GHOSH YOGA

  • Home
  • Schedule
  • Class Videos
  • Teacher Training
    • 200 Hour Teacher Training
    • 300 Hour Teacher Training Info
    • Foundation TT Entry Form
    • Advanced TT Application
  • Immersions
    • Practice Week
    • Teaching 26+2
    • History and Philosophy Week
  • Blogs
  • Store
  • About
    • What is Ghosh Yoga?
    • About Scott & Ida
    • Women of Yoga
    • Postures of Ghosh Yoga
    • Samadhi paper
    • Bose Conference Call
  • Books
    • Therapeutic Exercises
    • 26+2 Modifications
    • Beginning
    • Intermediate
    • Advanced 1
    • Yoga Cure
    • Muscle Control
    • Dr. GSM
    • Buddha Bose
    • 26+2 MODIFICAÇÕES
    • Calcutta Yoga
  • Contact
  • Refund Policies
  • Home
  • Schedule
  • Class Videos
  • Teacher Training
    • 200 Hour Teacher Training
    • 300 Hour Teacher Training Info
    • Foundation TT Entry Form
    • Advanced TT Application
  • Immersions
    • Practice Week
    • Teaching 26+2
    • History and Philosophy Week
  • Blogs
  • Store
  • About
    • What is Ghosh Yoga?
    • About Scott & Ida
    • Women of Yoga
    • Postures of Ghosh Yoga
    • Samadhi paper
    • Bose Conference Call
  • Books
    • Therapeutic Exercises
    • 26+2 Modifications
    • Beginning
    • Intermediate
    • Advanced 1
    • Yoga Cure
    • Muscle Control
    • Dr. GSM
    • Buddha Bose
    • 26+2 MODIFICAÇÕES
    • Calcutta Yoga
  • Contact
  • Refund Policies

Roots of Ghosh Yoga: the Gheranda Samhita

1/25/2018

2 Comments

 
Picture
Buddha Bose, Kukkutasana
The Gheranda Samhita, written in around 1700 C.E., is the most encyclopedic of the hathayoga texts. It was likely composed in the Bengal region of India, the same region that houses Kolkata and Ghosh's College. This text was available in Bengali, a regional language spoken by ordinary people, as opposed to the sacred Sanskrit, so it had an outsized impact on yoga's development in the last few hundred years.

84 ASANAS
The idea of "84 Asanas" is prominent in Ghosh's lineage, with Buddha Bose (1930s), Gouri Shankar Mukerji (1960s), Tony Sanchez (current) and Esak Garcia (current) either designing systems around the number or drawing symbolic attention to it. 

The concept is prominent in the Gheranda Samhita. The second chapter, on Asanas, begins: "All together there are as many asanas as there are species of living beings. Shiva has taught 8,400,000. Of these, 84 are preeminent, of which 32 are useful in the world of mortals."

The text goes on to describe and instruct those 32 asanas, by far the most in any hathayoga text.

23 POSTURES IN COMMON
Of the 32 postures in the Gheranda Samhita, 23 of them are taught by Ghosh and his disciples. These include simple postures like Bhujangasana (Cobra Posture) and complex ones like Kukkutasana (Rooster Posture, pictured above). They include postures that were taught in the early days by Bose and Mukerji but have been lost to modernity, like Mandukasana (Frog Posture), and ones that are nearly ubiquitous in all yoga lineages and styles, like Dhanurasana (Bow Posture).

Many of the postures that are no longer practiced are variations of sitting, with the legs crossed in specific ways, the hands held with detail, or specific focus of the eyes. These postures have diminished in modern times as the practice of yoga grows more athletic and physical.

MUDRAS, PRATYAHARA & PRANAYAMA
The last few chapters of the Gheranda Samhita cover topics that have largely been lost to modern western iterations of yoga. Admittedly, they are often difficult and require significant effort and persistence. In Ghosh's lineage, the practice of pranayama has been whittled down to Kapalbhati, with Sitali offered to some advanced students. Mudras and Pratyahara are more advanced still.

It is impossible to read the Gheranda Samhita without seeing the resemblance to what has been passed down by Ghosh and his students.
2 Comments
Anchita Karmakar link
2/1/2019 12:07:01 pm

Please recognise my mother Karuna Ghosh and husband Jibananda Ghosh as part of the lineage. Its extremely annoying and disrespectful to see that only Bose, Mukerji etc are mentioned ... didnt expect this.. the world will know the truth behind the sacrifices my mother made to establish the yoga that you all rnjoy practicing and teaching soon

Reply
Scott link
2/3/2019 11:39:01 am

Hi Anchita-
Your parents, Karuna and Jibananda Ghosh, are an important part of this lineage. There is no denying that. This article is about the Gheranda Samhita and the influence of the number 84 on the lineage. Did your father or mother talk or write about 84? Were any of their books dedicated to 84 asanas?
That is the reason we included Bose, Mukerji, Sanchez and Garcia in this article, because they all had/have systems based on 84 asanas.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Beginning Manual
    Picture
    Intermediate Manual
    Picture
    26+2 Modifications

    AUTHORS

    Picture
    Picture
    Scott & Ida are Yoga Acharyas (Masters of Yoga). They are scholars as well as practitioners of yogic postures, breath control and meditation. They are the head teachers of Ghosh Yoga.

    POPULAR

    - The 113 Postures of Ghosh Yoga​
    - 
    Make the Hamstrings Strong, Not Long
    - Understanding Chair Posture
    ​
    ​​- Lock the Knee History
    ​- It Doesn't Matter If Your Head Is On Your Knee
    ​
    - Bow Pose (Dhanurasana)

    - 5 Reasons To Backbend
    ​
    - Origins of Standing Bow

    ​- The Traditional Yoga In Bikram's Class
    ​
    - What About the Women?!
    ​- Through Bishnu's Eyes
    ​- Why Teaching Is Not a Personal Practice

    Categories

    All
    Anatomy
    Book Excerpts
    Breathing
    Current Topics
    Hatha
    History
    Injuries
    Personal
    Philosophy
    Practice
    Science
    Teaching
    Therapy
    Women Of Yoga

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    RSS Feed

© COPYRIGHT 2015-2023 BY SLIP MEDIA, LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.