Celebrity Fitness and Yoga Guru Sharath Jois Dies Suddenly at 53

Yoga guru Sharath Jois, a health and fitness coach to the stars, has tragically died suddenly.

R. Sharath Jois, a fitness educator who had gained a legion of famous clients including Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow, was just 53 when he died.

Jois passed away on Monday in Virginia, The Hindu has reported .

His grandfather K. Pattabhi Jois was known for popularizing Ashtanga yoga.

Jois started helping his grandfather teach it when he was only 19 years old.

He went on to become the director at the Sharath Yoga Center in Mysore, India.

Jois took over in 2007 when his grandfather became too old to run the school.

In recent years, he began teaching his practices to a slew of A-list, including Madonna, Gwyneth, and Sting.

He had embarked on a yoga teaching tour around America in October.

Jois was in Virginia for one of the tour stops when he tragically died.

On the day of his passing, he shared footage from a class he had run at the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia.

He was set to head to San Antonio, Texas, this weekend and had workshops scheduled in Mysuru, Sydney, and Dubai in the upcoming months.

The Yoga instructor spoke about working with A-listers to Times of India back in 2006.

He said at the time, "Whether it's Madonna, Sting, or Gwyneth, once they enrolled in the classes they've been very disciplined.

"In class, they're like any students, minus stardom and celebrity status."

He recalled Paltrow "walking into his class in New York, just to check it out," and instantly "getting hooked."

As for Madonna, Jois said she had been learning Ashtanga yoga for over a decade.

Madonna was in the "advanced series, the toughest of all" at the time of the interview.

"No matter how high we rise in life, it's important to stay grounded and respect your roots," he added.

"Only you can help yourself.

"Yoga does just that, it helps you find peace within. It goes beyond cutting fat."

Ashtanga yoga is one of the most popular forms of yoga.

The practice "centers on a vigorous physical practice that includes a series of poses linked together with breath to form a continuous sequence," per YogaBasics.com .

Jois told LA Yoga that the practice is just as much "spiritual" as it is "physical," and that his classes are dedicated to integrating both.

"In [some forms of] modern yoga, it's mostly acrobatics," he said.

"No one knows where they are inhaling, where they are exhaling, how the posture helps our body and mind.

"They don't know how our breathing helps our body, nervous system, and mind.

"But this is very important.

"Yoga is getting popular all over the world, but there are only few people who have understood yoga well, who have gone to the roots of yoga."

His cause of death has not been revealed and the circumstances surrounding his sudden passing are being withheld from the public.