"In 1973, Norman Allen was the first American to be taught by Pattabhi Jois. Norman attended a yoga demonstration at the Swami Gitananda Ashram in Pondicherry; the yoga was performed by Manju Jois, the son of Pattabhi Jois. Impressed by what he witnessed, he decided to study this system of yoga". from Ashtangayoga.info.
It seems to be Norman Allen week on fb this week,
 |
| Norman Allen: (1970's?) Screenshot of a photo from the You tube movie below |
 |
| Norman Allen: (1970's?) Screenshot of a photo from the You tube movie below |
Some background to the interview and videos from Ashtanga.info
How Ashtanga Yoga found its way to the West
It was just a small photo in one of many yoga books. And yet this picture set a revolution in motion. It brought Europeans and Americans to Pattabhi Jois in India, and Ashtanga Yoga to the West.
In 1964, André van Lysebeth, a Belgian, found his way into Pattabhi Jois’s tiny Yogashala in Mysore. With his profound knowledge of Yoga and Sanskrit, André became intrigued by this old yogic system. He spent two months with Pattabhi Jois who taught him the first and second series. Among the many books André van Lysebeth wrote in the ensuing years, one carried the title "pranayama". André wrote this book directly after he spent time with Jois. A photograph of the guru including his name and address was published in "pranayama”. Through this book, Pattabhi Jois’s name started to spread slowly in the Western world, mainly in Europe. So it came as no surprise that quite a few Europeans were among the first Westerners who travelled to India with the goal of meeting Pattabhi Jois.
In 1973, Norman Allen was the first American to be taught by Pattabhi Jois. Norman attended a yoga demonstration at the Swami Gitananda Ashram in Pondicherry; the yoga was performed by Manju Jois, the son of Pattabhi Jois. Impressed by what he witnessed, he decided to study this system of yoga.
A little later, David Williams and Nancy Gilgoff joined the tiny Yogashala in Mysore. They were the first to invite Pattabhi Jois to California, USA, to teach a workshop, in 1975. Only ten to fifteen students participated in the first workshop. This was a very modest start, compared to the amount of people who attend Pattabhi’s classes today.
Manju Jois accompanied his father on this legendary trip. He decided to stay in America to spread the traditional technique of Ashtanga Yoga there.
As time went by, Ashtanga Yoga became more and more known in the Western world. Pattabhi Jois was invited to teach many workshops not only in the U.S. but also in Brazil, the UK and many other countries. Today, the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is one of the most famous yoga traditions in the world. One can find Ashtanga yoga classes held almost everywhere. Stars such as Madonna and Sting commit themselves to this ancient practice, a fact which has undoubtedly increased the popularity of Ashtanga yoga even more.
*
A nice long Interview that you can sink your teeth into with Norman Allen with from Guy Donahaye's website Yoga Shala NYC
Below a taste of the interview, follow the link for the full Interview
"... Pattabhi Jois he came with his wife and his daughter and his cousinand his nephew. (Guy - Vishvanath?) Yes, lean boy then, not lean now…But he was lean and really spiffy at one time so he came todemonstrate, Pattabhi Jois came to discuss, cousin came to translate, Ama came to take care of him. Saraswati was she there? I’m not sure.
 |
| M.S. Viswanath, fondly known as Masterji by his students Masterjiyoga website |
A month or two before this conference, two young Indians from Mysoreshow up at the Ashram with Saris - wanting to sell saris and littlesarongs, and one of their names is Basaraju and one of them is Manju,OK? And they hung out there, in their young 20’s and this one boy Manjudemonstrates some Yoga postures that he had learned from his father… OhMan! look at that…
...and I wanna’ show you something... so I saw these boys do thisyoga work... so this one boy he had a card... and these were the two boys: far out huh? so that is Manju Jois, huh?
So, I saw Manju and Basaraju and then a month or two later saw his father and then saw
Vishvanath demonstrate and I said: “OK, this I want to learn”.
Guy: Had you ever seen anything like that before?
No, you know that time before we met, I saw the Iyengar book in thoseearly days and that was interesting and what we did was kind of nice, alittle bit of a mix with some Sivananda stuff, very nice......but notlike that...
I wanted to study (with Jois), there was no question, andI asked, and they said: “No, he does not want to take any foreignstudents at this time, and one of the reasons was that he had had thatbad experience”
Guy: So he didn’t want to have you as a student?
No, he didn’t… but I would bring them everything that they needed: water and coffeeand I’d go to town and there’s almonds and badami... and I had mybeautiful daughter with me and my wife... and my daughter had her one yearHindu initiation with a great scholar in the Ashram in Pondicheri....so she’s a little baby, you know, in the East they like babies…
Guy: So how did you persuade him?
Well, I didn’t keep on, but… I’m a nice guy (good vibes) and Amaji toldhim or asked him to give it a chance... so because of her....otherwisehe wouldn’t take us - there was no need. In those days he was teachingat the Sanskrit Patashala, 50 Rupees a month... and he would have hischetty merchants who were his patrons, you know, and they’d come and hehad a room where the locals would come (for yoga classes)...
So, he agreed to take me on as a student, and in a month or so Ishifted on to Mysore. At first, I stayed upstairs there, where theyreside still, undoubtedly, unless they got a new house"
For the full, fascinating, interview head over to Guy's place
http://aysnyc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=48&Itemid=184
More excellent interviews on Guy's website
*******
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUWVEgTsnlQ
And one more movie from You Tube...
A Day With Norman Allen
Norman visits with long-time friend from India. Shot using a Nikon D600.And this which is unfortunately Anonymous
The Cult of Norman Allen
http://yogahawaii.blogspot.jp/2007/05/cult-of-norman-allen.html?m=1
I wasn't sure whether to include it in this post because it is Anonymous and a on post blog but, I don't know, perhaps it's the British love of eccentrics but I came away from this post wanting to go to Hawaii practice with him even more.
UPDATE: My brother posted an old photo of me from 1983, the hair reminded me of norman Allen and this post.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.