Yoga Samachar Spring/Summer 2018 PARTIAL

IYENGAR YOGA NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES VOL. 22, NO. 1

Patanjali's Philosophy for Modern Times Plus

Guruji's 100th Birthday Patricia Walden in Bellur Remembering Mary Dunn

Spring / Summer 2018

YOGA SAMACHAR’S MISSION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Yoga Samachar, the magazine of the Iyengar Yoga community in the U.S. and beyond, is published twice a year by the Publications 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:

Letter from the President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

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News from the Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Yamas and the Niyamas: Training Principles, Not Commandments – Stephanie Quirk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Teaching at Rikers: Ahimsa and Pratyahara for Inmates, Officers, and Teachers – Mimi Visser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 An Invitation to Atha Yoganusasanam: Guruji, Patanjali, and the Next Generation – Amita Bhagat . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

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

Teaching Yoga to High School Students – Gail Heaton . . . 23

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Communicate information regarding the standards and training of certified teachers

The Legacy We Hold: Remembering Mary Dunn – Tori Milner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

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Report on studies regarding the practice of Iyengar Yoga

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Provide information on products that IYNAUS imports from India

Report From Bellur: Sunrise in Bellur – Cindy Berliner and Kathleen Swanson . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Samachar Sequence: Patricia Walden in Bellur . . . . . . . . 36 Musings: Ties that Bind – Julia Zawatsky

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Review and present recent articles and books written by the Iyengars

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Report on recent events regarding Iyengar Yoga in Pune and worldwide

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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

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Present ideas to stimulate every aspect of the reader’s practice

Back Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

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Mignonet (Toni) Montez Tribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Centenary Celebrations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 2017 Iyengar Yoga Assessments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Treasurer’s Report – Stephen Weiss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

IYNAUS BOARD OF DIRECTORS CONTACT LIST

YOGA SAMACHAR IS PRODUCED BY THE IYNAUS PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE Committee Chair: Anne-Marie Schultz Editor: Michelle D. Williams Copy Editor: Denise Weeks Design: Don Gura Advertising: Sheryl Abrams and Val Rios 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.

Amita Bhagat amita@sadhanaayoga.com

Ann McDermott-Kave amkave1@optonline.net

Laurie Blakeney certification@iynaus.org

Paige Noon paige.noon@gmail.com

Sandy Carmellini yogasandy@rocketmail.com

Denise Rowe deniserowe.IYNAUS@gmail.com

David Carpenter president@iynaus.org

Anne-Marie Schultz anne_marie_schultz@baylor.edu

Gwen Derk grderk@gmail.com

Jean Stawarz jeanstawarz.iyanus@gmail.com

Michele Galen michele.galen@gmail.com

Chris Stein shamani108@mac.com

Gloria Goldberg yogagold2@icloud.com

Manju Vachher dr.manju.vachher@gmail.com

Don Gura don@dongura.com

Stephen Weiss stphweiss@gmail.com

Scott Hobbs sh@scotthobbs.com

Director of Operations Mariah Oakley generalmanager@iynaus.org

Laura Lascoe lrlascoe@gmail.com Patti Martin pattimartin4@gmail.com

Contact IYNAUS P.O. Box 184 Canyon, CA 94516 206.623.3562 www.iynaus.org

ADVERTISING

Full-page, half-page, quarter-page, and classified advertising is available. All advertising is subject to IYNAUS board approval.

Ads are secondary to the magazine's content, and we reserve the right to adjust placement as needed based on layout needs.

Find ad rates at www.iynaus.org/yoga-samachar. For more information, including artwork specifications and deadlines, please contact Sheryl Abrams at yogabysheryl.tx@gmail.com or 512.571.2115.

Cover photo: The Patanjali Temple in Bellur, India, built in 2004, is the only known temple to Patanjali in the world.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2018

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IYNAUS OFFICERS AND STANDING COMMITTEES President, David Carpenter Vice President, Vacant Secretary, Michele Galen Treasurer, Stephen Weiss

Archives Committee Scott Hobbs & Chris Stein, Co-Chairs

Certification Committee Laurie Blakeney, Chair

Continuing Education Committee Patti Martin, Acting Chair

Ethics Committee Manju Vachher, Chair

Events Committee Sandy Carmellini, Chair

Governance and Elections Committee David Carpenter, Chair

Membership Committee Paige Noon, Chair

Next Generation Committee

Letter

FROM THE PRESIDENT

DEAR FELLOW IYNAUS MEMBERS, These are exciting times for Iyengar Yoga in the U.S. We are in the midst of a yearlong worldwide celebration of Guruji’s 100th birthday. The centenary offers special opportunities to explore the teachings of this extraordinary man and to spread the word about the riches of Iyengar Yoga. Elsewhere in these pages are reports on many of the things that IYNAUS, our regional associations, and our teachers are doing to commemorate the centenary.

This is also a time of transition for IYNAUS. Our long-time director of operations, Sharon Cowdery, has decided to pursue other career opportunities. Sharon has not just been the public face of IYNAUS for the past nine years. She has also been instrumental to its growth and development. We owe Sharon our profound thanks, and we will miss her. But life is change. We spent the first quarter of the year on a nationwide search for Sharon’s successor, and we were blessed with a pool of exceptional candidates. In April, we welcomed Mariah Oakley to be our new director of operations, and we are very excited to be working with her.

Amita Bhagat & Gwen Derk, Co-Chairs

Outreach Committee Denise Rowe, Chair

Publications Committee Anne-Marie Schultz, Chair

Public Relations and Marketing Committee Amita Bhagat & Laura Lascoe, Co-Chairs

Regional Support Committee Patti Martin, Chair

Scholarship and Awards Committee

We are now finalizing plans for our next convention, which will be held in Dallas, April 11–17, 2019. It promises to be a phenomenal event. Abhijata Iyengar will again be our teacher. She dazzled us throughout the three and a half days of our 2016 convention.

Yet Abhi was not satisfied. She urged us to make the 2019 convention a full six days so she could take us much deeper. I can hardly wait to see what Abhi has in store for us. It will be a rare chance to have experiences that otherwise would require trips to Pune. Please plan to attend if possible.

Patti Martin, Acting Chair

Iyengar Registered Trademarks Committee Gloria Goldberg, Attorney in Fact for Geeta and Prashant Iyengar

Systems & Technology Committee Jean Stawarz, Chair

Volunteer Coordinator Ann McDermott-Kave

Yoga Research Committee Gwen Derk, Chair

IYNAUS Senior Council Kristin Chirhart, Manouso Manos, Patricia Walden, Joan White

Past Presidents Organizational 1992 – 1994 1994 – 1998 1998 – 2000 2000 – 2002 2002 – 2004 2004 – 2006 2006 – 2008 2008 – 2012 2012 – 2014 2014 – 2017

board – 1991 Mary Dunn Gloria Goldberg Dean Lerner Karin O’Bannon Jonathan Neuberger Sue Salaniuk Marla Apt Linda DiCarlo Christopher Beach Janet Lilly Michael Lucey

For a full list of committee members and volunteers, please visit our website, https://iynaus.org/board-and-staff.

Meanwhile our board, our staff, and our army of volunteers are hard at work on all the things that our association does, year in and year out. Planning and conducting about 200 assessments. Enforcing our ethical standards. Running our store. Preserving archival materials. Enhancing and operating our website. Organizing workshops for teachers. Disseminating information to our more than 25,000 followers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Publishing this magazine. And constantly exploring new ways to help our teachers and members deepen their practice. I wish I had space to say more about each.

We also have some new initiatives. We recently adopted an Ambassadorship Program designed to familiarize scientists and health care professionals with Iyengar Yoga and to promote more scientific research into its benefits.

In addition, we have established a Next Generation Committee made up of younger Iyengar Yoga teachers and students. This is such an impressive and tech-savvy group that we have added some of its members to the IYNAUS Board and others are serving on IYNAUS committees. One result is that we are gaining fresh ideas and perspectives on how to broaden the reach of Iyengar Yoga to young and old alike. Another is that we are grooming future leaders of our community. And there is yet another benefit: Being around the Next Gen members makes me feel younger!

Yours in yoga, David Carpenter IYNAUS President

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Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2018

News

FROM THE REGIONS

IYACSR Jai Guruji! We celebrate B.K.S. Iyengar’s 100th year with the entire Iyengar Yoga community—indeed, the whole world. Many of our members are making their way to Pune, Bengaluru, and Bellur to pay homage and attend the celebratory events. All of our local Iyengar Yoga centers have committed classes, workshops, and retreats to honor Guruji.

The Iyengar Yoga Association of California Southern Region (IYACSR) will participate in the International Yoga Day celebrations at San Diego’s Waterfront Park on June 24, 2018, as a premier presenter. This includes a main stage demonstration of Iyengar Yoga, a class taught by Sunny Keays (CIYT Intermediate Junior III), and the opportunity to share Guruji’s centenary widely across our region. Furthermore, IYACSR and all of our local Iyengar Yoga centers are redoubling our efforts to reach out to military members, their families, and all underserved neighborhoods countywide with discounted classes.

In February, Manouso Manos made his annual visit and as always shared his knowledge and stories of Guruji. It is during these visits with Manouso that we feel closest to Guruji, especially those of us who were not able to have a personal experience with him. Guruji’s life, his practice, and his life’s work were the epitome of kriya yoga—the triune of effort, self-study, and devotion. Manouso imparts this to us through tales and tapas and reminds us to use this as the starting point curiosity along our yogic path.

This was one of Guruji’s great messages to us—that our asana practice can and is to be meditation in action.

On Sunday, April 15, at Iyengar Yoga Institute La Mesa, Chere Thomas (CIYT Intermediate Junior I) taught the tenets of Iyengar Yoga through “Shoulder Work: Space, Stability, and Strength.” Chere showed us how to enhance and progress in our own practice.

Royal Fraser (CIYT Intermediate Junior I) will be at San Marcos Iyengar Yoga Center on Saturday, Aug. 11 from 1–3 p.m. In Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, II.46, asana is described as perfect firmness of body, steadiness of intelligence, and benevolence of spirit. In honor of B.K.S. Iyengar’s work, Royal will help us find ways to be firm, fixed, steady, steadfast, and lasting in our poses. We will seek the roots of a steady mind and joyous heart through asana.

Kim Kolibri (CIYT Intermediate Junior I) completes our 100th year celebrations at Full Circle Yoga on Sunday, Nov. 4 from 1–3 p.m. This well-rounded Iyengar Yoga class will culminate in viewing a film of Guruji in action.

Beginning in 2018, IYACSR will offer four Free4Members workshops each year, up from three last year. Any member of IYNAUS from any regional association is welcome to attend these IYACSR-sponsored events as our guest; check your travel dates and join in the festivities.

Members workshop, February 2018

Aman Keays (CIYT Intermediate Junior III) kicked off the Free4Members workshops series on Saturday, Feb. 10 at Full Circle Yoga by sharing stories of his early days studying with Guruji. He asked us to share a quality of Guruji’s that has inspired our life. Aman then reminded us that because we were able to see it in Guruji, the inspiring quality is actually already inside of us; he said that Guruji always reflected back to us our true nature.

Then we practiced. We did familiar poses enabling us to go inward, recognizing that now our practice is more of a mental than physical discipline. In each pose, we committed to turning away from the wandering ego mind with its habitual attachments and expectations and returned over and over and over to the asana, simply the asana. It led us to the point of our practice—that state inside where we are fully present, where we have let go, and where there is no thought of what is next.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2018

IYAGNY Throughout 2018, the Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York (IYAGNY) is celebrating Guruji’s centenary year by introducing and sharing a philosophical concept each month with students at the Iyengar Yoga Institutes of New York and Brooklyn as well as with association teachers and students in the greater New York metropolitan area.

Here are the themes for all of 2018: • • • • • •

January—ahimsa, nonviolence February—satya, truthfulness March—asteya, not stealing April—brahmacharya, continence May—aparigraha, nongreed June—sauca, purification

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July—santosha, contentment August—tapas, effort September—svadhyaya, study October—Isvara pranidhana, surrender November—abhyasa, practice December—vairagya, detachment

We felt that Guruji’s 100-year celebration was a wonderful time to help students understand that the practice of yoga is not limited to performing asanas. Now, more than ever, these themes resonate as the most powerful and basic tools of life and our pursuit of happiness within the complex and fast-paced world we find ourselves in.

This spring, we have continued to expand the programs in our community by introducing a kids’ class in Brooklyn. In June, IYAGNY celebrates the 14th Annual Yogathon, a yoga extravaganza and benefit event that brings together association teachers, faculty, and students to support our mission and programs.

The practice of Iyengar Yoga continues to thrive and grow in the greater New York area. In January, Studio Yoga Madison in New Jersey hosted its 26th annual Open House, highlighted by a choreographed asana demonstration performed by a core group of teachers, including the founder, Theresa Rowland.

Studio Yoga teachers continue to expand their outreach by offering public demonstrations, sample classes, and special workshops throughout the year.

IYAMN In 1987 Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar came to the United States for the National Iyengar Yoga Convention held at Harvard University. During that trip, he was kind enough to visit Minnesota. Fundraisers were held here for his visit, which included teacher training. With the funds left over from those events, Mr. Iyengar requested that the coordinating committee for his visit start the B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga Association of Minnesota (IYAMN). By 1988, our association was officially born.

and legacy. The evening included an Indian dinner; a display of photographs from Guruji’s 1987 visit to Minnesota and photographs that local students have taken over the years in Pune; personal reminiscences of Guruji by local teachers; the showing of a videotaped interview with Geeta S. Iyengar in which she described the early days of their family life as well as Guruji’s practice, teaching, travel, and writing; and the playing of the tribute that Prashant Iyengar gave following his father’s death.

The Yoga Place, an Iyengar Yoga studio in La Crosse, Wisconsin, is also celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The studio observed this milestone with a special class in April led

by Chris Saudek, its founder, and James Murphy of the Iyengar Institute of Greater New York. Also in April, the studio sponsored a weekend of “Asana, Pranayama, Philosophy, and Chanting” led by Chris, Joy Laine, and Leslie Dillingham Freyberg.

The effort to go beyond asana in observing Guruji’s many deep and lasting contributions—as in the sutra study group and the inclusion of pranayama, philosophy, and chanting in the La Crosse workshop—is also evident at Friendship Yoga, an Iyengar Yoga Center in Iowa City, Iowa, established 25 years ago by Nancy Footner. Starting in January, students beyond the introductory level began learning to recite the Invocation to the Guru and will be studying and chanting one new sutra each week throughout 2018. Friendship Yoga hosted its 19th annual spring retreat with Mary Obendorfer and Eddy Marks in May at Prairiewoods, an ecospiritual retreat center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

In addition to all of these activities, area teachers held several membership drive classes, IYAMN sponsored a workshop by Carrie Owerko in May, and we accomplished an important task: The IYAMN board updated the association bylaws for the first time in 30 years.

So now, in 2018, as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Guruji’s birth along with Iyengar Yoga students around the world, we are also celebrating the 30th anniversary of our association.

We began on Dec. 10, 2017, four days before Guruji’s birthday, with our semiannual Yoga Day. Jeanne Barkey taught an asana class to some 40 students, who also enjoyed refreshments and socializing. It was a happy start to the year.

Once each month throughout this centenary year, IYAMN is sponsoring study groups of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. We are pleased to have Lee Sverkerson lead us in our studies as, in his words, “a fellow student.”

IYAMN organized an event in March to celebrate Guruji’s life 4

Participants in IYAMN’s Yoga Day, December 2017

IYAMW Our final snowstorm of the year has passed and we are enjoying budding flowers, longer days, and much sunshine. We are also thrilled to welcome Kristen Kepnick, Dawn Baurichter, and JR Lill to the Iyengar Yoga Association of the Midwest (IYAMW) Board. Deep thanks to David Larsen and Alex Hansen who completed their Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2018

woes, make daily life daunting. In addition to Patricia’s asana class, there will be a childcare assistant, a translator, some props, and a learning book for home practice.

Aaron Fleming (CIYT) of College Hill Yoga in Cincinnati, Ohio, also received a grant to pilot a Yoga for Trans Youth class in partnership with Children’s Hospital. He will be offering classes for youth ages 9–17 in their Transgender Health Clinic, building a safe space for the youth to introduce “a new body awareness and improve group camaraderie.”

The Logan Square neighborhood in Chicago, where affordable housing is being replaced by pricey new apartment buildings (in the background), squeezing out longtime residents (in houses in the foreground).

terms with great dedication. Current members also include Rebecca Lindsay Smith, Peggy Gwi-Seok Hong, Kelly Sobanski, Donna Furmanek, and Ann Socha. We look forward to lots of great projects together in the lively Midwest.

We invite all Midwest and beyond Iyengar Yoga students to commemorate Guruji’s centenary at our annual retreat at the gorgeous Starved Rock Convention Center and State Park on Sept. 21–23, 2018. Sue Salaniuk and Aaron Fleming are guest teachers. This is always a rejuvenating event where we have time to do asana and pranayama, share meals, and spend quality time as a community. Starved Rock is our favorite venue because it is located in a beautiful natural setting where the fall leaves will just be starting to change. This venue includes 13 miles of trails and 18 canyons to explore. As the world celebrates the 100th birthday year of B.K.S. Iyengar, we will share our own stories at the retreat. In loving and grateful remembrance, we will reflect on the lessons and inspiration we have received from B.K.S. Iyengar. As always, we will have scholarships for IYAMW members, so cost should not be an issue for anyone interested. For more information, please visit www.iyamw.org.

We look forward to reporting more on these classes and other grant recipients in future issues. IYAMW CIYTs who have ideas and projects to spread Iyengar Yoga to new communities, please visit our website to apply. We have rolling deadlines, so apply anytime.

IYANC The Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco and the larger Northern California community continue to grow and expand.

We are actively working to increase connectivity between the many diverse studios in our region and the Institute.

To address the needs of enthusiastic practitioners throughout Northern California, a group of Iyengar Yoga Association of

IYAMW gives quarterly Community Engagement mini-grants to seed and support projects that bring Iyengar Yoga to communities that do not usually have access. We’re happy to support a project in Chicago’s Logan Square, led by Patrina Dobish (CIYT) and community organizer, Huu Nguyen.

Patrina and Huu’s Care for Caregivers class will institute a sixweek Iyengar Yoga course in collaboration with the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Dill Pickle Coop, Quilombo Cultural Center, and local sponsors and volunteers. The program addresses the task of Latina women who manage multigenerational family structures—women who care for many yet have little time to care for themselves. The added pressures of rent increases and displacement in the rapidly gentrified Logan Square neighborhood, along with immigration status Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2018

The Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco

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Northern California (IYANC) Board members, CIYTs, and studio owners continues to meet as a Regional Subcommittee to facilitate visibility, communication, and growth in our region.

The region covers a large area and a variety of cultures and geographies from urban to rural to mountainous, and members on the committee represent our diverse locations. In March, the annual member meeting started with a focused regional meeting and ended with a viewing of Leap of Faith, the film featuring B.K.S. Iyengar.

To better support the region and the Institute, we recently hired a new business manager, Janice Langlois, and we are preparing to launch new regional and Institute websites very soon.

We are offering a strong program in 2018. We are pleased to host a wide variety of beloved senior teachers from around the world, including Patricia Walden, Stephanie Quirk, Peter Thomson, Chris Saudek, Carolyn Belko, Dr. Edwin Bryant, and others. We have also begun holding a monthly Yoga Sutras study group, which is free for members.

We held a spring nutrition Ayurvedic talk in April and an Iyengar Yoga for Bicyclists class, in partnership with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, on May 12—two days after the annual Biketo-Work Day. All of our community events are free!

In addition, the annual Yogathon, our main fundraising event, will be held on Saturday, June 2.

print featuring Iyengar Yoga props. Please check out our ad in this issue of Yoga Samachar and consider one for your studio: https://fieldguidedesigns.com/new/yoga-art-print.

IYASCUS The Iyengar Yoga Association of the South Central United States (IYASCUS) is honored to host the Iyengar Yoga National Association of the U.S. (IYNAUS) Convention next year. We are excited that Abhijata Iyengar will be in Dallas to teach a week of classes with the theme “Exploring the Path of Practice.”

This is an event you will not want to miss. Come study with Abhijata, meet your Iyengar Yoga colleagues and friends from around the world, and enjoy some great sunny weather with lots of Southern Texas hospitality. The Iyengar Yoga convention website is http://iyengarusa2019.com and our Facebook page is facebook.com/IyengarUSA2019. We are also on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/iyengar_usa_2019. If you would like to be a volunteer for this event, please contact Gretchen House, volunteer chair, at 2019conventionvolunteers@gmail.com.

This year several senior teachers have traveled to our region to teach, including Laurie Blakeney (January), Dean Lerner (February), Manouso Manos (February), and Stephanie Quirk (May and June). In addition, H.S. Arun will be in Texas this summer, and Mary Obendorfer and Eddy Marks will teach in November. We were especially fortunate to host Stephanie Quirk this year. Her experience and guidance in therapeutics touched some of our teachers and students for the first time.

IYANW Up in Bellingham, Washington, Denise Weeks taught a Highlights From India class in April after her trip to Pune in February, where she attended a week-long session that Prashant Iyengar taught as part of the centenary celebration.

She shared inspiration from the teachings she received, donated a portion of the proceeds to Bellur, and encouraged attendees to become members of our regional association.

Studios throughout our region have planned special activities and events to celebrate the birth of B.K.S. Iyengar, our Guruji.

Each day we step onto our mats, we honor him by practicing.

We honor his teachings and celebrate his wisdom as a gift in our lives.

One of our teachers, Prakash Parameswaran (CIYT Intermediate Junior I) of Plano, Texas, has been posting some very helpful

Many of our northwest yoga studios and communities are planning celebrations to commemorate Guruji’s centenary year, most of which will happen near the end of the 2018 calendar year, including Judy Landecker and Charles Udell of Northern Lights Yoga in Helena, Montana, who are offering a free class on Saturday, Dec. 15, in honor of B.K.S. Iyengar’s centenary year.

After the class, those who studied with Guruji will share memories of their time with him.

The Flathead Valley community in Kalispell, Montana, has been working hard to increase visibility and awareness of Iyengar Yoga. The group now has a blog dedicated to Iyengar Yoga and a Facebook page. Check them out at iyengaryogaflathead. com. Along with an article in the local paper, they had a photo shoot with a local photographer known for her “equipment taxonomies,” so out of that, they have created a commemorative 6

Prakash Parameswaran demonstrates Urdhva Kukkutasana, coming off of the chair.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2018

practice ideas to help others practice some challenging poses in a more accessible way. These videos are available on Prakash’s Facebook page at facebook.com/prakashok.

Another teacher, Mary Scott (CIYT) of Austin, Texas, has a great yoga blog: funwithprops.blogspot.com. Check out her fun, innovative use of props for practicing. Anne-Marie Schultz (CIYT Intermediate Junior II) also continues her ongoing blog, Thoughts on Teaching Yoga and Philosophy at teachingphilosophyandyoga.blogspot.com.

Our community is growing with new members and teachers from our teacher training programs in Dallas and Austin. Randy Just (CIYT Intermediate Senior I) of Dallas is also traveling to teach and guide teachers all over the region and beyond, to studios located in Little Rock, Arkansas; New Orleans; Jackson, Mississippi; and Memphis, Tennessee. In addition, Peggy Kelley (CIYT Intermediate Senior I) of Austin frequently travels to Mexico to teach.

We hope to continue to grow and reach out to yoga practitioners of all styles to help them experience the benefits Iyengar Yoga offers. We are thankful for all the caring teachers and eager students who make our Iyengar Yoga community so wonderful. We move forward with unwavering tapas and svadhyaya, inspired by B.K.S. Iyengar, Geeta, Prashant, Abhijata, and all our teachers.

IYASE The Iyengar Yoga Association of the Southeast (IYASE) has lots of exciting news this year.

In Amelia Island, Florida, yoga was nonexistent 22 years ago until Lisa Waas, a local, discovered and fell in love with Guruji’s methodology. After 15 years of practice, Lisa became a CIYT. In March 2018, after seven years of teaching in a small rented space, Lisa opened Community Yoga + Wellness, a 1,670 square-foot yoga center where she teaches over 10 Iyengar Yoga classes a week. Equipped with seven rope stations, pelvic swings, trestles, stools, benches, and a stage, the center welcomes all students and is handicapped accessible. Built with love, community, and inclusion in mind, the students have raised a scholarship fund that helps those unable to afford regular classes to attend at a reduced rate. Lisa welcomes those who want to escape winter to come study in Northeast Florida.

In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Iyengar Yoga has been brought to the hospital by Jerry Farmer (CIYT). St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital maintains a medically-based fitness facility, The Wellness Center, as a benefit to employees, patients, and the residential and corporate community. The center has a staff of registered nurses, exercise physiologists, a respiratory therapist, and registered dietitians who customize fitness and nutritional programs to help members meet personal fitness goals safely.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2018

The rope wall at Community Yoga + Wellness in Amelia Island, Florida

Jerry began offering Iyengar Yoga classes in the spacious and well-equipped exercise room in 2016 and now teaches two weekly classes, in addition to teaching college yoga courses at Middle Tennessee State University. Jerry is grateful to St. Thomas Rutherford for its cooperation in making Iyengar Yoga another option for the fitness and well-being of the Murfreesboro and Rutherford County community.

New Orleans is set to celebrate the 100th year of B.K.S. Iyengar’s birth. At Audubon Yoga Studio, led by director Becky Lloyd (CIYT), teachers from the Gulf South will gather to discuss and learn about yoga philosophy as part of June and August teacher training weekend workshops with Randy Just, which they then plan to share with their local communities. In September, the studio is hosting a weekend workshop with senior teacher and longtime Iyengar Yoga student Rebecca Lerner. In addition, throughout the fall, students and teachers at Audubon Yoga Studio will read and discuss B.K.S. Iyengar’s Light on Life in weekly classes. To further spread the word about the depth and wisdom of B.K.S. Iyengar’s teachings, and to celebrate his gift to the world, teachers will offer free Sunday classes to practitioners of other traditions and any interested students. All these activities will culminate in a party at the studio on Guruji’s birthday, Dec. 14.

Mark your calendars now for Nov. 3, 2018. In Miami, for the first time ever, there will be an Iyengar Yoga Festival. The festival, organized by member Mariana Scotti, is a unique communityoriented yoga gathering where everybody can discover, learn, be inspired by, and experience Iyengar Yoga. Join in to celebrate B.K.S. Iyengar’s 100th birthday and honor his teachings. Connect to yourself and others, and practice with the most experienced Certified Iyengar Yoga Teachers in Miami.

IYASW The desert is in bloom as we share our practice with many outof-town guests avoiding the Midwest winters. The Iyengar Yoga Association of the Southwest (IYASW) started 2018 with a 7

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successful book sale promoting Light on Yoga, Tree of Yoga, and A Gem for Women. We also welcomed senior teacher Nancy Stechert back to the Iyengar Yoga Center in Scottsdale.

Her profound teaching style leads us to penetrate deeper with our practice. Many students came to study with Nancy for the first time and were grateful to practice with her.

Also in February, the B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga center in Tucson, Arizona, hosted a successful workshop with senior teacher Rita Manos. Rita focused on physical and physiological imbalances in the body. Her teachings address our own consciousness and environmental influences and the impact they have on our asana practice.

Learning is an essential part of our Iyengar Yoga community.

We learn from each other and senior teachers, as well as from self-study. Several of our members traveled to Encinitas at the end of March to study with Carolyn Belko in preparation for 2018 assessments.

Carlyn Sikes (CIYT Intermediate Junior I) and Lauren BarnertHosie (CIYT) completed the three-year Iyengar Yoga Therapeutics Training for Teachers with Manouso Manos.

Carlyn and Lauren also became registered Yoga Therapists with the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT).

Both teachers are now teaching classes where students are given specific modifications of asana to practice. These classes benefit our students and community greatly, and Carlyn and Lauren are great resources for everyone.

Carolyn Belko returned to Scottsdale in April, and we had a successful intensive workshop. We are grateful to learn from Carolyn, as she helps refine our practice and build stability in asana and pranayama. She is very receptive to our questions and teaches from a place of strength and acceptance, which we appreciate.

We welcome the new 2018–2020 IYASW Board—Jill Ellis (president), Johanne Lauktien (vice president and communication chair), Laura Bowden (treasurer and membership chair), Danielle McNichol (secretary and communications)—as they work to plan an event to celebrate B.K.S. Iyengar’s centenary year.

Once again, Scottsdale Community College and the Iyengar Yoga Center of Scottsdale, along with IYASW, will host assessments in October for teachers working toward their Intermediate Junior I certification.

The IYASW community continues to grow and learn, and we are grateful for everyone who participates to make our events a success. Thank you to the senior teachers who come and visit us. Your support is inspiring.

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IYILA Our region has seen many new happenings in both the Iyengar Yoga Institute of Los Angeles (IYILA) as well as the wider region.

In celebration of Guruji’s 100th year, we are hosting a large array of centenary events, from special classes and workshops to wonderful community gatherings where we are sharing stories about the Iyengars and the ways in which their teachings have impacted our lives.

These centenary events have so far included several specialty classes taught by our senior teachers at the Institute. Pune Classes were taught by Marla Apt, where students experienced taking one of Geeta or B.K.S. Iyengar’s previous classes, as relayed through Marla’s instructions. In April, Garth McLean launched the year-long “Lobby Series.” For each session, students randomly select one of the asanas from the archival photos of B.K.S. Iyengar hanging in our Institute entryway, and Garth leads everyone through the actions required to move toward that asana. We also enjoyed discussions of Mr. Iyengar’s insights into the qualities of physical practice, the nature of prana, and the pursuit of freedom through Lisa Walford’s Light on Life philosophy course. Some of the proceeds from these centenary events were donated to the Bellur Trust.

Teacher training has also been transformed at the Institute this year. While the longstanding Iyengar Yoga Teacher Training (IYTT) program concluded its 26th and final year last November, a fresh and new modular-based continuing education program commenced in the spring. Marla Apt’s week-long Teaching Skills module and two other weekend-based Syllabi Study modules (taught by Marla in March and Gloria Goldberg in April) were a tremendous success and helped launch this new program, which aims to make teacher training more accessible to a wider audience. A 12-week course based on sequences for acquaintance in “Basic Guidelines” was taught by Carmen Fitzgibbon, whose passion and clarity continues to motivate students to deepen their personal practice and consider becoming teachers themselves.

Seeking to bring in more new students and extend the Iyengars’ teachings as widely as possible to our community, the Institute has been holding monthly introductory courses. It’s wonderful to see so many new faces in our classes as a result.

The Institute continues to host well-attended workshops taught by senior teachers visiting from other areas, including Carrie Owerko (in May) and Elise Miller (in June). Local senior teachers Garth McLean and Anna Delury were also welcomed back to teaching regular classes at the Institute. Garth’s therapeutic expertise benefitted students and teachers alike in his May workshop on multiple sclerosis (MS) and other mobility issues.

Advanced students were delighted to see more Level 2/3 classes being taught by Anna, Garth, and Jim Benvenuto. The one-week intensive taught by Marla Apt in March provided a Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2018

unique opportunity for local students to experience an intensive while not having to travel or leave family and work for an entire week. Nonetheless, many students also traveled long distances (both from within and outside of the U.S.) to study with Marla at the intensive. Senior teacher Manouso Manos also continued with his bi-monthly weekend classes for advanced students (in March and April) and launched the new one-year therapeutics training program. Participants in Manouso’s workshops came from around the globe, making the Iyengar Yoga Institute of Los Angeles a familiar place of study for practitioners from both near and far away.

Beyond the usual asana classes and workshops, the Institute also provided several opportunities for studying meditation and pranayama, with courses taught by Koren Paalman and Lisa Walford. Together with Lisa’s Light on Life philosophy course, we are finding our practices enriched and deepened in myriad ways. We are grateful to have so many dedicated teachers in our midst to share their wisdom so generously. The Institute also hosted a delightful community fundraising event in which Garth McLean gave his solo performance of Looking for Lightning, which depicts his journey from the fast-paced life of Hollywood to Canada to India and the feet of Guruji following his diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. We are all inspired by Garth’s show of courage, caution, and perseverance in his performance, as well as his practice and teaching. Funds were raised to help support

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2018

Garth’s goal of taking his performance to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to raise awareness and benefit research and resource programs for persons with MS and other mobility challenges.

To learn more, visit www.lookingforlightning.com.

Outside of the Institute, outlying studios have been highlighting B.K.S. Iyengar’s teachings through their regular classes and workshops. Free member workshops in both Palm Desert (taught by Holly Hoffman) and Ventura (taught by Anthony Lozana) brought in several new students, many of whom became members of IYILA. We are now over 450 members strong and still growing.

Several new members of the IYILA Board, elected into office at the end of 2017, were welcomed into their new positions in January. Welcome and congratulations to Alfred Bie, Scott Hobbs, Anthony Lorenzano, and Nina Siemazsko, who join other continuing members Mary Ann Kellogg (president), Laura Baker (vice president), Mike Montgomery (treasurer), Amy Brown (secretary), Holly Hoffman (member at large). We are grateful to outgoing Board members Jennifer Diener (former president), Don Vangeloff (former treasurer), Becky Patel (former membership chair), and Lori McIntosh (faculty liason).

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Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2018

THE YAMAS AND NIYAMAS TRAINING PRINCIPLES, NOT COMMANDMENTS

BY STEPHANIE QUIRK While in a workshop with Stephanie Quirk in the U.K., Heather Haxo Philips asked why some Western yogis seem to have an uncomfortable relationship to the yamas and niyamas. “We want to study them, we want to understand them, but we don’t know exactly how to do this. We haven’t found comfortable ways to bring them into our lives,” Heather said. “Why do you think this is?”

This is Stephanie’s response.

A big part of our conflict comes from being members of a Judeo-Christian–conditioned society. In practicing yoga, we are trying to fit into the clothing of an Eastern cultural tradition that also goes back thousands of years. It turns out the two don’t fit perfectly. They sound like they do, and in fact, we have heard our own Guru say that the yamas “are just the same as your Ten Commandments,” but there is, in fact, a difference. And when one is trying to practice the astanga (eight limbs), the difference has an effect.

The Ten Commandments begin with injunctions about how one should relate with the supreme authority and its agency, the church. (See sidebar on p. 14.) They are “writ in stone.” They are fixed, and their form is not an outline or guide for conduct; rather they are “rules” of conduct. So our loyalty and obedience to an ultimate authority is being commanded, and only after those commandments do we encounter injunctions that are parallel to those we find in the Yoga Sutras.

TRAINING PRINCIPLES The yamas and niyamas (see sidebar on p. 13) form part of a text that has as its “auspicious” aim the cessation of that which disturbs every level of our being so that we may realize our liberation and release into our own true state. Through yoga, we encounter the yamas and niyamas, and they act as reconditioning or transforming principles that we undertake.

They are training principles, not commandments.

The Yoga Sutras, the source of the yamas and niyamas, is a major text for one of the six orthodox Indian darshanas. And here is an important point: Darshana means to “catch sight of” or “to have insight into.” In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali illuminates eight spheres we can work through. Those spheres were considered by its author to be the essential path that is yoga, and together they are most efficacious for the purpose of darshana. Out of those eight, the yamas and niyamas, when combined, constitute 25 percent of that process. That’s a lot.

However, mentally we tend to combine the two, often pronouncing them as “yamaniyama.” Because we join them verbally, we think of them as one. In effect, we reduce the eight limbs to seven. The two lists, though linked in their aim, are fundamentally different from each other.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2018

The yamas address aspects of human nature that need to cease or be taken out if transformation is to happen—if we are to dwell in the abode of the true self. It’s the only way we can harmonize and beautify our energies enough to get a sight of a Self that is far deeper and more profoundly meaningful than anything else we have or can even imagine experiencing in our lives. To put it a bit more dramatically: The yamas are those aspects of ourselves that have to die, or our quest—our practice—will become dead in the water, no matter how many hours we put into it.

The niyamas are simultaneously approaches to living and the outcomes of undertaking all eight arms of the astanga (kriyas).

The niyamas are carried out cycle after cycle in an everdeepening and penetrating spiral, offering a cleansing through asana, pranayama, pratyahara and so on to samadhi. Through each of the arms, santosa is rendered and established at a more subtle level. Each of the niyamas requires its own intelligent and tireless approach: tapas. Each is a prism through which deeper and more subtle levels of the self are seen and understood. This ongoing svadhyaya offers clearer sight of the true self, Isvara pranidhana. So the niyamas go on and on, cycle after cycle, simultaneously deepening one’s practice according to one’s maturity.

NOT AN ACADEMIC SUBJECT The idea that the yamas are a “subject” to be studied reminds me of an old dairy farmer who had his herd up off the road between Boolara and Mirboo, in Gippsland, Australia. He once said, “I know why the lines are painted on the road. It’s so you can tell if you are still on the road.” Trying to study a subject called the yamas and niyamas is like searching for the lines painted on the road, at night, while driving a car with lights that barely work. To study them as a subject is academic. Thinking they are to be seen painted clearly and delineated like the road markings is a bit off track. They are not painted or written down for memorization, or we could just pick up a copy of the Yoga Sutras and read the list, read Guruji’s and other commentaries, and call it good. That would be a bit like looking at the catalogue of an art exhibition and then saying you saw the exhibition. As students, we are meant to be executing the actual works of art, not collecting catalogues.

We find the yamas only through our practice, through 11