Norman Sjoman

Norman E. Sjoman (July 6, 1944, Mission, British Columbia – March 20, 2026, Calgary, Alberta) was known as author of the 1996 book The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace, which contains an English translation of the yoga section of Sritattvanidhi, a 19th-century treatise by the Maharaja of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar III (b. 1794 - d. 1868). This book contributes an original view on the history and development of the teaching traditions behind modern asanas. According to Sjoman, a majority of the tradition of teaching yoga as exercise, spread primarily through the teachings of B. K. S. Iyengar and his students, "appears to be distinct from the philosophical or textual tradition [of hatha yoga], and does not appear to have any basis as a [genuine] tradition as there is no textual support for the asanas taught and no lineage of teachers."

Education

Norman Sjoman studied at the University of British Columbia and Stockholm University. He obtained a PhD from the Centre of Advanced Studies in Sanskrit at Pune University, and a pandit degree from the Mysore Maharaja's Mahapathasala. He spent 20 years in India studying in Sanskrit, with several pandits. From part of that time, Sjoman studied yoga under B. K. S. Iyengar. He went on to teach at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Calgary.

The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace

Sjoman discovered the illustrations of yoga asanas, such as Setubandhasana, in the 19th century Sritattvanidhi in the Mysore Palace.

In the mid 1980s, while doing research at the Mysore Palace, Sjoman made copies A South Indian Treatise on the Kamasastra (with Swami Sivapriyananda). Abhinav Publications. New Delhi, India. 2000. . Yoga Touchstone (with H.V. Dattatreya). Black Lotus Books. Calgary, Canada. 2004. Artists in Mysore (under the pseudonym Naramani Somanath). Black Lotus Books. Calgary, Canada. 2006. Dead Birds (with H.V. Dattatreya on accompanying DVD). Black Lotus Books. Calgary, Canada. 2007. Art: The Dark Side. Black Lotus Books. Calgary, Canada. 2010. Yogasutracintamani. Black Lotus Books, Calgary, Canada. 2013.