Links to Related Resources & Longer Articles:

• Compendium of Quotes from TKV Desikachar on the Yoga of T Krishnamacharya……
• In exploring the links between Āsana and the Breath and Prāṇāyāma…
• Physiological and psychological considerations around the practitioner’s starting point…
• Principles behind why Krishnamacharya only taught adults 121……
• Sound – A Means Beyond Āsana and Prāṇāyāma……
• The presence and actions of Prāṇa Śakti……..
• T Krishnamacharya’s accomplishments should not be defined just by his more well known characterisations……
• What are the concepts of Sṛṣṭi Krama, Sthiti Krama and Antya Krama?
• What is the Yoga of Krishnamacharya?
• We must respect the practice involving the body…….
• Yet ask any number of people what Yoga is and you are likely to get……
• Yoga and the 21st Century – the most important contribution Yoga can make in the field of health is the courage it can give…
• Yoga can be a mystery to be resolved or a question to be solved……

Collated Related Short Posts & Quotes:

“During such a moment, without distractions,
the power of the source of perception,
full of clarity and completeness, shines forth.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 3

“Īśvara Praṇidhānā is extraordinary devotion to Īśvara.
It is not mechanical, it is both devotion
as a force and an inquiry into this force.
It is a combination of Bhakti and Dhyānam.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 23

“Patañjali offers a most unusual approach to Īśvara.
It is not a universal God as in the Upaniṣat.
Yoga is rejected in Vedānta because of the idea
that Īśvara is not everything, only a higher power.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 24

“The power of the breath,
the power of the senses and
physical strength of the body are each distinct properties.
They should not work against each other
but rather contribute to each others well being.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 30

“Egoity is when the
power of the Seer
and power of Seeing
are as if one essence.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 6

“Where there is the sense of “I am“,
so there is the power of awareness,
or where there is the power of seeing,
so there is the power of the seer.
Such is the essence of our nature.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 6

“Deeper layers of meditative reflection,
as in Dhyānam, can reveal a source for the
symptoms, which we might compare to the
trunk from which these three branches grow.
Revealed is a confused sense of “I” Am-ness
in terms of what we believe to be as if one
inner essence which empowers us to perceive.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 6

“When seeking
the power of lightness,
take care lest we forget
the power of our roots.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 12

“The mind can have two types of Saṃskāra,
Vyutthāna or Nirodha Saṃskāra.
Vyutthāna is an earlier state
within the three levels of Citta.
Here, the Citta is like a ball.
It is not by you, it is in spite of you.
This applies also to the body and speech energies.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 9

“Those who use their Nimitta have another facility at their disposal.
They have the ability to influence another.
In that they can change other people’s states of mind.
Asmitā is the common source of this influence over another.
The link between teacher and student is through Asmitā.
The more open the link the stronger the influences.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Four verse 4

“If engaging therapeutically, firstly
examine the gait of the breath
and the power of the body.
Otherwise it will not bestow fruits.”
– From T Krishnamacharya’s composition,
the Yoga Rahasya Chapter One verse 85

“Breath is indispensable for life
and its absence is death.
Hence the necessity to make it longer
and accumulate the Prāṇa Śakti.
Just as a rich man accumulates money slowly to get wealthy,
so also one should practice every day,
through the proper use of the breath in Āsana,
to maintain good health.”
– T Krishnamacharya‘s response to a question on breathing.

“The obstacle is also called Kuṇḍalinī because it looks like an earring
worn by women in the olden days and Kuṇḍali means ‘earring’.
It is also called Śakti because its power is so great that
it is able to block the flow of Prāṇa into the Suṣumṇā.
We must note that it is Prāṇa that is eventually
supposed to go into the Suṣumṇā.
Many books describe that which goes up as Kuṇḍalinī.
Kuṇḍalinī does not go up.
Suṣumṇā is like a conductor through which energy flows.
This energy is the same energy that is always present, Prāṇa.”
– TKV Desikachar Religiousness in Yoga
‘Various Approaches to Yoga’
Chapter Seventeen Page 243-244

“Then he has certain ideas also about Kuṇḍalinī.
The force is Prāṇa,
the force called Śakti or Kuṇḍalinī is indeed Prāṇa.
The only means that can have any effect is the use of Prāṇāyāma,
with emphasis on exhalation and the Bandha,
aided by devotional chantings.
And the evolution of Kuṇḍalinī is very much linked to the person’s state of mind and Vairāgya.”
– TKV Desikachar from lectures on ‘The Yoga of T Krishnamacharya’,
given at Zinal, Switzerland 1981.

“The act of establishing contact with the external world is called Yoga.
It is continuous, inevitable, swiftly changing.
Yoga is a basic fact of life.
However it is the quality of the relationship that leads to a healthy life and well being or otherwise.
The clarity and strength of the force involved in the contact and awareness of the contact
is reflected in the flow of what is called Prāṇa Śakti,
What is it that disturbs this flow?”
– TKV Desikachar

“Where do Āsana lead us?
1. For seated practices
(Adhyātmika Krama or Yoga Practice as a Self-Inquiry)
To stay in a stable posture with the spine erect,
for Dhyāna or preparation for Dhyāna.
2.  For health.
(Cikitsā Krama or Yoga Practice as a Self-Healing)
They do something for the energy flow of the body.
3. Ability to master the body
(Śakti Krama or Yoga Practice as a Self-Empowerment)
Not necessarily to promote health,
but to show that we can master the body.
Often these are good for health,
though many are only useful as challenges.”
– TKV Desikachar
Further Reading – What is the Yoga of Krishnamacharya?

“Sarvāṅgāsana is the Āsana commonly known as
shoulder stand. It is seen as one of the so called
“classical” inverted Āsana, the other “classical”
inverted Āsana being Śīrṣāsana, or head stand.
This Āsana draws together a firmness in the
body, with the subtler purpose of the breath,
with a sense of inner attention for the student.
For this triad to be realised, certain steps need
to be respected with regards to a rationale for
the application of Sarvāṅgāsana, along with
appropriate choices in long-term and short-term
preparation for its use, incorporating appropriate
use of Pratikriyāsana, and cultivation of an
increasing length of stay in the Āsana.
For adults, the most important link whilst in
the Āsana is the relationship with the breath.
Cultivating the power of the breath can also help
in keeping the practitioner attentive to the possible
bio-stresses accumulating from staying in the Āsana.”
– 108 Postural Practice Pointers

“Prāṇāyāma, in relation to
Haṭha and Rāja Yoga Sādhana,
has differing priorities, albeit
en route towards similar goals.
In Haṭha Yoga the intended outcome
of Prāṇāyāma is Prāṇa Śakti.
In Rāja Yoga the intended outcome
of Prāṇāyāma is Manas Śānti.”
– 108 Prāṇāyāma Practice Pointers

“From this, the role of Prāṇāyāma is to embrace all the
learned qualities of the breath in Āsana and Mudrā,
both in intensifying its energetic potentials, as well
as cultivating its inherent psychological qualities.”
– 108 Prāṇāyāma Practice Pointers

“In Prāṇāyāma a staged
introduction to developing
each nostril as a channel,
offers an insightful map,
as both a path and a goal
towards defining the power,
as well as in refining the
subtlety of the breath.”
– 108 Prāṇāyāma Practice Pointers

“When seeking the light better to verify
that it is the power of the light
rather than the light of power.”
– 108 Study Path Pointers

“Krishnamacharya’s Yoga Loom
had three interwoven threads.
Namely,
an appropriate application,
according to,
an individual’s specific needs,
of:
Kāya Cikitsā through Āyurveda,
Prāṇa Śakti through Haṭha,
Citta Adhyātmika through Rāja.”
– 108 Yoga Study Path Pointers