Marieke's Art of Living

T Krishnamacharya is credited as “the father of modern yoga”- Yogi, healer, linguist, Vedic scholar, expert in the Indian Schools of thought, researcher, author... in other words, a legend. Born in 1888 in a remote Indian village, T Krishnamacharya who lived to be over hundred years old was one of the greatest yogis of the modern era and learned yoga for nearly eight years from his Guru, Rama Mohan Brahmachari in a cave in Tibet.
If today, yoga is an inherent part of the everyday lives of millions of people across the world, it is due in large measure to the pioneering efforts of T Krishnamacharya who revived yoga in the early twentieth century. While preserving ancient wisdom and reviving lost teachings, Krishnamacharya was also a revolutionary innovator who developed and adapted yoga practices that were as would offer health, mental clarity and spiritual growth to any individual in the modern-day world. Krishnamacharya's knowledge of yoga was so vast that he taught each student differently. In refusing to standardize the practice and teaching methodology, Krishnamacharya created an understanding of yoga relevant for a broad spectrum of students. By integrating the ancient teachings of Yoga and Indian philosophy with modern-day requirements, Krishnamacharya created yoga practices that are as accurate and powerful as they are practical and relevant.

"You may have never have heard of him, but Tirumalai Krishnamacharya influenced or perhaps even invented your yoga. Whether you practice the dynamic series of Pattabhi Jois, the refined alignments of BKS Iyengar, the classical postures of Indra Devi, or the customized vinyasa of Desikachar, your practice stems from one source: a five-foot, two-inch Brahmin born more than one hundred years ago in a small south Indian Village".

TKV Desikachar, son and student of T Krishnamacharya had the privilege of living and studying with T Krishnamacharya from 1960 until Krishnamacharya's death in 1989. For over 45 years, TKV Desikachar has devoted himself to teaching yoga at KYM and making it relevant to people from all walks of life and with all kinds of abilities. His teaching method is based on Krishnamacharya's fundamental principle that yoga must always be adapted to an individual's changing needs in order to derive the maximum therapeutic benefit. TKV Desikachar continues to oversee KYM's work in therapy as well as training and guiding the faculty of KYM.
A visit will be arranged to KYM in Chennai.

Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois father of Ashtanga yoga was born on the full moon day of July, 1915, Guru Purnima day. His father was an astrologer and a priest, who acted as the pujari for many of the families in the village. From an early age, as most brahmin boys, Pattabhi Jois was taught the Vedas and Hindu rituals.
When Guruji was 12 years old, he attended a yoga demonstration given by Sri T. Krishnamacharya at his middle school in Hassan. The next day he went to meet the great yogi who had given the demonstration, and for the next two years, Guruji learned from his Guru every day. When Guruji turned 14, he had his brahmin thread ceremony. Krishnamacharya left Hassan to travel and teach, and Guruji left his village to go to Mysore. In time, The Maharaja of Mysore, Krishna Rajendra Wodeyar, became the great patron of Krishnamacharya after he cured the Maharaja of his illness and built him a yogashala (school of yoga) on the grounds of the Palace Art Gallery.
From 1937 until 1973, Guruji earned his professorship at the University, granting him the title of Vidvan. He married, in a love marriage, Savitramma, who came from a long line of Sanskrit scholars. Her grandfather was the Sanskrit and philosophy teacher to the last Shankaracharya of Kanchi, Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati. They had three children, Manju, Ramesh, and Saraswati. Saraswati is the mother of Sharath, born in 1971, who is now Guruji's co-director of their school in Mysore.)
A visit will be arranged to the Ashtanga Institute in Mysore

Other disciples of Krishnamacharya included his son-in-law, BKS Iyengar who became known in the West through his classic text Light on Yoga, first published in 1966 and never out of print since then. His Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) established on January 19, 1975 is based at Pune south of Mumbai and is the source of Iyengar Yoga. At a fundamental level Iyengra pays particular attention to the correct alignment of the body and incorporates the use of props

History of Sivananda
One of the great yogis, Adi Shankaracharya, rediscovered the ancient vedantic teachings, reestablishing the sacred path of yoga throughout India.
The Saraswati lineage, from which Swami Sivananda hails, is one branch of a whole tree of yoga teachings which have descended from the teachings of Adi Shankaracharya.
Swami Sivananda, born in 1887 is regarded as one of the great saints of the 21st century. He trained as a medical doctor, this set his course in helping others and fueled his burning desire to serve the greater good. He tirelessly worked and wrote medical journals, joureying all over India and Malaysia. In 1922, he became Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh and founded the Divine Life Society. He had many disciples and wrote over 300 books on the teachings and practices of yoga. Swami Sivananda left his body in 1963 leaving many disciples who have continued to spread his teachings.
We will spend 2 nights at the Sivananda Ashram near Trivandrum