About Yoga

Swami Sivananda

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A leading figure in Sivananda Yoga, Swami Visnu Devananda was an pioneer of hatha yoga in the West as well as becoming famous as the notorious ‘flying swami’.

Born to a devout, middle class family, he grew up in Kerala , India . His path towards yoga began in the early 1940s began when he came across a pamphlet from legendary Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh (TTC manual p 93).

Reading it, the young man was intrigued. He chose to travel to the Himalayan spiritual centre to see the famous Swami. At this point Sivananda was a well-known figure and - unnerved by the crowds surrounding the great man – when they passed close to one another Visnu Devananda hid behind a pillar. Sivananda seems to have spotted the young man, however: leaving his followers behind he appeared beside him and prostrated himself. It was, Visnu Devananda said later, ‘my first lesson in humility.’

He returned again to the ashram. This time, he stood sceptical as Sivananda conducted a ceremony praising the river Ganges . ‘I was proud of my scientific education,’ he said, ‘and here was this supposedly great man praising a flow of H2O’. Sivananda gave the young man a glance and he looked again at the river. He said later ‘instead of the flow of water I saw a flow of consciousness.’

He was initiated six months later, at around 20 years old. He stayed under Sivananda’s guidance – and it was during this time he developed his practice of at postures, breathing exercises and mental control at one point practicing for 15-16 hours a day, the experience of which led him later to becoming the first Sivananda Professor of yoga. As well as delving deeply into asana, pranayama and meditation he later said this period was when he got the energy to build up collection of Sivananda institutes around the world.

After ten years under his guru, Sivananda said to him ‘go to the West. People are waiting.’ Eager to travel, Visnu Devananda journeyed to the Americas via Asia (on the way picking up a pilot’s licence in return for classes to the Philippine army), arriving in San Francisco in 1957.  Due to visa restrictions he was unable to stay in the US and instead continued to Montreal , Canada , where he would base himself for the rest of his life.

By the early 60s he was teaching regularly and had gathered a following of devotees. With the largesse of one he was able to purchase land in the Val Morin mountains where he soon set up the first Sivananda Ashram outside India . Inspired by a vision of the world burning, the young swami resolved to built as many Ashrams as he could – and to train as many yoga teachers as he could, believing that they were a good chance for the betterment of the world. The Sivananda teacher training course follows from this moment.

More ashrams followed.. Five years later another gift brought the organization land in the Bahamas , flowed by California and Catskills , New York . Subsequent Ashrams and centres developed in India , Austria as well as in many cities around the world.

As well as his work with yoga, Visnu Devananda also became quite a celebrity in his time, know all over the world as the ‘flying swami’. He flew his small plane over trouble spots – including Belfast , Suez and the Berlin Wall (after smuggling his plane into west Berlin in parts) on his ‘missions for peace’. He was arrested and released several times.

Yet his love of flying and driving would ultimately lead to disaster. During his life he had four serious car accidents; the result of which he had a stroke in 1989 and was paralysed. He died in Madras in 1993. His body was returned to the Himalayan Ashram where he’d perfected his hatha yoga – to be immersed in the river he’d seen earlier as a flow of consciousness.