Krishnamacharya: A Book By A.G. Mohan

I just finished reading A.G. Mohan's book Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings. Mohan was a longtime student of Krishnamacharya and his book benefits from first-hand stories and a deep understanding of yoga. It is by far the best book I have read about Krishnamacharya. Here are some of my favorite parts:

"The purity of truth is often lost in unnecessary speech. To speak the truth, we would be wise to begin by practicing moderation in speech: to speak less and, when we speak, to do so clearly."

"He would say, 'What is this "boring" you all say? Nowadays even children say everything is "boring"! Nothing is "boring." None of you have control over your senses and so your mind becomes restless. Now some activity seems pleasing to the senses, and a little while later, another activity seems more pleasing. Because your mind is not able to stay steady and the senses pull the mind to different things, you want to keep on changing what you are doing. If you have sense control, there is never any question of "boring."'"

"In an interview, Krishnamacharya once said...'Group teaching is not good. When teaching asana we have to take into account the individual bodies since each body is different. One person may easily practice uttanasana while another cannot.'"

"Krishnamacharya used these broad categories to define purposes for the practice of yoga:
1. siksha: fitness - yoga for people who are healthy, to maintain their health or increase their wellness
2. cikitsa: treatment - yoga as therapy
3. upasana: spiritual practice or discipline - yoga for personal transformation

All quotes are from Mohan's book Krishnamacharya. Mohan's website is here.