As students of yoga, we think a lot about its history, practices and goals. We take what we learn from our teachers seriously, since they have experience and perspective that we do not. As we - all of us - grow and become more responsible for the future, it is important to assess our values.

What new knowledge and research has come to light? What of the old traditions are valid? Are there any that have been destabilized or proven false? What are the current trends, physically and ideologically, and where do they fit in to the big picture?

TRADITION
A lot of people will say if it has not been passed down, it is not truly part of the lineage. From a historical point of view this is true. There are many texts and teachers that are full of specific instruction, and we can follow them to the letter if we choose. 

But we can think of traditions like laws: there is the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Likewise, there is the letter of the tradition and the spirit of the tradition. Every teacher is a product of his/her time and place and so has unique advantages and limitations.

If we think about the spirit of traditions, we start to look at the purpose of the practices and then assume that the teachers have used the best means available to them - the best tools and knowledge - to accomplish that purpose. We start to look at the traditions of yoga from a more theoretical viewpoint instead of as a group of set practices. So we, as teachers, should use the best tools and knowledge available to us to accomplish the purpose of the practice.

THE PROGRESS OF GHOSH YOGA
The yoga lineage of Bishnu Ghosh is exciting because as much as it has stayed the same for the past 100 years, it has updated itself using cutting edge medical knowledge. Gouri Shankar Mukerji (in the 1950s) was a medical doctor on the forefront of testing yoga postures using state of the art tools. The information he gained in the process refined the technique and understanding of the postures and practices, and the effects can be clearly seen in any Bikram class where they talk about circulation in the knees or compressing the pancreas.

As medical technology advances, it is our responsibility to use it the best we can. To this end, we must recognize the work of Pure Action, who fund and publish research about yoga and its medical effects. Even though they are uncovering and presenting new information, it is absolutely in line with the tradition of this lineage. 

That is just one example of how tradition progresses. We must always seek to learn more, understand more, and pass more on to our students.

Most of us have weak abdominal muscles. Our culture of sitting in chairs and long hours of non-physical work means that we lack important strength in the midsection, especially the important transverse abdominis (TVA) muscle that wraps our abdomen from side to side. 

This muscle is vital for our breathing, as it is the primary driver for exhaling. It also supports the spine by creating a pressure system in the abdominal cavity. This is usually the muscle referred to when teachers say "belly in" or "stomach in." 

The TVA helps digestion, too, by massaging the intestines with each breath. It is part of the brilliant design of our digestive system, that it is gently stimulated by the diaphragm on the inhale and the TVA on the exhale.

Since our abdominal muscles are weak from so much sitting, it is common for us to have digestive problems, especially indigestion and constipation, from lack of movement and massage of the intestines. These problems are improved greatly by strengthening the TVA, and there is no better exercise for that than "Blowing/Kapalbhati." Make sure you focus on strong exhales coming from the low belly. Your muscles may get tired and sore - that is okay!

​(This is not to be confused with the most prominent abdominal muscle, the rectus abdominis or 6-pack, which has a different function. The 6-pack is the muscle that we exercise when doing sit-ups or crunches, but it will not help breathing or digestion nearly as much as the TVA.)

A lot of people ask "what is Ghosh Yoga?" Where does it come from? Who taught it? What are the values, principles and techniques to achieve them? This is the first of three blog entries that will describe 1) the principles and goals of Ghosh Yoga, 2) the main characters and teachers, and 3) the historic sources and modern knowledge that are the basis for the techniques. First, the principles:

Ghosh Yoga has 4 main branches, plus a 5th branch if you look back into history a few decades.

1. THERAPY
In the words of Bishnu Ghosh himself, "your health will either compel you to live a life of an old man in your teens or permit you to enjoy the munificent beautiful gifts of God in this wonderful world even when you are old." As such, maintaining health is fundamental. Ghosh Yoga has exercises for nearly every physical ailment or injury, and every organ and system of the body. This continues to be the most important branch of the yoga.

2. SPIRITUAL GROWTH
It is well-known that Bishnu was the younger brother of Paramhansa Yogananda. Less known is that both of their parents were accomplished Kriya yogis, skilled in meditation. This element can be harder to spot in some of the modern iterations of the lineage, but if we look back at the origins in the 1930s, Buddha Bose writes of "the Kundalini Shakti, a latent power within every human being. When awakened Kundalini Shakti confers on man many special powers." Any brief description of spiritual goals and techniques falls short, which is often why spiritual aims are superseded by more immediate, physical ones. Spiritual techniques and practices are reserved for committed, dedicated students.

3. PERFORMANCE
Exhibition and competition are popular in India, and many of Ghosh's students competed in weightlifting, ju-jitsu and even "Best Physique" and "Mr. Universe" competitions. As yoga has come to the West, Bikram and Rajashree Choudhury have played large roles in creating the Bishnu Ghosh Cup, the International Yoga Sports Federation and USA Yoga, all organizations for yoga asana competition.

4. BODYBUILDING
Before they were yogis, Ghosh, Bose, Mukerji and Choudhury were all bodybuilders. Weight lifting was often seen as a complementary practice to yoga asana.

5. FEATS OF STRENGTH
This branch has fallen out of popularity over the last couple decades, but it was prominent during Ghosh's youth. He taught several magnificent feats of strength to students in the 60s, including his son Bishwanath (pictured above), Jibananda Ghosh (who married his daughter), Bikram Choudhury and Rooma Bose. These feats included having something heavy, like a street roller or elephant, on your chest, lying on a sword and many other spectacular things. These feats utilized complex yogic techniques of breathing and physical control.

Next week we will talk about the best-known teachers in this lineage.

As many of you already know, in 2015 we edited and published a manuscript of 84 asanas and 10 mudras by Buddha Bose. We were (and continue to be) excited and inspired by the book because it is a window into the yoga of Bose and BC Ghosh in the 1930s, a time from which we have little other material evidence. We presented the book as closely to the manuscript as possible, acknowledging to the reader that it was clearly an incomplete work in progress. Even in its incomplete form, and perhaps because of it, the book is a raw and unvarnished view into the yoga of that time.

Recently, the Yoga Cure Institute, a yoga school founded by Bose and still run by his daughter Rooma, published a notice about some "major mistakes" in the book, promising to publish a completed and "authentic" version of the book, updated by Rooma. Below is quoted from their website:

​​"Authentic 84 Asanas - The Legacy of Buddha Bose by Yoga Therapist Mrs. Rooma De nee Bose ..... Soon to be published​...Some claims that the book was lost. But the fact is that Buddha Bose's "84 Asanas" manuscript was not lost. It was in fact the author's rejected manuscript. Due to some major mistakes in the manuscript, the author Buddha Bose never published the '84 Asanas."

While it is impossible to know the complete truth, there were undoubtedly other circumstances that led to the non-publication of Bose's manuscript: his turning toward spirituality, WWII, the Ghosh school expanding to Japan, Bose's airplane crash in 1947 and subsequent healing at the Holy Kailash, the death of Ghosh (1970) and the split of the families. Perhaps even disapproval from Yogananda, who finally gave Ghosh permission to teach yoga in the 1940s. Bose never published another book on yoga, not even a corrected or updated version of the manuscript.

We eagerly await any addition to this lineage, and any insight and clarification that Mrs. De will bring to the yoga and the history.

In Yoga, we learn to watch our reactions.
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I was reminded recently yet again, that I have been dealing with this “annoying issue in my knee,” jumping to the conclusion it is a nuisance and something I want to be done with. My reaction has been rehearsed and predictable and yet another way in which the mind functions in habitual pattens. Injury equals bad. While I’ve rolled my eyes at many a teacher that says “an injury is a chance to take care of yourself and feel your body…” I've realized this is a chance to notice my mind. Since I’ve been resting the knee, noticing  how it’s healing and changing, I now have the chance to notice the conditioned response of my mind.
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In Yoga, we learn to watch our reactions.

Skipping ahead to yesterday. 
Lately we’ve been on a hardcore (for musicians and yogis at least) schedule. This flight to that city, that flight home. Package these books to send to those cities. Different flight to different city. Teach…. You get the idea. This is a fabulous situation to find ourselves in but it doesn’t change the fact we’ve been hustling, all the while trying to keep up with a calm and centered yoga practice. 
Tomorrow we head to Arizona for Practice Week, and wanting to hit several deadlines, we were supposed to submit the Gouri Shankar Mukerji book to the printer yesterday. This has been a tremendous effort from several people. Jerome Armstrong, the ever amazing research genius, Rupen, Gouri’s relative, Chitralekha and Irene, who tirelessly translated the texts, Scott and myself. Not to mention the hundreds of people who crowdfunded the publication and are anxiously awaiting the release. We are (well, were) so close to having the book done. After an early morning of final edits, we sat still trying to make a morning deadline happen, only to have the design program crash mid-save. Ok, no biggie. Try again, crash. Ok, getting a little worried. After several computer updates, and a call to the help center, we were told the file was corrupted during the crash and the best we can do is START. AGAIN.

In Yoga, we learn to watch our reactions.

While this is certainly a major setback, it is also an opportunity for us not to loose it. We are disappointed this means the project will be delayed a few weeks, but we are human, computers are machines and I guess these things really happen. 

In Yoga, we learn to watch our reactions.