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Sivananda Yoga is a spiritual yoga system founded by Sivananda and Vishnudevananda; it includes the use of (yoga postures) but is not limited to them as in systems of yoga as exercise. Vishnudevananda named this system, as well as the international Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres organisation responsible for propagating its teachings, after his guru, Sivananda.
Some other yoga organisations follow Sivananda's teachings, including the Divine Life Society (founded by Sivananda), Bihar School of Yoga, Integral Yoga (Satchidananda) and the Chinmaya Mission, but use different names for their yoga systems. Sivananda Yoga is the yoga system of the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre organisation, and is based on Sivananda's teachings to synthesise the principles of the four paths of yoga (Yoga of Synthesis) along with the five points of yoga compiled by Vishnudevananda. The four classical paths of yoga consist of Karma yoga, bhakti yoga, raja yoga and jnana yoga. These are: Proper Exercise (Asana), Proper Breathing (pranayama), Proper Relaxation (savasana), Proper Diet and Positive Thinking (Vedanta) and Meditation (dhyāna). (2025). 9781405315333, Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 9781405315333
Starting in 2019, the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres have dealt with widespread allegations of sexual abuse and rape by its founder Vishnudevananda and at least one other high-level leader of the organisation.
In 1959, one of Sivananda's leading pupils, Swami Vishnudevananda, was sent to the West to continue his teachings. His mission was "to spread the teachings of yoga and the message of world peace". This has since been refined to "practice and teach the ancient yogic knowledge for health, peace, unity in diversity and self-realization."
In 1960, Vishnudevananda published his guide to hatha yoga, The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga, illustrated with studio photographs of himself demonstrating each pose. The book sold over a million copies by 1989. The Sivananda asana program had "a profound effect" on the development of modern yoga as exercise, which strongly emphasizes asanas.
Vishnudevananda set up Sivananda yoga centres in several countries, and created the Sivananda yoga teacher training course. By 2007, it had trained over 10,000 yoga teachers. By 2012, there were over 80 Sivananda yoga centres, making it one of the world's largest yoga schools. Vishnudevananda was the head of all operations of Sivananda Yoga and the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre from its establishment in 1959 until shortly before his death in 1993, when he transferred control to an executive board.
The historian of modern yoga Andrea Jain writes in her 2015 book Selling Yoga that Vishnudevananda and other students of Sivananda were among the first to build yoga brands and to Mass marketing these to a global audience, effectively tying yoga to methods for achieving physical fitness.
A session of hatha yoga typically starts with practitioners resting in Savasana, continuing onto prāṇāyāma (breathing exercises) kapalabhati and Anuloma Viloma, followed by 6-8 rounds of sūrya namaskār, before the standard program of the 12 basic āsanas. A Sivananda hatha yoga session averages between 90 and 120 minutes.
Culture
Stated aims
Sivananda yoga states that it is run on the principles of selfless service, or karma yoga. It states that its core belief in the need for volunteer workers is that serving others is essential, as it diminishes selfishness and egoism, and brings practitioners closer to understanding the unity underlying all of creation.
Analysis
The scholar of religion Veronique Altglas writes that Sivananda yoga is a transnational neo-Hindu movement. In her view, it has simplified its teachings and developed new ways of propagating them outside India. The effect is to select from and reinterpret Hindu teachings to make them acceptable to westerners who are individualistic, subjectivist, relativist, and pragmatic in their religious beliefs. Altglas suggests that the success of Sivananda yoga "probably tells us more about religious attitudes in western societies today, than about Hinduism itself."
Allegations of sexual abuse
Allegations of sexual abuse and rape of female followers by Vishnudevananda started to become public in 2019 (long after his death) when his assistant Julie Salter posted her testimony about sexual abuse committed against her by the guru to Facebook. Since then, other followers have come forward with similar accounts. The International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres began but did not complete an investigation into the claims. In 2022 an independent "Project SATYA" investigated the claims and published three reports on its findings, with four allegations of sexual abuse against Vishnudevananda, and 31 allegations of sexual abuse and other types of abuse against the ISYVC and its staff, written in first-person narratives by the respective complainants. It found the allegations "credible".Carol Merchasin and Josna Pankhania. Project SATYA Investigation Interim Report #3. November 2020, p. 22 http://www.projectsatya.org/Investigation-Interim-Report-3-Project-SATYA.pdf
Approach
Five points of yoga
The Sivananda Yoga training system aims to teach an authentically Vedic system of yoga, in the belief that physical fitness is a byproduct of the discipline and not the goal. The system philosophies are summarised in Vishnudevananda's 5 principles, each with their intended purposes: Also available at Ellenfarrell.com.
Twelve basic asanas
Sivananda Yoga identifies a group of twelve as basic. Emphasis is on mastering these twelve basic āsanas first, from which variations are then added to further deepen into the practice. The twelve asanas follow a precise order, allowing for a systematic balanced engagement of every major part of the body - with the primary intention of allowing the prana, or life force energy, to circulate more freely.
◦ Headstand
File:Sarvāṅgāsana ◦ Shoulderstand I yoga āsana.jpg| Sarvangasana
File:Halāsana ◦ Plough I yoga āsana.jpg| Halasana
File:Matsyāsana ◦ Fish I yoga āsana.jpg| Matsyasana
File:Pascimothanāsana ◦ Sitting Forward Bend I yoga āsana.jpg| Pascimothanāsana
◦ Sitting Forward Bend
File:Bhujaṅgāsana ◦ Cobra I yoga āsana.jpg| Bhujangasana
File:Śalabhāsana ◦ Locust I yoga āsana.jpg| Salabhasana
File:Dhanurāsana ◦ Bow I yoga āsana.jpg| Dhanurasana
File:Ardha Matsyendrāsana ◦ Half Spinal Twist I yoga āsana.jpg| Matsyendrasana
File:Kakāsana ◦ Crow I yoga āsana.jpg| Bakasana
File:Pada Hastāsana ◦ Standing Forward Bend I yoga āsana.jpg| Uttanasana
File:Trikoṇāsana ◦ Triangle I yoga āsana.jpg| Trikonasana
Primary
These citations to Sivananda Yoga sources are provided to support basic facts about the organisation.
Secondary
Bibliography
External links
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