Just like the true meaning of Christianity has been "corrupted" so here Mark is attempting to corrupt the roots of Yoga.

I would argue that reading the Hatha Tatvakaumudi and Hatha Ratnavalli leave one the impression that a huge amount of what we practice in modern yoga comes from these early texts. The key components of Ashtanga Vinyasa are Ujayi breathing, moolha bandha and asana.. all of which are described in some detail in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. The number of asanas described in early texts is fairly limited but it is clearly stated that there are thousands of asanas at this time. Krishnamacharya's teacher was Brahmamohana of tibet and although he may have visited Kuvalyananda's school at some point he was never a student. There are numerous other inaccuracies in Mark Singleton's work. For example. One of the largest providers of Yoga teacher training in the world is the Sivananda Yoga organisation. Sivananda yoga classes consist of a variations on a set sequence known as the Rishikesh Sequence. All the postures, bar one, in the Rishikesh sequence can be found in the texts HYP and GS. Namaste james russell

Swami Kuvalayananda and Yogendra were disciples of Paramahansa Madhavadasji in Baroda who was an accomplished yogi and lived upto 123 years. Madhavadasji had learned yoga and other spriitual practices from many masters in the 19th century in his wide travels till he reached eighty years.Only then he established his ashram in Baroda...so the tradition of Kuvalayananda and Yogendra were not derived from Manick Rao, but Madhavadasji. They took help from Manick Rao to formulate a physical training system for school students in the Mumbai [Bombay] presidency. Mark Singleton's research needs greater depth than what is displayed in this article.

An interesting read! It is a shame that more of the traditional and spiritual aspects of yoga have not survived to this day. I also practice Kung Fu and although its history is well documented, the more traditional styles are dying out very quickly. I hope the more spiritual side of Yoga makes a return!

It has troubled me for a long time that the modern practice of Yoga,does not respect the spiritual traditions and instead Yoga's spiritual richness has to a large extent been reduced to a series of physical exercises. Having said this, such practices do liberate the body energetically more so than a workout in the gym, which contracts the muscles, thus blocking the body's natural energetic pathways. In my teaching of Yoga, which originated from the Sivananda tradition (no mention in Mark Singleton's article), does follow the roots of Yoga; however, in keeping with western sensitiveness I have, sadly reduced the chanting down to a simple aum; is this wrong? Despite my discipline, I have argued with myself no. When students are gently introduced to a spiritual practice (whether they are cognisant of this or not) they do begin to connect with something greater than themselves that brings a deep sense of peace and joy, this I see in their faces. My opinion is that it is irrelevant that the origins of Yoga do not exactly fit our preconceptions but that the art we practice is as true to its spiritual roots as it can be, doing Yoga as a purely physical exercise holds no interest for me.