Joel Kramer came to yoga in a roundabout way. An intellectual
in his 20s, he experienced a rude (but fortuitous) awakening
when he discovered Jnana Yoga. As a result, he began to
look at the human mind in a totally different way than did
his psychology texts. This revised examination eventually
led him to the practice of Hatha Yoga, which he undertook
with his characteristic dedication and focus. He read, collected
information, studied photographs and drawings, asked questions
of friends but only went to one or two formal yoga classes.
From the beginning, Kramer has preferred to practice asanas
alone, making him one of an exceedingly rare breed the self-taught
yogi (an epithet he denies, citing the countless tidbits
he's picked up from fellow students and teachers).
His unique approach to yoga centers around the mutual influence
of body and mind, and he takes exception to more than a
few of the classical teachings. Kramer is interested in
how our mind is affected by and affects our environment
and our experience. He maintains that non-evaluative awareness
of such mental activity is crucial to deep understanding
of the asanas. In the process, he de-emphasizes several
standard forms of meditation and theories of Hatha practice.
No wonder he has raised a few eyebrows (“treaded on
some traditional toes,” as he puts it), but that doesn't
disturb him. Joel is too busy continuing his joyous exploration
into the body-mind interrelationship.
Although Kramer boasts none of the typical achievements
by which yoga teachers and students normally rate their
successes, his credentials are impressive. He served as
yogi-in-residence at Esalen Institute from 1968 to 1970
and still conducts regular workshops there, as well as throughout
the United States and in Europe. In addition to numerous
articles, he has written two books, The Passionate Mind
and The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power with his
partner, Diana Alstad (he also leads weekend seminars on
the yoga of relationships with her). Above all, Kramer is
a quintessentially American yogi. His manner of teaching
is straight forward, relaxed, and California-style friendly.
Although he's obviously steeped in yogic terminology, his
crisp speech contains few Sanskrit words, and he prefers
to refer to the postures by their Western names. Kramer
presents the whole practice of yoga openly and matter-of-factly,
without drama or mysticism, and he is always eager to demonstrate
how it penetrates into the darkest corners of our minds
and the most mundane moments of our lives.
-J. Cameron (Yoga Journal 1986)
“There are many approaches to doing yoga. Teachers
and classes present a variety of useful techniques and processes.
However, the essence of yoga involves getting in touch with
one's own feedback systems, edges, breath, and rhythms,
which can only occur through developing an independent practice.”
“Making progress initially comes quickly and is exciting.
It's common for a beginner to be posture-oriented, using
only the body to achieve postures. I recommend a different
attitude that uses postures as tools to explore and expand
one's limits. Here the process of doing yoga is primary,
while accomplishment is secondary. ”
“Yoga plays between intention, what the mind wants,
and execution, the limits of the body. Utilizing breathing
both to open postures and relax into them is the key that
coordinates mind and body, which generates the unique psychophysical
energy that yoga offers.”
“Yoga involves an interplay between focus and attention.
Focus is the ability to energy into different parts of the
body, while attention is essential to read feedback. The
quality of mind that one brings to yoga is far more important
than what the body can do on any given day.”
- Joel Kramer (Yoga Journal 1995)
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