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IYENGAR YOGA N EWS
The magazine of the Iyengar
ISSUE
NUMBER
®
Yoga Association of the United Kingdom
10
SPRING
2007
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IYENGAR YOGA ®
www.iyengaryoga.org.uk
ASSOCIATION (UK)
President: Yogacharya Sri B.K.S. Iyengar
IYENGAR ® YOGA N EWS - I ssue n o.10 - S pring 2 007
Editorial Board E D I T O R I A L Sharon Klaff, John Cotgreave, Helen Dye Philippe Harari, Judith Jones, Rachel Lovegrove Layout: Rachel Lovegrove and Philippe Harari Photographs by Carole Sender, Rachel Lovegrove and Chandru Melwani Front Cover - Ramamani Institute Practice Hall Back Cover - Statue of BKS Iyengar outside the Ramamani Institute Printed by: Blueprint Press, Cambridge, on paper made using wood from sustainable forests and without the use of chlorine ® used with permission of BKS IYENGAR,Trade Mark Owner
Copy deadline for next issue (IYN no. 11): Ist June, 2007 IYN 11 will be published in September 2007 Articles, letters, photographs* and illustrations should be sent to: Sharon.klaff@btopenworld.com Sharon Klaff, 13 Totnes Walk, London N2 0AD Small ads to Leza Hatchard at: admin@iyengaryoga.org.uk Box adverts to John Cotgreave at: jcotgreave@merseymail.com
*(if sending images via email please send seperately in tiff or jpeg format and at a minimum of 200dpi) Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
Issue 10 of Iyengar Yoga News includes a tribute to Guruji on his birthday in December, part 3 of “Guruji: Profile of a Yogi”, as well as Chandru Melwani and Carole Sender's colour photos from Pune. The Bellur Trust remains a high priority with news of the inauguration of the hospital and an appeal for funds. Meg Laing's ADESTE introduces a focus for practice and teaching. There are two articles by yoga practitioners with medical conditions - Cathy Slow writes about her experience as an arthritis sufferer and Lucy Brown about yoga and scoliosis. These two articles arose from readers' questions and prompted the planned introduction of the "exploring yoga" page for the autumn edition. It will be edited by Cecelia Harrison who will research the topics you raise, and reviewed by the editorial board prior to publication. Contentious issues will be sent to Pune for advice. Regular readers will notice a change in our pre-convention coverage. This year, the guest teacher interview will appear after the convention in the autumn edition together with the convention report. This issue includes the interview carried out with Jawahar Bangera following the 2006 convention. The series of interviews with the original Iyengar pupils in the UK continues with Diane Maimaris' in conversation with Diana Clifton. We are happy to receive contact details for any of these teachers who might like to be interviewed for this series. The increased interest in Iyengar Yoga in the UK has seen the recent opening and growth of several new Iyengar yoga studios around the country. In this issue, we have reports from two of them. If you have opened or are planning or expanding an Iyengar yoga studio, we would like to hear from you for a future special feature on this very encouraging development. Your contributions are gratefully appreciated. Don't wait for an invitation or a deadline - if you take beautiful photographs or write and have something to say which is relevant to Iyengar yoga, please simply send in your photos, 2
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ARTICLES 4 8 22 25 29 31 32 34 36 38 39
A Tribute to BKS Iyengar: on the occasion of his 88th Birthday on 14th December 2006 P r o f i l e o f a Y o g i - R e c o g n i t i o n : Part three of Kirsten and Richard Agar-Ward’s occasional series In Conversation with Diana Clifton: by Diane Maimaris Interview with Jawahar Bangera: by Sharon Klaff and Jenny Scott Bellur Hospital Opening - 2006: by Stephanie Quirk Iyengar Yoga for Mind Body & Soul: by Sallie Sullivan Pictures from the Ramamani Institute in Pune: by Carole Sender and Chandru Melwani Can You Help Fundraise for Bellur? Information from The Bellur Action Group SARVA IYI - Three is Not A Crowd: by Ally Hill One Year Old - Glasgow & West of Scotland Iyengar Yoga Institute: by Helen Graham & Fiona Dewar Yoga Show London - 15th to 17th September 2006: by Patsy Sparksman and Leza Hatchard SPECIAL FEATURES - Focus on Practice and Health
11 14 15 18 19
ADESTE: Alignment, Direction, Extension, Sequencing,Timing, Effects by Meg Laing Astanga Yoga in Adho Mukha Svanasana: by Arti H Mehta Astanga Yoga in Urdvha Mukha Svanasana Part One: by Arti H Mehta A Personal Story: by Cathy Slow Yoga for Scoliosis: by Lucy Brown REPORTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS
41 48 50
Logging in to the Discussion Forum and Updating Classes on www.iyengaryoga.org.uk Chair’s Report, Treasurer’s Report, MOM’s Report IYA (UK) 2007 Convention Details MISCELLANEOUS
42 44 45 46 52 53 54 56 62
Events Listings - Your Guide to Iyengar Yoga Institutes Around the UK Assessment Results Professional Development Days 2007 Teacher Trainers List Classes at RIYMI Yoga Rahasya IYA (UK) Merchandise Advertisements IYA (UK) Executive Council
THE IYA (UK) MAIN OFFICE HAS A NEW ADDRESS: LEZA HATCHARD (MEMBERSHIP and OFFICE MANAGER) IYA (UK), PO BOX 54151, LONDON W5 9DH Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
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A TRIBUTE TO BKS IYENGAR 88 ON 14th DECEMBER 2006 An article by Judith Jones first written for and published in Yoga & Health Magazine, December 2006
A
mini tornado burst open the door of the hall. A student, late for the yoga class, had arrived. It was pràõàyàma week and the other fifteen or so bodies were already lying on bolsters in supta baddha koõàsana . A few heads popped up to see what was going on but the more experienced serenely ignored the disturbance.After the class the now equally serene late-comer sighed, “oh I always feel so different after yoga - as if I have been washed out inside”.This is what BKS Iyengar has given us - a way to change ourselves through the practice of àsana and pràõàyàma , which is accessible to everyone.
philosopher and family man. Genius is rare - BKS Iyengar is unique and his work in the field of yoga unparalleled. Despite his fame, Guruji (as he is respectfully and affectionately called) continues to live a simple life, still practicing àsana and pràõàyàma daily. His home is the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) in Pune, India, which is also the spiritual “home” for many hundreds of his pupils, who attend classes there as often as they are able and which is also visited by many dignitaries, officials, journalists and groups from a wide range of different backgrounds. They come to get close to this special man who is not an armchair philosopher but teaches by example, his life steeped in the spiritual discipline of yoga.
BKS Iyengar’s life has been one of service to mankind. He bore much hardship and suffering as he struggled to earn a living as a teacher of yoga and support his family.
To hundreds of people all over the world, whether they “do” yoga or not, the name Iyengar is synonymous with this ancient practice. From humble beginnings in a small village in Southern India where he was born the son of a schoolmaster, BKS Iyengar has become the greatest Yogacharya of our age - maybe of all time but certainly a legend in his own lifetime. Sickly and weak as a child, his own education suffered but because of his great strength of character, his determination, curiosity and single-mindedness, he survived and succeeded. He is a man of high moral and ethical character, demanding, compassionate, humble, generous and has a great sense of humour. He is a scientist, artist, Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
BKS Iyengar’s life has been one of service to mankind. He bore much hardship and suffering as he struggled to earn a living as a teacher of yoga and support his family. When he first came to teach in the UK in the late 1950’s he suffered racial prejudice, had little to eat as a vegetarian diet was practically unheard of, had to walk for miles to teach classes and had to practice in someone’s kitchen. But his endurance and determination bore fruit and by the late 60’s and early 70’s Iyengar Yoga was 4
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spreading and teachers authorised by Guruji were teaching for the Inner London Education Authority and in other parts of the country. Soon teacher training courses were set up and in 1977 the first national Iyengar Yoga Association. Guruji himself has never called his method of teaching Iyengar Yoga.This term has been adopted by his pupils. He maintains that there is no distinction between one form of yoga and another. He says that water can be poured into different shaped containers but it is all the same water, so too yoga is the same no matter what name it bears. Nevertheless, Guruji has evolved a unique method which has transformed yoga from a mystical secret practice into a science, therapy and art accessible to everyone - not that the path of liberation from pain and sorrow is easy especially under the guidance of BKS Iyengar! He demands sincerity and hard work from his pupils in the discipline of body, mind and will through the practice of àsana and pràõàyàma . Guruji’s method of practice requires “great effort, perseverance and patience to penetrate from the outer skin towards the core of the being and back to the periphery” - “the evolutionary and involutionary journey to search for the Soul”. One class with him is humbling as his students realise that they are just scratching the surface of the subject. His knowledge of the intricacies of the body and the working of the mind is awesome. His practical philosophy is woven from the threads found in the Yoga Såtras of Patanjali, and the Eight Limbs of Yoga are completely integrated within his teaching.
Today in every yoga book there are glossy photos of beautiful people demonstrating yoga poses and in every type of yoga class asanas are taught in a multitude of different ways with as many different influences. In comparison the photos of Guruji in Light on Yoga show a beautiful, artistic, graceful, skillful presentation of àsanas that are an embodiment of all the qualities we should aim for in yoga. They are not held with hard muscular effort - the skin is soft and the poses appear effortless. They have a quality of timelessness. Even today at 88 when he usually practices with the use of props that same quality is evident.
... Guruji has evolved a unique method which has transformed yoga from a mystical secret practice into a science, therapy and art accessible to everyone ...
Guruji says, “Yoga is the most abused as well as the most respected subject in the world”. Nowadays this is especially true with the emergence of all kinds of “yoga”, as could be seen recently in London at an event that included yoga dance, builders’ down the pub yoga and yogapilates. Until Guruji the classical asanas that everyone knows nowadays had been forgotten, even in India. BKS Iyengar has been tremendously influential, especially Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
through his books Light on Yoga, Light on Pranayama, Light on the Yoga Såtras of Patanjali and the latest addition to the series Light on Life. Many teachers eager to jump on the bandwagon have used the term Iyengar style, method, influenced by etc to describe their brand of yoga, despite not having been properly trained in his method. For this reason an (Iyengar) Certification Mark has been introduced in recent years to trademark the name Iyengar in relation to yoga and the method of teaching which is called Iyengar Yoga. The trademark logo and name can only be used by properly trained and qualified Iyengar Yoga teachers and is intended to be a safeguard to maintain the purity of this tradition of yoga.
Spring 2007
To quote from the Yoga Såtras of Patanjali:
1.2
yogaþ cittavçtti nirodhaþ : yoga is the
cessation of movements in the consciousness. 11.46 sthira sukham àsanam: àsana is perfect firmness of body, steadiness of intelligence and benevolence of spirit. 11.47 prayatna ÷aithilya ananta samàpattibhyàm : perfection in àsana is achieved when the effort to perform it becomes effortless and the infinite being within is reached.
Guruji has given us the key to make this tranquil, timeless quality accessible to anyone to some degree. By concentration and observation in àsana we go through a process of organising ourselves outside and inside to gain 5
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clarity and for a moment in time, although the pose is imperfect, there can be a feeling of equilibrium. Through systematic, sequential adjustments and alignment of each and every part of the body the àsana becomes firm, stable, light, balanced. Neither a casual, self-satisfied, dreamy approach nor a purely gymnastic performance has any substance. Guruji maintains that a disciplined approach to yoga disciplines the mind; “agility in action brings agility in mind; precision of movement and control of body brings mental control and clarity of thought”. As the Yoga Såtras say both strength of body and mental clarity are needed for spiritual progress. This does not mean that only fit, able people can benefit from the practice of yoga. BKS Iyengar has tremendous compassion and can be seen in the medical classes at the Institute in Pune working with people who have the most extreme difficulties: paralysis, heart conditions, depression, deformity …… all are given help to find the physical or psychological “tools” to improve or overcome their problems, to bring relief, inner strength and inner peace. It is especially in this field that Guruji has developed the use of “props” for which Iyengar Yoga has become famous.
gives
neurological
strength. For
example
when
sarvàngàsana is done independently the temples “hit
out”, but when done with correct use of a chair for support this does not happen. Props are not used just to make the pose more comfortable but to help gain neurological control. Yoga is a neurological science. (Ref: Yoga Rahasya Vol. 12 No.3 2005). In general practice the props are an aid to learning, the challenge being to achieve the same balance without their use. Guruji’s talent is that he can teach yoga to anyone: to the young and the elderly, the sick and healthy, supple and stiff, intellectual and illiterate, from every class or profession, of any creed or culture. He wants the experience of yoga to be accessible to EVERYONE. His life has been spent propagating yoga and he has been so inspirational that today there is a large network of international Iyengar Associations and yoga centres, many hundreds of Iyengar teachers and thousands of students, who all love what they do, derive immense benefit, and owe it all to Guruji.
Props are not used just to make the pose more comfortable but to help gain neurological control. Yoga is a neurological science.
At first common household objects, walls, window sills, furniture, blankets became tools to help open, extend, support the body and then also the use of wooden bricks, belts, ropes, chairs and various purpose made heart benches, halasana stools, setubandha benches and many more, all designed to enable everyone, no matter what their inability, stiffness, problem or affliction, to be able to gain the maximum benefit possible from the therapeutic application of the yoga postures for their condition. The most amazing transformations can be seen to take place as relief is gained from pain and suffering. Nowadays the use of props like bricks, belts, foam pads and chairs are commonly used in general yoga classes, and not just Iyengar classes, the techniques being borrowed without full understanding of their application. Guruji teaches that extension and relaxation in yogàsana should go together, then biological relaxation takes place and this Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
He teaches not mechanical yoga but how to work for our own evolution and integration. This is his great gift to humanity. If we find peace in ourselves we can act peacefully in the world. Love and compassion flow from Guruji, but he does not just offer words - for example he acted instantly when an earthquake struck the remoter villages of Gujarat and Maharashatra a few years ago. He even sent his own surplus clothing as well as teachers to bring psychological help to the suffering people. He is a man of action and works with immense energy himself and more than that he is able to ignite the energy of others to help achieve his dearly held goals. For many years he has had a vision - to bring yoga and with it health and prosperity to the people in the villages of India. He has now taken the first step to realise this dream in the village community of his birth - Bellur. 6
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The plan, which is rapidly becoming a reality, is to bring about educational, health and social reform to turn around the lives of the people who exist in abject poverty with no opportunity to change their plight. Until 2004 Bellur did not even have clean drinking water. A charitable trust was set up with money donated by Guruji and the Iyengar family and students worldwide. A health centre was built and other plans for a high school, technical college, establishment of cottage industries, and much more began to take shape. The existing primary school was refurbished and a yoga room built. The children started having yoga classes! Today a hospital has been built and a High School is providing free education to girls as well as boys beyond primary school age and both serve the needs of the surrounding district as well as Bellur. Guruji has financed the construction of a Temple to Patanjali - the first in India. To see the completion and maintenance of all these projects Associations worldwide have begun to launch fund raising appeals for the Bellur Trust. When asked to write a tribute to Guruji my first thought was where would I begin? BKS Iyengar is held in such high esteem by all people who come into contact with him there are countless testimonies from people whose lives have been transformed by him - the walls of the Institute in Pune display honorary doctorates, awards and presentations from all over the world - in 2002 he was presented with the Padma Bhushan award by the Indian government, the highest civic honour made to people who excel in their field. Yet he remains humble. He carries on practicing yoga. His impact on the subject is unquestionable and there will be no end to the wealth of knowledge, which he has blessed us with. God bless you Guruji on the occasion of your 88th Birthday and may you continue to enjoy good health and vigour. May the light of your wisdom continue to shine for all of us who gratefully and reverentially follow your path. If you would like to make a donation to the Bellur Trust Appeal in honour of BKS Iyengar, please see page 34. Yoga Rahasya is the quarterly magazine of the RIMYI see page 53 for details. C
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Spring 2007
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GURUJI: P ROFILE O F A Y OGI Part 3: Recognition The way Guruji lives his life is a shining example of how we should strive to live in a yogic way. As Geetaji has told us, we should imitate Guruji, not just in posture but in his determination, his devotion to yoga and his philosophy of life. We would like to use this series to help you to get to know Guruji, the man. In this part Kirsten and Richard Agar Ward explore the esteem in which Guruji is held by other yogis and spiritual leaders as well as the great and the good in other spheres whilst remaining humble and according others respect.
T
he walls of the stairs leading to the practice hall at RIMYI in Pune are crammed full of honours given to Guruji from all over the world - by Universities, by cultural and administrative bodies, by spiritual groups, by medical authorities and by the Government of India [see box below]. It is striking how highly regarded this man is by such a diversity of people and institutions across the globe. Guruji has won the admiration of saints, yogis and holy men. For example, the Viswa Yoga Samaj hailed him as “Yoga Ratna” (Jewel among Yogis). MP Pandit of Aurobindo Ashram described him as a “Light and Force”. Others including Swami Venkatesananda and Swami Sivananda Radha were deeply impressed by him and his system. Swami Shivananda of Rishikesh declared Guruji to be a reincarnation of the great yogi Matsyendra, so impressed was he, and in 1952 conferred on Guruji the title “Yoga Raja”. Guruji’s teachings and practice were also appreciated by His Holiness Pope Paul VI. In 1998 Guruji received an award from Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, conferring upon him the title Arsha-Kula-Sresthah for his achievements in introducing yoga all over the world through innovative teaching methods, without compromising its classical form. The esteem in which he is held has been demonstrated by the number of eminent people who have sought to become his pupils. For example the prominent Indian philosopher J. Krishnamurthi, asked Guruji to teach him which he did for 20 years. He also taught the Indian freedom fighter Jayaprakash Narayan and the great Jain Guru Shri Badrankarji Maharaj. The great violinist Yehudi Menuhin was of course foremost amongst many Western artists and alumni who became pupils over the last six decades. Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
Guruji even earned the respect of his own Guru Sriman T. Krishnamacharya (no mean feat!).This is well illustrated by a story told by Geetaji on Guru Purnima 1987. She describes how when Sriman Krishnamacharya was in Pune one day in 1961 she and her cousin were practising for a yoga demonstration and unusually Guruji had some free time and was watching and explaining the points in each àsana , correcting and improving, leading towards precision and perfection. Sriman Krisnamacharya was watching and afterwards went to Guruji’s wife Rama and “praised my father for all that he has worked for precision. He appreciated the hard work that Guruji had put to improve so much.” She goes on to describe how the next day Sriman Krishnamacharya went to a goldsmith to get him to make a gold medal with the inscription “YogangaShikshak-Chakravar ti” engraved on it (Emperor of Teachers in Yoga). It was presented at a specially arranged public function and as Geetaji puts it: “It was a golden day in Guruji’s life, a Guru praising a pupil as ‘Emperor’.” In Light on Pràõàyàma there is a tribute to Guruji from Sriman Krishamacharya “… The work is of immense value to ardent practitioners of pràõàyàma . Scholars will surely be interested by this thought-provoking treatise, a precious gem in the firmament of yoga.” All praise indeed from a taciturn man who did not give praise easily. Guruji in turn has great respect and reverence for his own Guruji. At his own 60th birthday celebration despite himself having name and fame and the demands of an intensive to teach he was seen to be a humble ÷iùya to Sriman Krishnamacharya, attending to the smallest of his needs. On Krishnamacharya’s 100th Birthday Guruji said “As one of his pupils I consider it as a privilege to be a part and parcel of this great function… The merit of this success from his pupils entirely belongs to Guruji who has 8
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remained as a light to us all.” In a 1993 interview with Mary Dunn when asked about his teacher and his lineage he said, “Due to my Guru’s extraordinary brilliance in scriptures he had the pride that none could defeat him in discussions. With all this he was an upright man.” Guruji shows great respect for his Guru, whilst at the same time being honest about the lack of direct teaching he received from him. Geetaji talking on Guru Purnima 1987 on the Guru-Pupil tradition said: “Sometimes Guruji says in class that he was not taught much by his Guru, which is true. This suggests that their relationship was not fulfilling, but in fact Guruji was so devoted to his Guru that he used to prostrate himself 108 times in front of his photo. I was not born then, but my mother told me about it. Perhaps it is this bhakti and shraddha [devotion and faith] that have lead him to such a high peak.”
souls with a spiritual touch in life.” Guruji is respectful of other leaders whilst remaining truthful. Guruji said of Jiddhu Krishnamurti: “As an individual he was a gem” but he also criticises that Krishnamurti did not show people practical ways to reach his ideas. He acknowledges though in the book ‘Seventy Glorious Years’ what Krishnamurti taught him: “I learnt something from him. I should not be disturbed or swayed by the opinions of others.” He also talks about how Krishamurti’s talks inspired him regarding the language he used in his teaching. His warmth toward his fellow yoga sàdhakas was demonstrated in his recent visit to Sri K Pattabhi Jois (who was also a student of Krishnamacharya) shor tly after Jois’ 90th bir thday. Guruji had been unable to attend the birthday itself as it was at Guru Purnima, but shortly afterwards he was at Tumkur being honoured at a yoga festival and he took the four-hour drive south to visit Jois. They enjoyed a warm and cordial afternoon together summed up by Guruji “1934 together, 2005 together. I think that is iimportant. It is a rare privilege.”
‘I was moved by his simplicity and benevolence, though he was guarded like a king of old. I folded my hands and bowed to him. He moved with warmth and kindness....’
When questioned about his Guru in 1993 he said: “I revere him, I admire him… He was very versatile, endowed with scholarship, mastery of Sanskrit, deep insight in esoteric matters and above all a ‘practical man’ a ‘doer’ in his time.” And: “The ethos around my Guru, his learning with deep insight and experience marked him out from other masters and he was in a fine state of preservation and his marvellous practice of all facets of Yoga was his strength. He practised what he preached and so I was paying my respects with reverence.” In Yoga Journal 2001 he said: “I am a small model in yoga; my Guruji was a great man.”
Guruji extends this willingness to hold others in esteem beyond his own Guruji. When asked in an interview for the Maharastra Herald 1984 (reprinted in Astadala Yogamala IV) “Who have been the great yogis of our time?” he replied. “ We have had the great good fortune of having seen three great yogis in India in our time. Shri Ramana Maharshi of Arunachalam, a great jnana yogi who had a ripe intelligence of knowledge of the soul. Then we had Shri Aurobindo, a great bhakti yogi whose heart was filled up with love and compassion and the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, who was a great karma yogi, man of action.” Interestingly Guruji has also said: “Though I met a lot of saints, sadhus… artists, politicians, yogis and philosophers in my life, I feel that Shri Jayaprakash Narayan (though a politician) was one of the finest and noblest Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
Guruji holds others and their beliefs with respect beyond India. In 1966 his Holiness Pope Paul VI honoured Guruji by granting audience, blessing him and giving him a medal in appreciation of his services to humanity. Guruji write:s ‘I was moved by his simplicity and benevolence, though he was guarded like a king of old. I folded my hands and bowed to him. He moved with warmth and kindness towards me and caught my palm firmly and said: “I love India and Indians. I liked your book [Light on Yoga].You are iindeed a professor and a director… I bless you with my heart and I wish you well. I hear that you have done very good work in your art and again I bless you…”’ Guruji was awarded the even more prestigious Padma Bhushan in 2002. He also received an honorary doctorate in literature in 2002 from the Tilak Maharastra Vidyapeeth and Doctor of Science from the University of Mysore. Despite the esteem in which he is now held and the recognition he has earned, Guruji remains humble enough 9
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to see the greatness in others and to use that as an inspiration. Quoted in The Times newspaper in 2005 he said:“I wanted to be to yoga like Mahatma Gandhi was to nonviolence, like Menuhin was to music, like Krishnamurti was to philosophy, by revealing the hidden things that could be revealed.” Throughout his life it is above all Guruji himself who has brought such immense recognition and esteem to yoga, this great philosophy, art, science and gift to humankind. Millions of people throughout the world have been introduced to and practise his method of yoga. This must be the greatest award and recognition for his work. C
Guruji paying respect to Krishnamacharya
A SMALL SELECTION OF GURUJI’S AWARDS 1948 1961
Yoga Raja Yoganga
1981 1988 1991
Yoga Raja Star named after him Padma Shri
1991 1991 1991
Fellow of the International Council of Ayurveda. Purna Swasthya Doctor of Science
1992 1997 1997 1997 1998 1998 1998 1999 2002
Sri Krishnanugraha Prasasti Patra Best Citizen of India Doctorate of Science Vipra Ratna International Man of the Year 20th Century award for achievement Arsha-Kula-Sresthah 20th Century achievement award 500 leaders of influence Padma Bhushan
2002 2004
Yoga Bhaskara One of 100 most influential people in the world
Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
- Swami Shivananda - Shikshak-Chakravarti (Emperor of Teachers in Yoga ) - Sriman T Krishnamacharya - title conferred by Vishvayoga Sammelan - The Ministry of Federal Star registration, USA. - Government of India in recognition of his distinguished contribution
Spring 2007
- World Federation of Societies of Holistic Medicine. - Open International University for Complementary Medicine - Jagadguru Shri Madhva Mula Matha Mahasanustanam - International Publishing House, India - University of Mysore - Karnataka Brahman Mahasabha - International Biographical Centre, Cambridge - International Biographical Centre, Cambridge - Arsha Vidya Gurukulam - American Biographical Institute. - Govt. of India in recognition of distinguished service of a high order to the nation. - Sanskrta Academy, Madras - Time Magazine
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D
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few years ago I produced as part of our teachertraining course at the Edinburgh Iyengar Yoga Centre a mnemonic for a number of very important things that all students of yoga, should have in mind when they teach and practise. It is in the form of an acrostic: ADESTE. Adeste in Latin is a plural imperative which means ‘be present’, ‘be in the present’. (Some of you will know it from the Christmas carol tune: Adeste fideles - ‘O come all ye faithful’). So the acrostic itself has yogic resonance. Some of the notes attached to the headings were incorporated into the new written syllabus for the Introductory Level certificate of IYA (UK). But the full text with the acrostic has not been printed before, and only teachers who have been recently trained at EIYC will know it; so here it is. Alignment, Direction, Extension, Sequencing,Timing, Effects Alignment in a yogàsana is to do with the position of the body in space and the position of its parts relative to each other, and to the floor, the wall or any other props. Alignment has to be checked, and if necessary adjusted, after any movement, i.e. repositioning of any part of the body, for instance when moving from an intermediate stage of an àsana to its final stage. Alignment therefore has to be considered at all stages of an àsana : preparation, going into the pose, being in the pose, coming out of the pose. At a more subtle level, alignment is also to do with the internal balance of a pose while it is being held. It is the poise or ‘re-pose’ in the pose that brings quietness to the brain and stills the vibrations of the mind and nervous system: cittavçtti nirodhaþ . Direction or Directionality in a yogàsana is what links its alignment with its extensions. Awareness of directionality includes knowing what parts are stable or rooted and what parts are to be extended and/or expanded and in what direction. One must know: (a) (b)
what kind of extension is involved - forward, backward, lateral, rotational the direction of the extension from its source or root
Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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If one thinks of extension as being the stretch of a length or strip of elastic, it can be stretched in two different ways: (i) (ii)
by moving the two ends (or edges) evenly away from each other so that the elastic in between extends from the centre point by keeping one end firmly held down and extending the other end away from it. These kinds of extension are also found in àsanas .
In yoga, an example of (i) is the outward extension of the arms in e.g. trikoõàsana , pàr÷vakoõàsana etc. An example of (ii) is the rooting of the feet while the legs are lifted and the trunk and spine extended in e.g. tàóàsana , trikoõàsana , and the other standing àsanas , Extension in a yogàsana is to do with the inner action of the pose. It includes, for instance: the gradual, safe, noninjurious stretching of muscles, tendons and ligaments; the expansion and lift of the chest; the elongation of the limbs and the trunk to create space and lubrication in the joints; the lift of the trunk and inner organs. Extension is facilitated by correct alignment, and interacts with it also to improve alignment itself. Understanding of extension includes awareness of the possibility of over-extension as well as under-extension. It also includes bringing life and awareness to areas that are dull. Sequencing is central to all aspects of yoga. Awareness of sequencing involves: (a) (b)
knowing how correctly to go into a pose, how to be in it, and how to come out of it; how to order the àsanas so as not to irritate the nervous system.
The standing àsanas include all the different spinal movements and therefore are taught first and become the foundation for all the other àsanas . Sequencing includes therefore the order of learning the àsanas and knowing what preparation is required before learning certain àsanas , e.g. inversions or backbends (or pràõàyàma ). It also includes the order of performing the àsanas , whether in practice or in class: what àsanas are simple 11
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and basic and what are complex and advanced, what are stimulating or relaxing, what are energising or calming, what should come at the beginning of a class or practice and what at the end. Yoga is a penetrative discipline and its practice is a long-term commitment to a journey of increasing awareness and subtlety of perception. The eight limbs of yoga - yama, niyama, àsana , pràõàyàma , pratyàhàra, dharàõà , dhyàna and samàdhi - are themselves a sequence from the outward journey to the inward or spiritual journey. Timing involves knowing what proportion of a class should be spent on different types of àsana , e.g. standings, and how long each should or may be held. Some àsanas are difficult for beginners or for weaker students and should be taught on the basis of ‘touch and go’, only holding very briefly. Others should be held for longer so that their effects may be understood and absorbed. Sometimes it is beneficial to work at speed to promote energy and lightness; sometimes one should stay and experience a posture. As strength, awareness and capacity increases it becomes possible to hold difficult poses for longer. A teacher should always be aware of the capacity of his/her students and see that the pose can be held quietly without shaking or strain and with normal/natural breathing. Timings (and sequencing) must be adjusted accordingly. In one’s own practice and in teaching, ahi§sà - non-violence and compassion - must be observed. Effects are why we do yoga. They can seem very clear and obvious - backbends make one feel energised and “up”, forward bends make one feel quiet and contemplative. The doing of an àsana or pràõàyàma can certainly bring beneficial effects when correctly performed: such effects are listed under each àsana and pràõàyàma in Light on Yoga and in Light on Pràõàyàma . But the effects of àsana and pràõàyàma are in fact very complex and subtle and can vary from person to person and from time to time, and according to what sequence one does them and with what timings. One learns these subtleties gradually through years of practice. As the practice of yoga penetrates deeper, it affects not just joints and muscles but the respiratory, digestive, nervous and endocrine systems; this of course includes the brain, mind and also what we may call the soul or spirit. It is important to have a balance of different types of àsanas in your practice. When àsanas are correctly timed and sequenced, they balance body, mind and spirit. ADESTE
Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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Spring 2007
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ASTANGA Y OGA I N ADHO M UKHA S VANASANA From Yoga Rahasya Vol 7.4 Compiled by Arti H Mehta from Guruji’s teachings at the Iyengar Yoga Festival 1998 and Silver Jubilee 2000
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n this issue, we are going to discuss the range of techniques which can be used to progress towards a “perfect” adho mukha ÷vànàsana . As discussed in the previous article, prayatria (effort ) to perform this àsana starts diminishing as the student attains the capability of understanding and implementing these techniques. Thus, depending upon the level and maturity of the student, the student will be able to experience the physical, physiological and mental changes pervading the various aïgas (limbs) of aùñàïga yoga that the practice of this àsana brings about.
This article should be read in conjunction with Light on Yoga .
Watch your joints of your fingers. All the joints should be touching the floor. Each of the three joints on each of the finger should be in contact with the floor. The elbows should be moving towards the upper arm. Extend the arms in such a manner that the biceps get
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sucked towards the deltoids. The elbows should not descend when the head moves towards the floor. Move the shoulders towards the waist and the shoulder blades into the body and towards the kidneys so that the arm pit is well exposed. The arch of the foot should be lifted and should be moving towards the heel so that there is heaviness felt on the heel. The inner and outer ankle should be lifted up. Adjust the palm in such a manner that from the centre of the palm, one feels the energy moving forward towards the tips of the fingers as well as backwards towards the wrist. The sensations from the wrist should be ascending up towards the shoulders and then towards the head of the pelvis. The bottom of the front portion of the bottom of the ribcage should move towards the back. When this happens, the arm pit “opens out” still further. When this happens, the breathing becomes still easier. Feel the sensation in the arch of the foot while extending it towards the heel. When this happens, frontal thigh muscles (quadriceps) start moving towards the back of the thighs. The attention should be towards the inner “head” of the heel - which should be moving towards the back of the heel. To descend the heels down, move the head of the shin towards the back of the knee and then lift the kidneys towards the buttocks. Try and extend the chest horizontally. Move the sternum towards the diaphragm and then the breathing becomes deeper. Watch your palms and “feel” if all the corners are evenly touching the floor. The middle finger should be exactly in the centre and should not be tilting and the other fingers should be branching from the centre. Adjust the skin of the mound of the middle finger and the little finger evenly on the floor.The third portion on the palm that needs to be placed firmly is the “middle portion” of the base of the palm. All these three points 13
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should be very firm and uniformly placed on the floor. Nail the middle portion (which is more towards the wrist) of the palm on the floor. Draw a thin straight line from the wrist of the palm to the thumb and then extend towards the shoulder blade but do not push the head down. One tends to stretch the outer upper arms more than the iinner upper arms. In order to “feel” the inner arms too, the thumb should be touching the floor as much as the mound of the little finger. Also, slowly stretch the skin of the outer upper arm and the inner arm starts getting longer. If the weight is felt on the lower legs and not the thighs then the distance between the palms and feet is too much. If the distance between the feet and palms is too close, then the thigh muscles are extended. You also have to watch the middle of the knee and learn to adjust from there. If the thigh is longer than the lower leg then move the feet back and if the lower leg is longer then move the feet forward. Move the metatarsals towards the ankles; extend the shin and then descend the foot down.
Remember that the foot has two arches - one in the centre of the foot and the other between the toe and the mound of the toe. The latter is the subtle arch. When this arch is “opened” - the back of the heel gets heavier the heel fails to touch the floor. Otherwise the “back” portion of the heel fails to touch the floor. There should be even pressure felt on the mounds of the fingers and the mounds of the toes. There should be harmony in all these movements and adjustments. And it is harmony and adjustment which leads to a divine state. There is a vertical extension from the back of the thigh to the heel while a horizontal extension from the inner ankle towards the outer ankle. Extend from the inner arch towards the inner heel. Also, from the middle of the back of the knee - extend horizontally and equally towards the outer and the inner back of the knee. Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
The horizontal movements require the brain. First “stretch” horizontally and then maintaining that horizontal stretch - move vertically. Stay in the àsana and then watch the side ribs especially the back portion. The side of the ribs should not be pushed towards the legs but the front corner should be moving vertically upwards. The sensation is very soothing. Never push the head as it is a jarring action. Like jarring music blocks your ears and this expression shows on your face, pushing the head leads to jarring in the pose. The lower arm extends and naturally becomes thin and long - try and make the upper arm thin and long too. To move the head down, move the trapezius muscle towards the kidney. Never move only from the arm pits. The back of the pelvic girdle tends to bulge away from the body. This indicates that the root (the heel) is not placed correctly. Lengthen the foot from the centre of the arch by stamping the middle mound of the sole. By extending the arch - one manages to move the pelvic girdle into the body and also improves the pose. Imagine as if the buttocks are the “Everest”. Like the peak of the mountain is covered with snow, your attention should cover the entire buttocks. This is how you have to learn to adjust the pose. The buttocks, the perineum and the tail bone have to be parallel to each other. “Watch” the shin bone. The middle of the shin bone tends to be closer to the back of the leg while the top of the shin bone moves away from the back of the leg. This leads to a distortion in the flow of attention and “intelligence”. So, move the skin on the middle of the shin closer towards the bone. This brings about a uniform flow of intelligence. The subtle movements have to be brought about with one’s intelligence and not force. These subtle movements bring about silence in the body and mind and this is meditation! C
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URDHVA MUKHA SVANASANA Part One of an article taken from Yoga Rahasya Vol 10 Compiled by Arti H Mehta from Gurujis teachings at the 80th Birthday and Silver Jubilee celebrations of the Institute
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ver the years, Guruji has given us hundreds of thousands of gross and subtle points to improve the performance of each of our àsanas. These “points” are based on his years of hard work, experimentation, reflection on the experiences followed by clear articulation of instructions to guide us through the àsana. We, his students, do not have to experiment on ourselves the way he did since we are provided with ready guidance in the form of clear instructions on what adjustments we need to make while striving for a sthira sukham àsanam . Our performance naturally improves in his presence. But, we tend to forget the adjustments of the head, chest, arms when we are instructed about the legs or vice versa even while attending a class. Therefore, it seems impossible for us to recollect all his instructions, remember the experience they have led to and then implement them while practicing on our own. So, in this article on årdhva mukha ÷vànàsana, we are providing capsules of specific pointers, each of which emphasizes on certain aspects, for us to refine our årdhva mukha ÷vànàsana. With regular practice, we should be able to simultaneously adjust and integrate all these points in our àsana. This article has to be read in conjunction with Light on Yoga and Yoga In Action.
Our elbow joint is always bent when we stand or when we walk and this leads to arthritis of the elbow joint. We are also inattentive on the shoulder and hip joints and these also get stiff as there is no circulation. årdhva mukha ÷vànàsana breaks the calcification that takes place in these joints. Attempt 1: Going into the àsana Lie down on your stomach. Imagine many vertical lines from the heel to the sole of the foot. Also draw many Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
horizontal lines from the inner edge of the foot to the outer edge of the foot or the outer edge of the foot to the inner edge of the foot.The lines should run parallel. Join the feet together and open out the legs. Feel the energy flow from the inner heel to the outer heel, inner sole to the outer sole, inner arch to the outer arch of both the feet. Can you feel the curvature of the arch like the curvature of the calf muscles? The calf muscles turn from inside out but the arch turns from outside in. Check this. When the knees are on the floor there is space between the knee-cap and the knee joint. Suck the knee-cap as though it is leaving the floor and feel the effect on the ligament of the knee at the back. Lock the top chip of the knee. Open the inner calf muscles and the arches of the feet by maintaining the contact of the metatarsals on the floor. Move forward like a snail. Gradually, drag your legs forward towards the arms but keep them together. When the trunk is moving forward, the quadriceps muscles should be touching the floor not the knee-cap. Now, the grip that you get in the inner quadriceps muscles is the key to årdhva mukha ÷vànàsana . The mind should be reflecting and holding the middle of the quadriceps muscles while you slowly go into the pose without loosing the contact of the mind and intelligence on your legs Either take the hands back or take the body forward.
When in the àsana : The inner lower arm circularly turns out while the upper arm circularly turns in. The upper arm should circularly turn out like the lower arm. Stretch and raise the trunk up by moving the bottom elbow to the elbow joint. Equally lift up on both the sides. Then there is life in the back of the arms. If the elbow is bent, you live in the front of the arm, if it is straight you live in the back of the arms. Maintaining the life in the back of the arms, move the waist a little forward. The outer side of the leg is alert, the inner side of the leg is bent. Open your calf muscles to the sides. Charge the flesh at the head of the inner calf muscles below the knee. 15
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Attempt 2: Going into the àsana: Lie down on your stomach. Move the body four to five inches forward as if you are swimming. Keep your palms close to the waistline where there are no bones. This allows your waist to lift up as well. Spread the skin of the palms such that the centre of the metacarpals should go down towards the floor when you press your palms down. Create space in the face of the palms, not only by stretching vertically but also expanding horizontally when you go up into the pose. Do not drag the nail of the big toe towards you. Separate the nail from the first knuckle of the big toe that moves forward.
When in the àsana: Lift the collar-bone a little.You get a logical correct pose not the physical correct pose. The entire body from the toe to the head including the wrists moves up while the diaphragm moves down. Stretch from the wrist to the middle of the forearm, stretch that bone. The diaphragm goes up. So, the physiological organs are elavated from their position which otherwise sink because of the diaphragm which moves towards the abdominal organs. The correct årdhva mukha ÷vànàsana is where the diaphragm does not move down but the entire body moves up which leads to better breathing. Attempt 3: Going into the àsana: Lie down on your stomach with the palms placed on two bricks.The ligament of the inner elbow is the brain in årdhva mukha ÷vànàsana. Normally, you use the gross body and not the subtle body, which is the inner body. The energy of the arms ascends but it descends from the line of the elbow to an inch above the elbow (towards the bottom upper arms). Ascend in that region and the body lifts up.
When in the pose: If you observe the inner side of the leg and the outer side of the leg, you will find that the inner side of the leg is shorter. To get the correct årdhva mukha ÷vànàsana of the legs, charge the points in the two legs (two inches above the space between the inner ankle bone and the hinges of the heels) without lifting the top chip of the knees.Try the pose with poker stiff legs. Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
Never lift the outer chip of the knee. Learn rhythmically by moving the inner chip of the knee in par with the outer chip of the knee, then both have to go together. Why do you use the bricks? What do you learn? How do you implement it? You can place two flat bricks one above the other with a sticky mat between the two bricks. The inner upper arm becomes longer than the outer upper arms as some life automatically comes at the elbows. Maintaining the intelligence that has been developed in the arms by placing the palms on the bricks, implement the same by keeping the palms on the floor. Watch the length from the inner elbow to the armpit. With the palms on the floor the length reduces and you cannot lift. Move forward from the shoulder blade region of the back to the chest and then lift from the top inner upper arm to the armpit. Go up from there and you can lift.
“The intelligence, the consciousness play like demons, so yoga is meant to make angels by removing the demonic characteristics”. Attempt 4: Going into the àsana: Lie down on your stomach with the brick on either side of your waistline. With the legs on the floor, stretch the outer edges of the diaphragm (not the centre one) a little forward. Don’t raise the body from the floor but just extend the dome of the diaphragm that is connected to the floating ribs, straight to the front. Press the palms down. Keeping the knees on the floor, straighten the back of the legs. Move up from the floating ribs and not just from the top ribs. Come up. Floating ribs should come forward not the top chest. 16
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Drag the legs forward without loosing the weight on the wrists. Create space between the side latissimus and the armpits. Stretch the inner arm vertically up from the thumb side of the wrists. Both the wrists should touch the brick evenly. If it does not then come down and adjust.Then come up again.
When in the àsana Pressing the mounts of the thumbs on the brick, open the inner biceps. Space is created in the ribs as you raise the inner biceps. When you place the middle toe knuckle on the floor, the calf muscles that turn in start to turn out. Resisting on the outer leg, create motion on the inner leg for the weight to fall exactly on the middle toe and not on the big toe or the little toe. The big toe and the little toe must be in the same level but the other three toes must help you to do the correct pose.The top leg adjusts and the femur moves in.
“ Sequencing of the part of the body is very difficult but sequencing of the àsana is very simple”. Attempt 5: Going into the àsana: After lying on your stomach when you are about to do the pose, are the abdominal organs in a sleepy state or an active state? Are the thighs in a sleepy state or an active state? They are in a sleepy state.Then how can you do with wholeness? Whole means you have to think how you have to stretch from the knuckle of the toe. The top knuckles of all the toes form the root.The pose must be coming from the first top knuckles of the five toes by creating life and activising there. Let the root be firm and the metatarsal active as you come up. With resistance, move the outer chip of the knee in, inner chip of the knee up and top chip of the knee back for the calf muscles to open. Bring the middle chest to move forward.
What happens to the shoulders, the trapezius muscles, the collar-bones if there is fear complex when the chest comes forward? When you get something, you loose something. The trapezius muscles come forward, the shoulders roll in and the collar bones loose their alertness. You should continue to keep the trapezius muscles in its position i.e. going back, Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
not forward as you go into the pose. Patanjali states “ When the citta does not move, the atman rests in its abode”. With similar interpretation learn how each muscle in each àsana, in each spindle, in each ligament should remain in its position after the action. How to bring it back in its position is the real art. Don’t lift the outer chip of the knee more than the inner chip of the knee from the floor. You have to measure to see that the chip of the knee is parallel to the floor. Dip the head of the femur down but not the knee up. Now just crawl forward with your foot, the head looking back and raise the armpit of the frontal chest. Observe how the middle shin goes and sucks into the body. ( this is a good clue for adho mukha ÷vànàsana).
How do you get rid of the fear that is felt in the cells in årdhva mukha ÷vànàsana? The moment you feel that you are falling you have to take the head back a little more, the cervical spine lifts up helping you to throw the head back. The fear goes off. If there is fear to move the chest forward, look back and push the chest forward. The fear goes off. The effects: Watch the sensation that you get in the inner upper arms. There is a feeling of lightness because the tension and stress on the arms is taken off in the stressing pose. You feel the flow of energy getting longer and extending and percolating and the spot where you feel the percolation is the area where the energy is flowing. It does not flow everywhere. “ Consciousness is the ocean, intelligence is the river. As the river joins the ocean, the river in your body (the energy which creates sensitivity and intelligence) has to run in such a way that they are one with the ocean. So once they are one with the ocean the consciousness receives the river. When the river water mixes with the ocean, the ocean does not come up but it maintains its own level. Similarly the consciousness in your body maintains its own level, it doesn’t go beyond the banks”. In each pose, the consciousness is hidden inside the level but we do not trace the level. You have to learn to keep it so that you charge the frame of the intelligence to trace wherever the consciousness is dormant. There are many more methods by which one can proceed towards experiencing a sthira sukha årdhva mukha ÷vànàsana. These would be covered in the next issue. C 17
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P E R S O N A L
S T O R Y by Cathy Slow
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was introduced to Iyengar yoga when the teacher who had been taking the class left and Patsy Sparksman took over the course. I knew immediately that this was something for me and several years later I was regularly going to general and intermediate classes with Silvia Prescott I first became ill around Christmas with a ‘flu type virus which developed into erythrema nodosum, a rare condition affecting joints and causing blisters on the shins. I was unable to walk for several days and had to take steroids to control the inflammation. A few weeks later, I was able to get to Silvia’s remedial class, with Patsy helping by dropping me off at the front door to avoid the sometimes long walk from a parking place. I began with recuperative postures; working on the joints which had stiffened and with Silvia’s help I was soon able to join the general classes, although I had to be careful with my energy levels and did standing postures against a wall. Although I felt much better, I never quite returned to full health and found I was often struggling with every day tasks. I was referred to a rheumatologist and eventually given a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. I had to learn to accept limits which were totally alien to me; I had a full-time job, three children and a busy life and I was used to being a person who “did everything”. I am sure Silvia knew I was not fully recovered. I remember asking her what she thought about my going to Pune and she shook her head, saying not yet. When I talked to her about the fibromyalgia, she said I had drawn on energy reserves which shouldn’t be used, which made a lot of sense and I knew it was time to make changes in the way I was living. I gave up work and we moved to Devon with our youngest son. I carried on with my own practice and was able to get to yoga days at Silvia’s and to occasional classes in Bristol until I found Iyengar classes in Minehead with Susan Vassar which I could get to more frequently. Four years ago, things deteriorated, my feet were really painful, I couldn’t move my wrists and shoulders and I knew there was something seriously wrong. I was told I had rheumatoid arthritis and I think that was the point when I gave up. I just couldn’t cope with the deterioration happening day by day and I went through a few months feeling totally sorry for myself. I even began to think there was no point in doing yoga as the disease was taking over. I was given immune suppressants, which I reluctantly agreed to try and after several months my joints became less swollen and I was told that I needed to Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
put all my efforts into fighting the disease and should be exercising daily. I was really helped by a physiotherapist who was impressed by my range of movement and when she said that I moved “so gracefully” something clicked into place and I knew that I should be using yoga to combat the disease rather than giving up. I started with the recuperative postures and used ropes for ÷ãrùàsana and a chair for sarvàngàsana to avoid any pressure on my wrists and shoulders. When September came I decided that I must go back to regular classes to maintain my practice. Since then, I have rarely missed a class, I have completed a year of teacher training and passed level one of the introductory assessment. I have received confirmation of a place in Pune for a month in July 2008 and I hope to take the level two assessment in October 2007. Rheumatoid arthritis is an incurable auto immune disease which affects connective tissue. There is still very little known about why it occurs and no one can predict how it will affect an individual. Yoga is an ideal way of managing the symptoms and reducing the effects of drugs taken to control the inflammation. Over the years I have learned to adapt postures (with the help from Susan and the patient understanding of my fellow students), to cope with stiff or swollen joints. I use resting poses to help me through bad days, pràõàyàma to maintain a balance both physically and mentally and inverted postures and twists daily which I am sure help to combat the effects of the medication. On good days (which now out number the bad) I can work through more active postures and enjoy the freedom of being able to do so! I am also able to ride my horse out on Exmoor which is such a wonderful experience even on wet and windy days (which we have frequently!) I may not be able to progress in the more advanced poses, but as Silvia once told us, yoga isn’t always about improving, but sometimes about maintaining what one already has and I wholeheartedly agree with what she said in the last issue about understanding yoga from the introductory postures. I continue to learn from my practice and I try to enjoy the challenge rather than being defeated by it. Yoga teaches us control and feeling you are able to be in control of your body is especially important when working with health problems. I know I was fortunate to have already had many years of yoga practice before I became ill and to have had such good teachers to help me. Yoga is an integral part of my life and without it I know I would be losing the battle against ill health and negativity. C 18
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FOR
SCOLIOSIS by Lucy Brown
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was 19 and about to leave London to go to Edinburgh University when a back specialist told me I had a 20degree scoliosis in my lumbar spine but that it wasn’t bad enough to require surgery. He also told me there was nothing I could do for the scoliosis, or to prevent the inevitable backache I would suffer later in life (“everyone gets backache” were his encouraging words!). Luckily for me, I found an excellent osteopath in Edinburgh for a second opinion and even more luckily, she recommended I go to Iyengar Yoga classes with Elaine Pidgeon at the Edinburgh Iyengar Yoga Centre. My first class was 20 years ago and I am now an Iyengar teacher in Edinburgh. I teach one of the yoga classes at Edinburgh University and I currently have 3 students with Scoliosis in my class. What follows is my own experience of working with my scoliosis and how I work with my students with scoliosis. Also the work Firooza Ali from Mumbai did with me when she visited Edinburgh, to help with my neck pain. My spine actually has several S shaped curves, not just one, but the largest curve is in the lumbar region. This causes my rib cage to rotate to the right, displacing my right shoulder blade and causing my right shoulder to drop slightly forwards and my left shoulder to elevate (see photo A).
In short, my body is very uneven, especially to the eye of an Iyengar teacher. Rather than trying to make my ribs, side waist, shoulders etc. “balance”, I have found it much better to focus on lengthening the spine and this is where Elaine began with me. Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
Beginners level standing poses do this very effectively. Lateral extensions (trikoõàsana, pàr÷vakoõàsana) help develop awareness of the sides of the spine and are markedly different on each side. Prasàrita pàdotànàsana creates space in the sacral and lumbar regions. Ardha uttànàsana (with hands on the wall) enabled me to learn to lengthen the back muscles and adho mukha ÷vànàsana on ropes is excellent for bringing freedom and length to the spine. I had no problem doing sàlamba sarvàngàsana for the first 14 years, but as I have got older, I have developed more problems with my neck so I usually practice this pose on a chair (see “Yoga - The Path to Holistic Health” by B.K.S.Iyengar, pub. DK 2001, p.212) and do ÷ãrùàsana on ropes or 2 chairs. All twists are excellent, obviously, and forward and backwards extensions are much better after twists. Forward bends are very useful, especially jànu ÷ãrùàsana, for understanding my own scoliosis. As with any physical problem, I have had to learn to work with sensitivity, developing awareness and mindfulness. I usually begin my practice sitting for a long time, observing the breath and releasing tension from the muscles. I think I am quite slow! It still takes me a while to “undo” enough to listen to my body’s intelligence. Working with students who have Scoliosis, I have found only a few modifications to the general Beginners’ level course are necessary. I usually get them to work with support in uttànàsana (the wall or a chair). One of my students has a functional scoliosis (not due to the shape of her bones, like mine, but muscular, caused by misalignment in the pelvis) and she is currently holding lateral extensions for at least twice as long on the left as she does on the right (see “A Matter of Health” by Dr. Krishna Raman, pub. 1998 p.464-6). If I had ropes, I would get them all to do adho mukha ÷vànàsana on ropes but since I don’t, I use belts in the same way as you would use wall ropes. Sometimes, sarvàngàsana and halàsana are difficult, in which case I use chairs - either sarvàngàsana with the hips on a chair and a high raise (bolster or blocks) under the shoulders (as mentioned above) or supported halàsana. Placing bent knees on the chair (like karõapãdàsana) can bring relief to the lower back. In all àsanas, I am observing the alignment of the spine, making corrections to bring more length and a more even extension to the spine. I look for “dull” bits of the spine, where there is no extension and where possible, make adjustments to the student to facilitate the action. 19
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My advice to any teacher working with a student with scoliosis is to be very observant about the spine rather than getting distracted by uneven ribs etc. The rotation of the ribcage is usually very noticeable but it is a result of the curvature of the spine, not the cause. Correct the spine, then the hips and shoulders as far as possible and you will probably find the ribs will begin to even up. Most importantly, from my own experience, when I begin to find extension and alignment in my spine, energy and awareness flow more freely along the spine. This is the most valuable thing your students will learn because seeking and responding to this flow will guide them in their practice. From my own experience, simply learning Iyengar yoga brought almost immediate relief from my backache. Exploring and developing the range of movement in my spine gave me greater confidence and awareness. I am sure these are things every student experiences but they have extra significance for the scoliosis sufferer. Balance is not naturally present in my body so each simple action, bringing even weight to the buttock bones in daõóàsana, for example, required inward focus from the start. Scoliosis gives the yoga student an extra incentive to learn the sensitivity that Iyengar Yoga practice develops. I can never thank Elaine Pidgeon enough for the gift she gave to me. She not only helped me understand my back, she introduced me to the teachings of Guruji and trained me to pass on what I have learnt to others. In May this year, Firooza Ali visited Edinburgh from Mumbai, at the invitation of Annamaria Sacco. We were very honoured to have her here and I benefited in particular from her advice and demonstrations on how to work with my scoliosis. The particular problem I presented was the pain in my neck and shoulders, caused by the “pull” on the muscles from my scoliosis and the misalignment of the bones. Here are the suggestions she made (thanks to Julie Anderson for her notes from the day) with some photos of me recreating some of the àsanas, with the help of Annamaria Sacco. Firooza began by observing the curves in my thoracic and cervical spine as I stood in tàóàsana . She used a belt around my outer shoulder bones (see photo B) pulling it tight to abduct the head of the humerus bone and take the trapezius down. This released the tension from my neck muscles and according to onlookers, the kink in my cervical spine disappeared. This was a great relief to my neck and it has been much improved since. After a few minutes I got pins and needles in my arms and the belt was loosened slightly. Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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Next she placed the belt around my upper arms, drawing them towards each other behind my back, to remove tension from the thoracic spine (see photo C). This reduced the curve in my thoracic spine - Firooza pointed out that my arms and ribs were still uneven - the point was to align the spine (left to right rather than front to back).
To work on the spine as a whole and especially the lumbar spine, I did adho mukha ÷vànàsana on wall ropes. Firstly, over one rope, padded with a blanket, to allow the muscles to relax. Since I am short on the left side waist, Firooza pulled the rope back at my left hip to lift it and lengthen the waist. Then she pulled my wrists forwards, bringing a greater extension to the spine and placed 3 blocks under my head. She said it is good to stay here for a while. Then adho mukha ÷vànàsana with crossed ropes, one for each thigh (see photo D). 20
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sarvàngàsana, she showed me ardha uttànàsana with
Here, Firooza was working from the core to the periphery, looking for an even extension in the spine. She took hold of my wrists and pulled them away from the wall to lengthen and to my right, to extend the left side (see photo E). This felt wonderful. My body looked very uneven (hips, ribs etc.) but my spine was straight and as I was getting longer, she took away one of the blocks under my head. I remember when Firooza did this she kept adjusting the rope for my left thigh, pulling it back and lifting. Next Firooza adjusted my ribs, rolling the left side up and the right side down and pulled my wrists out again bringing even more length and placing just the one block under my head. Sãrùàsana on wall ropes, with my head ending up about 2
feet above the floor so that gravity provides the traction. Firooza instructed me to exhale in turn to soften the lower abdomen, diaphragm, front chest, side ribs and cervical spine. I was advised to continue practicing sarvàngàsana over a chair with a bolster and I was helped into halàsana with my thighs supported on a chair and bolsters and Firooza lifting my hips with a belt. Weights were added at the ankles and this was the first time I had successfully practiced halàsana for a few years - usually I feel too much pain in my neck but this took almost all the weight away from my neck. After this, I did bharadvàjàsana on a chair, then adho mukha vãràsana with Firooza pressing her palms onto my shoulders to release them.
To release the neck after
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my chin on a ledge, extending the chin away and interlocking the fingers behind my back. Then hanging from the ropes we used for ÷ãrùàsana, feet on the wall, head hanging down towards the floor (photo F). Halàsana can also be done this way, using bolsters under the shoulders. Followed by backbends, using the ropes. Backward extension can be difficult for scoliosis sufferers and I have found it important to go slowly, gradually building awareness and extension of the spine. Standing facing the wall, with the lower rope around my sacrum, going back into årdhva dhanuràsana, I began with small backward extensions, gradually increasing as the lumbar became free. She also showed me how to use the backbender, to feel alignment in the back bend, again beginning with a gentle extension, supported with bolsters and blankets as necessary and gradually increasing. We finished with setu bandha on crossed bolsters, with my feet into the wall and folded blankets under my head and shoulders. My spine felt lovely after all this! It felt like an unblocked pipe, energy, breath and awareness flowing freely again. Writing this, I feel everything I have learned about working with my scoliosis is part of what every yoga practitioner does. We all try to extend the spine evenly after all. With a scoliosis, you just have a bit further to go. What feels straight is actually crooked so you have to relearn the alignment. But I look around my Beginners class and I see “crooked” where there should be straight all the time! We all have to learn and relearn alignment and extension. Scoliosis can be a bit more frustrating perhaps and I have had to learn to accept my spine, as well as learn how to work with it. On balance though, it was my scoliosis that brought me to yoga and because of my scoliosis, I instantly recognised Iyengar yoga as something I wanted to keep doing. So you may find some of your students come to your classes because they have a scoliosis, but it will be the yoga that keeps them coming back.
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IN CONVERSATION WITH DIANA CLIFTON by Diane Maimaris
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met Diana Clifton at her home in Southgate on one of the hottest days in July 2006. The front door was held open by a large fruit bowl to encourage a through draught, and I was ushered into the study by Diana’s husband, Adrian. Diana, who had recently had an eye operation, looked immaculate in linen slacks and shirt, perched on a low swivel chair. Supplied with a soft drink by Adrian, and cooled by an electric fan, I asked Diana to tell me how yoga came into her life. “My son, who was then about 16, was always in the library, and he brought me back a book called “Forever Young, Forever Healthy” by Indra Devi. I thought it sounded gimmicky and I put it to one side. One day I had to do the washing, and I didn’t want to - I was always tired. I picked the book up, read a few pages, and thought, ‘my god, this is what I’ve been looking for’”. Diana’s first husband was killed in a car crash when her children were six and eight, and she married her second husband, Cliff, five years later. She says that, although she didn’t know it at the time, she was probably anaemic. “When life gives you a big knock you start to look more seriously at things. So when I found this yoga book, I realised it’s what I needed and I practised like mad from it. I’d been sinking into feeling that I couldn’t cope, and I had a lot of headaches, constipation - all sorts of little things. So yoga saved me.”
just come along. There were only two others in that class - Silva Mehta and Angela Marris, the secretary of the Circle. We did standing poses. Then Mr Iyengar asked if I had done head balance. I said, ‘Yes, but could I do it by the wall?’ He said, ‘I’m better than the wall - I’ve got arms’. So I did head balance, and he just left me there. I hadn’t had the courage to do it in the centre of the room before. He just made me do it”. After that first visit to London, Mr Iyengar asked Diana to lead the students who had been to his classes and wanted to continue to practise. “At the end of the first class, I asked Mr Iyengar if I could learn to teach, and he nodded. I don’t know how I had the nerve to ask him, but I was so enthusiastic. To me yoga was a jewel - I wanted everyone to do it”. Mr Iyengar returned for three or four weeks every summer for the next 15 years. In between visits, Diana sent him photographs of herself doing various asanas, and Mr Iyengar would send them back to her with comments on the back.. Diana assisted him at his classes, and watched everything he did. “He would take somebody up
After about a fortnight, she began to feel much better. “I had more energy, the constipation vanished and I was saying to everybody: ‘You must do yoga, it’s a magical thing, marvellous!’ They looked at me blankly and just didn’t take any notice. So I stopped trying to push it and just got on with my practice”. Shortly afterwards, she read an article in the Daily Mail about the violinist, Yehudi Menuhin, doing yoga with Mr Iyengar, and the next day there was a letter in the paper by Mr Angadi, the Director of the Asian Music Circle in Finchley, which was sponsoring Mr Iyengar in the UK, inviting those interested to join Mr Iyengar’s classes. “I rang up and spoke to Mr Angadi, explaining that I’d only been doing yoga from a book, and he said that was fine, Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
Practising with Mr Iyengar in the garden of the Asian Music Centre Diana is 4th from the front on the right
into headstand and make me stand behind them to give them confidence while he took up another one”. Diana took all her students to him every year, so Mr Iyengar could see how her teaching was going. “I was 22
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Two photographs of Diana performing asanas which she sent to Mr Iyengar for long-distance teaching - he returned them with his hand-written comments written on the back
ticked off quite a lot, and my students got pretty upset at the way he shouted at me. I remember once two of my students were doing forward bends, catching their toes, and Mr Iyengar said ‘good’. One of them was upset because he’d been so cross with me and said ‘Thanks to Diana’, and he said, ‘No, thanks to yoga’. He could see what the danger was for me - he didn’t want me to get an inflated ego. You see, when you’re a teacher, you get so much praise, so much gratitude. He would bash me on the head - wham that was my ego being knocked down”.
for Angela. But he said ‘Angela climb over’. We said, ‘Angela will not climb over’. He unlocked the door.
I asked Diana about her first visit to Pune in 1976.
“We used to get a bucket of hot water every morning at 6am for washing, and that sometimes came late, so we had to rush to get up to the àsana room for the first class. In the morning, the birds would fly in, if we had the window open, and peck the buffalo milk - there was no fridge. At night we’d make yoghurt and in the morning it was almost hitting the ceiling. I was the only one that ever cleaned up - I was the housewife after all. One day I was boiling a dishcloth and forgot about it. We went up to the àsana class, and when we came back the place was full of smoke. We were frantically trying to wave it out of the window - we had lit joss sticks and tried to get rid of the smell - when Geeta came in and said, ‘What’s burning’. So I owned up. We were like schoolchildren. We got the giggles every day because we were so tired”.
“Mr Iyengar was taking an advanced class with Dona Hollerman, Mary Stewart, Angela Farmer and myself. We stayed at the Institute, and we had a wonderful time but it was like being in a convent. We had to be in by 9 pm and that wasn’t always easy, because we’d go and have a meal in Pune and couldn’t always get back in time. The place would be locked up and we’d have to climb in. One night Dona and I took a rickshaw and Angela was on her own in another rickshaw. We got back just as Mohem, the servant, was locking the door and we asked him to wait
Diana took semi-retirementd from teaching for six months after the death of Cliff, her second husband. He had been very ill for two years, and during that time, Diana stopped taking classes in her home. Although she always continued with her own practice, she had virtually given up teaching when she met Adrian at the Vegetarian Society. They became friends and gradually she introduced him to yoga. “He had a very bad knee from playing rugger at school, and was the stiffest man I had ever seen. Some of my students can remember. Now he is very
It was only after about ten years that at last Mr Iyengar told Diana that her yoga had improved, and that in another three years she would be a very good teacher. “I couldn’t believe it. Praise from Mr Iyengar after all those years!”
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supple, and I point to him in class, and say, ‘If Adrian can do it, so can you’”. Adrian tried to persuade Diana to go back to teaching, but she felt that she had retired and explained that when you stop, you lose confidence. One day, a friend and yoga student from America rang to say she was going to be in London for a day and could she come to a class. Diana contacted some of her old students and asked them if they’d like a class, and from that point, her yoga teaching started again. “When Adrian came along, the teaching feeling came back”. She went to the USA several times when Iyengar yoga was just beginning to take off there. “One of my former students asked me to come over as she was very unimpressed with the teaching there. But it was extremely difficult because these people were so noisy and excitable. I really had to take control and after a week or so they quietened down. I went back a year later and I was quite astonished to see how they’d changed, how much quieter they’d become in that year, practising Iyengar yoga in the right way”.
Today, Diana teaches two classes a week in her home, one general class, and one for teachers and teacher trainees. “I tell the teachers and trainees that when they teach meditation or just Savasana, they must draw on their own experience not anybody else’s. I’ve tried to point out that meditation comes in everything - it can be with you all the time. Yesterday I was taking some pràõàyàma and afterwards one of the students told me it was the first time anybody had ever taught her how to meditate. I said ‘I didn’t teach you how to meditate’ - you can’t teach anybody how to meditate - you can only point people in certain directions. It comes to you when you are ready for it”. I asked Diana why many Iyengar teachers held back from teaching pràõàyàma . “I think people are more confident teaching the àsanas and in fact, the àsanas incorporate everything that’s in yoga. From the very beginning you can go from moving into the àsana into concentration, from concentration to contemplation - then if you’re really involved, it is meditation”. Adrian commented that Diana was not inclined to define meditation. Diana agreed: “It’s like the birds in the park whoosh. A lot of people have these moments without realising what it is - looking at a beautiful picture, perhaps - they lose themselves - it’s like a little death”. Diana concluded: “I love teaching because yoga is such a wonderful thing, and I’ve always wanted to pass it on to others. I feel I’ve got to give as much as I can, while I can. And now I see these younger teachers coming on, I’m really pleased about it”. C
I asked Diana to tell me about Mr Iyengar and his teaching philosophy. She told me that in the early years his students would sometimes take him to Regents Park after classes: “They were lovely occasions - he would talk to us about philosophy and meditation. He would say ‘You won’t understand now but you will understand later’. Once we were all listening to him telling us mythical stories, and all of sudden, there was a flight of birds taking off with a whoosh from a tree above us and we all looked up and that, he said, was meditation. As we looked up we became that rush of air - egos were all forgotten in that moment”. Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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INTERVIEW WITH JAWAHAR BANGERA by Sharon Klaff and Jenny Scott
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first met Jawahar Bangera in October 2004 when I attended a workshop he was giving at the IYI Maida Vale in London. A point that keeps returning to mind is the emphasis on memory, not the recall of instruction, but the imprint and result of each movement in achieving the necessary balance, using the memory to be able to go into a pose, stay quietly in that pose after self adjustment, leaving sufficient energy to come out of the pose in the reverse order. So it was with great anticipation that Jenny and I met Jawahar after class at the IYI Maida Vale on 28th June 2006 to record this interview. Having returned home from boarding school in 1969 Jawahar found that his parents were already involved with Iyengar Yoga. He explained: “This suited me fine because of the discipline of boarding school when you had a fixed time for everything - yoga was something to do on the weekends”. He was not able to pinpoint exactly when he became serious about yoga, but recalls that following his marriage he moved with his new wife from Mumbai to a town where they did not know many people, so he began to practise yoga for ten minutes a day, stretching that over a period to two hours. In 1969 when he started attending Iyengar Yoga classes, Guruji was already travelling to Europe. In those days there were about 12 young people including Jawahar who were “youngsters” as students. By 1978 he found that he had earnestly embraced yoga so it seemed a process rather than at a particular juncture that it became a major influence in his life. Subsequently Jawahar was privileged to accompany Guruji on his travels in 1984, ‘87, ‘90, ‘92 and ‘93. Of his three siblings only Jawahar has continued with yoga. “So much for sociology - no it’s more to do with yourself, Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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your own discretion and your karmas. You have a mind of your own. Everybody agrees that yoga is a good thing but, how many actually come to it? All of us are obsessed by health and one of the best fool-proof methods [to achieve good health] is yoga, but in spite of knowing this, we don’t always do what is good for our health. There is a flaw in our intelligence”. Jawahar has been teaching yoga since 1980, both in the institute in Mumbai and outside. There were very few Iyengar Yoga classes in those days and after the establishment of the Light on Yoga Research Trust of which he is a trustee, public classes were started in rented accommodation until in 2001/02 when the trust was finally able too purchase a permanent base. Mumbai is a very large city with a population of 14 million people and there are 3 Iyengar institutes in which all classes are well attended. Jawahar told us that Guruji started one of his first public classes in England. Until then Guruji was teaching royalty, but he wanted to also teach the general public. One of his students at that time was the violinist Yehudi Menuhin who encouraged him to come to the UK where he met Silva Mehta, Silvia Prescott, Diana Clifton, Lillian Biggs, and Jean Maslen amongst others, who became his first students and teachers in the UK. Students from other countries came to the UK to train and so Iyengar Yoga as it became known spread to the rest of the world. “The seeds were planted here in the UK with the root in Pune, so the branches are from the UK, but we are all in the same family, one large family with Guruji at the helm.” “My coming to the UK is because with Guruji’s permission I have been able to accept the invitations that have been extended to me. I don’t travel that much, about 6 weeks in a year when someone invites me and I ask them to approach Guruji and only if he says I can travel am I happy to. I always ask Guruji, but I can speak only for myself, as it is the right thing to do - that I should ask. I feel very strongly about this and say that if Guruji permits, I will come - if someone is going to teach he should be aware of it and also know who is inviting.” 25
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We asked him about the teaching of beginners and the principle of first bringing their awareness to the shapes of the postures. He explained that it is essential to first bring about body awareness:“Now you have the arms, you have the legs, you have the trunk and it is by the action of the arms and legs that you move the trunk. The first action is to understand the movements before beginners can understand shapes, as first of all they don’t know what they can do and we as teachers won’t know what they can do. Beginners don’t have any idea of how it works so we have to give them the movements: straighten the arms and the legs so they say ‘ah, so the arms move this way and the legs that way’ and then we can give them some more instructions, bringing their attention to the shapes and then further improvement can be achieved.
against the wall and once there is a sense of balance then the attempt is to slowly move away from the wall. It can also be taught in the corner so that there is hip contact and shoulder contact to remove the fear and learn the balance. So, with balance, comes the shape and the imprint of memory.” We asked him to expand further on the general use of yoga props.
“In the beginning we had no props, a blanket and yes we had a wall, but no blocks or straps. When Guruji used to teach he found there were those who couldn’t do àsana because of disease or stiffness, so to enable students to learn the postures he introduced props that can help develop confidence and then gradually be removed. It is our fault if we become “So it’s really a kind of dependant on these progression, like teaching props - we don’t want to a child to write the letter trikoõàsana be weaned away from ‘A’. The initial attempts pàr÷vakoõàsana vãrabthem. This reluctance result in a crude ‘A”. The comes out of a lack of child must first learn what hadràsana I confidence. If we are it can do with its hands, dependant on the props recognise shapes and we will no longer make then slowly improve. As an effor t to become long as there is a lack of independent. It’s a nice understanding the way to learn. When instructions will always be there are no props like gross.” This seemed a blocks or ropes or good time to prompt him trestler, we must be to expand on the inventive and think how meaning of memory. best to help the students, utilising a wall or whatever else “As teachers we are always correcting others, but how is around. You saw at Brunel [IYA (UK) Conference June many of us take the trouble to correct ourselves? The 2006] how we used the grille [lattice bars], but that is errors are due to carelessness, so we have to be careful. what was required for those two men who had very stiff Because we cannot see our own errors there is a lack of shoulders and I wanted to help them, so I looked around intelligence. Just as we are used to standing on our feet, and found the grille because they needed it. That is not we think that we are in tàóàsana , but it is only after we to say that what I used for them is for everybody. So for understand what needs to be done that we know what setu bandha we used the seats/benches. You remember tàóàsana is. It is about balance, first we must learn the how the blocks were added to make a square of the front balance and then the shape will come, but sometimes the leg in vãrabhadràsana II ? What happens is that you bend posture is wrong and we are blissfully unaware until less in this àsana than in pàr÷vakoõàsana and even less someone points out the errors. So, for example, we prac- in vãrabhadràsana I because of fear. You are unable to tice head-stand with the body against the wall to become hold your balance because you are unable to keep the aware of the posture and then slowly come away from back leg heel down, so you lift it to form the square and the wall to learn balance. By then we are only interested think you are doing vãrabhadràsana I . in the balance and not the posture. If we are asked to correct the posture when we are balancing in the centre, “There is a hierarchy in àsana - from the lateral to the we are reluctant in correcting it because of the fear of revolving postures, from narrow stance to wider stance. falling over. So for instance, head balance is first taught You graduate from trikoõàsana and pàr÷vakoõàsana to
“You graduate from and to , so the square is required, but it will only come if you work the back leg - which Guruji mentions as the unknown. That is also where the duality comes in....”
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vãrabhadràsana I , so the square is required, but it will only
come if you work the back leg - which Guruji mentions as the unknown. That is also where the duality comes in, the right and the left, the front and the back. We are not able to think of the higher duality, of the head and the heart, so we are trapped in the superficial duality because of the lack of intelligence to connect the head and the heart so that duality ceases to exist. “Therefore Guruji says unless you get the action from the unknown, the back leg of pàr÷vottànàsana or vãrabhadràsana I , you must learn with the help of a prop, for example use the wall as support, or the benches as we did at Brunel, so the back leg becomes alert and is stable. In lateral posters the leg is the same, but only the foot turns, whereas in revolving postures such as pàr÷vottànàsana the leg turns and you need the perception of what changes and then you realise the action or lack of it in the back leg. The direction of the leg changes your perception because the body perception changes from lateral to revolving so the behaviour of the leg changes.”
works, how the shoulders work and once that awareness is achieved, then the prop can gradually be reduced and finally removed. “So you may use the props to protect the students.” He agreed that to some extent we had become dependent on these props:“You should gradually reduce, say from 5 blankets to 4 then 3, etc, but first of all you need to train yourself with appropriate props until you can learn to do the pose without them. If you become dependant it is your own fault. Of course as I said we are afraid of hurting ourselves, the fear factor. So that is why you have to find out where you are comfortable, like today you learnt how to use the wall for support and once you have achieved that, come back to the centre [of the room] and try to do it that way. If there is a problem, then by all means use a prop.” Jenny asked him if as introductory teachers, we are less able to identify these problems and therefore we should always use a prop, at least for new students. Jawahar impressed again that it is our duty to look after our students, to see that they don’t harm themselves. So if as teachers we feel a student needs a prop, then we must use what is appropriate. “It is there for you at your discretion, but you are responsible for seeing no harm comes to your students, so as a rule to use props, first see how the students are performing, introduce props and then gradually do without support. For many of us the trapezius is short as we don’t sit erect/upright. And so the trapezius moves upwards. For instance you are often slouched, peering at computers so the neck thrusts forward and you lift the trapezius, which puts a strain on the cervical which puts a strain on the dorsal causing it to be stiff and that puts a strain on the lumbar. Like now as you see, you’re all sitting badly because you’re writing, but as you see I sit on the edge of the seat. I sit like this on the edge of the seat (whenever I can) which helps keep my spine erect and avoids all the problems listed above.”
“I advise those of you use computers to adjust the screen at eye level so the head is straight this is what I do, keep it at eye level....”
When we told him that we had embarked on a series of interviews of Guruji’s original students in the UK, he interrupted to say that we are all original students of Guruji “………you must know that you come to the teachers because of Guruji and so you are also part of the family, the grandchildren.” With that rather warming thought we explained that one of the issues Silvia Prescott spoke about in her interview with Diane Maimaris (IYN9) was the increasing reliance on props, specifically in sàlamba sarvàngàsana . She made it clear that unless we have a problem we need to try this posture without a lift under the shoulders, but some of the senior teachers are concerned about contradicting Guruji’s directive regarding these props. Jawahar said that we should not get into any controversy. He explained that Guruji is concerned that where there is a problem, or that the neck is vulnerable or that it is not possible to hold the pose straight to stay in it to get benefit, prop support is needed to learn how the neck Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
I told Jawahar that I had recently developed a left shoulder problem, something I hadn’t experienced for many years, and I couldn’t understand why until one day I realised that my computer screen had been tilted and I was peering at 27
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it in that slouched way he had just described. When I straightened the screen it went away. His advice was invaluable: “I advise those of you use computers to adjust the screen at eye level so the head is straight - this is what I do, keep it at eye level - but then you know what happens, many people don’t know typing so they need to look at the keyboard [and this disturbs the balance]. I know typing so I can keep looking ahead at the screen. So learn touch typing. Also the use of the mouse! What I do is one week I use the right hand mouse for right hand control and the next week the left hand mouse for left hand control or you can also learn the keyboard functions instead of using the mouse.” Jenny asked how old people can be encouraged to keep active.
“So you ask someone why he or she comes to a yoga class.The standard answer is to be flexible, keep in shape, lose weight, peace of mind, etc. More importantly for the time they are in class, perhaps it keeps him/her out of mischief! But you have to ask yourself why yoga is designed this way and then you have to delve into the philosophy and you have to explain this to them when they are ready. Some will understand and persevere. As for the others, at least it will keep them healthy.” We mentioned that the word intelligence is used a lot in yoga and asked him to expand on the meaning. “It is connected with discrimination, more to do with research; after all the trials are over, you don’t do trials any more. When there is no more experimentation then you just know this is right, the intuition is there and that becomes intelligence. First you have to use your senses of perception of which the skin is one sense. Now the skin is connected to the touch sensation “sparsha”- that is where the flow of intelligence is connected to the skin you must have heard Guruji say the intelligence is connected to the skin. Developing intelligence is where continuous practice comes in, that is when we are unable to observe because of the lack of perception. We are insensitive to the touch sensation and so lag behind in our progress or are unable to maintain the progress that has been achieved. If we are able to understand the sensations that we experience and retain it in our memory, then we have scope for recollection and progress.
“But the fear of confronting pain often causes people to go to the doctor, when they could at least learn to take care of some of their problems themselves through their practice. “
“It depends on how much mobility they have. Bones can become brittle with age, so it is better that they start with àsana that do not involve balance. They can do poses lying down on the floor, like supta pàdànguùthàsana with feet against the wall, or if they can’t lie on the floor, practise it on the bed, supta baddha koõàsana , a little chair twisting and so on. Guruji often mentions that old people have problems with the chest because the sternum area dries out. So they need to learn to keep the chest open and hence those particular àsana have to be learnt. It becomes rigid because they allow it to happen. But the fear of confronting pain often causes people to go to the doctor, when they could at least learn to take care of some of their problems themselves through their practice. Where there is an infection and medication is needed then they must take it. However, if as introductory teachers you are not trained to take care of these issues then refer them to your teacher, who in turn can consult with Guruji who is always happy to help. There is a wear and tear of the body and that’s why yoga is there to preserve what we can. There is no age limit to when you can start yoga, no such thing in the yoga scriptures, not too young or too old, only whether you want to stay alive taking medicines or healthy without medicines.”
What is the one message that Jawahar would like to bring to us? “That we should be available to one another as a community and bring about harmony that is so much lacking in our society. So we can start a new community of yoga practitioners and maybe we can change the world and make it a more peaceful place. We can all get along, and this is why I don’t feel out of place when I come here [the UK] as we are all studying the same subject.” C
We asked him whether or not yoga is holistic. Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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Bellur - Hospital Opening November 2006 words by S t e p h a n i e Q u i r k
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hy did they bring us here? Waste land, red earth, windswept grass and weeds, nothing to see but rocks, rocks everywhere, not even good enough to take a plough. It was December 2004, after the Yog-Sadana in honour of Geeta’s 60th birthday. I was part of a group of Iyengar yoga students who had travelled to the village of Bellur, S.India for the final ceremonies marking the inauguration of the first and only Patanjali Temple in India, built by Guruji in his home village. We had been sitting for hours through the various phases and stages of the long pujas, (religious ceremonies). We watched, sweating and red faced in front of the ‘homa’ fire (ritual fire), the cleansing of the idol of Patanjali. Many of us had come because we were interested in Guruji’s plans for his village, which we were supporting through the Bellur Krishnamachar Seshama Smaraka Niddhi Trust (The Bellur Trust). It was a chance to be with Guruji on this auspicious occasion and to see the village for ourselves. Finally it was all over. We were tired from the long puja’s, filled with the rich feast given by Guruji to everyone. We had wandered about the village meeting people, seen the water tank and the new addition to the primary school. We were ready to climb aboard our buses and head back, anxious to be in time for our flights and trains. However, no sooner were we on the road, than we were diverted along a rough bumpy track. “You have to see this!” we were told. “See what ?” - there was nothing to see. “Oh! It’s the 16 acres The Trust has bought!” We peered out at the 16 acres of barren, rocky landscape. Now, two years later, November 2006, students from Pune, Bombay and all over India had again come together on that same 16 acres of land. They had come to celebrate the work of The Bellur Trust and to be with Guruji on the occasion of the Opening of the new Ramamani Sundararaja Iyengar Hospital. In the two years that have passed a phenomenal change has taken place to the 16 acres of rocky land. The area has been dramatically transformed and the work that has gone into making it what it is now is inspiring. Where there had been a rocky waste, not even suitable for Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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ploughing, there is now a bustling High School attended by girls and boys not only from Bellur village, but also from many other local surrounding villages. They study all the typical high school subjects such as maths, sciences, computers, geography, history etc. However these students also have the unique benefit of studying a very special subject. On the second floor is a large yoga room where all the students attend weekly yoga classes. The school has been open for two years now and next year will be running to its full capacity. It currently covers grades 8, 9 and 10, the year when all students sit the national exams. The response has been good and the students’ grades have improved.They are happy and keen to further their education and The Bellur Trust is considering the establishment of an intermediate level college where the students prepare for tertiary education, universities and undergraduate colleges. Adjacent and to the right of the High School there is a newly built, vast, flat roofed structure. At one end is the kitchen that provides the school’s midday meals. The remaining space is for the establishment of cottage industries for the village, with a very large ground floor space and a mezzanine floor for activities that do not require heavy machinery. Behind the High School is the Guest Cottage and Trust Office. For the occasion of the opening of the new hospital it was occupied by Guruji and his large extended family, who had come to take part in the celebrations. Like Guruji, they too have a love of the old village that gave birth to themor their parents and nurtured them in their youth. Many of the family members are also trustees. We had all come together to watch or take part in the ceremonies performed around the fires of the “homa” by the tireless priests, who conduct elaborate rituals which mark the opening of such ventures. They recite the appropriate recommendations to the multitudes of deities that are believed to be present on these occasions and which are implored to bring great benefit to all in the name of the Hospital, the Cottage Industries Hall or whatever is being blessed. The pujas began at seven in the 29
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evening and continued until two in the morning, when it was deemed suitable to take a break for a rest in the proceedings. The pujas continued the next morning and finally concluded shortly before midday. In attendance throughout were Guruji, Prashant, Sucita and her husband Shridar, Vanita and her husband Shridar and his son-inlaw, Ragu and daughter Savita.
ings in a little under two years. They have arranged for flowering gardens, fresh green lawns, paving and fences to surround the buildings. In the entrance of the hospital there is a fountain with water burbling and gushing, bathing a host of idols seated amongst the rocks. The 16 acres have been transformed from a bleary and barren state to a beautiful oasis.
Though we all know he is unique and one alone, Guruji’s presence was everywhere at all times. He was there to welcome each of his relatives, and kindly acknowledged each of his students as they arrived from all over India, sitting amongst them listening to their news and ensuring that all were accommodated and well fed. In the morning of the first day he joined everyone for breakfast whilst also seeing to the preparations for the ceremonies: talking to the various village and district authorities, settling small arguments that threatened the smooth running of the programme, looking into the details that needed attention and again sitting with everyone for the midday meal, then more meetings and discussions.
I had some idea that the hospital would be a small “dayclinic” where a doctor would come from Bangalore perhaps a few days a week to attend some of the cases from the village. But there is in Ramamaninagar (the name given to the 16 acres) a fully equipped hospital with operating theatre, accident and trauma clinics, overnight wards and doctors’ consulting rooms. It has a beautiful entrance with the water fountain and a welcoming reception desk. It has a ramp to transport patients in the future to the upper level, as yet un-constructed. But for now the first floor is complete and functioning.
Along with all the observed actions to bring “boon”, meaning good luck, which included a led circumambulation of two (reluctant) cows, there was the unflagging bright presence of Guruji. By midday the pujas were finally complete. Lunch was another sumptuous South Indian feast, generously provided by Guruji to all of us who had come for the occasion, all the various visiting dignitaries and their assisting retinues and not forgetting a single villager who wished to join in! Seemingly without a break Guruji was then present at the ribboned door of the Hospital building, chatting with the special invited dignitaries and politicians who were to officially open the Hospital. Not more than ten minutes after the completion of ribbon cutting and inspection, Guruji arrived in the large Cottage Industries Hall for the speeches and bestowing of garlands, shawls and coconuts that always accompany an event such as this in India.Then after everyone had given their speeches Guruji spoke to the assembled crowd. He was tireless, patient, welcoming, generous, indefatigable and indefeatable, his stamina far greater than ours. His energy, his love, his desire that the people of his hometown should have a better life is clearly shown in his unfailing devotion to the work he has undertaken.
Some great news that Guruji had received was that all newly trained doctors now have to do part of their internship in a rural hospital. Until now there has only been one distrcit hospital where doctors could do this in Kolar, 20 miles away. Now there are two! This means that there will be no shortage of staff for the facility. As from the 6th December 2006 the Hospital will have 24 hour medical care. Two Medical Officers, a midwife and nurse will be staffing the hospital. Any required surgery will be performed by two visiting surgeons from Bangalore and Kolar Hospital. To the left of the high school one can see the foundation work of what will be the staff quarters for the doctors and nurses of the newly opened hospital. The Kolar hospital has indicated to the Tust that they are keen to see a College of Nursing established. Soon to be erected around the entire complex at Ramamaninagar will be a compound wall, of approximately 3,000 feet in length. When finally we left for Bangalore it felt as if we had been in Bellur for two weeks, not just two days. The occasion had been full and rich. We said goodbye to our very gracious host, Guruji, and took our flights back to Pune. C
Guruji’s son-in-law and daughter; Ragu and Savita have been responsible for overseeing the construction, plumbing, electrical wiring, and painting of all these buildIyengar Yoga News Number 10
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I Y E N G A R Y O G A F O R M I N D , B O D Y & S O U L IIYS at the Mind, Body, Soul Exhibition, Brighton 7th-8th October 2006 by Sallie Sullivan
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righton racecourse is an unlikely venue for matters spiritual - with its seedy gangland overtones from Graham Green’s Brighton Rock. (My mother and grandmother used to walk from Rottingdean to race meetings there between the wars). So I had no idea what to expect when I carried in a box of photos of Guruji, of classes in Pune, of Geeta at Crystal Palace and a rare one of Prashant laughing! We had books to display and DVDs to play but nothing for sale. We were just there to provide information about Iyengar Yoga nationally and of course in Sussex. Sussex in the very earliest days had the benefit of regular visits by Guruji. Brian, our chair, had prepared a really good leaflet and Andy had produced ‘corporate’ IIYS tee shirts for our helpers and demo team.
Andy and Orit in the Sunday demonstration.
We soon forgot the unusual nature of the venue as Brian expertly Velcro’d up our display. It looked informative and catchy, even if more than a little restrained alongside the angels and witches, exotic hangings, crystals and aura readings on display at other stands. We began to wonder if we had seriously misread the possible target ‘audience’ and were wasting our time. However everyone, exhibitors and public alike, was very open, cheery and friendly - more so than at the Yoga Show, I felt. We gave out all our leaflets and the IYA ones as well, we talked to a lot of people and I found, again, more interest in actually trying Iyengar Yoga than I remember at the Yoga Show. Of course at the latter most of those attending already do some form of yoga and may not be about to try a different method. Here were lots of people, possibly with interests in similar areas and who might have thought about trying yoga and just needed a Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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nudge and some information. Other Sussex teachers had enquiries afterwards and I have gained at least two new students, one of whom was a fellow exhibitor in ‘chakra dance’ and very enthusiastic. We had offered a demo and were a bit surprised to be given two slots for each of the two days, not on the main stage, but quite well placed very near the Hari Krishna stand doling out tasty Indian snacks. I put together a simple demo - not much space, so two trainees performing a sample class and me explaining: the physical, mental and spiritual benefits of different poses, the class structure, why and when props, yoga is for all, Mr Iyengar, precision and safety, strict teacher training - we tried to cover a lot, but simply, in less than half an hour. We did not hold the poses more than 10 seconds each side, to show a good range - one of our demonstrators said afterwards that she felt worn out, not refreshed as usual after a practice and now she understood just why timings are important in the poses. Was it worth it? It cost a fair bit and probably in money terms it was not. However the committee and friends really enjoyed working as a team over that weekend. More important, in an increasingly frantic world where even yoga is competitive and its seeds scattered, we’ve done a bit in our seaside corner of the UK to spread the word about the precious yoga heritage gifted us by Guruji.
C
Andy Roughton (IYA Representative), Rayner Curtis (ex-Chair and Membership Secretary), Sallie Sullivan,Yvonne Holmes (holding her newspaper article “I’m 89 and feeling fine” showing her performing headstand), Brian Ingram (Chair).
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PICTURES FROM THE RAMAMANI INS
Photographs by Carole Sen Self Practice in the Yoga Hall
Using the tressler for Trikonasana
Urdhva Dhanurasana from a high support
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Using weights and various supports
Yoga Karunta (Rope Work)
Achieving precision of alignment Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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TITUTE IN PUNE - NOVEMBER 2OO7
nder and Chandru Melwani A Class with Geetaji
Prayers at the Beginning of Class
Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana
Urdhva Dhanurasana
Geetaji observing Sirsasana
Eka Pada Sarvangasana
Just about room for Savasana! More photos on page 63
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CAN Y OU H ELP F UNDRAISE F OR B ELLUR?
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Information from The Bellur Action Group - Leza Hatchard, Judith Jones, Judith Richards and Patsy Sparksman
n the last edition of Iyengar Yoga News there was a feature on Bellur (the village where Guruji was born) and the Bellur Trust (the charity founded by Guruji, his family and students. The feature also included information about the fundraising project, which has been launched internationally in the Iyengar Yoga community, to raise money to see the completion and maintenance of Guruji’s vision for the development of Bellur.
education beyond primary school a 20 bed day hospital - now up and running a guest house for visitors to Bellur
Before 2004 Bellur was an archaic community, which had no resources or means to improve the day to day existence of its impoverished people, who are from the poorest and the most underprivileged strata of society in
Facilities already built will transform health, education and future lives - but there is still much more to achieve!
Children from Bellur enjoying their yoga class
India. Bellur is typical of many communities in India where people live in abject poverty and life is extremely hard. Guruji has begun to fulfill his long-term vision of bringing prosperity and reform to the simple existence of these people. He is offering hope for the future, especially for the children of Bellur and the surrounding area, by building amenities which everyone can be proud of and which bring a real benefit to all. So far the Trust has: Erected a 50,000 gallon water tank which provides fresh, clean drinking water Re-furbished the primary school and built a further level to provide a large space for yoga classes and lessons Purchased 15 acres of land for other building projects Completed the building of: a High School for boys and girls to provide free Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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Future projects include: Further equipping & staffing the Ramamani Iyengar Hospital Building a nursing college Improving public health awareness & helping to alleviate suffering Continuing to fund the provision of 100% free education Building and setting up technical & educational institutions, vocational training and adult education to help to create employment and income Establishing cottage industries & teaching about modern farming methods to improve current crop yields Promoting the technical and artistic skills of traditional handicrafts with the aim of establishing rural industry. Helping realise Guruji’s long-term dream of bringing yoga to the lives of ordinary people in India Guruji’s long-term desire has been to bring yoga to the villages in India. This is now happening in Bellur. Both the primary and high school children have yoga classes and Guruji has funded the building of the first temple to Patanjali in India in Bellur; which gives the community something to be really proud of and which is now regularly visited by Hindu worshippers and yogis from around 34
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the world. The villagers, who have many social as well as economic problems, are now gaining pride in themselves, their heritage and community and have positive hope for the future. WHAT CAN YOU DO? Organise a fundraising enterprise - a yoga day, raffle, or sponsored event. There are so many different ways to fundraise and you can have great fun doing it at the same time! If you haven’t got the time to organise a specific event you may like to make a donation.Whichever way you choose, you know that your donation will be helping to improve the lives of the people of Bellur and also benefitting surrounding communities as well. To date approx.. £8,000 has been donated from various events and individual donations in 2006-7 and thanks go to all of those people who have kindly sent in donations. If you would like to help by organising an event, please contact Leza at the main office: admin@iyengaryoga.org.uk and she will be able to help you with promotional material such as flyers, pamphlets artwork etc. OR MAKE A DONATION by post using the Donation Form below or via the online form on the IYA (UK) website www.iyengaryoga.org.uk How do I make a Donation to the Bellur Trust? Due to Indian Government regulations covering charitable donations, NO DONATIONS, no matter what currency, can be accepted personally by the Bellur Trust, the Iyengar family or any other individual connected to the Trust; so please DO NOT try to take your donations directly to Pune. Only donations from organisations that have completed the necessary Indian Government documentation can be accepted. Please therefore send your donations to IYA (UK). Everyone who sends a donation will in turn be sent a receipt. Your donation will be forwarded to the Trust at the earliest opportunity.
Bellur Trust Donation Form Please cut out this slip and post with your donation to: IYA (UK), PO Box 54151, Ealing, London, W5 9DH. All cheques & postal orders payable to: IYA (UK). Euros can be accepted from Rep of Ireland only. For all other overseas payments please contact the main office first for advice on the best way to send your donation. Name: ……………………………………………………………………………………………..…..……... (can be individual name or organisation) Address:…………………………………………………………………………………...………..……..….. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….……………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…… Tel:…………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….. E-mail: ………………………………………………………...……………………………………………... Amount donated : ……………………….. Date: ……………………………………. Would you like your name / group's name/ centre's name to be listed? YES / NO (please circle) Do you wish to remain anonymous? YES / NO (please circle) Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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SARVA IYI: THREE IS NOT A CROWD By Ally Hill Four years ago Sheila Haswell and I opened what was then called the Sarva Centre in Buckinghamshire. Sheila had been teaching Iyengar yoga for nearly 30 years at this point and had been wanting her own space for as long as she could remember. The idea of no longer having to lug all the blocks, bricks and bolsters with her everywhere she went; no longer working in draughty halls and no longer coming in to use a place only to find the previous hirer had been a children’s party (sticking to your mat and sticking to the floor are very different and the latter is definitely undesirable!) was a dream she had held for a long time.
I was lecturing at the local Further Education College and whilst I loved the teaching aspect of my job, the paperwork that went with it was becoming increasingly onerous, if not dominant. It wasn’t until we realised we had much in common that our friendship grew and out of that, the idea of having our own centre. Finding a suitable venue is hard, as any teacher who has looked will tell you. Finally we found 161 West Wycombe Road. It had been empty for eight years and was an unloved office building on the outskirts of High Wycombe. In spite of its apparent redundancy as offices, we still had to battle hard with our local authority to get the change of use needed. They told us ‘we were taking away employment opportunities from the town.’ We pointed out the 259,000 sq feet of empty office space between us and the centre of town in a straight line! So they backed down on that point but then threw the highways regulaIyengar Yoga News Number 10
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tions at us and a bill for £6,000 as our contribution to the ‘transport strategy of the town’. No matter what obstacles they put in our path somehow we overcame them and with only two weeks to go before the new term started, we picked up the keys. All the family rolled up their sleeves and we converted the first floor of the building into a yoga centre with an office and two therapy rooms. As I said at the start, that was four years ago. It soon became apparent that we had planted a seed in the Estate Agents mind. Soon they were showing the empty ground floor to potential gym owners and worst of all a children’s Nursery. Their statement that the Nursery would only be for babies who don’t make a lot of noise amused us greatly, as, being the mother of four children between us, we knew differently! This, plus other factors regarding our lease and the number of classes we were able to put on decided us that we should take over the whole building. Simple you would have thought, as we were already tenants but no. There were too many interested parties to make things go smoothly - there was our landlord, their solicitor, their agent, the owner, our solicitor and us. The facility for Chinese whispers was extraordinary. Time and time again we would say something to our landlord only to have the solicitors decide we had said something totally different! It took nearly two years to sort it out. In the end we picked a date and said now or never (or words to that effect). It worked. We were in. But in to what? Unlike the upstairs where one group of small offices had been opened up into a large, light, airy room, downstairs was a warren of little rooms with a long straight corridor running right down the middle. The building had, in a previous incarnation, been carpenters’ workshops, so the shell was strong and the office walls all stud partitions and were thus easy to remove. I say easy …hum… but I’ll come to that in a bit. Now just to make matters interesting, Sheila is the organiser for the Introductory Assessments, and usually spends every weekend in October in a School in Birmingham trying to facilitate around 15 teaching assessments. So, 36
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believing that we would have signed back in February 2006 at the latest and having been given the go ahead by the Assessing and Teacher Training Committee to have the assessments at Sarva (three fully equipped, dedicated yoga studios are better than three school halls with children’s art work covering the walls and the worst chairs for back-bending you could imagine!), we had cancelled the school booking and agreed that National Assessments would be held at Sarva for the first time in the October of 2006. So yet again we had a deadline to meet. We had from 1st August to 7th October to rip out all those walls, install under-floor heating and have the whole place clean and usable as our target, with no margin for error. Our builders, plumbers and electricians were brilliant. They understood what we needed and why but not the detai.
capped off so when they turned the heating back on to test it, we found the coffee lounge had sprung a fountain that we hadn’t ordered! We decided to go for under-floor heating in the Oakwood studio half way through the build, as the thought of ruining those lovely clear walls with radiators was too much to bear. We even had the builders all doing handstands in the Oakwood when they put the new floor down and they were most respectful of the ‘no shoe’ rule upstairs every time they came up to the office to ask us something, which was often. And yet they still kept smiling and turning up at 8am each day. There have been rumours that they only came for the free tea and biscuits plus the occasional cake but I think that’s unfair. They finished at 6:30pm on the Friday before the first assessment on the Saturday. It took Sheila and I till 1:30am to clean the place but we made it. We now have three studios, the Sandalwood, the Oakwood and the Rosewood, currently two changing rooms and a students’ coffee lounge. So no crowds just plenty of room for yoga.
Our poor electrician put all the cables for the lights too low for handstands and had to move them all up. That’s after he repaired all the lighting to the Rosewood studio - our plumber (married to one of our teachers so not someone we want to lose - not that anyone is dispensable) managed to pull out all the wiring when removing a redundant pipe! Some kind soul had decided it would be a good idea to attach all the cabling for the back room to the plumbing as an earth - how he wasn’t electrocuted we do not know to this day! When the electrician repaired the feed to the car park lighting he put the timer up by the ceiling, presumably terrified we’d ask him to move it if he put it within reach. He’d already had to move the control panel for the heating, as he put it just were we had planned a wonderful picture of Guruji with Sheila’s mother Lilian Biggs would go; Lilian was a much loved and is a sorely missed Senior teacher who officially opened the upstairs. The builder plastered over a pipe end that hadn’t been Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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Everyone has been very kind and supportive. We were granted Iyengar Institute status by Guruji when Sheila and I were out in India in January 2006 and have had many wonderful comments on the new facilities. It is our hope that Sarva IYI will go on to prove an asset to all the Iyengar community. Who knows, if you haven’t been here already, maybe we’ll see you down in High Wycombe one day. C
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ONE Y EAR O LD - G LASGOW & W EST O F SCOTLAND I YENGAR Y OGA I NSTITUTE by Helen Graham and Fiona Dewar Iyengar Yoga Teachers and more will follow to take Guruji’s brilliant teachings to the people in Scotland. We celebrated our first year on ropes! A weekend with
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ur new Institute began with a group of enthusiastic practitioners a beautifully designed logo and a day of inspired teaching with Jeanne Maslen in November 05 (above). Since then we have been very busy organising events for beginners, experienced bodies and the first teachers training course since 1991. The monthly course run by Gordon Austin (below) had applicants from all over Scotland and we are pleased to have 15 dedicated trainees who will take Iyengar Yoga to the outer corners of Scotland!
We have had the support of several experienced teachers over our first year and our membership has grown we now have over 120 people as members, attending GWSIYI workshops and classes. We gained 3 new teachers recently so we now have 11 registered Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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Sheila Haswell using ropes on school wall bars, for many people it was their first time on the ropes....it was a great weekend. The last year has seen lots of hard work and dedication in laying a strong firm foundation on which our yoga community can grow and spread...as Guruji says ‘Words cannot convey the value of yoga - it has to be experienced.’ It is hoped that our new Institute will give people the opportunity to experience Iyengar Yoga.
Our wider community is always welcome so if you find yourself in our part of the country please do come to class our website is www.gwsiyi.org. 38
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S H O W L O N D O N TH SEPTEMBER 2006 by Leza Hatchard and Patsy Sparksman
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YA (UK) had a stand, various workshops and demos at the Yoga Show again this year, which was held at London’s Kensington Olympia. Nineteen people helped over the three days either by volunteering on the stand or presenting or helping at a demonstration or workshop. We decided on a slightly smaller stand based on the hire expense and set it up with the tables at the back this year to encourage as many people as possible to walk ‘in to’ the stand. This way they could have better access to view the black and white photo display of Guruji and to approach the volunteers directly with their questions. This proved successful and the feedback from the people who came to the stand was excellent.
Priti Mehta at the IYA (UK) stand
A lot of people who were not already familiar with Iyengar Yoga were fascinated by the photographs and by the 1938 practice video of Guruji which was played throughout the 3 days. Maida Vale kindly supplied us with DVD and video copies of this to sell and the DVD copies sold out on the first day with requests for more copies. The stand focussed on information with a small selection of books for sale. All ticket buyers to the Yoga Show were given a ‘goody bag’ at the door which we arranged to have 4,000 copies of a simple black and white Iyengar Yoga Association directory inserted into. As well as information about BKS Iyengar, the Association, teacher training, an IYA membership application form etc; the directory featured details of the member institutes and a selection of paid Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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adverts placed by the private centres around the UK and Ireland. The public could take this away with them so that they had the details of whom to contact in their own time and the directories were also displayed on the stand. All workshop and demo teachers and stand volunteers wore distinctive navy t-shirts with ‘Iyengar Yoga Association’ in white across the chest. This was very effective as IYA people were easily identified by the visitors to the show. Whenever we walked around the show for a break we were approached and asked questions about the association. The response to our demos and workshop classes was very good. Judi Sweeting and her team from CIYC, presented two demonstrations called ‘Alignment is Enlightenment’ on a small demo stage on the main show floor. Both the men’s and the women’s demos were well attended and well received despite Yoga Show allocating us to a much smaller demo stage than originally booked. Thanks goes out to all of those involved who made the best of the situation and presented possibly the best demonstration of the entire show. Margaret Rawlinson held a ‘Freedom in Backbends’ workshop which filled to capacity of 46 paying attendees, whilst Mary Niker held an ‘Iyengar Yoga for Beginners’ workshop which was attended by 66 people free of charge. Both workshops were extremely successful and received excellent feedback from people who then visited the stand after attending. Korinna Pilafidis-Williams held an ‘Iyengar Yoga Childrens’ class for those aged 8-11 years in an open demo area set up for children. Korinna felt that her demo was better attended than the previous year with 12 children actively joining in and enjoying the experience. There were unfortunately some downsides this year to being at the show. The workshops and demos suffered from a higher level of noise distraction and the quality of the workshop areas were lower this year as they were held on an open balcony, rather than in enclosed areas like previous years. General response was that attendance was low, especially on the Saturday, and a lot of the other 39
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exhibits were not representative of yoga. The venue is too large and inhospitable and feels more like a commercial market place in which to shop rather than somewhere to really experience yoga. The events company gave away a lot of tickets to the show which questions whether they had difficulties in selling the event and how it will continue in future years.
The Cotswold Iyengar Centre men’s demonstration
However, IYA (UK) did pick up some new members and it was an opportunity to profile the association and its teachers. Patsy and Leza would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who helped at the Yoga Show this year, your input was very much appreciated and without you we couldn’t have made it happen! C
IYA (UK) DISCUSSION FORUM One of the new features of our website is a discussion forum, open to all members. You will need to login with your username and password and then you have to register - you only need to do this the first time you use the forum.Teachers already have a username, and non-teacher members have been e-mailed with their log-in details. The forum provides an oppor tunity to ask questions, raise issues and express opinions relating to Iyengar yoga and the Association. You can star t off new discussions or respond to comments already posted by other people. It is really easy to use, even for people who have never done this kind of thing before. Why not give it a try? Visit www.iyengaryoga.org.uk.
Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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www.iyengaryoga.org.uk HOW TO LOG-IIN TO THE DISCUSSION FORUM AND HOW TO LOG-IIN AS A TEACHER TO UPDATE YOUR CLASSES The IYA (UK) website now has a fantastic discussion forum where you can all come together and swap ideas, comments, ask questions; discuss your experience and so on. The discussion forum is open to ALL IYA (UK) members (teachers, non-teachers and trainees). Teacher & Non Teacher Log-iin for the Discussion Forum Go to the website: www.iyengaryoga.org.uk and REGISTER on the Discussion Forum page.The reason you need to register as well as having a separate log-in is that the discussion forum is open to IYA (UK) members only and NOT the general public. For you to gain access to the forum you must have a current e-mail address on the IYA database. If your e-mail is not in our database or you want to check it's correct then please e-mail Leza at the main office using admin@iyengaryoga.org.uk Discussion Forum Register 1. Click on Discussion Forum on the left hand menu bar, 4th item from the bottom. 2. The first time you use the forum you will be asked for your username. This is your first name followed by a dot followed by your surname i.e. John.Brown Do not leave gaps and if your name is double barrelled separate it with a hyphen, for example, John.Smedley-Brown 3. Type in your password which you will need to e-mail me to ask for: admin@iyengaryoga.org.uk 4. The next time you use the forum you won't need to do this initial login as it will be stored on your computer already (called a cookie). 5. On the Welcome page click on the hyperlink "Click here for details of how to register for the forum". 6. You should now be able to read the forum topics and threads. If you want to contribute to the forum (post questions or replies) you will need to register for the forum by clicking on "Register" at the top of the page (small letters in pale green). Click on "Agree" on the Privacy statement. Fill in the details on the form: Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
Username = put the name you want people to see when you post a message i.e. John or John Brown or anything else you prefer. Password = choose a password which will be easy for you to remember. Email address = you are asked for it twice to make sure you have entered it correctly. The required boxes are marked with a "*". If you don't complete these boxes you will not be able to complete the registration process but you can ignore the other boxes. Click "Submit" You should now be able to begin using the forum.You can find further information on how to use the forum under the topic headed "How to use the member's discussion forum". If after reading the "How to use the members discussion forum" you are still having problems; please email web wizard Andy Roughton on: amroughton@yahoo.co.uk TEACHERS ONLY LOGIN 1. Click on Teacher Log-in on the Home page on the left hand menu bar - 2nd from the bottom of the list. 2.Type in your user name (This is your first name followed by a dot followed by your surname i.e. John.Brown Leave no gaps - if your name is double barrelled separate with a hyphen, for example, John.Smedley-Brown). 3. Type in the password - which you will need to e-mail me to ask for: admin@iyengaryoga.org.uk 4. If you have not already changed your password, it will prompt you to change it to prevent other people accessing your personal teacher records. Choose a password which is easy for you to remember and keep it safe. 5. If you get stuck e-mail web wizard Andy Roughton: amroughton@yahoo.co.uk Whilst in your teacher log-iin why not UPDATE your classes! If you do this then people looking for classes in your area can see where you teach and contact you if it is of interest to them. Please take this opportunity to advertise your classes, it is both simple and effective! 41
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EVENTS LISTINGS: YOUR GUIDE TO Avon Iyengar Yoga Institute Paul Reilly 07796 302708 reillyyoga@yahoo.com
Bradford and District Iyengar Yoga Institute
C Please contact the events organiser for details of events and classes, or see the ‘events’ page on the IYA (UK) website: www.iyengaryoga.org.uk
Cambridge Iyengar Yoga Institute
C Please contact the events organiser for details of events and classes, or see the ‘events’ page on the IYA (UK) website: www.iyengaryoga.org.uk
Dorset and Hampshire Iyengar Yoga Institute
C Workshop with Julie Brown Saturday 14 April 2007 10.00-16.00. DHIYI members: £18 Non-members £20
East of Scotland Iyengar Yoga Institute
C 10th & 11th March 2007 - Patrick & Dominique Le Roy from France
Glasgow and West of Scotland Iyengar Yoga Institute
C Please contact the events organiser for details of events and classes, or see the ‘events’ page on the IYA (UK) website: www.iyengaryoga.org.uk
Institute of Iyengar Yoga in Sussex
C 21st January 07,Alan Brown at Brighton Natural Health Centre
Liverpool Iyengar Yoga Institute
C Please contact the events organiser for details of events and classes, or see the ‘events’ page on the IYA (UK) website: www.iyengaryoga.org.uk
Alan Brown 01535 637359 alan@dianalan.plus.com
www.cambridgeyoga.co.uk Sasha Perryman 01223 515929; sperryman@yahoo.co.uk
Kim Trowell 01202 445049 www.DHIYI.co.uk
www.gwsiyi.org.uk
www.gwsiyi.org
__ I
C Please contact the events organiser for details of events and classes, or see the ‘events’ page on the IYA (UK) website: www.iyengaryoga.org.uk
www.iiys.org.uk Brian Ingram 01444 236714; brianyoga@tesco.net
Judi Soffa 0151 7094923 mail@yogastudio.f9.co.uk Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
Sunday 22nd and Monday 23rd April - Judi Sweeting & Tig Whattler Saturday & Sunday 2nd & 3rd June 2007 - Ali Dashti andI AGM Saturday 27th October 2007 (pm) - Diane Coates November 24th and 25th 2007 - Richard Agar Ward from Bath
29th April 07, IIYS AGM, Sallie Sullivan at Washington Village Hall 10th June 07, Richard Ward, venue TBC Our PD Day next year is on 17th November with Jayne Orton at Brighton Natural Health Centre
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IYENGAR I NSTITUTES I N T HE U K Midland Counties Iyengar Yoga Institute
C Please contact the events organiser for details of events and classes, or see the ‘events’ page on the IYA (UK) website: www.iyengaryoga.org.uk
Manchester and District Institute of Iyengar Yoga
C 17th March 2007 - returaning teacher from Pune - tva
North East Institute of Iyengar Yoga
C Please contact the events organiser for details of events and classes, or see the ‘events’ page on the IYA (UK) website: www.iyengaryoga.org.uk
North East London Iyengar Yoga Institute
C 4th March Half day with Pam Butler 1st April Yoga day with Bob Waters
Oxford and Region Iyengar Yoga Institute
C Please contact the events organiser for details of events and classes, or see the ‘events’ page on the IYA (UK) website: www.iyengaryoga.org.uk
Sheffield and District Iyengar Yoga Association
C Please contact the events organiser for details of events and classes, or see the ‘events’ page on the IYA (UK) website: www.iyengaryoga.org.uk
South West Iyengar Yoga Institute
C Marion Kilburn, 21st-22nd April 2007
www.mciyi.co.uk Brian Jack 01789 205322; jacksis@aol.com
www.iyengar-yoga-mcr.org.uk Janice Yates 01613 683614; mdiiyoga@amserve.net
Gordon Austin 01915 487457 yoga@austinmg.fsnet.co.uk
21st April 2007 ditto 19th May 2007 tba 6th June 2007 tba 28th July 2007 tba 15th September 2007 tba
www.neliyi.org.uk Nancy Clarke 0208442061; nancyclarke@btinternet.com
O . R . I . Y. I .
www.oriyi.org.uk Sam Smith; 01608 730932 sam.smith@oriyi.org.uk
Dominic Batten Tel: 0114 264 9418 dombatten@aol.com
www.swiyengaryoga.ukf.net Jean Kutz 01872 572807; jean.kutz@tesco.net
Richard and Kirsten Agar Ward, 28th-29th April 2007 Richard and Kirsten Agar Ward, 29th-30th July 2007 Judi Sweeting & Tig Whattler, 2nd-3rd Nov 2007
Affiliated Iyengar Institutes are non profit-making membership organisations committed to promoting the practice and philosophy of Iyengar yoga in their areas. They offer a wide range of classes and workshops led by qualified teachers with years of experience. For details of classes and local teachers please contact the people listed above. The membership fee brings you membership of both IYA (UK) and the Institute. As a member of both organisations you are entitled to: local newsletters, free copies of Iyengar Yoga News twice a year, local events and classes at reduced prices, discounts on national IYA(UK) conventions, the opportunity to network with other Iyengar yoga practitioners. Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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A S S E S S M E N T
R E S U L T S
The following people were successful in Level 2 of the Introductory Assessments taken in October 2006 in the UK. Congratulations! Jane Adams Orit Adari Pouran Alam William Arkle Karen Ball Catherine Barnes-Holt Charlotte Bennett Maria Bird Andy Brennan Sally Brett Mark Brougham Susie Brown Peter Burnham Frederic Cabaz Murielle Carrasco John Carty Sally Child Julie Cook Anita Cullen Fiona Cunningham Maria Davies Maria Drozdowska Elizabeth Eagling-Vose Dave Edwards Leigh Elson Tracey Evans Marianne Farish Gabriel Finn Ann Fitzpatrick Sissi Gill Ann Haley Sirpa Henckel Lynn Henderson Ian Hibbs Alison James Simon Josebury Lucy Joslin Avril Keegan Louise Kennedy Lawrence Klyne
Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Anna Kycia Naomi Lake Llana Landwer Anita Langford Shelley Lea Nick Long Aidan Love Neil Mackay Anna-May Mahon Gaetano Mancuso Lisa Mane Jacky Mangold Hazel Marr Scott McKendrick Manuela Meadows Catherine Mitchell Lisa Morris Beata Nawrocka Sarah Nicholas Sorcha Ni hEilidhe Jan O’Nions Keiko Onishi Norah Phipps Mary-Rose Portelli James Pritchard Liz Rigby Sandra Robinson Andy Roughton Penny Routledge Barbara Saunders Julie Smith Carol Stephens Liz Sumner Lorna Taylor Breda Turbitt Darel Turney Victoria Unthank Tara Walsh Gobnait Walsh Tracey Wearne
Spring 2007
Cheryl Westbury Cathy Whelan Harshini Wikramanayake Shirley Wilson Cecilia Winter The following people were successful in the Senior Intermediate Assessments taken in November 2006. Senior Intermediate Level 1: Julie Hodges Christine Mcoy Judith Richards Senior Intermediate Level 2: Alice Appleton Debbie Bartholomew Ros Bell Pam Butler Annette Dyrbye Aisling Guirke Barbara Leyland Shirin Marshall Christina Niewola David Reddicen Julie Royle Elizabeth Tonner Susan Vassar Bob Waters Tig Whattler June Whittaker-Pisano Best wishes next time to those who were unsuccessful this time. Many thanks to all those who helped with the organisation and running of the assessments.
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I YA ( U K ) P R O F E S S I O N A L D E V E L O P M E N T D AY S 2 0 0 7 AREA
ORGANISER
DATE/LEVEL
Moderator/Senior
South West SWIYI Chagford
Anita Butcher 0136 465 3012
29 September 07 Intro/Junior 1 & II
Richard Agar-Ward
West & South Wales AIYI Edgar Stringer 01249 716235 (office hours) (yoglyded@yahoo.com)
26 September 07 Intro/Junior 1 & II
Sasha Perryman
Greater London NELIYI
Catherine Coulson 020 8347 8115 cakcoulson@blueyonder.co.uk Brian Ingram 01444 236714 Korinna Pilafidis-Williams 0207 6243080 (korinnapw@internet.com)
22 April 07 Intro/Junior 1 & II
Brenda Booth
17 November 07 Intro/Junior 1 & II 15th September 07 Junior 3/SENIOR 3rd June Intro/Junior 1 & II
Jayne Orton
Margaret Hall 01457 871296
3 March 07 Junior 3/SENIOR 28 April 07 Intro/Junior 1& 2
IIYS IYIMV
North West MDIIY & LDIYI
Penny Chaplin Judi Sweeting Jeanne Maslen Meg Laing
East Central & North SADIYI & BDIYI North East & Cumbria and Tyne & Wear NEIYI West Central MCIYI South Central ORIYI
Alan Brown 0153 563 7359 Dorothea Irvin 0191 3888593
10 November 07 Intro/Junior 1& 2 29 September 07 Intro/Junior 1& 2
Jayne Orton 0121 608 2229 Sheila Haswell 0149 452 1107
29 September 07 Intro/Junior 1& 2 24 November 07 Intro/Junior 1& 2
Jayne Orton
Scotland
Carol Brown
9 September 07 Junior 3/SENIOR 28 October 07 Intro/Junior 1& 2 14 April 07 Intro/Junior 1& 2
Elaine Pidgeon
Glasgow
Helen Graham 01416420476
Dave Browne Julie Brown
Judith Jones
Diane Coats Margaret Austin
The 2007 PD Day programme is concerned with backward extensions “Purva Pratana Sthiti”. The programme is taken from the syllabi for all the levels of certification.You should attend the day,which is devoted to your present level of certificate.Please contact the organiser for your area to book your place. The programme will show “sequencing” and how to introduce backward extensions into your classes, (see p.37 of “Basic Guidelines for Teachers of Yoga” by B.K.S. Iyengar and Geeta S. Iyengar). There will be an opportunity to ask the Moderator any questions and to share your experiences with others. In some centres/institutes it may be possible to show rope work (Yoga Kurunta). Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
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TEACHER NAME
AREA
TRAINERS CONTACT DETAILS
Kirsten Agar Ward*
Bath & North East Somerset
office@bath-iyengar-yoga.com 01225319699
Richard Agar Ward
Bath & North East Somerset
office@bath-iyengar-yoga.com 01225319699
Gordon Austin
Tyne and Wear
yoga@austinmg.fsnet.co.uk 01915487457
Margaret Austin
Tyne and Wear
yoga@austinmg.fsnet.co.uk 01915487457
Rosamund Bell
London
r.j.bell@open.ac.uk 02083409899
Brenda Booth
Kent
brendaboothkent@aol.com 01892740876
Tricia Booth
Derbyshire
tricia@booth1.plus.com 01663732927
Alan Brown
West Yorkshire
alan@dianalan.plus.com 01535637359
Julie Brown
Cheshire
julie.brownie@virgin.net 01625879090
David Browne
Tyne and Wear
davebrowne100@yahoo.co.uk 01915213470
Pamela Butler
Kent
p.butler@3mail.com 01689851232
Gerry Chambers
Bristol
office@yogawest.co.uk 01179243330
Penny Chaplin
London
Pennyyoga@btopenworld.com 02076244287
Diane Coats
Tyne and Wear
coats@ukonline.co.uk
Lyn Farquhar
Perthshire
01786823174
Helen Gillan
Co.Sligo
helengillan@eircom.net 00353719146171
Grainne Gilleece
Co.Dublin
grainne.gilleece@ireland.com 00353 12393410
George Glen
Midlothian
georgeglenok@yahoo.co.uk
Sheila Green
Herefordshire
sheilagreenyoga@hotmail.com 01981580081
Aisling Guirke
Co.Dublin
aislingguirke@eircom.net 00353872891664
Cecilia Harrison
Nottinghamshire
cecilia.harrison@ntlworld.com 01159857692
Sheila Haswell
Buckinghamshire
Sheila@sarva.co.uk 01494711589
Julie Hodges*
London
julieyogaputney@yahoo.co.uk 02083929120
Dawn Hodgson
County Durham
01325721518
Frances Homewood*
South Yorkshire
franceshomewood@hotmail.com 01142335753
Judith Jones
Berkshire
jjyoga@btinternet.com 0148871838
Rita Keegan
Co.Dublin
keeganrita@hotmail.com 00353 14976080
Marion Kilburn
Manchester
marionkilburnyoga@hotmail.com 01614429003
Jean Knight
MidLothian
jeanjknight@hotmail.co.uk 01316639838
Meg Laing
MidLothian
m.laing@ed.ac.uk 01316677790
Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
01914154132
01875320765
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Susan Long
Essex
susan@iyce.com 01245421496
Alaric Newcombe
London
alaricnewcombe@yahoo.co.uk 02072819491
Christina Niewola
Cheshire
chris@niewola.com 01260 279565
Jayne Orton
West Midlands
info@iyengaryoga.uk.com 01216082229
Sasha Perryman
Cambridgeshire
sashaperryman@yahoo.co.uk
Elaine Pidgeon
MidLothian
elaine.pidgeon@virgin.net 01315529871
Silvia Prescott
London
02076244577
Lynda Purvis
Bristol
office@yogawest.co.uk 01179243330
Pen Reed
Cheshire
penreed24@aol.com
Judith Richards*
Surrey
judithrich@btinternet.com 0208 3981741
Ursula Schoonraad
London
enquiries@iyyoga.com 02086727315
Judith Soffa
Merseyside
mail@yogastudio.f9.co.uk 01517094923
Sallie Sullivan
East Sussex
sallie.sullivan@virgin.net 01273478271
Judi Sweeting
Gloucestershire
ciyc@talk21.com 01285653742
Elizabeth Tonner
West Yorkshire
liztonner@hotmail.com 01484315736
Judith Van Dop
Cornwall
01736360880
Sue Vassar
Somerset
susan.vassar@btinternet.com 01643704260
Roslyn Wakeford
Hampshire
ros@slomotion.com.au 01243374918
Kathy Welham
Bristol
k_welham@yahoo.co.uk01179626774
Robert Welham
Bristol
rk_welham@yahoo.co.uk 01179626774
01223515929
01614271763
* Indicates Trainee Teacher Trainer
ASSESMENT RESULTS CORRECTION In IYN issue no. 9 the following people were successful in Level 3 (not Level 1 as advised) of the Senior Intermediate Assessments. We apologise for the error. Helen Graham Sheila Green Judi Van Dop Alaric Newcombe Margaret Rawlinson Lynda Purvis
Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
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I Y A ( U K ) R E P O R T S Chair’s Report - Philippe Harari This is my first report since I was elected as Chair of the IYA (UK) at the 2006 AGM. In this report I will try to give an idea of what the IYA (UK) has been up to over the past few months: Yogacharya Festival July 2007 This is a major event being organised in the USA by a teacher who used to live and work in the Oxford region, Kofi Busia. There have been some difficulties with the timing of this Festival as it is scheduled to take place only 2 months away from the US national association convention (in the US they hold a convention every 3 years, but it is a much bigger event than our annual ones). However, at the time of writing, the Festival is due to go on and Kofi has invited delegates to attend from all the national Iyengar associations worldwide. Their travel and accommodation costs will be paid out of the profits made by the Festival and the aim of getting all these delegates in one place is to launch a process for creating an international Iyengar association. The IYA Executive Committee (EC) agreed that this was a very good idea, but we recognise that bringing together all the associations from around the world under a single constitution will be a long and difficult task! Applications for classes at RIMYI In the UK all applications for classes at the RIMYI must be made through Penny Chaplin (see page 52 of this magazine or the website for details), whereas students from some other countries apply directly to the RIMYI. Penny forwards all applications she receives immediately to RIMYI and chases them up afterwards; waiting times for UK applicants are no longer, and in some cases actually shorter, than for applicants from other countries. The RIMYI website teachers’ list Some time ago the RIMYI website requested that we send all of our teachers’ details to them so they could update their listings, which are now a few years’ out of date. However, sending this information without getting permisIyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
sion from individual teachers would have been in breach of the Data Protection Act. Teachers should make sure to tick the appropriate box on their renewal form if they wish this information to be sent to Pune. The Bellur Trust Fund-raising for the Bellur Trust is going to become a major focus for our Association over the next few years. This is a very worthwhile charity and one that is close to Mr Iyengar’s heart. Of course, there are lots of other worthy causes in the world that we could choose to support, but the EC have decided that it is best to concentrate our fund-raising efforts on this single charity. There is much to read about this project on other pages of this magazine. Membership and finance Please see below for full reports from the Treasurer and the Membership Secretary. Since the AGM we have a new Treasurer; Diane Clow has replaced Judith Richards in this role. More recently, we have elected a new Membership Secretary, Brenda Noble Nesbitt. She has taken the place of Louise Cartledge, who is now Deputy Membership Secretary. Membership of the Association continues to rise, and the key financial development this year has been setting up on-line payments. Hopefully this will make paying for membership subscriptions and conventions much more simple, and will also lead to a further rise in membership. Iyengar Yoga Development Fund There are currently around 1000 press clippings about Guruji located within the RIMYI, from an international range of English language newspapers and magazines. Over the past 8 years, these have been collated and mounted into 5 large volumes; an electronic catalogue has been started and full details for about one-third of the clippings have already been entered into an Excel spreadsheet. There are also thousands of photographs in boxes in the RIMYI. The IYDF Committee is instigating a major project with two aims: 1. To continue to preserve original clippings andphotographs so that they can be stored safely at the RIMYI for posterity. 48
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2. To make the ever-growing archive accessible to the many thousands of Iyengar students world-wide, and to anyone interested in the subject and curious to know more about it. The proposal is for national Iyengar Associations around the world to work together to create a dedicated website for this archive.The site would be owned by the RIMYI and managed on its behalf by a group set up collectively by the national Associations who have chosen to get involved. Our aim is to have the website archive completed in time for Guruji’s 90th birthday so that it can be presented to him as a gift from the international Iyengar yoga community. This project to create an international Iyengar archive is particularly exciting for a number of reasons; it will provide an excellent resource for students of yoga around the world, it will allow the various international Iyengar associations to work together on a single task and last, but not least, it will be a great birthday present to give to Guruji on the occasion of his 90th Birthday in December 2008. Miscellaneous news o The EC agreed that assessors should be paid for marking exam papers (£1 per paper for level 1 Introductory, and £2 for higher papers) o We have scaled down our merchandising operation so that we only stock books bought directly from the RIMYI in Pune, and not readily available from any other source in this country. However, we are having trouble maintaining even this service and are looking into alternative ways of providing access to these publications for our members o Our website is continuing to develop and expand with new pages and constantly updated news and events listings
Treasurer’s Report - Diane Clow I was voted in as Treasurer at the last IYAUK AGM in June ‘06 and having shadowed Judith Richards for a couple of months I am still coming to grips with the breadth and diversity of this role but happily ensconced now as part of the Finance team. Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
Results of the June 17th 2006 AGM · Special note of thanks to the out-going treasurer Judith Richards for all her hard work · The 2004 - 2005 financial statements were accepted as published in the IYN Feb 2006 issue · The Membership and Assessment Fees for 2007/ 2008 were ratified as follows: Membership Fees Institute Member Individual Member Overseas Supplement Teacher’s Supplement Teachers’ Supplement Conces. Rate Affiliated Centre Friend Assessment Fees Introductory Level 1 Introductory Level 2 Junior Intermediate Teacher’s Supplement Senior Intermediate Teachers’ Supplement Conces. Rate Tchr.Trainee Registration
£ 6.00 13.50 13.50 35.00 21.00 100.00 25.00 £ 55.00 88.00 88.00 35.00 88.00 21.00 32.00
Euro equivalents included in membership form/online membership web page - please note Euro’s are only accepted now from Republic of Ireland members. Overseas payments must be made in £ Sterling and transfer details of IBAN code or electronic payment via Paypal (see below) can be obtained from Leza. Financial Statements for 2005/06 as at 31st Mar 2006 (enclosed with this issue): · Please do review the notes and any queries please don’t hesitate to contact me. · These 2005/06 financial statements will be presented to the 2007 AGM for acceptance. Continuous Improvements & Strategic Changes Electronic Payments via Paypal and the IYAUK website are now in pilot and by Spring ‘07 it is hoped will be in full use initially for membership renewals and then extended for use such as conventions/workshops. We sincerely hope this is received as a positive step and taken up especially by overseas teachers as overseas cheques are too expensive in charges and administrative time. Thanks to Leza Hatchard, Prabhakara and Andy Roughton for their help. 49
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Bellur Trust Fundraising: a £500 starter fund was agreed to be donated from the IYAUK to help with the promotion and administration of this year’s emphasis on the Bellur trust.
MOM’s Report - Leza Hatchard Dear all - where does the time go! It only seems like 5 minutes ago that I was writing to you all. I will once again be submerged in the renewals when you read this. If you haven’t already done so, submit them to me as quick as you can and teachers; remember to let me know if you want your details on the website so that people can contact you about your classes. We only print the phone and e-mail where consented to and never your full address. IYA (UK) continues to grow not only in membership but also in the direction of new projects and new ideas. By the time you read this we may have the secure website online payment facility set up and in place. This will make it much easier for everyone to renew and make payments and will cut down on a substantial amount of work it takes to bank and process cheques. It will also be easier for all our overseas members to renew and make their payments. The 2007 convention in June is booking very well and if you have not sent your booking form to me yet, please send it to the office as soon as you can to avoid missing out on a place. The Stephanie Quirk remedial workshops have been a great success to date and places for all of the level courses up to 2010 are filling as quickly as the details for them are released. We hope to provide more events through IYA (UK) in the future and the events committee welcome your ideas and suggestions. 85 new teachers qualified in 2006 and I am always keen to help to promote all of our teacher membership as much as possible to help them to get new students in to their classes. I am still regularly mailing out information about IYA and our teachers to gyms and health clubs and with the help of the PR team, I hope to get more information out to the national press in 2007 to continue to build awareness of the association. I always like to take this opportunity to thank all of the committees involved with IYA in their support to this busy office role. We have an excellent team of people building the future for IYA (UK) and all of them, apart from me, Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
Spring 2007
volunteer their time and energy to IYA for free. I really appreciate their help and couldn’t do this job without them. Here’s to a fantastic 2007 for all of the IYA membership!
IYA (UK) 2007 CONVENTION There are only a few places left for the 2007 Convention for both the Teachers’ workshop on the Friday and the main weekend convention on the Saturday and Sunday. If you would like to book a place please send your booking form and fees to the main office to confirm your reservation. If you would like a copy of the booking form you can either download it from www.iyengaryoga.org.uk or emaill Leza on admin@iyengaryoga.org.uk or telephone: 020 8997 6029. Friday 22nd June 2007: The teachers’ workshop is open to all certified Iyengar Yoga Teachers and Iyengar Trainee Teachers. As well as an excellent opportunity to work with Rajlaxmi and Devki’s assistance, this will be a chance to practise alongside other teachers for a day – Pune style! The workshop starts at 8am and en-suite accommodation is available on the Thursday night for anyone travelling to the venue. Saturday & Sunday 23rd and 24th June 2007: The Weekend Convention will start at 10am on Sat & Sun and will finish at 2pm on Sunday 24th June. En-suite accommodation available. Venue: Brunel University, Uxbridge (20 mins outside London) and easily accessible by car, tube, bus, rail and plane. Both teachers, Dr Rajlaxmi and Devki Desai (pictured above) from Pune, India, are well-respected senior students of BKS Iyengar, working closely with Guruji, Geetaji and Prashantji. Dr Rajlaxmi has been practising yoga for twenty years. She is a consultant in Gynaecology and Obstetrics and has been assisting in medical classes for eight years, particularly working in ante and post-natal care. Also at the Institute, Rajlaxmi has taught general Yoga classes for six years, often taking Geetaji’s classes. Devki has been teaching at RIMYI since 1995 although she has been practising since 1984. She was initially taught by Guruji in Mumbai until her marriage in 1989 when she moved to Pune where she was taught by Prashant and Geetaji. Like Rajlaxmi, Devki also assists in medical classes, teaches for Geetaji in her absence and takes children’s classes. She accompanied Geetaji on her 2004 tour to Johannesburg, Perth, Sydney and Auckland. See 'NEWS' for competition details open to members. 50
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A N N O U N C E M E N T S IYA(UK) AGM
IYA ( UK) D atabase
Date: Saturday 23rd June 2007 Time: 2pm Venue: IYA (UK) Convention, Brunel University
There are many members for whom we do not have an e-mail address on our database, particularly non-teacher members. If we have your e-mail address, we can send you useful information now and then (don’t worry, you won’t be inundated with spam!). Also, we need to know your e-mail address before you can register on our online discussion forum. You can tell if we do not have your e-mail address because you will not have received an e-mail from us last month telling you all about the forum. If you wish to tell us your e-mail address, please send it to:
Agenda: o Apologies o Minutes of last meeting to be approved o Chair’s report o Treasurer’s report o Secretary’s report o Membership secretary’s report o AOB If any member of the IYA wants a motion voted on then that must be sent to the secretary of the Association 40 days in advance of the meeting. It must be proposed and seconded by members of the IYA.
admin@iyengaryoga.org.uk
Announcement for anyone Teaching Children or Vulnerable Adults This announcement is particularly for any teacher who runs private classes for children (including teenagers up to 18 years) but is also for anyone who teaches classes for adults with special needs on a private basis. If you teach such a class for a school, college or training centre they will be responsible for seeing that a disclosure is obtained for you. All people in regular contact with children and vulnerable adults must be vetted by the Criminal Records Bureau to see that they have no criminal convictions that would debar them from contact with children or vulner able adults. Private individuals are not allowed to apply for a disclosure so the IYA(UK) has organised a disclosure procedure for our members who teach privately. This has been done in conjunction with Lloyd Education. You will need the enhanced disclosure which is for people who are in sole charge of children and vulnerable adults. The procedure is as follows:1. if a teacher needs a criminal disclosure document then he/she must write to Lloyd Education and ask for one (they will get a pack telling them what to do and can phone Lloyd Education if they have any questions). 2. Lloyd Education carry out the procedure(which takes about three weeks) and then send one copy of the disclosure documents to the applicant and one copy to Leza who will file it away in a lockable and immoveable cabinet to which no unauthorised person will have access.The documents will be stored until such time as they are no longer needed when they will be destroyed. The cost for this service is £48.00 per applicant of which £34.00 goes to the CRB and £14.00 to Lloyd Education. The IYA(UK) makes no charge. Lloyd Education, 2 Mallard Business Centre, The Old Station, Little Bealings, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP13 6LT Tel. 01473 333880 www.lloydeducation.com Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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CLASSES
AT
RIMYI
If you wish to attend classes at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, Pune, you must apply through the IYA (UK) - individual applications sent directly to the RIMYI will not be accepted (people from some other countries with less well established national Associations do apply directly to the Institute using a form that they download from the RIMYI website, but this option is not open to people from the UK, and definitely does not result in getting onto classes earlier).The application process is as follows: www.iyengaryoga.org.uk) or contact our Office 1. Download an application form from the IYA (UK) website (w Manager, Leza Hatchard, on 020 8997 6029 or at admin@iyengaryoga.org.uk 2. Fill out the form and send it with a Bankers Draft for US$150 made payable to RIMYI to: Penny Chaplin, Flat 1, St. Johns Court, Finchley Road, London NW3 6LL Please do not include photos or personal mail. Please note: For admission, the RIMYI requests that the student’s practice of 8 years reflects an understanding of the foundation of Iyengar Yoga. This would include the regular practice of inverted poses (8-10 mins. in the inverted postures), and the regular practise of pràõàyàma, Women should know what is to be practised during menstruation. All students should have read, at the minimum, the introductory chapter to Light on Yoga and be familiar with the terms and principles covered in that chapter RIMYI offers one or two months admission with no extensions beyond 2 months under any circumstances The total cost is $US400 a month and a deposit of $US150 must be paid in advance, with the balance payable on arrival at the RIMYI.The advance deposit is part of the fees and hence not transferable to any other person or course. It is non-refundable. In additon to the balance of $US250 payable on arrival at the RIMYI, you will need to present your letter of confirmation and two photocopies of your passport and visa 6 classes are given per week, each for 2hrs duration. A schedule will be given on arrival The last week of each month will be pràõàyàma classes The classes will be conducted by BKS Iyengar, his daughter, Geeta Iyengar or son, Prashant Iyengar or by staff members When applying please include relevant bio-data with any health conditions Certificates will not be issued at the end of the course You will need to make your own arrangements for board and lodging Applications are for individuals only - no groups. However, if you would like to go at the same time as a friend, you should both indicate this clearly on your application form. 3. If you would like a confirmation that your application form and bankers draft has been sent to the RIMYI, please enclose a self-addressed envelope. All application forms are automatically forwarded to Pune and there is absolutely no selection process at this stage. 4. When the administrator at RIMYI, Mr Pandurang Rao, receives your application form he will automatically place you on the next available course and send you a confirmation letter. Please note: The RIMYI receives many applications from all over the world; the waiting list for classes is around 2 years You may have to wait from 3 months to a year to receive your confirmation letter If your confirmation letter comes direct from India please let Penny know. You will know the letter has come direct from India by the stamp and postmark. If you receive a photocopied letter posted from London then your confirmation letter has gone through Penny and you don’t need to inform her. (Pandu sometimes sends a group of confirmation letters to Penny for her to forward to applicants) Do not ask to change the date you are given unless you have a serious need to do so on compassionate grounds.
Prices correct at the time of printing. Check the www.iyengaryoga.org.uk for latest news, more information, travel details, contact numbers for accommodation etc. Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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Y O G A
R A H A S Y A
Yoga Rahasya is a quarterly Iyengar yoga journal published in India. Four issues a year are mailed to you, normally starting from the next available issue. Back copies are sometimes available (£3.50 each); please write a separate note if you are enquiring about these, listing the issues you are seeking. To subscribe, or to renew an existing subscription, please complete and return the form below with a cheque made payable to “IYA (UK)” to: Tig Whattler, 64 Watermoor Road, Cirencester, Glos. GL7 1LD. Queries to this address or to info@cotswoldiyengar.co.uk. Please write very clearly (or type the information on a separate piece of paper). In order to comply with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998, IYA (UK) agrees not to release the details you give us here to any external party without first seeking your permission. We may pass on these details to our Indian Yoga Rahasya publishing partners. This information is collected, stored and processed for the purposes of Yoga Rahasya journal subscription and distribution administration. IYA (UK) does not sell or exchange its membership lists with other organisations.
Name: .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Address: .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................................................................................ Post code: ............................................. Telephone: ............................................................ e-mail: ............................................................................................................................................................ Is this a renewal? ............... If so, please state issue no. new subscription is to start with, if known. Vol. ............... No.............. Amount enclosed (cheque to “IYA (UK)” please) £........................................................ (one year’s subscription (4 issues) is £16) Please enclose a stamped s.a.e. if you require a receipt. Signature ........................................................................................................................................................ Date ....................................................................... Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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IYA(UK) MERCHAND ISE All prices include p & p in the UK. Please ask about postage to other countries. Make cheques payable to “IYA (UK)” and send to: Patsy Sparksman, 33 Ashbourne Avenue, London NW11 0DT All enquiries to Patsy Sparksman and NOT to the main office please: 020 8455 6366; patsyyoga@aol.com PLEASE PRINT name, address, phone number and e-m mail address clearly with your order. BOOKS Light on Life by B.K.S. Iyengar: Mr Iyengar invites both those new to yoga and those who are experienced practitioners on an Inward Journey designed to increase their physical stability, emotional vitality, mental clarity, intellectual wisdom and spiritual bliss. Special Price £12
Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar: for practitioners of Iyengar yoga, Mr Iyengar’s classic book is the seminal text, and the photographs of the author demonstrating the àsanas are truly inspiring. New edition available for £15
Light on P r à õ à y à m a by B.K.S. Iyengar: A variety of pràõàyàmas are described and each is broken down into easy components so that the practitioner can build him/herself up without strain.There is also a long section on relaxation.The practice sequences in the back are really excellent. £12
Light on t h e Y o g a S å t r a s o f P a t a n j a l i by B.K.S. Iyengar: Mr Iyengar offers his own interpretation and translation of this notoriously difficult work. He demonstrates how Patanjali’s philosophy runs through his own practice and teaching of yoga. Cost: £15
Astadala Yogamala by B.K.S. Iyengar: a collection of Mr Iyengar’s writings, projected to run to 13 volumes. Volumes 1 to 5 now available. Cost: £12 per volume
Yoga: a Gem for Women by Geeta S. Iyengar: Geeta integrates yogic theory, practice and personal experience into an accomplished and inclusive guide to the discipline of yoga with meticulous details and corresponding photographs for more than 80 àsanas , appealing to both the beginner and the advanced practitioner. Cost: £12
Yoga in Action: a Preliminary Course by Geeta S. Iyengar: a preliminary course of àsanas and pràõàyàma based on the syllabus taught at the Ramanani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute. An excellent reference for beginners and also for teachers. Cost: £10 Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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Tuesdays with Prashant by Prashant S. Iyengar: transcripts of the Tuesday evening classes taught by Prashant Iyengar in 2002-2003 including sequences and instructions and also his analogies from day to day life and his quotations. Ring-bound for convenience during practice. Cost: £12
Alpha and Omega of T r i k o õ à s a n a by Prashant S. Iyengar: trikoõàsana is used as an example to explain how àsana practice is a journey from external beginnings to the knowledge of the ‘soulosphere’. Cost: £12 A Matter of Health by Dr Krishna Raman: an in-depth look at the relationships between health, modern medicine and yoga from a medical point of view by one of Mr Iyengar’s students. Extensive information on anatomy and physiology and how it is affected by yoga practice with extensive help and advice on remedial work. Illustrated hardback book. Cost: £27
Yoga for Children by Rajiv and Swati Chanchani: yoga presented for the benefit of children by senior students of B.K.S. Iyengar. Fully illustrated. Cost: £14
Basic Guidelines for Teachers of Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar and Geeta S. Iyengar: based on the preliminary Teachers’ Training taught at the RIMYI in Pune. Note: this title is only available to certificated Iyengar teachers. Trainee teachers can obtain a copy from their trainer. Cost: £12
CD-ROMS and Videos Yoga for You - CD-R ROM by B.K.S. Iyengar
Yoga for Stress - CD-R ROM by B.K.S. Iyengar
Cost: £14
Cost: £14
Clothing
LEGGINGS F OR S ALE - These cotton footless tights are made with a super-soft cotton lycra and 198g weight fabric giving you a pair of leggings that are great to wear and durable. Colour: black Cost: £20
All prices on these pages include postage and packing in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Please enquire about postage to other countries. Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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ADVERTISEMENTS
ADVERTISING in IYENGAR YOGA N EWS If you wish to advertise in the next issue of Iyengar Yoga News, please send all text, photographs or artwork to:
jcotgreave@merseymail.com The deadline for the next issue of Iyengar Yoga News (due out September 2007) is 1st June 2007. Advertising rates Quarter page: ÂŁ35; Small ads.: 40p per word NB. the Editorial Board reserves the right to refuse to accept advertisements or parts of advertisements that are deemed to be at variance with the stated aims of the Iyengar Yoga Association (UK)
S M A L L
A D S
YogaSupplies Inexpensive INDIAN YOGA BELTS, BANDAGES, BOLSTER SETS, PRANAYAMA SETS, ROPES. Call 01225336144 or e-mail kirsten@bath-iiyengar-yyoga.com for price list Flat to Rent in Pune Quiet location. Comfortable, spacious and clean. Short pleasant walk from the Institute. Cleaned daily and cook available if required. For details contact: deepchandi@hotmail.com or 0141 357 2175 Yoga Holidays in South West France 2007 June 14th-18th Beginners/ General June 18th -22nd General/Intermediate. Holidays also planned for Spring/summer 2007 near Carcassonne. For more information telephone 01245 398424 or see website www.loisshiltonyoga.co.uk Affordable wooden Iyengar yoga props direct from French manufacturer. Wide range of blocks, wedges, stools, benches, backstretchers, trestlers etc. For more information or to place an order, please visit our Internet shop at: www.stores.ebay.co.uk/harconwoodproducts Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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ADVERTISEMENTS
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ADVERTISEMENTS
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ADVERTISEMENTS
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ADVERTISEMENTS
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ADVERTISEMENTS
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IYA (UK) EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Officer position Chairperson Treasurer Secretary Membership Sec. Vice Chairperson
Deputy Secretary
Deputy Treasurer
Dep. Memb. Sec.
Rep.
Name Philippe Harari Diane Clow Joe Burn Brenda Noble-N Nesbitt NEIIY Margaret Carter Cat Savage AIYI Alan Brown BDIYI CIYI vacancy Andrea Smith DHIYI ESIYI vacancy Helen Graham GWISIYI Andy Roughton IIYS John Cotgreave LIYI Prabhakara MCIYI Debbie Bartholomew MDIIY Justine Kilburn MDIIY Brenda Noble-N Nesbitt NEIIY Diane Maimaris NELIYI Judith Jones ORIYI Mary Carol SADIYA Jean Kutz SWIYI Ros Bell Individual Judith Richards Individual Brenda Booth Individual Elaine Pidgeon Individual Patsy Sparksman Individual R. of Ireland Aisling Guirke R.of Ireland Eileen Cameron
e-m mail philippe.harari@runbox.com dclow@hotmail.co.uk joe.burn@virgin.net b.noblenesbitt@gmail.com mgtcarter@aol.com treens.savage@btinternet.com alan@dianalan.plus.com
Telephone 01223 523 410 0131 334 7544 01224 632 932 0191 388 4118 01925 758 382 01761 435 468 01535 637 359
andrea@iyengaryoga.me.uk
0239 246 6750
helenyoga.glasgow@yahoo.co.uk amroughton@yahoo.co.uk jcotgreave@merseymail.com prabhakara@freeuk.com debrabartholomew@btinternet.com flychi77@hotmail.com b.noblenesbitt@gmail.com diane.goldrei@googlemail.com jjyoga@btinternet.com aloxley@waitrose.com jean.kutz@tesco.net r.j.bell@open.ac.uk judithrich@btinternet.com brendaboothkent@aol.com elaine.pidgeon@virgin.net patsyyoga@aol.com aisling_guirke@hotmail.com eileencameron@eircom.net
0141 642 0476 01273 326 205 07985 332 820 0121 449 7496 01706 841 942 07989 819 688 0191 388 4118 020 8883 2074 0148 871 838 0114 251 7359 0187 257 2807 020 8340 9899 020 8398 1741 01892 740 876 0131 552 9871 020 8455 6366 00353872891664 00353 12841799
Committee members: Note: Committee chairs are in bold. Co-opted (ie. non- Executive Council) members are in italics. Management Committee: Alan Brown, Joe Burn, Margaret Carter, Di Clow, Philippe Harari, Judith Jones Planning: Ros Bell, Joe Burn, Alan Brown, Margaret Carter, Louise Cartledge, Di Clow, Philippe Harari, Brenda NobleNesbitt, Prabhakara, Andrea Smith Ethics and Certification: Ros Bell, Penny Chaplin, Judith Jones, Elaine Pidgeon,Pen Reed, Judi Soffa, Judi Sweeting, Tig Whattler Assessment and Teacher Training: Margaret Austin, Debbie Bartholomew, Alan Brown, Julie Brown, Brenda Booth Sheila Haswell, Meg Laing, Jayne Orton, Sasha Perryman Communications & Public Relations: Jon Cotgreave (IYN), Helen Dye (IYN), Philippe Harari, Judith Jones (IYN), Judith Richards (PR), Andy Roughton (website), R.achel Lovegrove (IYN) Archives/Research: Debbie Bartholomew, Rachel Lovegrove (Photographs) Conventions/Events:: Carol Brown, Helen Graham, Patsy Sparksman Merchandising Committee: Patsy Sparksman, Tig Whattler (Yoga Rahasya) Moderators: Richard Agar Ward, Margaret Austin, Brenda Booth, Tricia Booth, Julie Brown, Dave Browne, Penny Chaplin, Diane Coats, Sheila Haswell, Judith Jones, Meg Laing, Sasha Perryman, Elaine Pidgeon, Jayne Orton, Pen Reed, Judi Sweeting Professional Development Days Coordinator: Judi Sweeting Assessment Co-o ordinator: Meg Laing Senior Intermediate Assessment Organiser: Jayne Orton Junior Intermediate Assessment Organiser: Sasha Perryman Introductory Assessment Organiser: Sheila Haswell Republic of Ireland Assessment Coordinator: Margaret Austin Iyengar Yoga News Number 10
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For more photos from Pune see page 32
A class with Geetaji and Geetaji with her neice, Abiata, Guruji’s grand-daughter
Urdhva Dhanurasana
Viparita Dandasana
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