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Vinyasa Krama Yoga Montreal, Montreal, QC (2026)

Vinyāsa Krama Yoga is the yoga system of practice taught by longtime direct pupil of Śrī Krishnamāchārya, Śrīvatsa Rāmaswāmī, who learned from the acclaimed Yogacharya for over 30 years. Over the course of his studies under the professor Krishnamāchārya, Rāmaswāmī sir learned a complete system of Vinyāsa Krama including the powerful practice of the important Mudras and Prāṇāyāma from his teacher, several classic Sanskrit texts, and Vedic chanting. Central to Rāmaswāmī's teachings is in clarifying the breadth of the system of practice he learned from his Acharya, and in highlighting the scholarly brilliance of Śrī Krishnamāchārya who himself was not just a master practitioner of Haṭha Yoga but also an accomplished Sanskrit scholar of high order with several titles of distinction for his immense scholarship. At his core, Śrī Krishnamāchārya was a highly devout Bhakti yogi, coming from an authentic lineage of householder yogis going back to the Sampradāya of Sages Nammalvar and Nathamuni. The practice of Vinyāsa Krama draws from the scriptural authority of the classic texts or Shastras and authentic lineage of practitioners. It is a powerful and meditative breathing practice incorporating long smooth breathing with synchronous slow and graceful movements, logical progression and sequencing, intelligent application of appropriate counter-movements or Pratikriya wherever necessary, importance placed on the practice of the Bandhas (certain muscular engagements and energetic locks) and Mudras (energetic seals), daily practice of a robust Prāṇāyāma or breathing practices, leading to the process of meditation beginning with intense concentration or Dhāranā and on, along with prerequisite social and personal disciplines (Yamaniyama) as outlined in Patañjalayoga. Vinyāsa Krama is a powerful practice system that brings noticeable improvements in strength and flexibility, posture and embodied awareness, in breathing and lung function, in proper functioning of the internal organs, and in cultivating greater clarity of mind. Director of Vinyāsa Krama Yoga Montreal, Mike De Masi, has been learning from Rāmaswāmī sir for the past few years and is dedicated to transmitting these valuable teachings he is learning from his teacher, both in practice and in philosophical inquiry drawing from the Shastras or classic texts he continues to learn from Sir. De Masi comes from an extensive background in practicing Iyengar Yoga from Tim Ruddy, Louie Ettling, Barbara Young, as well as senior teachers Zubin Zarthoshtimanesh and Father Joe Pereira. He also explored Ashtanga Vinyasa from Terri McCollum, Yaelle Wittes, Jamie Lee, and senior teacher Chuck Miller. De Masi was initiated by Anupama Das into Vedic chanting as well as chanting of Yoga Sutras, and has continued under Savithri Ravikrishnan and Eniko Pianovsky as well as Gaby Flemming. Today, along with his on-going studies under his principle teacher Rāmaswāmī sir and mentoring with sir's longtime pupil Sarah Mata Gabor as well as Joshna Ramakrishnan, he also supplements his studies by seeking out opportunities to learn from senior pupils of Śrī TKV Desikachar, such as S Sridharan, Nrithya Jagannathan, V Srinivasan, Dr M Jayaraman, and Dr Latha Satish.

01/28/2026

I was asked to provide some info on the more well-known of the Madras/Chennai cohort of pupils of the professor Śrī T Krishnamacharya's. And of some books they published worthy of seeking out.

So TKV Desikachar published a number of books, but notably there is of course "heart of yoga". Desikachar was born in 1938, though his principle years of study under his father T Krishnamacharya were during the professor's later Madras/Chennai years, post 1950s until the professor's death in 1989. Another notable book though out of print is "religiousness in yoga". Otherwise, do look up the Desikachar translation of Krishnamacharya's Yoga Rahasya that he transmitted. Desikachar of course passed on 2016 at 78.

As for the other longtime pupil mentioned, Srivatsa Ramaswami, he is still alive and actively teaching. I've met him and have had opportunities to learn from him, myself. He is an absolute gem, at 86 born in 1939. He studied under the esteemed professor from 1955 to around 1988, and the content and scope of his studies his similar to his colleague Desikachar, aside from a full scope of the āsana system of similar scope of understanding the various sequences as appear in Iyengar's "light on yoga", he learned the Prāṇāyāma techniques from Krishnamacharya, the Haṭha Mudrā-s that Krishnamacharya deemed as useful, and many years going through in painstaking detail under the professor's tutelage various classic Sanskrit Śāstra-s, from Yogasūtra of Patañjali and accompanying classic commentaries of Vyāsa and Vācaspati Miśra, Sāṁkhya Kārikā of Īśvara Kṛṣṇa with accompanying classic commentaries of Gaudapāda and Vācaspati Miśra, Brahma Sūtra of Bādarāyaṇa, Bhagavad Gītā, various important Upaniṣad-s, to classic Haṭha texts like Yoga Yājñavalkya, Haṭhapradīpikā, Gheraṇda Saṁhitā, among others, as well as the Sanskrit Yoga Rahasya that largely Ramaswami and Mohan refer to as a Krishnamacharya work (though the professor having "received" the text under mysterious circumstances in a trance state while on a religious pilgrimage to Alwarthirunagari temple in south of Tamilnadu, the professor attributes the teachings to a 9th century Vaiṣṇavite saint named Nāthamuni), in addition to years of Vedic chanting studies. The professor T Krishnamacharya was of course a formidable and well respected scholar in his own right, and his longtime pupils had the gift of his remarkable insight as a scholar and as a practitioner coming from a family lineage tradition of scholar-practitioners and having additionally learned under a master Haṭha yogi Ramamohan Brahmachari. The difference between Ramaswami from Desikachar, though they're work doesn't contradict each other, where Desikachar has focused on the therapeutic approaches or Cikitsā Krama and Viniyoga that Krishnamacharya otherwise taught from, Ramaswami sir tends to emphasize trying to elucidate the entire scope of the Vinyāsa Krama system which is a slow moving practice of long breathing that resembles the pace of Taichi and choice long stays in certain āsana-s, etc, so the art of the entire system and the artistic sequences are not lost. Both Ramaswami and Desikachar also teach the Śāstra-s in dedicated programs. Ramaswami sir's appropriately titled book "yoga for the three stages of life" is an excellent book that details his studies under Krishnamacharya, goes through Pātañjalayoga broadly speaking as through the first and second chapters, shows some of the āsana-s and sequences seen in the Vinyāsa Krama system, otherwise contains a nice chapter on Prāṇāyāma and yoga for internal organs, lessons from the Yoga Rahasya on yoga for women and Cikitsā Krama in addition to the lesson of Viniyoga according to a three stages of life model, and concludes with an overview of the 3rd and 4th chapters of Pātañjalayoga. A student of Ramaswami sir's, Pamela Hoxsey, has published a Yogasūtra translation word for word with notes from her one-on-one studies of Yogasūtra under Ramaswami sir. Otherwise, Ramaswami sir has a more complete exposition of the scope of the āsana-s in the Vinyāsa Krama system (similar in scope to "light on yoga") in his book "the complete book of Vinyasa yoga". Recently Ramaswami has just published a wonderful book that is a word for word translation of the Sāṁkhya Kārikā of Īśvara Kṛṣṇa, which provides the rich theoretical framework of which Pātañjalayoga relies upon.

Otherwise, do look up AG Mohan (born in 1945, age 80) and his wife Indra Mohan, who has studied under the professor T Krishnamacharya from 1971 to 1989, and has published a number of excellent books. "Yoga for body, breath, and mind" as an approach to teaching novices elements from Pātañjalayoga along with basic āsana and Prāṇāyāma procedures, "yoga therapy" which gives a detailed look into methodology to consider in the Cikitsā Krama that Krishnamacharya taught, and biography on the life and teachings of Śrī T Krishnamacharya, translations of Haṭha texts in Yoga Yājñavalkya and Haṭhapradīpikā, and recently an excellent book "Krishnamacharya in his own words" which is a collection of notes from Mohan sir's studies under Krishnamacharya on a variety of topics.

The youngest of Krishnamacharya's sons, TK Sribhashyam, born in 1940 and unfortunately died in 2017 at 77, also taught for a long time in Europe and published some books, "emergence of yoga," and coauthored three books with his older sister Alamelu Sheahadri (born in 1933) "Mokṣa Mārga," "Bhakti," "Śaraṇāgati Yoga."

The youngest daughter of T Krishnamacharya's, Srishubha Mohankumar (born 1952), is still alive and teaching.

Virtually all of the teachers and pupils of Krishnamacharya's mentioned above teach a similar long breathing centered practice that moves slowly similar to the pacing one expects from Taichi, but moving through classic Yogāsana-s.

The professor T Krishnamacharya himself (1888-1989) has a number of books that may be of interest to the public. The most well-known is of course Yoga Makaranda from 1934. Otherwise see the note on Yoga Rahasya as Desikachar translated and published. The Yogāsanagalu has not officially been translated and published but there exists a translation that has been circulating in recent years. And the first chapter of Krishnamacharya's Yogavallī has been translated and published by the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram recently. Otherwise, a wonderful document called "the Pūrṇācārya" by Mala Srivatsan contains an extensive question and answer section with the professor Krishnamacharya himself.

01/14/2026

Sometimes there are questions that resurface concerning the long lost Yoga Koruṇṭa and the mythology surrounding it. Some come across criticisms that suggest T Krishnamacharya made it up. But Krishnamacharya must have learned from somebody, and he always stated he learned from a master Haṭha yogi named Ramamohan Brahmachari.

The first question I may ask for those with over-arching curiosity into the story of the Yoga Koruṇṭa is, are you coming from Ashtanga Vinyasa with the belief Yoga Koruṇṭa potentially contains the Ashtanga Vinyasa series'? It should be noted that whenever the Madras/Chennai cohort of Krishnamacharya pupils (Ramaswami, Desikachar, Mohan, etc) speak of Krishnamacharya referencing the unknown and apparently lost Yoga Koruṇṭa, they don't refer it supposedly containing such Ashtanga Vinyasa series' specifically. I recall Ramaswami sir suggesting it was one of the texts that taught long breathing in āsana practice, and Desikachar references it as supposedly teaching therapeutic approach (it should further be noted that Cikitsā Krama as how Desikachar teaches or how Ramaswami or Mohan explain and teach, is not primary series of Ashtanga Vinyasa as P. Jois used to refer as Yoga Cikitsā, but rather a highly individualized approach and often more recuperative in nature with fewer āsana-s and more emphasis on attentive long breathing synchronizing slow and mindful movements with gentle procedures selected specifically addressing the individual's unique case).

So what did the Yoga Koruṇṭa contain? We don't know. A note on the Madras/Chennai cohort of Krishnamacharya pupils, in a bigger way they tend to highlight the importance of another obscure text more so than the long lost Yoga Koruṇṭa, the Yoga Rahasya which Krishnamacharya is said to have received under mysterious circumstances while on pilgrimage and in a deep meditative state to which he attributes to a family ancestor in the 9th century Vaiṣṇavite saint Nāthamuni. Though largely Mohan and Ramaswami refer to Yoga Rahasya as a Krishnamacharya work, though perhaps inspired by his family tradition and certainly coming to him under mysterious circumstances. The Yoga Koruṇṭa only figures more popularly among discussions between Ashtanga Vinyasa practitioners than it does between students in Vinyāsa Krama and Viniyoga lineages where the Yoga Rahasya factors of greater importance.

Have you come across Jason Birch's research into an obscure late medieval Haṭha manual called the Haṭhābhyāsa-Paddhati? What's notable is the author of said manual is noted to be an individual by the name of Kapālakuraṇṭaka. And otherwise, Krishnamacharya himself has apparently referred to Yoga Koruṇṭa occasionally by alternate names like Yoga Kuraṇṭi and Yoga Kuraṇṭam (see also Ramaswami references which follows such alternate spellings), which start to bear closer resemblance in spelling to the name of the author of this Haṭhābhyāsa-Paddhati, Kapālakuraṇṭaka.

While Krishnamacharya doesn't reference Yoga Koruṇṭa in his 1934 Yoga Makaranda, he does reference it (under the name Yoga Kuraṇṭi) in his Yogāsanagalu. However, we can directly see Krishnamacharya reference in his Yoga Makaranda the Śrītattvanidhi for a section on āsana-s that was compiled by the Maharaja of Mysore from 1850s, Krishnaraja Wodeyar III who was great grandfather to Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV who would happen to employ T Krishnamacharya in the 1930s to teach yoga at the Jaganmohan palace. Refer Norman Sjoman's research on the Mysore yoga traditions for a detailing of this impressive āsana section of the Śrītattvanidhi. What Birch's more recent research has revealed is that the older Haṭhābhyāsa-Paddhati of Kapālakuraṇṭaka serves as the principle source for the Yogāsana section of the Śrītattvanidhi. We know the Śrītattvanidhi was in possession of the Mysore royal library, and we also know there is a Mysore manuscript of the Haṭhābhyāsa-Paddhati of Kapālakuraṇṭaka as well (the main manuscript used for Birch's and Kaivalyadhama's research and translations come from another manuscript more readily accessible located in a library in Pune).

So what makes this Haṭhābhyāsa-Paddhati of Kapālakuraṇṭaka interesting? Does it contain Ashtanga Vinyasa series'? It doesn't, but what it does contain is quite remarkable. Firstly, the Haṭhābhyāsa-Paddhati isn't merely showing the āsana-s, but rather covers various elements of Haṭha yoga, starting firstly with the habitation and places of practice for the Yogi, an alternate detailing of various Yama-s and Niyama-s, then is an extensive section covering some 112 impressive Yogāsana-s, followed by a section on Haṭha Kriyā-s, Prāṇāyāma, and the Haṭha Mudrā-s. As for the various āsana-s described, what's impressive is that they appear to be organized in a sort of working sequence and is suggested they be practiced in sequence and not individually, many of them are rather dynamic incorporating various movements and even jumping and other rigorous procedures, they are grouped together in categories of their starting plane of movement whether they be lying in a supine position, lying in a prone position, seated variations, standing variations, even obscure hanging rope variations, and a section cryptically for "piercing Sun and Moon," a couple procedures even seem to have explicit instructions for what to do with the breath in the āsana-s like Kumbhaka or long breathing with sound, etc, there's instances where there is a progression described explicitly followed with what then appears as a counter-pose, and we see many precedents for the kinds of āsana-s we see today. No, we don't see standing "triangles" and "warriors," but we pretty much see much everything else in regard to standing on one leg-variants, squatting movements, supine variants including shoulder-stand and variations, prone variants including various back bending as well as various arm-balancing variations as well as headstand, various seated variations we can recognize today, etc. For as compelling the contents of this Haṭhābhyāsa-Paddhati reveal to be, Birch has speculated the author Kapālakuraṇṭaka may have something to do with the Yoga Kuraṇṭam we otherwise hear about.

So while Krishnamacharya clearly had access to the Śrītattvanidhi and directly references it, it is also likely that he had access to the Mysore manuscript of the Haṭhābhyāsa-Paddhati equally in possession by the royal family in Mysore. I would also like to suggest an alternate theory, as the compiler of the 1850s Śrītattvanidhi in Krishnaraja Wodeyar III (great grandfather to Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV) is evidenced to have had links to T Krishnamacharya's own great grandfather Śrī Śrīnivasa Brahmatantra Svatantra Parakāla Svāmi who was head pontiff at the neighbouring Mysore Parakāla Maṭh (after all, T Krishnamacharya came from a family lineage of respected scholar-practitioners), and T Krishnamacharya is evidenced to have in his possession āsana pictorials that resemble in no small part those that appear in the Śrītattvanidhi and the illustrated Mysore manuscript of the Haṭhābhyāsa-Paddhati of Kapālakuraṇṭaka, suggesting a link there. The story his son Desikachar has otherwise given was these āsana drawings were given to a young T Krishnamacharya by his Himalayan Yogācārya Ramamohan Brahmachari. But otherwise their clear resemblance to the Śrītattvanidhi illustrations might suggest perhaps the copied out drawings might have been passed down T Krishnamacharya's family having received it from his father whom was his first teacher. The link of Krishnamacharya's great grandfather as spiritual advisor to the 1850s Maharaja who would compile the Śrītattvanidhi is a very compelling one to me. Perhaps a young T Krishnamacharya was seeking out a master practicing Haṭha yogi in Ramamohan Brahmachari to help explain how such dynamic procedures described in Kapālakuraṇṭaka are to be done, to get practical guidance into such practices, after he may have received said drawings through his father.

Anyway, hope this provides some thoughts to inquire further.

01/13/2026

Someone commented to the linked post saying the photos show an acrobat and not a yogi, displaying the persons ignorance on who the professor Krishnamacharya was or how he utilized āsana-s as a tool to inspire, as a tool to heal, and as a starting point toward deeper Sādhana.

Śrī Tirumalai Krishnamacharya was a gifted scholar who came from a long line of scholar-practitioners. He graduated his formative studies at the Mysore Parakāla Maṭh with high distinctions, he traveled to Varanasi and neighbouring cities to attain various diplomas, he traveled further to learn from a master practicing Haṭha yogi. Upon his Yogācārya's recommendation, T Krishnamacharya returned to Mysore to start a family and teach yoga to common people.

Krishnamacharya used the mode of āsana demonstrations as a form of Yoga propaganda, his term, in order to inspire his fellow countrymen to take up yoga practice after much shame has spread throughout the Indian sub continent for practicing their indigenous traditions and learning their knowledge systems, because of the pressure from the occupying colonial power that made people to view their traditions as archaic and inferior to western education. He taught athletic āsana-s to youngsters, but didn't exclusively emphasize such āsana-s as for middle aged persons he taught to emphasize few healthful procedures to stimulate the normal functioning of the internal organs through Prāṇāyāma and few Haṭha Mudrā-s. And for the retiree, he encouraged persons to emphasize spiritual pursuit through the Śāstra-s and Dhyāna. He also highlighted the importance of following the necessary prerequisites of Yamaniyama in a broader context of Sādhana, and would often advise people to follow proper diet through Āyurvedic understanding and the importance of adhering to ones daily duties with devotion to the Lord as according to one's family's tradition.

Krishnamacharya would teach his longtime pupils various Śāstra-s along with classical commentaries, after all, Krishnamacharya was a gifted and accomplished scholar of high order and great repute. Krishnamacharya was known to be feared for his immense power in debate and familiarity with the Śāstra-s. And at heart, T Krishnamacharya came from his family tradition that followed Viśiṣtādvaita Vedānta and a staunch person of faith with immense Bhakti toward Lord Viṣṇu. He believed in the sanctity of Veda-s and Vedic ritual, holding such orthodox practices such as Sandhyavandana, that young Indian persons starting from 7 years old learn and practice all through their life, very dearly to his heart.

Don't believe the one dimensional presuppositions of this brilliant Ācārya Śrī T Krishnamacharya being exclusively a "gym teacher". He was a professor of immense knowledge. He didn't only teach āsana-s, and he actually believed in the sanctity of the Veda-s above all and when he could would teach the Śāstra-s and give public discourses on them, and he was a Bhakta at heart who held the Lord dear to his heart.

12/24/2025

This year I had the wonderful holiday gift of meeting up with my dear teacher, Ramaswami Srivatsa to have a nice discussion and to have him sign his recent book publication on the Sanskrit classic text Sāṁkhya Kārikā of Īśvara Kṛṣṇa. Him and his wife were kind enough for their hospitality, and it was refreshing to be in the same room with him again as the last time was in 2019 when I last saw him in-person. A sweet and generous gentleman who is immensely kind and a treasure trove of remarkable knowledge, I thank you thoroughly for your warm welcoming and grace.

I would highly recommend you get his most recent book mentioned, a translation on the classic Sāṁkhya Kārikā of Īśvara Kṛṣṇa with explanatory notes, an important ancient text describing the important theoretical framework that the well-known Yogasūtra of Patañjali of yesteryear relies upon. Ramaswami sir's elucidations on the classic texts or Śāstra-s is second to none, always bringing great thoroughness and clarity as the insights bring practical understanding to the students on the nature of Sādhana. Ramaswami sir had the great privilege of learning over several decades under the great and learned professor Śrī T Krishnamacharya, who himself was an accomplished and well-respected scholar in addition to his often cited mastery as a practitioner.

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