Indian-origin yoga guru Sharath Jois who taught A-list celebs like Madonna passes away in US

The Ashtanga yoga teacher from India’s Mysuru died during his teaching tour across the US. According to sources at the Sharath Yoga Centre on social media, Jois was expected to return to his native Indian city sometime in December to kickstart a new batch of classes. On the day of his tragic passing, he shared a video of his yoga class on Instagram.

“ASHTANGA YOGA Special Course,” read the caption. He was reportedly teaching at the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia. He was eventually scheduled to come out to San Antonio, Texas, from November 16 to 20. Jois had a bunch of other international workshops lined up in Sydney and Dubai next year.

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His cause of death has yet to be revealed. Sharath Jois is survived by his mother, Saraswathi Jois, father Rangaswamy, wife Shruti Jois, and two children, son Sambhav Jois and daughter Shraddha Jois.

More about the Indian-origin yoga guru Sharath Jois

As one of the most influential yoga gurus in the contemporary world, he learnt art from his grandfather, the late yoga icon K Pattabhi Jois.

While the latter is credited with pushing Ashtanga yoga to mainstream popularity, Sharath is known for memorialising his legacy following his grandfather’s death in 2009. The late yogi also taught A-list celebrities, including Madonna and actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

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The local Indian newspaper Star of Mysore recounted that the yoga breathing technique pioneered by the guru even caught the attention of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In 2017, the ex-presidential candidate highlighted in a CNN interview that the technique known as Alternate Nostril Breathing or Nadi Shodhana Pranayama helped her healthily cope with the stress of losing the 2016 presidential election against Donald Trump.

The yoga fraternity has been mourning Jois’ passing after learning the unfortunate news.

D Shrihari of GSS Yogic Foundation in Mysuru said: “It was very shocking to hear the news of Sharath Jois’ death at a very young age. His grandfather Pattabhi Jois had made yoga world famous and Sharath too followed in his grandfather’s footsteps by taking yoga to great heights. May the God give strength to his family members to bear the loss.”

Shivaprakash Guruji, Working President of the Federation of Yoga and President of Paramahamsa Yoga Mahavidyalaya, Mysuru, expressed his condolences: “Sri Sharath Jois’ untimely death is an irreparable loss to the Yoga community. He had earned a good reputation in the field of yoga as the Mount Meru of Ashtanga Yoga. I pray to God to grant eternal peace to his soul and give strength to his family to bear the grief.”