“Svabhāva (innate disposition) – Nature of a person.
For example tendency to put on weight, liver problem, muscular pains for no reason, changes in temperature.
This is why Āyurveda divides humans into 3 types.
Approximately Pitta-Sattva, Kapha-Tamas, Vāta-Rajoguṇa.
We not only look at the physical structure, but also how food affects the individual.
Heavy in the morning, etc.
For example different children in the family affected by the same food differently.”
- TKV Desikachar France 1983
Category Archives: Āyurveda
Svabhāva (innate disposition) – Nature of a person……
Also posted in Āsana, cYs Journal, Desikachar Quotations, Haṭha, Pauls Daily Quotes Page, viniyoga of Yoga
One important thing is food……
“One important thing is food.
Different combinations have different effects on the body.
When we work with Āsana and Prāṇāyāma we need to consider which foods to take.
Your mind is according to your food.
The type of food you take influences your mind.
The subject is vast.”
- TKV Desikachar France 1983
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We must respect the practice involving the body…….
“We must respect the practice involving the body.
Deśabheda – Latitude, longtitude, or place at which a person is practicing or thinking.
Deśa means climate, food.
Liṅgabheda – The body of a man or a woman. Masculine or feminine.
Kālabheda – Seasons. Cold, humid, rain, heat.
To adapt the Sādhana according to the time of the year.
Certain texts say rituals, mantra according to season.
Āyurveda talks about season and food, season and medication, season and relaxation.
Vayabheda – Age influencing, young and impatient, old and patient.
Śaktibheda – Concerning strength of the individual.
Some are strong.
i.e. genetics of body and mind.
Memory, ability to grasp, sit and study.
i.e. some can sit and chant for hours or 15′.”
- TKV Desikachar France 1983
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What are the factors to consider in our teaching?
“What are the factors to consider in our teaching?
At least they should be made known to the student.
Dehabheda – tall, fat, lean, scoliosis, straight back.
Sādhana according to the physical characteristics.
Something which must be fed, otherwise it will destroy.
For example lumbar lordosis and deep back bends could cause problems.”
- TKV Desikachar France 1983
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It is the student in us that must realize ‘Avasthānam’…..
This post continues from the quote below posted in January 2013:
“These days there is lots of talk on what is involved in training to be a Yoga Teacher,
however little talk on what is involved in training to be a Yoga Student.”
Developing this further I feel it is the student in us that must, through an appropriate Sādhana received within an auspicious context with a teacher, realize ‘Avasthānam’ in that the ‘Svarūpa’ or the ‘own character’ of the inner student ‘takes up its place’.
Continue ReadingAlso posted in Āsana, cYs Journal, Haṭha, Pauls Musings on Yoga Today, Prāṇāyāma, viniyoga of Yoga
Talking about the alternative healing system……
Claude Marachel: Talking about the alternative healing system, I think we have to be very careful. Sometimes in Western countries, we see that everything is mixed. In the field of alternative systems, a lot of Viveka or discernment is needed.
TKV Desikachar: What has happened to some of these alternative systems of therapy, including Yoga, is that things have become a bit shallow. It happens that in one week someone can become an expert in massage. With the help of postal courses you become an Āyurveda expert. The intentions are good, some people may want to learn fast, but what happens is that this state of things brings disrepute to some of the great ancient traditions like Āyurveda. It has taken me three years to convince an Indian to go to an Āyurveda doctor. This is because of the bad reputation the tradition now has.
Also posted in Āsana, cYs Journal, Desikachar Quotations, Pauls Daily Quotes Page, viniyoga of Yoga, Yoga Bricolage
I am very impressed by what you said about your father giving some……
Viniyoga in Italia: I am very impressed by what you said about your father giving some students an oil bath. Do you think that sometimes a Yoga teacher needs to give a massage or has to touch the student?
TKV Desikachar: Well, if a person comes with a backache, you have to examine him or her. You have to touch the person and feel the person. As a part of observation, we need to do that. Sometimes as a part of encouragement we can do that. At times, I take the pulse, so they feel that I care. But I have not and I don’t like to massage our students. I always ask the family to do that.
Viniyoga in Italia: It could also create a dependence.
TKV Desikachar: Not only that, but if you do it for one, you will have to do it for others. I want the students to be on their own. It is an education in Svastha.
- TKV Desikachar from an interview in the Journal Viniyoga Italia on Yoga and Well Being.
Also posted in cYs Journal, Desikachar Quotations, Pauls Daily Quotes Page, viniyoga of Yoga
Your mind is a product of your food, memory is linked to food……
“Your mind is a product of your food, memory is linked to food. My stability, my confidence is linked to food. All these facts are mentioned in the texts. For these reasons I said that food is very important and becomes me. Not just the muscles, but the whole me, the whole personality.”
- TKV Desikachar from an interview in the Journal Viniyoga Italia on Yoga and Well Being.
Also posted in cYs Journal, Desikachar Quotations, Pauls Daily Quotes Page, viniyoga of Yoga, Yoga Bricolage
Do you think it is important for Yoga teachers to mention diet and……
Viniyoga in Italia: Do you think it is important for Yoga teachers to mention diet and lifestyle to students?
TKV Desikachar: As you know, here in Madras, when people come to the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram or to me personally, they come because they have some problem. Every day they come, every day with some problem. If we have a problem, especially if it is a chronic problem, it is both in the body and in the mind, whether it manifests as asthma, diabetes, headache, or blood pressure. Thus we cannot help but talk about everything. That is why we, here in Madras, need to know something about Āyurveda, Yoga and western medical science. For these reasons our teachers are taught physiology, anatomy, Āyurveda and Yoga.
Also posted in Āsana, cYs Journal, Desikachar Quotations, Haṭha, Pauls Daily Quotes Page, viniyoga of Yoga
How is Āyurveda linked to Cikitsa or the therapeutic application of Yoga?
Viniyoga in Italia: How is Āyurveda linked to Cikitsa or the therapeutic application of Yoga?
TKV Desikachar: There is a lot of difference. As far as Yoga is concerned, we are concerned with the personality of the person, the mental aspect and the higher aspirations of the student. That is why Yoga has a lot to offer. For the body Āyurveda is the solution. A good combination would be Āyurveda and Yoga. My father used to do that. He would teach Āsana practice, or Prāṇāyāma or meditation (Dhyānam) and he would talk about diet and he would also give some Āyurveda medicine. He was treating not only the body but the whole person with the help of this great combination.
- Extract from an interview in the Journal Viniyoga Italia on Yoga and Well Being.
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What is the relationship between Yoga and Āyurveda?
Viniyoga in Italia: What is the relationship between Yoga and Āyurveda?
TKV Desikachar: First of all, we believe that the same master gave us Āyurveda and Yoga: Patañjali. We worship Patañjali remembering him as the person who gave us Āyurveda for the body and Yoga for the mind.
Body and mind are so interlinked that you cannot really separate them. Since Āyurveda is a complete system, they talk also about Yoga. Yoga is defined in Āyurveda. And the language of Yoga is such that a person cannot understand the Yoga texts without understanding the concepts of Āyurveda.
At least in theory, these sciences go very well together. However, in India, the treatment given to Yoga in the Āyurveda University is very scarce, it is not even worth mentioning. So, in reality, Āyurveda people are not familiar with Yoga as much as they should be. The only exception was my father. He knew both, that is why he was able to mix both systems, according to the need.
What I would say is, what Patañjali gave for the mind through Yoga, he gave for the body through Āyurveda.
- Extract from an interview in the Journal Viniyoga Italia on Yoga and Well Being.
Also posted in cYs Journal, Desikachar Quotations, Haṭha, Pauls Daily Quotes Page, viniyoga of Yoga
cYs Introductory Āyurveda Study Course October 13/14th 2012 in Bristol
The viniyoga of Āyurveda – Lifestyle Skills & Yoga Teachings
The study and practice of Yoga has, for many centuries, been linked to the study of complementary arts from Indian culture such as Mantra, textual Chanting, Karnāṭaka music or Āyurveda lifestyle skills.
For example, traditionally Āyurveda and Yoga went hand in hand and the importance of understanding the principles of Āyurveda is obvious when exploring Yoga texts such as the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā.
Also posted in cYs Announcements, cYs Journal, News Views & Posts, Paul’s Yoga Related Stuff
In this context what about Āyurveda?
Viniyoga in Italia: In this context what about Āyurveda?
TKV Desikachar: Āyurveda, is, in my opinion, the most complete system of life God ever created, because it encompasses everything in nature. And it is a positive system of health. It is called Āyurveda, or knowledge of life. I have no hesitation to say that this system takes into account every aspect, it is not only medicine, not only food, not only life-style, but it is also the philosophy, the religion and the mantra-recitation. I have never come across a system that is so complete for the health of the body as Āyurveda. Unfortunately, it is nearly dead. We don’t have many people. Because Āyurveda is so complete and vast that a doctor would need an enormous experience.
Also posted in cYs Journal, Desikachar Quotations, Pauls Daily Quotes Page, viniyoga of Yoga, Yoga Bricolage
What is the relationship between diet and health?
Viniyoga in Italia: What is the relationship between diet and health?
TKV Desikachar: It is a big subject. Our system has to be nourished. Food or Annam is needed. There is the Annamaya, we have a body which has to be nourished. The food we need and eat is Annam. This Annam is a very interesting Sanskrit word. Annam is that which will nourish you or that which will eat you. The Annam or food must nourish me, it should not consume me. For this reason there is given so much importance to Annam that nourishes and Annam that will consume.
- Extract from an interview in the Journal Viniyoga Italia on Yoga and Well Being.
Also posted in cYs Journal, Desikachar Quotations, Pauls Daily Quotes Page, Upaniṣads, Yoga Bricolage
Today in Europe there is a going back to what is called alternative……
Viniyoga in Italia: Today in Europe there is a going back to what is called alternative medicines, like herbal treatment and the traditional dietary laws, thermal baths and other traditional treatments. Do you think these traditional approaches have a relevance in today’s world?
Continue ReadingAlso posted in cYs Journal, Desikachar Quotations, Pauls Daily Quotes Page, viniyoga of Yoga, Yoga Bricolage
Summary of Posts – TKV Desikachar Interviewed by Viniyoga Italia
Also posted in Āsana, cYs Journal, Desikachar Quotations, Haṭha, Prāṇāyāma, Views around the Source, viniyoga of Yoga
In the language of Yoga, the seat of all impurities is the abdomen.
Also posted in cYs Journal, Desikachar Quotations, Haṭha, Pauls Daily Quotes Page, viniyoga of Yoga
Lightness or Sattva (Guṇa) is not always correct……
“Lightness or Sattva (Guṇa) is not always correct. Sometimes it is necessary to create heaviness (Tamas) and activity (Rajas) for memory, etc.”
- TKV Desikachar December 1st 1979
Also posted in cYs Journal, Desikachar Quotations, Pauls Daily Quotes Page, viniyoga of Yoga, Yoga & Sāṃkhya
There is an impression in some schools that Tamas and Rajas……
“There is an impression in some schools that Tamas and Rajas (Guṇa) are to be rejected. This is not so, both are necessary. It is the combination thats important.”
- TKV Desikachar December 1st 1979
Also posted in cYs Journal, Desikachar Quotations, Haṭha, Pauls Daily Quotes Page, viniyoga of Yoga, Yoga & Sāṃkhya
Our relationship with Food can be too little, too much, or wrong……
“Our relationship with Food can be too little, too much, or wrong.
According to Āyurveda even the best food eaten in the wrong amount, or at the wrong time, or with the wrong attitude will fail to nourish and even disturb the system.
The same could be said for Yoga Practice.”
The Doṣa and the Guṇa are related, we need to be able to……
“The Doṣa and the Guṇa are related, we need to be able to understand the Guṇa to be able to understand the Doṣa.”
- TKV Desikachar April 1992
Āyurveda & Yoga – Dravya and Rasa, Substance and Taste within Food – Part 9 of 12
Āyurveda was the one of the first medical systems to realise the crucial importance of the kind of food we eat and to appreciate the interaction between health and disease, disease and food, and food and health. It will be from this point that this article will explore the question of diet by examining the concepts of elements and taste in food.
Continue ReadingAlso posted in cYs Journal, Paul’s Yoga Related Stuff
The Spine with the Breath in Āsana, Prāṇāyāma and Mudrā
Bṛṃhaṇa Kriyā, Laṅghana Kriyā and Samana Kriyā – The concepts of Expansive, Contractive and Equalising qualities are three activities (Kriyā) inherent within the Breath and Āsana.
Understanding the viniyoga (application) of this particular Trikriyā facilitates access, through the Vīna Daṇḍa (spine), Nāḍī (inner channels) and Agni (inner fire), to energising, cleansing and aligning potentials in the practice of Āsana, Prāṇāyāma and Mudrā.
Also posted in Āsana, cYs Journal, From Pauls Notebooks, Pauls Daily Quotes Page, Prāṇāyāma, viniyoga of Yoga
You should only take that food which you would offer to the person you revere most.
”You should only take that food which you would offer to the person you revere most.”
Notes from my studies of the Dhyānamālika verse 11 with TKV Desikachar in Chennai 23rd December 2000
Also posted in cYs Journal, Desikachar Quotations, Pauls Daily Quotes Page, Quotations
Manobhāva – Some people have capacity for great imagination……
“Manobhāva – Some people have capacity for great imagination, others just flat, no colour, no taste.
For example children making a drawing. Some use many colours, others use little colour or drawing.”
- TKV Desikachar France 1983