YogAfrica - April 2016

April 2016 • www.bksiyengar.co.za news magazine of the bks iyengar yoga institute of southern africa

YogAfrica April 2016

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Geeta Iyengar

Contents 4 Editor’s note 5 B.K.S. Iyengar’s ingenious use of props 10 A prop is first and foremost a teacher 12 How to strengthen your shoulders and avoid injury 14 Knee replacements 16 Our new Central Committee 17 Our Assessment Committee 18 The art of letting go 19 Notices & adverts

April 2016 • www.bksiyengar.co.za

Edited by Riva Hirschowitz Compiled by Stratford Canning Design & layout by Lauren Rycroft Our sincere thanks to all who took the time and made the effort to contribute to the contents of this magazine.

Anyone wishing to contribute articles, photos, information or suggestions to YogAfrica may contact the editor on 082 782 8275, riva.hirschowitz@gmail.com.

Editor’s note Dear Members, Having recently attended our National AGM, I am amazed by all the activities happening in the regions including workshops and Teacher training. This shows that we are a vital and dynamic organisation in South Africa. Be sure to read your AGM minutes when they come out within the next couple of weeks to see what is happening throughout the country.

Abhijata Sridhar, Guruji’s granddaughter, recently gave a wonderful presentation on Props at the Yoganushasanam in December 2015. I have included some articles from various teachers on the use of props that I hope you will find them interesting.

Our Institution is busy preparing for Faeq Biria’s Convention in September. There is much to be organised. Should you require more information, please contact Rose on info@bksiyengar.co.za .

I thought that it would be a good idea for our members to be introduced to the incoming Central Committee, so I have included a small bio for each of these wonderful, dedicated individuals. The Central Committee is shared between Western Cape and Gauteng. This year sees the Central Committee moving back to Gauteng after being run very efficiently by Stratford Canning (chairperson), Brigitta Tummon (secretary) and Judy Farah (Treasurer). The new incoming committee will be chaired

by Carla Rech, Rose Sonnenberg as Secretary and Stratford will be staying on as Treasurer. We look forward to a very exciting time under their leadership.

There are also many other wonderful workshops happening around the country, so do have a look at all the adverts at the end of the magazine. Also have a look at the events page on www.bksiyengar.co.za to see what is on in the regions.

Please contact me with comments, articles or adverts that you would like to contribute to the magazine. A big thank you to Stratford Canning and Lauren Rycroft for their help with the magazine.

Wishing you a wonderful, rejuvenating break over this Easter.

In light In joy

Riva Riva.hirschowitz@gmail.com

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Manouso and his family with B.K.S. Iyengar at Disneyland, 1984.

B.K.S. Iyengar’s ingenious use of props An interview with Manouso Manos

by Bee Ottinger 25 October 2014, B.K.S. Iyengar Institute in Los Angeles

Bee: When reading the articles from around the world about Mr. Iyengar after he passed, we were struck by how often the props and the relationship to safety were mentioned. I’d love for you to expound on that.

Manouso: You cannot pretend for a moment that he invented the props. He never even said that he did. But I think he perfected them, or at least took them to the next level. The learning will go on. Starting with the principles that he

gave us, those props can be moved in ways that the next generation can see and then the next generation. But it really came out of him. He was always very clear because people used to call him the ‘prop yogi’. And he would laugh and say, okay, teach a raw beginner how to do full arm balance without a prop, knowing full well that the wall or that even the teacher’s hand is a prop. Whether you took his Guru’s work with the ropes, or dangling like puppets, that yoga kurunta they talked about, then we know that he kept mining and looking and he was remarkably inventive. The original backbender, the dwipada viparita dandasana bench as they call it in Pune, was actually originally a barrel! He told me that he found a barrel and that he used to stretch people over it. The reason why some of us old timers call the blocks bricks … they were bricks! If you go in the old road between Mumbai and Pune, there are brickmakers. So it was not expensive for him to get his hands on bricks and utilize them for the use of yoga. Eventually, they started to bring blocks in and the next thing you know, we have this whole new generation.

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I was always surprised because I was in India almost 40 years in a row. Every time I would go back, there would be a new prop. I’d look around and ask, what is this, what is that, where did that prop come from? The answer is that it came from his own head! He had a furniture builder come in or a good craftsman.

He’d say, ‘build this for me, make it exactly like this’. He knew his own body dimensions, and he knew his own feelings and the way the poses should go and to try to bring that sensation into some other individual. Then he would introduce the props for them. A remarkably creative man. I mean, almost beyond belief.

And to continue with that creativity into later in his life is unheard of. Most people have their burst when they’re really quite young, teens and early twenties. But can you imagine still having that mindfulness and that inventiveness in his 90’s, which is what he was doing right until the end?

Bee: As well as his awareness of our modern life and how that changes the mind and the body.

Manouso: He had no questions about that. He was really quite clear with people that the way to get into the modern life and still tolerate it and get done what you need to do would be through yoga. His book, Light on Life, was written a little differently than all the others, and I’m well aware of that. He tried to talk about the complexities of what it’s like to live in a modern day society, even if it feels like we’re going backwards in modern day society.

What’s it like to make a decision as to whether you’re going to eat a piece of pizza or have ice cream? Can you imagine that there’s a yoga book that talks about that? That’s exactly what that book did. It doesn’t sound like it’s much of a yoga decision, but the fact is that it is. There’s an awareness of life that he was trying to bring forward, trying to allow people to start to see that the answers were in your practices. The answers were actually left over from the old.

You’ve got to start to bring them up to make them make sense in your life. The answer is exactly the opposite. You’ve got these stresses.

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There’s an answer given to you by the ancients.

It’s time for you to look.

Bee: It’s like what Guruji said to his grand­ daughter Abijita during the last week of his life ….

Manouso: “I have shown you all these things.

Now realize them for yourself.” Now it’s time for you. I gave you what there is. Now you have to figure out, make it your wisdom and not my knowledge and allow yourself to find your way into that depth. Those words are for all of us.

He put her through a lot in the last few years.

And he really tried to train her, and he trained her well. But his words, I take to my own heart, all of us should.

Bee: A lot of our readers don’t know a lot about Abijita and we hope in the coming issues to introduce her to them. Those of us who’ve seen her, and talked with her, understand there’s a lovely spirit coming to us.

Manouso: She grew up elbow to elbow with her grandfather. He took a great deal of time, and really tried to train her, educate her into the next generation. Thank goodness that he did.

Bee: What about the concern about people with limitations, whether it’s an injury or age or whatever, and how Mr. Iyengar helped them experience the full benefit of the pose?

Manouso: Well, none of us is confused about the fact that we’re all in a state of decay. We’re aging. The ravages of that age will take their toll on us. You understand that you fight for your own health and that you do not let the injury, or the aggravation, or the accident prevent you from trying to lead the fullest life that you possibly can. We don’t pretend for a moment that we can cure everything. But we do suggest to people that we have tools that might allow them to start to do some of the things that might first seem to be quite limiting. Now that the man has passed, he still stands as a beacon for some of us, as an inspiration for some of

us, to see if we can start to do something with our lives rather than feeling like we are a victim of it. We’re all victimized by society, we’re victimized by our own life, we’re victimized by our genes. But can you do the best you can with what you’ve been given? Can you find your way in this life into some state where you start to feel like you’re not always being oppressed, but in fact, you’re reaching in to try to take charge again of something that most of us don’t think we have any control of at all?

That was one of his messages for decades.

Bee: There is balance in a pose, yet when we have limitations and injuries, it’s hard to achieve balance and it seems like the props help us.

Manouso: Yes, I agree with that. I don’t mean to correct you, but I want you to start to notice: There’s a tendency for people to think that the props only make the pose easier. In fact, many times, the props will drive the pose to the area you are avoiding. To awaken it, to strengthen it, to elasticize it. To find whatever it may be, to allow yourself to pierce inward. And that was his brilliance about the props. From the outside looking in, it makes the pose look easier. If you watch the way he was using some of his own props, you would see that’s exactly what he was doing. He was not allowing himself to take the support of the prop so he didn’t have to work.

He was asking the prop to get him to do more work, or to demand more work out of him. He would do this with many of us when he would set up those props. This is one of the reasons why he had that magic curative property of putting people in poses. He would take the pose until you couldn’t hide from the area where it was needed and awaken that area and drive it toward that state, hopefully a state of freedom, which is what we’re looking for.

Bee: Can you be specific about the uses of some of the props?

Manouso: Something as simple as using the horse, the Pune pony, whatever you may want to call it. That thing works wonders for certain

kinds of back issues, or for people who have lost the ability to stand upright, where they can now use their hands and legs at the same time … to try their way into some of these poses. With a severe neck injury—no one’s confused, when you first get a severe neck injury, you have no business standing on your head. Then, with rope sirsasana, let the weight of my head act like a heavy weight, and allow that to give me some room again, and then maybe I can find my way back to sirsasana.

The use of the chair for sarvangasana: Some ways we use it makes the pose easier. Some ways we use it, that chair actually feels like it demands more out of my neck and shoulders and allows my neck rather than jamming my neck all the time. Setubandha sarvangasana is an unbelievable pose. But how many of us can hold the pose on our arms as he shows in Light on Yoga so that it can: change the hormones in the body; awaken the kidneys and the liver into a state of awareness? Most of us don’t have that kind of strength. If I put myself in setubandha sarvangasana over the brick, or setubandha sarvangasana on the bench … then, all of a sudden, I can tolerate it and really remain there.

I can take it like a full dose of medicine and try to help and bring that awareness to my body.

Bee: Another part of Iyengar yoga is holding poses … and how it works on different levels.

Manouso: Yes, use of the timepiece, correct.

He made mention too, that his timepiece came later. That in fact, in his early days, he wasn’t interested in just for time, he was interested in the poses. This came out because of a history out of a background of demonstrating poses. Believe me, I stared at him doing half hour headstands and was in awe. Knowing that that was the case, he was bringing up the demonstrated art to bring yoga to the populace. He was trying to get the populace interested in a subject that he was convinced and I was convinced, was dying. To bring it into the modern era, in some ways kicking and screaming and changing it to make it available to the common man, in every part of the world, was really his life’s work.

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Bee: And then he takes the subject to China in his 90’s.

Manouso: Yes, in his 90’s. Takes it to a billion people, just as he had taken it to millions before that. He was traveling as a diplomat both from his country and for his subject.

Bee: Mr. Iyengar working as a diplomat for world peace.

Manouso: Because that border between India and China is tense. Both sides admit to that, and are in some ways trying to bring that tension down. But nobody wants to see a one billion army against a one billion army. There’s no one on the face of the earth who wants to see that, right?

Bee: You said that he didn’t hold poses because of his demonstrations, but he also was a young man. Aren’t we lucky that he lived so long to examine each decade?

Manouso: I don’t want to change the subject, but I give such credit to Geeta for tracing having a yoga practice in every stage of a woman’s life, despite her not having been pregnant … but her sensitivity was so great to allow her to follow and teach pregnant women.

And watching him going from a boy to a young man, into a middle aged man, into a householder, into a widower and then having that many years of stretch of understanding of how the human body works. Thank goodness he lived so long. And he was on new ground.

Old yogis were told to stop doing asanas at the age of 60. He said that he tried it and that it almost killed him. Those were his words, not mine. He told me: ‘This is not for me. I reject that. I have to pick my practice up again’. If you look at the photos of him in his 70’s and 80’s, what an inspiration. His backbends, his forward bends, his arm balances even, at those ages, were beyond belief. The comparison I have, and I don’t have a good one, is like walking on ice. If you and I see a lake that is covered over in ice, and then if I walk out on the ice and if you walk behind me, you’re a

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little safer because the ice tolerated me. His body tolerated it and then he could keep moving. When I see that a man of that age could still stand on his head, could still do full arm balance, could still do push up backbends, then I say, ‘You know what, there’s no ill effect for me. I watched the guy, I know he’s alive.

Now I have to proceed with caution, knowing full well that someone has tested that ground’.

Bee: I was privileged to stand next to him during the Light on Life tour as a photo­grapher.

I’d like to bring that awareness of him as a man to the community because it changes things to see him and to realize he did this. Now he’s miles ahead of me, but he’s still a human being.

You know, I could probably do a little more than I think. And for you, being so close with him, it must have been a constant inspiration.

Manouso: You know that he’s my mentor, he’s my teacher, he’s my guru. But we also have to protect, because people who look in from the outside, consider us maybe to be a cult. But the fact is that I do not consider him to be anything except the greatest man I ever met.

And that kind of inspiration, how do I wrap my head around that information? Can I become a better human being because I witnessed a really good human being? Can I look at that man – he comes from a common upbringing.

His brothers and sisters may have been really good people, but they did not have that world shaking thing that went on with him. Can I start to find that in myself, not because I was stuck being born into a family of immigrants or because we didn’t have any money? You dust yourself off and see if you can go further. That inspiration comes directly from him as well.

Bee: People may not know what a true revolutionary he was.

Manouso: He will never be given the credit that he truly deserves for changing the earth. He was the one who again, changed and morphed it enough so that it wasn’t just palatable but exciting for the 20th and 21st century…to have somebody doing that.

I never heard this story until after he had passed: Someone told me that they had asked him what would happen to yoga after he was gone and he said it would go on. Then they asked, well, what happens after it falls? He said, then someone will be born, and they will revolutionize it. He had no question about who he was. Whether you believe in reincarnation is inconsequential. His birth in particular changed a subject and brought it into the modern era. There might be another person in 100 or 200 years, when it’s necessary to dust it off, change it back, or change it forward, and to help people for the next couple of generations after that.

Bee: The changes he made, were the things that allowed the purity of it continue.

Manouso: I consider him to be a 500 year yogi.

In other words, you get one of those people who’s such a whirlwind that they take the subject and bring it back to reality again. 

Manouso Manos is one of the most capable and experienced of the Senior Iyengar Yoga Teachers. He holds one of only two Advanced Senior certificates granted worldwide by B.K.S. Iyengar. He began his studies with Sri B.K.S. Iyengar in 1976, and served as chairperson for the First International Iyengar Yoga Convention in 1984. After numerous trips to Pune, India and nearly four decades of personal practice, his understanding and insights into Iyengar Yoga are conveyed with authenticity and precision.

“Yoga allows you to find an inner peace that is not ruffled and riled by the endless stresses and struggles of life.”

– B.K.S. Iyengar, light on life

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A prop is first and foremost a teacher Posted by lisa walford 12 December 2015

This was the first afternoon presentation of the conference. Abhijata introduced the session with images of the many ways that we support and participate with one another. We seek support to grow, for guidance (a child and teacher), for emotional support (hands of an older couple clasped together) and physical support (a blind person being led and rock climbers wall hooks). Life is ripe with ways that we give support and are supported. Abhijata is an excellent orator, and I was able to type quickly. This post covers just a small portion of her presentation, but I am able to give you her words.

“The story of props is one of evolution; that started in 1924 and continues now.” From the time when Guruji first arrived in Pune he sought ways to help his students. She recounted how one day Guruji was strolling down a road and saw a roller bin that smooths the roads.

He lay down over the roller and thought that it might be helpful. When he returned home he found a water drum (at that time there was no running water, she added). He then called a wood worker to fashion what we now call the Viparita Dandasana bench.

“One day a VIP, the principal of Fergusson College came and asked Sundaraj (Iyengar’s first name) for help. It was 1937, this man was 85 and could barely walk. Now, most people might suggest that this man go and do something else, not yoga!” Abhijata is a charismatic speaker, and we were all enthralled.

“So, Sundararaj thought that he would make this old man do standing poses lying down.”

Abhijata explained; “He tried to get him down on the floor. Once the principle was prone, he tried to spread his legs apart. But the man’s legs

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“We say that yoga is union, but before union we must first connect, and then communicate, then integrate, and then there can then be union.” – Abhijata kept coming back together. So he put a rod between the legs. Now, this is a big shift, to take the standing poses lying down. Some might say that this was an aberration, but Sundaraj wanted to help the school principal. This was the beginning of the use of props. With this story, Sundaraj put an end to the idea that yoga could not be done by older people.”

Abhijata then discussed our notion of giving help, how do we really support one another. “In general, when we see someone who is having problems, we feel sympathy, and we want to help. However, props have not come about

because of sympathy; they have come about through empathy. You have to put yourself into their shoes and see what they are going through.

Patanjali makes no mention of sympathy, what he refers to is 1.33: Maitri (friendliness), and Karuna (compassion towards anyone who is in ‘dukha’), this is empathy.”

“A prop is an upholder, a support. In India, the sage would have a vision of a mantra, and they would then take Darshana (deep contemplation) and come to understand the meaning. For us, Guruji has given us the props to take Darshana on the poses.”

Abhijata next demonstrated several ways that she practices Ardha Chandrasana. Using a trestle (also known as a horse), she placed her lifted leg over the top rung of the trestle and braced her standing leg against its end. The touch of the trestle on her lifted leg guided her as to where she was not extending. She next took Ardha Chandrasana at a right angle to the trestle and placed her lifted leg knee on the top rung. A weight was placed on her foot. This drew the inner knee in line with the rest of her leg. Otherwise her knock knee projected out.

She showed several other ways that most of you readers probably are more familiar with, facing

away from the trestle with a stool support for the leg and then facing the trestle. The touch of the trestle guided the alignment of the legs, back, and knees.

“So the prop is not there to help you, it is not there to support you; it is there to inform you, like a good teacher. The prop gives you courage, it gives you confidence. Guruji always said that you must first instil in your students courage and confidence, for the students will then take up the path of yoga.”

“Guruji made the prop lively, it is not an external thing to use as support, it was to be an extension of you. People may say that we can become dependent on the props. If you are caught up in the physical framework, then yes, you might. But if you use the prop to inform your practice, then it becomes a teacher. “ In closing, Abhijata framed the use of props in the bigger context of Yoga Sadhana.

If props can inform and guide us to connect and feel what is really happening, we can then communicate within the body to adjust and improve our pose. This process is how we continue to refine, integrate and deepen our perception in the poses and in life in general. 

“Action is movement with intelligence. The world is filled with movement. What the world needs is more conscious movement, more action.”

– B.K.S. Iyengar, light on life

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How to strengthen your shoulders and avoid injury

By JULIE GUDMESTAD You’ve probably heard a million times that you should externally rotate your shoulders in Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose). If you thought that was just your yoga teacher nitpicking, it’s time to reconsider.

Learn­ing to engage and strengthen the rotator cuff muscles is crucial to preventing common shoulder injuries that plague yogis and non-yogis alike. If you know how to use these muscles the right way, your Down Dogs can help keep your shoulders strong and healthy for a lifetime.

What is the rotator cuff?

The rotator cuff is one of the most important but widely misunderstood structures in the body. It gets damaged often enough that its name has become synonymous with injury. It’s a group of four shoulder muscles that surround each shoulder—like a cuff. Boiled down to the essentials, its job is to support and position the ball that forms the head of the upper arm bone and fits in the socket of the shoulder joint. The shoulder is inherently an unstable joint, so building the strength of these supporting muscles is crucial. If they’re weak or deconditioned, as is often the case, the shoulder is vulnerable to injury and pain, and the rotator cuff itself may tear.

You can remember the four rotator cuff muscles by the acronym SITS, for subscapula­ ris, infraspinatus, teres minor, and supraspinatus.

They all originate on the scapula (shoulder blade) and insert on the humerus (upper arm bone), near the humeral head (the ball that fits in the shoulder joint). The names of three of the muscles give you a clue to their location: subscapularis sits under the scapula, between the ribs and the front surface of the scapula. Supraspinatus sits

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above and infraspinatus sits below the spine of the scapula. You can feel them with your fingers: Touch one of your collarbones with the fingers of the opposite hand and slide the fingers straight up over the top of the shoulder. Then reaches down the back about an inch or two; you’ll find a ridge of bone that’s more or less parallel to the ground. That is the spine of the scapula, which separates the supraspinatus and infraspinatus on the back surface of the scapula. The teres minor gives you no clues about its name; it just sits on the outer edge of the scapula, near the posterior fold of the armpit.

Shoulder anatomy 101 While all four muscles work in concert to stabi­ lize the shoulder, each muscle also helps support the shoulder individually. The subscapularis is a powerful internal rotator. Supraspinatus helps hold the ball up in its socket against the down­ward pull of gravity on the arm, and it initiates abduction, or lifting the arm up from your side, as in Virabhadrasana II (Warrior Pose II).

Teres minor and infraspinatus are the primary muscles that control the external rotation of the shoulder. When they’re strong and healthy, they help to protect the shoulder joint by positioning the ball in the socket while you raise your arm overhead. Conversely, their weakness can contribute to common shoulder problems such as shoulder impingement, tendinitis and bursitis.

These important external rotators, infra­ spinatus and T. minor, are the part of the rotator cuff that is strengthened in Downward Dog. It’s a good thing too, because these days the laborsaving products and devices we use make our arms and shoulders progressively weaker as the decades slip by. A weakened rotator cuff might lead to abnormal shoulder-movement patterns, which can contribute to inflammation and pain. Not only that, but weak muscles are likely to tear when you put a load on them that they aren’t strong enough to handle.

Sometimes the tears are microscopic and will heal on their own. But if the tears are bigger, a surgeon may have to sew the separated ends of the torn tissues together. Repairing a torn rotator cuff surgically, though, isn’t a given: One doctor described the repair process as being

like trying to sew up a run in a nylon stocking.

The tissues of the atrophied muscles and their weakened tendons are just plain flimsy—liable to tear and difficult to repair.

So, a word to the wise: It’s much easier to work your rotator cuff muscles, make them strong, and keep the tissues healthy than to have to see a physical therapist like me for shoulder treatment and rehabilitation or, worse still, to have to visit a surgeon. And it’s in this way that your daily Downward Dog practice will really pay off—if, that is, you know how to engage infraspinatus and teres minor.

How to externally rotate your shoulders Properly engaging the external rotators takes some training. In fact, many students unknowingly let their shoulders slip into internal rotation in Downward Dog, leaving the external rotators lazy and inactive.

To get a feel for engaging the shoulder external rotators, stand facing a dining table or desk. Lean forward and place your hands on it, palms down and bearing a little weight. Now look at your elbows, noticing the crease on the inner sides and the point of the elbows on the outer sides. When you rotate your arms so that the elbow creases point forward, you will be externally rotating your shoulders. When you rotate in the opposite direction and the points of the elbows poke out to the sides, you will be internally rotating your shoulders. Play with this a bit by rotating in and out with this light amount of weight bearing, and you may even be able to feel the teres minor and infraspinatus contracting across the back of the shoulders as you turn the elbow creases forward.

Now go to your mat and do Down Dog. If you’re a newer student or have tight shoulders, you may notice that they tend toward internal rotation, with the elbows sticking out to the sides and maybe even bent. Still in Dog, come forward a few inches toward Plank Pose and actively rotate the elbow creases relatively forward, so that they point toward your thumbs.

Move back into Dog and try to keep some of this external rotation, though you’ll have to give some of it up to fully open the shoulders.

Maintaining some external rotation will keep

the teres minor and infraspinatus contracting, and you’ll probably notice more space opening up between your shoulder blades.

Once you’ve mastered keeping the external rotators engaged in Downward Dog, you can apply the action to more challenging poses such as Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward-Facing Dog Pose) and Chaturanga Dandasana (FourLimbed Staff Pose). From Downward Dog, come forward into Plank Pose. Rotate the creases of your elbows forward and hold your elbows against your sides as you let down to Chaturanga, then glide forward into Upward-Facing Dog. As you actively turn your elbow creases forward in this pose, the external rotators will be contracting strongly, and you should notice that this action broadens and lifts your chest.

Now notice how this shoulder rotation affects the weight placement in your hands. If the shoulders internally rotate, more weight tends to fall onto the inner side of the hand— that is, the thumb and index finger; in external rotation, the weight falls more onto the little-finger side. Ideally, your weight should be evenly balanced between your inner and outer hand, so that as you externally rotate at the shoulder, you’ll need to focus on actively pressing down on the base of the index finger and thumb. This action of the forearm and hand is called pronation.

Typically, pronation of the forearm and hand occurs when the arms are internally rotated.

For example, as I sit at my keyboard right now, palms down, my elbow points are sticking out to the side, which shows how pronation is linked with internal rotation. But Downward and Upward Dog require us to break our usual patterns by linking active shoulder external rotation with pronation of the hand. As you practice connecting these opposites, perhaps you’ll appreciate anew how yoga helps you to break your old, unconscious habits in every aspect of life—and replace them with healthy, conscious, and considered ways of living.  Julie Gudmestad is a physical therapist and Iyengar Yoga teacher in Portland, Oregon.

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Knee replacements By jENNY GEDDES As you may know I had a Bi-lateral Knee replace­ment almost two years ago (at the age of 72). Having both knees done at the same time was a challenge – as you literally do not have a leg to stand on and have to rely on your upper body strength to sit down in a chair and to get up from a chair.

I resumed my classes after two months, but was on crutches for three months. Initially there was very little that I could do. The greatest challenge for someone with knee replacements is to get up from the floor: once on the floor it is tricky to get up as you cannot kneel. The first time I tried to get up, I had to shout for my husband who got me up onto my feet.

The solution is to sit up with ones legs out in front, take your hands to the outside of either right or left leg, use your upper body strength to get yourself up into Adho Mukha Svanana and then walk up to Uttanasana and then come up. Of course if the arms are very weak it is much harder, and they would need help, perhaps hands on a bench.

The secret of the recovery of knee replacements is to build up the strength in the quads – can send you exercises that were given to me by the physio in Johannesburg, and then once you get down onto the floor on your back is to do LEG STRETCHES. Lots and lots of them. Supta Padangusthasana done with one leg, then the other, both legs, taking legs out to the side. Repeating all the exercises with a long strap around the back (at bra strap area) and around one leg and then both. Just keep on stretching those legs. If the swelling at the back of the legs is reduced the knee will bend.

All of this does not happen at once it will take many months. I had the additional problem of having one of my legs from the hip, knee and ankle badly damaged in a car accident, thus the ligaments of this leg are so

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much weaker than the other. Also the ‘good’ leg was curving out badly. Now both legs are perfectly straight.

The knees will bend, but go slowly. Use support in standing poses. One can achieve good poses with the use of the chair, especially in Vir I, II, and III, to take the weight off the knee. One can get back to Sirsasana, Sarvangasana, Full Arm, and Elbow, but remember that all these poses requiring kneeling at some stage, one has to kneel on a bolster, which makes all the poses so much harder – I am down to a blanket. It is extremely sore to kneel on the replacements, but it does get easier.

Forward bends are good, especially if one sits on either blocks or foams and again stretches the backs of the legs – placing the heels on blocks in doing these poses, stretches the legs more intensely. Backbends – preferably on a chair – the quads have to strengthen, remember they have been cut through. Any backbend – Ustrasana, Salabasana, Dhanurasana – any pose where kneeling or pressure on the knees is required is difficult, but once the student can kneel, and there is less pain these can be achieved, although I have not achieved Dhanurasana yet, as too much strain on my knees.

Twists are also best done using a chair in various ways, you are still getting the benefit without placing additional pressure on the knees. Be very careful in the alignment of the knees when you start to go into poses on the floor, and be very careful to bring the leg back carefully as you straighten the leg. Always sit on height and always support that bent knee, gradually reducing the height of the support as the knee improves. In Janu Sirsasana, I found it easier to use a chair to stretch onto and to take the straight leg slightly out to the side, makes such a difference and one could do the pose – knee supported, straight leg slightly out to the side, and the use of a chair, chin then forehead on the seat and finally push the chair away.

Then progress to strap around the foot of the straight leg.

When bending the leg backwards, which again takes time, one must use height,

sometimes up to three or four blocks or foams in order to do this pose.

It is now almost two years since my operation and feel very proud of my achievements, although none of these would have been possible but for a brilliant surgeon and Iyengar Yoga. I have a new lease on life after so many years of terrible pain after our accident in 2001. It has required great determination and a will to succeed, but all the time our wonderful Guruji was with me and how he would have pushed me to achieve more than was possible. I am truly grateful for these past two years of achievement and a desire to pass this knowledge on to as many people as is possible.

It has been a long, hard road and some­times I felt as though no progress was being made.

But now I walk with no pain, I am upright, my leg is not curving out to the side and I am still able to do my beloved Yoga TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY.

All this is possible, but not immediately, it will take at least two years and much more. And remember that one has a prosthesis which will never be your own knee, but do to the best of your ability and you will be amazed at what can be achieved. 

“Yoga allows you to rediscover a sense of wholeness in your life, where you do not feel like you are constantly trying to fit broken pieces together.”

– B.K.S. Iyengar, light on life

Points to remember • Build up the strength in the quads – most important.

• Stretch the backs of the legs behind the knees – if there is swelling behind the knee it will not bend.

• Take the strain off that bent knee as much as possible in the beginning by using a chair.

• When bending knees in different directions, be very careful to bring the knee carefully back into alignment.

• Support the knee, especially in Janu Sirsasana.

• Initially many of the poses that require kneeling are impossible because of the pain and pressure on the prosthesis, but gradually as this improves, one can go from kneeling on a bolster, to a blanket. I doubt whether it would be possible to ever kneel on the floor again.

• Do not be afraid to use those knees. Stand tall, bend them slowly, but make them work.

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Our new Central Committee Carla Rech – Chairperson What to say? I find myself in the unlikely position of introducing myself as your new chairperson.

It is with some trepidation and a small flutter of excitement that I face this task ahead. Fortunately Rose Sonnenburg, our new secretary, and I can still rely on the well seasoned expertise of our very dear colleague, Stratford Canning, as well as the advice of all the people who have dedicated so many years to taking our Institute to this point.

With this impressive lineage behind us, I hope we can look forward to a productive, fruitful time ahead.

I came to yoga as a tired mother of three small boys, rushing, running and in need of some repair. On my 39th birthday, my friends invited me to do some yoga up the road. It was an Iyengar class, and within a week I knew that I had found something much deeper and more important than just a way of becoming stronger and more supple. My teacher went abroad soon after and I was left to my own devices for a while, but those glimpsed promises guaranteed that I would find a teacher to help me really get started on my yoga journey. That is how I came to Jenny Morris, who has been my beloved teacher ever since. Through her, I was able to attend Geetaji’s first workshop in Gauteng where I met so many other teachers and students from around the country. Through her, I became a student and a teacher, and I continue to be both.

As I started out, I couldn’t have imagined the rich and rewarding experiences that waited for me. I found myself visiting Pune with Jenny and Gudrun von Wimmersperg in 2008.

That was such an amazing experience for me that I have been back twice and can’t wait to go again. I wasn’t lucky enough to experience Guruji at the height of his formidable powers, but all my teachers have been so inspiring that his light has shone on me through them. I must add how lucky I am to have a husband who loves yoga and whole heartedly supports me in all my endeavors. My studio has seen so many

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yoga workshops and gatherings, that I feel we have become a real community. Through Yoga, I have been challenged, stretched, sustained and have found special relationships … all of this to say that I am willing to do my best to be of service in return as our Institute celebrates it’s 40th Anniversary.

Rose Sonnenberg – Secretary My passion is yoga. My profession is design and architecture, so of course, I have no direct experience for this role as secretary. This does scare me! At the same time I am going to trust my enthusiasm for our Iyengar community and for the subject of yoga, to guide me along this journey. I am excited to work with Carla, Stratford and all the regions, to continue the dedicated work of our predecessors. I live quite an ordinary life with my husband and daughter.

Cooking, gardening and dark chocolate are a close second to yoga. It is through yoga that I appreciate the infinite beauty of all aspects of life.

It is an honour to be part of the team. Thank you.

Stratford Canning – Treasurer Stratford, a retired banker, is our Treasurer for the next three years. He started practicing yoga with Brigitta Tummon in 2002, the year that he retired at age 56. He joined the Institute later in that year and became involved in the publishing of YogAfrica assisting the then editor, Gillian Bacon. Since then he has held office as Secretary of Western Cape Region and then as Treasurer from 2012, a position he still holds. In 2012 he was elected as Chairperson of Central Committee, a position he held until this year. He has the distinction of being the first male and only non-teacher to have held this position in the forty years the Institute has been in existence. In addition to his duties as Treasurer he looks after membership at Central level as well maintaining our website www.bksiyengar.co.za. 

Our Assessment Committee

The Assessment Committee at the 2015 AGM. We thank all the committee members for their dedicated work to ensuring the high level of Iyengar Teachers in South Africa.

Back row: Pat Deacon, Martin Maree, Dee Howard, Gillian Bacon, Yvonne De Bruin 3rd row: Jürgen meusel, Mabel Higginson, David Jacobs 2nd row: Jenny Geddes, Carol Frances, Gudrun von Wimmersperg, Jenny Morris Front row: Carla Rech, Brigitta Tummon, June Cooper

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The art of letting go

By Pravina Ranchod A very warm welcome to All and welcome to the first quarter of 2016 – Sweet 16, that has brought the New and the Now with it.

The art of letting go Does it stir something deep within when you hear “Let Go”. Some of us step back with hands up and say “NO WAY, what will happen if I let go? How will I manage?

I have to have control or else I lose it”. It is the most challenging attachment we have.

Whether you are a parent or an executive of a company or any of the many other roles in life, we ALL go through attachment. Have you experienced that?

NEW for me means to evolve, to move forward.

NOW means to let go and focus on what is in front of me in the present moment.

Having practiced all the aspects of yoga for over 30 years, one of my resolutions, arising from a deepening understanding and awareness, is to let go of the past impressions, gradually, one step at a time, as they come up, to be receptive and to focus on the Now. 2016 being the sweet 16, brought new understanding with it.

This year I was asked to take up the duties of chairlady for the Gauteng region. At first fear gripped me and the answer was “No”. I made all kinds of excuses not to take up the position.

Then something in me screamed “move forward” so I took up the position. Yes, it has brought many responsibilities and challenges with it, but it also gives me the opportunity to learn how to let go.

A recent example of confronting my fear of letting go is: I asked a member if she would be willing to do a task at hand. She was delighted

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and even took a step further by offering to take full responsibility for that area. At first, I was not willing to let that go of the responsibility.

I contemplated and reviewed what had just taken place and realised what I had done... it was... “I want control”. Immediately after this insightful awareness, I took up her offer with full faith and trust. I let go happily.

This is the fruit of my having practiced yoga in its entirety, with full focus and enthusiasm: being receptive to my inner voice.

Patanjali’s yoga sutra 1.14 says: sa tu dīrghakāla nairantarya satkāra āsevitah drdhabhūmih Long, uninterrupted, alert practice is the firm foundation for restraining the fluctuations.

I share this with you because, from experience, I have realised that having knowledge without putting it into practice is futile/ dead knowledge. Sharing openly often taps into a deep part of an individual, who will say “aaah – is that what it means to let go?”.

A sense of wonder and awareness strikes. So please, I encourage each one of you to share your awareness and experience with the people around you, so that we can all learn from it.

The first step is the hardest but perseverance is the key.

I wish you all an amazing year filled with wonder and self practice 20 sweet 16.

Please go to our website and click on Events for more information on the happenings scheduled for this year on our website www.bksiyengar.co.za. Namaste. 

Notices & Adverts

Iyengar Yoga Retreat at De Hoop Nature Reserve with Marianne Wiid 6 – 9 May 2016

This is the second Yoga Retreat in the naturally beautiful De Hoop Nature Reserve with Iyengar yoga teacher Marianne Wiid!

The weekend will be a combination of fresh air, yoga practice and nature walks in a tranquil setting that will aid to unify your body, mind and spirit, and recharge your energy. The Retreat will offer a meditative space for asana practice, pranayama and restorative yoga sessions.

The Retreat will run from Friday afternoon 6 May until after breakfast on Monday morning, 9 May. All meals will be vegetarian, creatively prepared by the vegetarian chef. A picnic outing and marine walk at low tide to Koppie Alleen is included.

Price: R3 640 (per person sharing) including your yoga, accommodation all meals, stargazing and Marine experience.

Optional Spa treatments in the new Spa @ De Hoop can be booked and paid for separately.

YogaPoise Retreats 2016

4-Day retreats held over long weekends in the beautiful setting of Bodhi Khaya in Stanford, Western Cape.

This time of intense practice will be led by Brigitta Tummon.

16 – 19 June 2016 5 – 9 August 2016 For more info please contact brigitta.tummon@gmail.com

Ina Gerber Yoga Studio

Monthly Pranayama classes in Somerset West Saturdays from 9:30 –11:30 Dates to be confirmed one month in advance.

For further information contact Ina: 083 3035477 http://yogastudio.co.za ina@yogastudio.co.za

Marianne is a qualified Iyengar yoga teacher who has her studio, “My Yoga Space” in Hermanus. She teaches regular yoga classes in Hermanus and Stanford. She approaches life wholistically combining her passion for Yoga and bringing joy to others in all aspect of her life.

Marianne recognises Yoga as a continuous journey, which never ends. This allows her to guide her students with compassion towards a fulfilled vision of a joyous and peaceful life.

“Your body exists in the past and your mind exists in the future. In yoga, they come together in the present.” – B.K.S Iyengar “Yoga is the golden key which unlocks the door to peace, tranquillity, and joy.” – B.K.S Iyengar For bookings contact: res@dehoopcollection.co.za, 021 422 4522

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years of iyengar yoga southern africa 2016

40th anniversary celebration with Faeq biria

23 – 28 sep 2016 Goudini spa western cape

Sricharan Faeq Biria will represent the Iyengar family as we celebrate our 40th anniversary. We are honoured that he will be with us at the celebration.

The first three days will be for all yoga students, while the following two days will be for more seasoned practitioners.

Faeq is the director of the Iyengar Yoga Centre of Paris, and Chair of the Technical Committee of the Iyengar Association of France. For almost 30 years, he has studied directly with B.K.S. Iyengar. He teaches regularly all over Europe, Israel, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Southern and Northern Africa, Russia, and South and North America.

Faeq’s integrity and devotion to B.K.S. Iyengar’s philosophy are manifest in his teaching.

His courses are a source of dynamism and inspiration for all yoga practitioners.

AccommodAtion RondAvels

24 units each sleeping 3 • bedroom with double bed • two single beds in living area • open-plan kitchen • bathroom with shower, toilet and basin

bAdsbeRg duplexes

20 units each sleeping 3 • upstairs: bedroom with double bed, separate toilet and basin • two single beds in the living area • open-plan kitchen • bathroom with bath, hand shower, toilet and basin

slAnghoek villAs

30 luxury units each sleeping 5 • one bedroom with double bed • two bedrooms with two single beds in each • bathroom with a bath, toilet and basin • second bathroom with a shower, toilet and basin • open-plan kitchen, living area with air-conditioning 20 of these units have additional: • air-conditioning in main bedroom • fireplace in lounge • bedrooms with own private verandah

RAtes

Rates are fully inclusive of tuition, accommodation and two meals a day: consisting of lunches, light supper and a celebratory dinner on Sunday evening. keY: W/e – Weekend Workshop (Fri 23 – Mon 26 September: arrive Fri 23rd plus three days of yoga) Entire – Full Workshop (Fri 23 – Wed 28 September: arrive Fri 23rd plus five days of yoga) Early Bird – Rates if booked before 30 June 2016 Rates peR peRson (quoted in ZaR) Accommodation Options

membeR W/e

Entire

non-membeR W/e

Entire

membeR eARlY biRd W/e

Entire

non-membeR eARlY biRd W/e

Entire

Rondavels Single Rate (solo)

7 200 10 000

7 700 10 500

6 550

9 100

7 050

9 600

Two Sharing

5 100

7 000

5 600

7 500

4 650

6 400

5 150

6 900

Three Sharing

4 400

6 000

4 900

6 500

4 000

5 500

4 500

6 000

Single Rate (solo)

7 000

9 700

7 500 10 200

6 350

8 800

6 850

9 300

Two Sharing

5 000

6 900

5 500

7 400

4 550

6 250

5 050

6 750

Three Sharing

4 350

5 900

4 850

6 400

3 950

5 400

4 450

5 900

Single (3 rooms)

5 600

7 800

6 100

8 300

5 100

7 100

5 600

7 600

Two Sharing (2 rooms)

4 400

6 000

4 900

6 500

4 000

5 500

4 500

6 000

Badsberg Flats

Slanghoek Villas

To book, email us on info@bksiyengar.co.za.

The BKS Iyengar Yoga Centre, Schoemanshoek, Oudtshoorn, Klein Karoo, South Africa

Iyengar Yoga with Judy Farah at Buddist Retreat Centre, Ixopo 24 – 30 June 2016

This magnificent Retreat Centre in KwaZulu-Natal offers a peaceful space for the heart and soul to open up to some quiet and focused Yoga Sadhana.

This Centre is dedicated to the teachings of Sri B.K.S. Iyengar Welcome to the BKS Iyengar Yoga Centre, nestled in the beautiful and tranquil Schoemanshoek valley on the way to the famous Cango caves. Surrounded only by nature and the majestic Swartberg Mountains, the Centre offers the complete yoga experience. Our fully equipped Centre is designed to give the Iyengar yoga practitioner the opportunity to experience high-quality yoga tuition in a peaceful and pristine setting.

David and I are actively involved in the teacher’s training program for both Introductory and Junior Intermediate levels. Training is done as a semester-style program.

The Schoemanshoek valley offers a variety of suitable accommodation to complete the experience. If you need assistance or recommendations, write to us for more information. The town of Oudtshoorn compliments this quiet, rural environment and George airport is a mere 65kms away. Instead of travelling to far away destinations, choose South Africa for your next yoga retreat

It can be done in two sections: 1. Beginning Friday evening 19h00, 24 June to Sunday lunch 26 June.

2. Beginning Friday evening 19h00, 24 June to Thursday lunch 30 June.

(Friday dinner is served at the BRC at 17h30.)

The retreat will consist of Asana (postures) and Pranayama (breathing), which will build up over the course of the 7 days. All levels of practitioner are most welcome.

For further detail and bookings please contact the BRC on 039 8341863 or e mail brcixopo@futurenet.co.za.

Check the website: www.brcixopo.co.za

For information about our offerings go to: www.iyengaryogawithdavid.com Upcoming retreats: Winter: Sat 18 – Wed 22 June 2016 Winter: Fri 15 – Sun 17 July 2016

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Yoga e-books by David Jacobs

Yoga Retreat King’s Lodge, Hogsback 7 – 9 October 2016

(Fri 7pm – Sun 2pm) Calm your mind, free your body and nourish your soul R1930 per person sharing (twin or double) R2230 per person single The price includes 2 night’s accommodation, 3 meals per day, yoga tuition and a guided hike in the forest.

Early bird registration: R300 discount (before 1st September 2016).

This weekend of yoga is suitable for students at all levels, including those new to yoga.

Kings Lodge (where the Retreat is held) is a Sanctuary nestled in a beautiful park-like garden in the Hogsback Mountain Village. Hogsback is famous for its forests, waterfalls, clear mountain streams, gentle forest walks and mists.

Monique Weschta was born in the Netherlands and moved to South Africa at the age of 22.

She has practiced Iyengar Yoga for 18 years and became a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher in 2009. In 2010 she practiced at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in Pune, India for a month.

For more information contact : Monique Weschta 083-330 6948 monique@shaktishantiyogawear.com https://www.facebook.com/ backtowellnessIyengaryoga www.backtowellness.co.za

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Relaxed Body – Relaxed Mind A guide to Iyengar Yoga restorative practice.

For more information click here.

Blocks for a Yoga Practice A guide to Iyengar Yoga practice with blocks. For more information click here.

Yoga Kurunta A guide to Iyengar Yoga practice with wall ropes. For more information click here.

Available soon.

Yogamala A visual guide to Iyengar Yoga sequences.

Compiled by David Jacobs and Jürgen Meusel.

Props For Sale Standard Yoga Bench R325

Viparita Karani Bench with slats R320

Baby Whale with slats R320

All yoga props sealed with one coat sanding sealer.

Contact Theresa: 082 4657741

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tel: +27 (0)21 761 4658 Email: info@bksiyengar.co.za

www.bksiyengar.co.za

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YogAfrica April 2016