In Loving Memory of R. Sharath Jois (Sharathji)

September 29, 1971 - November 11, 2024

Read some of his obituaries in the global media: The NY Times, The Times of India, The Hindu, Yoga Journal, Star of Mysore, The Standard, Le Petit Journal

See more photos and videos of Sharathji!

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I feel very fortunate to have studied Ashtanga Yoga in the Mysore tradition with paramaguru R. Sharath Jois for over 10 years, from his USA tour with his mother Saraswati Jois in the Spring of 2013 to his last USA tour in the Fall of 2024.

Sharathji was a fiercely bright star who deeply impacted and transformed the lives of countless yoga students, across cultures and generations, in his beautiful burning through this lifetime. His whole family has inspired and continue to inspire so many foreigners, myself included, to seek to learn yoga from the source - to come to India - in body, mind, and spirit.

Out of thousands of applicants from around the world, I was among the few hundred accepted to train with Sharathji at the source of the Mysore Ashtanga Yoga tradition at his family’s school in Mysuru, Karnataka in 2016. After this, I was accepted to train with him again in Mysuru the following year. However, due to my elderly dog becoming sick at the time, I cancelled that trip to take care of her. Then it took me 8 years to get back to Mysuru!

All the while, I continued to practice with Sharathji and Saraswatiji on their international tours. I also trained with other senior Mysore Ashtanga Yoga teachers from the USA and Europe. I received teaching certification from Richard Freeman in Boulder, CO, and practiced in Kovalam, Kerala with Lino Miele from Italy. I practiced with Sharathji weekly online throughout the COVID-19 pandemic when he was holding Zoom classes direct from Mysuru. After the pandemic, I finally got to see Sharathji again in person for his Mysore classes in Miami in 2023 and 2024. I was accepted to train at his school in Mysuru for December of 2024 and January of 2025, which I was really looking forward to.

My last words to Sharathji were, “I’ll see you in India!” as I finished my practice with him in Miami. He nodded at me and smiled his electric beyond-worldly smile and then returned to assisting more students in the Mysore room. Just two weeks later, as I was packing my bags for India, I received the shocking text that he had passed away on his next teaching stop in the USA. He was hiking in the mountains of Virginia with students after their class and he had a fatal heart attack. Sharathji loved Nature and he loved his students. He loved his family too. He radiated love. Although it feels like his death has come much too soon and too suddenly for all of us, it was possibly one of the most graceful ways that he could bow out of the physical world at a height of love and happiness.

The testament to the power of the Mysore Ashtanga Yoga practice that Sharathji devoted himself to is not about the quantity of years he lived but the quality of the life he lived in his time - the joy and courage and presence he brought to every student, the vivid and deep heartfelt impressions he made serving countless yoga seekers all over the world. He gifted us an understanding that Ashtanga Yoga is to be practiced with a spirit of devotion and service, simplicity, persistence, surrender, faith, and joy. Through his humility and confidence, his clarity in hands-on adjustments, and his overall humor in teaching, he has encouraged me beyond words to follow the path of yoga into the heart. His inspiration and influence on my yoga journey through this lifetime is filled with sheer radiance.

Thank you Sharathji! I know you're still watching.

Condolences, peace, and courage to all his students, to his family, and to all who hold him in their heart.

Love,

Sandi

December 1st, 2024

Mysuru, South India

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