Welcome and Tribute
By Eve DelachartreGreetings and Namaste,
Here, by the coast of Southern Maine, autumn has arrived and we already had our first frost. On this sunny day, I am excited to dedicate my first news post to my most influential and beloved Yoga teachers. In launching www.breatheforpeace.yoga, my endeavor is to reach out to people who would like to experience a different kind of Yoga class than is commonly practiced in America nowadays. Yoga is much more than just physical exercise.
While preparing my website, I discovered that one of my first and most revered teachers in France had passed away. I was deeply saddened because he was not very old. T.K. Sribhashyam was only 77 years old. His older brother, T.K.V. Desikachar who was well-known in the United States, passed away in 2017. Their father, Sri Krishnamacharya lived past 100 years old.
My sadness awoke in me a desire to honor the memories of these great masters. And also a sense of responsibility: I am part of the next generation of teachers who will channel the precious knowledge I got from them. It is my duty to share my limited but substantial knowledge to people of all ages.
Maitreyi is wearing black. She was a professional Bharata Natyam (Indian) Dancer and is Yoga Teacher.
I started learning Yoga at age 20 in Paris with Maitreyi, a student of Sri Krishnamacharya. She was not interested in teaching me unless I practiced every day. She taught only privately or up to 3 people in a class for those who could not afford a private class. She gave a different class to each person after assessing each one personally. In other words, we didn’t have a chance to copy each other or compare each other. Each class was a healing practice for our present condition. She had us blow our nose, go to the bathroom and drink a glass of water before and after the class. I practiced the class that she taught me weekly every day until the following week.
Sri T.K. Sribhashyam
Soon after that, Maitreyi told me about Sribhashyam who was going to conduct a week-long seminar in Belgium. I jumped on the occasion and never regretted it. In a way I was privileged in the group because I was introduced to him as a student of Maitreyi. Not only was I attending the course, I was invited to all meals with his private entourage and spent free time with them. What I saw was exactly what I was looking for in a teacher, a living example of his teachings.
Sribhashyam taught the deep philosophy of Yoga as much as the physical asana session. And with this, a contagious sense of humor to help us stay engaged. He made us alert in our thinking process, asking us to think into ourselves and find out what energy was animated through our breath. He often compared the way Eastern people and Western people think in order to open our minds to cultivate the best of both worlds.
So, Maitreyi and Sribhashyam, I salute you with the deepest reverence! Sribhashyam is known throughout Europe and created a school called Yogakshemam (https://www.yogakshemam.net/).
Fast forward, when I decided to teach Yoga in New York, I went to various training sessions that I incorporated into my practice. But the strange thing is that periodically, in the New York area, I found teachers that had learned with the Sri Krishnamacharya lineage. Mark Whitwell, Sri Rama, Mandhavan, Menaka Desikachar, Radha, Joseph LePage, Leslie Kaminov among them, I salute you all. I am humbly honoring the soul affinity that I have with this family and spiritual practice.
Please check out the program of classes you might be interested in joining. If there is a certain class or time that you would like to see on the schedule or if you would like to connect with us privately, let us know. We would love to hear from you!
Namaste!
Eve Delachartre
