Mysore
Studying with Sharath Jois in Mysore
To go to Mysore and study with Sharath is a great joy: spending time there is essential for students with the desire to learn more than the Primary series.
Please note there is no recognised teacher training programme approved by Sharath. Anyone interested in teaching this system of yoga should commit to long term study over a number of years with Sharath in Mysore.
All the classes at Astanga Yoga London follow in the tradition of how Sharath teaches in Mysore and all our teachers are either certified or authorised by him.
About Sharath Jois
Sharath Jois photographed by Tom Rosenthal
R. Sharath Jois is the current lineage holder of astanga yoga.
R. Sharath Jois is the world’s most advanced practitioner of astanga yoga and the preeminent authority of its traditional practice. He was born in Mysore, India and began practising at age 7 under the guidance of his grandfather, K. Pattabhi Jois. Sharath wholly devoted himself to the study of astanga yoga, waking every day at 3.30am to make the cross-town trip to his grandfather’s Astanga Yoga Research Institute. He continued to practise under and assist his grandfather for 20 years. Sharath is the only student of Astanga yoga to have mastered the complete six series.
Today, when not touring the world teaching, Sharath is home in Mysore, rising six days a week at 1.00am to practise before teaching the hundreds of students from all over the globe that come to study with him each year.
Sharath resides in Mysore with his wife Shruthi, daughter Shraddha, and son Sambhav.
About K. Pattabhi Jois
K. Pattabhi Jois, Sharath’s grandfather, was the principle proponent and master of astanga yoga.
Born in 1915, he began studying with Krishnamacharya in 1927 until 1945. Between 1930 and 1956 he studied Sanskrit and Advaita vedanta at Mysore Maharaja Sanskrit College. He became professor and departmental head of yoga at Maharaja Sanskrit College in 1937.
He set up the Astanga Yoga Research Institute (now the Sharath Yoga Centre) in 1948 and became honorary professor of yoga at the Government College of Indian Medicine between 1976 and 1978.
After he died it came to light that, sadly, he had acted in an inappropriate way while teaching some of his students.
“If one wants to learn yoga, then one must follow in the tradition of paramparā... you cannot really learn, you cannot truly understand yoga unless it is imparted directly from guru to student.”
— Sharath Jois, Pushpam magazine issue 1
Mysore in photos by Sharon Matarazzo
Above: Sharathji’s feet
Here are some photos of Mysore taken by AYL student Sharon Matarazzo on one of her trips.
‘I am one among the many yoga enthusiasts and aspirants Mysore attracts from far and wide to enjoy the generous offerings of its culture and traditions, sunlight, warmth, people and animals. It’s a place where I’ve formed cherished friendships and experienced a rich tapestry of the sacred and profane, a paradox one imbibes in any great love story. This is a taste of my Indian love story.’
Sharon Matarazzo
