Jois Yoga opens in Greenwich — here’s what the studio says about it

This week marks the opening of the Jois Yoga studio in the hometown of the woman backing the Jois Yoga brand, Sonia Jones.

Sharath and Saraswathi are in Connecticut for the opening. They’re making their way around the United States this month.

Below is what I believe is the press release the studio sent out. I’ve copied it from StamfordPlus.com, which looks like a typical local news operation. The link to it already is dead; this is a cached version.

[Update: Here's a link to the press release.]

From my decade-plus experience in journalism, this has every marking of the studio’s press release being posted on the magazine’s website. (That includes the byline being “The Shala.”)

So, in that sense, it is among the more extended statements from Jois Yoga I’ve seen. It’s obviously slanted for a particular audience to mark the opening, but some of what it says about the expansion of yoga and Ashtanga seem interesting. Words and phrases like “reinvent yoga” and “US market” represent the ones I’d suspect would catch the eyes of the folks following the “Jois controversy.” They seem to mark the blurring of lines between yoga and business. (Just saying, not judging.)

All misspellings (including Guruji’s name at one point) are as I found it.

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New Ashtanga studio is poised to reinvent yoga in Greenwich

By The Shala

GREENWICH, CT - Greenwich, CT is miles away from Mysore India, but when noted philanthropist, Sonia Jones and the family of the founder of Ashtanga yoga, open the doors of their new Shala today, India might seem right around the corner. The Shala, or studio, will feature Ashtanga yoga classes for beginners to experts and be the showplace for the new Jois Yoga collection of apparel and accessories.

Jones, wife of financier Paul Tudor Jones, credits Mysore Ashtanga yoga and its founder, Pattahbi Jois, to saving her life in the early 1990s. Since then she has become a devoted follower of Ashtanga, Pattahbi Jois, and his family. The newly renovated building that houses the Greenwich studio is located at 8 Dayton Avenue in Greenwich. Beautifully bathed in sunlight, the vaulted ceilings and expansive windows create the perfect space to align body and spirit. It follows the success of studios in Encinitas, CA, and Sydney Australia

“In today’s frenetic, fast-paced world, we are pleased to offer an oasis from busy days and stressful events,” said Sonia Jones. “Inspired and built upon the principals of our honored Patthabi Jois, we are excited to announce the opening of a new kind of yoga in Greenwich, and to welcome the community to experience our offerings.”

The Astanga or “eight limbed” yoga method taught by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and his successors focus first on the practice of asanas in order to establish health, to correct imbalances, and to strengthen the system, thus stabilizing the body and mind. It is considered the modern day form of classical Indian yoga and is noted for its strict adherence to a series of yoga movements that can lead to liberation and greater awareness of spiritual potential. Classes are self-led at the practitioner’s individual pace with the instructor guiding the individual through the poses when necessary. Each Ashtanga teacher has been trained and certified by the Jois at the family studio in Mysore, India. Ashtanga has gained popularity through the years as a steady stream of celebrities have discovered its benefits. Madonna, Sting, and Gwyneth Paltrow have all incorporated Ashtanga yoga into their fitness regimes.

The grand opening week will feature Primary Series led classes by Sharath Jois, the grandson and successor of Pattahbi Jois. During these one and half hour classesJois will lead the students through the Ashtanga Yoga Primary series from the first Surya Namaskara until the last closing posture, calling each breath and movement, and at the same time moving about the class, along with his mother, Saraswathi, giving adjustments and corrections to each student’s postures as required. When taught in this rhythmical and steady nature, the students are brought into unison reinforcing the use of the vinyasa method, central to Ashtanga Yoga practice. Students who attend these classes should have learned at least a portion of the Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series.

The studio schedule will also include Mysore classes every morning from 6.30am to 11.30, and Mysore, led and beginners classes during the day and evenings.

This ventures marks the beginning of what Jones and Jois family hope is the continued expansion of Ashtanga and Jois Yoga into the US market. As Yoga has grown in popularity over the last few decades and proliferated into the lives of Americans, The Jois family feel that now is the time to further spread the spiritual ideas and practices of Puttahbi Jois and Ashtanga yoga.

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Posted by Steve