AshtangaNews Ashtanga Yoga Matters (as taught by Sri K Pattabhi Jois)

Islamorada is back on, after 2 cancellations (last March and this March). This is from the official AYRI.org site:

URGENT BREAKING NEWS

We are pleased to announce that Guruji’s doctor has given him a clean bill of health and has released him for travel to America. Guruji will be opening the Yoga Studio in Islamorada beginning with a Grand Opening Party on Friday, May 23 from 6PM – 8PM.

We are very sorry for any inconveniences caused by the cancellations in the past two
years but are very excited to share this experience with all students who plan to attend.

Here’s the link to register.

There will be 3 classes and there is no mention of Sharath coming but Saraswathi will be there:

The classes will focus on the primary series sequence, which takes about 1½ hours.

May 23 6:00pm-8:00pm Grand Opening Party

May 24 8:00am Class

May 25 8:00am Class

May 26 8:00am Class

Please see March 7 Update below.

Today there were some comments on our October 2007 post Guruji in Florida in March 2008 about the workshop next month being canceled.

I asked a friend who had signed up for the second week who said that while she did not receive any official email, when she called up she was told that they were just starting to call students who were registered for the second week (March 24 to 28 2008):

Guruji is not going to make it for the trip - he’s ok but just can’t travel. However, Sharath and Saraswati are still coming but they will only be conducting classes during the first week (see Update below).

It seems students who registered for the second week are given the option to switch to the first week. Here are the details of who to contact from the AYRI.org registration page:

Nargis Lengacher at nargis@sdcreations.org and 831-659-3779 or Camille Kochon at creations@sdcreations.org and 760-804-9333.

I will update this post if anything official is posted.

UPDATE March 4 2008 9:00: According to the Ashtanga.com newsletter:

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois USA Tour 2008: On the advice of his physician, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois will not be traveling to teach at this workshop. We hope you will support Guruji’s new Florida center by joining his daughter Saraswathi and his grandson Sharath for the grand opening party of March 14th followed by classes.
Week 1: March 15-20, 7:00am and 9:00am
Week 2: March 24-28, 7:00am and 9:00am

UPDATE March 4 2008 12:00:On the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute website is an announcement:

My Beloved Students,

I have just been informed by my physician that it is recommended that I not travel at this time. While I am extremely disappointed that I won’t see each and every one of you. I hope that you will support my new center by joining my daughter Saraswathi and my grandson Sharath for the grand opening party of March 14 followed by classes.

This will be my family’s only visit the United States in 2008. I look forward to your support.

Love, Guruji

UPDATE March 4 2008 14:00: Now I am hearing that the workshop has been canceled completely. As I mentioned above, if you want to find out exactly what is going on contact: Nargis Lengacher at nargis@sdcreations.org and 831-659-3779 or Camille Kochon at creations@sdcreations.org and 760-804-9333.

UPDATE March 7 2008: The AYRI.org site has been updated and the workshop has been officially canceled:

The Florida tour has been cancelled. Further updates will be posted soon.

Guruji is doing fine and resting. Please do not call the family at this time due to the abundance of calls coming through. Further updates will be posted on the website.

The Shala in Mysore will re-open on the 27th of April.

UPDATE March 12 2008: From this post’s comments below:

Paradise Yoga would be happy to host ashtanga classes again this year. If there are any teachers coming to town who would be willing to teach classes or workshops, please give us a call at (305) 517-YOGA. Our schedule can be found online at www.paradise-yoga.net and will be updated with the ashtanga information. We are located 1.5 miles south of the Shala in Islamorada. Thanks and hope to see you- Audra Santoro

Part I:

there is something special here. and it has to do with fertility. i have heard that women come to [you tell us!] to get pregnant. the waters are powerful to wade in.

What popular town frequented by Ashtangis is this quote about?

Enough with the beaches, bendy people and temples
Time for something different (from bindifry)

The answer is Byron Bay, Australia where Dena Kingsberg teaches.

Part II:
Where should I got to learn something unusual and interesting about the places I might end up in whilst practicing Ashtanga?

Answer:
bindifry’s itty bitty brain basket. If you are unsure of what non-obvious things to do during your Ashtanga yoga-related travels and want to learn something non-obvious, Lisa’s quiet, quirky writing style and great photos will surely give you a real sense of the place. She writes about many Ashtanga-related topics, but her writing and photos about food and culture are the best.

This is a jaffle. (from bindifry)

All I knew about Byron Bay was the beaches bit…not this, which is really kind of the opposite.

i visited mt.warning, part of tweed volcano -an actual prehistoric volcano-climbed to the top to watch the first sunrise in the world. the hike began at 2am in pitch black on skinny rock filled trails going up. boy were my ankles hurting the next day. the jungle was filled with ancient trees. it felt prehistoric. because it was.

Here’s a short list of a few posts that left me feeling intrigued and smiley, like I have a secret:

• everywhere you look!…babies about Byron Bay, Australia
• kerala faq, kerala faq #2 and kerala faq #3 will come in handy if you go to Lino Miele’s Kovalam retreat or Susanna Finocchi and Jens Bache’s Ashtanga intensive, also in Kovalam.
• and let’s have special time about yummy treats (sweets) in Japan where Sharath recently taught.

We’ve been happy to have Lisa as a writer for AshtangaNews in Interview of Ashtanga Practitioners in Tokyo as well as to highlight her insightful work before in The Ashtanga Role Models of the Future: Live from Tokyo and many of the photos here.

Don’t go anywhere Ashtanga without her.

"ICH is managed by the workers itself.
this means that the waiter can become the manager one day.
you can find it at every corner of kerala." (from bindifry)

Feel free to add to our quiz in the comments. (It was a little brief.)

The official Ashtanga website AYRI.org recently posted the following message from Guruji:

My beloved students,

For the last 30 years I have been visiting the United Stats to spread my teachings. With great pleasure, I am proud to announce the opening of my new yoga center in Florida.

I would like to invite each and every one of you to join myself, my daughter Saraswathi and my grandson Sharath for the grand opening party on March 14th, followed by a 2-week workshop. This will be our only visit to the United States in 2008. I look forward to seeing you there!

Love, Guruji

The dates are March 15 to 27 2008.

It will cost $300 for the first week and $200 for the second week. There is a link to Paypal for payment online too.

Here are the posts we wrote about the new Florida shala on Islamorada earlier this year:

Guruji’s New Shala: Photos from Islamorada

Pattabhi Jois’ Shala in Florida; All About Islamorada

And here’s the post on the cancellation of the 2007 workshop:

PATTABHI JOIS FLORIDA WORKSHOP CANCELLED

Aerial photo of Islamorada in the Florida Keys (from US Imaging Inc.)

And thanks to Elad for the tip.

For more than 10 years Ashtanga yoga has had a process for authorizing and certifying teachers (there is a difference between authorization and certification - the latter is a lot harder to achieve). As with the teaching of the practice itself, this process has also slowly evolved. The requirements to become an authorized or certified Ashtanga yoga teacher were updated this week. These are the requirements set forth by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois.

from MMillerNH

We wondered what exact changes were made to the Ashtanga teacher requirements between this week and the last time they were updated in October 2006. Both Ashtanga.com (more detailed) and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois’ Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute site list these requirements.

by MasTaPiannis

Fortunately, the Wizard of the Interweb (whiz kid sister to the Wizard of Oz) was able to help us. The two main changes are:

NOTE: A student should by no means visit AYRI in Mysore for the sole purpose of getting authorized. Their visit should primarily be for their own education of the lineage to further their own practice under correct guidance of Pattabhi Jois.

and

NOTE: AUTHORIZATION SHOULD NOT BE REQUESTED BUT GIVEN. The decision to give authorization or certification to teach is by no means solely dependent on the number of times a student has visited Mysore. It is based upon Guruji and Sharath’s evaluation of the person, his/her commitment and full respect of the lineage of the practice. Authorization is given with the trust that an AYRI student will teach as he/she has been taught in Mysore by Guruji and Sharath.

from Paleja

For an exact comparison between the October 2006 and April 2007 guidelines, here’s a PDF of the Ashtanga teacher requirements with revisions marked.

by YogaSurf

The information for how to register for class in Mysore is here: AYRI’s class information and Ashtanga.com’s class information.

Ashtanga.com maintains a list of authorized and certified Ashtanga teachers along with workshops taught by these Ashtanga teachers. That information is not available on AYRI. The workshop list can be sorted by location, date, instructor and date added to the list. Handy!

Hope this helps! By the way, what is the theme of this post’s photos?

from KevinHoth

We’re happy to present these photos of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois’ new shala in Islamorada, Florida courtesy of Erin and Govinda Kai (via Flickr).

Now you can find it. Sign to the Shala from Govinda Kai

Acres of free parking in Islamorada from ElkesMom

Clear signage from Govinda Kai

This is the entrance - from ElkesMom

The backyard - ElkesMom

Closeup of Nataraj - Govinda Kai

You’ll be in here someday, the waiting room - ElkesMom

All our best to Guruji. - Govinda Kai

All our good wishes to Guruji.

Thank you to Erin and Govinda Kai for sharing photos with us.

(Choose either link above to see more photos of Islamorada.)

If you have photos or thoughts about your visit to Islamorada, let us know with the Comments section or by emailing info(at) asthanganews (dot)com.

[Update as of March 30: Terri Smith is offering an Ashtanga workshop in Islamorada March 27-April 6. Please read her comment below or get contact information here: Terri Smith's Ashtanga workshop in Islamorada (on Ashtanga.com). Thank you, Terri. -Ed.]

A friend just told me that she received an email that the upcoming workshop in Florida had been cancelled. I just took a look at the AYRI.org site and there was a message:

URGENT NEWS: PATTABHI JOIS FLORIDA WORKSHOP CANCELLED
Due to health complications, Pattabhi Jois has been advised not to travel at the present time.
He is fine and resting in Mysore. Full refunds will be given.

Hopefully it’s not serious. Our thoughts are with Guruji and his family.

We’ll let you know more if we hear anything.

UPDATE March 23 (from ashtanga.com):

• Guruji is still in the hospital yet doing well and taking rest in Mysore
• Kino MacGregor, Greg Nardi et al. are teaching a workshop in Miami, March 25-April 6
• Matthew Darling, Terri Smith et al. are teaching a workshop in Islamorada on March 26

From AYRI.org:

Florida workshop students: Please send your T-shirt size and mailing address to ashtangaguru@yahoo.com

UPDATE March 26:
Special Workshop: David Keil & Gretchen Suarez - Miami, FL, March 25-April 6

UPDATE March 30:
As Terri Smith tells us in the comments to this post:

Our beloved Guruji has been transferred to a regular ward and out of ICU, and is expected to recover.
Sharath and Saraswati are needed in Mysore to care for Guruji. We should not question their decision to stay.

The new AYI shala here in Islamorada awaits Guruji’s blessing before it can host classes.
As I am currently the only authorized teacher down here, I am doing my best to teach as I was taught.
If I do well, all grace is to my Guru. Any mistakes are my own.

If you are among the Ashtangis stranded in Islamorada, please stop by Paradise Yoga at mm 82. I’d love to meet you. Practice times are posted on www.paradise-yoga.net. Big thanks to Audra (studio owner) for the invaluable help she has given our community.
JAI GURU!

Pattabhi Jois with teachers in Helsinki 2006 by R Quinones

From the number of searches related to Pattabhi Jois’ new shala in Islamorada, Florida, it seems that there is great interest in the Grand Opening at the end of March. The first week of practice is sold out.

From the Registration form on the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute:

I have comments
about Islamorada.
(courtesy …jac)

Sunday March 25 - Thursday March 29
7am full primary - SOLD OUT
9am full primary - SOLD OUT

March 25th, 26th, 27th & 29th drop-in days also SOLD OUT.
Drop-in days still available: 28th

Sunday April 1 - Friday April 6
(Monday April 2nd no classes)
7am full primary AVAILABLE
9am full primary AVAILABLE

Otto the Travelling Gnome knows
more about Islamorada than you.

The comments section of both our posts have been relatively active, so it seems there’s a lot of interest…see

• Pattabhi Jois’ New Shala in Florida
• All About Islamorada

We haven’t seen any centralized place on the web where people are talking about where they are staying and what they’ve heard about Islamorada, i.e., the logistics of the whole thing. EZBoards does have some meanderings on the subject,

Islamorada (courtesy Flickr Leech)

and there is some buzz on the subject on the various Ashtangi blogs (on Ashtangi.net and elsewhere).

We’d be happy to hear your thoughts about where you’re staying, how you’re getting there, and if you found it easy (or hard) to book lodging and travel. Drop us a note, you’ll be doing everyone who is still trying to plan their trip a big service.

Registration for Pattabhi Jois’ new shala in the Florida Keys is now open. Dates for the inaugural workshops are March 25-29 and April 1-6, 2007 with a grand opening party on March 25.

No practice on Moon Day, April 2
photo from meepfly

For more about the workshop, check out our prior post, Pattabhi Jois’ New Shala in Florida or go to directly to AYRI’s webpage, which has accomodations and other information (including the option to pay using Paypal).

With all this excitement about Ashtanga with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and family in the U.S., you probably haven’t had time to find out about Islamorada, the Florida Keys’ location of the new shala. For information about Islamorada, stay right here.

Anne’s beach, ocean side of the shala
from IrishNYC

How do I pronounce Islamorada?

In Spanish it is pronounced Ees la more eh dah, but if you want to fit in with the locals, pronounce it eye la more ah dah. - Easy Adventures Boat Charters

Where is Islamorada?
Islamorada is about a 2-hour drive from Miami International Airport. It is one of the Florida Keys, located between well-known Key Largo and Key West. It actually consists of several keys (islands):

Young Green Sea Turtle from ecocentrikGuy

Plantation Key, Windley Key, Upper Matecumbe Key, Lower Matecumbe Key and Craig Keys.

The Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute USA is on Upper Matecumbe Key. Here it is on Google maps.

What film should I watch before going?
It’s a trick question: Key Largo of course. This 1948 classic with Humphrey Bogart set in the Florida Keys will put you in the right mood.

What will the weather be like?
According to Fodor’s travel guides, temperatures in March range from 68-79°F (20-26°C). Tourist season runs from December through May so prices will still be high during the March workshop. (Also, summer is hurricane season, so phew, it’s not in the summer.)

What can I do on Islamorada besides practice Ashtanga yoga?

• Sport fishing. Islamorada is the sportfishing capital of the world, according to the Islamorada Chamber of Commerce (and pretty much all websites about Islamorada). Although this activity may be inconsistent with the Ahimsa (non-violence and a respect for all life, one the Yamas, the first limb of Ashtanga Yoga).


Sunset from p-freddy

• Bowl! The new shala is conveniently located near the Fish Bowl, a bowling alley (not a place to dive or snorkel). It has 12 lanes!
• Eat Key Lime pie. There really is a difference between a key lime and a regular lime. According to a review of key lime pie in the New York Times, the Cheeca Lodge has some of the best key lime pie (along with a real key lime tree). Key Lime is the official state pie of Florida, and it’s vegeterian.


Founders Park Beach, on the bay side of the new shala, from KellyKeys

• Swim with the dolphins. I am pretty sure it will be possible to see wild dolphin and this could be the experience of a lifetime. Those of you who want to swim with dolphin might try Theater of the Sea (a marine park) in Islamorada.


A mature sea turtle from ecocentrikGuy

• Dive, snorkel, kayak. Just take a look at the photos in this post! And if you want more photos, the Islamorada photos on Flickr are stunning.

But you don’t care about any of that. You just want to practice Ashtanga with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois! However, if you do want to share anything you know about Islamorada, please add it in the Comments section. Thanks!

What am I? from ecocentrikGuy

The rumours have been flying around for months, but now it’s official: Pattabhi Jois is opening a new shala on American soil, in the South of Florida, called the Ashtanga Yoga Institute USA. Here’s the announcement from the AYRI.org site:

My beloved students,

For the last 30 years I have been visiting the United States to spread my teachings. With great pleasure, I am proud to announce the opening of my new yoga center in Florida.

I would like to invite each and every one of you to join myself, my daughter Saraswathi and my grandson Sharath for the grand opening party on March 24th, followed by a 2-week workshop. This will be our only visit to the United States in 2007. I look forward to seeing you there!

Love, Guruji

Islamorada, FL
First week (5 days): March 25, 26, 27, 28, 29
Second week (5 days): April 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 (April 2nd moon day holiday)
7:00AM Led Primary Series
Fees: 5-day workshop $200, single class $50
Workshop students are invited to the opening party on March 24
Registration opens November 15

Apparently it was financed by a very dedicated student of his.

Islamorada, at the very tip of the Eastern Coast of the USA

Islamorada “purple island” is part of the Florida Keys about 2 hours drive from Miami Airport - so a little bit easier to get to for most students than Mysore. The climate should as close to Southern Indian as you can get in the continental US, and from the photos it looks like paradise (you know, the lying on the beach kind of paradise).

Someone should alert their tourist board that they are about to receive a lot more attention in the years to come!

From the way it has been presented though, it does not look as if AYIU will be a replacement for going to Mysore, especially for teaching authorization puposes (part of the criteria are 4 trips to AYRI). It seems to be more of a replacement of the annual multi-city World Tour for now. At least in 2007, the World Tour will take place at AYIU.

Perhaps in the future, the Jois family will decide to teach Mysore-Style classes in Islamorada. In any case, this is a big milestone in the development of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and we welcome it wholeheartedly!