Memphis is Manju
Our Ashtanga Lineage: Manju Jois & Greg Tebb
by Michele Mallory
Michele Mallory & Amy Morse with Manju Jois and Greg Tebb at Chicago Yoga Centre, 2018.
If you practice Ashtanga Vinyasa in Memphis, TN, you’re most likely part of the Manju Jois lineage. Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga first made it to the states in the mid 1970’s through growing yoga communities in California and New York. Here’s how Ashtanga first arrived in Memphis, and what lineage means to us as students and teachers of this transformative practice.
1) From Pattabhi to Manju
Manju Jois learned the practice of Ashtanga Vinyasa as a young boy in Mysore by watching his father, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, founder of the practice, teach students in their home. Manju would watch his father work therapeutically with students who were suffering from ailments like diabetes, high blood pressure or had breathing problems. Manju says “my father only saw sick people” which was his experience in the early days, before the Western invasion of Mysore. While Manju’s father was teaching, his mother Amma prepared and cooked healthy, nourishing foods for the students according to Ayurvedic principles. Being with Manju in person (if there’s a kitchen around!) means being able to participate in this tradition that was handed down to him. If you have the opportunity to be both assisted and fed by Manju, GO. And consider yourself doubly blessed!
2) From Manju to Greg
Our teacher Greg Tebb first studied with K. Pattabhi Jois and has studied under Manju since 2005. Greg’s been teaching for over 30 years, practicing since he was about 16 years old, and often serves as Manju’s assistant at his workshops in the US. Greg has co-authored several books with Manju on the sequences of Ashtanga Vinyasa, along with traditional Vedic chanting and commentary. While the Sharath Rangaswamy (Pattabhi’s grandson and carrier of the Ashtanga torch in Mysore) side of the lineage often gets more press or publicity, there’s a quiet revolution happening on the other side of the lineage, where the series are taught a little differently.
Practicing in the lineage of Manju Jois means that the whole menu of asanas (postures) in Ashtanga Vinyasa is opened up as a continuum where poses are chosen to help the student. Manju insists this is the way it was intended. In other words, there are no “required” poses that the student has to master in one series before being given poses in the next. In Manju’s system, it’s simple. The student is given poses that will help them the most. In our personal practices we’ve been given poses from primary, intermediate and advanced series. We’ve also had poses from all three series taken out of our practices for a time if they’re not serving our best interests. Greg Tebb has a true gift for creating yoga “recipes” for his students that have helped us so much both physically and mentally. If you’ve been a student in our Mysore room, you’ve also received the benefits of this “recipe” system. It’s what we love to do.
3) From Greg to DwiPada Yoga School and Heart-Centered Yoga School
Our goal and desire as teachers of Ashtanga is to be conduits. To pass on this transformative practice in the way it’s been passed to us. So we continue to study and work with our teachers to that end. Since March 2020, we’ve been on Zoom with Greg Tebb six days a week. Having Greg supervise our daily Mysore practices has been a lifeline in a time that otherwise would be very isolating, not to mention how much our practices have really grown under his care and supervision.
Terry Johnson and Manju Jois with students in 2012.
So, if you practice Ashtanga Vinyasa in Memphis, TN, you’re likely part of Manju’s lineage whether you know it or not! Our school, DwiPada Yoga, has been training teachers since 2017. In 2018, eight beautiful Memphis-area yoga teachers completed their Full Primary training directly with Greg Tebb in DwiPada’s 300-hour Advanced YTT. Prior to our school’s existence, Terry Johnson of Heart Centered Yoga - where Amy Morse (and other local teachers) earned her first 200 with Greg Tebb - fell under Manju’s lineage as well. You might recognize a few of these faces from their 2012 YTT200.
4) From DwiPada Yoga and Heart-Centered Yoga to YOU!
We think it’s fitting that yogis in a soul-stew city like Memphis get to experience Ashtanga teaching like this. A little grit, a little grind, and a whole lotta heart and soul. Thank you Manju.
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