This document provides an overview of the Gurushishya Parampara tradition of teacher-student relationships in ancient Indian culture and its role in the school's teachings. It then summarizes the key aspects of Satyananda Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, and Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga practices that form the basis of the school's curriculum. Finally, it describes the principles of Vinyasa Flow yoga, including the conscious connection of breath and movement between poses in a non-fixed sequence.

1. OUR
SCHOOL’S
UNIQUE
LINEAGE

2. 2.1.1 Gurushishya Parampara
• "Gu" means dark and "Ru" means light. So, "Guru" can be roughly translated as darkness to light, or
possibly one who leads from darkness to light. The Guru is a teacher who guides the Shishya's (student’s)
life or a spiritual mentor who leads the shishya from blindness or ignorance to bliss, wisdom, and
enlightenment.
• The Guru-Shishya parampara has been an inevitable part of education in ancient Indian culture. This
involved the tradition of a living and learning relationship between the Guru and the Student (Shishya),
signifying the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual bonding between them.
• This strong bond between the Guru and the Shishya enables the Guru to become a mentor who leads the
Shishya from ignorance to wisdom, and enlightenment.
• Guru-Shishya proximity thus is not only a part of our social order, but also a milestone in the life of a
human being in society.
• The living science of education i.e. Bio Psycho-Psychic Science in our culture, has been long lost due to
ignorance of the people in this era of modernization.

3. • The revival of this spirit and its practice in the field of education at all levels is the urgent need of the hour.
• A unique blend of the ancient Indian Guru-Shishya Parampara with the modern methodology of instruction amongst
the state of the art infrastructure is the essence of Karuna Yoga.
2.1.2 Guru Shishya Tradition in Yoga
• The study of Yoga is not like work for a diploma or a university degree by someone desiring favourable results in
stipulated time.
• The Obstacles, trials and tribulations in the path of Yoga can be removed to a large extend with the help of a Guru.
2.1.3 Teaching Tradition
• While contemporary in application and language, all our teachings are based on the thousands of years
old Vedic and Yogic tradition of India.
• The source of our practice and teachings is Swami Satyananda Saraswati from bihar school of yoga,
asana, pranayama, mudra, bandha , shat-karma, yoga nidra , trataka, ajapa japa, meditation. B. K. S.
Iyengar’s alignment principle and Vinyasa style of yoga inculcated from Tirumalai Krishnamacharya
Ashtanga Yoga, from Mysore.

4. We practice and teach Swami Satyananda Saraswati, B. K. S. Iyengar’s & Tirumalai
Krishnamacharya. Yoga of Synthesis which aims at the harmonious development of a
human being through the practice of all three styles of hatha yoga.

5. 2.1.4. What is Satyananda Yoga?
Sri Swami Satyananda Saraswati
(1923-2009) developed this form of yoga meditation incorporating ancient and traditional practices as well as
information gleaned from modern medical-physiotherapy.
• A guru and yoga master in both India and the West, his teachings are propagated inside India as the Bihar
School of Yoga and outside India as the Satyananda Yoga tradition.
• Satyananda Yoga looks on the myriad traditional Indian yogic practices with equal vision, and
acknowledges the validity of all of their methods for spiritual development.
• More gentle than some popular forms of yoga in the West, the Satyananda system incorporates the
whole person, not just the body.
• There is an emphasis on awareness and practitioners are encouraged to learn about all aspects of their
personality through Yoga. Change is a process that takes place naturally as a consequence of regular
practice with full awareness, rather than by forcing the mind and body beyond its limit.

6. 2.1.5. Satyananda Yoga involves the practice of:
• Asanas (postures)
• Pranayama (breathing techniques)
• Shatkarmas (six action/purification methods)
• Yoga Nidra (psychic sleep meditation)
• Kriya Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Mudras (gestures), Bandhas
• Dhyan (meditation from the Tantras), e.g. Ajapa, Japa (meditation breath with mantra), chakra shuddhi
(chakra purification), Yoga nidra (psychic sleep meditation), Tratak (candlelight and gazing meditation), Naada
yoga (yoga of sound, including singing, chanting, Om chanting)
• Mantra Yoga (the repetition of sacred sounds)
• Karma yoga
• Jnana yoga

7. • Satyananda Yoga uses practices in a traditional way, asanas (postures) to balance the body and mind through the
physical body, pranayama (breathing practices) to work on the energy body (equated with Ki or Chi in other systems),
and meditation to calm and focus the mind.
• It also takes a broader outlook by teaching and encouraging yogic lifestyles, not only for renunciates but also for
householders and lay practitioners
2.1.6.Iyengar Yoga
Developed by the yoga master B.K.S. Iyengar throughout his long and illustrious career, the Iyengar method is
an innovative approach to classical yoga deeply rooted in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
However, whereas Patanjali devised ashtanga yoga to depict an ascending progression through the eight limbs
of yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar sought to integrate all eight limbs into one practice.
He took the physical form of yoga and pushed it into the realm of higher spiritual disciplines, believing
students could learn to meditate and refine their awareness through asana and pranayama. Over fifty years of
intense study and dedicated personal practice, B.K.S.

8. • Iyengar engineered a method of yoga that, through the physical practice of yoga postures, allows
students to explore the highest stages of Patanjali’s ashtanga yoga (concentration, meditation, and
complete absorption by point of focus, or higher states of consciousness).
• As students learn to hold their awareness in multiple individual parts of the body simultaneously, the
concentration and sustained focus required to correctly align the yoga postures completely absorbs
the mind in a meditative state, opening the gateway to higher states of consciousness. Iyengar yoga is
thus considered a meditation in action.
2.1.7. The Gist: From the Known to the Unknown
 The Iyengar method is a very individualized approach, making the style of practice not only appropriate
but also beneficial for all ages and abilities. Iyengar yoga is particularly suited for those with chronic
conditions, limitations, or special needs.
 B.K.S. Iyengar systematized over two hundred classical yoga postures, as well as fourteen types of
pranayama(with variations), ranging from basic to exceedingly advanced asanas, ensuring that students

9.  gradually and safely progress through the syllabus of poses as they develop strength, flexibility,
balance, mind-body awareness, and the ability to remain focused.
 Standing poses, which are heavily emphasized in beginning level classes, are the foundation upon which
the whole Iyengar system of asanas is built.
 Dynamic and energizing, standing postures build strength and stability, improve coordination and
circulation, and increase general vitality.
 They are the easiest group of poses with your Yoga Practice which to familiarize yourself with the
major parts of your anatomical structure while learning correct body alignment from the feet up.
 In Iyengar yoga, the emphasis is on learning (not just doing), and unlike in more experiential
approaches that encourage students to explore their body in the yoga postures, there’s definitely a
right way to do the asanas in Iyengar yoga.

10.  The style is known for using props to facilitate learning and to help a variety of students create optimal
body alignment and perform a posture correctly, minimizing the risk of strain or injury and allowing
students of all ages and abilities to receive the full benefits of the asanas.
 B.K.S. Iyengar himself pioneered the use of yoga props, which have become commonplace in most
yoga studios, adapting the asanas for a variety of physical limitations and conditions.
2.1.8. Iyengar Alignment: The Practice of Precision
 Using yoga asana to bring about transformative states of the mind, the Iyengar method gives primacy to
the physical alignment of the body.
 Correct, or optimal, alignment is the precise position and spatial relationship of the bones in a posture, a
precision that allows for equal amounts of stability and freedom in order to receive the maximum
benefits of practice while also protecting the joints, ligaments, muscle fibers, and tendons - leaving little
room for injury.
 When you exercise improperly, reinforcing misalignments, the tendency is to rely on the more-
developed muscles for strength purposes and to continue to stretch (possibly overstretch or strain) the
more flexible areas of the body.

11.  Practicing yoga asana in alignment encourages the tighter areas of the body to open and the weaker
parts to strengthen, balancing and developing the body harmoniously.
 Once the various bones are optimally aligned, less muscular effort is required, and the body can naturally
relax in a pose, allowing the posture’s beneficial effects to penetrate deeper.
2.1.9.Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga
• Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga is traditionally taught in "Mysore style," in which each student in a class moves
through a sequence of asanas on their own while the teacher gives individualized guidance.
• The practice is done every day except Saturdays, new moons, and full moons. Sunday mornings, the
teacher usually guides the class through the Primary Series.
• Although this is the beginning level, most students new to Hatha yoga still find it difficult.
• Indeed, there are many asanas in that series that are considered advanced in other approaches.
Conversely, some poses in the intermediate and advanced Ashtanga Vinyasa series are considered
relatively simple.

12. • Through the regular practice of the Primary Series, an intense series of postures also called yoga chikitsa,
meaning "yoga therapy," the body's energy pathways (nadis) are opened and prana flows throughout the
body, ridding it of toxins and relaxing the nervous system.
• The second or Intermediate Series, called nadi shodhana, meaning "nerve cleansing," focuses intensively
on the spine and pelvis, further opening and balancing energy channels in and around the spine.
• In the Advanced Series, called sthira bhaga and which encompasses four sequences, students integrate
the strength and balance of the practice (Flynn 2003). When the teacher senses a student's ease and
steadiness in a pose, he or she gives the student the next pose, and when the student performs the entire
series with steadiness and ease, the first pose of the next series is introduced. Advanced students continue
to do the Primary and Intermediate series.
• Ashtanga Vinyasa is a highly focused practice. The practice of dristana, in which one gazes steadily upon a
specified point in and between each asana, lends to pratyahara, a more internal awareness.

13. • Ujjayi pranayama is maintained throughout, creating a steady rhythm in the breath that is sustained
evenly from pose to pose, its sound and sensation creating a mantra that fosters greater mental focus
and acuity.
• Bandhas are employed in most of the practice, assisting in the regulation of pranic energy flowing
through the body.
• The practice is tied together through vinyasa, the conscious connection of breath to movement that
helps generate a "balance of strength and flexibility, lightness and heaviness, movement, and stillness).
2.1.10. Vinyasa Flow Yoga
• Vinyasa flow yoga is somewhat less definable than others approaches precisely because it embodies the
continuous, dynamic, conscious evolution of the practice.
• It reflects the constant interplay of human beings in the flow of life, connecting our inner nature, life
experience, and the received wisdom of tradition as we explore and discover new possibilities for
creative expression and conscious living on this planet.

14. • The term vinyasa is derived from nyasa, meaning "to place," and vi, meaning "in a special way.“
• The term flow, originally defined by Ganga White (2007, 114) in relationship to Hatha yoga, "implies a
practice with a theme or purpose with poses linked or associated together." Taken together, Vinyasa
Flow thus suggests a practice in which we consciously place the body-breath-mind in the constant flow
of space and time.
• Vinyasa Flow teacher Shiva Rea describes as "one that awakens and sustains consciousness." She
continues: In this way vinyasa connects with the meditative practice of "nyasa" within the Tantric yoga
traditions.
• In nyasa practice, designed to awaken our inherent divine energy, practitioners bring awareness to
different parts of the body and then, through mantra and visualization, awaken the inner pathways for
shakti (divine force) to flow through the entire field of their being. As we bring the techniques of
vinyasa to bear throughout our lives, we open similar pathways of transformation, inner and outer, step-
by-step and breath-by-breath.

15. • As in Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga, Vinyasa Flow moves steadily from pose to pose in sequences of movements
synchronized with ujjayi pranayama, often pausing to hold poses for various lengths of time while
maintaining the rhythmic flow of the breath.
• Unlike Ashtanga Vinyasa, each class usually offers a different sequence of poses, although most use some
form of Surya Namaskara A and B from the Krishnamacharya lineage.
• Many classes also closely follow the basic standing poses and finishing sequence found in Ashtanga Vinyasa.
Many Vinyasa Flow classes apply Iyengar alignment principles, energetic actions within poses, and use of
props.
• The insights and methods of Krishnamacharya are seen in Vinyasa Flow's emphasis on vinyasa krama,
krama referring to "stages" that create a deliberate sequencing of asanas.
• Vinyasa krama also refers to the staging of practice that accommodates differing intentions and abilities,
so you start from where you are and move consciously - "in a special way"—as you progress from simpler
to more complex asanas.

16. • Vinyasa Flow often applies the concept of pratikriyasana, meaning neutralizing or "counter poses."
• Working with the idea "to place in a special way," many Vinyasa Flow teachers highlight this concept in
several relationships within the practice:
being conscious of how the body is moved and placed within and between poses
conscious linking of breath and body-mind within and between poses
 the way you approach your mat
 set an intention
stay connected with that intention throughout a practice
 get up from your mat, and move out into the larger world
 paying attention to what you are doing while practicing, breathing, moving, feeling,
watching, being in the flow; opening in a more intuitive way that expresses and embodies
the feeling of pranic energy flowing in the universe.

17. • Unlike most approaches to Hatha yoga, which have a fixed system, Vinyasa Flow is not a system.
• This allows creativity in sequencing asanas and offering a diverse array of themes in different classes.
• This freedom and dynamism help make Vinyasa Flow one of the most attractive forms of yoga today,
variously resonating with the spirit, intentions, and life experiences of different teachers and students.
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