Thanks to the demonstration of Krishnamacharya in Hassan in 1927, Pattabhi Jois decided to prostrate and become his student. Some years later Krishnamacharya had a whole troop he was traveling with under the sponsorship of the Maharaja of Mysore. All for the purpose of propegating and create greater interest and awareness in the healing subject of Yoga. BKS Iyengar, one of the foremost ambassadors to Yoga in the west, has completely on his own put on more than 10,000 demonstrations! Due to his great proficiency and talent he has met kings, queens, presidents of various countries and even had an audience with the Pope of Rome.

Some thirty years back in the early 70s, a demonstration caught the attention of Norman Allen, who saw Pattabhi Jois' son Manju Jois, do a demonstration in Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu. The demo had such an impact on Norman that he decided to head straight for Mysore to seek out Pattabhi Jois himself. What followed is history but ever since Norman, a growing stream of westerners has been coming to Mysore in order to learn this particular method of Yoga from the source.

So yes, this practice does indeed display a high level of finesse in the physical postures and when performed properly, they may literally take the breath away from the observer. But the very purpose of a demonstration should ideally transcend the exhibiting element; it should be more than mere showing-off of tricks or simply tease the audience with some contortion. Preferably it should be there to display the energy and centeredness this practice brings about and hopefully create an interest in the audience to go and find out and explore further for themselves.

Yoga is not active proselytizing or trying to convince other people to have the same thoughts or principles as oneself - it is simply a methodology of how to know one's own self a little better, and hence preaching or cajoling defies the very purpose of Yoga. A Yoga teacher should therefore lead by example, be transparent and open about what they can and cannot do - hopefully not hide behind any smokescreens and fancy - but simply make themselves available for the student in the best way they can. Some teachers may be great demonstrators of postures, but have no idea how to explain them. Other teachers may be crocked and stiff, but have a great knack at thoroughly explaining how the postures are to be executed. Whatever teacher you come up against, don't look for the external proficiencies but quietly pay attention to if you are drawn into the centre of Yoga within you. If something resonates strongly from within, you should feel growing centeredness and an anchoring into a greater stability from within. That is the true homecoming that Yoga provides and it may be done by articulation of body, mind or breath - so whatever you see in a demonstration or hear in various lectures, keep a check on how and what it resonates from within you. Don't get caught up in the external bravura, but if it awakens a growing steadiness from within, take it to heart and explore it further, and if it doesn't, well simply go follow the impulses of your own heart and trust that it will lead you to what you are seeking. Simply trust that Yoga is for real and when you awaken to its true value, all disciplines and practices become confluent in the realisation that something never changes from within - but it may of course manifest in various ways due to our external operations and training.

If yoga were simply a pretentious tool, we would be busy trying to impress each other with our endless postures, numerous practices or witty argumentation, but although some of us keep doing this, our intentions should never be about the performance in itself. The very purpose of Yoga as stated earlier is to turn our gaze inwards and look at all the patterns of stuff we are made up of. When we do that, we are tracing the source of our very own self. So despite our numerous skills and limitations, something always remains unshakably steady and present from within. This stands in no need of any demonstration, endorsement or proof, because it is firmly situated in each one of us and hence when we do Yoga, we should all share that space rather than put anybody on a pedestal or think we have to become anything in order to explore it.

Yoga is everything and nothing. When it is for real you don't need anything to support it, but the path to this inner realisation is paved with tricks, treats and various executions to realise that the ultimate doer from within is never really touched by any of this. He/she just is, at all times without fail, the simple and pure observer of our endless patterns of the fluctuating mind-field. So slow down, take a deep breath and let the external patterns work themselves out over time. What really matters is our external outlook. If that becomes pure and rests in its own being, we have nothing to worry about because everything we do, when it is free of pretentious needs, is a manifestation of that. It may be steady and strong, soft and gentle, our external operations can never fully give it justice, but if we allow it to express itself through this limited body/mind organism…ahhhh…then the sweetness of Yoga is being revealed from within.