Given the slight variations in practice that have sprung up over the years it makes sense to produce a codification of the practice such that anyone coming to the Mysore Shala or indeed the world tours are all on the same page.... for while they're there at least before returning to their own shala and parampara. Many of the variations in practice are a result of the small changes in how the practice was taught over the years by Pattabhi Jois himself and that teachers have continued to teach, to pass on the practice, just as they were taught and in good faith.

And it needs to be small enough to fit in your backpacks for when you do go to Mysore or in your shala bag perhaps, it's a mat book, something you can hide under your mat to surreptitiously check the 'correct' vinyasa (kidding, don't try it) .

However, I'm a little disappointed I have to say. I'd heard there was going to be something along the lines of what we hear about from Sharath's conferences, a kind of Q and A section or the responses at least and rather than reports from the conferences by others, something that Sharath himself had decided to publish. 

That would have been interesting, in fact the handful of paragraphs we get on the Yamas and Niyamas are the most interesting section of the book, more of that would have been nice.

Also, once I'd heard there was a section on Yoga Therapy I was hoping for a few more pages than the two  we get. 

Still, even two pages on Yoga therapy is a bit of a bombshell. It shouldn't be a surprise of course Yoga Therapy has always been a part of  the Ashtanga method, it was there when Krishnamacharya taught Indra Devi in Mysore, Pattabhi Jois mentioned, in an interview ( must find the interview) that he was taught a therapeutic approach by Krishnamacharya who claims that's what he was taught by his own teacher in the Himalayas. Manju Jois mentions in his own interviews that his father Patabhi Jois would treat patients in the shala. Perhaps it's something that's been lost somewhat along the way although the practice, the sequence has it seems always been adjusted to meet the needs of the students in the more experienced Shalas. 

Perhaps including these two pages on Yoga Therapy will open the floodgates somewhat and more attention will be given to the myriad possibilities of adapting the Ashtanga Vinyasa Krama to the requirements of the students. 

Interesting times

The inclusion of the two pages on Yoga Therapy is along with the yam as/niyamas the most interesting aspect of Sharath's book. Otherwise it's just the 'correct' Vinyasa count and a few paragraphs each on aspects of practice, much of which can already be found word for word on the KPJYI website.

This sentence under Breathing I found a little disturbing however

"The inhalation and exhalation should be the same length and maintained throughout the practice. For example, if you inhale for two seconds, the exhale should be two seconds" p21

Two seconds!

Thankfully a couple of lines later we get...

"Long deep breathing activates the digestive fire that burns in the lower abdomen...." p21

Not sure how we balance the two lines from the same paragraph, does a two seconds inhalation suggest  to anyone long deep breathing or am I nitpicking on my favourite bugbear, he did say it was just an example..

Patabhi Jois would talk about ten second inhalations, fifteen seconds even twenty second inhalations (and was saying the same in Interviews even up until the 1990s) and the same for exhalation throughout the asana practice.  OK, maybe it's an ideal, I personally only manage to practice at eight seconds each for inhalation and exhalation, that drops to perhaps as little as five in the deep binds like marichiyasana D and Supta kurmasana, but two seconds, really?

If it's a book on the current Ashtanga methodology you want then you may well be better off spending the extra .71 cents and getting Petri Räisänen's 192 page Ashtanga Yoga, Definitive Primary Series Practice Manual' book. The Vinyasa count is up to date, 'official' and you're getting so much more besides ( see my earlier review) as well as a beautiful, professionally, produced addition to your bookshelf. I'd check the vinyasa count is indeed exactly the same in both books but I loaned Petri's book to Susan (Susananda) on Tuesday.

Personally, if you're only going to buy one Ashtanga book ( yeah right) then I'd say stick with Pattabhi Jois' own Yoga Mala which is a lovely, well produced, book and something I keep finding hidden treasures in to chew over.