Power yoga - ashtanga yoga PDF Print E-mail

pattabhi joisI was disappointed to find that so many novice students have taken Ashtanga yoga and have turned it into a circus for their own fame and profit. The title 'Power Yoga' itself degrades the depth, purpose and method of the yoga system that I received from my guru Sri T. Krishnamacharya. Power is the property of God. It is not something to be collected for one's ego.(...) The full ashtanga system practiced with devotion leads to freedom within one's heart.



Yoga Sutra II.28 confirms this: 'Yoganganusthanat asuddiksaye jnanadiptih avivekakhyateh', which means 'practicing all the aspects of yoga destroys the impurities so that the light of knowledge and discrimination shines.'

It is unfortunate that students who have not yet matured in their own practice have changed the method and have cut out the essence of an ancient lineage to accomodate their own limitations.
The Ashtanga Yoga system should never be confused with 'power yoga' or any whimsical creation which goes against the tradition of the many types of yoga shastra (scriptures). It would be a shame to lose the precious jewel of liberation in the mud of ignorant body building."

(A letter from P. Jois to Yoga Journal, November 1995)