AUGUST 2017 • www.bksiyengar.co.za NEWS MAGAZINE OF THE BKS IYENGAR YOGA INSTITUTE OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
“As breath stills our mind, our energies are free to unhook from the senses and bend inward.” – GURUJI B.K.S. IYENGAR
CONTENTS 4 Editor's note 5 How to stretch and strengthen the psoas 9 Sirsasana / Head Balance 11 Bend it like BKS 13 International Day of Yoga celebrations in Johannesburg 15 International Day of Yoga in Lenasia, Johannesburg 16 International Day of Yoga, Cape Town 17 Celebrating National Women's Day 18 Notices & adverts
AUGUST 2017 • www.bksiyengar.co.za
Edited by Riva Hirschowitz 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 Greetings to all our members, It has been a quiet time in the regions with the main activity centered around International Day of Yoga. Gauteng celebrated several events, and the Western Cape joined the Indian Consulate General's program. Look out for the photograph of these lovely events. Good luck to all those that will be doing their exams in October and November. Keep warm Be in joy
Riva
“One's spiritual realization lies in none other than how one walks among and interacts with one's fellow beings.” – B.K.S. IYENGAR, LIGHT ON LIFE
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How to stretch and strengthen the psoas Want to find a new sense of balance and freedom in your practice? Learn how to skillfully stretch and strengthen the mysterious psoas muscle. By JULIE GUDMESTAD
7 June 2013, yogainternational.com Sequences photos by Andrea Killam
Most yoga students are aware that the psoas is a central player in asana, even if the muscle’s deeper function and design seem a mystery. A primary connector between the torso and the leg, the psoas is also an important muscle off the mat: it affects posture, helps stabilize the spine, and, if it’s out of balance, can be a significant contributor to low back and pelvic pain. The way that we use the psoas in our yoga practice can either help keep it healthy, strong, and flexible, or, conversely, can perpetuate harmful imbalances. The psoas major is the biggest and strongest player in a group of muscles called the hip
flexors: together they contract to pull the thigh and the torso toward each other. The hip flexors can become short and tight if you spend most of your waking hours sitting, or if you repeatedly work them in activities like sit-ups, bicycling, and certain weight-training exercises. A tight psoas can cause serious postural problems: when you stand up, it pulls the low back vertebrae forward and down toward the femur, often resulting in lordosis (overarching in the lumbar spine), which is a common cause of low back pain and stiffness; it can also contribute to arthritis in the lumbar facet joints. On the other hand, a weak and overstretched psoas can contribute to a common postural problem in which the pelvis is pushed forward of the chest and knees. This misalignment is characterized by tight hamstrings pulling down on the sitting bones, a vertical sacrum (instead of its usual gentle forward tilt), and a flattened lumbar spine. Without its normal curve, the low back is weakened and vulnerable to injury, especially at the intervertebral discs. To help you create balance in the psoas and keep your low back healthy, it is important to first understand the anatomy. Then you’ll see why the psoas is integral to asanas as diverse as Navasana (Boat Pose) and Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose), and how to engage and stretch this massive muscle for optimal benefit. YOGAFRICA AUGUST 2017
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How to find the psoas Although the psoas is one of the most important muscles in yoga poses, it is also one of the most misunderstood. Many students and even teachers have only a vague idea of where it is located. The psoas originates from the lumbar vertebrae and forms a strip of muscle almost as big as a wrist along each side of the spine. Looking at the front of the body, you’d have to remove the intestines and other digestive organs, as well as the female reproductive organs, to be able to see the muscle in the very back of the abdomen. It proceeds down and forward, crossing the outer edge of each pubis, then moves back again to attach on a bony prominence of the inner upper posterior femur (thigh bone) called the lesser trochanter. Along the way, the psoas picks up its synergist, the iliacus, which originates on the inner bowl of the pelvis (or the ilium) and joins the psoas on its path downward to attach to the femur. The two muscles work so closely together that they’re usually referred to as one, the iliopsoas. The other hip flexors include the sartorius, the tensor fascia lata, the rectus femoris, the pectineus, and the adductor brevis. Besides flexion, these muscles might also contribute to the internal or external rotation of the hip. This action is important for yoga practitioners to understand because the psoas may try to externally rotate the hip in poses where we don’t want external rotation, such as backbends or forward bends. Awakening the psoas
Now that you have a picture of the psoas in your mind, let’s see if you can feel it contracting. When the psoas contracts,
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it will pull the femur and the spine closer together (hip flexion). If you are lying on your back, contracting the right psoas will help lift your right leg off the floor as in Supta Padangusthasana, or reclining big toe pose. If the back of your leg is flexible, you may be able to bring it toward your torso past perpendicular, but the psoas stops contracting at about 90 degrees, when the leg is vertical. At that point, gravity is no longer pulling the leg back toward the floor, so the hip flexors can relax. On the other hand, if the back of your leg is tight and you can’t bring your leg to the 90-degree point, the psoas contracts the entire time you hold your leg up, even if you have a strap wrapped around your foot. By definition, this is an isometric contraction: the muscle is working, but not changing length. Anytime you’re holding a body part against the pull of gravity, it’s an isometric contraction. Navasana
Navasana is another yoga pose that strengthens the psoas isometrically. You can feel the basic action of the psoas in navasana while sitting on a chair. Sit tall on the front edge of the chair, with your arms stretched out in front of you, parallel to the floor. Then lean toward the back of the chair without touching it, while keeping your chest lifted. As soon as your body inclines backward past vertical, gravity is trying to pull your torso down toward the earth, and the psoas contracts to hold you cantilevered. To apply this action in navasana, move to the floor and sit tall (up on your sitting bones,
not rolled back on your tailbone) with your knees bent and feet flat. Wrap your fingers lightly around the tops of your shins and give a little pull to help lift your chest, then lean back until your elbows are straight. Let go of your shins, keeping your arms parallel to the floor, feet on the floor, and chest lifted. While this is a mild beginner’s version of navasana, you’ll be doing some nice isometric strengthening of the psoas as well as of your back and abdominal muscles.
If you’d like to move into the full pose, tip your torso back a little farther, lift your feet off the floor, and find your balance. Even with your knees still bent, the psoas has to work harder, as it’s now holding up the weight of your torso plus the weight of your legs against gravity’s pull. You can stay here for several breaths, or go ahead and challenge the muscle even more by straightening your knees. In the full expression of navasana, the psoas acts like a guy-wire between your spine and the thighs to hold the beautiful V shape of the pose. This is a challenging pose, working not only the psoas, but also the abdominals, the back muscles, and the quadriceps; if you are a beginner, try working regularly on the preparatory steps to gradually build strength for the full variation. Releasing the psoas After you’ve warmed and worked the psoas through contraction, it’s an ideal time to stretch and lengthen it. In order to stretch any muscle, we must do the opposite of its action; in this case, we’ll need to extend the hip, moving the lumbar spine and the femur away from each
other. Because the psoas is a big and potentially strong muscle, you’ll be able to lengthen it most effectively by stretching one side at a time in poses such as Anjaneyasana (Lunge Pose) and Virabhadrasana I (Warrior Pose I), where the hip of the back leg is in extension. Virabhadrasana I
A good way to isolate the psoas stretch, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced practitioner, is to practice Virabhadrasana I in a doorway. Find an open doorway (or a pillar) and step up close so that the right side of your body is just behind the door jamb. Step your left leg through the doorway, and place your right foot two to three feet behind you, with that back heel off the floor. Stretch your arms overhead and rest your hands on the wall. Bend both knees slightly, and align your pubic bones, navel, and breastbone with the door frame. The whole key to stretching the psoas is in the tilting of the pelvis. Remember, a tight psoas tries to tilt the pelvis anteriorly (pulling the spine and top of the pelvis forward and down), so you must tilt the pelvis posteriorly YOGAFRICA AUGUST 2017
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to stretch the hip flexors. The door can help you achieve this action: simply move your pubic bones toward the door jamb, your upper pelvis and navel back away from the jamb, and draw your breastbone toward the jamb. These actions help you tilt the pelvis posteriorly, move the lumbar spine toward the back of the body (instead of letting the tight psoas pull it forward and down), and lift the rib cage vertically up out of the low back. Altogether, you’ll be lengthening the psoas and relieving compression and discomfort in the low back. When you’re ready to deepen the stretch, straighten the back knee fully (let the back heel stay off the floor, especially if you’re a beginner or have knee or low back problems), and gradually bend the front knee more. If you’re not getting a deep stretch on the front of the right hip, redouble your efforts to bring the pubic bones toward the wall, and the navel away, and bend the front knee more. Hold the pose for a minute or more, keeping your breathing slow and steady to help the muscle relax into a deep stretch. Then repeat on the other side. Setu Bandha Sarvangasana
Now that you’ve stretched your psoas, you’re ready to work on backbending poses, which require full extension in both hips. In Setu Bandha Sarvangasana, for instance, tight and short psoas muscles will tilt the pelvis anteriorly as you lift your pelvis off the floor, causing sharp compression in the lower lumbar vertebrae. So it’s important to prepare your body for backbending by first stretching the hip flexors, especially if you lead a sedentary lifestyle.
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When you’re ready to work on Bridge Pose, lie on your back with the knees bent and the feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart, heels pulled in close to your sitting bones. Place a block between your feet, grounding down through the big toe and inner heel, and squeeze a second block between your knees. The blocks ensure that your thighs remain parallel throughout the pose to prevent the psoas muscles from externally rotating the hips while extending them, which can contribute to low back compression and knee pain. When you begin to lift your pelvis off the floor, lift your tail-bone first. This simple action sets the pelvis into a posterior tilt, and, if your hip flexors are lengthened enough, helps you keep space in your low back. As you continue to roll up into bridge pose, press your pubic bones up into the skin of your lower abdomen. Hold the pose for 20 to 30 seconds. Repeat the pose two more times; as the hip flexors lengthen, you may find that you can go deeper and lift higher. A well-balanced asana practice helps keep your muscles strong enough to do their job and flexible enough to allow full range of motion of associated joints. By incorporating poses that both strengthen and lengthen the psoas, you can release habitual muscle-holding patterns, improve your low-back alignment, and create a more balanced and spacious posture. Julie Gudmestad is a licensed physical therapist and certified Iyengar Yoga teacher. She runs a private physical therapy practice and yoga studio in Portland, Oregon, where she combines her Western medical knowledge with the healing powers of yoga.
Sirsasana / Head Balance An edited record of a class taught by Geeta Iyengar in Pune. By BOBBY CLENNELL
July 2017, www.bobbyclennell.com (July's Pose of the Month)
Important: As there are minimal instructions for how to come into the pose, these instructions are not for beginners. I have endeavored in this edit to retain Geeta’s voice, the atmosphere of the classes and the important points.
Get set up for your requirements: i.e., wall ropes, columns, wall, or independent. Fold your sticky mat. If necessary, take a blanket for the head. Coming into the pose: Position your elbows on the floor so they face forward (straight ahead). Shoulders, forearms and elbows: Lift your shoulders. If all your weight is on your elbows, you lose the earth element. Press your outer wrist bones to the floor. Firmness in the elbow and outer wrist bones is the earth element; Bones equal earth. The downward pressing of the forearm has to move up through shoulders. The skin: Yes, the center of the forearm bone presses down, but it is the skin that tells you whether the evenness of elbows, forearms and wrists remains. To prevent the weight moving onto the outer elbows, roll the forearm skin inwardly from the outer elbow to the inner wrist bone. Awareness: First, let the attention go everywhere, especially from the arms toward the shoulders, the chest and the dorsal spine. There should not be any kind of collapse.
Head and neck: Don’t just be happy to be balancing on the head. Express the lift, ascendance, firmness, fixation (e.g., connecting bones into joints) etc. Feel how much distance there is between the shoulders and the ears, observe the state of the cervical neck. When you have come out of the pose it should not be concave, going inward, or pushed backward. Learn the right position. Many of you have less distance from the neck region to the arm on one side. That evenness, the equal lift and equal ascendance, are all important. In the pose: There should be absolute firmness. No shaking. The inner legs should be straight – knees firm. Abdomen back. Don’t fall backward, forward, or onto sides of head. Remain even. As the forearm presses – observe how the inner body lifts. Come back to the shoulders: Lift them again. Don’t use the head as a third arm. Though the head is down, nothing else should be dropped down on it. The crown of your head is down but the brain cells should not be dropped down on the scull. There has to be inner space. Your attention differs when you ascend in such a YOGAFRICA AUGUST 2017
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manner that the cells of the brain do not fall downward. That’s why the upper arms, armpits, spine should be active. Pelvis and legs: Move the thighs together – roll the outer thighs in. The middle buttocks should not be projecting back – move them into the body. Move the head of the femur bone exactly into the socket. Turn the inner hip and thigh back. Focus: Observe the stretch. Don’t just do it because I say you have to. Never take it for granted in that manner. Your penetration is important. You are the doer. First you have to be in the asana. Learn that. Let the asana become the object for you, because then there is a scope for searching. Knees and shins: Don’t get that wobbly feeling. Align both knees: feel both knee caps. Move your knees into the sockets to open the hamstrings. If one knee remains loose, which kneecap are you not feeling? Give more attention to the one that you don’t feel. It’s hard to have that perception unless someone points out that one knee is turning in, one is turning out. From the knees you learn about the calf muscles, shinbones, ankles, toes, etc. Go on pulling the kneecap in. Because the knees have certain limits – knowledge can come. There are two shins. Find out how the right shin is behaving, how the left shin is behaving, and at the same time, when you really work with the shin bones and both knee caps, you find some lightness on your head. Your mind: What happens if you move your outer calf muscles onto the shinbone? If you lift your shoulders? Widen your consciousness. Don’t limit your consciousness… It’s most important to feel your presence everywhere. Don’t turn the eyes. If you look here and there it means the mind is wandering. Keep going and re-charge: Maintain that firmness. Find out if both sides of the trunk are going up evenly. The weight of the body should not fall heavily on the forearms.
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The breath: That heavy feeling should not come … maintain the body in that firm state. Your face has to get absorbed back. The breath changes. The breath begins to change when your face is quiet, from the roof of the mouth to the tip of the nose… Stay there. The elongation and height of Sirsasana is available when the anterior spine is lifting. Your practice: Do not get disturbed if somebody in the class comes down. Then you are surrendering to that person who has come down and your own concentration goes. A kind of disturbance is created – in a group that is what happens. The mind comes toward the ego, the ego gets puffed, and you surrender to the situation and you say, Oh, let me come down. If you can deal with the pain, you should not surrender. That’s why individual practice becomes important, or you surrender to the situation. Be honest with yourself to find out why you are thinking of coming down. If that pain can be dealt with, you should not surrender. Don’t allow dualities to set in. Those at the wall: do not use the wall all the time – sometimes you have to be independent. Open the ribs towards the skin, same way with the arm-pit. The shoulder joint has to be opened from the back to the front. The entire class: Join the legs firmly and with so much compactness that it is as if there is only a single leg. Let the legs be like Upavista Konasana, where you have to press the thighs to the ground. Move your back thigh back. The chest has to open from the center to the side (in contrast to the compactness of the head of the thigh bones coming into the sockets). Take the mid- buttock in (not the waist). Don’t try to bring the toes forward. The flow is from the toe to the heel. Coming out: Pressing your forearms, exhale and slowly come down. Make sure the outer femur bones are completely in their sockets as you come down. Pelvic broad, thighs firm. Use a Controlled action to come down. No sound.
Bend it like BKS By ASHWIN KHAN 23 July 2017
A tree-lined pathway leads to the tranquil Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI), whose walls are decorated with relief work that depict BKS Iyengar doing asanas. Inside the yoga centre, a wooden cupboard displays the yoga guru’s few worldly possessions and another shelf is packed with laurels bestowed on him during his lifetime. The most recent honour of RIMYI being selected as the first recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award has ensured that Iyengar is part of our collective consciousness again. Iyengar’s 68-year-old son Prashant ushers us into a library in the basement, where the presence of a well-preserved desk and a chair habitually used by Iyengar covered with a grey shawl, indicates that the memories attached to the yoga guru have not been forgotten. Prashant, one of Iyengar’s six children and only son, said: “My father shone like the sun.” The metaphor stood for not just his aura but how Iyengar signified different things to people whose lives he touched. Before he counted celebrated figures including novelist Aldous Huxley, philosopher J Krishnamurty and violinist Yehudi Menuhin as his students, and much before global recognition had come his way, Iyengar was struggling to make ends meet in Pune. Despite the many difficulties he faced during his early days when he moved to Pune in 1937, Iyengar was steadily progressing in his understanding of the science of yoga. “I think from the late ’50s onwards my father’s journey as a yoga teacher had fast-tracked,” recalled Prashant. “He became affluent enough to be generous to
others. Earlier, feeding himself was a problem.” While the economic prosperity experienced by Iyengar was accepted with grace by his family, what astounded Prashant was how rapidly his father was evolving both physically and spiritually. “Observing him gave us the impetus that we too could achieve a lot in one lifetime,” added Prashant, who apart from helming RIMYI as the institute’s director, has authored several books on yoga. The environment was conducive to learning yoga in the Iyengar household. “Although you must understand that yoga is not an occupation. Having Guruji as our father was a great facility and an advantage, but to truly pursue yoga, you have to be naturally predisposed,” stated Prashant. “Yoga is not something that can be procured in the market and mounted on yourself. It needs subjective exploration and a willingness to explore the reality of the world around you.” Iyengar never believed in spoon-feeding his children although his implied teachings were many. In the book, Yoga – A Journey Within by Derek Biermann, Prashant’s elder sister Geeta Iyengar, 71, has said: “I have had a natural inclination toward yoga since my early childhood. From the age of three or four, whenever I saw my father practising, I would try to imitate him. My father never taught me anything directly; instead, he would convey his intent to me through a look or an action, and I began to communicate with Guruji through his eyes.” Similarly, Prashant learnt his lessons by observing his father. “Guruji’s YOGAFRICA AUGUST 2017
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approach to teaching yoga varied depending on the students,” said Prashant. He could be a taskmaster to consumers of Iyengar Yoga and at the same time, gentle to others. “How could the violinist Menuhin have given 250 concerts a year had my father been tough on him?” Geeta’s formative years spent learning yoga had prepared her to take on the role of an instructor by the time she turned 13. “After watching my father teach yoga, I realised that conducting a yoga class and teaching the subject are two completely different disciplines,” said Prashant. The sibling rivalry that Geeta and Prashant may have harboured as teenagers gave way to a mutual respect for the deeper aspects of yoga when they stepped into adulthood. “Yoga is subjective, you can’t be competing,” said Prashant. When Prashant’s 33-year-old niece Abhijata Iyengar walked in, she chose to sit two seats away from her uncle as a gesture of respect. After completing her schooling in Chennai, she decided to move to Pune in 2000 to live at RIMYI. “I wanted to see what this yoga was all about,” said Abhijata. Geeta and Prashant taught her yoga, but she says she learnt about life from her grandfather. “My grandfather had retired from active teaching by then although he would oversee therapy sessions,” added Abhijata. “My association with him
grew when I started attending his therapy sessions.” By the time Abhijata had completed her postgraduation in bioinformatics in 2005, she had started liking yoga so much that she decided to forego her plans to pursue a PhD and chose to take up yoga fulltime instead. Today, she is an instructor at RIMYI. She recollects life was not always inundated with learning yoga in austerity. “My uncle and aunt were patient with me and growing up with them was fun,” she said. “When they would contort themselves into unimaginable shapes, I would swing and play seesaw on their bodies.” As with all awards, the Iyengar family treated the news of RIMYI bagging the Prime Minister’s Award with humility. “The reason why the Prime Minister has honoured Guruji is a reflection of why the world honours him,” said Prashant. “It is a worthy accolade for what he achieved in the world although what he realised intrinsically by turning his body into a lab is a different matter altogether.” Prashant knows that he can’t fill his father’s shoes. He is quite pragmatic about carrying on the legacy, in fact. “Yoga is not a worldly activity, but to give you a greater perspective, nothing has changed since Guruji passed away. Geeta, Abhijata and I are doing what is supposed to be done,” added Prashant.
“Do not aim low, you will miss the mark. Aim high and you will be on a threshold of bliss.” – B.K.S. IYENGAR, LIGHT ON LIFE
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International Day of Yoga events at Sandown High in Johannesburg.
International Day of Yoga celebrations in Johannesburg By ROSE SONNENBERG This year, in Johannesburg, the celebration for IDY was not limited to one day. The Indian High Commission in South Africa, along with the Consulate of India in Johannesburg arranged events that spanned well over a week. The Consulate of India invited a selection of yoga schools to participate in a variety of celebrations.
One of the first events to kick off the week-long celebrations was hosted by Sandown High, a local school in the northern Johannesburg suburbs, on the 18th of June. Four teachers (including myself) from different yoga backgrounds shared an hour and a half of teaching asana and pranayama to a superenthusiastic audience of about 120 people (men, women, young, very young and a few elderly). The sequence that we taught was part of the Common Yoga Protocol as prepared by leading yoga experts in India, for the Indian Government. A talk on Yoga Philosophy and Ayurveda followed the Protocol. Despite us four teachers having different yoga backgrounds and very different methods of teaching, the celebration for me was more about being part of the Yogic Way and sharing some thing that is so much greater than ourselves. YOGAFRICA AUGUST 2017
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And more yoga events held in Soweto.
The second event that I participated in was not in a teaching capacity but rather as part of the audience. On the 20th of June, a group of us headed off to Elmon Malele Park in Soweto, to join 1 000 school children and 200 elderly people in a gentle asana practice. It was one of those perfect Highveld winter days, blue skies, warm sun shining on our backs, crunchy dry grass beneath our feet – perfection. The Art of Living Yoga School guided us through an asana sequence, followed by pranayama. When the children first arrived, they were excited and chatty, their eyes looking in every direction, taking it all in. Normal kids! Then as they started with the asana practice, their bodies settled, their minds became quiet and you could just see how their animated energy
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transformed into contained energy: centred, quiet and open to practise yoga. I found myself being drawn in by these children and experiencing asana playfully. Surrender. Light. Joy. Being in the moment. Sharing. Connecting. Just beautiful. A group of us from the National and Gauteng Committee were invited by the Consulate of India in Johannesburg to be part of the planning committee for all these wonderful events. We shared many Thursday afternoons (leading up to IDY) at the Consulate in Parktown discussing what to do, when, where, how. For me IDY did not just take place on the 21st of June – it happened on all those Thursday afternoons. It happens every day. It happens every moment.
International Day of Yoga in Lenasia, Johannesburg By ANILA SOMLA
18 June 2017 Anila, an Introductory Yoga teacher, represented Iyengar Yoga Johannesburg on their local radio station with a half hour interview titled "Yoga & Iyengar Yoga". It was a very casual interview and she ended the interview with a quote by BKS Iyengar: "Calm your mind, free your body".
21 June 2017 8–9am Celebrated Iyengar Yoga at their local gym, and then 10–12pm at Lenasia Cricket Ground. Anila represented the Iyengar group at Lenasia (and wore an Iyengar t-shirt). She demonstrated postures to a sequence conducted by another teacher to around 150–200 school children, school teachers and other participants. There was excitement and concentration from the children, and it was much fun. 25 June 2017 Another celebration at Tolstoy Farm, Mahatma Gandhi's residence 10km away from Lenasia. Gandhi is an inspiration to many people as he too practiced yoga daily. Anila represented Iyengar Yoga by demonstrating postures to a short yoga sequence which was conducted by another teacher. The organising committee members thanked Iyengar Yoga for their representation, and for supporting the International Day of Yoga 2017.
verall it was a great success for Harmony O & Peace. All images: International Day of Yoga at Lenasia Cricket Ground.
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International Day of Yoga, Cape Town
Iyengar Yoga demonstration at International Day of Yoga celebrations held at the SAMAJ Centre in Gatesville, Cape Town.
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Celebrating National Women’s Day By MERRY PARKS The Gauteng branch of the BKS Iyengar Yoga Institute of Southern Africa in conjunction with ‘la Boqueria’ – a new restaurant in Parktown North, Johannesburg – celebrated National Women’s Day (9 August) with a morning of yoga and social interaction. It was organised by Rose Sonnenberg, together with Gary and Ryan, the owners of the venue. The class was open to the community, and to anyone who had any interest in exploring the concept of yoga as a whole and Iyengar Yoga in particular. All were welcome irrespective of their previous experience, if any. It was well attended by 45 people, including 5 men. The class was prepared and taken by Rose. Her calm and concise teaching guided the students through a sequence that covered asanas from standing poses to backbends and included
a brief exposure to basic pranayamic breath. Delicious coffee and smoothies were served afterwards. In this relaxed and easy environment, those who wanted more information about Iyengar Yoga were able to talk to the students and teachers present. The enthusiastic response and the amount of interest generated by so many of the participants, proved this to be a wonderful opportunity to introduce and spread the teaching of our beloved Guruji.
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NOTICES & ADVERTS 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
Yoga Retreat King’s Lodge, Hogsback 6 – 8 October 2017
Calm your mind, free your body and nourish your soul. R1970 per person sharing (twin or double) R2270 per person single The price includes 2 night’s accommodation, 3 meals per day, yoga tuition and a guided hike in the forest.
YogaPoise Retreat 3–5 November 2017
Stretching, Strengthening, Surrendering
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Early bird registration: R300 discount before 1st Sep 2017 for Oct retreat)
Join us for a weekend of joyful and intense practise of asana and pranayama.
This weekend of yoga is suitable for students at all levels, including those new to yoga.
The focus for the weekend will be to restore and bring wholeness of being – by balancing through precise alignment, by developing more sensitivity to observe, and to just smile at ourselves in the process.
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.
And the gift will be to do this together in the beautiful setting of Bodhi Khaya Retreat Centre near Stanford. The weekend will be from late afternoon on Friday till after lunch on Sunday. There will be yoga sessions in the morning and late afternoon.
Monique Weschta was born in the Netherlands and moved to South Africa at the age of 22. She has practiced Iyengar Yoga for 19 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 info please contact brigitta.tummon@gmail.com
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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Yoga props made to order Hand made and sealed. Contact Theresa: 082 465 7741
Iyengar Yoga Benches
Meranti: R1200 Pine: R1000 Contact: Uri Rubin on 072 787 5450 web: lotusdesigns.live
Small back bender R400 Yoga props made to order. Contact Marianne at yoganannie@gmail.com
Lightweight large blocks R80 per block (R160 for a pair) 12 × 23 × 7.5 cm Blocks are wider and taller than the normal blocks and are very light. Contact Paula Viljoen at heypesto@telkomsa.net
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Did you know that we have a Facebook page? To mark our 40th anniversary, we put together a photographic record of our history, gathered from the personal memories of our own community. R150 (members) R170 (non-members) Contact: Kim Frankel Email: frankels1@mweb.co.za Tel: +27(0)21 789 2075 Mobile: +27(0)84 605 3610 www.bksiyengar.co.za
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www.facebook.com/BKSIyengarZA or just search for BKS Iyengar Institute of Southern Africa Join our online community for:
VIDEOS + EVENTS + INFO + INSPIRATION
Now that’s something worth “liking”! See you online…
YOGAFRICA AUGUST 2017
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“Yoga is like music. The rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life.” – GURUJI B.K.S. IYENGAR