Yoga Samachar spring/summer 2016

VOL. 20, NO. 1

Spring /Summer 2016

PARINAMA: TRANSFORMING PRACTICE TRANSFORMING OUR LIVES PLUS: YOGA IN THE MILITARY CHANTING REPORT FROM BELLUR

CONTENTS

YOGA SAMACHAR’S MISSION

Letter From the President — Michael Lucey . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Yoga Samachar, the magazine of the Iyengar Yoga community in the U.S. and beyond, is published twice a year by the Communications Committee of the Iyengar Yoga National Association of the U.S. (IYNAUS). The word samachar means “news” in Sanskrit. Along with the website, www.iynaus.org, Yoga Samachar is designed to provide interesting and useful information to IYNAUS members to:

News From the Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Approaches to Parinama: Sorrow, Sequence, Community, and Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Iyengar Yoga on a Military Base — Diana Martinez . . . . . 10 Chanting: Does It Produce Parinama ? — Leslie Freyberg . 13 An Iyengar Yoga Community Is Evolving in Idaho — Susan Lamberson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Yoga and Science: Part 3 — Siegfried Bleher and Jarvis Chen . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 International Assessors’ Meeting — Leslie Bradley . . . . . .25

• Promote the dissemination of the art, science, and philosophy of yoga as taught by B.K.S. Iyengar, Geeta Iyengar, and Prashant Iyengar

2015 Iyengar Yoga Assessments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

• Communicate information regarding the standards and training of certified teachers

Remembering Lynda Alfred — Deborah Baker . . . . . . . . 28

• Report on studies regarding the practice of Iyengar Yoga

Musings: An Open Door — Carlyn Sikes . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Report From Bellur — Heather Haxo Phillips . . . . . . . . . 30

• Provide information on products that IYNAUS imports from India

Book Review: Prashant Iyengar’s Fundamentals of Patanjali’s Philosophy: Theory of Klesha and Karma — Anne-Marie Schultz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

• Review and present recent articles and books written by the Iyengars

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Treasurer’s Report — David Carpenter . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 Old Love — Jo Ann Baldinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

IYNAUS BOARD MEMBER CONTACT LIST Spring/Summer 2016 Leslie Bradley certification@iynaus.org

Anne-Marie Schultz Anne_Marie_Schultz@baylor.edu

David Carpenter dcarpenter@sidley.com

Kathy Simon kathyraesimon@gmail.com

Alex Cleveland clevelandalex@yahoo.com

Eric Small kathyraesimon@gmail.com

Matt Dreyfus mattdreyfusyoga@gmail.com

Carlyn Sykes carlyneileen@hotmail.com

Gloria Goldberg yogagold2@gmail.com

Manju Vachher manjuv@rcn.com

Scott Hobbs sh@scotthobbs.com

Nancy Watson nancyatiynaus@aol.com

Shaaron Honeycutt shaaron.honeycutt@gmail.com

Denise Weeks denise.iynaus@gmail.com

Michael Lucey 1michael.lucey@gmail.com

Stephen Weiss stphweiss@gmail.com

Patty Martin pattimartinyoga@gmail.com

Sharon Cowdery (general manager) generalmanager@iynaus.org

Diana Martinez dianamartinezyoga@gmail.com

Contact IYNAUS:

Ann McDermott-Kave amkave1@optonline.net

P.O. Box 538 Seattle WA 98111

Tori Milner torimilner@gmail.com

206.623.3562 www.iynaus.org

• Report on recent events regarding Iyengar Yoga in Pune and worldwide • Be a platform for the expression of experiences and thoughts from members, both students and teachers, about how the practice of yoga affects their lives • Present ideas to stimulate every aspect of the reader’s practice

YOGA SAMACHAR IS PRODUCED BY THE IYNAUS PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE Committee Chair: Tori Milner Editor: Michelle D. Williams Copy Editor: Denise Weeks Design: Don Gura Advertising: Rachel Frazee Members can submit an article query or a practice sequence idea for consideration to be included in future issues. Articles should be well-written and submitted electronically. The Yoga Samachar staff reserves the right to edit accepted submissions to conform to the rules of spelling and grammar, as well as to the Yoga Samachar house style guidelines.

Queries must include the author’s full name and biographical information related to Iyengar Yoga, along with email contact and phone number.

Please send all queries to Michelle Williams, Editor, yogasamachar@iynaus.org, and we will respond as quickly as possible.

ADVERTISING Full-page, half-page and quarter-page ads are available for placement throughout the magazine, and a classified advertising section is available for smaller ads. All advertising is subject to IYNAUS board approval. Find the ad rates at www.iynaus.org/ yoga-samachar. For more information, including artwork specifications and deadlines, please contact Rachel Frazee at rachel@yogalacrosse.com or 608.269.1441.

Cover: Guided meditation after the asana class.: Iyengar Yoga on a Military Base, page 10

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

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IYNAUS OFFICERS AND STANDING COMMITTEES

Letter

FROM THE PRESIDENT

D E A R F E L LOW I Y N AU S M E M B E R S,

President: Michael Lucey Vice President: Vacant Secretary: Denise Weeks Treasurer: David Carpenter

Sarvarthata ekagratayoh ksaya udayau cittasya samadhi parinamah (Patanjali III.11)

Archives Committee

Eric Small & Scott Hobbs, Co-chairs

Kim Kolibri, Director of Archives Lindsey Clennell, Elaine Hall, Linda Nishio, Deborah Wallach

Certification Committee Leslie Bradley, Chair

Marla Apt, James Murphy, Nancy Stechert, Lois Steinberg

Continuing Education Committee

Alex Cleveland & Carlyn Sykes, Co-chairs

Elections Committee

Michael Lucey, Chair Diana Martinez, Anne-Marie Schultz

Ethics Committee

Manju Vachher, Chair

Robyn Harrison, Randy Just, Lisa Jo Landsberg, Jito Yumibe – Contact Ethics at ethics@iynaus.org

Events Committee

Nancy Watson, Chair

Colleen Gallagher, Carol Fridolph, Suzie Muchnick, Gloria Goldberg

Finance Committee

David Carpenter, Chair Gloria Goldberg, Stephen Weiss

Governance Committee Michael Lucey, Chair

I’ve been fascinated by this sutra for many years. Guruji translates it in Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali as “The weakening of scattered attention and the rise of one-pointed attention in the citta is the transformation towards samadhi.” Scattered attention feels all too familiar. We all know that yoga, by offering the means to train ourselves towards mental focus, can be transformative. One-pointedness, however, feels elusive and full of complexities. When I can focus intently, for instance, on my foot, my knee, or my hip, I notice there is much more for me to discover. Focused attention allows for new degrees of awareness. But as I gain awareness in my foot, am I losing it elsewhere? Or can my focus still include my knee and my hip, my spine, my breath, my state of mind? How can we enhance our attention and direct it to good purpose, without accidentally neglecting what we should not be neglecting? Not just in our practice, obviously, but in our lives.

“You may practice meditation and develop awareness when you are sitting quietly in a park, and it comes quite easily,” Guruji wrote in The Tree of Yoga. “But when you are busy working, your life gets dominated by thought, and it is hard to have total awareness.

When you practice asana, pranayama, and pratyahara, you learn to be totally aware— you develop awareness in your whole body while you are engaged in action. Then you can become totally aware in all circumstances.” That is a tall order but an inspiring goal.

David Carpenter, David Larsen

Membership Committee Diana Martinez, Chair

IMIYA – Jessica Miller IYACSR –Suneel Sundar IYAGNY – Ed McKeaney IYAMN – Joy Laine IYAMW – TBA IYANC – Brian Hogencamp IYANE – Kim Peralta

IYANW – Margrit von Braun IYASC-LA – Wendy Alter IYASCUS – Karen Dempster IYASE – Howison Hollenberg & Tay Strauss IYASW – Carrie Abts

Publications Committee Tori Milner, Chair

Don Gura, Rachel Frazee, Denise Weeks, Michelle D. Williams

Public Relations and Marketing Committee Shaaron Honeycutt, Chair

Social Media volunteers: Rachel Mathenia, Shaw-Jiun Wang, Zain Syed

Regional Support Committee Anne-Marie Schultz, Chair

IMIYA – Cathy Wright IYACSR – Suneel Sundar IYAGNY – Carn Rabbino IYALA – Jennifer Diener IYAMN – Katy Olson IYAMW – David Larsen

IYANC – Randy Loftis IYANE – Jarvis Chen IYANW – Janet Langley IYASCUS – Randy Just IYASE – Lisa Waas IYASW – Lisa Henrich

Scholarship and Awards Committee Carlyn Sykes, Chair

Lesley Freyberg, Richard Jonas, Lisa Jo Landsberg, Pat Musburger, Nina Pileggi, John Schumacher

Service Mark & Certification Mark Committee Gloria Goldberg , Attorney in Fact for Geeta and Prashant Iyengar

Systems & Technology Committee Stephen Weiss, Chair

Ed Horneij, William McKee, David Weiner

Volunteer Coordinator Ann McDermott-Kave

As I write this, we are looking forward to the IYNAUS convention at the end of May in Boca Raton. I am grateful to all the volunteers who have put so much effort into ensuring that our convention will be a success, a moment when we come together as a community united in our practice and in gratitude to B.K.S. Iyengar for the gift of his teaching to us.

About four years ago, the IYNAUS Board of Directors began a transformation of its own.

Whereas previously the board had been formed through national elections, now it is made up of representatives from 12 regions. No transformation happens with total ease.

Because of how our board is now formed, we are becoming more attentive to communications with our members and regions. One of our major strategic goals is to “improve member engagement, widen awareness, and promote the credentials of Iyengar Yoga and IYNAUS.” Another primary goal is to put our organization on firmer financial footing so we can enhance our visibility and better pursue all of our goals. I am grateful for all the time my fellow board members (volunteers!) devote to pursuing these goals. And I am grateful to our General Manager, Sharon Cowdery, who is constantly reminding us of the need for focus. Doubtless, as we are transforming, our attention sometimes wavers, perhaps we lose a bit of our focus on this or that aspect of our organization. But our collective intention is always to refocus on our primary purpose of helping members have a rich and transformative experience of yoga, helping teachers grow and flourish, and helping more people find their way to the practice we share.

Thanks to all of you who have contributed time or financial resources. I appreciate the generosity and commitment I have seen in so many members of our community.

I look forward to hearing from you and to continuing together in this amazing transformative adventure.

Yoga Research Committee Kathy Simon, Chair

Jerry Chiprin, Renee Royal, Kimberly Williams

IYNAUS Senior Council

Michael Lucey, President IYNAUS Board of Directors

Kristin Chirhart, Manouso Manos, Patricia Walden, Joan White

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Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

News

FROM THE REGIONS

IYACSR The Jan. 31, 2016, meeting of the Iyengar Yoga Association of California—Southern Region (IYACSR) was an open membership meeting, hosted at San Diego Yoga Studio. We held our elections, welcomed the in-coming board, and bid farewell to outgoing board members.

In 2013, two of our outgoing board members, Cyndy Cordle and Vicki Abbott, were the energy, effort, and seva vayu behind the success of the well-organized, user-friendly, and enriching yogasana experience of our Sarvabhauma Yog combined Conference and Convention. We know that our national associates join us in thanking them for their service. They were also instrumental in bringing Birjoo Mehta back to southern California in fall 2015. For these and many other accomplishments during their tenure, they will receive, with heartfelt gratitude, Certificates of Service.

We had a very productive open discussion with members on how to share Iyengar Yoga with the greater San Diego community in general and our military in particular. We learned that some of our members have taught Guruji’s method on military bases, in Veterans’ hospitals, and to veterans and active duty military in San Diego and the Southern Region. Thanks to these teachers, the benefits of Guruji’s method for service members is recognized and touted by the participants and the hospital administrators. Our association thus pledged to better serve our active duty personnel, veterans, and their families. We will invite this community to Iyengar Yoga centers in the region for subsidized classes. We will also promote the benefits of

Members of IYACSR view photos of developments in Bellur that their donations have funded.

Iyengar Yoga to the particular afflictions of armed services members.

We want to congratulate area teachers for their new certification levels—Sheri Cruise, Gloria Goldberg, Christie Hall, Dora Hasenbein, Debra Johnson, Cory Johnson, Stephanie Lavender, Koren Paalman, Amy Pachowicz, Suneel Sundar, Christine Thompson, and Kimberly Zanger Mackesy.

And, of course, at our annual meeting, we practiced. Thanks to Gloria Goldberg for treating us to a short but sweet class.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the 2016 Iyengar Yoga Convention in Boca Raton!

IYAGNY In September 2015, donated funds helped IYAGNY launch a new program in our Brooklyn Institute called the Community Class. This class is unique because it combines continuing education with an affordable $5 class for the local community.

Student teachers who are planning to go up for assessment or already have, lead the group, while a junior intermediate teacher observes and gives direct feedback after the class. This experience also helps train the teachers giving feedback to hone their skills as mentors and recommending teachers.

Also in September, IYAGNY welcomed its 2015–2017 teachertraining group of over 20 students. We are glad to have them as part of our community.

In December, 13 of our faculty and several association teachers made the journey to Pune to take Geeta’s intensive. For the faculty who stayed home, it was quite an undertaking to ensure that the Institutes ran smoothly. Those who traveled to Pune led Advanced Junior II teacher Gloria Goldberg demonstrates during IYACSR’s Free2Members class.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

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NEWS CONTINUED

IYAGNY participants enjoy Geetaji’s Yoganusasanam Intensive in Pune, December 2015

4th Annual IYAMW Fall Retreat

a “Back From India” sharing, a free benefit for all IYAGNY association teachers, to bring us all together on the latest teachings.

This past September, we hosted our 4th Annual IYAMW Fall Retreat in St. Charles, Illinois. Laurie Blakeney and Debra Johnson shared knowledgeable insights that helped our practice grow with precision and grace. The theme was Luminosity, and two tracks—Flame and Crystal—allowed for all to attend regardless of experience level. Several delicious locally sourced meals were shared, along with a spirited book discussion and moderated philosophy presentation.

At our annual meeting, held this year on Jan. 17, Association Director James Murphy gave a free members’ class to over 60 of our more than 1,400 members. We welcomed new board members Kapil Agrawal, Mike Branson, and Kate Karet and thanked outgoing board members Gailanne Grosso, Neil Stevenson, and Adam Vitolo for their dedicated service.

Executive director Ed McKeaney reported the state of the association, including that during 2015, we had over 3,000 new students, raised attendance by 13 percent and taught 108 classes a week between our Manhattan and Brooklyn locations.

He also noted that we had the most successful Yogathon ever last year, partially because of an online fundraising tool in tandem with the association teachers’ successful efforts to engage students, family, and friends for their invaluable support.

IYAGNY currently has 150 Certified Iyengar Yoga Teachers, including 17 who are newly certified and 11 who upgraded their level of certification. Congratulations everyone!

IYAMW The Iyengar Association of the Midwest (IYAMW) is pleased to welcome Gwi-Seok Hong, Ann Socha, Donna Furmanek, and Becca Lindsay to join our current board of directors, which includes David Larsen, Alex Hansen, and Kelly Sobanski. A special thank you goes to Lorene Zant, Sue Salaniuk, Annie Melchior, and Alicia Rowe for their contributions to the board during their terms. As we transition, we are excited to continue organizing annual fall retreats, scholarship opportunities, community outreach grants, social media avenues, and ways to promote Iyengar Yoga throughout our five-state region.

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Please join us for the next Annual IYAMW Fall Retreat, Sept.

23–25, 2016. We are thrilled to have Chris Saudek and Patrina Dobish as teachers for this event. Please visit www.iyamw.org for registration and specific details, including scholarship information. All proceeds from our annual fall retreats are put into a scholarship fund to support future opportunities.

To keep up with IYAMW workshops, scholarships, and news, and to read artistic philosophical musings, please “like” our Iyengar Association of the Midwest Facebook page, follow us on Twitter at Iyengar Yoga Midwest (@iyamidwest), and visit our website www.iyamw.org

IYANC The Iyengar Yoga Association of Northern California (IYANC) and the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco (IYISF) are excited to explore the possibility of working with The UCSF Women’s Center for Prevention of Heart & Vascular Disease (WCPHVD). This potential joint venture would create a “Yoga With Your Doctor” type of program. IYISF will host classes designed for people from WPCHVD with the main focus on teaching students how to integrate into regular classes. Another catch phrase that we are talking about using for this program is “Practitioners NOT Patients!” We are hoping we can formalize this relationship and get classes started in the near future.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

At the annual meeting, Board Member Claire Carroll (Massachusetts) was appointed to the office of treasurer, while Jarvis Chen, Patricia Walden (Massachusetts), and Mary Wixted (Massachusetts) were reappointed to the positions of president, vice president, and secretary, respectively.

Many of our region’s teachers and students now travel to Pune on a regular basis to study at RIMYI. This past December, 11 members from our region travelled to Pune to attend the Yoganusa sanam intensive with Geetaji.

IYANE members in Pune, December 2015, attending the Yogãnu†ãsanam intensive with Geetaji

In other news, the IYANC has just developed a new scholarship fund to assist our next generation of practitioners and students in covering a small portion of membership dues. Our hope is that this will be another way that being a part of the association will help bring Iyengar Yoga to our region.

IYANE The Iyengar Yoga Association of New England (IYANE) held its annual general membership meeting on Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Before the meeting, IYANE President Jarvis Chen taught a free asana class for IYANE members and Patricia Walden taught a deep and profound Savasana to all those assembled.

Several important board transitions took place at our annual meeting this year. Susan Elena Esquivel (Massachusetts) was appointed to a three-year term on the board of directors and Jarvis Chen (Massachusetts) and Kathleen Swanson (Rhode Island) were each reappointed.

After three years of service on the board of directors, Karen Bump (Massachusetts) has stepped down from the office of treasurer. IYANE would like to thank Karen for her service over the past three years as she has worked tirelessly behind the scenes to keep our association’s finances in order. We are grateful for her graciousness, clarity, and attention to detail in developing systems to manage the day-to-day running of the association.

We would also like to extend our thanks to Board Member Kathleen Swanson, who has been the chair of IYANE’s membership committee for the past six years. Kathleen is continuing on as a board member while stepping down from the membership chair position. Board Member Kim Peralta (Maine) took up the membership chair position in January.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

Under the leadership of Scholarship Chair Claire Carroll, IYANE is expanding its scholarship offerings this year. In addition to the annual Pune scholarship fund, which supports study at RIMYI, IYANE awarded two scholarships this year to support IYANE members attending the IYNAUS Convention in Boca Raton. Patricia Walden funded an additional third scholarship for an IYANE member to attend the convention.

In February, IYANE launched its new and improved website at www.iyengarnewengland.com. Please visit to find out more about IYANE teachers, events, scholarship programs, and community service projects.

IYANW The Iyengar Association of the Northwest (IYANW) has several new programs this year that support our continuing goal to reach yoga enthusiasts with ever-growing resources and support for their yoga endeavors. We are excited about these multifaceted programs.

Over the years, many northwest studios have committed time and services in their local communities. Tree House Iyengar Yoga in Shoreline, Washington, for example, takes part in an ongoing local elementary school lunch program. The school’s “Backpack Program” provides food for students in need of meals over the weekend. Yoga students contribute nutritious, easily prepared food to fill the backpacks.

Teachers from Rose Yoga of Ashland, Oregon, have donated yoga programs for at-risk teenage girls in conjunction with county services for many years and continually provide gentle yoga at local retirement homes and senior centers at significantly discounted prices.

In an effort to support Northwest Iyengar Yoga studios’ services to their local communities, the IYANW Board implemented a new Philanthropy Grants program this year. Studios that want to conduct classes for underserved populations can receive assistance getting a program off the ground or offsetting expenses to help bring yoga to those who may not otherwise have access. We expect this IYANW grant program to be accepting applications this fall.

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NEWS CONTINUED

IYANW is so grateful to the many senior teachers who have traveled here to conduct workshops and inspire the Northwest yoga community. Because it is not always feasible for smaller studios to host senior teachers, however, Shaw-Jiun Wang, owner of Seattle Iyengar Yoga Studio, has made the commitment this year to showcase dedicated and knowledgeable Iyengar Yoga teachers certified at Intermediate Junior levels to provide affordable, yet quality workshops.

In 2015, Shaw invited Jarvis Chen, a long-term student of Patricia Walden to her studio. Shaw will continue this “new tradition” in 2016. Other northwest studios have hosted similar intermediate teacher workshops. Yoga Namaste in Astoria, Oregon, hosted Sharon Conroy in March, and Rose Yoga of Ashland, hosted Brian Hogencamp in January.

In the vein of continuing education for all our members, Anne Geil (Intermediate Junior I), also of Tree House Iyengar Yoga, began teaching a series of anatomy classes earlier this year.

As a massage therapist and former anatomy instructor, Anne’s approach was both medical and practical. So far she has helped educate students to have a better understanding of their knees, hips, shoulders, low back, and neck. Requests keep coming in for other classes on how the body works and how to better use it in both yoga and everyday life.

San Marcos Area. Jerry Crowley of San Angelo was featured on the local news promoting Iyengar Yoga. A link to the video can be found on the Iyengar Yoga Association of the South Central U.S. (IYASCUS) Facebook group.

IYASW We had a warm and busy winter and spring in the Southwest and saw some significant changes to our community over the past several months. In the Phoenix area, we bid farewell to a staple of our Iyengar Yoga community, Archana Yoga. Longtime friend and teacher, Josie Lazarus sold her home and the space housing her center along with it. Josie and her husband have started a new chapter of their lives in Santa Fe and are enjoying the natural beauty of New Mexico.

The Iyengar Yoga Center at Scottsdale Community College (SCC) was thrilled to begin construction on a long-anticipated ropes wall this spring. For nearly two years the center has been diligently working to raise funds, doing t-shirt sales and receiving generous support of private donors, and it’s now ready to begin construction. The wall is anticipated to be completed well before SCC hosts assessment for the second time this fall. The support of the Iyengar Yoga community to help build the wall was an uplifting demonstration of commitment and support for Iyengar Yoga in the Southwest.

Finally, the current IYANW Board, recognizing the importance of communication, has made great strides this year in the makeover of our website, which now gives updated access to Northwest-related resources, such as our grants programs and lending library. E-newsletters and Facebook have also improved communication for our members.

IYASCUS The Austin scene is bursting with newly certified teachers and events. Peggy Kelley’s Austin Iyengar Yoga teacher training is in full swing. Peggy is also very involved with growing and assessing the Mexico Iyengar Yoga Community. Austin Yoga Tree is making a big splash. Melissa Hagen’s Yoga Ride and Donation Yoga on Sundays at Clear Spring are both reaching new audiences and bringing more and more people to Iyengar Yoga. Friday Advanced Practices now have more people leading them. Peggy Kelley, Melissa Hagen, and Mary Scott are all now regular leaders of this popular practice. Mary Scott has started Friday Dinners Out. The First Friday of each month after Advanced Practice, anyone is welcome to come along to dinner somewhere near the studio. The first outing was a lot of fun.

The Saturday pranayama and asana classes at Clear Spring are becoming quite popular as are Anne’s Saturday afternoon pranayama workshops. Val Rios has moved back to town after a long stay in the Netherlands. She’s started teaching at Austin Yoga and is also beginning to offer classes in Buda and the 6

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

APPROACHES TO PARINAMA: SORROW, SEQUENCE, COMMUNITY, AND SILENCE

T

“

he seed that transforms into root, tree, flower, and fruit is parinama . The effect of seed is fruit, and the seed is again hidden in the fruit. However, the transformation keeps on occurring from seed to fruit and fruit to seed.”

(B.K.S. Iyengar, Astadala Yogamala vol. VIII, p. 255)

As a way of introducing the concept of “ parinama,” letting its meaning sink in through the example of others, we asked advanced teachers to reflected on how parinama plays out in their own practice, in their teaching, and in their lives. Here are the responses.

Carrie Owerko Parinama is defined as “transformation.” The context in which we first encounter parinama is in the second chapter of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, in the sutras relating to sorrow—its cause and removal.

For me, these are very difficult sutras in many ways because life does, in fact, include pain or sorrow—and yes, suffering. If we are going to live and love fully and completely, we will end up feeling the full spectrum of human emotion (including suffering).

One way to look at the transformative power of yoga is to look at how yoga practice enhances our capacity to frame, reframe, and ultimately find meaning in our experiences.

I read an interview in the New York Times recently that made me re-examine these sutras. In the interview, the wife of a man who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer asked her

husband whether their plans to conceive a child during his illness might increase his suffering. She said, “Don’t you think saying goodbye to your child will make your death more painful?” He responded, “Wouldn’t it be great if it did?” They agreed that life for them was not about avoiding suffering. It was about creating meaning. This took my breath away. It was such a beautiful expression of what it means to be human.

How we frame the fact that life is change effects how we experience it. We can transform our experience of change and the suffering that comes from trying to avoid or deny change by finding meaning in change. So I try and encourage students to look at how the practice of yoga can help them live a fully embodied life, change and all. And asking questions seems to be really helpful. Such as: Why are we doing this? What is the meaning in all of this?

I find it helpful to keep living these questions because they are powerful ones that can be lived in a fully embodied way, in our practice. Perhaps by living these questions, we can transform our human sorrow into something beautiful and meaningful.

And that meaning comes from the recognition that it is our love—and our suffering—that yokes or connects us.

Carrie Owerko Intermediate Senior II New York, NY

Carrie Owerko

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

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Aretha McKinney Sutra II.15 points us toward the cause of suffering as the misidentification with the transient state of nature, prakrti. Recently in India at the December intensive, Geeta said that prakrti is the iron curtain that covers the light of the soul, but she also said that prakrti is what helps us lift this iron curtain. While change can be the source of suffering if we wrongly identify with the fluctuations of the Aretha McKinney material world, gunas, the promise of change, also offers the hope that we can evolve our consciousness to turn toward the soul. Ignorance is what binds the consciousness wrongly to nature. Practice, as Sutra II.28 relates, cultivates the discriminative intelligence that helps cut through our ignorance. Guruji said once, “Change is not something we should fear. Rather, it is something that we should welcome. For without change, nothing in this world would ever grow or blossom, and no one in the world would ever move forward to become the person they’re meant to be.”

Transformation can be experienced over the course of many years, but it can also be experienced over the course of a class.

Often in class, my teacher Patricia will have us do a pose, and then we might come back to the pose later in class and reflect on the changes that have taken place. Something as simple as Adho Mukha Svanasana done at the beginning, middle, and end of a sequence can inform this understanding. You can readily see the body’s ability to transform over a given practice, and you can also feel how, as the body opens and becomes more expansive, the mind likewise moves into the increasing expansiveness of its container, naturally turning inward. Geeta said in the December intensive that Pratyahara is the result of sequencing. We move our students inward over the course of a practice through proper sequencing. The last three limbs, she said, cannot be taught, but we can move our students in that direction. Perhaps the greatest gift we can give our students is this understanding and experience.

Aretha McKinney Intermediate Junior III Nashville, TN

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Tori Milner Parinama, or transformation, is at the very heart of my experience of Iyengar Yoga. When I first started Iyengar Yoga, I eagerly treated each asana like a high-speed line toward selfimprovement, an avenue for me to apply my will to become perfect—perfectly symmetrical, perfectly pain-free, and well, just plain perfect to the outside view. And to a point, it was satisfying. I was 25 and perfectionism had mostly been an asset for me up until then, a refuge in a world full of uncertainty.

During the 20 years since then, through births, deaths, loves, losses, body changes, aging, and maturity, I have developed more sensitivity, tolerance, and appreciation for life’s many changes, including those within me. So my approach toward the practice has changed, and I have shifted from not only “doing” to also “being”—feeling like I’m trying to perfect the pose on the outside to exploring how it is affecting me on the inside and who I am and how I am as a result.

I have learned to use the practice as a tool to resculpt, chisel, and polish my consciousness and not just my body. It has allowed my mind to become less angular and rigid, less black and white, less scattered and dispersed, to glimpse times of true focus and quiet and peace within—true contentment. Now, that source within is my refuge, and I don’t achieve it perfectly every day, which is why I think it is called practice.

I am struck by T.S. Eliot’s famous quote, “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all of our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know it for the first time.” Each day, through my practice of yoga and what it means to be human, I get to keep starting over in a more skillful way, and that is a wonderful gift.

Tori Milner

Tori Milner Junior Intermediate III Brooklyn, NY

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

Peggy GwiSeok Hong

Naghmeh Ahi Inspired by Sutra III.9: “Study of the silent moments between rising and restraining subliminal impressions is the transformation of consciousness towards restraint” (B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali).

For some time, I’ve been pondering the social, political, cultural, and economic landscape of Iyengar Yoga. Who has access to this profound practice? Who is missing from the room? Why?

Transformation is the gap between witnessing and doing.

Transformation is the birthplace of reflection—that place in time where there is nothing being done.

Peggy Gwi-Seok Hong

On one hand, yoga is indeed timeless and universal. We know this in our bones; we experience this through all five sheaths of the kosa in every asana. The universality of yoga is so powerful, we need not “work” on it. Instead, what I feel called to question is the particularity of yoga in my local community.

What is the experience of Iyengar Yoga for bodies that have been marked by society as inferior? Dark-skinned, queer, transgender, or fat people? What about those harmed by poverty, police brutality, exploitative labor practices, lack of documentation/citizenship, or refugee status? Do those who have been pushed to the margins of society have access to the healing and transformative power of Iyengar Yoga?

Transformation is when I free myself from the boundaries of time by noticing the moments in between beginnings and endings. Like where the breath turns from in to out—and that brief khumbak in between.

The pregnant pause holds the possibility of transformation where there is no doing, only being in the now.

The stilling of the fluctuations is the transformation of the pause between moments.

The pause gives birth to the stilling of the fluctuations.

When the adjustments stop, transformation begins. At the end of movement, that space of stillness gives room for transformation to be noticed—where there is stillness and being and not doing.

Yoga may be the last thing on someone’s mind if they’re insecure about their next meal or how to make rent. But let’s not forget Guruji’s struggles in his early days. In his autobiography, he recalls that some days he had rice and water—some days, just water. Yet he poured himself into yoga, his only possibility of survival. Even—or especially—for someone experiencing stress and trauma, how useful could a few minutes in Supta Baddha Konasana or Chair Bharadvajasana be? A little Trikonasana can go a very long way.

I believe 21st-century Iyengar Yoga in the U.S. must address “Parinama of Community.” How do we expand our boundaries and transform our communities to be truly inclusive, safe, and welcoming for all? Even I, as an experienced practitioner, have sometimes felt silenced, marginalized, or tokenized in yoga studios, where I have often been the only nonwhite person.

What might others outside of the typical yoga demographic be experiencing? Can we engage, explore, and transform ourselves and our communities to be truly welcoming?

Naghmeh Ahi

Peggy Gwi-Seok Hong Intermediate Junior III Detroit, MI

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

Naghmeh Ahi Intermediate Junior III Brooklyn, NY

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IYENGAR YOGA ON A MILITARY BASE HOW ACTIVE DUTY SOLDIERS, VETERANS, AND RETIREES ARE TRANSFORMING THEIR FITNESS ROUTINES—AND THEIR LIVES

BY DIANA MARTINEZ

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rom the beginning of my yoga studies, the sloka at the top of the next page has been ingrained in my memory.

The remembrance of its truth has helped me overcome obstacles, both spiritual and practical, in my yoga path, and has helped me stay focused so that I might persevere to see the results of my passion for the art of yoga.

When I first began my journey as a yoga instructor in 1998, my classes were held at Fort Lee, Virginia, a military installation, teeming with soldiers and their immediate families. These first classes had an attendance of two students. I persevered through those humble days, refined my craft, and worked to foster a new community. Now I teach three classes per week with an average of 18 students per class.

Fort Lee is the home of the U.S. Army Quartermaster School, the U.S. Army Ordnance School, the U.S. Army Transportation School, and the Army Logistics University. Many of the soldiers stationed here don’t stay for long. Within this transient community, I have seen scores of my students depart Fort Lee, but many return to my yoga classes when they are restationed at Fort Lee to further their military education.

The classes are a mixed group: active duty soldiers, retirees, veterans, spouses, and civilians.

On Aug. 12, 2015, I had the great opportunity to teach about 1,100 soldiers as part of a Fitness Awareness week in conjunction with former Lakers’ basketball player, John Salley.

Preparing for Urdhva Hastasana: Diana Martinez teaches, and John Salley follows instructions.

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Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

“ Reshape yourself through the power of your will; never let yourself be degraded by self-will. The will is the only friend of the Self, and the will is the only enemy of the Self.”—The Bhagavad Gita, VI.5 As a result of this event, the interest and curiosity about yoga has increased so much that I now receive a great number of inquiries and requests to teach yoga classes as part of the physical training at Fort Lee. The experience has been more than rewarding. Many of the soldiers tell me that the class is challenging because they are using different muscles than they are used to in their standard training but that they feel great afterward. Some of them have even said that their aches and pains have diminished, helping them to focus on the other tasks they have to perform in their line of duty.

THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF THEIR STORIES:

Major Alexia N. Fields, Active Duty and Active Reserve “I have been practicing yoga since 2005 when I first came to Fort Lee, through two deployments and moving and returning to Fort Lee. I even met my husband in yoga class. I was able to practice yoga all the way leading up to and through the delivery of two full-term healthy children. I continue the practice at home with DVDs—a gift from my wonderful instructor, Diana, many years ago during my first pregnancy. When I cannot get to a class I use a DVD at least once a week. While I practice at home, my boys, ages 3 and 1, practice with me, so I am teaching them healthy habits that will last them a lifetime.

“Yoga, for me, was part of the journey of self-discovery. I always enjoyed exercising and I was searching for something to balance out the running that I was doing in the Army. Iyengar Yoga is where I found my niche because the strength training and poses were the right balance for my muscles and my body.

My yoga practice has had long-lasting and long-reaching benefits to my Army Physical Fitness Test. My body is capable of so much more than I ever thought possible.

“My goal is to age gracefully and soundly in this body that I have been gifted, and Iyengar Yoga is part of my journey. For a good portion of my life I have practiced, and my goal is to continue to practice for the rest of my life. I continue to serve my nation as a soldier in part because of my continued yoga practice.”

Richard Nelson, Retired Army Chief Warrant Officer “My wife and I have been taking yoga classes for the past 12 months at Fort Lee. Multiple things brought me to yoga. The main one was to get more flexibility and help with some of my medical disabilities: back and knee issues. I also wanted to understand my mind and body through the use of yoga.

Besides this, I wanted to offset my other exercise routines: road Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

bicycling, walking, and working out on weight machines.

“Since I started taking classes, I have more energy and my joints do not bother me as much. I used to have a constant pain in my back, knees, and other joints around a pain scale of 7 (Scale 0–10). Now it is usually around 3 and mainly for my lower back as I have arthritis in my back and 2 degenerative discs.

“I have tried other disciplines of yoga, and the one thing I enjoy about Iyengar Yoga is the focus on proper positioning for all the poses and the variations if there are physical limitations. In some of the other yoga classes I have taken, the instructor tells us what we are supposed to do but doesn’t make sure we are in the correct position. I feel our Iyengar Yoga instructor wants to ensure that we get the most out of the practice, teaching why we do certain poses and being aware of what is happening physically and mentally.

“Since my wife and I have been taking yoga, it has helped us understand our bodies and what affects them. We have learned to control our minds when we have had a stressful day. Using what we have learned helps us relax, and we sleep a lot deeper.”

Lorna King, Army Veteran “Before I started Iyengar Yoga, I had been going to a chiropractor for over a year for my back issues (three herniated discs), and my back wasn’t getting any better. I endured various injuries when I was in the service that seem to get aggravated as I get older. Besides my back, I have a slipped shoulder; a torn meniscus; and arthritis on both knees, ankles, and elbow.

“In January 2014, I invited Diana Martinez to do a yoga demonstration at my program forum, and I instantly felt the difference in my lower back and shoulders. I decided to take Diana’s Iyengar Yoga class, and within three months, I was able to walk two miles without feeling pain in my lower back. I started to alternate walking and jogging. In November 2014, I ran the Wounded Warrior 8K run in Norfolk, Virginia!”

Sergeant Jeffrey Criswell, Active Duty “I first tried yoga in college before I joined the Army, and while I felt the benefits from it, I found it difficult to keep it up on a regular basis. Since I arrived at Fort Lee in April 2014, I have been taking classes with Diana. I originally wanted to try yoga because I saw it as a low-impact exercise routine that I could use to help recover between run days. I usually run three or four days a week, running an average of 30–40 miles per week, and I thought that the stretches in yoga would help me stay loose during off days as well as offer a workout that was gentler on 11

“ ... Little by little, through patience and repeated effort, the mind will become stilled in the Self.”—The Bhagavad Gita, VI.24

Soldiers follow instructions on Virabhadrasana II. In the background on the stage: Diana Martinez and John Salley.

my knees and hips. After just a few classes, I realized, on a day after a long run, that my body felt noticeably better if I was able to make it to a yoga class. Not only that, but it was also a great core workout, so I decided to try and make yoga a regular part of my weekly routine.

“I enjoy Iyengar Yoga much more than other types of yoga I have tried. Specifically, I think holding the poses promotes strength not only in the major muscle groups but also in the smaller, accessory muscles. Another aspect that I think yoga has helped me with is just a general awareness of the body and how to use proper form and alignment to get a better workout outside of class. During morning PT, especially during the preparation drill and recovery drill, I often remind myself of things I’ve learned in yoga class to help ensure that I’m doing a stretch properly. There are numerous similarities between many of the stretches and exercises we do in PT and several yoga poses. In contrast, I often see other soldiers having trouble with the stretches or claiming that they are difficult, and I can immediately see that their improper form is affecting their ability to do the exercise.

“One of the biggest benefits I find from Iyengar Yoga is the psychological benefits. During and after each class, we usually take time to spend a few minutes in silent reflection. This is a 12

very peaceful and relaxing time that, on days I don’t go to class, I often don’t get. Being in the military can be a very stressful job, and it’s no secret that many soldiers have difficulty dealing with the level of stress. I think that if more soldiers took the opportunity to come to these free classes, they would easily feel the benefits of Iyengar Yoga in their lives.”

Major Alexia N. Fields “Yoga has been part of centering me through the storm. The military reminds you that the complete soldier package is to be whole spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Iyengar Yoga has helped me to stay spiritually and physically fit through multiple deployments—both my own and my husband’s—and through the uncertainty, stress, and strain of many challenging situations. There is nothing that has helped me more, other than my faith. Yoga has been a constant companion on this journey that is the military life.”

Diana Martinez (Intermediate Junior II) works at Fort Lee, VA, where she manages the Aquatics, Arts & Crafts, and Fitness programs. She teaches yoga at Fort Lee and in her home studio. She has also served as the IYASE Membership Chair and Co-Chair for the Maitri Conference. She is currently serving as the IYNAUS Membership Chair.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

CHANTING: DOES IT PRODUCE PARINAMA?

BY LESLIE FREYBERG

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n her Friday evening classes in Boston, Patricia Walden begins by having everyone gather around and read a selection of sutras concerning a specific theme. On one particular evening, the subject of discussion was Isvara pranidhana .

Aloud, we read the following sutras , first in Sanskrit, then the English translation provided by B.K.S. Iyengar:

I.23 Isvara-pranidhanad va The citta may be restrained by profound meditation upon God and total surrender to Him. II.1 tapas svadhyayesvara-pranidhanani kriya yogah Burning zeal in practice, self-study, and study of scriptures, and surrender to God are the acts of yoga.

II.45 samadhi-siddhir Isvara pranidhanat Surrender to God brings perfection in Samadhi.

After a brief discussion of these sutras, Patricia encouraged the class to take on any sutras of our own choosing and to incorporate the study of them into our sadhana. To give more meaning (artha) to our asana practice, she suggested that we find a single sutra that resonates within us. She further suggested that if we repeat that sutra either out loud or silently, its meaning can become embedded in our hearts, giving us an understanding of its message that goes beyond what can be found from dictionaries and analytical understanding.

Patricia’s words reminded me that there really is something to feeling the vibration of a meaningful and potent message and that the vibration itself can help us navigate difficult times or appreciate the joys and good fortunes that come our way.

With these words, Patricia planted a seed of faith into our consciousness and left us to water that faith (sraddha) with practice.

Many of us know the uplifting feeling we get when hearing great music, whether it be one of Beethoven’s glorious symphonies, the work of the latest popular music idol, or, perhaps for our community, attending a kirtan with Krishna Das. B.K.S. Iyengar refers to the chanting of Nataraj Shastrigal and his group of chanters as melodious and beautiful. Regardless of our cultural background and its dictates of what a beautiful sound should be, it would be difficult to imagine a life without music. Vibration! Glorious sound! We define Parinama as “transformation.” And don’t we all feel a little bit—or maybe a whole lot—transformed by being uplifted at a wonderful

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concert? All we have to do is sit and listen. Aahh! Sit still! Listen!

I have found that when I truly listen to a concert of Beethoven, Brahms, or Mozart, if I am lucky, my concentration moves into uninterrupted attention, and then, if I am really lucky, I get absorbed completely in the music. For a brief period of time, there is nothing in my world except the music and me. And this, for me, is bliss.

Much of the music in the Western world has been composed to express faith in God. Chanting, in the part of the world we have come to know as India, all came out of the desire to express one’s faith in, and adoration of, God. Certainly, if we want to witness “faith in action” today, all we have to do is attend one of Krishna Das’s concerts. No one questions that what he does comes from a deep devotion to his chosen deity (ishta devata) and to his guru, who was likely inspired by his own faith in God. We benefit from the devotion of Krishna Das by feeling and hearing the vibration of his sonorous voice, which is steeped in devotion. This experience often puts us in a state of inexplicable joy! Might this be parinama? And whose parinama is it? Krishna Das’s, or ours?

Our study of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali reveals that the term “parinama” appears for the first time in the second chapter, in examining the nature of suffering. This word does not appear again until after the exposition and definition of the final three limbs of yoga, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi in the third chapter. Here, parinama is presented as a result of the

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On hearing the sound of a word, a spurting up of meaning happens in the mind. This is a mental process, but how a mere sound is transformed into a meaning that flashes in the mind is unknown to us. word, a spurting up of meaning happens in the mind. This is a mental process, but how a mere sound is transformed into a meaning that flashes in the mind is unknown to us. This unknown element is technically called sakti (power). What we can say about it is that this wonder belongs to the divine aspect in all of us in general.”

This passage brings my attention back to Sutra III.17. Dr. Edwin Bryant, in The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, gives us insight into the meaning of this sutra:

Leslie chanting with her dog, Henley

integration of those final three limbs and as a means to gain special knowledge and abilities: III.16 Parinama traya samyamad atitanagata jnanam By mastery of the three transformations of nature (dharma), quality (laksana), and condition (avastha), through samyama on the nirodha, samadhi, and ekagrata states of consciousness, the yogi acquires knowledge of the past and the future.

III.17 sabdartha-pratyayanam itaretaradhyasat sankaras tat-pravibhaga-samyamat sarva-bhuta-ruta jnanam Words, objects, and ideas are superimposed, creating confusion; by samyama, one gains knowledge of the language of all beings.

According to Swami Muni Narayana Prasad in his book, The Taittiriya Upanisad: “Knowledge, when expressed through language, has three basic elements: the uttered sound (sabda), its meaning (artha), and the mysterious power of a sound to contain a meaning as its own (sakti). When a sound is uttered, the hearer hears only a mere sound. Uttering a word and hearing it as a sound are both physical aspects of the process. On hearing the sound of a

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“… Patanjali notes in this sutra that there is a distinction between a ‘word,’ sabda; its ‘meaning’ or the object that it denotes, artha; and the idea or knowledge of the object that it creates in the mind, pratyaya. ... To explain ... samyama and the ability to understand the speech of all creatures, the commentators embark on a discussion of sphota theory. By manipulation of air in the speaker’s mouth, the organ of speech articulates the sound or set of sounds ... which then vibrate in the air and move toward the hearer’s organ of ear, the ear drum, which receives the sounds of the word uttered. Sounds have the potential of expressing all objects ... it is only their particular sequence that determines which specific object the speaker intends to convey. As each sound of a word is uttered, an impression or trace is left on the mind even though the sound fades away. As the last sound is uttered, the memory connects the samskaras or imprints of the syllables, and the mind construes meaning from the entirety of the impressions of the phonemes. ... Once received by the ear, the word manifests its meaning in the mind of the hearer, which is a function of the mind and not of sound. ... How is meaning construed from this jumble of sounds? Is meaning inherent in the sounds themselves, or is it something separate? ... There must be something ... that underpins and unites these letters such that a meaning can be produced from them. This is considered to be the sphota, the permanent meaning-bearing aspect of the word.

A word or meaning signifier, sabda, is called sphota, because a meaning, artha, bursts forth (sphutati) from it.”

When we chant, is it enough to just focus on the vibrations of the sounds we make, or is it essential to understand the meaning of the chant?

In the Amrta-Bindu-Upanishat, there is a passage that says, “One who is deeply steeped in Brahman in the form of sound, will attain Brahman.” Attaining Brahman may or may not be the

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

Having studied extensively with Sonia Nelson, a devoted student of Desikachar and renowned in her own right as one of the most highly respected teachers of Vedic chanting in the U.S., I have come to appreciate my own experience of the power of the Sanskrit sounds same thing as “Tada drastuh svarupe avasthanam,” in which the seer gains sight of the soul, as stated by Patanjali. But we have definitely entered into the realm of divinity at this point in our study. When this happens, like it or not, we have crossed the threshold of faith. Sraddha!

Whatever the goal, the art of chanting is considered to be a form of yoga, and the tools used to perfect the art of chanting are the same as the ones Patanjali prescribes for yoga.

Starting with the Vedas, the tradition of chanting began in a world in which there was no written record of mantras or prayers. All sacred texts were believed to have been heard (sruti) because they were the word of God, messages from a divine consciousness sent to mankind by way of the one who heard the messages, a sage or muni. These messages were then orally transmitted from teacher to student as a means to preserve the sacred words in the most unpolluted way possible.

The attainment of success in this endeavor must have required much tapas and concentration, not to mention faith, on the part of both teacher and student.

Perhaps it was during this period when Sanskrit was refined and then emerged as a language whose power and beauty became dependent upon the quality of sounds produced.

Sound is audible vibration. Making the sounds gave such meaningful experience to the practitioner that it may have overshadowed the effects on the listener.

Grasping the Sanskrit language begins with learning the five locations in the mouth where a Sanskrit sound can be made. From that point, the tongue is taught to shape itself to create different qualities of sound. When we take on the activity of chanting a Sanskrit syllable, word, or mantra, focusing our attention on where and how to produce a sound and a sequence of sounds, it requires concentration, Dharana. Once we engage ourselves in learning to chant a Sanskrit mantra properly, we are on our way toward the threefold and integrated samyama.

“Mantras are powerful sounds, which when pronounced in the right manner and with the right intention, produce specific vibrations within our body. These vibrations have the ability to positively influence our physiological state, thereby improving physical, mental, and emotional health.”

Having studied extensively with Sonia Nelson, a devoted student of Desikachar and renowned in her own right as one of the most highly respected teachers of Vedic chanting in the U.S., I have come to appreciate my own experience of the power of the Sanskrit sounds. When making these sounds together in a large group, there is nothing quite like the experience of power and joy—particularly when chanting a text like the Taittiriya Upanishad.

In the end, however, I am not so sure that whatever type of parinama I may have experienced is equal to the parinama that is nourished by faith in the text I am chanting. Possession of that faith comes from constant study of its meaning. Then I have to determine whether or not I accept the message as truth. If I do, then I am free to continue to chant wholeheartedly, and joy indeed increases. That joy penetrates my consciousness with as much depth as my intentions and efforts will allow. Of that, I have no doubt. Even if we do not know the meaning of what we are chanting, we get benefits from it. But knowing the meaning of what we are chanting obviously gives us a richer experience and access to a deeper sensation of joy.

vag arthav iva samprktau, vag artha pratipattaye.

Jagatah pitarau vande, Parvati, Parameshvarau.

“For the right comprehension of words and their senses, I salute Parvati (the mountain’s daughter) and Paramesvara (Siva), the parents of the universe, who are [perpetually] united like words and their meanings.” (Kalidasa, The Raghuvamsa, Translation: M.R. Hale) That said, I am moved to add that, in my experience of chanting, and even of teaching Sanskrit, the Sanskrit sounds draw in the animals. Birds, cats, dogs, and even rabbits respond to chanting. Our Cocker Spaniel Henley will not let me finish my morning coffee in peace until I sit myself down on his bed and chant. As soon as he hears the invocation, he settles down in my lap, closes his eyes, and remains there. Perhaps chanting, like yoga, is for everyone.

Leslie Freyberg (Intermediate Junior I) is an Iyengar Yoga teacher and also teaches Sanskrit and Vedic chanting.

If we agree that acquisition of parinama is something beneficial, the words of T.K.V. Desikachar contribute something of value here. In his book, Mantravalli, An Anthology of Sacred Chants, he says:

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

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Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

AN IYENGAR YOGA COMMUNITY IS EVOLVING IN IDAHO

BY SUSAN LAMBERSON

S

ix Idaho women, ages 38 to 68, came together in early 2014 to study for Iyengar Yoga certification. We formed a cohort to prepare for the 2015 assessment cycle. While each member took her own path to the assessment, the time taken to study together provided an opportunity to hone personal practice, develop teaching skills, and build friendships. While some, if not all, of us would have passed assessment without the group, the experience brought heart and humor to this challenging and time-intensive effort. All six of us passed our assessments and are now certified Introductory Iyengar Yoga teachers. We currently teach from a solid foundation in the Iyengar Yoga method that benefits our students, the Idaho yoga world, and our individual practices.

The group included Barbara Harris, Barb Sato, Jenn Tigli, me (Susan Lamberson)—all from Boise—as well as LaLanne Dehlis from Burley, Idaho (population 3,000), and Dana Perkins from Stanley, Idaho (population 265). Most of us sought the combined Level I and II certification. Dana already possessed Level I certification and joined us to prepare for Level II. In December 2013, Randy Just visited Boise and offered teacher training and encouragement for us to work toward certification.

Our fledgling group decided to meet and form a cohort to study together. We were fortunate to have Vickie Aldridge and Don Gura, both of Boise, mentor us. Our senior teachers were Mary Obendorfer, Rebecca Lerner, and Randy Just.

Here are some notes from each member of the group on how the experience transformed our individual practices, our relationship to the certification process, and our relationship to each other.

Front: Dana Perkins, Barb Sato; middle: Susan Lamberson, Barbara Harris; back: LaLanne Delis, Jenn Tigli

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“ When we started, I was the only one who had never taught a class. That could have been pretty intimidating, but we established our sessions as a safe place right from the start.”

Dana Perkins

Barb Sato

“Our study group of six teachers met once a month for a little over a year. One teacher was assigned to be in charge of the monthly session and prepared an itinerary for the rest of us. The itinerary was sent out a couple of weeks before our meeting and was drawn from the requirements listed in the 2015 Certification Manual. We’d sit and quiz each other, teach a pose, and discuss the essential actions and direction of each asana. We sometimes pulled an asana “out of a hat” and taught it on the fly.

“When we started, I was the only one who had never taught a class. That could have been pretty intimidating, but we established our sessions as a safe place right from the start.

Even though we would critique each other’s teaching performance, the feedback would always be offered from a place of love. From that base, not only have we deepened our practice of yoga, we have developed a strong bond of friendship.

“As our assessment time drew near, we each videoed a 40-minute mock assessment with real students. Vickie Aldridge, owner of the Boise Yoga Center, was generous enough to let us use the studio for our four-hour afternoon sessions. We became a close-knit group of friends (and dining companions!).”

LaLanne Delis “I still consider myself a student every day because passing the first assessment is only the beginning. I learn from my students as B.K.S. Iyengar suggested we do. They were the drive I needed to complete the test. I was fortunate to be included in a study group of six, which kept me organized and on track.

“Seeing the transformation in my students with the better teaching skills I gained kept me pushing forward toward the actual assessment. In my life, I am a wife, mother, boss, teacher, and volunteer. I take each job seriously. But as I become the teacher I am inspired to be, I have moved ‘yoga teacher’ to the No. 1 spot.

“The study group helped keep my focus alive. I live 200 miles away from the rest of the group, and many times I didn’t want to spend that much time on the road driving there to study. But somehow I knew I would regret not going, and now I see the gift of working with each person in the group. We all had our own ways of preparing and performing. Some were more advanced than others, but no one ever stood on a higher pedestal. We also didn’t have to give up our individual style to conform to ‘the perfect yoga teacher.’

“Keeping in mind the Yamas and Niyamas, we formed together in a peaceful collaboration and conquered the uncomfortable and unfamiliar. We urged each other to keep going and jump those obstacles that tried to get in the way. We left our egos at the door. We had fun and we made fun, but we always kept the goal in sight. We all are proud to become part of the Iyengar Yoga teacher family.”

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“Now that we have successfully passed the certification assessment and our future paths begin to spread out in different directions, we still plan to meet occasionally to share practice tips on asana and teaching, test out new adjustment or prop techniques, discuss different approaches to the business of yoga, or just enjoy camaraderie in general.

Whatever our sessions evolve to be, I’ll treasure the time spent in this company.”

Barbara Harris “I started down the Iyengar Yoga certification path on two or three occasions but got sidetracked by family or career. When I retired, I felt that I was really too old to work on certification. I felt it was among the opportunities that had passed me by. I was still just as driven to learn about my practice and to dig into the Iyengar way, I just did not see the point of certification as I approached 70 years old.

“Then I began to work with this group of younger women who were determined to become certified Iyengar Yoga teachers.

I loved studying with them. They had energy and joy and were so eager to follow the yoga path. I followed along, offering whatever I could to the process, learning as well, and enjoying their energy.

“During the year of intense study before certification, I lost my brother to cancer. His death shook my foundation in ways I could not have imagined. It took all the strength I had just to get up in the morning and to keep up with my daily practice. The rigors of certification were out of the question (I thought). My mentors, Vickie and Mary, as well as those future compassionate and loving teachers, gave me their strength and encouragement.

These people and yoga pulled me through. They convinced me to focus on what life had to offer while I had the chance. First on the agenda: Get that certification.

“It was the best thing I could do to address the grief and to carry me forward. I passed certification just short of a year after my brother passed. For over 20 years now, Iyengar Yoga has

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“ We all had our own ways of preparing and performing. Some were more advanced than others, but no one ever stood on a higher pedestal.”

pushed, prodded, nudged, and kicked me down the path to a better place. Yoga is still working its magic on me. I am so grateful for all the love and pain that has brought me to this place in my life and look forward to what it has to show me in the future.”

Susan Lamberson “It is well-documented that the journey of yoga is transformative.

Indeed, I have been transformed by yoga. From my first look at a Richard Hittleman book to becoming an Iyengar Yoga student to teaching, this path has enhanced my health and well-being. I have had the great privilege of being able to pass yoga on through teaching.

“I found Iyengar Yoga and apprenticed with Bobbi Goldin in south Florida in the 1990s. Soon I moved to a rural town in California where I taught for several years. I attended workshops at least annually. When I moved to Boise, I did not intend to teach, but I did feel a need to be a student in earnest as I had not formally studied for some time. I had not gone up for

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assessment because my life as a householder and stage fright had put that goal on the back burner.

“However, outer (recession and slow job market) and inner (effects of recession and slow job market) circumstances dictated that I return to a diligent practice. I discovered that I missed teaching and began substituting at Boise Yoga Center.

“It was around this time that I joined a study group of women whose life paths wove together for the common purpose of becoming Certified Iyengar Yoga Teachers. We studied diligently, and our students noticed. My stage fright eased, and I was able to go up for assessment—thanks to the support and encouragement of my cohort. All of us are now teaching yoga. Meetings are less frequent, but I do value our friendship and bond. We still work together to hone and improve our teaching skills.”

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YOGA AND SCIENCE PART III: SAMADHI

BY SIE G FR I E D B LE H ER A N D J A R V IS C H EN Siegfried Bleher

Jarvis Chen Photo: Travis L. Kelley

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n the third and final part of their conversation on yoga and science, Intermediate Junior III Iyengar Yoga teachers Jarvis Chen and Siegfried Bleher consider whether science can (and should) study Samadhi . In Part I, they discussed the idea that the way we practice yoga and the deep internal subjective states yoga leads to may require a way of knowing that is foreign to science as we currently practice it. In Part II, they looked at the many layers of being one can touch in the practice of Utthita Trikonasana and asked which of these are accessible to science. An important question they considered in Part II is how do either yoga or science deal with the study of something like our mind when the instrument we use to conduct the study is itself the mind? In the final part, the conversation returns to ways of knowing. The way we know and experience our world, as a particular aspect of citta , undergoes transformation ( parinama) through the practice of yoga.

Siegfried Bleher: At the end of our last conversation, we promised to talk about the nature of Samadhi and whether science can study Samadhi. I thought we could discuss these questions: What is the nature of Samadhi as it is presented in the Yoga Sutras? What are the conditions necessary and sufficient to lead to the experience of Samadhi? What are the transformations in citta and the mahabhutas that coincide with progress toward the experience of Samadhi? What is the process that is experienced on the way toward Samadhi? And, last, what does science have to say about any of these things?

Jarvis Chen: Okay, let’s talk about these points.

SB: We have several sutras that talk about Samadhi. Sutra I.17 talks about the four kinds of samprajnata Samadhi. In Sutra I.18, Patanjali talks about a special kind of state—virama pratyaya— that he doesn’t specifically call Samadhi, but we know he is referring to asamprajnata Samadhi. And then later on in Sutra I.41, he talks about the coincidence between grasper, grasping, and grasped.

JC: Right, in Sutra I.41 ksinavrtteh abhijatasya iva maneh grahitr grahana grahyesu tatstha-tadanjanata samapattih: “The yogi realizes that the knower, the instrument of knowing, and the known are one, himself, the seer. Like a pure transparent jewel, he reflects an unsullied purity” (B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanajali).

SB: So he talks about Samadhi by introducing the term samapatti, which means “coincidence”—a facet of Samadhi.

There are several of those sutras in Samadhi Pada (I.41–I.51), and then he comes back to Samadhi in Sadhana Pada, where he talks about the conditions for Samadhi to occur—grace being a necessary condition. And then in the third Pada, he gives us yet another definition of Samadhi as the culmination of Ashtanga Yoga. So what strikes me is that the idea of coincidence of 20

observer, observing, and observed is key to understanding Samadhi. But that coincidence is the culmination of a process of transformation in citta (parinama), as well as in the bhutas, in the experience of our body. This ties in with what we spoke about last time, about the role that perception plays.

JC: I think this is a good place to start. This is somewhat of an aside but may be related: I have been thinking about the way inquiry is conducted in quantitative versus the qualitative sciences.

For example, I am more of a quantitative social scientist, so I tend to think in terms of populations and replicability and quantitative observation. But there is an equally rigorous science for the more qualitative social sciences like anthropology, where a deep inquiry can be conducted—studying deeply the experience of one or two people who are interviewed at length, or even the participant observation of anthropologists who immerse themselves in field work where their study is conducted from their position of subjectivity—of being an observer who is immersed in that community or environment. I have been thinking that the way we know, or study, or experience the science of yoga is more along these lines—we have our own personal experience that we delve into with great penetrating inquiry, where we are also cognizant of our own subjectivity. And this question: How can we know when the instrument of knowing is part of what we are trying to understand itself? How do we understand the instrument of knowing when it’s part of this prakrti we are trying to observe in the first place? So, I think that kind of perspective on the inquiry we’re conducting is an equally rigorous scientific perspective, but it is one where subjectivity itself becomes part of our inquiry as both that which we are trying to know and also the instrument by which we are knowing.

JC: I am reminded of the sutra you quoted, I.41, about the grasper, that which is grasped, and the instrument of grasping when it comes to the question of perception. I was just rereading Sutra I.17 because Patricia was talking about it. In his translation of the Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

So, I think that kind of perspective on the inquiry we’re conducting is an equally rigorous scientific perspective, but it is one where subjectivity itself becomes part of our inquiry as both that which we are trying to know and also the instrument by which we are knowing.

Yoga Sutras, Edwin Bryant talks about the classical commentaries on vitarka, vicara, ananda, and asmita samprajnatas. He talks about these as four stages of samprajnata Samadhi that all have a form of support (alambana): “The consciousness of the purusha is still flowing through the prakrtic citta to connect with or be supported by an object in meditational focus, albeit in progressively more subtle ways.” Vacaspati Misra talks about vitarka Samadhi as being contemplation on a gross physical object, that is to say, meditating on an object that one experiences as a manifestation or construct of the gross physical and material elements. And then he talks about vicara Samadhi as involving absorption on the more subtle aspects of the object of meditation—to go from the gross elements, the mahabhutas, to the five tanmatras, the five subtle elements. And then progressively going through ananda and asmita rupa, going to more and more subtle levels of prakrti. In the yoga system, buddhi itself, the thing we are using to observe and to discern is itself part of that prakrtic matrix. But it is the subtle instrument of knowing. I am understanding more the transformation inherent in Guruji’s teaching: moving from gross physical actions in the arms and the legs, the bones and muscles and flesh to understanding the elements at play in the body to the subtle aspects of the elements, the tanmatras. I feel like the progression from vitarka to vicara to ananda to asmita rupa—the form of the self—is what Guruji is teaching us to do in the way we approach asana as observers embedded in this prakrtic body.

SB: Well, I think that segues right into the fourth topic—experience of Samadhi as a process. Not that you and I can talk about it as something we can claim to have experienced, but that the practice we have learned from Guruji can be seen as a kind of metaphor for the process of moving toward Samadhi as a process. As we discussed in Part II, my practice of Utthita Trikonasana evolves from attention to simple movements and the quality of solidity (earth element) to attention to fluidity (water element) and eventually the subtle elements (tanmatras). Each one of these changes in how we experience the physical body coincides with a change in the mind, a change in citta. For example, when I firm my thigh, I “do something.” To perform a connected or paired action, I must do one thing and do something else at the same time. Which means, really, I must keep the first thing but not be the agent (the doer) of that thing and add something else. So you can think of it as doing two things at the same time or as doing one thing—let’s say I press my inner foot down—but at the same time I have to not press my foot down in order to turn my thigh out. So if I am referring to the front leg in Utthita Trikonasana, in order to Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

perform one single point, which is pressing the ball of my big toe—that’s the first thing I learn as a beginner. But later on I have to learn to turn my thigh out while pressing the big toe ball mound.

That’s not only going to lead to a change in how I experience my body, but it requires that I have already changed something in how I relate to the physical body—which is a change in citta, how I use my mind. The particular state of mind that is able to do and not do at the same time is one that is undergoing nirodha parinama, the first of three transformations in the mind. The next kind is Samadhi parinama, learning how to do many things at once (sutra III.11, sarvathata ekagratayoh ksaya udaya cittasya Samadhi parinamah)—in which “all objectness” dwindles and onepointedness arises. I replace many actions that are to happen at the same time with a single action that performs all the individual actions. And this comes with a corresponding change in how we perceive the physical body.

SB: How do I make the connection between the transformative process I described, which is closely linked to Guruji’s method, to the process that Patanjali describes on the way to samapatti or samprajnata? One thing we notice in I.17 is that Patanjali does list the different types of Samadhi in a particular order. He starts with vitarka, then vicara, and so on. We can read this list as implying that one is grosser than the other. Let’s say I sit in meditation Tuesday night and focus on some physical object. But on Wednesday night, I try something more subtle, like the warmth of the candle (a tanmatra). And on Thursday, I focus on ananda. But I don’t think that’s what Patanjali intends. Another reading is from Prashant Iyengar. His interpretation (as I understand it) is that meditation begins with a gross object, but that within one sitting the meditation becomes more subtle.

JC: I think that’s right, because the subtle is actually inherent in the gross object—the subtle is already there.

SB: Yes, so when discernment (viveka) continues, while you are in vitarka samprajnata, then being one with the object of meditation reveals the subtle aspect distinct from the gross aspect, and the gross aspect can be dropped. Once the gross aspect is dropped, what remains is the subtle aspect and the state of vicara samprajnata. If the meditation continues, then the bliss or ananda that is already present becomes more prominent than the tanmatra or the quality of reflection, and vicara can be dropped.

But embedded within the ananda there is the quality of I-am-ness: “I am having an experience.” (And asmita becomes more prominent than ananda.)

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So the moment when we shift from contemplation of the object to the senses as the instruments of perceiving, that is a further shift inward to the more subtle—to asmita rupa to “I-am-ness.”

JC: To make this more concrete, I’ll refer to I.41 where Patanjali talks about grahitr, grahana, and graheysu (grasper, instrument of grasping, and the object that is grasped). The traditional commentaries talk about vitarka and vicara as referring to the external objects’ gross form and their subtle aspects or tanmatras.

As the shift occurs toward ananda, the shift comes to the senses themselves as the perceiver. This is where we shift from that which is grasped to the instrument of grasping. Which is already there— the nature of mind is that it pervades everything. So the moment when we shift from contemplation of the object to the senses as the instruments of perceiving, that is a further shift inward to the more subtle—to asmita rupa to “I-am-ness.”

SB: Well that brings up an interesting question: If it is Samadhi at all, then there is complete coincidence among perceiver, the instrument of perceiving, and the object being perceived. So if there is coincidence of all three, then what is it that is ”shifting” from vitarka to vicara, from vicara to ananda, or from contemplation of the object to contemplation of the instruments of observation?

JC: “Shifting” is an interesting word. Perception is shifting, but actually shifting implies that something is moving from one place to another. What I would say is that perception is expanding; perception is realizing it is fully present in all three aspects. Is that reasonable?

SB: Well, that brings up another transformation, which is transformation in ways or forms of knowing (which ties us back to our first conversation). In the sutras, we move from pramana, which is correct cognition, to jnana, which is insight. And then to prajna, which is transcendental insight, to viveka khyater, vision of discernment. (What is common among all these ways of knowing is discernment—viveka. And the change from one form to another coincides with the different levels of gunas listed in Sutra II.19.) So each of these is a deeper way of knowing than the previous way.

So the shifting you are talking about is perhaps a shift or change in the way of knowing. Otherwise we get trapped: Each of the four kinds of samprajnata represents a coincidence of all three aspects—perceiver, instrument of perception, and object being perceived—so there shouldn’t be any ”shifting” among them. In the experience of Samadhi, all four kinds [of Samadhi] are embedded, and we know of each through a distinct form of knowing.

SB: Now all of these are still connected to some form of support (alambana), as opposed to asamprajnata Samadhi. Moving from 22

samprajnata Samadhi to asamprajnata Samadhi requires viveka khyater (Sutra II.26). This term is presented in Sutra II.26 as a means for ceasing avidya (spiritual ignorance), but it is also mentioned in Sutras IV:25, 26, and 29 as a way of seeing the distinction between purusha and the most sattvic form of citta.

Finally seeing that distinction is what culminates in kaivalya, as I understand it.

JC: In the first pada, around I.48, there is a description of prajna that occurs in asamprajnata Samadhi: “insight of the kind that follows nirvicara Samadhi is truth-bearing.”

SB: Yes, that’s what I was calling transcendental insight—which Patanjali distinguishes from jnana in I.49.

SB: So far we have gone over ways of knowing (pramana, jnana, prajna, viveka khyater). What are the conditions for attaining Samadhi?

JC: We are given ways of creating the conditions for Samadhi (Samadhi bhavanata) in Sadhana Pada.

JC: In chapter two we have Sutra II.1 tapas, svadhyaya, isvara pranidhana kriya yogah, which describes kriya yoga, but these three practices are also described in Sutra II.2 as Samadhi bhavanata, conditions that bring about Samadhi.

SB: And we are given Sutra I.20 sraddha virya smrti Samadhi prajna purvaka itaresam: “Samadhi is preceded by faith, energy, memory, insight, and absorption.” Do you think these are necessary or sufficient conditions?

JC: Well, the implication is that they are necessary, but I don’t know if they are sufficient. Kriya yoga is given first to weaken klesas (klesa tanu): We cannot experience Samadhi unless we have weakened the klesas (causes of affliction), but there are probably other things that have to happen.

SB: Okay. Now let’s look at the fifth Niyama (isvara pranidhana) and Sutra II.45 Samadhi siddhir isvara pranidhanat: “Through devotion to the Lord [comes about] the attainment of Samadhi.”

JC: Which in Sutra I:23 is given as one of the other options for sadhakas who may not be supremely intense in their practices: isvara pranidhanad va: “Or Samadhi is gained through devotion to the Lord” (Edwin Bryant, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali). So Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

“Yes! Samadhi is real!” To me, getting to this point where we ask deep questions about what direction our consciousness is moving in as we get closer to selfrealization, external questions about what science has to say about Samadhi seem less relevant somehow.

presumably isvara pranidhana is actually a very important part of how we get to asamprajnata Samadhi.

SB: So that would constitute a sufficient condition for Samadhi, I would say.

JC: Well, what does he mean by “or” ? Does he mean that with isvara pranidhana—if done properly—nothing else is required?

SB: I would interpret it that way. This comes back in II.45, another example where devotion to the Lord is considered sufficient. Do you have any further thoughts about Samadhi?

JC: Because this project is an intensely personal one, the only one who can do it for you is yourself. The process of involuting consciousness and seeing the essential unity of grasper, grasping, and grasped … what would science have to say as an external description, and does it even matter? With the kind of observation that is deeply internal and deeply rigorous, do we need someone to publish a paper that says, “Yes! Samadhi is real!” To me, getting to this point where we ask deep questions about what direction our consciousness is moving in as we get closer to self-realization, external questions about what science has to say about Samadhi seem less relevant somehow. If you know for yourself, you might not care about what other people have to say about it from the outside.

SB: What I would suggest is that this reflects a natural evolution in the practitioner’s relationship to the external world: A falling away of some components of the external world that are seen to be not as meaningful as they once seemed. Along with a transformation in our physical frame and the way our minds work, there is going to be a change in the things we value. So some things will seem less important.

SB: I would also like to mention that the existence and experience of Samadhi can speak to some questions about the nature of what is “real” that modern science struggles with. For example, if I look at a sunset or a cloud and enter into a deep state of absorption where my consciousness becomes so absorbed in the cloud, and I begin to feel the cloud and what it may be like to “be” a cloud, have I imagined that? Or have I touched on some quality of a cloud that I can then take to an atmospheric scientist and say, “Here is something you might want to check out.” Or let’s say I bring to mind someone I know who lives a thousand miles away.

In the image of that person, I become absorbed, and I sense they Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

are in trouble. I phone this person and find out that yes, they are in difficulty. Does that not say to science, “Look, you are missing something by excluding events that are nonlocal or outside the normal passage of time.” And if these are real, then the science we currently practice, even qualitative research you mention—even though this includes the subjective—does not entertain the nonlocal. But Samadhi seems to imply nonlocality. How can it not, when you can “become the object of perception”? That may be just a phrase, but can science show it is more than just a phrase?

Can it show there is something objective about it, or something the meditator knows that they could not have acquired otherwise, or shouldn’t have access to, according to current (local) science?

To the extent we might answer these questions, I would say there is relevance in the (external) scientific study of Samadhi—beyond just saying what happens in someone’s brain. James Austin, who wrote Zen and the Brain, and other neuroscientists have shown that the brain undergoes clear reproducible changes when meditators enter various stages of Dharana and Dhyana. So that’s been done, but there is no study yet to my knowledge that explores Samadhi as an externally verifiable thing.

JC: I’m not sure we have a large enough population of people who have definitively experienced Samadhi in order for us to study them. You could do the usual thing we do, put up signs in the hospital asking for people who have experienced Samadhi, and offer $200 for participating in the study. I’m not sure who we would get from such a recruiting effort.

SB: I’m sure you would get interesting results from such a recruiting effort! But you know, there are those who study selfproclaimed “masters.” There is one researcher I know who interviews nondualists (advaita vedanists) for a living. He asks them what their experience is like; he does qualitative research.

Although I don’t know how many Iyengar Yogis claim to have experienced these states …

JC: Even Guruji neither confirmed or denied having experienced such states.

SB: These are states meant to be absent of possessiveness: If I entered into Samadhi, it was a gift, an act of grace—I certainly didn’t produce it, nor do I possess it. I appreciate your bringing in the question of value—what is the value of studying Samadhi with science?

JC: What is described [in the sutras on Samadhi] is a process 23

It has given me clarity about the different ways of knowing and clarified yoga as a scientific project—but one that is deeply subjective and concerned about the nature of subjectivity itself.

that has predictions about particular kinds of observations we should be able to make or qualities that would become manifest in these different stages. So, to the extent that science is about making predictions and then confirming that the things our theory suggested would happen do in fact happen, then these are the signposts for us to say we are practicing science [as Iyengar Yogis].

SB: So the process we are engaged in is science.

JC: Right, so it’s not that science has something to say about yoga, but that yoga is a science. It is a way of knowing. But, as you were saying, yoga encompasses multiple ways of knowing (e.g., pramana, jnana, prajnana, viveka khyater) that go beyond what we might normally think of as knowing in the western scientific tradition. So perhaps it’s not so much about what science has to say about yoga, but what yoga has to say about science!

SB: What can yoga teach science?

JC: Well, I do think that what is slightly different in yoga is that yoga posits a purusha who is witnessing. In the process of buddhi looking at citta or citta looking at citta or buddhi being purified or refined to look at more and more subtle aspects of citta, we come to a state where buddhi is so purified that it reflects purusha, and purusha becomes aware of itself as the witness. That’s my understanding of what Patanjali is saying. I feel this gives us a way out of the impasse that we are using the instruments of prakrti to look at prakrti. In that process, there is a moment or a state when purusha recognizes itself as the witness, as the source of seeing. I do feel like that’s how yoga resolves the question about how we perceive the unknowable or the fullness of that thing we are trying to describe. I don’t know how that works with quantum physics.

SB: If I think about how we talk about entangled states, the wave function of two things that are entangled—that sounds to me very much like the observer and observed being entangled. But the wave function, even though it is not a part of observed reality, I would say is probably still in prakrti. So then yoga would be adding something that is not yet identified by science—which is the final distinction between anything that has discernible parts and the source of observations. Or what has discernible parts and what is featureless.

SB: So maybe that is the one thing not yet accepted or even considered by science. How would science look if it were to postulate this pure being—what effect would that have on how we do science or the meaning of what we discover?

JC: It might get more to the spirit of why we do science. Because otherwise the aims of science are within prakrti. I am not sure how to answer that question or even if I should ask that question. There is a way in which, as we get closer and closer to the states of Samadhi or more identified with purusha where we become less concerned with the temporary transformations of prakrti. That’s what I imagine, because I haven’t been there …

SB: This sounds like a good place to summarize and conclude our conversation.

JC: We can understand yoga as a science. And in that case, what can yoga as a science teach us about modern science? I also think that purusha is a distinction between yoga and science. It is purusha that gives us a resolution to the process of studying prakrti using the instruments of prakrti.

JC: It may be good for us to each think about how our conversation has changed our own relationships to yoga and science. It has given me clarity about the different ways of knowing and clarified yoga as a scientific project—but one that is deeply subjective and concerned about the nature of subjectivity itself.

And the parallels we can draw between quantum physics, the nature of time, and several sutras.

SB: My own practice seems to include the kind of inquiry our conversation has stimulated—finding parallels between quantum physics and yoga. And that inquiry has greatly benefited from our conversations. I appreciate your noting that yoga is a science, the observation that purusha is a real difference between yoga and science as it is currently practiced, and that the existence of purusha [who is outside of prakrti] is a resolution to the question of how we study prakrti with an instrument of prakrti.

Jarvis Chen is a public health scientist, a social epidemiologist, who studies the effect of the social environment on health.

Siegfried Bleher teaches physics and studies nonlinear (chaotic) systems and their application to low-temperature plasmas.

JC: Right, featureless and timeless, as Vedantists would say, pure being.

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Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

INTERNATIONAL ASSESSORS’ MEETING IN PUNE NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2015

BY LESLIE BRADLEY

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his historic International Assessors’ Meeting lasted three days and had over 100 people in attendance. Geetaji began by giving a history of Guruji’s teaching, explaining how he originally began certifying teachers and how it was a way to propagate yoga. Next, Abhijata read the feedback from a questionnaire that was sent to all countries regarding Iyengar Yoga teacher education programs and assessments.

Each country was asked to give a brief presentation on how teacher education programs are structured in their country along with any problems or questions around teacher training.

The following countries gave reports or stated that they had no questions or problems to report: the U.K., South Africa, the U.S., Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Russia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Japan, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Israel, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Southeast Asia (representing Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Bali), and finally China.

Each country was asked to give a brief presentation on how teacher education programs are structured in their country along with any problems or questions around teacher training.

Over two separate presentations, I described teacher education in the U.S. and how assessments in the U.S. are conducted, explaining that the process has been continually revised and refined over the past 30 years.

On Teacher Education Our teacher training programs attract passionate students looking to deepen their practice and study as well as those interested in teaching.

Our teacher education programs are based on our Certification Manual. We have no separate teacher training manual. Our Certification Manual includes the asanas and pranayamas per Guruji’s syllabi, required knowledge and required readings, including philosophy, anatomy, and modifications for menstruation, pregnancy, common ailments, older students, and so on. These requirements deepen and increase by level of assessment. Our manual also includes an extensive reading list from Guruji, Prashantji, and Geetaji.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

Each candidate for assessment in the U.S. is required to have two recommending teachers, one a mentor, up through Intermediate Junior III. At Intermediate Senior I, candidates are required to have a mentor only. We encourage mentorship in the U.S. There are three ways our candidates can prepare for certification: • Apprenticeship and study with a mentor—this is important, especially in more remote areas of the U.S. • A two- or three-year teacher training program • A combination of both Even individuals going through a teacher training program are required to have two recommending teachers.

Our manual is updated yearly based on feedback from both assessors and candidates. We have a convention where assessors meet every three years. As has been suggested, a yearly meeting would be preferable, but a yearly in-person meeting would be cost-prohibitive.

On Certification and Assessment In this presentation, I thanked Guruji for continuing to inspire us all, as well as Prashantji, Geetaji, and Abhijata, and I shared the following information about our system.

The certification chair is a position democratically elected by the assessors. A new chair apprentices for one year with the previous chair, serves for two years on his or her own, and then serves the last year of the term while training the incoming chair. The Certification Committee is chosen by the chair, with an attempt to represent different geographical areas, just as the IYNAUS board has regional representation.

In 2015, we had over 250 certification candidates in 26 assessments for five levels. There were eight Introductory II assessments, 11 combined Introductory I and II assessments, 25

four Intermediate Junior I assessments, two Intermediate Junior II assessments, and one Intermediate Junior III assessment. The pass rate at the lower levels was close to 90 percent. Anyone who is wait-listed has top priority for the next year.

Our assessments take place over a full weekend with a maximum of 12 candidates. At the higher levels, we try to keep the number of candidates to a maximum of 10. The teaching time is 40 minutes. At the Junior II level and above, it increases to 50 minutes. Candidates are not expected, in an assessment situation, to work with students with physical issues until the Intermediate Junior II assessment.

For each assessment, we try to assemble assessors from different geographical regions. Mentors, recommending teachers, and teacher educators are asked not to assess their own students. Therefore, we try not to schedule assessments in students’ own towns, which means our association incurs airfare expenses. In general, congeniality among our assessors is increased by serving with each other. There are many positive aspects to the current U.S. assessment process as well as some challenging concerns.

Of particular note, we are concerned about how the assessment process may be affecting teaching in regular classrooms.

Assessment asks candidates to demonstrate every asana they are assigned to teach, sometimes more than once, with a lot of explanation so that assessors can check their knowledge. This style of teaching is less dynamic and, in fact, can be somewhat dry or scripted. Iyengar Yoga in the U.S. continues to be relatively unknown compared with some of the other forms, or is known as a yoga for those who are aging or have physical issues. This, no doubt, is based partially on our reputation for working individually and therapeutically with our students. We are concerned that perhaps it is also dry or scripted teaching that makes Iyengar Yoga less appealing to younger students.

Details on all of the concerns I presented in Pune can be found online at https://iynaus.org/sites/iynaus_files/pages/ International-Assessors-Meeting-Notes-Dec-2015.pdf.

Geetaji and Prashantji’s Response From the first day of the meeting, Geetaji and Prashantji made comments after each country reported. Geetaji suggested that while we don’t need to propagate yoga any more, we should be doing outreach by teaching in schools, universities, and hospitals. She also wanted to make sure that our teachers, especially the senior and higher-level teachers, are not just conducting teacher training but are teaching classes open to the general public, the elderly, overweight people, etc. Prashantji spoke about the importance of being tolerant of students who have been exposed to other forms yoga, and he also talked about whether we are being followers of Guruji or students of

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Of particular note, we are concerned about how the assessment process may be affecting teaching in regular classrooms. Assessment asks candidates to demonstrate every asana they are assigned to teach, sometimes more than once, with a lot of explanation so that assessors can check their knowledge. This style of teaching is less dynamic and, in fact, can be somewhat dry or scripted.

Guruji. He said that when a student only attends a workshop or a convention, they become a follower; they lack the commitment of a student. Also, the teacher who only has followers (only teaches workshops) lacks commitment to their students. He emphasized that we should all be students of yoga. Representatives from different countries spoke up to confirm that those senior teachers who are conducting teacher training must also teach public classes.

When discussing the various ways new teachers receive training, Birjoo Mehta, a senior teacher from Mumbai, asked the entire group to take a poll on whether they preferred formal training vs. mentorship for new teachers. About 36 voted for formal training programs and over 70 voted for a mentorship system.

Several countries’ reported on difficulties with politics in their assessment system. Geetaji said that we have to work on that.

On many occasions, she came back to the theme that the heritage of Guruji is to promote yoga, not certificates. We have to be students before we are teachers. Prashantji added that we must not be dogmatic in our approach. He said that Light on Yoga (published in 1966) will be 50 years old this year. He said that it was already antiquated in 1967 as Guruji’s practice and teachings were ever-evolving—because he never stopped being a student.

Among many other interesting points, Geetaji repeated the theme that being a student and practitioner is more important than becoming a teacher, noting that students should first find good health and not force themselves according to the syllabus, and that teacher trainers have to understand that asana is not only physical. Only focusing on physicality builds up the ego, she said, which enhances the kleshas. In his closing remarks, Prashantji expressed heartfelt gratitude to the assessors and teacher trainers for carrying out the assessment process with extreme devotion to Guruji.

Leslie Bradley (Intermediate Senior I) is the current IYNAUS Certification Chair.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

2015 IYENGAR YOGA ASSESSMENTS Here are the names of those who passed an assessment in 2015. Our method provides ongoing education for teachers at every level. Congratulations on your hard work and dedication!

Intermediate Junior III

Jill S. Jones

May Mei Chong

Lisa Johnson

Annie Rosen

Jeanne Kennedy

Anita Chordia

Cory Johnston

Jeneth Rundle

Maria Calabria

Efrat Laie-Gang

Ute Johanna Claassen

Stacie Jones

Jean Saad

Holly Hoffman

Kate Marshall-Chase

Joanna Colwell

Meritaton Rose Kamego

Jacqueline Salvesen

Lori Lipton Ritland

Carol Nichols

Ryan Conrad

Ellen Kaplan

David Santucci

Becky Lloyd

Michele L. Pearson

Samuel Cooper

Neta Katz

Barb Sato

Koren Paalman

Naomi Reynolds

Richard Corsillo

Erin Kennedy

Thea Satrom

Todd Semo

Judy Rosenzweig

Cara Couch

Kristen Kepnick

Birgit Scharrer Reimer

Tamarie Spielman

Amy Rumbel

Carmen Coyle

Kathy Krain

Kimberly Scott

Holly Walck Kostura

Paige Seals

Keith Crosslin

Jessica Kuhar

Mary Scott

Ann Margaret Socha

Sheri Cruise

Jennie Laggis

Leigh Seacord

Suneel Sundar

Chris Cruz-Boone

Susan Lamberson

Melanie Shatto

Javier Wilensky

David Culhane

David Larsen

Erin Shawgo

Jessica Becker

Mary Wixted

Paula Curtis

Katherine LaSpina

Marilyn Dale Shields

Lisa Beckwith Wolf

Angie Woyar

Mike Dalcher

Alvin Lau

Nina Siemaszko

Doerthe Braun

Kimberly Zanger Mackesy

Mariso de Colsa

Stephanie Lavender

Gabrielle Sigal

Waraporn Cayeiro

Lorene Zant

Christine De Lazzero

Molly Lesmeister

Myra Slepoy

Joy DeClerk

Jimena Lieb

Anna Spanopoulos

LaLanne Delis

JR Lill

Pam Spencer

Sara Agelasto

Gwendolyn Derk

Alison Lintal

Amy Sprys

Alison Ahern

Angelique DeSilva

Ananda Ma

Shanti Subramanian

Jayne Alenier

Diane Doran-Sheehy

Mike MacDonald

Ute Swerdloff

Rose Alexander

Sonia Dovedy

Samantha Madero

Tammy Talarico

Elena Alikina

Sara Easterson-Bond

Tricia Mahler

Roberta Tewes

Lena Ang-Silverman

Jeanne Elliott

Kris Manjapra

Ashley Thayer

Lou Asselin

Susan Elena Esquivel

Nancy Marcy

Laura Thieck

Vanessa Bacher

Jerry Farmer

Theresa Marks

Christine Thompson

Erin Bailey

Yelena Faynburd

Maureen Martin

Lauren Thompson

Denise Baker

Sascha Ferguson

Amy Massat

Robin Thorpe

Afsaneh Bakhtiar

Carmen Fitzgibbon

Melva Max

Jennifer Tigli

Jarad Barkeim

Kate Flock

William McKee

Lizet Tirres

Stephanie Barnes-Castro

Robert Tokusho Flory

Josephine McKendry

Lisa Tsetse

Kristine Bell

Elizabeth Ford

Mona McNeely

Amy Van Mui

Edwin Bergman

Lucy Geever-Conroy

Christine Miyachi

Jessica Vega

David Berson

Rhonda Geraci

Natalia Momchilova

Patricia Videgain

Amita Bhagat

Michelle Gindele

Sandee Moreta

Mimi Visser

LeAnn Billups

Laurel Goeke

Nicole Murphy

Emmanuelle Vital

Kim Blitch

Claude Goldstein

Elizabeth Muzkya

Casandra Walters

Suzana Alilovic-Schuster

Michele Bohbot

Melissa Hagen

Popsi Narasimhan

Xinzhen Wang

Elisa Aueron

Megan Bowles

Christie Hall

Rebecca Neal

Rahel Regina Wasserfall

Jennifer Waterbury

Susan Brower

Dana Hanizeski

Jennifer Neil

Beate Weidemann

Beaumont

Anne Brower

Rebecca Haralabatos

Layla Newman

Melissa Weinberger

Tara Bernstein

Jeffrey Brunner

Barbara Harris

Paige Noon

Loren Welsh

Christopher Briney

David Carpenter

M. Lue Hartman

Amy Pachowicz

Mia Wigmore

Amy Brown

Michael Carpenter

Scarlett Headley

Mimi Pajo

Sharon Wilkes

Yvonne Caro-Caro

Izabel Carsalade

Kimberley Healey

Michal Palzewicz

Shane Willis

Jerry Chiprin

Nina Carson

JB Herndon

Fritz Partlow

Vickie Wofford

Alex Cleveland

Susan Carter

Anna Hindell

Bhavi Patel

Susan Wong

Rachel Frazee

Alfonso Castano

Shivayogi Hiremath

Dana Perkins

Irene Wong-Bushby

Susan Friedman

Sandra Castellano

Sally Hoesing

Tanya Petrovna

Galit Yair

Anne Geil

Jane Caulfield-Cerchiaro

Marleen Hunt

Liat Philipson

Chen-Chi Yeh

Marisa Gentler

Barbara Chiancone Gitlin

Alison Jackson

K. Clark Phipps

Jessica Yoder

Shaaron Honeycutt

Yoon Cho

Monika Jaeckle

Erica Quam

Steve Hornbacher

Thecla Chomicz

Tina Jen

Renee Razzano

Intermediate Junior II

Barbara Fabbri Aaron Fleming Priscilla Gilmore Dora Hasenbein Debra Johnson Patricia Kalman Robin Lowry Ann McDermott-Kave Lori McIntosh Tal Messica Melinda Morey Marj Rash Suzanne Simon David Slack Susan Turis Rebecca Weisman Jennie Williford David Yearwood

Intermediate Junior I

Introductory I & II

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

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REMEMBERING LYNDA ALFRED

BY DEBORAH BAKER

In the final week of March, our national community lost a wonderful, longtime teacher, disciplined student, and devoted volunteer to the IYNAUS Board, most recently as vice president.

She was just 54 years old. Lynda Alfred died from complications of the blood cancer multiple myeloma, having been first diagnosed in April 2015.

yearly with Patricia Walden in Durango and had countless friends in all the communities where she studied.

Lynda was a courageous and tenacious practitioner of Iyengar Yoga and Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher at the Junior Intermediate I level. She not only practiced on her mat and as a teacher but also in her work as a community organizer, nonprofit consultant, and fundraiser beginning in 1986 in the areas surrounding Montrose, Telluride, and Olathe, Colorado. A passionate advocate for the environment, she worked on toxic waste issues as a grant writer and fulfilled many roles in the fight against corporate polluters. She lived her yoga.

Lynda’s studio, the Uncompahgre Yoga Circle, was named for the majestic peak, river, and plateau surrounding her home in western Colorado. It stood the test of time as numerous new studios popped up in the surrounding communities. She remained devoted to the yoga of B.K.S. Iyengar, understanding its scale, depth, and magnitude.

Lynda was a devoted mother of two children, Kelsey and Bryce, and was married to Tom Howe.

I first met Lynda in 1997, and we bonded immediately as we discussed the many challenges of balancing motherhood with the demands of maintaining an Iyengar Yoga practice. Leaving babies and toddlers behind in order to spend a few days studying with Manouso Manos in Crested Butte felt at once liberating and incredibly irresponsible. We were relieved when Manouso shared past stories of his own twins and joked that he had learned to interrupt an asana, run across the room and wipe a runny nose, and then resume that asana. He also reminded us, paraphrasing Mr. Iyengar, that our children are our yoga. Lynda and my eyes locked at this moment, and we both smiled in relief and agreement.

Yoga was a profound part of her life. She was grateful to be a recipient of the Karin O’Bannon scholarship, which enabled her to travel to Pune, India in 2009.

Cancer is a cruel and nondiscriminating disease. Lynda was one of the most disciplined, conscientious people I knew. She lived an unusually healthy lifestyle, spending countless hours outdoors with her family, hiking, camping, and backcountry skiing. She ate the “anticancer diet” many years before this became the title of best-selling books on nutrition. She practiced good health with her body, her mind, and her spirit.

Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Lynda moved west after graduating from Princeton University. She discovered yoga at a young age and was fortunate to have her family as the center of her life.

She wanted to survive so that she could return to doing the things she loved to do and be with the people she loved. Lynda demonstrated an ability to face her suffering and hardship resolutely. She can be a teacher to us all, as she practiced what our Guruji often referred to as equanimity, even in the face of these challenges.

We love you, and we miss you very much, Lynda!

As a dedicated student of Iyengar Yoga, Lynda often drove many hours to participate in countless senior Iyengar Yoga teacher workshops. She regularly traveled to Hotchkiss, Colorado, to study with her mentor, Nancy Stechert, and to Denver to participate in teacher education there. She studied

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Deborah Baker is a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher at the Introductory level and owns the Park Hill Yoga studio in Denver, CO. She is herself currently undergoing treatment for Lymphoma, another type of blood cancer.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

Musings

AN OPEN DOOR

BY CARLYN SIKES

“The man has now become another and is neither himself nor his own.” —Plotinus I began taking yoga classes back in the early 1990s after noticing one day how much more stiff and less mobile I was from my modern dance days. I had taken dance lessons as a child and went on to major in dance in undergraduate and graduate school.

At this time, I was teaching dance as well as working in the fitness industry in various capacities. I began to take a yoga class from one of the teachers at the community college where I taught and really enjoyed it. An opportunity to teach yoga presented itself, and I began to look for ways to learn more.

Carlyn and her quarter horse Murphy

My supervisor suggested Iyengar Yoga, so I began taking asana classes with Carol Mitchell, the only person teaching Iyengar Yoga in the Phoenix metro area at that time. The sheer physical aspect of the classes caught my interest right away. And while I also began to notice, almost immediately, changes in how I felt from the Iyengar Yoga class beyond the physical, I did not pay as much attention to that aspect. Carol did introduce some of the philosophy, but most of that went over my head in the beginning. I continued with Iyengar Yoga because of the physical changes that I saw, but a subtle change in my mental state began to occur as well.

Because of the class’s location, I was unable to continue studying with Carol. I then became involved with a yoga practice group and took other types of yoga classes. For many years, yoga was about competitive asana practice and the personal triumph that comes when you “own” a difficult pose.

When I joined the practice group, we spent time practicing asanas, working toward solutions—and ultimately working toward transformation. Unfortunately, while that was an early mission of the group, the reality was that I spent a lot of time looking at others and trying to keep up rather than looking at myself. I began to get frustrated because nothing much was actually changing.

The physical aspect of asana practice has always been appealing to me, but I began to feel like something was Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

missing. I realized that I wanted a practice that could make me a better person rather than something that was just another physical pursuit that did not bring anything more substantial to the table. I spent some time thinking more deeply about why I continued to practice yoga and recalled the sense of well-being that I had originally experienced when taking classes with Carol Mitchell.

Soon thereafter, I ended my affiliation with the practice group and committed myself to Iyengar Yoga. In addition to my ongoing asana practice, I began to read the Yoga Sutras and develop other aspects of practice. I began to look more deeply at myself, and that is when the real changes began.

A Rough Start I have seen a counselor more on than off for the past 20 years or so to help me sort things out and make better choices. One of the root causes for my difficulties in life was a less-thanfunctional upbringing. It wasn’t a terrible family, but there was anger and negativity in the household that made it difficult to maneuver as I was growing up. I remember after a ballet class once, I came home and announced to my father that I would open a dance studio one day. His response to me was, “You’ll never do that.” It was hard to be nine years old and be told “never!” I have been determined and single-minded all my life, but my upbringing made it more difficult to cultivate any natural confidence or positive beliefs I had.

I have worked to come to terms with my childhood as an adult—after making some very disastrous choices and living a half-life for many years. At different times in my life, I have suffered from situational anxiety and depression, neither of which is part of my basic nature. I have been untruthful about who I am so I could simply put on a good face. I didn’t want people to know I was so dismantled inside, and I thought I could hide it by not being altogether honest. I have made terrible choices in my personal relationships that have taken a great deal of effort to move beyond. I went at half-steam for so many years, not really getting anywhere significant and becoming increasingly frustrated as I struggled to improve my circumstances. My life has been about finding the person I was 29

MUSINGS CONTINUED

meant to be, and yoga has been at the heart of that search over many years.

Throughout this process, I have always maintained a daily yoga practice. It has certainly been a lengthy process, but by sticking with it, I have experienced many changes beyond the physical.

Somewhere along the way, I began to feel less frustrated, and more important, I began to develop confidence in myself and in my natural abilities—and I continue to learn more clearly what those are. I have become more accepting of my limitations and personality quirks, as well. Iyengar Yoga has brought about this transformation.

My Ongoing Journey I continue to speak with a counselor every so often, and I have a fabulous job teaching yoga full time at a community college.

It’s a job that encourages continuous growth as I develop a deeper knowledge of the yoga practice that I love. I recently moved to a farm property outside of the city where I ride horses, enjoy nature, and continue to practice yoga. The transformation that continues to come through Iyengar Yoga practice has brought incredible healing of old, sad memories, but it has also brought the ability to consider a positive future.

Mr. Iyengar, through his own discipline and devotion to this subject, discovered a way to help people develop a practice that would change them for the better. Whether it is a precise way to straighten the leg, improve a knee condition, or develop a deeper connection to the source, Iyengar Yoga provides a path. The shifts in consciousness I’ve experienced are not fleeting but permanent and meaningful.

For me, Iyengar Yoga has been an open door for progress and healing through shoulder, knee, and back injuries, but most important, it’s been an open door for healing deep-seated emotional pain. This ongoing practice of asana—my open door—has lead me to the other limbs of Patanjali’s Ashtanga yoga path and has encouraged and supported me in an ongoing and continuous journey of transformation. My life just continues to get better.

Carlyn Sikes (Intermediate Junior I) is the Yoga Program Director at Scottsdale Community College. She has an MFA in dance and lives in Queen Creek, AZ, with her son Jeremy, eight dogs, two horses, and a donkey.

REPORT FROM

Bellur

DECEMBER 2015: AN INCREDIBLY RICH MONTH AT RIMYI

BY HEATHER HAXO PHILLIPS

First, the Iyengar family hosted the three-day international meeting of assessors, then the 10-day Anushanam Convention, then a fantastic celebration of the life of Mr. Iyengar on Dec. 14. These Pune events were exhilarating.

campus established by the Bellur trust.

Bellur is a small village approximately 90 minutes drive from Bangalore. The contrast between tech-savvy Bangalore and pastoral Bellur could not be more stark. The village of Bellur is surrounded by farms and grazing land.

But the Iyengars weren’t done. Everyone was invited to visit Bellur, the village of Pictures at the front of the yoga hall in Bellur, from where the Iyengars taught. The Mandala was one of the fundraisers done for Bellur. It was made by San Diego artist Veronique Porter and donated by Guruji.

Guruji Iyengar’s birth, to Driving up the road celebrate the inauguration toward the campus of the Bellur Trust was quite impressive. of a new yoga hall. On Dec. 17, approximately 250 participants The street was lined with markers to the “B.K.S. Retreat from all over the world gathered for a multiday festival at the 30

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

REPORT FROM BELLUR CONTINUED

The Grand Yoga Hall at night — Bellur

Guruji’s philanthropy was such an important part of his mission in life, and it inspires us to follow his path of service.

Center” and with pictures of Guruji. As we pulled up to the campus gates, the children who attend the school established by the Bellur Trust were there to greet us, their beautiful uniforms and graceful smiles infusing each of us with energy after our long journey from Pune and other points abroad.

For me, the road to Bellur was also emotionally moving. Guruji’s philanthropy was such an important part of his mission in life, and it inspires us to follow his path of service. Selfless service is such an important part of what we do, inspired by Guruji. Over the years, my community in the Bay Area—and other Iyengar Yoga communities across the globe—has raised thousands of dollars for his projects in Bellur. It was a dream come true to be able to see the projects in person.

The new yoga hall was a project very close to Mr. Iyengar’s heart. I vividly remember two years ago meeting the architect in Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

charge of the project who had come to RIMYI to meet with Mr. Iyengar and many others about the plans. I had the good fortune to sit with the architect, pouring over the blueprints of the Bellur hall and the new San Francisco Institute, discussing the commonalities of two Iyengar Yoga projects half a world away from each other. All the way to his passing, Guruji followed the Bellur Yoga Hall project very closely, and it was his wish that we all continue the legacy of yoga in Bellur.

The yoga hall is a breathtaking structure to see. Its high ceilings capture the breeze, with many large windows to look out onto the countryside, and it contains a stunning picture of Guruji.

Unlike at RIMYI in crowded moments, there is plenty of room for everyone who wants to participate—a huge main hall and a large side room for props. The yoga hall is fresh and inspiring in every way, pleasing to the body, mind, and soul. Even the bathrooms are lovely!

Near the yoga hall is a large dining hall. Enclosed to shade us from the elements, it is also open air with incredible vistas of the farmland and the village of Bellur itself.

Attached to the yoga hall is a dormitory built for Indian and international visitors who want to come for yoga retreats.

Already there is room for 40 students, with plans for more 31

REPORT FROM BELLUR CONTINUED

We laughed and cheered for several hours as children of all ages danced, sang, and played music. It was an astounding feat of coordination and practice. lodging in the works. With broad vistas on all sides and a large roof, the dormitories offer excellent opportunities for bird watching and viewing the nighttime stars—a unique and peaceful setting for all who may choose to spend the night.

Nearby are the facilities built over the past few decades—a high school, college, hospital, and more. Indeed, with the completion of this latest project, the Bellur Trust has truly established a campus of higher learning and health. Moreover, the breadth of the area served—at least five villages—and the number of people impacted by the facilities is expansive.

We had three days to enjoy the campus. On the first night, we were greeted by an incredible yoga display from the children of Bellur. Their troupe did every single pose in Light on Yoga, including many variations that can only be seen in the RIMYI archives! The attendees were treated to speeches from a variety of local dignitaries and got to hear more about the history and future of the Bellur projects.

The next morning, Geetaji taught a mega-class of asana and pranayama. It appeared that nearly 250 participants gathered together—and there was plenty of room for all of us. Many came from all over India, some sporting fun yoga t-shirts from their own community. It was so special to be able to practice together. Geeta started her class by bringing the Bellur children up front for further lessons. She clarified some of the principles of alignment of Guruji’s method, including how to address special cases and needs. After a brief chai break, we reconvened for a pranayama class. The experience of going inward during the most auspicious occasion—together with hundreds of Iyengar Yoga devotees from around the world in this special yoga hall—was particularly memorable.

That afternoon, we gathered for an incredible cultural event put on by the children of the area. It seemed that the entire village of Bellur and several surrounding villages were in attendance either as participants or adoring fans. We laughed and cheered for several hours as children of all ages danced, sang, and played music. It was an astounding feat of coordination and practice.

The next day, Prashantji treated us to asana class. In a jovial, welcoming mood before the diverse crowd, Prashantji exhorted us in Svastikasana to connect the mind to the heart, via the

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The children’s yoga demonstration during the opening celebrations

throat. In classic Prashant fashion, he invited us to consider the purpose of each pose and asked us to determine why we were doing a pose in order to decide how to approach it. Everyone got a good taste of the philosophical, self-aware Iyengar Yoga experience that Prashantji brings to us.

In between events, we were invited to the village to view the numerous temples, including the Patanjali temple, Hanuman temple, and others. We got to participate in several pujas and wander the streets meeting those who live there. We felt truly welcomed by the people of Bellur as they invited us into their homes, introduced us to the family cows and goats, and enjoyed taking pictures together.

Every meal was served in the beautiful dining hall. Over bottomless cups of chai, we got to meet each other and have important conversations with our colleagues from all around the world. While we ate, on a screen at one end of the dining hall, there were vintage clips of Guruji teaching over the years. Even this was special, as it featured young yogis who are now senior teachers. We watched the movies together while many shared their memories of those special classes.

Building this yoga hall has been a huge endeavor for the Bellur Trust. It’s clear that a tremendous amount of love and hard work went into every step, and a tremendous amount of fundraising went into the project. And there are high hopes that this is just the beginning. Senior teachers and others from around the world are encouraged to consider hosting a retreat at the new hall.

Heather Haxo Phillips (Junior Intermediate III) is the director of Adeline Yoga Studio and former president of the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco/Iyengar Yoga Association of Northern California. Please send any thoughts or suggestions to heather@adelineyoga.com.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

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Book

REVIEW

FUNDAMENTALS OF PATANJALI’S PHILOSOPHY: THEORY OF KLESHA AND KARMA BY PRASHANT IYENGAR

BY ANNE-MARIE SCHULTZ

This book offers a detailed exploration of the concepts klesha and karma. The book has a preface and 40 short chapters, each filled with philosophical insight and linguistic nuance. I will try to give a concise overview. In the preface, Prashant observes that our yogic practice has become “nonYoga” because we fail to pay attention to the philosophical underpinnings of yoga.

We can only practice the essential aspect of yoga “after one has evolved Karma Consciousness.” I take that the aim of this book is to facilitate this evolution within us.

In Chapter One, Prashant turns to The Bhagavad Gita to illustrate the pervasiveness of karma. Karma shapes every aspect of existence, our evolution, and our devolution. The cycle of life and death, of birth and rebirth is governed by karma. In fact, according to Prashant, “karma does not even end at death.

Death is more a new beginning than an end.” The pervasiveness of karma can seem overwhelming, but we must come to see it as “fascinating and challenging apart from being essential.”

This book facilitates our fascination with the karmic concept.

Prashant delineates numerous questions we should ask about karma as we engage the concept philosophically. He insists that the first basic mistake we make about karma is to confuse it with mere action. Karma is much more than what we do.

Karma gets at the root of action, the why we do what we do.

Karma is “the sum of why we do, what happens or would happen by what we do and dynamically what we do.” Culling this understanding within ourselves is “karmic literacy.”

Prashant develops this sense of karmic literacy in Chapter Two. He talks about the sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic karma by referring to The Bhagavad Gita. He also explains that our body (kaya), speech (vacha), and mind (manas) are instruments of karma. Prashant calls our attention to many different levels and kinds of karma, including the karma of daily life, the karma of cosmic forces, the karma of past actions, and the karma of future and unseen lives. And he shows how centrally embedded they are in every aspect of existence. After emphasizing the pervasiveness of karma, Prashant then turns our attention to the

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kleshas (afflictions): “the kleshas totally and thoroughly permeate the karmas.”

In Chapter Three, Prashant reminds us of the five kleshas— avidya, asmita, raga, dvesha, and abhinivesha. Though our yogic aim is to eradicate or at least attenuate them, we cannot “declare an open war against the kleshas.” As karma is woven into the fabric of our being, the kleshas are just as embedded in the patterns of our habitual practices. Prashant observes, “the combination of klesha and karma are inseparable.”

Chapters Four through Twelve explore each of the five kleshas in detail. Prashant begins this exploration by noting that it is best not to think of the kleshas as five distinct afflictions. Rather, all the kleshas are manifestations or phases of avidya (ignorance).

He explains, “They perform different functions in their five phases.” I found his treatment of abhinivesha particularly thought provoking: It is “both raag and dvesha in a magnified form.” He even regards suicide in these terms as well: “The attachment-thwarted or aversion-embracing condition becomes the cause of suicide.”

In Chapter Fourteen, Prashant turns to Patanjali’s concept of Dhyana (meditation). Dhyana is the state where the fluctuations of the mind cease their interaction with the kleshas. Prashant notes that there are three main ways Patanjali uses Dhyana.

The first involves a process of making the mind “undisfigured.”

The second involves making the mind placid and calm, which happens after the mind has become undisfigured. The third is “a process of transcendent mind of yogi going to the cosmic plane for revelation.”

In Chapters Fifteen through Nineteen, Prashant refocuses on various types of karma, ranging from the karma associated with our free will to the karma of our destiny, but the consideration of the kleshas is never forgotten as the kleshas are really responsible for our karmic state—“this fiasco,” as Prashant puts it.

We should not completely despair, however, because we are always given the opportunity to change course. Prashant focuses on teachings from Vyasa and The Bhagavad Gita to illustrate this point. Even “death itself is a new beginning and

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

The cycle of life and death, of birth and rebirth is governed by karma. In fact, according to Prashant, “karma does not even end at death.

has the seed for the next life.” We “cast a mold” for our next life.

The opportunity of death leads to a larger consideration of whether there really is such a thing as misfortune at all. He remarks, “The reality is that everything and everyone in the universe, the creation of the Almighty, is undoubtedly and infinitely fortunate. The whole universe is essentially permeated and infused by Divinity.” It is easy to forget this essential truth when we are enmeshed in the klesha karma vrttis of daily life.

I found The Fundamentals of Patanjali’s Philosophy an exhilarating book. It simultaneously made me feel the existential weight of karma and klesha and offered me an inspiring vision of the liberatory possibility of a life of yogic practice, study, and devotion.

Anne-Marie Schultz (Intermediate Junior I) teaches philosophy at Baylor University and yoga at several locations in Austin, TX. Read her blog at www.teachingphilosophyandyoga. blogspot.com .

Classifieds CALL FOR MUSINGS Yoga Samachar seeks submissions for our “Musings” column, which features a range of short thought pieces from members.

These can be philosophical in nature or might focus on more practical topics—for example, a great idea for managing your studio or for creating community in your home town. Please send your own Musings to yogasamachar@iynaus.org by July 1.

JOIN IYNAUS To join IYNAUS or renew your current membership, please visit our website and apply online: https://secure.iynaus.org/join. php. Membership fees begin at $60, with $30 of each membership going to support teacher certification and continuing education.

YOUR AD HERE Yoga Samachar accepts short, text-only ads to announce workshops, offer props for sale, list teacher openings at your studio, or provide other yoga-related information. Ads cost $50 for up to 50 words and $1 per word over 50 words, including phone numbers, USPS addresses, and websites. Please contact Rachel Frazee at rachel@yogalacrosse.com or 608.269.1441 for more information or to submit an ad.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

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Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

Treasurer’s

REPORT— IYNAUS FINANCES

ONGOING IYNAUS FINANCIAL NEWS

BY DAVID CARPENTER

First I will provide a brief overview of IYNAUS’ finances and then discuss our 2015 results and the financial issues that the IYNAUS Board is now addressing.

Sixth, we assemble, preserve, and manage archival materials.

Our archives are primarily funded from member donations that can only be used for these purposes.

Overview

Seventh, we engage in a complicated array of annual financial transactions with the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune, with the Bellur Trust, and with the Iyengar family. We register students for intensives conducted in India and do other things to facilitate study in India. We collect U.S. royalties and licensing fees on intellectual property owned by the Iyengar family and send them all (or the lesser portion designated by them) of these amounts (after withholding the required portion for the IRS). We collect donations for the Bellur project and pass them on to the Bellur Trust (after taking the steps necessary to allow donors to take deductions under U.S. tax law). We distribute the quarterly journal from India, Yoga Rahasya, to those members who subscribe to it.

IYNAUS has limited financial resources. Our paid staff consists of General Manager Sharon Cowdery and a few modestly compensated part-time staff members. We accomplish as much as we do because of our volunteers. Yet IYNAUS’ finances are surprisingly complicated because of the nature and large number of discrete functions we perform.

First, we run events. We have a major convention every three years and recently began sponsoring continuing education workshops for Certified Iyengar Yoga Teachers (CIYTs—our new acronym). Also in the recent past, we jointly sponsored conferences with regional Iyengar Yoga associations, and hopefully we will do so again in the future.

Second, we certify teachers through our assessment system. It is almost entirely run by volunteers: assessors who donate their time, studios that provide rent-free use of their facilities, and a hard-working certification committee. The only expenses of the assessment system are travel expenses of assessors, the modest compensation paid the certification committee chair and her assistant, and various programming costs for the assessment portion of our website. Candidates pay assessment fees, but these have generally been insufficient to cover assessment costs, and we perennially struggle with the question of how best to fund this system.

Third, we publish information about Iyengar Yoga—through Yoga Samachar, through information on our website, and through our e-blasts. We pay modest compensation to the staff of Samachar, we incur Samachar production costs, and we incur significant IT expenses for our website. Otherwise, our publications rely on volunteers.

Fourth, we operate an online store that sells books, CDs, DVDs, and a few props. The store now has a part-time employee devoted exclusively to its operations.

Fifth, we engage in activities to promote Iyengar Yoga. In some instances, IYNAUS does so by using its own funds. In others, funds come from a separate certification mark account that represents a portion of the trademark licensing fees paid by U.S. teachers and that is jointly controlled by IYNAUS and Gloria Goldberg in her capacity as the U.S. attorney in fact for Geeta and Prashant Iyengar.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

Our major source of annual revenues is membership dues. All members jointly belong to IYNAUS and a regional association, and dues payments cover both memberships. In most of the regions, dues are paid by members directly to IYNAUS, and IYNAUS remits the relevant portion to the appropriate regional association. However, the three largest regional associations have to date collected dues locally and remitted the appropriate portion to IYNAUS. Finally, because of the range of our activities and the very large number of annual transactions that we have relative to our size, annual audits of our finances would be prohibitively expensive. I very much regret that we cannot afford to provide audited financial statements to our members. However, in recent years, we have been fortunate to have a retired Price-Waterhouse CPA review our accounting data and tax returns.

Unaudited Results for 2015 and Prior Four Years The following table shows IYNAUS’ cash revenues and expenses in 2015 and in the four prior years. Events were held in three of these years—regional conferences in 2011 and 2012 and our last convention in 2013. We also had some expenses and revenues for our 2016 convention in 2015. For ease of comparison, I moved all event revenues and expenses to the year in which each event occurred, and excluded event expenses and revenues from all other years. For each year, I have also shown our results with and without the effects of the event.

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TREASURER’S REPORT CONTINUED

IYNAUS PROFIT AND LOSS STATEMENT 2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

72,650

84,920

74,360

89,368

99,606

REVENUES Unrestricted Revenue Dues (less regions’ shares) Previously withheld dues plus interest

12,769

Continuing education workshops (net revenue)

2,065

Event revenues (including receivables)

35,366

-24,000

48,968

Store revenues less cost of goods (store sales at events are in parenthesis)

69,522 (3389)

58,443 (6053)

82,062 (7565)

60,142

85,921

Charitable contributions to IYNAUS

4,750

1,720

1,550

3,703

4,331

Yoga Samachar advertising revenue

0

0

4,000

2,604

5,091

16,580

16,785

16,743

17,768

20,962

8,621

6,661

Restricted Revenue Certification mark (less payments to India) Charitable contributions to archives Earmarked Revenue Assessment fees and manual

47,985

46,850

63,784

84,955

93,125

Bellur donations

7,658

4,290

26,717

20,811

19,001

TOTAL REVENUES

254,511

189,008

318,184

287,972

349,532

Bellur Trust donations

7,658

4,290

26,717

20,811

19,001

Salaries and employment taxes

76,807

64,531

69,817

70,412

88,804

EXPENSES

PR consultant expenses Production expenses for Yoga Samachar

2,625 22,012

25,516

24,242

Yoga Journal advertising

29,413

23,633

10,000

Assessment expenses

52,470

54,559

63,818

Legal fees

13,919

17,631

0

85,640

115,838

Website design and maintenance

29,002

25,929

21,082

21,995

28,659

IYNAUS Board meeting travel expenses

12,035

10,532

12,413

14,906

16,178

Bookkeeping

5,475

4,853

1,550

995

3,545

Office supplies and expenses

6,004

5,981

11,499

16,899

30,648

Merchant and bank fees (credit card processing fees)

22,565

15,429

17,696

32,498

46,077

Nonemployee insurance and taxes

5,612

2,434

3,896

2,512

7,235

TOTAL EXPENSES

253,559

231,685

252,730

308,706

379,618

NET REVENUE

952

-42,677

65,454

-20,734

-30,086

NET REVENUE—EXCLUDING EFFECTS OF EVENT

-37,803

-24,720

8921

-20,734

-30,086

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Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

Excluding the effects of events, we have had cash operating deficits in four of the last five years. However, the reasons for the deficits have changed. After our experiences in 2011 and 2012, we were able to eliminate one source of the deficits in those years (legal fees) and adopted belt-tightening measures that caused IYNAUS to realize positive net revenues, exclusive of events, in 2013. But other unrelated developments in 2014 and 2015 caused deficits totaling $50,000 in those two years, with a deficit of about $20,000 in 2014 and $30,000 in 2015.

It is some consolation that the 2014 and 2015 deficits were largely caused by circumstances beyond IYNAUS’ control that deferred the receipt of revenues earned during those years. As explained in prior reports, the Iyengar Association of Greater New York (IYAGNY) and the Iyengar Yoga Association of Northern California (IYANC) faced financial challenges that resulted in their failures to remit substantial dues that they had collected for IYNAUS in those years. If these monies had been paid on time, our total deficits in 2014 and 2015 would have only been $14,000—and far less consequential. Because IYAGNY and IYANC have each agreed to pay these monies to IYNAUS, with interest, before the end of 2016, IYNAUS should eventually receive these monies and be made whole. To that extent, the 2014 and 2015 deficits can be characterized as “cash flow problems.”

However, because IYNAUS did not receive these monies in a timely fashion, it came dangerously close to a genuine financial crisis at the end of 2015 and in the early months of 2016. The unfortunate reality is that IYNAUS has no endowment and only a relatively small cash cushion. Because of the cash deficits in 2014 and 2015, there was a real possibility that we would run out of cash at the end of 2015 or in early 2016 if events did not go perfectly. So Sharon, Michael Lucey, and I were then engaged in some serious contingency planning, and we actually went so far as to arrange short-term financing to carry us through the first few months of 2016.

Happily, we did not have to implement those plans because things did go perfectly. One of the factors that strained our cash position at the end of last year was the prepayments of expenses for the 2016 Convention. Thanks to the great work of our convention planning committee, the convention website went up right on schedule in late November. Revenues from registrations poured in during the last month of the year and the beginning of 2016, eliminating the possibility that we then would run out of cash. Registration figures held up well after Geeta was forced to withdraw. Assuming no other unforeseen events occur, it now appears that we may well have the most financially successful convention in our history in 2016. If so, the financial crisis that we faced at the end of last year could soon

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

be a distant memory, and we may find ourselves with a significant cash cushion for the first time in my nearly five years as IYNAUS’ treasurer.

Major Financial Issues for the IYNAUS Board While the prospect of a substantial cash cushion is pleasing, the events of the past few years have been a vivid reminder that IYNAUS has significant vulnerabilities and that the financial model which has historically governed our operations is an unduly risky one. Thus, the board is adopting new measures to place the organization on a firmer financial footing not just in the years before the next convention but in the longer term.

Historically, we have had two major areas of vulnerability. First, as recent events demonstrate, IYNAUS’ financial position is closely tied to the financial health of the three large Iyengar Yoga Institutes owned and operated by IYAGNY, IYANC, and the Iyengar Yoga Association of Los Angeles, respectively. Because these three institutes attract large numbers of students and provide discounts to members, these three regions have been uniquely successful in attracting nonteaching members for IYNAUS and the relevant region. In fact, these three regions collectively represent over 60 percent of IYNAUS’ total membership, with IYAGNY alone accounting for over one-third of our members. So when an external event negatively affects any one of these three institutes, it inherently threatens adverse consequences for IYNAUS, as well. That is what happened in each of the past two years.

Obviously, it is a very good thing that these institutes exist and that they attract so many nonteacher IYNAUS members. The only realistic way to address this area of IYNAUS’ vulnerability is to better diversify IYNAUS’ revenue sources. The fact that our store is growing is a big help. But the single most effective thing we can do is increase the number of nonteacher members in all the regions. This should be doable. I understand that a number of international Iyengar Yoga associations that do not run institutes have quite large numbers of nonteacher members.

Diana Martinez and her membership committee are exploring measures to increase nonteacher membership. So stay tuned on this front.

Second, an even more fundamental source of vulnerability is that IYNAUS has never had an endowment or a substantial cash reserve but predominantly has had a hand-to-mouth existence. A factor that compounds this weakness is that IYNAUS has generally run deficits in nonconvention years and relied on profits from its triennial conventions to subsidize its operations in those other years. To be sure, IYNAUS has survived under this model because we have never had a convention that lost money and always managed to find

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TREASURER’S REPORT CONTINUED

sufficient revenues to keep our programs going. But this likely represented good luck that we cannot assume will continue indefinitely. In today’s uncertain world, myriad factors can prevent any given year’s convention from being successful financially, and many other threats could jeopardize IYNAUS’ existence if they materialized.

A much more conservative financial model would be one in which we seek to ensure annual revenues sufficient to fund each year’s operations and use proceeds from triennial and other events to fund capital needs and to build an endowment or other capital reserves.

For example, even with our historical model, we have significant unmet capital needs. To take one glaring example, there are many valid complaints about our website and associated IT capabilities. It would be a significant capital project to redo our system in a newer and more flexible computer language, but to do so would assuredly save IYNAUS money in the long term and also enable better and quicker improvements to our website. If we could also use moneys from our conventions to fund such capital needs and also to establish an endowment or other capital reserves, we would be far better situated to withstand the financial shocks and other unforeseen developments that may arise in the future.

At the same time, while basic decisions governing the assessment system must, as an institutional matter, be made by the certification committee, the board will encourage experimentation to determine if there are new models for the administration of that system to reduce its costs.

Better expense control is only part of what is needed. An essential part of our efforts to plan for the future of the organization is to explore ways to increase our annual revenues. As shown above, our revenues have grown considerably over the past four years. But there are still opportunities for future growth, which include measures to increase membership. And given that our annual dues have been flat for many years, another option we will carefully consider is a dues increase. We will encourage discussion of these and other issues at our forthcoming membership meeting at the 2016 IYNAUS Convention.

David W. Carpenter IYNAUS Treasurer March 7, 2016

A necessary first step is to adopt additional controls over our annual operations and to take further steps designed to eliminate the annual operating deficits that we typically run exclusive of events. The board has launched a major new initiative that is designed to do so. We are conducting a detailed top-to-bottom, program-by-program review to identify opportunities to further cut costs and increase our revenues and to improve our budgeting and forecasting capabilities.

In this regard, one major issue that we face is how best to fund our assessment system. Last year’s expenses from the assessment system exceeded the revenues by $23,000— which is the largest assessment deficit we’ve had in my years as treasurer. Beyond that, Pune has required changes in the production of certificates that will increase the percandidate costs of our assessment system by $25 in 2016. In an attempt to reduce the assessment deficit in 2016, we increased the price for the assessment manual by $10 and increased the assessment fee by $30. But even with these measures, it is likely that the assessment system will not come close to paying for itself in 2016. We need to determine the optimal way to fund the assessment system, which is one of the most important things that IYNAUS does.

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Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

OLD LOVE The new skeleton looks like The new yoga students Glossy, firm, trussed up tight I miss the old one Whose yellow limbs dangled From loose ligaments Who slouched with cool grace Like a guy who’s seen it all The type I always fell for Who was trundled, on occasion, from his corner To illustrate some fine point of anatomy His expression ever calm, inscrutable Some days he gazed at the rain Some days he gazed at us Turned to cranes, cobras, warriors, trees I miss the old skeleton His ancient thick knuckles The kindness in his empty sockets When we lay like corpses In the darkened room.

Editor’s note: The Julie Lawrence Yoga Center in Portland, Oregon, has always had a life-size, hanging skeleton in the studio—on hand for illustrating fine points of structural anatomy. After many years and many demonstrations, the skeleton had to be replaced in 2015. Jo Ann’s poem is her tribute to the old one.

Jo Ann Baldinger lives in Portland, OR., where she writes poems, practices yoga, and tries to be patient. Her poems have appeared in Stickman Review, White Whale, Monarch Review, Cirque, Burningword, Verdad, and Blue Mesa . “Old Love” first appeared in Stickman Review, vol. 14 no. 2.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2016

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B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States P.O. Box 538 Seattle, WA 98111 www.iynaus.org

Sculpture depicting the Hindu story about the churning of the Cosmic Ocean. At the suggestion of Vishnu, the gods (devas) and demons (asuras) churn the primeval ocean to obtain Amrita, which will guarantee them immortality. To churn the ocean they use the Serpent King, Vasuki, for their churning-string. For a churning pole, they use Mount Mandara placed on the back of a Great Tortoise –the Kurma Avatar of Vishnu. Photo: Don Gura, Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok, Thailand