I finished reading Tim Miller’s post today, and it left me wondering: Why do all these famous teachers tend not to mention that they took practice with Guruji at some point? I just finished reading Ana Forrest’s Fierce Medicine last month, and she mentions a tiff with Mr. Iyengar but not a word about Guruji or Ashtanga. I had no idea that Shiva Rea had studied Ashtanga. She makes it sound like she learned her yoga from secret rishis in undisclosed locations when you look at her workshop offerings. The same with Sean Corn. They all “developed’ their sequence but talk about their apprenticeships in very, very, very, general and vague terms. No Vande Gurunam anywhere to speak of. I’m not saying that they did not change or improve or add to their yoga style or whatever, I’m saying be expansive and open about where you learned your stuff. When and how, I wonder does that transition happen? As a newbie, you are head over heels in love with the first teacher who showed you the sequence, and somehow after that it becomes “I took some classes” when I was in NY or LA or during college and THEN I went to India. Oh for goodness sakes just be relaxed enough to give props to who pointed you in that direction.
Serene Flavorful
inspiration yoga pretty things tasty things fearless kindness
I haven’t read Tim’s post today (should I do this before I proceed to comment here?), but I do have a couple of things to say about the phenomenon that you mention:
(1) Some years ago, Shiva Rea published an article in Yoga Journal (too lazy to go look it up now) in which she writes about walking the streets of Mysore at 4 a.m. to go to practice (or something to this effect), the implication here being that (a) she was in Mysore to study with Guruji, and (b) she was advanced enough to be placed in the 4:30 a.m. slot (or whatever time that earliest practice slot is at).
As you probably know from reading many a Mysore blog, (b) is an urban legend which has since been debunked by many an Ashtangi: How early (or how late) your practice slot is has no bearing on how “advanced” your practice is.
(2) I once studied with this particular senior teacher; he was one of the first people in this country to practice Ashtanga along with Tim Miller and David Swenson, et. al., but has since created his own vinyasa style while acknowledging the influence that Ashtanga has had on his practice and teaching. Anyway, this teacher told me that Seane Corn came to one of his classes way back when she was a (how should I put this)… rookie yogini. She couldn’t do handstand, and he had to help her into it.
I wonder if she mentioned this anywhere in her books/DVDs/workshops?
I better stop now. I think I’ve created enough bad karma for one day
Besides, I may have a big fat lawsuit coming…
God forbid! That’s all we need, Yogis suing yogis outside of Bikramland. I by no means want to imply that a teacher should mention every workshop or every training ever attended in order to pay their respects to those who pointed to the path of liberation so to speak. I do however think it is reasonable to expect a nod to the first person who introduced you to the Sun Salutations and to mention if you learned something useful from one of Krishnamacharyas’ disciples…