Who is Krishnamacharya?

Krishnamacharya was born on November, 11th, 1888 into a family that had long been in the yoga tradition. Thus Nathamuni, the legendary author of the Yoga Rahasya, was recognized by Krishnmacharya’s ancestors. His father was Sri Tirumalai Srivinasa Tattacharya, a Sanskrit scholar and Veda teacher. Within 5 years he was initiated by the traditional Upanayanam ceremony in the Gayatri mantra, and began his formal training in the sacred texts in Sanskrit. Through his father he was also introduced into t

he practice of yoga

.

Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya’s contribution to yoga began with his aspirations to revive Hatha style yoga. He is often referred to as the father of modern yoga due to his extensive knowledge in Sanskrit, Vedic rituals, and philosophy from

studying under his guru Ramamohana Brahmacharya. Through his conservation of Hatha style yoga he simultaneously protected and ensured that raja yoga will also preserve into the 20th century and change European, Chinese, and North American Civilizations’ trajectory in relation to health and wellness especially in America. There were four unique audiences that Krishnamacharya taught on a regular basis. His two boys began learning jumping yoga at the ages of five and seven years of age. Krishnamacharya’s wife Namagiriammal was a part of a special population of women who were allowed to practice yoga during gender discriminations in India. It is important that one of Krishnamacharya's greatest contributions to yoga was to teach women, who he predicted would go on to become the standard bearers of the

practice. B.K.S. Iyengar was a well known and acclaimed student of Krishnamacharya who went on to pioneer his own form of vinyasa based restorative yoga that cues props for deep asana refinement and adjustment. Lastly, his personal practice was deeply rooted in paring inhalation with expansive asanas and exhalation with compressive postures. This allowed him to regulate involuntary body systems such as the heart rate.

As a scholar one of Krishnamacharya’s most well known work are part one and two of yoga makaranda. The concept of these writings emphasize the importance of tailoring the practice to each individual to get the most effective outcome. He also believed that slow asana practice results in mental focus and detox defects such as illness and toxins from the body through breath work and proper body alignment. Without his studies and years of devotion we would not have students such as Iyengar, Indra Devi, and K. Pattabhi Jois.