How Yoga Arrived in the West.

During a lifetime that spanned more than 100 years, (he was born in 1888) Krishnamacharya devoted himself to the study, practice and teaching of yoga. Krishnamacharya studied the ancient classical Indian texts and Ayuvedic medicine, his thirst for knowledge earned him the equivalent of seven PhDs. He then added to this and studied for seven years with a yogi master in a cave at the foot of Mount Kailash. At the end of the seven years it is customary to ask what payment the yogi master wants. He was told to take a wife and raise a family and to teach yoga. His education to that date was such that he could earn a good living, but to teach yoga at that time was the lowest position of status and virtually a sentence of poverty. He followed the instructions given and he and his new wife were quite poor for the next two years. Then his reputation for knowledge in yoga and healing spread and the Maharaja of Kholapur, who had health problems, asked Krishnamacharya to become his yoga teacher. From there, with the backing of the Maharaja, Krishnamacharya set up a yoga school, and yoga was encouraged to be taught to children in schools. Krishnacaharya taught yoga to BKS Iyengar, who was his brother-in-law, and who had poor health. BKS Iyengar’s health improved and he then became a devoted yoga teacher and was responsible for founding more than 200 yoga schools around the world. It is often Iyengar’s name that will be recognized when looking at the introduction of yoga to the west.

Krishnamacharya’s son Desikachar studied with his father for thirty years and has been a renowned authority on the theraupeutic uses of yoga.

If you would like to read more about Krishnamacharya and Desikachar

Health, Healing and Beyond, TKV Desikachar with R H Cravens

The Heart of Yoga, TKV Desikachar (This includes Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras which Desikachar studied seven times with his father).