The shift from ‘the Viniyoga of Yoga’ as a process to ‘Viniyoga’ as a ‘Brand’ or ‘Trade Mark’…

The shift from ‘the Viniyoga of Yoga’ as a process to ‘Viniyoga’ as a ‘Brand’

TKV Desikachar’s original intention in 1983 was that the term the Viniyoga of Yoga, or the application of  Yoga, would collectively describe an intelligent and systematic approach to teaching Yoga, collating the teachings of T Krishnamacharya, within individual situations for a Yoga teacher trained by TKV Desikachar, or one of his students.

“Teach what is inside you,
not as it applies to you yourself,
but as it applies to the other.”
– T Krishnamacharya

However, in 2002 Desikachar began to disassociate himself from being linked to the singular word Viniyoga and its use to collectively identify his teacher’s teaching. This was because of the shift in popular perception from his description of the ‘Viniyoga of Yoga’ as referring to the appropriate application of Yoga for an individual, now not just shortened to Viniyoga as a generic collective for Yoga Teaching or Training within group formats, but also its use as a marketable branding handle or even in time relating to a registered trade mark.

Thus the process, originally named by Desikachar as the Viniyoga of Yoga had become popularised around the Yoga world as a style or brand name now identified generically as ‘Viniyoga’. This, Desikachar felt, had also, in many instances, actually replaced the word Yoga rather than being a collective term for a range of application tools to draw from, support and utilize as a teacher of Yoga. Thus his and his teacher’s approach to teaching what is Yoga had now become trademarked as ‘Viniyoga’ as a means to generically identify either himself or Krishnamacharya as if just another ‘style’ or ‘brand’.

This view was expressed by Desikachar through a seminar in Omega, New York in May 2002 around the theme “The Ocean of Yoga – From the Parts to the Whole” as:

“The current world of Yoga seems to be made up of many small parts,
each one competing with and often confusing the other.
This is not consistent with the spirit of Yoga, whose very meaning is “to unite“.

To read or download an interview with Desikachar conducted during this May 2002 seminar, and published in Yoga and Health magazine in the UK in July 2003, click here.

It was the replacing of the word Yoga by Viniyoga as a ‘Brand’ name, rather than the use of the term Viniyoga as a collective description of the tools seen as integral for the appropriate application of Yoga according to individual needs, and his concern about the distortion and confusion where this had become the case within the wider field of Yoga, that led to this re-appraisal of its choice, use and value.

From this situation arose the consequent request not to use the word Viniyoga as a ‘Brand’ name to represent his teacher’s teaching. He also emphasised through this interview that he did not wish the ‘Viniyoga’ brand label to now be replaced with an identity using either his or his teacher’s name.

Interviewer:
What if people started calling it Desikachar Yoga?
Would that ruin it too because you suddenly have a label?

Desikachar:
It is really murdering – they are murdering my spirit! What I have received is from my teacher and what he received is from his teacher. There is a lineage of more than 2000 years. How can they label this Desikachar? They are murdering me because they are murdering my teacher.

Interviewer:
If they named it after your father that wouldn’t be good either?

Desikachar:
No, my father would be in tears. Whatever he invented, he never said he invented it. I know that he innovated things, but he would never say ‘it is mine’. That is the Indian philosophy of humility and respect for the teacher. They always would say, ‘my teacher taught this to me.’

Following on from this on April 24th 2003 there was a general email sent to his senior students around the world which asked them, in the spirit of Guru Daksina, to choose either not to use the singular word ‘Viniyoga’ to represent Desikachar’s and Krishnamacharya’s approach to teaching Yoga or to remove their names from their communications.

Dear Friends,
When I introduced the concept of Viniyoga in the late 70’s and early 80’s,
I never imagined that it will replace the word “Yoga”.
I am extremely disappointed with the situation today,
where this has become the case and caused so much distortion and confusion.
Hence I request you to either delete the word Viniyoga to represent my teacher’s teaching,
or remove my father’s and my name from your communications.
This is the least you can do for me, as a Guru Dakṣiṇa.
Please feel free to forward this to other students whose email addresses I don’t have.
With Best Wishes
TKV Desikachar

View or Download a copy of the original Email from TKV Desikachar

It is this feeling that offers a potential message, as TKV Desikachar discusses in the lecture series published as “What are we Seeking”, in that ‘Yoga is to relate and to unite‘. Yet according to the teaching of Krishnamacharya and Desikachar, Yoga must be taught in a way uniquely appropriate for and to each person and their situation.

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