Yoga style and lineage
Our practice is rooted in a specific group of postures within the foundation of Hatha Yoga. Hatha Yoga is the source for nearly all physical based yoga practices, including postures and movements within Ashtanga Yoga. The oldest form of codefied and documented Hatha yoga originates back to Yogi Matsyendranath, founder of the Nath guild, around the 10th century AD. Yogi Matsyendranath is acknowledged as the first human teacher of hatha yoga. His chief disciple, Gorakhnath, was guru to Yogi Swatmarama, author of the Hatha yoga Pridapika.
Bishnu Charan Ghosh was born 24 June 1903. The youngest of eight, he was a frail child but his health improved dramatically when, in 1917 he enrolled at the Ranchi School founded by his elder brother, the great Paramahansa Yogananda. He was one of seven students there and learned the Yogoda system that included the 84 asanas codified by Yogananda, author of the Autobiography of a Yogi and Kriya Yoga master. Yogananda's teacher was Sri Yukteswar, author of The Holy Science, who was a disciple of the great master Lahiri Mahasaya. Lahiri Mahasaya was the first non-sadhu initiated by Babaji Nagaraj, a sadhu who brought back to life the Kriya Yoga techniques after it had been lost in the Dark Ages. It was a revival of the same science Krishna passed to Arjuna millenniums ago.
Our practice is rooted in a specific group of postures within the foundation of Hatha Yoga. Hatha Yoga is the source for nearly all physical based yoga practices, including postures and movements within Ashtanga Yoga. The oldest form of codefied and documented Hatha yoga originates back to Yogi Matsyendranath, founder of the Nath guild, around the 10th century AD. Yogi Matsyendranath is acknowledged as the first human teacher of hatha yoga. His chief disciple, Gorakhnath, was guru to Yogi Swatmarama, author of the Hatha yoga Pridapika.
Bishnu Charan Ghosh was born 24 June 1903. The youngest of eight, he was a frail child but his health improved dramatically when, in 1917 he enrolled at the Ranchi School founded by his elder brother, the great Paramahansa Yogananda. He was one of seven students there and learned the Yogoda system that included the 84 asanas codified by Yogananda, author of the Autobiography of a Yogi and Kriya Yoga master. Yogananda's teacher was Sri Yukteswar, author of The Holy Science, who was a disciple of the great master Lahiri Mahasaya. Lahiri Mahasaya was the first non-sadhu initiated by Babaji Nagaraj, a sadhu who brought back to life the Kriya Yoga techniques after it had been lost in the Dark Ages. It was a revival of the same science Krishna passed to Arjuna millenniums ago.
The 84 asanas of the Yogoda system were the foundations for Ghosh's College of Physical Education yoga program founded in 1923. At this time he was also attending law school. He created a unique and dynamic system synthesizing yogic Indian practices with weighlifting practice. He demonstrated the powers of yoga with amazing feats of strength to attract students and practitioners. Although his teachings were externally secular and solely for health and fitness, Bishnu was initiated into Kriya yoga by his brother Yogananda. Bishnu and his students, who were known throughout India, traveled to the United States and Europe to demonstrate the power of yoga. His students appeared regularly on "That's Incredible", a US television program, and he lectured at Columbia University with his star student, Buddha Bose. He was also in London as he was invited to serve as a judge in the Mr. Universe competition.
Before Bishnu's death he directed another one of his long term students, Bikram Choudhury, to establish a school in the USA. Bikram popularized the yoga exercise postures since the 70's. He limited the practice to a set of 26 postures as a starting beginner practice. Many asana elites have developed since then with Tony Sanchez being one of the most respected ones today. Tony continued to study and learn beyod the beginner series to develop his own practice that included the original 84 classical postures. In Canada Sasha Shkolnikov, Bikram's first Canadian student, was an elite practitioner who mastered the beginner series and continued studying the 84 classical postures. However Sasha was very much interested in the total practice of yoga, kriya, and ayurveda and not just asana. Sasha got initiated into Yogananda's lineage of Kriya Yoga and committed his time since the 80's to learn and practice yoga above and beyond asana exercise. Sasha opened up his yoga studio in the 90's in Toronto. Since then he has been practicing and teaching the Bishnu lineage of hatha yoga inspiring many students to learn and expand on their practice.
With respect to Mr. Bikram Choudhury, many negative things have been said about him. Despite much that has been said he, more than any other, honors his guru, Bishnu Ghosh, through continued support of the Ghosh family and the Ghosh Yoga college. To engage people in yoga he focused more on the secular aspect of Yoga, as did Bishnu Ghosh in India, to build momentum among the masses. The Yoga world should acknowledge this in positive light. We're not a bikram studio, however it's important to give credit where credit it due. He has simply used the western paradigm to promote his yoga practice and approach. It's because of his tireless and hard work during the 70s, 80s, and 90s, that today many feel perfectly comfortable with yoga as a socially accepted form of exercise in the first place.
With respect to Mr. Bikram Choudhury, many negative things have been said about him. Despite much that has been said he, more than any other, honors his guru, Bishnu Ghosh, through continued support of the Ghosh family and the Ghosh Yoga college. To engage people in yoga he focused more on the secular aspect of Yoga, as did Bishnu Ghosh in India, to build momentum among the masses. The Yoga world should acknowledge this in positive light. We're not a bikram studio, however it's important to give credit where credit it due. He has simply used the western paradigm to promote his yoga practice and approach. It's because of his tireless and hard work during the 70s, 80s, and 90s, that today many feel perfectly comfortable with yoga as a socially accepted form of exercise in the first place.
"I myself learned this system of yoga exercises at the Ranchi School for Boys in India, founded by my Guru and brother, Paramahansa Yogananda." Bishnu Ghosh