More thoughts on opening an Ashtanga and Vinyasa Krama practice space.

M. bought home flowers for the shala to celebrate it's opening

It's struck me that opening a practice space, so close upon the heels of Manju's TT course may give the wrong impression.

A week with Manju whatever the name of the course does not to my mind, nor I imagine to anyone else's, authorise me to teach Ashtanga in his name. The certificate I received at the end of the course was merely a certificate of attendance, of participation, 25 hours of teacher training.

I consider it a beginning, a first I hope of many similar trainings, intensives and Mysore classes with Manju and hopefully with Kristina also. One of the things that most struck me about the course was how many of the other participants had come back again and even again to take the same course, to re enforce and deepen their understanding of Manju's presentation of the practice as well as their connection with him as a teacher.

I found this quite inspiring.

Studying with Manju I feel that my own practice, as it has developed over the years and in some degree of isolation, is more in keeping with traditional Ashtanga practice, as Manju presents it, than I had perhaps imagined.

"Manju's TT showed me that my idea of Ashtanga practice, a long slow breath, a flexible approach with the focus on Primary and Intermediate series, integrated with pranayama and meditation, with chanting, was in fact, 'traditional practice'. good, honest, common sense Ashtanga".
from my previous post

I'd tended to think of myself ( liked to think of myself no doubt) as, if not outside the tradition and the lineage then perhaps on it's edges. It turns out I seem to have a more traditional practice than I'd perhaps realised ( or wanted to accept) and this makes me more inclined to share this practice I love while seeking to continue developing and deepening my own understanding of it. Perhaps this development of the practice in isolation, working things out myself, offers an interesting perspective (despite the inherent irony) and is worth sharing, we'll find out.


Ramaswami has always encouraged me to pass on his teaching of Vinyasa Krama, I've tended to feel that Ashtanga (as I understand it and my understanding of how Manju at least presents it) and Vinyasa Krama are complimentary ( I tend to practice Ashtanga in the morning, Vinyasa Krama in the evening), that they can inform each other. At times they feel far apart at others they seem to almost meet such that I find it hard to distinguish one from the other. Given that both ultimately derive from Krishnamacharya that is perhaps not surprising, there is a consistency there.

Offering Ashtanga Mysore in the morning and Vinyasa Krama in the evening I would not be surprised in a crossover, finding an Ashtangi in a Vinyasa Krama class or somebody from Vinyasa Krama occasionally attending morning Mysore, that would be interesting.