Yoga Samachar SS2009

Vol.13 No. 1

Spring / Summer 2009

A Mala For

90 Years Commemorating Guruji’s Momentous Birthday

in this

issue Exhalation: A Versatile Force, Prashant Iyengar (with Rebecca Lerner and Chris Saudek) Finding Effortless Effort in Our Asanas, by John Schumacher

2008 Certification and Upgrades by Guruji

Savasana, by Ramanand Patel and Constance Braden Vairagya—Becoming at Ease with What Is, by Sharon Conroy Lighting the Way – Richard Jonas Report from India: The Global Yoga Community Gathers to Honor B.K.S. Iyengar, by Carmen Viola Regional News, Book Reviews, and the IYNAUS Store News

Photos by Lindsey Clennell

Contents

IYNAUS Officers and Standing Committees

Letter from the President – Chris Beach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Exhalation: A Versatile Force – Prashant Iyengar (with Rebecca Lerner and Chris Saudek) . . 3 Finding Effortless Effort in Our Asanas – John Schumacher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Savasana – Ramanand Patel and Constance Braden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

President: Chris Beach Vice President: Richard Jonas Secretary: Pat Musburger Treasurer: Kathleen Quinn

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Vairagya—Becoming at Ease with What Is – Sharon Conroy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Archives Chris Beach, Chair Eddy Marks, Archives Coordinator Kim Kolibri, Archives Assistant Francois St. Laurent, Marie Giroux, Archives Advisors

Lighting the Way – Richard Jonas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 2008 Certification and Upgrades by Guruji . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

By-Laws Patrina Dobish, Chair Liza Amtmanis, Debbie Lancaster, David Larsen, Janet Lilly, Garth Mclean, Pat Musburger

Report from India: The Global Yoga Community Gathers to Honor B.K.S. Iyengar on His 90th Birthday – Carmen Viola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Certification Committee Kathleen Pringle, Coordinator Colleen Gallagher, Board Liaison Marla Apt, Kristin Chirhart, Dean Lerner, Mary Reilly

News from the Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 IYNAUS Store . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

IYNAUS Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Communications Committee Richard Jonas, Chair Constance Braden, Editor Yoga Samachar Alexandra Anderson, Leslie Freyberg, Gloria Goldberg, Don Gura, Sally Hess, Gina Russell King, James Murphy, Pat Musburger, Christine Nounou, Sue Salaniuk, Joan White

Yoga Samachar’s Mission

Ethics Committee Colleen Gallagher, Chair Judi Rice, Joan White

Book Reviews – Bobbie Fultz and Suza Francina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

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

Events Committee Patrina Dobish, Chair Marla Apt, Linda DiCarlo, Gloria Goldberg, Julie Lawrence, Patricia Walden Finance Committee Kathleen Quinn, Chair Chris Beach, Carolyn Matsuda, Jean Smith, Jackie Schiavo

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

2. Communicate information regarding the standards and training of certified teachers.

3. Report on studies regarding the practice of Iyengar Yoga.

4. Provide information on products that IYNAUS imports from India.

5. Review and present recent articles and books written by the Iyengars.

6. Report on recent events regarding Iyengar Yoga in Pune and worldwide.

7. Be a platform for the expression of experiences and thoughts from members, both students and teachers, about how the practice of yoga affects their lives.

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

Membership Committee Elizabeth Hynes, Chair IMIYA–Jeanne Ann Walter; IYAGNY–Elisabeth Pintos; IYAMN–Liz McMann; IYAMW–Jennie Williford; IYANC–Brian Vazquez; IYASC-LA–Ed Horneij; IYASC-SD–Jessica Brinkman; IYASCUS–Marj Rash; IYASE–Alex Cleveland; IYASN–Aileen Epstein-Ignadiou; IYANW–Paul Cheek Nominating Committee Patrina Dobish, Chair Linda DiCarlo, Gloria Goldberg, Dean Lerner, Manouso Manos, Chris Saudek Regional Support Committee Leslie Freyberg, Chair Joe Adlesic, Chris Beach, Paul Cheek, Elizabeth Cowan, Linda DiCarlo, Colleen Gallagher, Tonya Garreaud, Edwin Horneij, Aileen Epstien Ignadiou, Randy Just, Pat Musburger, Pauline Pierrot, Nancy Turnquist, Bryan Vasquez, Janice Vien, Holly Walck, Jeanne Ann Walter

Yoga Samachar is produced by the IYNAUS Communications Committee, which consists of interested volunteers from the community. This issue was edited by Constance Braden, copyedited by Alexandra Anderson, and designed by Don Gura. Cover photo

by Lindsey Clennell.

Scholarship Committee Leslie Freyberg, Chair Chris Beach, Linda DiCarlo, Lisa Jo Landsberg, Mary Reilly, John Schumacher

Members may submit an article or a practice sequence for consideration for inclusion in future issues. Articles should be well written and submitted electronically.

Service Mark & Royalty Committee Gloria Goldberg, Attorney in Fact for B.K.S. Iyengar Kathleen Quinn, Board Liaison Marla Apt

Articles must include author’s full name, certification level, and the year the author began studying Iyengar Yoga, along with contact information: email, mailing address, and phone number.

Store Committee Kathleen Quinn, Chair Bobby Fultz, Store Manager Chris Beach, Richard Jonas Systems and Technology Committee Chris Nounou, Chair Ed Horneij, David Weiner

Ads and articles for the Spring/Summer issue must be submitted by March 1.

Ads and articles for the Fall/Winter issue must be submitted by September 1.

Please send to constancebraden@mac.com.

Yoga Research Committee Pat Musburger, Chair Julie Gudmestad, Jacqueline Kittel, Linda Lutz, Beth Sternlieb, Lisa Walford, Kimberly Williams

Printed on FSC-certified paper. FSC is an independent, nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization established to promote the responsible management of the world’s forests.

IYNAUS Senior Council Manouso Manos, Chris Saudek, John Schumacher, Patricia Walden

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Spring / Summer 2009 Yoga Samachar

IYNAUS Board Member Contact List Spring / Summer 2009 Chris Beach 21 Harvey Ct. Irvine CA 92617

Elizabeth Hynes 4228 Huntsfield Rd Fayetteville, NC 28314

Sharon Cowdery 1300 Clay St. Suite 600 Oakland CA 94612

Richard Jonas 299 W. 12th St Apt. 5-F NY, NY 10014

Patrina Dobish 2650 W Belden #313 Chicago, IL 60647

Pat Musburger Tree House Iyengar Yoga 18021 15th Ave NE Shoreline, WA 98119

Leslie Freyberg 31 Topstone Road Redding, CT 06896 Colleen Gallagher 321 Palm Trail Delray Beach Fl 33483

Christine Nounou McKinsey & Company 875 Third Avenue, 534 New York, NY 10022 Kathleen Quinn 246 Richmar Ave San Marcos, CA 92069

Please contact your Board Members at: www.iynaus.org/contact

Regional Association Contacts Inter-Mountain (Colorado): IMIYA Jeanne Ann Walter imiya@iynaus.org • www.csyoga.com/imiya Minnesota: IYAMN Elizabeth Cowan iyamn@iynaus.org • www.iyamn.org Northern California: IYANC Bryan Vasquez info@iyisf.org • www.iyisf.org Southern California, San Diego: IYASC-SD Jessica Brinkman president@iyasc.org • www.iyasc.org Southeast: IYASE Joe Adlesic president@iyase.org • www.iyase.org Northwest: IYANW Paul Cheek iyanw@iynaus.org • www.dongura.com/iyanw Greater New York: IYAGNY Pauline Pierrot Pauline@iyengarnyc.org • www.iyengarnyc.org Midwest: IYAMW Jennie Williford iyamw@iynaus.org Southern California, Los Angeles: IYASC-LA Edwin Horneij iyascla@iynaus.org • www.iyasc.org South Central US: IYASCUS Randy Just iyascus@iynaus.org Southern Nevada: IYASN Aileen Epstein-Ignadiou iyasn@iynaus.org • www.iyclv.com For more information visit: www.iynaus.org/Regions

Letter from the President Dear Fellow IYNAUS Members, This past year has been a time of transition for IYNAUS. We launched a new website, which now provides an exciting platform for expanded content. We have hired a new General Manager, Sharon Cowdery, who has already contributed in innumerable ways. Finally, we have a new Board of Directors, composed of two continuing members—Richard Jonas and Pat Musburger—and seven new members—myself, Patrina Dobish, Leslie Freyberg, Colleen Gallagher, Elizabeth Hynes, Christine Nounou, and Kathleen Quinn. Our first board meeting was last October in San Diego, and our second meeting was in New York in March. This is a dedicated and hard-working group that has both the character and the skill set necessary to provide strong guidance to the association over the next few years.

I would like to focus this letter, my first as president, on the efforts IYNAUS is making to serve its members better. One of the first initiatives of the new board was an email survey asking for your feedback on a number of the services we provide. We had a good response to the survey, and it is in large part because of the feedback we received that you are receiving this issue of Yoga Samachar in its traditional printed and mailed form. We are very pleased with this issue, and we hope that you will enjoy both the content and the design. This issue also will be posted online at iynaus.org. We ask that you complete and return the form on page 10 to let us know which delivery system you choose for future issues, mailed or the papersaving online version.

Another goal has been to expand the content on the website. We encourage you to visit iynaus.org often for new essays—including essays from our senior teachers—as well as reports on therapeutic and medical research, yoga for special populations, and other topics.

We’ll also be expanding content to support teachers in the business of yoga: soon we will post a new version of the brochure introducing new students to Iyengar Yoga, which will help teachers in marketing their classes. You will be able to download and print this form online, or send for copies at a nominal charge to cover postage. We are also enhancing the online store: now images help you see the items for sale, and we will be continually expanding our offerings to make the store more useful. In addition, we are smoothing out the process for online invoicing and are working with our suppliers in India to resolve problems with delivery of Yoga Rahasya.

One of IYNAUS’s goals is to increase our membership and to raise the profile of Iyengar Yoga nationwide, in keeping with our mission of promoting and disseminating the art, science, and philosophy of yoga according to the teachings of B.K.S. Iyengar. An essential part of this mission is to find ways of better serving our current membership and to be more responsive to the needs and requests of both individual members and regional associations. Our general manager and our board members are working diligently to improve response to your phone and email enquiries. We are also compiling a wish list of requests for added features on the website. Our first priority now is to improve the online assessment process, making it more functional and user friendly for both candidates and assessors.

It is a great honor and privilege to serve as President of IYNAUS. Since joining the Board in October, I have learned a great deal about the many facets of our association. As President, I hope to help serve you, the members of IYNAUS, and to help guide the association as we move into an exciting new phase of our development.

Namaste, Chris Beach, President Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States Spring / Summer 2009

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2009

Please visit the IYNAUS website: www.iynaus.org 1300 Clay Street, Suite 600, Oakland, CA 94612 • 888-344-0434

Exhalation: A Versatile Force Prashant Iyengar (with Rebecca Lerner and Chris Saudek) When you are not paying attention, the exhale is happening automatically. It is taking place for your subsistence, for the autonomous system to work, for the involuntary system to work, for you to breathe, and for you to live. Unconscious exhalation is just aiding the carbon dioxide, it is making you live. Apart from that, the breath is not doing anything, and if it is doing something, it is for the involuntary system to function.

Lindsey Clennell

But when you are doing asanas, then the breath has multiple roles to play. It is a body supplement, it is a mind supplement, it is supplemental to every aspect of you: ego, intelligence, mind, thought process, deliberation, action, sensory actions, body actions. So it is going to be a major component for you to do, think, see, feel, understand, execute. As you read this, the breath is not playing a specific role. It is not playing any extraordinary role, but when you get into Marichyasana or Sirsasana, it is going to play a different role, a specific role.

Letter from the Editor Dear Readers, We’ve based this issue on “letting go.”

As a culture, we’ve been inhaling and inhaling—building, growing, acquiring, accumulating, hoarding, and holding on—and now, with the economic downturn, we find opportunities to exhale. We hope this issue will support this sometimes uncomfortable but ultimately releasing and joyful shift.

So the breath altogether is not the breath. I have said that the breath gets the body aspects and factors into it. The breath gets the mind aspects into it. If you want to activate the body, suppose I plaster your entire body, all limbs are plastered, what kind of activity can you carry out? So we want the mind to be active. If the mind has to be active, the mind must have joints, the mind must have muscles. The body requires muscles, joints, and joint mechanisms to activate or be in an activity. Similarly, for the mind to be active, it requires similar such things like joint mechanisms, muscles, etc.

The breath, too, should be active, so the breath needs to have joints and mechanisms, etc. There are body–mind aspects, which are transmitted into each other, transforming each other. I have expressed it this way, that the breath is bodyfied, the breath is mindified; the body is breathified, the body is mindified; the mind is bodyfied, the mind is breathified. So it becomes a composite material.

Many thanks to my co-editors Pat Musburger and Richard Jonas, to designer Don Gura and copyeditor Alexandra Anderson, and especially to our writers, who have put heart and soul into their work.

Exhalation means the expiratory act of the breath. There is an exhalative body, there is an exhalative mind in an asana….

Warm regards, Constance Braden Samachar Content Editor

Exhalation means the expiratory act of the breath. There is an exhalative body, there is an exhalative mind in an asana, that will not be taken into perspective if you say that exhalation means gaseous emission from the lungs or the abdominal cavity through the nostrils out. There is something like an inhalative body in an asana, an inhalative mind in an asana, also. Try to watch and understand your body in an asana, how the muscles, bones, joints are, exhalatively and inhalatively. In Tadasana, you don’t just stand by your biomechanical actions. The exhalation and inhalation are going to contribute for transformations in it. There is an exhalative body and tissue culture which is different from the inhalative body.

The breath is not merely an element of air going in and coming out. In an asana, the exhalation has a different role because it has body aspects and factors and mind aspects and factors.

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Spring / Summer 2009 Yoga Samachar

Can exhalation help us overcome the klesas? The exhalations in the postural positions work marvelously because you have a quiver of exhalations, you don’t have just one exhalation. There are several confinements, modifications— volume, velocity, density, and aerodynamics—because you are going to relate your breath to your actions. So somewhere you are hardening, tightening, stretching, straightening, bending, extending, elongating.

Everywhere the breath is going to work differently. And therefore you will be using the breath as a versatile force. And therefore it will play a marvelous role, and the exhalation does so many important things. That is why I stress so much on the exhalation.

I often stress in class to exhale more in your postural activity, biomechanics. What happens is that it addresses the body and also takes you beyond body. Even now we are exhaling. Exhale with supplements further and further, and you will invariably touch your mind. Try that. Exhale more and more. You will go to your awareness. The exhalation is going to take you further beyond the body. You have the access beyond body. If you want to do something beyond body, exhalation is an important vehicle to address the body and go beyond. You will not bypass the body. You will address the body and go beyond.

When we start we are always physio-cratic, body-cratic, because we are always going to start with the outer existence of the body. We will always identify with the body conditions: I am stiff, dull; I am unenergetic, indisposed, and unwell. So these are the nagging conditions that we are going to identify with. By exhalation you can go beyond that. Go past that. By exhalation you can work on a deeper plane beyond body. If the asanas are to take us beyond body, then this exhalation is indispensable.

Inhalations are stressed for depressed people.

But to start with you must ask them to exhale.

Now supposing tomorrow morning when you start your practice you want to overcome the stiffness, you realize you are stiff, resistant. When you start making a sharper, deliberate exhalation, you will drive away the sloth, inertia, dullness, resistance, and you get prepared. You develop better energies and better empowerment and potency in the body.

The exhalation does wonderful work to release, which you require in the beginning to release the tension, but also to release the obstacles that are in the form of sloth, dullness, indisposition, unpreparedness, lack of motivation. You get the motivation if you breathe consciously in full arm balance, which you do for the first time as a starter pose.

So a sharper exhalation will work as a release phase, release the body and mind.

Then you want to exercise.

As in Asana, in Pranayama the exhalation can help you get the electrification, the potency, the empowerment, the release, the activity. There is, however, a qualitatively different way of exhaling in Pranayama, different kriyas of exhalation in Pranayama than in Asana. That is the way it is a versatile force. It can help you to go for a meditative state. That is what Patanjali has said in the first chapter, if you want to overcome the “stasy” of the mind—the normal state of the mind—and go beyond. Further. For higher practices, future practices, meditative practices, you have to have a graduation and transcendence in your mind. Exhale more he says—pracchardana vidharanabhyam va pranasya (I.34)—and hold thereafter. So exhalative retention can elate your mind and take it above stasy. Stasy is a normal plane. Therefore they call it ecstasy, above stasy. So for you to go above stacy, exhalations are important.

The mind is agitated, the exhalation works to mitigate it. The mind is normal, and you want to have transcendence so exhalation will get you elevated. It will get you elevated to go higher. It can pull you from a ditch. If the mind is low, it can lift you up. If you are on normal plane terrain, it can take you above. So the exhalation is a versatile force, it will be handy for any condition of yours. Unprepared to very well prepared. Only it will be qualitatively changing. That’s why it is a versatile force. It is a very rich river.

Inhalations are stressed for depressed people. But to start with you must ask them to exhale. Suppose you have a water container, and there is some residual water. However much pure water you put in, the water will get contaminated because the residual water will contaminate it. Therefore, exhalation is important to bring the residual level down so that when the fresh air comes in, there is less chance of it getting contaminated.

The exhalation can become a major component for you to release, activate, exercise, and treat. If you have a nagging problem, then you will feel like having a treatment, before proceeding further in asanas. Suppose you have sprain in the shoulder blades and you are doing twistings, so you want to overcome that sprain, overcome the painful condition, so it is overcoming a nagging condition, an acute condition, or chronic condition, which is a kind of treatment. It may be temporary or clinical or cosmetic. The exhalation process speeds up the healing.

So it will work as a remedial force also, for body aspects and mind aspects.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2009

Exhalation has a very profound effect on both body and mind. So it comes handy right from your unprepared conditions to your totally prepared conditions. It is a major assisting factor.

Exhalation is related to santosa. It works on the mind so it will saturate the mind, it will give at least a cosmetic treatment of the mind. The mind is balanced, quiet, sublime, etc., so it can give a cosmetic treatment of the mind. If you want the mind to be activated, it can give you an activated force; if you want the mind to be pacified, it can give you a pacifying force. It can play diametrically opposite roles. If the mind is dull Continued on page 8

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Finding Effortless Effort in Our Asanas John Schumacher In the three-sutra section on Asana in Sadhana Pada (II:46–48) of the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali says, “Prayatna shaitilya ananta samapatthibhyam” (II:47, “Perfection in an asana is achieved when the effort to perform it becomes effortless and the infinite being within is reached”). —B.K.S. Iyengar

asanas use some muscular action to enter and maintain them. Seated poses such as Swastikasana and Virasana take the least energy, but even they need muscular effort to keep the spine upright and balanced. So let’s grant that effortless effort does not mean “no effort.” In some sense, then, we are talking about a question of degree. How can we do a pose, even an advanced asana, with as little effort as possible?

The question I want to deal with in this essay is: how do we find effortlessness in the midst of a physically challenging pose such as Virabhadrasana III or Kapotasana, and what does that even mean?

You may doubt that such effortless effort is possible given the physical demands of many—if not most—of the asanas. Yet you have only to watch B.K.S. Iyengar stay in Dwipada Viparita Dandasana or Kapotasana for five, ten, fifteen minutes or more and observe—or more accurately, experience—the steady, effortless quality of the pose over that time to understand that effortlessness is not only possible, but that for at least one person, Guruji, effortlessness in demanding asanas is a reality.

The first step in developing effortlessness is learning. Do you remember when you were first learning to drive a car, how exhausting it was, all that concentration and working the pedals and steering and watching the road and worrying about running into something? Do you remember first learning to do Utthita Trikonasana, so much to think about, to struggle with, to do? Well, you did your practice and you learned. I’ve heard Guruji refer to this as “donkey work.”

And donkey work is inherently effortful.

John Schumacher

But before I dig into the subject, I want say that to a large extent, one particular event in my life led to the explorations that inform much of what I have to say in this article.

This was the discovery, about five years ago, that my blood pressure had reached levels (140/90) that caused my doctor some concern. Although these levels are not alarming, my doctor was of the opinion that I should take a mild blood pressure medication to bring the levels back to normal before they went higher or inflicted long-term strain on my cardiovascular system. I am loath to take any kind of prescription medication for a variety of reasons, although I certainly understand that there are times when it may be absolutely necessary, and this didn’t seem like one of those times—at least not yet.

Besides, being a yoga teacher dedicated to using my practice to deal with the challenges of life, I felt an obligation to use my practice to work with my condition.

After a while, donkey work becomes “mule work.” Mules are smarter than donkeys. They respond to verbal commands and get a lot more done. The pupil doing mule work catches instructions and responds in her body more quickly with less extraneous movement and energy involved. She uses less effort and achieves more effect.

I began by trying the various Asana and Pranayama sequences that are advised for high blood pressure. I monitored my blood pressure using a standard blood pressure cuff to the point of obsession. I checked before and after each pranayama, at various stages before and after asanas, and at different times throughout the day. I became a little nutty with this, but it was also very interesting. The recommended sequences didn’t work for me; in fact, they seemed to exacerbate the condition. What I did find that worked (my blood pressure is now around 120/80) was to become very finely attuned to the sensations in my sense organs and various structures of my head and neck (temples, throat, etc.) in my Asana practice, and especially in Pranayama. I had to develop a much more effortless quality to my practice before it began to lower my blood pressure.

Although this essay is not about the details of my blood pressure adventure, it is the exploration of this effortless quality of practicing that has helped me understand what little I do about Patanjali’s and Guruji’s comments concerning effortless effort and the perfection of Asana. It provides the springboard for the comments that follow.

Through persistence and devotion, the pupil’s practice gradually develops into “horse work.” At this point, she has acquired increased sensitivity, more intelligence, and greater refinement.

Watch a horse move and compare those movements with those of a mule or donkey. Of course, the horse moves much faster, but more to the point, its movements seem easier, more graceful and fluid, more effortless.

Except for completely supported asanas such as Savasana, Supta Baddha Konasana, Viparita Karani, and the like, all poses require some physical effort. Even the simplest

As you know, one of the dividends of persistent practice is that the longer and 5

Spring / Summer 2009 Yoga Samachar

more often you do it, the more skilled you become. And when you act skillfully, much less effort is required to do the same task that initially was exhausting.

Now that you’ve learned to drive your car (more or less), you can drive, eat a Snickers, tune your radio, read a road sign, and talk to your companion, all at the same time, usually without smashing yourself to bits. A certain amount of effortlessness comes as a result of learning.

effortlessness will be very elusive.

You will busy “doing.” Doing takes effort. Someone once asked the famous yogi Swami Satchidananda if, being a yogi, he was also a Hindu. He waggled his head a little, twinkled his eyes, and said, “I am an Undo.” Just so. For your efforts to become less effortful, you must become skillful and intentional in your doing, otherwise, the grossness of your doing will disturb your mind. To go from doing to undoing, you must, then, become quiet, receptive, and reflective in mind and body.

Another important element in finding effortless effort is your intention (sankalpa). Why are you practicing the asanas? If it is primarily to become stronger, to become more flexible, and to build stamina—in other words, if your goal is primarily physical—then the effort in your practice will be quite different than if your intention in doing the asanas is to bring your body and mind to a state of quiet equilibrium. You can become quite the whiz-bang performer of really hard poses and still be very effortful in the doing. Your poses will look spectacular to the untrained eye, but they will be far from perfection as Patanjali defines it. If you don’t care about being effortless, if that’s not what you’re looking for, then it’s unlikely that effortlessness will come any time soon.

In discussing the reflective mind, Prashant Iyengar has likened the mind to a pond or lake. He says, “The soil has to become steady and only then you get reflections. So, for reflection, your mind should be quiet, like a lake, then you get the reflection…. If you are constantly creating waves and ripples in your mind, there can’t be any possibility of reflection.”

The adjustments necessary to create a reflective mind and to reduce effort take place on a number of different levels. One level is familiar to all of us who practice Iyengar Yoga: the level that involves alignment. Alignment is important for a lot of reasons—safety, biomechanical efficiency, aesthetics—but it is also critical in facilitating the free flow of energy in the body. Misalignment creates resistance, and resistance impedes the flow of energy. Increased effort then becomes necessary to overcome the resistance engendered by misalignment. Furthermore, when the body is aligned properly, the cells of the body function in harmony. This harmonious functioning creates ease in the body and serenity in the mind. Both body and mind then can come more readily to a reflective state.

Given what has just been said, one thing to keep in mind is that not every practice need or should be geared toward effortlessness. Sometimes you’re trying to learn something new: a new pose or a new action in a pose. In that case, you will be using effort to learn what you’re trying to learn. You will make mistakes and you will need to repeat things over and over. Even though you may be a mature practitioner, in that practice you are back to donkey work. Perfection is not at issue.

The single, most crucial element in your quest for effortless effort is to develop a quiet, receptive mind. This can come only when you have done your donkey, mule, and horse work and have decided that effortlessness is what you’re looking for in your practice.

The single, most crucial element in your quest for effortless effort is to develop a quiet, receptive mind. This can come only when you have done your donkey, mule, and horse work and have decided that effortlessness is what you’re looking for in your practice. As long as you’re learning the mechanics of an asana and trying to build the requisite physical skills, the reflective mind necessary for Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2009

For the beginner, alignment involves effort, donkey work. He is learning what actions to take to bring about proper alignment in the pose. He isn’t worried about effortlessness, he’s just trying to get the alignment right. The minute he stops thinking about lifting his kneecaps, down they go. He is not reflecting, he has to keep thinking, he has to keep doing.

For the mature practitioner, the doing is done. His kneecaps stay up. And because he is capable of a reflective state of mind, the minute his kneecaps drop, it is like a pebble pitched into the still lake of his mind. He doesn’t think, “Oh, my kneecaps have 6

dropped. I have to lift my kneecaps.” Instead, the cells of his body perceive the change and he adjusts intuitively. At this stage, alignment and adjustments don’t go through the brain, which would disturb the reflective state and create effort. Rather, the misalignment is the doing, and the reflective, intuitive adjustment is the undoing.

body causes them to shift subtly to realign and release the unintended and unnecessary effort that disturbed them.

In a way, I have been talking about how to “do” the process of undoing, which would seem to be a bit oxymoronic. (I’ve been accused of worse.) But the phrase effortless effort is itself paradoxical. How do you do effort effortlessly? It may be helpful to deal with the conceptual conundrum of effortless effort by taking a look at the relationship of abhyasa and vairagya.

This whole process happens with the breath as well. One way to bring the mind to a more quiet state is by being aware of your breath. It is also a way to monitor and adjust the effort you are using in your practice. Beginners often don’t know when they’re holding their breath. They have to learn to observe the breath as part of the doing of the asana. Assuming no respiratory problems, the breath should be as soft, steady, and easy as possible—in other words, effortless. Certainly different poses put different demands on your breathing. Your breath in Marichysasana III will be inherently more labored and difficult than in Bharadvajasana II. But within the context of any given asana, your breathing will change depending on how much effort you are putting forth. As you adjust your pose, be conscious of the effect of your adjustments on the quality of your breathing. Pay particular attention to your diaphragm and create as much softness and space there as possible. If and when you find your breathing labored or you need to breathe through your mouth, you know you’re far away from effortlessness. As your adjustments bring your breathing into a soft, easy rhythm, you will find that your body lets go of some of its effort and your mind moves to a more reflective state; it becomes quieter and clearer.

Abhyasa often is translated as “effort.” It is about doing. And vairagya often is translated as “detachment” or “dispassion.”

It is about undoing. Just as Pranayama follows Asana, so does vairagya follow abhyasa. But just as Pranayama can inform and refine Asana, so varaigya can, and indeed must, color abhyasa so that each has the flavor of the other. Yes, you may be working toward touching your head to your feet in Kapotasana (abhyasa), but you must be willing let go of the idea of the final pose when your sacrum signals you that it is not yet ready to move in so deeply (vairagya).

Just as Pranayama follows Asana, so does vairagya follow abhyasa.

This process is even more relevant to the practice of Pranayama. By focusing directly and primarily on breathing, you can bring your quest for a reflective state of mind to a more subtle level. One of the reasons we as Iyengar Yoga practitioners begin by doing Pranayama in Savasana is to allow ourselves the possibility of a relaxed body and a quiet, receptive mind, which are essentials for Pranayama.

As Guruji says, abhyasa and vairagya are the two wings of the eagle of sadhana that carries us over the hills and valleys of the fluctuations of the mind to the abode of yoga where we can be, moment to moment, our true self, undivided and complete. At that point, prayatna shaitilya ananta samapatthibhyam has brought us to dvandvah anabhighatah (II:48), where we have transcended duality, where abhyasa and vairagya, inner and outer, effort and effortless, doing and doer all fall away. Then it is no longer a question of more effort or less effort or even effortless effort. Then, as when Guruji remains in a deep backbend for what seems like eternity, for that moment, we are the asana, we are the infinite present.

Without effort, we simply are.

Once you’ve aligned and relaxed the muscles of the body, and the mind has attained a receptive state, attention must be paid to the sense organs. The eyes, ears, tongue, skin, even the state of the mucus membranes in the nose and sinuses have to be brought to a highly sensitive state. I have found this to be easier to do in Pranayama than in Asana.

The relative stillness of the body in Pranayama lends itself to our being able to observe the sense organs in a very subtle way. When you’ve sensitized yourself in Pranayama, then that sensitivity can be brought to your Asana practice.

As in relaxing the muscles, the relaxation of the sense organs is, at first, a matter of doing. You intentionally direct your attention to each of the sense organs, release grips and tension, and allow them to become quiet. The receptive mind perceives tension (effort) and sends a message to let it go. We teachers do this with our pupils whenever we teach them Savasana. Once you are skilled at attaining complete passivity in the sense organs, however, the mind slips from receptivity into reflectivity. The slightest change (which in a passive state inherently implies effort) in your eyeball pressure disturbs the reflective calmness of the mind and elicits an immediate response in your eye to relax that does not pass through the mind.

From the experience of effortless effort in the practice of reclining Pranayama, you can move on to developing a reflective state of mind in seated Pranayama (much more challenging). And even though Pranayama follows Asana on the eightfold path, the quality of effortlessness developed in practicing seated Pranayama then can be brought to bear on your Asana practice. And so, as you reach the fourteenth minute of your Dwipada Viparita Dandasana, your reflective mind remains exquisitely sensitized to the tiniest ripples your body creates and observes as the reflective nature of the cells of your

John Schumacher is the founder and director of Unity Woods Yoga Center, the largest Iyengar Yoga center in the United States. He has taught in the Washington DC metropolitan area since 1973. John has received Advanced Junior I certification from B.K.S. Iyengar.

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Spring / Summer 2009 Yoga Samachar

Exhalation from page 4

Savasana

and tamasic, exhalation will work as a mitigator. If the mind is rajasic, it will work as a mitigator. That’s why it is a versatile force. It will make you sattvic; if you are already sattvic, then it will increase the sattvic nature. The mind is serene, it will remain much more serene.

So for all the idealistic principles of yoga, psychologically, mentally, the exhalation can all provide a vital substitution.

Ramanand Patel and Constance Braden At her request, Ramanand Patel sent Constance Braden some notes on Savasana. She edited them, with corrections from Ramanand, after practicing the pose as the notes instructed. In writing the following article, she used these notes and reports on her own and her students’ experiences.

Take great care to lie down symmetrically, palms facing up, a blanket supporting the head and neck. Place the head on the center point of the back of the skull, without lifting the chin, so that the eyes when closed will look down toward the lungs. At first, however, keep the eyes gently open. Recognize that looking only takes place, requiring no effort or activity. Only three Ramannand Patel factors are necessary for looking to take place: adequate light, an unimpaired instrument of looking, and presence of the mind. The inner ears are soft and deep, so that hearing is passive and receptive. The mind, watching the passive seeing and hearing, is falling into a more relaxed, receptive state.

The exhalation works on the consciousness as well as the mind.

Initially, we work on peripheral mind, then the inner mind. I have explained the mind like an onion, or a flower with so many layers of petals. Initially, you work on the outer petals. Then you will work on the second layer, third layer, fourth layer, which will take you to the inner layer of mind, which is infinite.

Now say you have a multivitamin tablet.

Similarly, this will work for every aspect that you require in your body aspect and matter, mind aspect and factor. It will be a substitute. Like if you have calcium deficiency, you take a calcium substitute, a supplemental protein, supplemental vitamins, so it is an autogenic supplementation. The exhalation will give you an autogenic supplementation. I say, most often do exhalations, more often do retention, and often inhalations. I have used superlative degree, comparative degree, and positive degree. So superlative degree: use exhalation most often, exhale more and more in a pose.

More often try to have postexhalative retentions and often have postexhaling inhalations. So if the inhalation is to be done, it should be done postexhalatively.

Or postretentively so that by postexhalative, you will have exhaled deliberately and mindfully, you will have devised and customized, and therefore the inhalation can have more comparative effects.

Gently lower the upper eyelids to close the eyes.

Each time you practice Savasana in this way, you can see what arises, and using the ever-increasing passivity of the breath, bring that feeling to completeness.

The breath is free and natural; the mind remains aware of the breath so that you remain awake and present. The bones of the toes are now softening within themselves as though melting under warm sun. The flesh and skin of the toes deeply relax within themselves; the nerves and blood vessels receive a sense of freedom from all pressure and tension. The bones, the flesh, and the skin everywhere in the body, piece by piece, now follow the toes into a state of relaxed passivity so that there is no pressure on any of the nerves. (This can be guided further slowly referring to different parts of the body.)

The mind is receptively aware of the contact of the brain with the skull. On inhalation, the brain releases away from the inner surface of the skull. On exhalation, the brain releases away from its center towards the skull. The mind is a witness to this rhythm as it is established more and more completely in the “diaphragm” of the brain.

The breath in the chest is for conscious breathing and is related to the thinking faculty.

The belly or abdominal breath is for relaxed breathing related to the feeling faculty. One bridge between the conscious breath and the feeling breath is the faculty of imagination.

Can exhalation help with abhinivesa (fear of death)? Yes. It takes you deeper into the mind, so that you will be able to face such conditions also.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2009

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Iyengar Yoga Events 2009 / 2010 Each “per workshop date” listing, for Certified Teachers and IYNAUS member sponsors only, costs $25.00 and includes listing on the IYNAUS website. (For example; Teacher Trainings that meet more than one time must pay $25.00 per date listed.) Please submit your listings with payment (check made to IYNAUS) to Newsletter c/o Sharon Cowdery, 1300 Clay Street, Suite 600, Oakland, CA 94612.

The mind now recognizes any particular feeling of relaxation arising within you. As the abdominal breath becomes more passive, watch the relationship between this feeling and the abdominal breath now becoming more fully established. Imagine what this feeling would be like if it were much more completely established. The passivity of the belly breath grows along with this enhanced feeling of relaxation. (This, too, can be guided further slowly referring to different parts of the body.) After ten minutes or more, continue as follows.

Deadline for Fall/ Winter 2009 issue is September 1, 2009.

To come out of the pose, let the mind become aware of the breath and, as though the breath is opening the eyes, let them slowly open. Witness that looking only takes place; one does not “do” looking. Bend the knees and place the soles of the feet on the floor.

Rest, continuing to allow the feeling you have been experiencing in its depth and fullness. Roll to the right side, rest for a few breaths, and then sit, letting the head come up only after you are fully seated. Sit for a while in this quiet state.

Asana and Therapeutics August 14-16 The B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga Studio of Dallas Dallas, Texas Contact: 214.365.9642 Website: www.dallasiyengaryoga.com John Schumacher November 11-13 The B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga Studio of Dallas Dallas, Texas Contact: 214.365.9642 Website: www.dallasiyengaryoga.com

To come out of the pose, let the mind become aware of the breath and, as though the breath is opening the eyes, let them slowly open.

Witness that looking only takes place; one does not “do” looking.

Laurie Blakeney Asana and Teacher Preparation September 25-27 The B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga Studio of Dallas Dallas, Texas Contact: 214.365.9642 Website: www.dallasiyengaryoga.com

Arising from the passive abdominal breathing in Savasana, practitioners have experienced peacefulness, contentment, surrender, deep softness, freshness, lightness, tenderness, love, gratitude, joy. Others have felt absorbed into the earth, or moved to tears by the deep beauty of the breath, or glad to be alive. As the feeling grows into its fullness, note its clarity. Each time you practice Savasana in this way, you can see what arises, and using the ever-increasing passivity of the breath, bring that feeling to completeness. Using the intellect to choose a feeling to work with may also be successful, but the discovery of what is already there within body and breath is profound. The key is to understand deeply who is the “I” who is holding the undesired tension in the body and the mind. In Savasana is an opportunity to dis-identify with the vrttis and to discover what is more essentially natural to us, our inherent peace and joy.

Chris Saudek at Pura Vida Spa San Jose, Costa Rica January 16-23, 2010 The B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga Studio of Dallas Dallas, Texas Contact: 214.365.9642 Website: www.dallasiyengaryoga.com Eddy Marks and Mary Obendorfer Iyengar Immersion at Pura Vida Spa March 20-27, 2010 The B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga Studio of Dallas Dallas, Texas Contact: 214.365.9642 Website: www.dallasiyengaryoga.com

Ramanand has been a student of Shri B.K.S. Iyengar since 1968. He lives in Dublin, California. For more information, visit http://www.yogirama.com.

H.S. Arun Contemporary Applications of Ancient Yoga July 3-5 Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Contact: Alexis Monson at 415.753.0909 Email: alexis@iyisf.org Website: www.iyisf.org

Constance Braden, certified at Junior Intermediate II, runs the Houston Iyengar Yoga Studio. She is the content editor of this magazine.

Continued on page 11

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Spring / Summer 2009 Yoga Samachar

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Vairagya—Becoming at Ease with What Is Sharon Conroy Many years ago, inspired by Iyengar Yoga classes and a teacher’s encouraging words, I set about establishing a home practice. Each night, I set the intention to wake up and go to my mat. Each morning, I was lured to do otherwise by the voices inside my head. One day, they might advise me to make phone calls before practice.

Another day, they might tell me to give priority to a household task. Because I trusted them, I followed their advice. However, within a few weeks, I saw that the voices always found a way to sidetrack me from my practice. And the later I delayed it, the less likely the practice was to happen.

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I began to suspect that the voices weren’t as trustworthy as I’d always thought they were. Perhaps what they wanted and what I now wanted were quite different. At that point, I came up with a strategy to evade them. I’d wake up and immediately get on my mat and into a pose before I became fully conscious, before the voices could begin bombarding me with alternative suggestions for how to spend my time. The plan worked. While it took will power to get out of bed and onto the mat, I was getting there most days. And, while it took will power to detach from the thoughts that began to enter my mind as soon as I was totally awake, I was able to do so more often than not.

With persistence, slowly but surely, over a period of about six months, it became easier and easier to turn my attention away from the voices. Instead of heeding their advice, I was able to continue with my practice.

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I.15 drsta anusravika visaya vitrsnasya vasikarasamjna vairagyam Renunciation is the practice of detachment from desires.*

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Now, I can see that turning away from the voices inside my head over those first six months was an act, however small, of vairagya. If my teacher had told me to go home and detach from my desires, I would not have known how to begin. On the other hand, the concept of needing to practice the poses I was being taught in class was very clear and understandable.

By establishing a home practice of Asana, without even knowing it, I had also begun to practice detachment. Abhyasa and vairagya are inextricably interrelated. Using the body as a laboratory, I was beginning the journey inward toward my soul.

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While Guruji says that abhyasa is the path of evolution and vairagya the path of involution, he also says, in Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, that the two are "interdependent and equally important." (p. 64) As we practice Asana in the Iyengar tradition, methodically instructing ourselves to approximate a more ideal alignment, we are using our mind to penetrate inward from the inception of our practice. At the same time that Guruji distinguishes their differences in his commentary to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, over and over again, he also proclaims the interdependence of practice and detachment.

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“Abhyasa (practice) is the art of learning that which has to be learned through the cultivation of disciplined action…. Vairagya (detachment and renunciation) is the art of avoiding that which should be avoided. Both require a positive and virtuous approach.” (p. 6) “Abhyasa builds confidence and refinement in the process of culturing the consciousness whereas vairagya is the elimination of whatever hinders progress and refinement." (p. 16)

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2009

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Iyengar Yoga Events Continued

“A bird cannot fly with one wing. In the same way, we need the two wings of practice and renunciation to soar up to the zenith of Soul realization.” (p. 16)

Lois Steinberg Iyengar Yoga Practitioner’s Training July 13-17 Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Contact: Alexis Monson at 415.753.0909 Email: alexis@iyisf.org Website: www.iyisf.org

Abhyasa and vairagya form a unique double action. They are seemingly opposite processes which we must cultivate simultaneously. When we are able to do this, transformation happens.

Once I could get to the mat each morning, my practice deepened. However, the voices didn’t disappear. In fact, they grew stronger when I was unsure of myself, more vulnerable. This was especially true when I worked on a pose that was new or difficult.

For about a year, Adho Mukha Vrksasana, full arm balance, was such a pose. There were times I could get up easily and other times I couldn’t get up at all. When that happened, the voices escalated their arguments. They told me in many different ways that if I couldn’t get up in this pose, then perhaps I shouldn’t be doing yoga. Determined to learn full arm balance, I decided upon a strategy. Every day, I would practice the pose three times. If I got up, fine. If I didn’t get up, fine. The voices saw things differently. Every time I didn’t get up, they ridiculed me, told me that I’d never get the pose. After several weeks of this daily assault, I dismissed them bluntly and threatened harsher consequences if they didn’t heed my words. To my own amazement, this worked.

Jean Revere, Nora Burnett, Kathy Alef & Elise Miller Yoga for the Back July 24-26 Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Contact: Alexis Monson at 415.753.0909 Email: alexis@iyisf.org Website: www.iyisf.org Elise Miller Yoga for Scoliosis Teacher Training August 10-14 Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Contact: Alexis Monson at 415.753.0909 Email: alexis@iyisf.org Website: www.iyisf.org

My determination to learn full arm balance ultimately gave me my first experience of being able to practice abhyasa and vairagya simultaneously. On the mat, I was in the present moment and at ease with not being able to get up in the pose. At the same time, I was totally committed to evolving, to moving forward, to being able to get up in the pose consistently. I was holding the double action of abhyasa and vairagya, and my consciousness began to transform as the result of this work.

I’m very clear now that my goals and the goals of those voices were very different. The voices wanted to maintain the status quo, a place where they held a position of power and prestige.

I wanted to move further along the path of yoga, towards something new and unknown.

In retrospect, I think that my challenges with full arm balance marked a real turning point. Before, I’d always identified with the voices. After, I knew, without any doubt, that they were not me.

Kofi Busia The Adeptness of the Nervous System August 16 Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Contact: Alexis Monson at 415.753.0909 Email: alexis@iyisf.org Website: www.iyisf.org

Later, as I became more familiar with the yoga sutras, I came to believe that the voices were my small self, ahamkara, the ego, fighting for its life. While the journey was just beginning, the spell was broken. I was no longer falsely identified with the ego. I was the Self. That realization, however, did not stop the ego from trying to exert its influence in many different ways.

Gloria Goldberg Developing Reflective Understanding at the Intermediate Level August 21-23 Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Contact: Alexis Monson at 415.753.0909 Email: alexis@iyisf.org Website: www.iyisf.org

The more I practiced, the more I saw that the physical body enjoyed the status quo, too. If I took my arms up into Urdhva Hastasana from Tadasana, the body took the path of least resistance. My thighs pushed forward and my shoulders moved back. The body evaded change. It reflected the ego’s inability to see things as they are. In order to bring truth to the body, I had to use my mind in new ways. In order to maintain Tadasana as I took my arms up into Urdhva Hastasana, I had to intensify the lift of the thighs and press them back firmly, while simultaneously taking my buttocks down and my arms up. If I worked in this way, not only did my body change, but my mind penetrated inward in new ways.

Joe Naudzunas Basic Teaching Techniques August 24-28 Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Contact: Alexis Monson at 415.753.0909 Email: alexis@iyisf.org Website: www.iyisf.org

At one point during the 90th birthday celebrations in south India, Guruji said, “Unless your defects are pointed out, you will not change.” My teachers help me know where to look when they correct me. I can only change what I can see. If I practice mechanically, I don’t see. If I am present when I practice and open to doing things differently, then I begin to see with increasing clarity. In doing so, the ego’s dominion is gradually reduced.

Continued on page 14

While there are always things I need to “do” in a pose, in recent years, I’ve begun to see that there are also many things I need to “undo,” to relinquish. If I grip my buttocks, there’s absolutely no way I can broaden the backs of the thighs. If my eyes and tongue are hard, I 11

Spring / Summer 2009 Yoga Samachar

can’t penetrate inward effectively. I’m doing a better job now of balancing abhyasa and vairagya and, because I’m integrating appropriate actions more effectively, my practice has become less effortful over the past 22 years. I seem to be moving along the path in the right direction.

surprised to discover that a trip to India can be even more challenging. We have been raised in a culture that tells us relentlessly that happiness lies in satisfying our external needs. Even when we are very clear that this is not true and are devoted to our practice, we have a lot working against us when we visit India for the first time. Ill at ease in foreign territory, the ego’s likes and dislikes can begin to manifest quickly and become full blown in no time. We want things done our way, and we may not be able to get that no matter how we try to communicate our needs.

I’ve also come to see that the ego moves towards things that are familiar and tends to resist things that are unfamiliar or foreign. It behaves in a similar way on the mat and off the mat. It doesn’t seem to be at all interested in transformation. Its primary concern lies in satisfying its own desires and in maintaining its own power, both of which are done best on home turf. The Self, on the other hand, resides in the present moment and moves fearlessly into unknown territory. It sees the truth and is at ease with whatever is happening. Given these differences, one way to measure our own progress is to notice how we deal with unfamiliar and foreign situations in our daily life.

When we remind ourselves that India’s culture, unlike our own, teaches that happiness lies within, all at once, we immediately see our complaints in a new light. How promptly the chai arrives and whether the new phone card works are perceived differently. We realize that this trip to Pune is about much more than taking classes with the Iyengar family and practicing at the Institute. We are novices in the practice of vairagya, visiting a culture where almost everyone may seem more adept than we are. Fortunately, with repeated visits to Pune, many of us find our ability to detach from our own likes and dislikes increasing with each visit. Yoga works. Slowly but surely, we are making progress along the path of vairagya.

Recently, I’ve come to understand that age is also helping me to become a better practitioner of vairagya. According to vedic wisdom, our life is divided into four stages, asramas. Guruji describes the stages as follows: “They are that of the student (brahmacaryasrama), the ordinary householder (grhasthasrama), the householder who begins to learn non-attachment (vanaprasthasrama), and finally that of the man detached from world thoughts and attached to God (sannyasasrama). The hundredyear span of man’s life is divided into four parts, each of 25 years so that one may adjust one’s life to evolve through these fourfold stages toward the experience of True Being.” (p. 285)

From what I’ve observed, most of us need some time to become at ease in new situations no matter how dedicated our practice. For 12 years, I’ve organized weeklong yoga retreats at a Benedictine monastery. They are taught by senior teachers and attended by intermediate and advanced practitioners. Over the years, I’ve noticed that participants’ personal likes and dislikes arise much more frequently during the first few days. Almost everyone experiences a certain amount of discomfort about the rooms or the food or some other matter. Then, by the third or fourth day, familiar with the setting, the participants become at ease with what is.

At 63 years old, I am in the middle of the third stage of life. There is no question that since my early 50s, I have increasingly sought out situations that allow me to move inward. I welcome opportunities to practice silence. My pranayama practice has become much more important, and I keep lengthening the amount of time I sit at the end. I enjoy the practice of writing in large part because I learn so much from exploring myself to explore the Iyengar tradition and our practice of Patanjali’s yoga.

I’ve also noticed that friends my age are moving in similar directions whether or not they practice yoga. What I’m coming to understand is that these asramas are not stages of life that are peculiar to Indian culture. Rather, they are stages of human development. No matter what particular culture we inhabit, we each live through each one of these stages. The difference seems to be that some cultures support particular stages better than others.

In the United States, people tend to “retire” during the third stage, vanaprasthasrama.

Although there’s little support for learning non-attachment in our culture, from what I have observed in my own family, there is an innate desire to do so. I distinctly remember my grandmother wanting badly to sell her large home and move into an apartment when she was in her 60s. Unfortunately, my grandfather felt differently, and she had to wait until he died to do so. I also recall my mother telling me when she was in her early seventies that as you get older, you want fewer and fewer things “to take care of.” She was clearly saying that possessions had become much less important to her over the years. As we enter the third asrama, it might be fruitful to ask ourselves what we can put aside or relinquish. Which activities or possessions have begun to hinder our progress?

For me, vairagya has become just that—the process by which one becomes at ease with what is happening within the present moment. While cultivating such contentment takes time, it’s fruitful to ask ourselves occasionally if we’re making progress along the path. Can we let go of our personal or culturally induced desires and be at ease with what is happening in the present moment?

In terms of the fourth stage of development, sannyasasrama, rather than becoming detached from worldly thoughts and attached to God, the elderly who live alone in our own culture often suffer from depression. When they become unable to care for themselves, they move into assisted living facilities where they are offered many kinds of group activities to keep them busy and socially involved. Then, there is little opportunity to be alone and move inward in a productive way. And, while one does hear from time to time of a husband who

When a monastery retreat in our own country tests our ability to be at ease in the present moment, then we should not be Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2009

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moves into a monastery when his wife dies, this is a relatively rare event in our culture.

When it comes to passing out of this lifetime, we are notoriously ill at ease with this natural process. Having spent time with my grandmother and stepfather in the months immediately before they passed on, I know for certain that there is a gradual lessening of ties to the external world as one nears death. And, as hospice workers have told us for many years, the dying person’s gradual detachment from the world around them is usually harder on the family than on the one who is dying.

Contrast our own culture’s discomfort with death to an Indian tradition that clearly acknowledges and supports the challenges of the fourth asrama. When I was in Pune last December, I gave my condolences to a shopkeeper friend whose father had recently passed on. As the man began to talk about his father’s last days, he described a Jain tradition by which his father divested himself of all his possessions once he knew his time had come.

The father called his son to his side and formally handed over to him all the property he owned—the shop, the home, and everything contained in both. Then, the father spent the greater part of his final days alone, preparing himself to leave this lifetime. His culture gave him a way to formally relinquish everything for which he had been responsible. In doing so, he could be absolutely present to his own passing. Similarly, in some Native American tribes, an elder will go into the desert to die alone when he knows his time has come. Or, a Buddhist master may sit in meditation knowing that he is ready to leave his body. All three ways of passing on support and respect the needs and challenges of this fourth asrama.

generously of what we understand to others. May our practice deepen so that we can inspire our students as he has inspired each of us.

Copyright April, 2009 * Quotations are from the 1996 edition of Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanajali

by B.K.S. Iyengar.

Sharon Conroy is an Intermediate Junior III teacher who has been practicing since 1986. She started the Iyengar community in New Orleans and taught there until Katrina. She now has a center in Grayton Beach, Florida. Her email is Sharon@ GreatWhiteHeron.Net.

Many years ago, when I obtained a graduate degree in child development, I learned that it is very important for young children to become attached to their primary caregivers. If circumstances prevent this from happening, children’s development does not proceed in a healthy manner, either physically or psychologically, impacting the rest of their lives in major ways.

What I’m coming to see now is the inherent beauty in the overall course of human development. There’s a natural tendency to engage, to attach, to become part of the community into which we are born. And, there’s a natural tendency to disengage, to detach, to take leave of the community as we approach our final days. There’s a perfect symmetry to our life.

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Over the course of the first two asramas, our attachments grow, and we accumulate possessions. Over the course of the next two asramas, we gradually disengage from everything to which we have become attached and divest ourselves of possessions.

Please login to your account at www.iynaus.org and verify that we have your correct email address.

If your address is listed correctly but you don’t receive our emails, please add the email address IYNAUS@mail.vresp.com to your address book so that the emails will not be blocked as spam.

I feel fortunate to have had elders in my family who have been in touch, and at ease, with the natural progression of human development. And, I feel especially fortunate to have a mother who, at 86, seems to be moving through the final asrama with grace and awareness.

She is a worthy role model.

While our own culture gives us little guidance on how to move through the second two asramas, the path of Patanjali’s yoga does. It gives us rich instruction on the nature of vairagya.

Understanding of those teachings deepens as we ripen in years in our practice.

And, as practitioners in the Iyengar tradition, each of us is amazingly fortunate to have B.K.S. Iyengar as our role model. Here is a man who loves life and is fully engaged in his practice of Patanjali’s yoga as he moves into his tenth decade. Guruji has shown us where this path can take someone who practices with devotion and intensity for 75 years. Equally impressive to me is the fact that he has lived his life in such a beautifully transparent way, generously welcoming us to his practices and openly sharing himself with students.

May we use Guruji’s life as an inspiration for our own. May we honor our teacher by giving 13

Spring / Summer 2009 Yoga Samachar

Iyengar Yoga Events Continued

Mr. Iyengar called this puzzle, taken from Nancy Robert’s Yoga Word Puzzles, “a fascinating idea … bound to create a lot of interest not only in the minds of the students of yoga, but also the lovers of yoga.” She was thrilled to have his endorsement, and we are thrilled to share one with you. To find out more about the three puzzle books and to purchase your own, visit yogawordpuzzles.com. Ten percent of all profits go to the Bellur Trust. To check your answers, go to www.iynaus.org. Enjoy!

Stephanie Quirk Special yoga class series May 15-17 Lemont, PA Contact: Dean Lerner at 814.237.3042 Email: fdlerner@comcast.net Website: www.centerforwellbeing.net

Physical Body Parts

Lois Steinberg Weekend Yoga Intensive September 25-27 Studio Yoga Madison NJ Contact: Theresa or Loretta at (973) 966-5311 Email: staff@studioyoga.info

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Kofi Busia/Festival: “The Sacred Thread of Yoga” October 11-15, 2010 San Francisco, California Contact: Kim Blisard Willey at 978.290.1558 Email: kim@sacredthread.net Website: www.sacredthread.net

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Kofi Busia “The Sacred Thread of Yoga” October 15-17, 2010 San Francisco, California Contact: Kim Blisard Willey at 978.290.1558 Email: kim@sacredthread.net Website: www.sacredthread.net

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Assessment Preparation Workshops with Chris Saudek: Teacher in Training and Introductory levels June 26-28 The Yoga Place La Crosse, Wisconsin Email: chris@yogalacrosse.com

Copyright © 2009 Nancy L. Roberts. Made using Crossword Weaver™

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Assessment Preparation Workshops with Chris Saudek: Jr. Intermediate levels June 29-July 1 The Yoga Place La Crosse, Wisconsin Email: chris@yogalacrosse.com Patricia Walden – Gather at the River February 12-19, 2010 Intermediate Retreat for Men & Women St. Joseph’s Abbey St. Benedict, LA Email: sharon@greatwhiteheron.net Patricia Walden – Gather at the River April 9-14, 2010 Advanced Retreat for Men & Women St. Joseph’s Abbey St. Benedict, LA Email: sharon@greatwhiteheron.net Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2009

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Forehead Knee Heart Front of body Flank Cheek Big toe The Right side Skull Navel

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The whole body The Left side Arm or shoulder Hair Finger Face, Mouth Spleen (different than 16d) Spinal Column Abdomen Chin Hand Ear Spleen Head Foot

Answers: www.iynaus.org

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Lighting the Way

Lynton Gardiner

Mary Dunn, beloved teacher of yoga students and yoga teachers for 30 years, has been chosen to receive the IYNAUS Lighting the Way award for distinguished volunteer service to the Iyengar Yoga community.

Diagnosed with advanced peritoneal cancer in the summer of 2007, Mary maintained a blog in which she discussed her treatment and shared her thoughts.

The many messages of support and caring posted there buoyed her, she said.

She taught at the Institute until her final months.

Longtime Senior Teacher at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of New York, Mary was also a founding director of IYNAUS and a founding member of the three Iyengar Yoga institutes in the United States—in San Francisco, San Diego and New York, where she remains a shining inspiration for the activities of the Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York. Her tireless efforts led to the opening of the new Institute, commemorated during Mr. Iyengar’s visit for his Light on Life tour.

Mary, 66, died peacefully in her sleep September 4, 2008, at the home of her daughter Elizabeth Dunn Ingles, in Scarsdale, New York. She is also survived by her daughter Louise A. Dunn of Wynnewood, Pennsylvania; her mother, of Ann Arbor; her brother, Adrian Palmer, of Salt Lake City; her former husband, Roger Dunn, of Scottsdale, Arizona; and four grandchildren. Mary’s family held a memorial service at the New York Institute in September 2008.

The life of Mary Dunn was celebrated in a Valentine’s Day weekend event at the Institute, which included classes donated by visiting teachers Laurie Blakeney, Chris Saudek, George Purvis, Mary Reilly, and Patricia Walden; reminiscence sessions, slides, videos, and music; laughter, tears, and plenty of the sweets Mary loved. Teachers, students, and friends talked about Mary’s enthusiasm, her humor, her brilliance as a teacher, her light-up-the-room smile. Funds raised went to the Mary Dunn Fund, a committed pool of resources to continue Mary’s lifelong work for the spread of Iyengar Yoga and excellence in its teaching. Tax-deductible contributions may be sent to IYAGNY, 150 West 22nd Street, 11th floor, New York, NY 10011; please indicate “Mary Dunn Fund” on checks.

Please go to http://www.iynaus.org/files/ yoga_samachar/2008/mary_dunn_ tribute.pdf for a special tribute, “Mary Dunn: A Life in Yoga,” including tributes from Guruji, Geetaji, and Senior Teachers. It is posted as a .pdf to download and read.

Mary Dunn, beloved teacher of yoga students and yoga teachers for 30 years, cited for Lighting the Way for all of us.

The Lighting the Way award, given by IYNAUS to commemorate contributions from a member of our community which have greatly furthered our mission of disseminating the teachings of B.K.S. Iyengar, has been awarded once before, to Senior Teacher Joan White.

Certified as Junior Advanced, Mary said that Iyengar Yoga was the place where her life interests and life work came together. In her teaching she drew on her education at the University of Wisconsin in English, history, and philosophy, and on her interests in communication, the arts, and music. With a unique teaching style—enthusiastic and motivating, grounded in a thorough knowledge of the method, intelligent and humorous—she trained generations of students and teachers worldwide.

—Richard Jonas

Mary began studying with B.K.S. Iyengar in 1974; her mother, Mary Palmer, brought Mr. Iyengar to the United States for his first sustained teaching here. Mary maintained regular study with the Iyengar family throughout the years.

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2008 Certification INTERMEDIATE JUNIOR III Carolyn Christie Yvonne DeKock Craig Kurtz Allan Nett Jayne Satter INTERMEDIATE JUNIOR II Christopher Beach Siegfried Bleher Matt Dreyfus Lynda Gill Randy Just Michelle LaRue Athena Pappas INTERMEDIATE JUNIOR I Naghmeh Ahi Regina Brunig Robin Candrea Jarvis Chen Peg Cleve Karen Husby-Coupland Kquvien DeWeese Barbara Fabbri Todd Howell Momi Jhung Ann McDermott-Kave Janet Langley Kiha Lee Anara Lomme Octavia Morgan Linda Nishio Rogelio Nunez Anna Rain Dmitri Shapira Nancy Turnquist Kimberly Williams Bob Whittinghill

INTRODUCTORY Jeaneen Bell Julie Burtis Mary Chan Nikki Costello Myra Dionisio Stephen Salkin-Drucker Jean Durel Tobias Fields Jane Fitzgerald Aaron Fleming Alexander Fraim Laurie Medeiros Freed Jacqueline Gerson Amy Block-Hamilton Kathleen Mulligan-Hansel Sarah Harvey Karan Hase Irene Hernandez Jessie Holland Lauren Barnert-Hosie Cindy Irvine Vladimir Jandov Sally Jekel Jill Jones Jennifer Kagan Anna Kelleher George Kindl Jacqueline Kittel Carmella Stone-Klein Tulsi Laher Kellie LeRibeus Ewa Lichnowska Denise McKeague Marcella Mee Michelle Mock Kevin Nguyen Beth O’Hara Maiga Palkaunieks Rebecca Rumbel Matthew Sanford

Pauline Schloesser Kathy Simon Conrad Skiba David Slack John Steele Barbara Steif Meg Sutton Michael Taylor Marty Teasdale Susan Turis Lucienne Van Der Honing Holly Walck Denise Weeks Gregory White Monica Rose-Ziglar TEACHER IN TRAINING Carin Allen Jay Averell Anne Barbaret Olivia Barry Peggy Berg Tara Anne Bernstein Rose Bily Chris Briney Paula Brown Antonietta Capotondi Jean Torrey-Canney Dina Chalom Barry Chapman Christy Chase Libby Collins Gina Cowell Caroline Coons Katie Davidson Mary DeVore Zack Dixon Cherie Earl Becky Estes Randall Evans Royal Fraser

Martha Garvey Anne Geil Jennifer Gold Nina Gold Diane Goldstein Laura Golub Christopher Greene Debby Green Lisa Hajek Michelle Hill Abbey Hope Edwin Horneij Leah Katz Ja Soon Kim Nina Knight Pam Lindberg Katherine (Kat) MacNeish Amanda Mahoney Cathy Mann Rachel Mathenia Angela McKinlay Kelly Moore Vladimir Nekrasov Steven Norber Katy Olson Kavi Patel April Pilz Ana Vanesa Plasencia Nancy Preston Michael Ruccolo Meenakshi Sanghvi Edith Sze Savadore Wendelin Scott Suzanne Simon Tamarie Spielman Suneel Sundar Chet Thomas Enilse Sehuanes-Urbaniak Cheree Winston Mary Wixted

UPGRADES BY GURUJI Intermediate Senior III Donna Hood Pointer 9/08

Canadian Teacher Granted IYNAUS Certification Intermediate Senior I Jaya Lisa Waters

Intermediate Senior II Carolyn Belko 3/08 Anna Delury X/XX Advanced Junior I Laurie Blakeney Kristin Chirhart Gloria Goldberg

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Report from India:

The Global Yoga Community Gathers to Honor B.K.S. Iyengar on His 90th Birthday To attend the 90th birthday celebrations for B.K.S. Iyengar in Pune and the tour of South India, I let go of my long-held desire to study at RIMYI, as I reconciled that the journey was for my spirit and not about perfecting Asana. Synchronous events confirmed it was the right decision, and so with joyful wonder I opened my heart to experience each day in India fully. With gratitude, I joined the hundreds of international students gathered to witness the events and the ceremonies laboriously planned to honor our beloved Guruji.

Carmen Viola

Carmen Viola

graciously, continuing the auspicious thread that began my journey, “We are all one family.”

December 10th was the first event, Guruji’s religious ceremony, which lasted nearly four hours. Flowers, fruit, and small urns filled with water occupied a rectangular area in front of the dais where B.K.S. Iyengar, his granddaughter, sisters, son, and daughters sat. He was given garlands, shawls, and a headdress made of pure silver as part of this ceremonious event.

Prashant gave a discourse on the puja. One of the sisters led us in a chant.

The yoga hall at RIMYI was full for the recitation from the Bhagavad Gita given by Geeta. The room was atwitter with various languages being spoken as students and teachers from around the world greeted one another like long-lost friends reuniting.

Geeta lectured on the fourth chapter of the Gita, making reference to the fifth and second chapters frequently. She said the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth slokas of chapter 2 were very important. She discussed Arjuna’s dilemma, relating it to ourselves in the world today. Her basic message was that we must dedicate all of our actions to God and let go of the results.

Flowers, fruit, and small urns filled with water occupied a rectangular area in front of the dais where B.K.S. Iyengar, his granddaughter, sisters, son, and daughters sat.

There were more than a dozen priests who chanted and flung water, sticks, and flowers into the fire they circled. The flames rose higher and higher, and so did the plumes of smoke.

Guruji’s family escorted him to the grassy area to bathe him in the holy ceremonial water and came through the crowd to sprinkle holy water on us, as well.

The flute recital and the premiere of the documentary film on Guruji, Leap of Faith, took place at a small auditorium on the outskirts of Pune. The music recital was performed by a world-renowned flautist, Pt Prasad Chaurasia, with three other musicians. The flute player and the drummer dueled—the flautist played a riff and the drummer copied it until it became more intricate and faster. The audience enjoyed their wonderful banter back and forth.

After the puja was over, we waited to pay our respects as Geeta directed traffic and announced items that had been lost or found. Lunch was then served in shifts. And what a prasad it was! We sat at long plank tables arranged end to end. We were given a banana leaf and a small bottle of water. An Indian gentleman sitting next to me told me to pour water on the banana leaf to clean it and to hold up the edges of the leaf closest to me up to shake the water off the leaf away from me. This would be our plate. We were served from huge vessels—a finely chopped salad, a sweet coconut carrot salad, rice, papadum, sambar, and more. We ate using our fingers and thumb of the right hand because no utensils were provided.

The following morning was an informative lecture and demonstration of classical Indian dance, deemed yoga dance by the dance teacher Mandakini Trivedi and her

As we were leaving, a local woman who is a yoga physiotherapist invited me and a friend to share her personal rickshaw with her two granddaughters. We engaged in lively conversation until I disembarked to go a different direction. As I thanked her for the ride, she replied 17

Spring / Summer 2009 Yoga Samachar

Classified ads 2009 / 2010

star pupil. The purity of the movement comes only if you are focused and strong from yoga practice and then is offered as a dedication to the Divine.

Classified advertising is accepted from members on a space available basis. Please limit your copy to no more than 50 words.

Please send advertising copy and a check for $25 payable to IYNAUS to: IYNAUS 1300 Clay Street, Suite 600, Oakland, CA 94612.

In the evening, we returned to the venue for The Prophet, a fourperson play starring Naseerudin Shah, a famous Indian actor, as the Prophet. It was a moving performance.

The Yoga Place in La Crosse, WI is in need of a certified Iyengar teacher or someone working toward Iyengar certification. The studio is wellestablished, well-equipped and presently has two Senior Intermediate III teachers (Chris Saudek and Francie Ricks). La Crosse is one of the best places to live in the Midwest with a low cost of living, centrally located between Madison and Minneapolis, with plenty of biking and hiking, an excellent food co-op, several community supported agricultural projects etc.

There are opportunities to expand the studio and eventually manage it. Please send resume to Chris Saudek at: chris@yogalacrosse.com

Carmen Viola

Iyengar Yoga Teacher wanted

A yoga demonstration by a large group of children of various ages followed. The yoga crowd was very enthusiastic to see these youngsters doing poses that some may fondly remember doing or perhaps only dreamed of being able to do!

On December 14th, B.K.S. Iyengar celebrated officially turning 90. This final program started with several women draped in colorful regional saris taking turns to wave a platter of lit candles circularly in front of Guruji. Several speakers were called onto the stage: Faeq regaled us with stories of traveling with Guruji in the early years; Padma, from South Africa, spoke of Guruji’s first visit, when they struggled to get 10 people to attend his classes!

Manouso expressed his gratitude to Guruji for his dedication to his art that makes us all look good. Prashant thanked the countless volunteers for bringing the events to fruition. Geeta spoke about four individuals who deserved the Iyengar’s gratitude for countless years of service: Mr. Ratanlal Shah; Mr. Pandurang Rao, the secretary at RIMYI; Kali Dastur, a local teacher who lost her grandson, a chef at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, in the terrorist attacks; and Mr. Om Prakash, now deceased. Last, Lee Sverkerson bestowed a garland upon Guruji.

Then it was Guruji’s turn to speak. Abi, ever-present at her grandfather’s side, held the microphone. Mr. Iyengar’s face brimmed with emotion as he fondly addressed us all, “My children,” he began, encouraging us to continue to practice to reach the heights of yoga.

A birthday dinner was the grand finale to the Pune celebrations.

The Sacral Web™ The Sacral Web is an innovative pelvic swinglong rope set that makes a great contribution to yoga props. The woven design provides a sense of strength, flexibility and support superior to other inversion pelvic swings. “The best thing about the Sacral Web is that you can adjust the length… I go from down-dog to rope series one (bhujangasana to urdhva mukha paschimottanasana) and it just takes a second to shorten the ropes. Also, I don’t mess with adding ropes and blankets.” www.sacralweb.com

On December 14th, B.K.S. Iyengar celebrated officially turning 90. This final program started with several women draped in colorful regional saris taking turns to wave a platter of lit candles circularly in front of Guruji.

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The tour of South India commenced on the outskirts of Bangalore in Electronic City. There were nine tour buses filled to capacity with international students, teachers, and their families. The orchestration of the group going to the various sites was indeed monumental.

An easy camaraderie exuded from the global participants as we traversed South India for hours on end.

On December 17th, we visited the Bellur school/dormitory/hospital complex. Uniformed schoolchildren sang the national anthem to Guruji on the roof of a building adjacent to the school. As the school bell rang, the girls and boys scurried to their classes, excitedly greeting us in namaskar or handshakes. With their ever-present smiles, they eagerly posed for photographs.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2009

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A very short distance away was the Patanjali temple. The villagers stood outside their homes watching as we paraded on the road lined in the center by a floral carpet strewn with red and gold marigolds. At the temple a band played; sadhus, priests, children, foreigners, and locals all intermingled under a canopy of brightly colored cloth that shielded us from the approaching midday heat.

Next, we toured Mysore Palace, where the Rajah imported the best glass lamps from Czechoslovakia and Italy and tiles from Portugal to construct a simply beautiful palace. A curse was placed on the family so the royal couple would always be barren.

Therefore, the royal family’s chosen heir to the throne was an adopted niece or nephew. Two years before one of the Rajahs died, he financed Guruji’s 1938 silent film!

Ceremonies took place to bathe the idols in various liquids and colorful herbs as we all perched wherever we could either just to listen to the chanting or to observe if we were close enough. We returned to the complex for lunch, followed by a program by the school children and felicitations from the esteemed guests who were there to honor B.K.S. Iyengar.

We drove to the Giant Nandi in Chamundi Hills, the largest bull statue in South India, but I had had enough sight-seeing and so did not venture out. While waiting, I noticed a cow eating a flower garland draped across the front grille of a vehicle, while two monkeys opened bags tied to the rooftop, ceremoniously rifling through bags and throwing things to the ground!

Although a man came to chase the monkeys away, the cow had finished eating the floral and foil garland!

The tour of South India commenced on the outskirts of Bangalore in Electronic City.

There were nine tour buses filled to capacity with international students, teachers, and their families.

On December 18th, we had a six-hour ride to our luncheon destination and were immediately informed on arrival that we had to leave in fifteen minutes! After a hurried lunch at the beautiful Hoysala Village resort, we drove two hours before reaching the temples on the schedule—Channakeshava Temple, capital of the Hoysala Empire in Bellur, and Hoysaleshwara and Shanthaleshwar Temples in Halebidu—only to spend about 30 minutes at each! After the final temple, it was a three-hour ride to the Pai Vista hotel in Mysore. There, we were greeted by a band of drummers exuding a deep, resonant tribal beat. Some people danced, others walked between the drummers to enter the hotel ballroom, where we were to observe a folk dance performance in which two men balanced large square frames covered in fabric and streamers on their heads or foreheads or between their teeth, twirling, stomping, and lowering themselves to the floor to the drum beat!

A leisurely lunch was served outdoors at a park along Karanji kere (lake). Guruji sat on a bench near the lake, showing no strain from the long days and the endless stream of people who came forward to speak with him.

Unexpectedly, we stopped to see the first hall where Guruji taught, and then proceeded to the location of his high school. Despite our best efforts, the gate remained locked. We were told that the building that stands there now is built on the site of his old school.

On December 19th, Guruji deemed that we would begin our journey at 9 am instead of 7 am, already delayed from 6 am. We visited the Chamundeshwari Temple in honor of the Great Mother. As we stood in line with our offering, I was handed one rupee to add to the bill I had in my hand that was in an even amount because it is bad luck to offer an even amount.

After our final dinner at the hotel, many crowded around the hotel steps for their last glimpse of Guruji and his entourage as they left the hotel. It was truly a wondrous experience to be part of the global yoga community gathered to honor our beloved yoga master for the blessings of his yoga legacy.

Carmen Viola

Carmen Viola was certified at the Introductory II level in 1995. She served on the IYNAUS board from 2003 through 2006 and as secretary for IYANW from 1993 through 1995. She has taught yoga in Maple Valley, Washington, since 1990. Carmen attends Bellevue College, where she is enrolled in the website and information design certificate programs. www. bluemoonartsyoga.com Ramamani Nagar (buildings of the Bellur Trust project): (left) Smt. Ramamani Sundaraja Hospital, (middle) dormitory, (right) Smt. Ramamani Sundaraja Iyengar High School.

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News from the Regions Convention and conference planning from the West to the East Coasts has been occupying several regional associations. Others are finding ways to serve their local communities with workshops, outreach, research, and community-building events. If your regional association has news to share, please contact Regional Support Chair Leslie Freyberg.

IYASE: Southeast Kimberly Williams presented her research on Iyengar Yoga therapy for low back pain last October in Mumbai at a scientific conference organized in honor of Guruji’s 90th birthday.

IYANW: Northwest Activities in the Northwest revolve primarily around the 2010 Convention to be held in Portland, Oregon. Co-chair Julie Lawrence hopes that all teachers plan to attend not only to benefit from the teachings of Geeta Iyengar, but also to enjoy the beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

IYAGNY: Greater New York On the weekend of February 13–15, the Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York family of teachers, students, and friends alike gathered for a celebration of the amazing life of Mary Dunn. Mary passed away last September after a brave and inspiring yearplus battle with peritoneal cancer. People came from far and wide to see slides and videos and to share memories, tears, and laughter. Each day celebrated her presence in a yoga class given by wonderful Iyengar teachers Laurie Blakeney, Chris Saudek, George Purvis, Mary Reilly, and Patricia Walden. Leslie Freyberg led a beautiful, healing chanting session to close the extraordinary event.

Siegfried Bleher will present a poster and a preconference workshop entitled “Transforming Consciousness through the Practice of Yoga” in Hong Kong from June 11 through 14. The conference, Toward a Science of Consciousness 2009: Investigating Inner Experience—Brain, Mind, Technology, is organized by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, MERECL, and the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona.

Twice yearly, IYANW awards scholarships to further the study of its members.

Michelle Downing, recipient of this winter’s scholarship, applied the funds toward a workshop with Rebecca Lerner at Sunset Yoga in Portland.

Institute teacher Tori Milner described the experience this way: “It was powerful and poignant to see her face on screen, to hear her voice in the incredible interview she gave near the end of her life, and to genuinely feel her presence in the room as we honored her life and the things she loved most, from yoga to strawberry ice cream.

“As the weekend progressed, I realized how sad I felt about our loss of Mary, but how much richer we all are because of her influence. I was reminded of watching her speak last July (her last visit to the Institute) at Guru Purnima and how she said so eloquently that it is the teachings that live on.”

Students and friends of the Boise Yoga Center recently held a benefit sale for Kiva.org. This international nonprofit allows donors to select an entrepreneurial organization in the developing world and to donate specifically to it. Everyone donated clothing for the sale, shoppers paid an entrance fee, and all proceeds went to Kiva.org. Organizer Vickie Aldridge said, “It makes sense to pool our money together and help someone out in a bigger way.”

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2009

In honor of Mary, IYAGNY has begun The Mary Dunn Fund. All proceeds from the celebration weekend were allocated to that fund to help continue to spread the teachings of yoga that B.K.S. Iyengar so generously shared with Mary Palmer, who inspired her daughter, Mary Dunn, to follow suit.

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Light on New England: The Inaugural Regional Iyengar Yoga Conference in Providence, Rhode Island, October 16 through 18, 2009 IYASC: San Diego The May Movie Night at the B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga Center of La Mesa began with a potluck dinner and ended with a showing of Leap of Faith. This recently made film about B.K.S. Iyengar was shown first at his birthday celebrations.

IYNAUS is thrilled to offer students of all levels of experience the opportunity to study with the finest Iyengar Yoga teachers in New England and from across the country. Held over the course of a three-day weekend, this is your opportunity to study with the largest group of senior-level Iyengar teachers ever gathered together for a weekend conference. The smaller and more intimate conference accommodates only half the number of students of past Iyengar Yoga conventions, providing a more personal environment in which to deepen your yoga practice.

IYAMW: Midwest The ad hoc committee continues working to revive the Midwest region’s association.

Voting for the Board of Directors will take place in the summer. Anyone interested in being a member of the Midwest Region is urged to join as soon as possible to be able to vote. It is our hope to have the new board voted in by the end of the year, and with that board, to begin on the road to a strong and established region. The regional association will bring more cohesiveness in information for students and teachers of Iyengar Yoga, fundraisers and events to benefit the local community through Iyengar Yoga, possibilities for teacher trainings and workshops to serve the entire area better, and much, much more. For information, contact Jennie Williford, Acting President, at iyamw@iynaus.org.

Sectioned into three tracks—beginner, intermediate, and advanced—the conference is open to practitioners of all types of yoga. The early morning classes concentrate on standing poses (Friday), forward bends and twists (Saturday), and backbends (Sunday). Late morning sessions concentrate on special interest topics, and afternoons are dedicated to further study of Asana as well as Pranayama.

IYAMN: Minnesota The board set dates for the two Yoga Days in 2009, so mark your calendars: Sunday, July 12, to commemorate Guru Purnima, and Sunday, December 13, to celebrate B.K.S. Iyengar’s birthday.

To enhance the yoga workshop experience for both teachers and students, a short paper was written for workshop participants by two certified Iyengar teachers and board members. The piece is a wonderful reminder of what it means to be a student of yoga.

Please check it out at www.iyamn.org.

IYANE: New England Although the Northeast is not yet an official region, many volunteers in the New England area have been working hard to plan the First Regional Conference of Iyengar Yoga, to be held in Providence, Rhode Island, in October 2009. This work has inspired the group to formalize into a regional association, The Iyengar Yoga Association of New England. When the conference work is complete, formalizing this association will be the group’s next priority. Come to the conference and let us know if you are interested. See you in Providence.

Students select level, classes, and teachers when they register online at http:// iyengarnewengland.com/. This informative, attractive, and easily navigated website has the answers to all your questions.

Many volunteers in the New England area are working hard to plan this first-time event. Doing so has inspired the community to formalize an Iyengar Yoga Association of New England. A portion of the proceeds from the conference will finance this start-up regional association.

But first comes the conference.

Make plans now to join this historymaking event filled with community building and inspirational yoga.

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Spring / Summer 2009 Yoga Samachar

Click on the IYNAUS Store right now!

Book Reviews

Have you visited the online IYNAUS Store lately? Point your browser to iynaus.org/store to see our wide selection of props, books, DVDs, and other items to enhance your practice.

Bobbie Fultz “Asana can become a form of prayer, worship, japa and meditation. The practice can be pursued aim-lessly, goal-lessly, desire-lessly, meditatively.” —Prashant Iyengar

Seeking to deepen your practice? Order Yoga in Action: Preliminary Course, by Geeta S. Iyengar, with the new chapter added in 2008. Call on past issues of Yoga Rahasya, the quarterly publication which shares the teachings of Guruji and the Iyengar family. Another excellent resource: commemorative programs from our U.S. conventions containing timeless interviews with the Iyengars and insightful, practical essays by senior instructors.

Prashant Iyengar has a unique way of expressing and conveying yoga concepts by coining his own terms in English that do not have a dictionary definition. He sets up various hierarchies, paradigmatics, and referrals that become the epicenters for practice and can reveal the unified state in a voyage to infinitude. If you are on the list to study at RIMYI or you still have not sorted out your class notes from classes with Prashant, the books and recordings, available through the IYNAUS Store, will give you the chance to hear him to say it all again and again.

Prashant applies his experiments of practice to sequencing his classes. Tuesdays with Prashant is the transcription of an entire year of classes. RIMYI closes for the hot months of the Indian climate during April and May. The classes begin in June and progress to a climax in April of the following calendar year. This word-for-word transcription gives the reader the opportunity to ascertain the depth of thought brought to the instruction.

Each day has a preface describing the climatic conditions and a list of the asanas taken.

No matter how intently we all attempt to write notes after class, or even if we write as an observer while he is teaching, we never get it all onto the page. This 255-page compilation is a true work of Bhakti yoga edited by Vibha Kale.

Looking for props for your studio? Our blankets, belts, and headwraps are the same as those used at RIMYI in Pune.

Questions about what you see online, or don’t see what you’re looking for?

Store Manager Bobbie Fultz would like to hear from you. She can be reached by phone at (888) 344-0434 Monday through Friday, 10 am to 3 pm Mountain Time; press option 2 to be connected to the store. Or email bobbie.fultz@ gmail.com.

A ‘Class after a Class’: Yoga—An Integrated Science is a 58-page transcription of an interview with Prashant by Christine Perre further elucidating a class he had taught that day. The participants in the conversation were not native English speakers and wanted further explanation of some of Prashant’s vocabulary and terms: re-action/counteraction/inter-action/complementary action/un-action; do/un-do/non-do; awareness/ awareness circulation/ psycho-mental circulation. What is the difference between practicing and learning practice? Here is a further unfolding of his poetic viewpoint of yoga.

Certification Manuals Certification Manuals may be ordered directly as a store item as well as online through the website. The new version will be available in November of each year and is priced yearly by the Certification Committee.

Recordings of Prashant’s talks delivered at events and monthly meets at RIMYI are available on audio cassettes:

Basic Guidelines At the request of the Iyengars, sales of the book Basic Guidelines for Teachers of Yoga are restricted to certified Iyengar Yoga teachers and those who have been accepted for assessment by the IYNAUS Certification Committee. The new online IYNAUS Store can screen for certified teachers in the purchasing process.

Those who are on the assessment list need to call the IYNAUS Store at (720) 565-6885 10 am to 3 pm Mountain Time, Monday through Friday, to be screened against this list and make the purchase with a credit card.

The book form of Lyricised Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a new item in the IYNAUS Store recently received from India.

Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2009

1. Asanas and Panchamahabhutas, Chakras, Anatomy and Physiology through the Prism of Yoga, Our System, and Lyricised Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

2. Recorded teaching on Pranayama: Practice and Learn is in MP3 format.

Prashant’s primary text, Alpha and Omega of Trikonasana, also continues to be available through the IYNAUS Store and was previously reviewed in Yoga Samachar.

Bobbie Fultz is a certified Intermediate Junior II Iyengar Yoga instructor and manages the IYNAUS Store in Boulder, Colorado.

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Iyengar: The Yoga Master Edited by: Kofi Busia Reviewed by: Suza Francina Iyengar: The Yoga Master. Edited by Kofi Busia. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2007. ISBN 978-1-59030-524-9. 360 pages. $18.95.

write from the heart and their recollections bring back happy memories of my own discovery of Iyengar yoga.

This collection of uplifting essays, appreciations, stories and interviews by an international and diverse group of fifty-one contributors is a celebration of the life of B.K.S. Iyengar. Compiled and introduced by Kofi Busia, one of the world’s foremost teachers in the Iyengar tradition, this book offers the opportunity to learn about Iyengar through the eyes and experience of close friends and long-time senior students.

Even if you’ve read many other books by and about B.K.S. Iyengar, you will come away from Iyengar, the Yoga Master with a deeper understanding and appreciation of the man and his life’s work, and how each of us must find our own inner light and unique way to carry the yoga flame forward.

The contributions in this tribute volume are exceptionally diverse and thought provoking. Some honor Iyengar’s life and work by exploring technical matters, like the effect of arterial blood flow in the legs during standing poses, or the way yogis shift their attention and effort in balancing poses. Other essays address the best-known features of Iyengar’s teaching, including the rigorous precision of his asana instruction, the use of props to make the benefits of poses accessible to all, and his therapeutic application of yoga to medical conditions. Most valuable, however, is that the book provides personal reminiscence and insight into the influence Iyengar has had, as a man and a teacher, on each writer.

Suza Francina is a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher and writer in Ojai, California. She is the author of four books, including The New Yoga for People Over 50, Yoga and the Wisdom of Menopause, and The New Yoga for Healthy Aging. www.suzafrancina.com Kofi Busia is currently based in Santa Cruz, California, where he is putting the finishing touches to two books, one of which is an original translation and commentary of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. www.kofibusia.com

Kofi Busia is also a Sanskrit scholar (he has translated several ancient texts into English, including The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali), which adds authenticity and clarity. Kofi introduces the essays with an Editor’s Note on the issues that arise in writing a book that contains many Sanskrit words. Sanskrit terms, with few exceptions, have been transliterated as phonetically as possible to make the material more accessible to both new and experienced students.

This book review originally appeared in the Winter 2008–2009 issue of Yoga Vidya, the newsletter for the Southern California regional association.

Reprinted with permission.

The Editor’s Note is followed by a humorous introduction in which Kofi describes how he fell into teaching, his early encounters with Iyengar, and how he came to compile this book. Along with his self-effacing personal saga, Kofi opens a window into the riveting history of how Iyengar Yoga grew from a few original students into a worldwide phenomenon that revolutionized the yoga world.

Kofi’s close connection with both Iyengar and many of the teachers featured in the book make him the perfect editor for this project. He acts as a knowledgeable host and philosophical guide by providing an informative and insightful introduction to each essay. His gift for extrapolating gems of yoga philosophy helps to make the personal stories universal and more meaningful.

He has structured the book into two fascinating parts: “The Embodiment of Practice” and “Light On Life,” which include essays from T.K.V. Desikachar, Rama Jyoti Vernon, Joan White, Aadil Palkhivala, Judith Hanson Lasater, Patricia Walden, Marian Garfinkle, John Schumacher, Manouso Manos, Eric Schiffmann, Ramanand Patel, Dr. Krishna Raman, Christian Pisano, Bobby Clennell, Dona Holleman, John Friend, Richard Freeman, Eric Small, Chuck Miller, Lilias Folan, Elise Browning Miller, Beryl Bender Birch, Rodney Yee, Baron Baptiste, Sharon Gannon and David Life, Shiva Rea, Alan Finger, Gary Kraftsow, Annette Bening, Julian Sands, Ali MacGraw and others.

I honestly cannot recall another yoga book that filled me with such delight and recognition. I studied with many of the teachers featured in this book before they were famous, back in the seventies when they were fresh from their first trip to India. They

23

Spring / Summer 2009 Yoga Samachar

IYNAUS Membership Membership is open to all persons who study the art, science, and philosophy of yoga according to the teachings of B.K.S. Iyengar.

Membership, renewable each calendar year, is a condition for holding a United States Iyengar Yoga Teaching Credential.

To become a member, complete this form and mail it to the address below, or visit www.iynaus.org/join.php to join online.

Mail-in Member Application Form Personal Profile Information – Print Clearly Complete and submit this form with the appropriate dues. Keep a copy of this completed form for your records. Your privacy is important to us. No personal information entered below is sold or displayed to the public.

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New members may select membership directly with IYNAUS or through your local region to insure that you receive information pertinent to your area. $30 is retained by IYNAUS with the balance sent to your selected region. Either membership entitles you to IYNAUS Newsletters and to participate in elections, order certification materials, apply for certification assessment, attend special events in Pune, and other benefits. If you would like to be a member of more than one Regional Iyengar Yoga Association, contact the IYNAUS Membership Chair.

Check mark your Regional Iyengar Yoga Association membership selection:

_______ Greater NY . . . . . . . dues $65

_______ No. CA, SF . . . . . . . dues $60

_______ So. Nevada . . . . . . . dues $55

_______ Northwest . . . . . . . . dues $60

_______ Southeast U.S. . . . . . dues $60

_______ Minnesota . . . . . . . . dues $55

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Enter the amount of your selected Association dues:

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Mail this completed application with a check made payable to IYNAUS to: IYNAUS: c/o Membership, 1300 Clay St., Suite 600, Oakland CA 94612 Phone/Fax 888-344-0434

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Photos by Lindsey Clennell

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