is worth it.”  Really?  I never heard anyone tell me why it’s so important to go to India.  They just say “go”…for the “experience.”

   Maybe part of the experience is being in an environment where you’re totally immersed in the practice and learning more about yoga.  No distractions from work or family.  If that’s the case, I can see how it would be beneficial.  But I like my work…and I love my family.  I live for the mundane activities that make up my life:  cleaning house, working in the garden, spending time with my husband, sunday lunch with my family, running mindlessly on my treadmill, and solitary yoga practice at home.  A yoga vacation would be fun…but not at the expense of these everyday activities…not at this point in my life.

    Who knows…maybe one day I’ll go.  Maybe….

    I love ernestosarabia’s videos on YouTube. Always some cool acrobatic demonstrations. He posted a new one today showing a variety of ways to lift up into a handstand. Not the most impressive acrobatic skills ever…but definitely something that I’d like to be able to do one day. I like how each demonstration in the video is so slow and controlled.  Something to aspire to.