LIVE LOVE INSPIRE
HOUSE OF OM
MODULE 8
PRACTICE 120 MINS
In this Vinyasa Flow we train all the poses of the Warrior series, getting ready to take our training from the physical to beyond
HISTORY 60 MINS
Yoga has continued evolving and expanding throughout the time that’s why until nowadays it is still alive thanks to these masters that dedicated their life in order to practice and share their knowledge with the world. YOGA NIDRA ROUTINE
Also known as Yogic sleep, Yoga Nidra is a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping. Usually induced by a guided meditation HISTORY QUIZ AND QUESTIONS 60 MINS
Five closed and two open question will both entertain with a little challenge, and pinpoint what resonated the most with your individual self.
REFLECTION 60 MINS
Every module you will be writing a reflection. Save it to your own journal as well - you will not only learn much faster, but understand what works for you better.
BONUS
Mahamrityumjaya Mantra
In all spiritual traditions, Mantra Yoga or Meditation is regarded as one of the safest, easiest, and best means of systematically overhauling the patterns of consciousness. HISTORY
YOGA HISTORY. MODERN PERIOD
Yoga has continued evolving and expanding throughout the time that’s why until nowadays it is still alive thanks to these masters that dedicated their life in order to practice and share their knowledge with the world.
In between the classical yoga of Patanjali and the 20th century, Hatha Yoga has seen a revival. Luminaries such as Matsyendranath and Gorakhnath founded the Hatha Yoga lineage of exploration of one’s body-mind to attain Samadhi and liberation. In this lesson, we are going to study the modern history of Yoga from 1893 onwards.
Swami Vivekananda The history of modern yoga begins with Swami Vivekananda’s famous speech at the world parliament of religions in Chicago in 1893. At that time India was ruled by the British Empire, and indigenous traditions were usually suppressed through all colonial rule across the world. So, when Swami Vivekananda gave the speech, it was an eye- opener for the entire world to the great and glorious Heritage of Indian thought and philosophy. He was a student of the great teacher Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, and was asked to present Hinduism and allied thought systems at the world parliament of religions. To be noted is the fact that Swami Vivekananda had never given the public discourse up until that point! Yet, the power and clarity with which he spoke sparked the Western interest in Indian thought.
Speech began with the words: “brothers and sisters, I come to you from the oldest monastic order in the world (…)”. He spoke about Sanathana Dharma which denotes duties (righteousness) performed according to one's spiritual (constitutional) identity as Ātman ( soul or self). You can find the speech on Wikipedia, and it is well worth going through. The power of the speech was such that the Chicago Tribune wrote a story about how their folly of sending Christian missionaries to India was now apparent. Swami Vivekananda was invited to teach and talk in various places across America, and the country was fascinated by the depth of the ideas presented.
Yogananda Paramahamsa In the 1920s, Paramhamsa Yogananda left India for America, spreading the word of kriya yoga. He was to set up the first Indian Ashram outside of India.
The tradition of kriya yoga had started in the 1870s when Larry Mahasa was initiated by the legendary Babaji, a being who set to be around 1500 to 2000 years old and a scene in the Himalayas by adepts. Lahiri Mahashay was a householder and worked with the Indian Civil Services, he went to Ranikhet. While trekking he came across Babaji Kriya Yoga and then started to conduct spiritual training in Calcutta. Students would visit him in the evenings and he started to initiate them for kriya yoga. His student Yukteshwar Giri then initiated paramahansa Yogananda.
Parmahamsa Yogananda wrote the famous book autobiography of a yogi. A must-read book for every serious yoga practitioner, Clear Yoga. About activation of Kundalini and reaching self-liberation enlightenment once the Kundalini Shakti transcends all the way up to the crown chakra. This was a message that America was willing to receive after the scientific understandings of the early 20th century had an able people to question the fundamental properties of matter. as the Bulls youth cells began to change, that was the acceptance of new ways of approaching spirituality.
Paramahamsa Yogananda was accepted well by America after an initial struggle. He even Bent on teaching at the White House amongst other great institutions. He set up the self realization fellowship that spread the message of kriya yoga across America. Swami Sivananda Swami Sivananda is arguably the most famous Swami of Rishikesh of the 20th century; having said to have reached Enlightenment meditating on the banks of the ganga in Rishikesh, where the world famous Sivananda Ashram stands today.
Swami Sivananda was a medical doctor in Malaysia before returning to India to pursue yoga and meditation. He set up a simple system of yoga that leads one to meditation. His famous student Satyananda Saraswati created the modern Yoga Nidra system. In the 1970s the Shivananda ashram setup the one month yoga teacher training course. This is the standard for teacher training courses across the world. The idea was that people cannot travel to India and live for a long time but in one month, they can learn enough so that they can go back and teach their students across the world.
The other few Yoga centres at that time were Kaivalyadhama between Mumbai and Pune established by Swami Kuvalyananda and the Yoga Institute in Santa Cruz, Mumbai.
T. Krishnamacharya Having lived for a decade in a cave in the Himalayas, T Krishnamacharya returned to South India in Mysore, where he was given patronage by the Mysore Maharaja.
Here he started to teach yoga to young boys who would go on to perform Yoga demonstrations at the Palace and they also traveled to spread the science of Yoga. Apart from this, they started to teach people almost as Therapy. People would come to him with disease conditions and he would ‘prescribe’ asanas for them to do. They would then practice that for a week and return the following week to meet him. In this way he introduced Yoga as a means to health and not only as a spiritual pursuit. He did not believe in the idea of the group class. Rather, he said that each person’s Yoga should be individually tailored to them. Krishnamaharya was considered an adept not just at Yoga but also at Samkhya, Vedanta, Ayurveda and many of the other Darshans of thought. In the 1960-70’s he moved with his family to Chennai and died in 1988 at the age of 102. Living a life that was a testament to the power of yoga. His Famous students include B. K. S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, BNS Iyengar, Indra Devi and his son, Desikachar.
B. K. S. Iyengar Arguably the most famous yoga teacher of the 20th century, B. K. S. Iyengar set the gold standard for what yogis around the world aspire to when they become teachers!
As a child he was sent by his parents to stay with his brother-in-law ( sister's husband) who was T Krishnamacharya. He lived with his Guru for two years training in asana which he mastered over the years, in a manner not seen before. Today if we study Anatomy in a yoga teacher training course, it is thanks to the efforts of B. K. S. Iyengar to bring a strictly scientific approach to asana training.
He shares this very beautiful story of how his guru only trained him in asana and so he said he would try and see whether he can reach the entire goal of yoga just through asana. Asanas became his prayers.
At age 18 he was married and moved to Pune with his wife. There he tried to set up yoga classes at the Deccan Gymkhana. Back in the 1950’s yoga was considered an exclusively spiritual practice, and people were slow to take to Iyengar’s vigorous training of asana. overcoming tremendous economic hardships, Iyengar steadfastly taught and inspired a whole generation of yogis in Pune.
The fundamentals of B. K. S. Iyengar’s Teaching is the focus on alignment in every asana - having the right alignment allows prana to flow in the way that energises and heals the body. In 1966 he wrote the book ‘Light On Yoga’ which is a best seller and has never been out of print ever since! Western audiences were introduced to a detailed study of yogasanas, and Iyengar started to travel to America, Europe and across the world teaching. He gave more than 10,000 yoga demonstrations and lectures establishing yoga as a legitimate Body Mind Spirit practice for modern seekers.
1985 established around Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Institute - dedicating the name to his wife who had been a constant support to him through his career. He died four years ago aged 95, and still healthy and clear in mind and speech - Testament to a lifetime spent in yoga. YOGA HISTORY. MODERN PERIOD QUIZ
Who is the founder of the Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga system that incorporates Vinyasa Krama flow poses? 1.Pattabhi Jois 2.B.K.S Iyengar 3. Indra Devi 4. Osho
He is a person who elevated the practice of Asanas by studying them with scientific precision and incorporating alignment fundamentally in each asana and wrote the light on Yoga in 1966: 1. Pattabhi Jois 2. B.K.S Iyengar 3. Indra Devi 4. Osho
These are roles of Krishnamacharya in a modern history of yoga, except: 1. A teacher for Pattabhi Jois, BKS Iyengar, and Indra Devi 2. Build Mysore as a centre of Yoga 3. Being involved in creating Ashtanga Vinyasa system 4. Popularized hot yoga
What is the finding that is happening during the medieval history of yoga? 1. The lesson about tantra 2. The revival about Hatha Yoga 1000years after Buddha 3. Gorakhnath and Matsyendranath as founders of Hatha Yoga practices 4. B and C
What is the contribution of Baba Ramdev in the modern world of Yoga? 1. Popularized Pranayama and Asanas on Indian TV 2. Showing meditation during 1960’s counterculture 3. Helping Pattabhi Jois to create Ashtanga Vinyasa sequence
4. Create new style of Asana
1 , 4 , 4 , 2 , 1 : s r e w s n A HISTORY QUESTIONS
1 In this modern world, generally people see yoga as an postures / asana exercise. How do you as a teacher approach this idea since we already know that Yoga is more than just a postural exercise
2 Bring awareness to one legendary modern yoga, and how he/she inspires you? REFLECTION
What did you think about the lessons of these past modules? How did they impact you? What did you feel was useful, and what was lacking? What do you think you will keep using and in what situations? BONUS
MAHAMRITYUNJAYA MANTRA
“Om Trayam-Bakam Yajaa-Mahe Sugandhim Pushthi-Vardhanam; Urvaa- Ruka-Miva Bandhanaan. Mrityor-Mukshee-Ya Maa-Mritaat”
Meaning
“We worship the three-eyed one (Lord Shiva) who is fragrant (in a state of supreme bliss), and who sustains all living beings. May he liberate us from (the eternal cycle of birth and) death. May he lead us to immortality”. “We concentrate or meditate on our third eye which lies behind the two eyes and this gives us the power to feel you and by this we feel happy, satisfied and peace in life. We know immortality is not possible but some extension can be given to our death by your powers Lord Shiva”When the Trayambakam mantra is chanted, Manipura Chakra is activated. Manipura chakra is the solar plexus, the seat of Prana Shakti. Stress creates an imbalance in the manifestation and functions of Pranic Energy, even the environment and the mood creates a change in the Pranic structure, and loss of Prana Shakti from the body opens the doorway for illnesses and diseases. By chanting the Trayambakam Mantra, the sound vibrations and the frequencies are activating the solar plexus, Manipura Chakra, and the weak Pranic Energy in different parts of the body is re-strengthened. Therefore, the Trayambakam Mantra has been recognized since time immemorial as the mantra of awakening the Pranas, Prana Shakti, the life force, and attaining Health. It’s a Healing Mantra. NOTES