Renowned Indian yoga guru dies

One of the world's most influential and sought-after Indian yoga experts, Krishna Pattabhi Jois, has died at the age of 93 following a brief illness, his institute said. Pattabhi Jois, who is credited with popularising the ancient system of ashtanga yoga, died on Monday at his home in the southern city of Mysore, where his Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute is located.
Born in 1915, he studied under ashtanga pioneer T. Krishnamacharya from the age of 12 and attended the Sanskrit College in Mysore. Pattabhi Jois visited the United States for the first time in 1975 and built up a large following of ashtanga yoga in the west, counting pop star Madonna and actress Gwyneth Paltrow among his tens of thousands of students.
He continued to teach until his death, travelling the world with the simple slogan that "ashtanga yoga is 99 percent practice and one percent theory." Ashtanga yoga is conducted in a series of six poses in a hot environment to increase sweating and improve flexibility.