Who Are The Top Yoga Instructors In India?
Yoga is considered as an intrinsic part of India's health science. It is a 5000 year
old holistic approach to mental as well as physical well-being. This ancient mind
body intervention practice was introduced by the yoga instructors in India who
were ancient sages has now become very much popular even in western
countries and America.
Yoga has gained wide acceptance throughout the world. Everybody gladly
recognizes and considers India as the country where yoga originated. They
wholeheartedly believe that the journey of yoga started from Lord Siva who
passed
it
on
to ‘Adiyogi’ which
was
then
handed
over
to ‘Adiguru’ from where it spread all over the world from India.
It is an unforgettable fact that during the past centuries eminent yoga instructors
in India have dedicated their life for the cause of yoga trying to unearth the
meaning of yoga in its original form in which It was transmitted long back.
Years of perseverance, discipline, strong determination and practice from the
part of yoga instructors in India were involved in the evolution of a strong persona
suitable for training and practicing and attracting people across the various
countries.
Selecting the best and inspiring yoga instructors in India will naturally be a difficult
task as one will have to choose the best teachers based on their learning, yogic
journey and experience in asanas, yogic meditation etc. One also will have to
consider diverse sections like therapy and training which are the matters of
prime importance in the present scenario.
Tirumali Krishnacharya
Thirumalai Krishnacharya is one of the renowned yoga instructors in India. He is
also known as the father of modern yoga. He is the force behind the revival of
hatha yoga and is also the architect of Vinyasa. He has immense knowledge in
both yoga and ayurveda. He mixes both ayurveda and yoga proportionately and
uses it for promoting yoga. He has also performed wonderful feats like stopping
his breath. HIs book named Yoga ‘Makaranda’ was written in 1934
and ‘Yoga Rahasya’ was written in 1941. He has also written several poetic
compositions and essays. Famous and influential yoga instructors in India like
Indira Devi 1899-2002) and B.K.S. Iyengar are his students. He has acquired
degrees in logic, philosophy, philology, divinity and music. He was offered the
most revered position of Acharya according to Srivaishnava Sampradaya. But he
has declined it as he preferred to stay in his native place with his family.
Ram Jain
He is a living yoga maestro and the founding director of Arhanta yoga ashrams
in India and Netherlands. From the year 2009, Arhanta ashrams under his
patronage have trained more than 4000 yoga teachers.
He was born in Delhi, India in a traditional Jain family. He started his studies
of Vedic and yogic philosophy at the age of 8 when he was doing his primary
education as part of the primary education. He has deep knowledge in classical
hatha yoga. He is also well-versed in Indian scriptures of the ancient days. He
was fortunate to work with various physiology and anatomy experts and has
developed special skills in modifying, adjusting and teaching of yoga.
Presently he is engaged in teaching different yoga styles like hatha yoga, yin
yoga, Vinyasa yoga and meditation as well as yoga nidra. For a good part of
a year he teaches in India and for the remaining part he teaches in the
Netherlands where his family consisting of his wife and two children are living.
Jain is a well disciplined and creative yoga expert. His teaching style is unique
and his asana correction and modification techniques are superb.
He believes in personal supervision and individual attention. He believes that
the duty of a teacher is to support his students and let them achieve their goals.
His teaching style has evolved from his personal talent and experience and he is
very adept in explaining complex Vedic ideas in simple and easy to understand
manner. This rare quality has made him one of the best yoga instructors in India.
Swami Sivananda
Swami Sivananda was a prominent vedantic and yogic scholar and a Hindu
spiritual teacher. He was born in Tirunelveli in the year 1887. Though he was a
physician by profession he took up monasticism later. He founded
the Divine LIfe Society and Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy. More than 200
books were written by him on his favourite subject yoga.
His disciple Vishnudevananda has propagated a new style of yoga introduced
by his teacher and known as Sivananda yoga This style has now spread to
many countries through the vedanta centers established in his name in those
countries, though these centers are not part of Sivananda Ashrams run by his
Divine LIfe Society. Swami Sivananda, one of the greatest yoga instructors in
India attained his ‘Mahasamadhi’ also known as departure of a refined soul, in
the year 1963.
B K S Iyengar
B.K.S. Iyengar is a student of Krishnmacharya. He is the person who was behind
the popularisation of yoga in western countries. He has to fight a lot of diseases
which were always burdening his life. It made him feeble and weak. He tried to
find his solace in yoga. His conscientious dedication to yoga gave him the ability
to introduce what is now known as Iyengar yoga. Even at the age of 95 when he
bid farewell to the world, he was able to do shirshasana for 30 minutes.
In the year 1952 he had an opportunity to teach yoga to the famous
violinist Yehudi Menuhin.
This
made
Menuhin
write
a forword to Iyengar’s treatise named ‘Light on Yoga’ which contained around
600 photographs of Iyengar in different yoga poses and asanas. This gave a
great break to yoga in Europe and America.
Iyengar, one
of
the
greatest yoga
instructors
in
India,
started the Ramamani Iyengar yoga institute in memory of his late wife. This
was run with the assistance of his son and daughter. By the beginning of the
21st century this yoga center has grown tremendously with around 200 subyoga centers, thousands of yoga teachers and millions of students around the
globe.
K Pattabhi Jois
A
Sanskrit scholar and one of the greatest yoga instructors in
India, Sri.K Pattabhi Jois was
instrumental in
developing
and
popularizing the vinyasa style which is known as Ashtanga Yoga. He started
the Ashtanga Yoga Research Centre in Mysore, India. Pattabhi Jois along with
B.K.S Iyengar were the great yoga instructors in India and the pioneers of
establishing and propagating yoga as an exercise and wellness practice in the
20th century.
From 1976 to 1978 he was an Honorary Professor at a Government College of
Indian Medicine. He was also fortunate in saving the then Maharaja of Mysore
from an incurable and chronic disease. The Maharaja was very happy and
became his patron and allowed him to start a Yogasala in JagMohan Palace,
Mysore. In the year 1948, he started Ashtanga Yoga Research Center at their
home town Lakshmipuram.
He went to South America in 1974 to deliver a lecture at the international yoga
conference. In 1975, he inaugurated Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. For the next 20
years he regularly visited the US to teach yoga to thousands of American
people. Iyengar, one of the greatest yoga instructors in India wanted to bring
back ‘Parampara’ which means passing of knowledge from a teacher to his
student. There was one student named Haing who stayed with him for many
years as part of his ‘Parampara’ and secured his lineage.