Yoga East Curriculum

Recently a yoga teacher from out-of-town contacted us to propose teaching a workshop at Yoga East on partner work and physical assists. I was sorry to turn her down because she's also the daughter of one of our long-time students. She's attended classes here when she visits her mom, she's a lovely person, and I'm sure she's a great teacher. So why did I say "No" to the workshop?

It's the same reason I've turned down workshops on Acro-Yoga, Laughter Yoga and Budokon (yoga & karate)... forms of yoga that are not within our teaching tradition. Yoga East, since Maja's time, has always focused its instruction in the Krishnamacharya lineage through the two main teachers: K Pattabhi Jois and BKS Iyengar. Iyengar and Ashtanga Yogas have now evolved further into Anusara and Vinyasa. When we've gone outside this lineage, such as to offer Pilates or kettlebells or hot yoga classes, it's been to support our teachers who also teach these other things. I'm confident that these teachers are grounded enough to teach a different tradition and still keep students focused on the important elements of yoga from the Krishnamacharya tradition: correct alignment and form, and diligent practice.

My teacher, Pattabhi Jois was once asked, "What do you think of all those other Western yogas?" He answered, "Let those yogas be there. I am teaching this yoga."

Like Mr. Jois, I don't want to make a judgment about the value of other forms of yoga, but I've found that Yoga East does best when we stick with our tradition. Early on in my yoga experience, I tried other forms of yoga to see what was out there. Ultimately I returned to my roots. You can dig a lot of shallow holes, but it's better to dig one really deep well.