MY APPROACH

My approach to Yoga has developed through many years of practice, teaching and study.

I have always been interested in bringing the practical and textual sides of Yoga together.

Yoga is not simply something to read about.

Yoga is the practical field of knowledge.

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Guy Donahaye portrait

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STUDY AND PRACTICE

I became increasingly interested in the traditional approach to studying Yoga.

Rather than treating the texts as historical or philosophical documents, I wanted to understand what they were actually saying and how those teachings could be investigated through practice.

This led me deeper into the Yoga Sutra, its commentaries and the wider Yoga tradition.

SOUTH INDIA

My study of Yoga has taken me repeatedly to South India.

Mysore became a second home.

The traditional teaching environment there had a profound influence on the way I approach Yoga and the relationship between study and practice.

DR KL SHANKARANARAYANA JOIS

For more than three decades I have studied Yoga, including many years of study with Dr KL Shankaranarayana Jois.

This study has included Yoga philosophy, Sanskrit, the Yoga Sutra and other traditional texts.

The emphasis has always been on understanding the teaching through sustained study and practice.

WHAT I HAVE STUDIED

My study has included:

Yoga Sutra · Vyasa Bhashya · Hariharananda Aranya · Hatha Yoga Pradipika · Gheranda Samhita · Yoga Yajnavalkya · Upanishads · Bhagavad Gita · Sankhya · Advaita Vedanta · Yoga and other traditional texts

IMAGE: Guy Donahaye / Dr Jois photograph — 70% width

WHY THIS COURSE

This course is not intended to provide another intellectual interpretation of Yoga.

The texts are important.

The commentaries are important.

Understanding the tradition is important.

But ultimately they point towards an experience.

The purpose of the study is to investigate that experience.

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