Yoga Samachar SS_2011

Vol. 15 No. 1

SprINg / SUMMer 2011

prAShANt-JI

On Music n Meditation n Sound and Yoga

Stephanie Quirk on Therapeutics in Iyengar Yoga Your Responses to the Survey: Young People in Iyengar Yoga

Guruji in the Asana Hall at R.I.M.Y.I., June 2010. Photo by James Burton

contents

IYNAUS officers and Standing committees

Letter from the President – Chris Beach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 ‘We are Beyond our Body and Mind. We are even Beyond our Dreams’ – An Interview with Prashant S. Iyengar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

President: Chris Beach Vice President: Phyllis Rollins Secretary: Janet Lilly Treasurer: Virginia Burdette

Therapeutics in Iyengar Yoga: ’Your Job is to Put the Student on the Path to Yoga‘ – Stephanie Quirk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Archives

Chris Beach, Chair

Drawing Young People to Iyengar Yoga – Your Responses to the IYNAUS Survey. . . . . 14

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

Starting Young and Sticking with It An Interview with the Youngest U.S. Iyengar Yoga Teacher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

By-Laws

Janet Lilly, Chair

An Ethical Attitude – Felicity Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Peggy Kelley, David Larsen, Pat Musburger

Certification Committee

Regional News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Mary Reilly, Chair

Lois Steinberg, Linda DiCarlo, Marla Apt, Mary Obendorfer

Book Review: Iyengar Yoga Asana Alternatives: The Neck and Shoulders – review by Jesse Moore Kelsh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Communications Committee

Christine Nounou, Chair Constance Braden, Editor, Yoga Samachar

IYNAUS Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Gloria Goldberg, Carole Delmul, Don Gura, Richard Jonas, Gina Russell King, Pat Musburger, Phyllis Rollins, Sue Saluniak, Joan White

Ethics Committee

Yoga Samachar’s Mission

Rebecca Lerner, Chair Joan White, Sue Salaniuk, Michael Lucey

Yoga Samachar, the newsletter of the Iyengar Yoga community in the United States 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 Linda DiCarlo, Gloria Goldberg, Phyllis Rollins, Jennie Williford

Finance Committee

Virginia Burdette, Chair Chris Beach, Chris Nounou

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

Membership Committee Elizabeth Hynes, Chair

IMIYA – Leslie Bradley IYAGNY – Elisabeth Pintos IYAMN – Elizabeth Cowan IYAMW – Becky Meline IYANC – Sarah Harvey IYASC-LA – Kat Lee IYASC-SD – Marilyn Patton IYASCUS – Michelle Mock IYASE – Diana Martinez IYANW – Paul Cheek IYANE – Kathleen Swanson

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.

Nominating Committee Patrina Dobish, Chair

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

Linda DiCarlo, Gloria Goldberg, Dean Lerner, Manouso Manos, Elise Miller

Regional Support Committee Leslie Freyberg, Chair

Yoga Samachar is produced by the IYNAUS communications committee

IMIYA – Leslie Bradley, Craig Kurtz IYAGNY – James Murphy IYAMN – Steve Hornbacher IYAMW – Jennie Williford IYANC – Heather Haxo-Phillips IYASC-LA – Kat Lee Shull IYASC-SD – Cyndy Cordle IYASCUS – Paula Weithman IYASE – Alex Cleveland, Phyllis Rollins IYANW – Paul Cheek IYANE – Greg Anton

Editor: Constance Braden Creative Director: Richard Jonas Managing Editor: Pat Musburger Designer: Don Gura Copy Editor: Denise Weeks On the Cover: As a young man, Prashant S. Iyengar plays at a reception for Yehudi Menuhin on the terrace of a house in Mumbai in 1969. Menuhin, who wrote the

Scholarship and Awards Committee

forward to Light on Yoga, inspired Prashant to take up the violin. His lifetime love of music has informed his teaching. Interview, page 3.

Leslie Freyberg, Chair

Chris Beach, Linda DiCarlo, Richard Jonas, Lisa Jo Landsberg, Pat Musburger, 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 & Certification Mark Committee Gloria Goldberg, Attorney in Fact for B.K.S. Iyengar Rebecca Lerner, Board Liaison

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.

Marla Apt

Systems & Technology Committee Chris Nounou, Chair

Ed Horneij, David Weiner

Yoga Research Committee

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 articles to Editor Robin Rothhammer at naloaces@hotmail.com. Please send ads and announcements to Sharon Cowdery at srvcowdery@hotmail.com.

Phyllis Rollins, Chair

Julie Gudmestad, Jacqueline Kittel, Beth Sternlieb, Lisa Walford, Kimberly Williams

IYNAUS Senior Council Chris Saudek, John Schumacher, Patricia Walden

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Yoga Samachar

letter from the president

IYNAUS board Member contact list Spring/Summer 2011 Chris Beach 162 Alden Rd. Bellows Falls, VT 05101

Rebecca Lerner P.O. Box 941 Lemont, PA 16851-0914

Virginia Burdette 7706 20th Ave. NE Seattle, WA 98115

Janet Lilly 3417 N. Cramer St. Milwaukee, WI 53211

Patrina Dobish 2650 W. Belden #313 Chicago, IL 60647

Christine Nounou McKinsey & Company 75 Third Ave., 534 New York, NY 10022

Leslie Freyberg 31 Topstone Rd. Redding, CT 06896 Elizabeth Hynes 4228 Huntsfield Rd. Fayetteville, NC 28314

Dear Fellow IYNAUS Members, This issue of Yoga Samachar, with its cover story on Prashant S. Iyengar, also focuses on Young People and Iyengar Yoga. The survey we put out on this topic had a tremendous response, providing material for both this issue and the next (Fall). We are excited by the response, and we want to continue to find ways of encouraging our community to communicate both through the website (iynaus.org) and Yoga Samachar, to make ourselves stronger and better able to face the challenges of the future.

A number of important changes are taking place in IYNAUS and in the United States Iyengar community. Some of the major changes will be in Yoga Samachar itself. This will be the last issue created by our current volunteer staff for the magazine--Constance Braden as editor, Richard Jonas as creative director, and Pat Musburger as managing editor. Don Gura will remain as our very talented designer, and Denise Weeks, our excellent copyeditor who began working for us with this Spring issue, will continue in that capacity. I want to offer a huge thanks to Constance, Richard, and Pat, whose hard work, diligence, and creativity in steering the magazine over the past few years has given our community a publication it can be proud to call its own. Under their leadership, Yoga Samachar has reached a new level of quality and become a truly professional journal for Iyengar Yoga in the United States. Starting with the fall issue, our new editor will be Robin Rothhammer of Kaneohe, Hawaii. Robin has a degree in journalism, and was editor of Tennis Week magazine for several years. She is a serious student of Iyengar Yoga, has completed an Iyengar Yoga teacher training, and plans to take the Introductory I assessment this summer. We are excited to be working with Robin. She brings to Yoga Samachar a passion for yoga combined with editorial expertise.

Phyllis Rollins 204 Front St. Cramerton, NC 28032 Sharon Cowdery 1952 First Ave. South Seattle, WA 98134

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

regIoNAl ASSocIAtIoN coNtActS Inter-Mountain (Colorado): IMIYA Leslie Bradley leslie@imiya.org • imiya.org Minnesota: IYAMN Elizabeth Cowan iyamn@iynaus.org • iyamn.org

Another change: for the first time the assessment process will be completely online. This change, which begins with the 2011 assessements, has been long in coming, and it should make the management of assessments much easier for everyone involved. As with any new process, there have been a few hiccups, but we have already gotten 30 applicants successfully through the system in the first two weeks, and by the time you read this we should have the application phase of the assessment process completed for this year. Applicants have been very patient and showed an understanding of how such new processes work: as we all know from our asana practice, not everything goes perfectly the first time. By next year, we are confident that the process will work very smoothly.

Northern California: IYANC Heather Haxo Phillips – haxo@hotmail.com Sarah Harvey – sarah@iyisf.orgrg Southern California, San Diego: IYASC-SD Lynn Patton iyengarsd@sbcglobal.net • iyasc.org Southeast: IYASE Diana Martinez iyase@iynaus.org • iyase.org Northwest: IYANW Paul Cheek iyanw@iynaus.org • iyanw.org

Yet another change that has been in the works for some time and is now taking place is a revision of our bylaws to bring them into closer alignment with the Pune Constitution. Guruji has given us in the Pune Constitution a blueprint for how national associations can be organized and how they can function. Guruji has also made it clear that he does not expect different national associations to conform in every particular with the Pune Constitution. He has encouraged us to take whatever steps we can, within our own national context, to come more in line with this document. Our Bylaws Committee, with input from the IYNAUS Board, has worked hard to craft the language of our revised bylaws, and we will soon be ready to share a proposed draft of the new bylaws with the full membership. The primary changes involve a new structure for the Board, and a new system of elections that will be give the regions a greater role in the functioning of the national association.

New England: IYANE Greg Anton iyane@iynaus.org • iyengarnewengland.com Greater New York: IYAGNY Elisabeth Pintos iyagny@iynaus.org • iyengarnyc.org Midwest: IYAMW Jennie Williford iyamw@iynaus.org • iyamw.org Southern California, Los Angeles: IYASC-LA Kat Lee iyascla@iynaus.org • iyasc.org

Namaste, chris beach, president Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States

South Central US: IYASCUS Rose Bily iyascus@iynaus.org • iyascus.org

For more information visit: iynaus.org/iynaus/regions.php

here is your latest Yoga Samachar, the magazine of the U.S. Iyengar Yoga community – and one of the benefits of IYNAUS membership.

Spring /Summer 2011

Want to go green and read Yoga Samachar online? Email generalmanager@iynaus.org with “YS online only” in the subject line. Prefer a printed, mailed copy? Be sure we

please visit the IYNAUS website: www.iynaus.org 1952 First Ave. South, Ste. 1b, Seattle, WA 98134 • 888-344-0434 Yoga Samachar

Spring /Summer 2011

have your current address. Log in at iynaus.org and review your “My Page” (profile) information. You can edit your information directly on the “profile” tab.

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‘ We Are beYoND oUr boDY AND MIND. We Are eVeN beYoND oUr DreAMS.’

By Bobby Clennell and Richard Jonas Interviews with Prashant S. Iyengar were conducted in February 2010 at R.I.M.Y.I. by Senior Teacher Bobby Clennell and Certified Teacher Richard Jonas, using questions suggested by Kofi Busia.

A more complete version of this interview will appear in Busia’s upcoming book.

Question: You live with one of the most famous yogis who has ever lived. What is your first memory?

Western music is all skill. One must have a good voice or good skill, then

Answer: Never ask the background of a common man. I am not an epoch-making person

they sing the composition. There is

who you should ask: How did you become great? That is not a pertinent question to

hardly any room for creativity. Indian

ask me. Whereas a great man can take credit for his subnormal background, an

music is 99 percent creativity and

ordinary man cannot. If I say, I was stupid in my childhood, I was undeveloped

only one percent composition.

intellectually, you will say, No wonder. Whereas when Guruji says that he came from humble beginnings, weak health, that he was undeveloped intellectually, that gives

As a student of music, I could feel

him greater credit for having overcome. If I say I was that, they will say about me,

what they were trying to sing … It

You are still this. [Prashant laughs.] He was a great Father, I am an ordinary son. These

was wonderful for me to understand

questions are personal, as if I am a great man, and I should reveal how I’m superhuman…

their emotional personality, their life history etc. I heard the maestros of

[Prashant’s first memory was] nothing significant. We were like any average man’s

the 60s and 70s, among them Pandit

family. Guruji was not great then. People thought he was a madcap [because at the

Kumar Gandharva, Bhimsen Joshi,

time, teaching yoga was an unusual occupation].

Ameer Khan, Badegulam Ali Khan, Jitendra Abhishakhi, Ravi Shankar pre-1965, Vilayat Khan pre-1980,

He was a great Father,

Bismillah Khan, Ramnarain.

I am an ordinary son.

Q: Yehudi Menuhin gave your father his first major exposure in the west. What is your clearest memory of him?

Q: You were a highly accomplished violinist. What made you take up the violin, and what part did it play in your life?

A: He was a legendary musician. I A: Music played an important role in my life—not violin. I played the music, and it

started violin after I heard his name

has its impact, whether it’s singing or any instrument. It is music which impacted

and heard his violin on audio. He was

my making, developing my emotional faculties and emotional perception. Music is

my inspiration to start violin. The

a language without words. My mother was also a musician, a singer. Music was in

year was 1961—I was 13 years old.

our blood. A lot of audio and concerts were around us.

Q: What had you heard? What made your eyes light up?

Q: It sounds as if there was a lot of music in your early life, largely through your mother.

A: In those days I heard some of the top classical musicians; many of them are not

A: Guruji had brought LPs of Menuhin. I

existing now. I used to attend their concerts; they influenced me a lot. I was also

particularly liked his unaccompanied

influenced as a student, not just as a listener to music, so I had a different grasp of

Bach, and then Mozart, and the

their personality and their nature. Usually when one attends a concert, one is only

Beethoven Sonata of Spring with his

a fan of music, whereas I was a musician, so it wasn’t just gratification for the ears.

sister Hepzibha on piano. In 1962 he

Being a student of music, I learned a lot about not just how they sing, but about

came to India with his sister and he

their imagination.

visited Guruji’s center in Mumbai. I did not meet him; I was a child then.

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Q: And then you played for Menuhin.

Because of past lives. We have brought different things with us, so there is a big difference between brother and brother, brother and sister. Each one has different

A: In 1969 I met him and played for him,

potentials. That is past lives. That makes a mighty contribution in man-making.

on the terrace of a house in Mumbai.

I was a little excited, but I was not

In the second place, I did not have a sudden radical change in my life. My life has

anxious. People came for a party

been in a channel given me right from my birth. Nothing has radically changed

there. My sisters and I entertained,

me—not Krishna, not Guruji even. From childhood I have been the same. Still I am

playing music on the terrace for

an average man. Nothing extraordinary has happened in my life. I am coming up

about two hours. While I was playing,

with a momentum which I was given from my birth. So far I have not been given a

Menuhin was sitting five feet in front

quantum leap forward, and suddenly, overnight I change. Such change has not

of me.

occurred in me. I am an ordinary common man going in his momentum.

Q: has the creative inspiration for which music is renowned—that music must have put into

Q: Why did you stop playing the violin?

your life—continued?

A: Because of the accident I could no A: Music has had a long-lasting effect on me. The whole life is influenced by that, the

longer play the violin. That was 1979.

It was a highway accident. Our car

emotional fabric. Indian music is divine and there is a touch of the divinity in

and a truck collided. I won’t say

music … I listen to a lot of music today, mostly Indian classical music, sometimes

anything was lost because everything

also western classical. For the last 20 years I am not going to many concerts,

is for our good: that’s what I believe.

because they are late-night, but I hear a lot of music, I hear a lot of audios.

Q: What have been your great influences?

Q: What effect did your father’s own guruji, Sri krishnamacharya, have on you?

A: There are certain things that have

A: I first saw Krishnamacharya in 1962. He was already very old. He was fond of me,

been contributory to my life from

because of my bent of mind, the philosophical bent of mind … Because I knew he

past lives. That is invisible, that is

was a very scholarly person, I used to discuss with him certain philosophical

heritage. I can’t say who influenced me. It is the past life impressions, it is

My mother was an icon for me: her nature,

subliminal impressions: they have contributed mightily to my life. These

her tolerance, her nobility, her generosity.

days man is used to revealing his godfather, his kingmaker. “Because of this person,” we say, “I have become this or that.” That can happen in the material world. But in the spiritual world, it is not only the person who has given me that.

So many series of teachers have come in previous lives. I got the elevation life after life after life. That was important: for me to come eyeto-eye with the guru in this life. It is not right to forget them, those who have given a pedestal for us to look higher and higher. These are impressions, samskaras, I got by birth.

Your nature will be different than your siblings’ natures. My nature is different from my siblings. We came from the same parents, we got the same bounty: Why are we different?

Yoga Samachar

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Near the time of the Institute’s inauguration, Prashant S. Iyengar shows the altar at R.I.M.Y.I. to his nephew, Kaushik.

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Q: What about “the western mind” makes it

tenets. He was surprised that I was that much studied in certain philosophical

difficult to grasp the essence of yoga?

tenets such as the Vedanta at that age.

A: Basically it is not just the western

Q: What is the difference between a guru and a father? how has your father influenced you, as a father and as a guru?

mind. Even the eastern mind—those that are materialistic people—

[Again, Prashant chose to answer with humor.] I am an ordinary man… If I say, I

basically they think our body and

have a guru, I must give credit to him, not debit. If you are scratching the violin

mind are what we are. We are beyond

and you say you are a disciple of Menuhin [that is not appropriate]… Don’t ask a

our body and mind. So we are not

student to speak on the guru. It is a shame on him. But you can ask a guru to speak

what we want to think; we are even

on a worthwhile student.

beyond our dreams.

The materialistic man doesn’t believe

As a yogi you have your body and breath.

in this. He thinks, There is nothing beyond my body and mind. But we

The breath becomes a painter’s instrument;

exist beyond our body and mind.

Those that are skeptical about this, it

the embodiment is the canvas.

is difficult to teach them yoga. We are eternal beings. We don’t take birth, we don’t die. If you want to be a

Q: thousands of people travel from all over the world to study here with you and your family.

student of yoga, you must believe in

What contribution have they made to your life?

this. If you don’t believe this, you won’t learn essential yoga. You will

A: I am here to contribute to their life; I am not expecting them to contribute to my

learn something that is cosmetic,

life… I am basically here to contribute for them. It is for them to acknowledge if I

that is for the here and now. Yoga is

have contributed.

not for the here and now.

I’m here to teach them the subject of yoga. By teaching, I have learned. Students

If one doesn’t believe in God, in Karma,

have helped me evolve in my life. I say to students, You are entitled to take fees

in existence before birth and after

from me because I have learned from you. Any student will contribute, whether

death, it is very difficult to teach them

they are western or Indian. We learn from students eloquence, we learn

yoga. It is difficult to teach yoga to

interaction.

materialistic, profane, atheistic, temporal people, whether western or not.

Q: What makes yoga of value to the world, particularly at this time in history?

Q: You have said, “there is no yoga without sound and no sound without yoga.” What

A: Yoga is a bounty to the world, but it has become for some a consumer product. If yoga is not for worldly life, it can’t be for the world. As a bounty for the world, it

is the effect of sound on yoga, on Asana,

comes as a consumer product, a consumer package, and I’m deadly against that.

and on pranayama?

A: Yoga is meditation. Meditation entails

A consumer package is always attractive, and always deceiving. The customer will always be deceived. They say, My product is very good and will you buy it? The

absorption. There is no meditation

package must always have more attractive, superficial value. If yoga is going in that

without absorption. Meditation

channel, we’ll have to provide a package which is more eclectic. Then that will be

requires some dissolution. The sound

pseudo-yoga.

from Nada (there is no English word for it, there is no definition of the

I am teaching yoga, I am not propagating yoga… Propagators of yoga say how it is

word) is where the mind can dissolve.

good for the world, how it will improve physical maladies, it will help your

Otherwise mind will only dissolve

mundane life. I don’t need consumer packages. I am a teacher of the subject. My

in Nada…

concept of the subject is not meant for the world; it is not a worldly subject. If I say it is for the world, it becomes a mundane subject, a worldly subject, whereas yoga

I say, No yoga mantra, no yoga. Yoga is

is sublime, profound… I am not the one who professes yoga for one and all. That is

always meditation. Not using a chant,

not essential yoga.

you can’t get enchanted. Not being enchanted, you can’t meditate. A 5

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Yoga Samachar

You can’t meditate on a laptop, you can’t meditate on money. You have to meditate on something profound.

Prashant S. Iyengar. Photo by Parvez Irani Yoga Samachar

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mantra is a chant, a chant is a mantra. No thought, no meditation. If you have no

the energy body. The whole energy

thought at all, there is no meditation. You must have a thought so you have

body is sound forms.

confinement to thought, absorption to thought. Profundity of thought is required.

It must be a profound thought; only then do you meditate. Any thought is a

Like you have 26 letters in English, we

combination of words. No words, no thoughts. What are words? Combinations of

have 50 sound forms in Sanskrit.

little letters. If you remove word from thought, thought will be zero. If you remove

There are 50 petals in the six chakras.

all the sound, there will be no words. Without words, there is

Fifty petals for 50 sound forms. There

no meditation.

are 50 shrines on the planet to Shakti, the consort of Shiva. Most of

You can’t meditate on a laptop, you can’t meditate on money. You can have

them are in the Indian subcontinent.

meditation on God, on nature, on transcendence. Metaphysical principles are a

Each of the shrines has one letter,

locus for meditation. You can’t be mundane and say, I am meditating on a financial

therefore there are 50 shrines.

problem. You have to meditate on something that is profound…

There is the mythical story of nectar For you to be sitting quiet, you want an atmosphere around you which can quickly

being churned out and served… the

trigger a placid state in your mind. You can’t sit in an airport terminal and say, I

goddess carried this nectar to heaven

want to be quiet here. You have to be in the sanctum sanctorum to be transcendent.

and some drops were spilled. Fifty

Why do you burn incense? To create this kind of atmosphere. Meditation [can be]

drops were spilled on the earth, and

on a mantra, on Nada or on thoughts, a concept which is sublime, metaphysical,

these are the 50 sound forms of

non-mundane… All these are made of words. Words are made of letters, letters

Sanskrit.

are sounds.

Q: Your mother inspired your father and his

Modern science calls it the Big Bang.

work. he constantly acknowledges her and named his institute after her. What

We call it Om.

effect did she have on you; what effect does she continue to have?

A: A lot. In my mind makeup, there is a

Q: there are external sounds. there are the sounds within. there are the sounds made by the vocal chords. Is there such a thing as a sound of silence? If so, how would one make it? And

lot of the influence of my mother.

what is its relationship to yoga?

She was an icon for me. If I may say so, even much more than my father;

A: Silence is not absence of sound. Silence is absence of hearing. You cannot be bereft

my mother was a greater icon to me.

of sound; anywhere you go you will have sound. Can you escape from the space?

Her nature, her tolerance, her nobility,

Space is made up of sound. Whatever the matter is, on a subatomic level it is made

her generosity, her accommodating-

up of protons, neutrons, electrons. Similarly, all space is comprised of sound particles.

ness—all were exceptional.

Space is nothing but sound. That is metaphysics. That is why they say the first creation was the Big Bang. From Big Bang, came space. This is modern physics. They accept that

She was an almost anger-less human

space came from sound. Modern science calls it the Big Bang. We call it Om.

being; her generosity, nobility, quietude, tolerance were exceptional.

Modern physics accepts that space comes from sound and all the rest comes from Q: What are your studies now? What are

space. Any matter comes from space. Space is womb of all matter, and space

you working on?

comes from the womb: which is sound. Shubda tan mantra…

If a wonderful musician is singing, what will the donkey say? We all appreciate a

A: I haven’t had any formal studies in

wonderful voice, a wonderful tone, wonderful music. But a donkey says, Why this

philosophy. I studied by reading on

human being is making such a noise?

my own. I had the inclination. I carried out my studies on my own.

Q: What references are there in the ancient scriptures to the relationship between yoga and

And from past life, things have come.

sound? And what contribution have you, personally, made to this study? What is your

[Prashant told us his newest book is a

original insight upon this matter?

discourse on yoga. He writes for an hour each day.]

A: If you look into Pranayama kosha, it is nothing but sound forms. In metaphysics, all energy is sound forms. No sound, no energy. That’s why the Pranayamaya kosha is 7

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Yoga Samachar

Q: Do you like writing?

subconscious tendencies: the source of the mind is the garbage. Metapsychology places this instead in the cosmic mind.

A: Yes. Because what one can speak and what one can write is different. Good

As I said, the Big Bang is physics; Om is metaphysics. The moon, Mars, the sun, the

orators can speak well but can’t write

other planets are studied by astronomers and by astrophysicists. Astrophysicists

well. When I get to writing, creativity

study the moon from a physics point of view. We look at the moon differently: we

is in a channel which isn’t offered to

relate the moon to lunacy, we relate Venus to passion, Saturn to viciousness, etc. As

me when I teach. When I teach, I

far as astrophysics is concerned, there is no difference between Venus and Mars—

speak in one way; when I write, I

but why does Mars have the martial influence, the martial nature? Guruji’s chart

speak in another way. What I teach, I

has a very strong martial nature. Guruji will never be behind the people, he will

cannot write; what I write, I cannot

always lead and impel the people…

teach. Music has contributed [to his writing]. Music can make us express

Astrologers have a different perspective. What is Prashant for you? I walk on

something which is not words. My

the street and someone sees me. You revere me as a teacher so your reading of

writing ability, my eloquence and

me is different than theirs. I go to a radiologist; he sees the pathology of me—

oration, have improved because of

but if I go to a face-reader, he will read different things in me. I am the same.

music.

You revere me, you have one reading. Somebody neither likes or dislikes me, no attachment and no aversion, he will look at me in one way. I go to a radiologist,

Q: What is the relationship between yoga

he looks at me differently.

and science?

If you are an artist and you are given a pencil,

A: A physical scientist’s perspective on yoga [is not the correct one]. Yoga is

you will draw something. As a yogi you have

not a physical or medical science— yoga is a science by itself. The science

your body and your breath.

of yoga deals with both the physics and the metaphysics of man. Where does man stand in relation to nature, and where does nature stand in

They each have a different perspective, they will all divulge a different thing about

relation to man? This is what the

Prashant. They may all be right, but they are not projecting the whole Prashant.

science of yoga gives us.

Q: What is the relationship between yoga and art?

The science of a human being will A: If you are an artist and you are given a pencil, you will draw something.

only discuss the things of medical science. That is not even .00001

As a yogi you have your body and your breath. The breath becomes a painter’s

percent of man. Man is much beyond

instrument, for his artistic work. Breath is used as a device for artwork; there is a

that: we are not just bodies of flesh.

breath art. The embodiment is the canvas for that art.

There is not much difference Q: You use humor in your teaching. often you’re very funny! can you talk about the role of

between dogs, horses, cows. Cows

humor in teaching and learning?

have been the same for the last 10,000 years; they are still eating

A: Yes, humor must be there. When you are relishing your food, you require certain

grass. But what about man? What was he eating 10,000 years ago—and

side dishes which increase the relish of your main dishes. Otherwise the main dish

now he is eating pastas and pizzas!

is not so delicious. When a serious subject is being taught, if there is something

Man has been changing.

lighter in between, the comprehension is better. Otherwise they can only go for 20 minutes. They say you can read for 20 minutes straight, but no more.

Yoga discusses the human being, the physics and metaphysics of man.

Simple things like what is the source of mind. Modern psychology says the source of the mind is the

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THERAPEUTICS IN IYENGAR YOGA:

‘Your Job is to Put the Student on the Path to Yoga’

By Stephanie Quirk It IS teMptINg to lISt here All the MArVeloUS thINgS therApeUtIc YogA cAN Do—what it can heal, calm, and alleviate —and I know there is a lot of interest in this. This shows people’s interest in the subject. Therapeutic yoga is often seen and understood on this layer of physical ailments only. But I thought I’d take this conversation in a way I hope might be more interesting and point out that therapeutics is actually benefiting all of us in Iyengar Yoga—the teacher as well as the student or patient.

A therapeutics class is often seen as one for people who cannot or should not attend a general class. These people come with various diseases, complications, and disabilities and are recommended to the medical class instead. It is viewed as not ‘real yoga,’ but something offered that is manageable for people.

But in fact the people attending medical classes are being introduced to yoga in the way we are all meant to follow it.

Right from the beginning, their practice of yoga fulfills the aims of yoga (see Yoga Sutras I.2, 3, 4, 5 and II.1) For them, it is imperative that it does so, to reduce the afflictions and bring to a halt the distorting movements in the consciousness. (By consciousness I mean the whole manifestation of consciousness: the organs of action, senses of perception, elements and tanmatras, mind, intelligence, “I”-ness and inward-moving sensibilities.) Within a yoga therapeutics class, all this is undertaken through the implementation of restraint, rectification, extension, balance, “in-line-ment,” and integration. All these qualities are present in the sadhana (practice) the patient is introduced to. Like all practitioners, having undertaken the first steps on the yogic path, he or she still has a long long journey to undertake, but is fortunate to be positioned on the path.

Photo: Todd Semo

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Yoga Samachar

The other person involved in the process

to learn. They learn with one another and share information, notes, and experiences.

is the yoga teacher. While training

This sharing occurs because therapeutics as a study isn’t conducted with the teacher

teachers, I have come to realize the

isolated on a platform. Everyone has to work together. There is no such thing as “in

enormously important role therapeutics

isolation” in teaching or learning therapeutics, even at very high levels. Instead, it is a

plays in Iyengar Yoga. I am training them

process of giving to others, tirelessly, as we see with our own Guru.

not to be an instructor of classes, though instructing skillfully and effectively is a

richard Jonas: Would you talk more about your comment that “therapeutic yoga is really

great service, but training them to guide

Iyengar Yoga.”

students and patients on the path, to awaken them to their inner content: breath, organs, energy, and mind. To

Student and teacher together come closer and

awaken them through the ‘critically’ correct approach of yoga asanas and

closer to the true subject of yoga, each

Pranayama. Everything has to work, or the outcome impacts straightaway

learning and benefiting from the other.

on the already weakened and disturbed patient.

Through upaya-kausalam—skillful means in liberative technique—in the

Stephanie Quirk: Often therapeutic yoga comes in the guise of an alternative health

therapeutic situation, student and

therapy, along the lines of the medical model. It is acclaimed for the illnesses and

teacher together come closer and closer

diseases it can cure. The teacher can fall into the error of hiding behind the role of

to the true subject of yoga, each learning

clinician. This way of seeing tends to make teachers search out only lists of props and

and benefiting from the other. Because

sequences. This is like wanting a prescription to cure the ailment. But for the teacher

of the patient’s need to proceed skillfully

this doesn’t work. Teachers aren’t physicians; they are yoga practitioners. I often have

to rectify the inner disturbing factors,

to remind them to look to their own years of study as yoga practitioners.

and with the teacher’s skillful guiding, Therapeutics isn’t a separate specialty. There is not yoga here, and “therapeutics” over

both come closer to the true practice.

there. Therapeutics isn’t another clinical method—these ideas are actually nearThis shared experience is a beautiful

enemies for the teacher. Many try to make therapeutics fit those models, but truly it is

result of the therapeutic approach in

the approach of yoga that most suits yoga. I try to get teachers to look at their own

Iyengar Yoga. In any therapeutics class

practice of yoga, and take direction from inside yoga.

people have to work together. It is hard work; often assistants are required. It is a communal activity. To learn, I encourage teachers to re-practice together what we cover in my workshops. Often teachers report back how much they appreciate this; they find that each of them recalls a different aspect of the work. Reviewing it together gives them a broader insight into what the “patient/student” is experiencing.

This is coming together for learning and is outside the usual model of yoga teaching.

Most teachers learn from another teacher, then begin to teach themselves.

Too often in the west, the new teacher leaves his teacher to embark on a teaching career, stepping away from the richness of learning. Here, in studying therapeutics, teachers return once again Yoga Samachar

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10

Photos by James Murphy

To begin, teachers need to stop

rJ: how does Iyengar Yoga’s rigorous

and think of what Sutra II.16,

training prepare teachers for therapeutics?

heyam duhkham anagatham implies—its message and what it

SQ: We have a seemingly long process of

is spelling out to them! That

study in Iyengar Yoga. Many other

Sutra implies a radical

systems award certificates after a

turnaround of all one’s actions

weekend course, but we have years and

and behavior, both in and out of

years of study and absorption and

practice time. If suffering can or

integration ahead of us before our

is to be avoided, what has to

observation and teaching become

change from the way things are

mature. No accumulation of

now? To be honest, truly taking

information, no adeptness at entwining

on just this single and

a limb here or there in advanced poses,

apparently simple Yoga Sutra

can bring this maturity. One has to be

requires courage, faith,

forever a student. Guruji himself often

determination and an open,

says he is only a learner (though not a

positive approach ready to adapt,

beginner). Recently he made a statement

learn, and absorb. Everything has

very pertinent to this topic: “I trace the

to change, and this is so very

defects; so for me what I am doing is not

true for the patient who is

important, it is what I am not doing that

suffering.

is important.”

Then we have Abhyasa and

His one simple statement sums up the

Vairagya. No alternative health method has this. Your job as a yoga teacher isn’t to be

entire approach needed to progress in

someone’s doctor, nurse, or psychiatrist. Your job is to put the patient/student on the

one’s own art as well as the art of

path of yoga. They must become followers and practitioners if they are to finally

helping others. This approach in

eradicate all trace of what disturbs them (dosha). Abhyasa (practice) and Vairagya

Iyengar Yoga of tracing defects, of

(detachment) are at the core of everything one has to undertake. They are the

bringing asana and Pranayama to a state

irreducible plinths upon which yoga is based, and what truly separates the yogic path

of refined excellence, is a very long

from other alternative health therapies.

process. By careful attention and correction, we cultivate our ability to make further refinement.

Therapeutics isn’t a separate specialty. There

In tracing defects in practice, the teacher

is not yoga here, and ‘therapeutics’ over there.

delves deeper and deeper into the techniques of the asanas and Pranayamas.

One employs these techniques in one’s

Another aspect that defines therapeutics as Iyengar Yoga is “technique and precision,

own practice for the knowledge they

or technique applied with precision.” Along with the technique appropriate for the

bring. Gradually those means are used

patient’s conditions, we must find the precision in asana that is specific to that

with increasing precision as they bring

condition. Finding that precision also means finding what is missing in the asana. We

insight into that which covers or veils

must trace what is obvious, seeable, and do-able, as well as what is hidden and

the truth or the view of the self. It starts

dormant. We must observe where there is liveliness, where dullness. We have to know

right at the beginning, though in a

the asana and, by observing the patient’s presentation of it, find out: Is the asana

rudimentary way. In this way, beginner

integrative or disintegrative? How does it affect all the layers (kosas) generally, and

students and teachers may have been

how does it target the disturbance specifically? These are abstract, but can be

training for therapeutics for quite a

addressed by the techniques we have all learned, but with increasingly refined

number of years.

precision and subtlety.

A common catchphrase is often applied When we achieve this, we are doing what Guruji has tried to present to us as “Iyengar

to Iyengar Yoga from outside:

Yoga,” simultaneously multidimensional and comprehensive. This is “whole-istic,” not

“alignment.” However, this word can

just muscular-skeletally and physiologically, but yogically. Through that experience, the

become superficial; it can begin to mean

student finds their own experience and their connection to a sense of well-being.

only outer measurement and placement.

Perhaps a better guideline is “in-line11

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Yoga Samachar

I have noticed that the success of a therapeutic approach seems to depend on the patient’s own vision. No matter the state they are in, at some stage they must pick up and grasp hold of the yogic process and make it their own (carpe diem). This is a vital step. The student must have a view of the larger path he is following. The teacher needs to help the student develop the aspiration to follow this path beyond his immediate painful situation.

So too must the teacher cultivate their own inspiration, their connection with the aims of yoga. Otherwise they will fail to take the next necessary step. Once we determine our true “self,” beyond the ego based on possessions and needs, will we have the clarity and lucidity of head and heart to truly act as though heyam duhkham anagatham is in fact possible?

A better guideline is ‘in-line-ment.’ The teacher should look to see if all the sheaths or ment”; the teacher should look to see if

layers of the self are in line.

all the sheaths or layers of the self are in line. Is the mind equally placed throughout the pose? Is there an even

In its multidimensional yet comprehensive approach, the truly outstanding qualities

feel of the skin touching everywhere, or

of Iyengar Yoga make themselves apparent.

are there some parts untouched and rJ: can you share some of your experiences in the Medical classes at r.I.M.Y.I.?

unfathomable? This is where alignment progresses to in-line-ment. With further precision the teacher can evaluate: Is it

SQ: I cannot actually replicate for teachers what I have learnt through all those years

exactly in line, equal? Is it dual or non-

of climbing the stairs. I can’t give them the experience of daily helping in the Medical

dual? Is there any trace or place

Classes. One thing teachers don’t understand is that everything they need for teaching

unknown? Here the teacher’s inquiry

in Medical Classes is actually what they have been studying all along. They have been

needs to move from what is

practicing the asanas for years. Often they seem to be waiting to be shown something

disproportionate to proportionate, from

they don’t know. It is quite amusing for me to be teaching them asanas which they

disparity to parity, in order to nullify the

have repeatedly practiced, but haven’t really delved into, to find their inner qualities

dueling vacillations in the body-breath-

and properties.

mind complex.

I find it hard to describe the vibrant emotional force and moral strength the Iyengars The techniques we train in are those of

bring into the Medical Classes. Sometimes people find it disturbing. The Iyengars are

measurement or placement, contact or

legendary for their fierceness and passion. I have come to appreciate more and more

touch, of tracing, expansion, elongation,

their strength and the emotional presence they bring to the class. Certainly their years

and extension. They are the techniques

of experience and knowledge can’t be equaled, but it is their personal connection that

of stabilization, grounding (or

gives them something deeper than any clinical expertise. Their involvement reaches

“descendance”), and ascendance. They

across the divide between themselves and the student they are trying to help.

are making lighter, making heavier. rJ: What advice would you give teachers about therapeutics?

Balance and arrangement. Aerating, fanning, and moistening. Moving and restraining – the list goes on. Too often

SQ: You have a great resource at your fingertips: You need to study and learn from

the teacher knows the correct outer

each other. Teachers must meet in community to study and practice what is presented

frame of an asana, but unless they study

in workshops so they understand it first in their own bodies.

the contents of that frame, what is happening is virtually unknown territory.

Geetaji said in Portland that we must all spend at least a year digesting what she

That’s why so many questions still come

taught there. Don’t be afraid, don’t worry about how other methods don’t take the

to the Iyengars about what to do in

time we do for study. Unfortunately this is a sign of how the world sees yoga—as a

therapeutic situations.

hobby, a sideline. They don’t give it credibility. It is the same for many disciplines that

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12

‘ I trace the defects; so for me what I am doing is not important, it is what I am not doing that is important.’—B. K. S. Iyengar

have their root in eastern spiritual traditions. The materialistic world of today won’t

inner shaking. Too often the teacher may

give credibility to something that is as creative as the yogic approach to health.

be skilled at adjusting and placement of props, but may fail to see what

rJ: What about cautions and guidelines?

transformation is gained from them.

When adjusting, “listen” through your

SQ: Yes, I do give cautions—not so much about what to do and not do for a

hands to read the resistance or

particular disease, not contraindications like in a pharmacological manual—but

acceptance of the movement.

more about protecting the teacher from error. A harmful error is a tragedy for the Today so much information is available;

teacher. It is shattering.

compare that to years back where When working directly on a patient’s asana, the teacher needs to think of how the

information was scarce. Now you have to

patient is able or not able to absorb or tolerate being in the pose. There is no point in

approach learning in a different way. Be

taking them to a pose that is too strong, too far for them to reach. The reverse is also

prepared to create your own learning, to

true. It is a common misunderstanding that therapy is all about “resting” or restorative

make mistakes, and to learn again.

poses. There may be fatigue or circulatory problems or mental imbalances that have

Learning has to include failure because

to be released at the beginning of an asana session, but to allow the patient’s circulatory,

failure is instructional. You have to “do

nervine, and mental systems to sink into dullness can create more problems.

it,” to play, to inquire. To enter into the real space and find your hand, your

To help teachers avoid injuring students, I give teachers some very simple guidelines.

vision. That’s why I have so many

The first is asking—often repeating—“How do you feel now?” Teachers should observe

sessions where teachers work together

the patient’s color and their breath; they should watch especially the neck and

and on each other, to give them a chance

abdomen for signs of imbalance and stress. They should touch and see if there is any

to find their eye, to find their hand in the subject. They don’t just watch me doing the work on someone and take notes.

They do it themselves. There are many good books available (all that information again!), but teachers still ask what to do. They have to “get their hand.” They have to develop skillfulness, compassion, and wisdom (kausalam, karuna, and prajna). The techniques and information will be there, but more important, there has to be immersion in the subject with a full heart. Only then will these qualities come.

Stephanie Quirk has been observing and working with the Iyengars at R.I.M.Y.I. since 1994, assisting in all the classes including the medical and women’s classes. For the last several years, she has been conducting comprehensive six-part training workshops on therapeutics, sharing her knowledge and expertise with Iyengar Yoga

Photo by James Murphy

teachers around the world.

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Yoga Samachar

Drawing Young People to Iyengar Yoga < YoUr reSpoNSeS to the IYNAUS SUrVeY >

I

t is vital for the future of Iyengar Yoga that young people—

teachers, practitioners, and students—embrace our method.

Only in this way can we insure that the teachings of Guruji and the Iyengars continue to reach a wide audience. Early this year a survey was sent to IYNAUS members as a first step to prompt our U.S. yoga community to think and talk about this issue so that we can all be creative in coming up with ideas and solutions.

Three hundred and eighteen respondents completed the survey; 54 percent were Certified Teachers, 24 percent students, and 22 percent people who teach but are not yet certified. Certified Teachers ranged in level from Introductory I (16 percent) and Introductory II (50 percent, the largest group), to Intermediate Junior (27 percent) and higher (nearly 7 percent). Respondents ranged from late teens to the 70s. Some preferred not to give their name; they are identified as anonymous.

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14

Responses were overwhelmingly positive, with people crediting Iyengar Yoga for transforming their lives—healing their bodies, deepening their spiritual awareness. There were some complaints about teachers and teaching techniques. It was agreed that Iyengar Yoga should be marketed to the young by a margin of 10 to one.

Some responses have been condensed and edited for length; ellipses do not always appear when part of a response has been deleted; we have made every effort to respect the intent of the respondent. We appreciate all responses; if your response was not selected for publication, it is likely because others had a similar theme. Additional responses will be published in the Fall issue of Yoga Samachar and online at iynaus.org. Special thanks to Constance Braden, Nikki Costello, Sharon Cowdery, Carole Del Mul, Brina Gehry, Anne Geil, and Pat Musburger for creating and tallying the survey. —Richard Jonas

How old were you when you began practicing Iyengar Yoga?

mind fairly calm dealing with my clients. This has taken years, but as a retired contractor and fulltime teacher, my level of tension and my attention to the spiritual aspects of life are evolving more and more.”

Respondents began Iyengar Yoga at various ages—mostly in

—Allan Nett, Intermediate Junior III, 64

their 20s and 30s, with sizeable numbers beginning in their 40s, and a few in their 50s and 60s. One respondent began after 70, one at 14.

How many years have you been practicing Iyengar Yoga?

Respondents reported years, and in many cases, decades of practice. Approximately half have been practicing Iyengar Yoga from 11 to 20 years, 30 percent from one to 10 years, and 20 percent from 21 to more than 40 years.

Has your mind state changed over the years? Has yoga made you feel calmer, more equable, more attuned to the spiritual nature of the practice?

‘I’m more attuned to the spiritual nature of life. Practice is life off the mat now. Asana is just a small part of the whole.’

“ I’m more attuned to the spiritual nature of life. Practice is life off the mat now. Asana is just a small part of the whole.” —Annie Hoffman,

More than 99 percent said yes; only three disagreed; two of

Introductory II, 56

these went on to explain they had experienced the change right away, or came to Iyengar Yoga from a practice of some other yoga.

“ Yoga helped pull me out of a depression in my early 20s. I attribute my practice to helping me be a more stable and patient person, mom,

“ Yoga helped me become a more peaceful, mindful, and cheerful person.

friend.” —Aretha Blevins, Intermediate Junior I, 34

But it has also, and most importantly, helped me live and love more wholeheartedly.” —Carrie Owerko, Intermediate Senior I, 48

“ Yoga has given me skills and tools to practice freedom, whatever my physical or physiological state.” —Victoria Austin,

“ Yoga helped me be more confident. When I started at 30, the world

Intermediate Junior III, 57

was overwhelming.” —Bobby Clennell, Intermediate Senior I, 68 “ When I was suffering from depression several years ago, my practice “ Yoga practice has made me able to deal with the inevitable ups and

helped tremendously.” —Chris Beach, Intermediate Junior II, 51

downs in life without too much difficulty. Although life still presents the usual things—births, deaths, illnesses, divorces, marriages, job

“ I had a lot of self-esteem issues. During the first session of classes I

changes and losses, house moves, continent moves, menopause—I

gained physical strength as well as emotional stability.”

have been able to bounce back from each experience. The practice is

—Becky Lloyd, Intermediate Junior II, 44

like a thread which simply has to be picked up again.”

—Cathy Rogers Evans, Intermediate Senior III, 56

“ Yoga has made me calmer while I am practicing yoga; not always while I am dealing with stuff in the world. It does help to know I have

“ I came into Iyengar Yoga due to a serious accident, and after working

my practice to go to.” —Ute Zahn, student, 46

with the physical body I became more interested in going deeper. In 1981 I asked Guruji how, and he suggested I read several texts which

“ Iyengar Yoga has brought a sense of stillness, an ability to appreciate

would help me understand. It took many years to really get into some

the moment, and a sense of the vastness of consciousness in life.”

of those texts, but now I am really able to connect aspects of the texts

—Charles Tidd, Introductory II, 60

with my Asana practice, and I am very grateful to Guruji.”

—Joan White, Advanced Junior I, 67

“ Yoga is a vehicle—a path to the deepest kosha. It is a continuous process, which aims to close the distance between my ‘self’ and that

“ Of course my mind state has changed! I am 30-plus years older. How

which I perceive and encounter through my mind and body. At any

can I tell if it is only yoga that has made me calmer? Many things

level of appreciation, yoga does this without the practitioner

have influenced me.” —Anonymous teacher

necessarily understanding its rich purpose.” —Carol W. Nichols, Introductory I, 60

“ I was a general contractor for the last 30 years. Iyengar Yoga helped me keep my body straight after much physical labor and keep my 15

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Yoga Samachar

“ I would have to write a book to describe the positive changes. The

“ I always say, ‘God gave us the right tools; Iyengar Yoga teaches us

practice of Iyengar Yoga has allowed me a huge transition from a

how to use them.’ As a devout Christian, [I have found that] much of

chaotic, scattered lifestyle to a spiritually-focused calmness that is my

what is taught in Iyengar Yoga reiterates much of what Christianity

true nature.” —Gary Reitze, Intermediate Junior II, 63

teaches. What I do not agree with I set aside and take what applies to my life. Yoga has enhanced my own spiritual belief.” —Mary Frances

“ Iyengar Yoga gave me the grace to make it through the late teen years

Chan, Introductory II, 73

and the transitions in college and travels abroad. In the last sevenand-a-half years it has enhanced my life through three pregnancies

“ What began as a physical endeavor and an interest in ‘mysticism’

and the challenges of mothering. Now my children are a part of my

has developed into a practice where I experience greater depth of

yoga practice.” —Desiree Federman, teacher, 33

being, clarity, and sensitivity.” —Michael Moore, Introductory II, 40

“ Being very hyperactive, I tended to constantly be on the go. Yoga

“ I’m not calmer or more equable, but totally like myself: quick to

helped me become more focused and attentive to the present moment.

engage, totally tuned in to the outside world and made happy by it. In

In my Asana practice I have also learned to be less competitive and

that sense, I’m more attuned to the spiritual nature of the practice.”

more attuned to my body’s need for balance.” —Diana Jacaman,

—Anonymous teacher

Introductory II, 56 “ Sometimes, unfortunately, it has been hard, because I have never really had a teacher who was also giving and willing to be a mentor.

‘Yoga has given me skills and tools to practice freedom, whatever my state.’

Lately it seems to be all about money.” —Anonymous student “ After a long dance career, Iyengar Yoga was the one physical activity I could manage that didn’t hurt. My body has begun to ‘open’ again through the careful work in yoga. More importantly, my entire approach to living has shifted. I don’t feel that I need to control things as much. I feel I can trust that others are doing what they need to do for themselves. If I can help them to come to yoga, I am pleased, but I

“ As an alcoholic, I needed significant emotional and spiritual growth and balance to recover.” —Jim Gleason, Introductory II, 68 “ I am happier, from a cellular level, to use Guruji’s description of satya.

don’t feel I am ‘responsible’ for the whole world anymore!”

—Peggy Berg, Introductory II, 62 “ Yoga is probably the best thing that has happened to me so far in my

I have greater discernment, am able to make decisions sooner and

life. I feel calmer, more focused, accepting of my body, and happy. Yoga

more assuredly, not going back and forth so many times.”

is transformative.” —Naomi Lazny, student, 18

—Jan LeFrancois, Intermediate Junior I, 57 “ I am always amazed at how little awareness I have of yoga’s effects “ Doing Iyengar Yoga, I was able to focus and take care of my body

while I am regularly practicing. It is only when I am forced to hold off

with all its qualities and imperfections. In my first Iyengar class I was

on my practice for some reason that I realize how important it is to

encouraged not to abandon any vulnerable area in my body, but

my state of mind. That realization has made my practice more

instead to nurture and promote its health. This different approach to

constant.” —Rogelio Zuniga, student, 38

practice had an immediate effect on my state of mind. I felt calmer, more focused and engaged. Reading the Sutras brought the spiritual

“ Without yoga I would certainly be a very different person. I have

nature of the practice in for me.” — Janet Langley,

found a level of peace in my life I never knew before. I have been able

Intermediate Junior I, 47

to see the beauty of who I am without the makeup I previously used.

Without the hair dye. Without the high heels. Without the … dare I

“ I have always been a hard worker and something of a perfectionist.

say it—girdle! I am a much, much happier person. Yoga and

Yoga helped me let go of the ‘results.’ I still work hard, but I let the

meditation made all the difference!” —Gayna Uransky,

results evolve. I am a calmer, happier person for that.”

Intermediate Junior III, 64

—Anonymous Certified Teacher “ I came to the practice from another style because I wanted to heal my

What attracted you to Iyengar Yoga? What aspects of this type of yoga did not appeal to you?

chronic back pain; I stayed because my back healed and so did my heart. This practice put my heels into the ground, my tailbone

Response was overwhelmingly positive to this, the most

underneath me, and gave me a sense of stability I had never

controversial of our questions. Two-thirds of respondents said

previously experienced. It has lit me from within.” — Jennifer Roy,

they liked everything about Iyengar Yoga—“No aspect did not

student, 28

appeal to me,” one wrote—praising its “precision” and

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16

“intelligence” and writing glowingly about “knowledgeable”

and theater arts background, I was used to abuse so it was no big

teachers marked by “authority and compassion.” Iyengar Yoga is

deal. I was more concerned that some of the teachers I encountered

“transformative,” many respondents said, citing recoveries from

seemed really unhappy, unfulfilled even." —Carrie Owerko,

severe injuries; others wrote about the way Iyengar Yoga bridges

Intermediate Senior I, 48

the physical to embrace the spiritual. Of the third with reservations, some cited teachers who were “harsh,” “rigid,” or “judgmental.”

“ It was the first type of yoga that explained what and why I was doing the Asanas. I loved the alignment. It just made complete sense. No aspect did not appeal to me: I was a convert from the first class.”

—Juliana Fair, Intermediate Senior I, 57

‘I came to Iyengar Yoga after 12 years in another method.

It was like going to a “master class”—after all these years I didn’t even know my own body!’

“ I was attracted to Iyengar Yoga by the transformation which I saw had taken place in my friend, from a large, rather depressed lady into a svelte, alert, cheerful person who no longer wore black everyday. She helped me join her teacher’s class and I was hooked at the age of 22. I was a young mother of two who had already started to suffer from stress, which was showing up in stomach pains. I began to feel better immediately. I loved every aspect of the yoga: I loved the way the practice completely engaged my mind and made me feel strong, healthy, energetic. Guruji came to Oxford and I was there, Guruji came to London and I was there. Every time he taught or demonstrated in England, I struggled to find time and money to get

“ I came to Iyengar Yoga through my teacher, Mary Palmer. I had broken my back in a horseback-riding accident and she said she would use

there. I was so keen there was absolutely no stopping me!”

—Cathy Rogers Evans, Intermediate Senior III, 56

that to get Mr. Iyengar to come to the United States. That was the beginning. After my very first class I knew that he would be my

“ I was attracted by the sense it made with the integrity of the body.

teacher. I loved his insightfulness and his ability to actually instruct

It helped me more psychologically than physically at first.”

us in our poses. I was surprised by his mercurial temper and was a

—Felicity Green, Advanced Junior I, 77

bit afraid of him, but at the same time fascinated by him. I stayed because I could see that he was throwing me a lifeline when the

“ It is sensible, offering practice from the level of athleticism to

doctors had been very negative about my condition. I had glimpses of

recuperation, with sophisticated Pranayama from the very beginning.

him as a very compassionate man, especially when he took me right

The approach feels profoundly complete, from the physical to the

out of a chair backbend because he said with that much pain, I

psychological and spiritual. Although I studied many of the texts

couldn’t do. I hadn’t said anything about the pain, but he was

when I was in college and in my 20s, I find the current usage of

watching me and immediately saw what was happening and came to

Sanskrit creates needless obscurity.” —Anonymous Teacher

my rescue. How could I not want to be in the presence of someone like that?” —Joan White, Advanced Junior I, 67

“ My first experience was when I was in dance school in Amsterdam.

We went to the Iyengar Center to ‘get a good stretch.’ I liked the

“ The Iyengar method offers a full range of methods to practice

acrobatics of it, not the simple poses. I thought some of the inversions

including fast-moving or flowing as well as ‘slow’ or holding poses.

were scary, but I was actually interested in that emotion."

There is something to learn in all the approaches which complement

—Lucienne Vidah, Intermediate Junior I, 48

each other. There is something to learn in moving quickly that is not found in a slow approach and vice versa. These distinctions can enhance each other.”—Dean Lerner, Advanced Junior I, 60

“ At my first Iyengar class the teacher came up to me and said, ‘You have scoliosis.’ I had not thought about my scoliosis in years. She said, ‘Forget everything you have learned in yoga. You first need to

“ Iyengar Yoga helped me transition from my 20s to my 30s. The Sixties

learn to balance on your two feet.’ After that class I got the ‘yoga flu’;

had been pretty wild, plus I had a lot to cope with. I gave birth to my

everything was flowing in my body, toxins releasing. I have been

two children in my 20s. Iyengar Yoga gave me strength and a way of

hooked ever since.” —Tessa Manning, student, 27

feeling good that didn’t involve drugs.” —Bobby Clennell, Intermediate Senior I, 68

“ I started yoga after two foot surgeries ended my ‘identity’ as a competitive runner. For the first two years I struggled. I was angry in

“ I was drawn to the discipline, precision, vision and inspiration of

poses such as Virabhadrasana I. Savasana could have been the

Guruji’s practice. I was a bit wary of what appeared to be abusive

hardest of all. [Still] I knew immediately that yoga was more than

behaviors from some of the teachers. Since I had come from a dance

Asana and might help me quiet my mind and allow me to be more 17

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Yoga Samachar

present. At times I found it boring or slow, but that also kept me

“ Instructions on how to properly get into and out of poses, and how to

interested. The rest of my life was varied, fast-paced, insane. I needed

stay in poses. What actions should be happening. And the teacher

to focus and center and be specific.” —Catherine S. Marquette, teacher, 34

said things that made sense, not terms like ‘Reach for the stars.’

Nothing was unappealing to me about Iyengar Yoga.”

“ I like the authority the teachers have as well as their compassion.

—Anonymous Certified Teacher

I also like very much the way the teachers correct each individual.”

—Floriana Tullio, student, 36 “ Teachers of Iyengar Yoga have been the most down-to-earth and loving yoga teachers I have studied under.” —Kate Morse Harris, student, 30 “ My very first yoga class was with Mary Dunn. I had no idea what Iyengar Yoga was, but I was totally attracted to how she presented the philosophy. I related on a life level, and I was delighted by the

‘Iyengar Yoga teachers have been the most down-to-earth and loving yoga teachers I have studied under.’

challenge.” — Leslie Manes, Intermediate Junior I, 68 “ My teacher was warm and caring and had a real focus on the spiritual aspect of the practice.” —Anonymous teacher

“ I was dragged to an Iyengar class by a friend who believed that with my groin injury, I would benefit. At first I found the intense commitment of ‘brain activity’ in the Asana very difficult. Such focus

“ The precision and lack of pretense.” —Achyut Joshi, student, 32

while doing Asana felt cerebral in a way that was uncomfortable. I had to let go of the comfort of ignorance—the belief that brain and

“ The precision of the Iyengar method, and how deeply my teacher

body were somehow separate.” —Janet Langley, Intermediate Junior I, 47

seemed to understand the subject. I was intrigued at the vast scope of what was taught in yoga class: the body, mind, emotions, breath, the philosophy, the spiritual aspects.” —Alicia Rowe, Introductory II, 39

“ The simplicity of the practice attracted me. I may be in the minority, but I love props. The more props, the better. The precise use of props attracted me, the attention to detail, and the lack of sentimentality

“ I came to Iyengar Yoga after 12 years in another method. It was like

surrounding the practice. I don’t feel as though I’m told what to feel,

going to a ‘master class’—after all these years I didn’t even know my

but rather given time and space to have the experience for myself. On

own body! It was a revelation; each class blew my mind. I became

a physical level, the instruction is always very precise, but beyond

hooked, and although I was teaching the other method, I started

that I often feel I have been given generous space to simply observe.”

regularly studying only Iyengar Yoga.” —Barbara Boris,

—Jennifer Roy, student, 28

Introductory I, 52 “ The geographic scarcity of teachers in certain areas results in long “ I tried a couple of different schools, but they didn’t feel right for me.

commutes or infrequent access to classes.” —Karen Taylor, student, 31

When I walked into my first Iyengar class, I knew I would be doing this for the rest of my life. What attracted me was the orderly

“ Having been a professional dancer, I was seeking a form of exercise

progression of Asanas, as well as what and how I was taught.

that would give my body the same satisfactions that dance classes

Compared to the other ‘types’ of yoga, the teacher’s ego was pretty

had. The unexpected bonus was that through the effort and precision,

much kept out of the class. This made it feel safe both physically and

I received a profound feeling of absence of mental and emotional

emotionally. I also soon got a sense of the vast scope of the subject,

tension. I could not remember a time when I had felt so free of such

and settling into the knowledge that a lifetime of learning lay ahead

tensions.” —Leslie Dillingham Freyberg, Intermediate Junior I, 61

was both humbling and exciting.” —Ute Zahn, student, 46 “ It made more sense than some of the others I tried, and it was more “ I don’t like the hierarchical, top-down nature of the system.”

accessible for someone starting out at age 40.” —David McDonald, student, 60

—Claudia Kuhns, Introductory Junior I, 61 “ The only thing that did not appeal to me then was that the teachers

“ I started practicing out of books. One day, I nearly injured myself

were all younger than me, and did not fully understand the older body.

when I blacked-out while attempting a standing back bend, falling

As the teachers have matured, that aspect of teaching has improved.”

head-first on the floor. I decided to get some instruction. My brother

—Dena Glazer, Introductory II, 77

was taking Iyengar classes so I went to his teacher, who remains my primary teacher today. The only complaint I had at the time was that I wanted to learn how to ‘meditate.’ I thought something was missing.

It took me many years to understand how the practice of Asana and

Yoga Samachar

Spring /Summer 2011

18

Pranayama is meant to culture the mind and lead toward meditation.” —Michael Moore, Introductory II, 40

“ My first Iyengar teacher, Ida Unger, was my biggest draw. From my first class I knew this experience of Iyengar Yoga would enhance and change my life and it has—every single day. The teacher-in-training

“ With a lifetime of accumulated injuries from my dance career, I was

program is so demanding and I have proudly graduated through the

concerned I was going to need both knees and hips replaced. I was

three-year process. I had a severe injury and lost my mom this past

immediately attracted to Iyengar Yoga because I found I could engage

year. As a result, I have not completed the required six-month

in the physical practice with great intensity, but without further

assistant duty and may have to wait another year before I can go for

damage—this was amazing! When I began to feel my ability to move

the first-phase testing. This is a huge turn-off.” —Wendy Alter,

increase again, I was relieved beyond belief. I also was amazed that

teacher, 51

there were so many things about the body I didn’t know. No one in dance ever suggested moving my skin one way or the other! I became

“ Attraction: the grounding, down-to-earth kind of working on poses

intellectually curious too, and that powered further investigation.

and getting better at it. On the negative side: it brought out a

Gradual immersion in the practice began to teach other, more subtle

‘shadow side’ in me: jealousy (of other people who could do poses

lessons about living. Many people think yoga shouldn’t be so ‘picky,’

better than I), eagerness that went beyond a healthy state, anxiety

so much about props, so much to think about. For me, those were the

and nervousness around assessment situations.” —Renata Cardinal,

things that appealed to me and made me feel safe.” —Peggy Berg,

Introductory II, 64

Introductory II, 62 “ The attention to detail and the results… It seemed very genuine and grounded. The only aspect that does not appeal to me (then and now) is the heavy emphasis on Hindu-centered prayers. I respect it but do not want to feel ostracized if I do not participate. I do not like being told that I ‘must’ begin my classes with the invocation to Patanjali. I don’t, and as a studio owner, I do not feel that this is a way to attract students.” —Anonymous Certified Teacher

‘I was attracted by the precision of the poses; building a pose from the “foundation” is what brought me into the system.’

“ I first began taking Iyengar Yoga classes because my mother was a longtime practitioner. I was drawn to the advanced arm balances and inversions, as well as the wisdom and physical abilities of my teachers. I was a little turned off by Pranayama—a week of classes

“ Teachers are often full of dogma, lack joy, could be called mean and rigid.” —Anonymous student

each month devoted to breathing exercises and restorative poses didn’t seem as challenging and exciting as the backbends, twists, and standing poses.” —Naomi Lazny, student, 18

“ While acknowledging Iyengar Yoga’s “intelligent, methodical, physically-safe, knowledgeable teachers with apparently high levels of integrity,” one respondent wrote “many teachers can be rude and

“ The intelligence and incredible depth of our system is what attracted

abrasive to the point of being abusive” and of a “cult-like mentality

me. I was lucky to study with teachers that were compassionate and

(our way is the only right way)” that was “rigid, elitist, sophist” and

interesting. At 22 years old, I thought the people practicing seemed old

represented “too many burning hoops to jump through as a teacher.”

and they dressed funny. Obviously that was my immature state of

—Anonymous student

mind; I was often the youngest person in my class.”

—Anonymous Certified Teacher, 38

“ I like the way the mind is so engaged in the physical actions and Guruji’s poetic images illuminating the Asanas with the philosophy,

“ The precision that obviously got right into the stiffness that I had.

but not the occasional harshness and perfectionist interpretation of

And I was happy to be hearing the philosophy behind yoga. I am an

the work.” While attracted by “teachers who gave instructions that

anthropologist by training and love to know the roots of things. The

were easy to follow” and who made “it feel safe,” the respondent was

only drawback to Iyengar Yoga is hard work and dedication. Laziness

put off by “teachers (who) were angry, not friendly while teaching.

is not accepted... ha!” —Jennie Williford, Intermediate Junior I, 37

Teachers were mean and bossy.” —Anonymous student

“ I needed the structure. I hated the structure.” —Suzy Pennington, Introductory II, 58

“ I love Iyengar’s wisdom—it is very detailed and intelligent. My body opened up immensely when I started working with the props. I basically only study with Iyengar teachers now. I feel they hold a high

“ I liked being able to take an intro level course starting at the very

standard and are more knowledgeable. I like all the Iyengar

beginning with everyone else. I did not like going to yoga classes with

publications. I honor and respect B.K.S. Iyengar’s teachings, but I do

all kinds of levels and little instruction. I also liked the discipline.”

not like the mental rigidity and politics. I think many Iyengar teachers

—Virginia Burdette, student, 54

continued on page 22

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Yoga Samachar

Starting Young and Sticking with It An Interview with the Youngest U.S. Iyengar Yoga Teacher

R

ose Goldblatt, 25, is the youngest Certified Iyengar Yoga

cb: You live in a fairly isolated area at the border of northern Vermont

Teacher in the U.S. She passed her Introductory II

and New hampshire. What is the demand for Iyengar Yoga there?

assessment last year and lives in northeastern Vermont. rg: I teach at my Dad’s studio in Littleton, NH. I have more than

chris beach: When did you start doing yoga?

70 students, and my classes average about 8-12 students. There seems to be an ongoing interest in our classes. The people in

rose goldblatt: I was 14, and I became a serious student at 15. I

this area do not really distinguish between one form of yoga or

had danced, though not seriously, and my father, David

another. There are a couple of other teachers in the area, but not

Goldblatt, had been teaching yoga since the 1970s. He was a

many. However, there is a demand for yoga. People in this rural

student of Dona Holleman in the early days of Iyengar Yoga in

area tend to be very self-sufficient. They chop their own

this country, and has continued to study regularly with Iyengar

firewood and grow food. Their down-to-earth practicality seems

teachers. The first workshop Patricia Walden taught was at his

to make them interested in the precision of the Iyengar method.

studio in Franconia, NH, around 1981. When my dance teacher

They also don’t have many preconceptions about what yoga is.

moved away, my father was teaching yoga in the studio in our cb: Many younger people find Iyengar Yoga to be less “exciting” or

house, and I began to study with him.

movement-oriented than some other kinds of yoga. We hold poses for a At 16, I went to a workshop with Patricia and fell in love with

long time and work on details. As a younger practitioner and teacher,

yoga. I said to myself, “This is my calling; I know this is what I

how do you feel about Iyengar Yoga versus other kinds of

want to do.” I wanted to study and study, and eventually become

yoga?

a teacher. At 17, I started going to Patricia’s Wednesday class in Cambridge. Then, at around 19, I decided I wanted to start

rg: I haven’t had much

teaching. Patricia told me I was too young to do a teacher

experience with other

training, but said it was all right if I began teaching some small

kinds of yoga, so

classes for young people.

it’s hard for me to

When I was 22, I began a two-year teacher training program with Janice Vien, and at 24 I took my Introductory I assessment.

The next year I did my Intro II.

Yoga Samachar

Spring /Summer 2011

20

We need to get people to see how yoga can be transformative. compare. Coming from dance, I knew I needed strength and

spent was an important learning experience and I am scheduled

stability. As far as teaching Iyengar Yoga to young people, it’s

to return in December 2011. Overall, it was a good experience,

important to make things fun and exciting. You can still teach

and I learned a lot.

Iyengar Yoga with softness instead of rigidity. Patricia was an inspiration to me in terms of making things accessible, light.

cb: Are there ways that IYNAUS can reach out to younger people?

Young people don’t need to take things too seriously. rg: It’s not so much about attracting young people to Iyengar cb: Do you have young people in your classes?

Yoga as getting them to stick with it. They won’t want to unless they see how good it is for them, spiritually and physically. I

rg: Some—probably in part because I’m younger. But the

wouldn’t be surprised if even in the other styles of yoga very few

majority are not under 30.

young people actually come day after day, year after year. I bet those Bikram classes that you think have lots of young people

cb: have you been to pune yet?

have a lot of turnover. We need to get people to see how yoga can be transformative, and as yoga teachers we need to

rg: I went to Pune in February 2010. It was the month when the

continue to let ourselves be transformed and not get stuck in

bombing happened, which freaked me out so much that I had to

our ways.

go home early. However, the three weeks that I I think the fact that my dad and I do yoga together is very important. Discussing it with him has been invaluable and continues to be a learning experience for both of us.

21

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Yoga Samachar

Survey from page 19

are unnecessarily harsh and judgmental. Instead of just correcting my alignment, they have made a judgmental comment about me when

How can we compete with other methods of yoga in attracting young practitioners?

they don’t even know me. For instance, a teacher screaming at me across the room: ‘That is an improper use of props!’ when I sat too far

Eleven percent said we shouldn’t compete, but should let the

forward on a blanket. Why not just ask me to sit farther back? Once I

students find us. The majority disagreed. We should give a new

leaned too far forward in Prasarita Padottanasana. A teacher told

generation of students what they value and need, including

me, ‘You are a typical teacher—overly aggressive.’ Again, why the

more Vinyasa—“Keep them moving”—and an approach that is

judgment? Can’t he just tell me to press my legs farther back? These

“joyful,” “lighthearted,” and “fun.” We should welcome students

things turn people off and they rarely ever happen in other systems

from other disciplines, become more a part of the overall yoga

of yoga. If you are a young person, are you going to go to a yoga class

community, and better communicate the strengths of Iyengar

where a teacher might yell at you? I don’t think so!”

Yoga. Other suggestions: competitive pricing, student discounts,

—Anonymous teacher

free classes, and other incentives. There was a call for younger teachers. A few respondents commented that assessment was

‘I may be in the minority, but I love props. The more props, the better.’

“scary” or too expensive, sometimes because of a lack of teacher training in their area. “ We teachers should vary our approaches to asana—and understand the different needs and abilities of young versus older students, developing approaches to challenge and teach to all ages. Look at the children’s classes in Pune—lots of action, work, laughter, challenge, and alignment. Some talk, but that’s not predominant in an

“ I was attracted by the precision of the poses; building a pose from the

atmosphere that’s challenging yet encouraging to the kids. For

‘foundation’ is what brought me into the system. What didn’t appeal

younger students, we should do lots of poses with two or three main

to me was the rough attitude of many teachers, still even today. Many

points taught throughout the class so they experience, learn, and

teachers try to emulate Guruji’s rough, no-nonsense approach, which

remember them. Move more, talk less—this works well for children of

turns many people off.” —Allan Nett, Intermediate Junior III, 64

all ages actually.” —Dean Lerner, Advanced Junior I, 60

“ I can get turned off by the rigidity and lack of personal expression.”

“ A much greater presence at yoga conventions. If we want to attract young people, we have to show young people practicing. We also need

—Anna Hindell, teacher, 32

to have articles appear in popular yoga magazines. Nowadays young “ My first teacher could be demeaning at times, which was hard to

people go for the sleek presentations, the fancy yoga booths at

receive and to witness. The instruction was good, and I found friends

conventions. We have to show more of our versatility, especially in our

in my classes that I bonded with. Later I found a teacher that was

advertising. We also have to move young people faster in the

kind, stable, and inspiring. —Aretha Blevins, Intermediate Junior I, 34

beginning classes without holding them for a long period of time while we give endless points. Students should be allowed to

“ Competition, authoritarianism (and) superiority do not appeal to me in yoga. Unfortunately, I do not feel compelled to become a Certified

experience the poses in the first few weeks without over correcting them.” —Joan White, Advanced Junior I, 67

Iyengar Teacher because of these characteristics, which seem to become highlighted as teachers develop themselves.” —Carla Helena

“ Lighten up, be less strict, use fewer instructions. Do more and stop less, show less. Think about how young people use technology and

Anselm, teacher, 39

social media. Their lifestyles support short attention spans. We should “ Iyengar Yoga helped me with severe lower back pain immediately, so I

tailor beginning classes to fit those expectations. In the beginning

kept returning. At the time (1988) I did not like that it seemed so dry,

classes at Pune, they don’t give very many instructions, not much

technical, and unspiritual. There was no integration of yoga

attention to detail and ‘alignment.’ I think our problem is partly that

philosophy, there were no Oms, no meditation in the beginning or end

after being drilled on that in teacher training, it is hard not to focus

of class (not a problem today!), and I didn’t like the elitism,

this way in beginning classes. It is a big turn-off to many young

condescension, and arrogance. I am very happy much of this has been

people.” —Sue Salaniuk, Intermediate Junior III, 64

worked out as the teaching of the style has evolved.” —Joni Yecalsik, “ Competition is a waste of money and time. What we’re doing is a

Intermediate Junior I, 53

service. To water it down and try to get into the mud with everyone “ The clarity of instruction is what spoke to me, right away. The

else is not validating what we do. We have high standards and should

precision. That we can approach the practice of movement of our

acknowledge them. Yoga is not a competition. If we follow the Yamas

bodies with a sharp intellectual mind. I do, at times, have trouble with

and Niyamas and the teachings of Guruji, and teach those students

the teaching style. It can be very aggressive.” —Anonymous student

who are interested in learning, they will learn and may be helped with

Yoga Samachar

Spring /Summer 2011

22

those problems that bring them to yoga. Those who ‘taste’ the

sanctity amid the stress of everyday. If we provide a place to play and

sweetness and goodness of yoga and feel a difference, may bring

explore other mind states, other ways of behaving and responding to

others. One or two stones make a ripple in the water. A few interested

adversity, then young people will come to Iyengar Yoga—and stay in

students will bring others, rather than the many who come for a quick

the community.” —Carrie Owerko, Intermediate Senior I, 48

taste, because they see an ad or free classes offered. I have learned this directly from my teacher, B.K.S. Iyengar, who has never

“ Bring more compassion, understanding, and joy into the teachings.

advertised his classes. There is no competition with this man or his

Less hard discipline. The discipline needs to come from within the

method, if taught correctly.” —Marian Garfinkel,

student.” —Betty Eiler, Introductory II, 76

Ph. D., Intermediate Senior III “ Smile more, be lighter.”—Allan Nett, Intermediate Junior III, 64 “ Because I was young when I started I don’t feel it’s a problem. I have students of all ages and I teach differently to different groups. With young people, you have to keep them moving, you have to keep their

“ We will become extinct if we don’t modernize.”

—Anonymous Certified Teacher

attention. This is the methodology used in the kids’ and teens’ classes at R.I.M.Y.I. You can’t keep them standing in Tadasana for an hour,

“ A good way to attract more young people would be to offer more

throwing out arcane ideas. It’s not unlike the question, ‘How do you

classes for children. That way, there is a chance to ‘hook ‘em young!’”

keep kids in school?’ Don’t be boring! Kids today really need yoga. A

—Mimi Visser, teacher, 42

lot of them are so out of shape. They’re gaming all day and they have thumb injuries at 16. Odd things are happening with young people

“ One of the problems is that it is not ‘hip’ enough, and when the young

physically. I think they’re forgetting how to be young. The beauty of

peek into a class they see students of the age of their parents and

Iyengar Yoga is that it evolves. It’s so creative and dynamic a form of

grandparents. We also tend to be so serious and stern; there seems to

yoga, it evolves wherever you need to go. People take the teaching

be an unspoken law of how one has to be in class. The outer discipline

hierarchy as a negative, something that cramps their style, not

overtakes the inner and creates an unattractive wall. We must not

realizing Mr. Iyengar’s brilliance in creating a way to keep his

forget that it is fine to come to yoga for arbitrary reasons; what a

teachings flowing. Our duty as his teachers is not to fight with it or

great opportunity to introduce someone to Iyengar Yoga! Young people

become egotistical about it. We need to do our best to understand and

also like community; a space to gather, to sit around, read, or drink

impart his wisdom on this subject, not as rules but intrinsic principles

something.” —Lucienne Vidah, Intermediate Junior I, 48

for transformation.” —Anna Delury, Intermediate Senior II, 51 “ One thing this generation values is ‘living well.’ They prioritize this over fame, wealth, and career. Here is a link to the best report I know

‘Speed things up and keep them moving. They don’t care about quite so many details.’

of their generation. Perhaps tailor Iyengar Yoga to this profile.” See: http://pewsocialtrends.org/files/2010/10/millennials-confidentconnected-open-to-change.pdf —Allison Bailey, student, 49 “ People want to be with their peers. A teenage girl doesn’t want to be in class with a 60-year-old woman. When I start teaching I would segment my classes: Yoga for People Over 50, Yoga for Teens, Yoga for Kids, Yoga for Bodybuilders. Men have specific needs and they don’t

“ In Pune, when there are ‘young’ students (in their 20s), when the rest

want to be with flexible dancers. People are so competitive in their

of the class is winding down, the young group, under the supervision

early career that they don’t think the way other practitioners think.

of the teacher, continues on through to the final version of the pose.

They’re still looking at people on the other mats. If you want to keep

They shouldn’t be held back.” —Bobby Clennell, Intermediate Senior I, 68

them, you want to put them with groups of similar people.”

—Christine Nounou, teacher, 59

“ Remember that the details which we have worked so hard to learn from the Iyengars are for experienced practitioners. Beginners to yoga

“ I think that what we ‘market’ to young people — that investing in

want and need to move, to feel their whole body, maybe to work so

yourself through a long-standing tradition with safe and effective

that they sweat a bit.” —Cathy Rogers Evans,

practice—will lead you where you want to be in terms of a yoga

Intermediate Senior III, 56

practice/lifestyle.”—Ruth Fisk, Introductory II, 53

“ Focusing on competition and ‘otherness’ can point us in the direction

“ Stop being the yoga of no. Stop making it so hard to feel welcome in a

of separateness. To market Iyengar Yoga to young people, we must be

class. A new person comes to a Level II class and they are told they

our best selves. Even young people tire of the harshness, competition,

are not welcome and they have to go to a Level I.”

politics, and pettiness of many workplace interactions. A yoga class

—Anonymous Certified Teacher

and community are an opportunity to have a little place of peace and 23

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Yoga Samachar

“ Above all, do not change the practice to make it more hip or

forms of yoga out there. There needs to be more dialogue and

attractive. Be true to the revelation we have received: ‘Alignment is

friendliness between Iyengar teachers and teachers of different

enlightenment.’”—Charles Tidd, Introductory II, 60

backgrounds, as opposed to keeping our method separate and cut off from other types. This is a more inviting approach, attracting people

“ To compete we must be more friendly and compassionate. We need to teach classes that are more fluid, free. Classes where young (and old)

of all ages to the teachings of B.K.S. Iyengar, and ultimately, yoga in its purity.” —Maureen Casperson, teacher, 38

people feel like they are moving, but at the same time are in a safe environment.” —Anonymous Certified Teacher

“ Put less teaching and more vigor into the practice. Teach it as B.K.S. used to, with fire. Iyengar Yoga has redefined itself as old people’s

“ A national publicity campaign, to be used by all studios, showing photos or silhouettes of different body types to help people to

yoga: too much talking, too many props, not enough sweat.” — David McDonald, student, 60

understand that they don’t have to wear spandex and compete with glamorous stars to do yoga and attain fitness.” —Anonymous student

“ I see our beginning teachers (teaching to beginning students) do way too much talking, not enough doing. Younger people want to move. We

“ Speed things up and keep them moving. They don’t care about quite so many details. I don’t mean it should be ‘dumbed down.’ I mean it

need to be sure that while we teach well and thoughtfully, the pacing is not painfully slow.” — Nina Pileggi, Intermediate Junior II, 48

should be more streamlined and flow a bit better.—Suzy Shapiro, “ A sense of humor goes a long way.”

Introductory II, 63

—Nancy Preston, Introductory II, 52

‘Don’t be so strict in looking for the most perfect pose.

Keep it light and keep them moving. Smile.’

Should we “market” Iyengar Yoga to young people?

Nearly 90 percent said “yes.”

If you feel that we should market Iyengar Yoga to young people, how do you think we can do so?

Answers echoed those to our question about how we could compete with other styles of yoga in drawing young people,

“ Students need to have mental sophistication to appreciate Iyengar

suggesting a heightened profile in mainsteam yoga magazines,

Yoga. I look at it like opera. Most folks relate more easily to pop music,

social media, and online; workshops and demonstrations,

and that’s the way it is.” — Janet MacLeod, Intermediate Junior III, 62

including multi-style yoga conferences; and supplying information to high schools and colleges. We should encourage

“ When current senior teachers were young, we practiced everything.

younger teachers who can act as ambassadors to young

Nothing was forbidden because of our level of experience. There was a

students; classes for children and teens will lead them into the

sense of adventure. Our Guruji tried out ideas in class. One year feet

practice. Reduced fees were suggested and—again—a fast pace:

were wide, the next narrow (different purposes, different results).

classes that move, move, move!

Over time the study of Iyengar Yoga has included so many people, so far from the source, that a bureaucratic system has taken over. Our

“ More presence in yoga magazines using younger models. Right now

Guruji is playful and inquisitive in his practice, yet young teachers are

we are seen as exclusive dinosaurs. Many younger people don’t even

not offered that. Over the years younger teachers, trained in this more

know that Guruji is alive and still teaching and practicing.”

hierarchical organization, learn and teach accordingly. That scary thrill

—Joan White, Advanced Junior I, 67

of each class with Guruji has become a system of sequences, right and wrong ways to teach. Because of the scale and number of teachers,

“ Speed up the tempo. More jumpings, more kinetic Vinyasa. It’s not like

this may be safer. A price is paid, like that of children who are no

this has never been a big part of the method!” —George Purvis,

longer allowed to disappear in private adventure or seclusion, but

Intermediate Senior III, 61

must be supervised every minute.” —Anonymous Certified Teacher “Provide ways for people from other methods to try Iyengar Yoga. Get “ As Guruji has written, ‘mollycoddle’ beginners. Don’t be so strict in

Senior Teachers to teach workshops at mixed-method studios. Run ads

looking for the most perfect pose. Keep it light and keep them moving.

in yoga magazines about the Certification Mark. Online marketing is

Smile.” —Craig Kurtz, Intermediate Junior III, 56

really the best way to reach a young market. Young people are wowed by ‘fancy’ yoga demonstrations. Why not make viral several fun

“ There is no place for competition in yoga. If we want to attract young people we have to be open, accepting, and cooperative with the other Yoga Samachar

Spring /Summer 2011

24

demonstration videos? Look to other methods to see how they are marketing to young people. It is possible to do this without

compromising the Iyengar method and ethics.” — Aaron Fleming, Introductory II, 36

“ Class cost is the main reason young people do not study Iyengar Yoga.

Also, earlier morning classes might be helpful—Eddy Stern’s classes at 6:30 a.m. are ‘young.’” —Anonymous student

“ All of the other types of yoga are being marketed; to continue to be a presence we must be on the same playing field. A greater presence in

“ The hype may get them in the door, but if the class is not a fast-moving

yoga magazines would help, perhaps having ‘celebrity’ students— i.e.

one that challenges them physically, they most likely will not come

Martha Stewart, Donna Karan—as part of the marketing.”

back. Most Iyengar classes are taught for older people.”

—Anonymous Certified Teacher

—Anonymous Certified Teacher

‘Market it as smart, solid, intelligent yoga. A practice that transforms all of you.’

“ Explain the health and wellness benefits and how they can use yoga to help them get through school. I have a high school student who is attracted by the positive results she gets when dealing with A.D.H.D. and anxiety. It helps her study more effectively.” —Claudia Kuhns, Intermediate Junior I, 61 “ Affordability. There are yoga centers that give classes for $99 a month.” —Lisa Beckwith Wolf, Introductory II, 45

“ As I peruse the yoga blogosphere and other media, people who don’t seem to be very familiar with Iyengar Yoga publish disparaging and

“ Go to publications that serve the demographic. Participate in yoga/

negative things about the method. And there isn’t much to counter it.

music festivals like Wanderlust. When there is a huge gathering of

The IYNAUS website isn’t all that appealing to the eye. And it doesn’t

yogis as in Central Park, participate. More integration into the larger

seem to be a very active voice for Iyengar in the US. Wherever there

yoga community, and stop being stuck-up about other yoga styles.

are inaccuracies published, they need to be countered.”

Support younger teachers coming up through the system and use

—Anonymous student

them as ambassadors to the greater yoga community.”

—Anonymous Certified Teacher

“ Develop more children’s classes. Partner with schools or after-school programs; the institutes provide particularly good platforms for this.

“ Iyengar Yoga should be in every school’s physical education program.

Offer classes and workshops to the ‘coming-of-age’ group of 10-13

Children use rock climbing walls, they do competitive sports, but they

year-olds, as well as older teenagers.” —Victoria Austin,

need yoga. We have taught high school students, at-risk teenagers

Intermediate Junior III, 57

and football players! All have responded positively. The association could market to schools. Schools are very used to certification

“ Take a look at the myriad places that are daily filled with young

demands. They would understand the evidence presented, which

people (meaning the 20- and 30- somethings) and see what they do.

verified safe and effective training.”—Carol W. Nichols,

Lighten up. Move more. Get rid of some of the holier-than-thou

Introductory I, 60

attitude. Come down off the high hill of perfection. Just do it.”

—David McDonald, student, 60

“ A social media presence. Ask younger people how you should market to them. Get more young people involved in helping do things at the

“ Start engaging kids at the middle school level, do true outreach into

institutes.” —Anonymous Certified Teacher

public schools, especially in NYC; you would reach minority populations and children from a socioeconomic realm that truly need

“ The classes for kids in Pune are all action, all the time! Guruji teaches

the coping mechanism yoga and activity provide—at a time when

and advises constant motion for kids, so what is your problem with

gym budgets and the likes are being cut. It would also lay the

that?” —Eleanore Wilson Williams, Introductory II, 73

groundwork for the next generation. They are limber at that age, and it would be something they could achieve and would feel good about

“ Iyengar Yoga is suited for everyone. It’s about correct movement,

being ‘successful,’ building much-needed self esteem.”

awareness, learning about your body. Then you start seeing the way

—Anonymous student

you interact with others, because of the respect and awareness you gained from yoga.” —Joanne Boccassini, student, 51

“ Teach Asana with a lot of movement! Link the actions from one pose to another doing several on one side and then the other side. Take the

“ By not coming across as dry and rigid. Softening and juicing things

arms up and down from Tadasana to Urdhva Hastasana and

up. Allowing for the tradition to evolve without the grip.”

Gomukasana. Roll from Paschimottanasana to Halasana.

—Carla Helena Anselm, student, 39

Inversions appeal to so many young people; tell them how great staying up in the inversions is for their brains!” —Becky Lloyd, Intermediate Junior II, 44

“ Demonstrations at town fairs and markets. I used to demonstrate gymnastics at local grounds for my school of gymnastics. It is 25

Spring /Summer 2011

Yoga Samachar

entertaining, exposure at the least, and youthful yogis would attract young non-practitioners.” —Kate Morse Harris, student, 30

“ The mission statement for our IYNAUS regional conferences advocated giving Intermediate Junior III teachers an opportunity to teach and gain exposure. This came from discussions in which Patricia

“ Younger teachers who can relate to the younger students; provide

Walden and some other teachers expressed the view that our

classes in locations where young people gather.” — Anonymous

community is made up of older students and teachers. That may be

student

true, but part of the reason for that impression is that our younger teachers have not been in the spotlight. To maintain the longevity of

“ Facebook page, Twitter, etc. It’s the best way to reach these kids.”

the Iyengar method, we must attract younger students. We considered ways to bring younger teachers into the mainstream, via the regional

—Trisha Brabender, student, 44

conferences. In the lead-up to the New England Regional Conference, “ Offer yoga in places where young people already congregate: colleges,

we experienced obstacles. Some longterm teachers were not moving

centers where young folks practice sports. It’s important to go to

forward on the certification path and still held Introductory

them.” —Janet MacLeod, Intermediate Junior III, 62

certificates. There were also Intermediate Junior I and II teachers with longevity who were active in the community. We decided to expand our spotlight to include them by having them teach. I support the idea of projecting a youthful image of Iyengar Yoga, alongside that of more

‘Don’t underestimate youth.

They are fully capable of understanding and appreciating the Iyengar method.’ “ It has to have a fresh, interesting appeal. We will never win over the

mature practitioners and teachers. Both are valuable. We want to broaden our base of practitioners, and promoting younger teachers will bring newcomers into our classes.” —Linda Di Carlo, Intermediate Junior III, 60-plus

How is Iyengar Yoga suitable for—or not so suited to—young practitioners and others who may like a lot of movement and less instruction?

Young people need Iyengar Yoga, several respondents wrote.

population that is always looking for the ‘next greatest new method,’

Others suggested ways to make the method more appealing to

but if we position ourselves in a ‘hip’ light, while keeping the

the young. The children’s classes at R.I.M.Y.I. were given as an

methodology, we may get more people to try our style.”

inspiration. Though an emphasis on alignment may put them

—Anonymous Certified Teacher

off, it was pointed out that younger students have a special need for correct alignment.

“ Market it as smart, solid, intelligent yoga. A practice that transforms all of you.” —Anonymous student

“ Iyengar Yoga is definitely suitable for young practitioners. I was young when I started and loved it. Some people like instructions. If

“ In marketing-speak there are four phases of customer-building:

someone wants a lot of movement, it’s probably just not a good fit.

awareness, trial, re-use, adoption. 1. Building awareness: What can

We have to find young people who like instructions and not

we do to make Iyengar Yoga as recognized as Bikram, for example,

concentrate on convincing people they don’t have to be doing jumpings

but without sullying our ‘brand’? 2. Inducing trial: How do we use

for the entire class. People who only like Vinyasa are probably not our

ethical marketing to get people into their first class? Can we segment

target audience.” —Aaron Fleming, Introductory II, 36

our community not by class level but by demographic groups, such as students? What innovative ways can capture the younger community,

“ Iyengar Yoga can be used as a tool in the Vinyasa or power yogi’s

such as holding classes at universities, giving age discounts, creating

toolbox—to tune-up the legs in warrior poses as an example.”

a Facebook page. 3. Encouraging re-use: How we treat newcomers in

—Jay Averell, Introductory II, 58

the class can have a huge impact on their return. Are we doing all we can to make people feel comfortable? Are we encouraging them or

“ I wish Iyengar was mandatory from elementary school up! If I had

screaming about their alignment? (which they may read as

been taught how to stand and sit and move, I could have saved

embarrassing them). If they come from another yoga lineage, are we

myself years of pain and the emotional aspects that come along with

respectful of their experience? 4. Ensuring long-term adoption: Are

a tight, closed chest.” —Alexis Pierce, student, 30

our pricing policies and scheduling flexible enough for folks who may not be able to be consistent in their attendance? Are we making the

“ Get Iyengar Yoga introduced in the high school, in extracurricular

non-teaching aspects of yoga ‘user-friendly’?” —Christine Nounou,

activities and with credit for PE time.” —Allan Nett,

teacher, 59

Intermediate Junior III, 64

Yoga Samachar

Spring /Summer 2011

26

“ This is where you learn to be safe in a pose, getting in and out,

gain greater mental focus while optimizing physical and mental

developing strength and endurance. Teachers can move the class along

health. Our communities could offer special trainings for teachers who

a little faster than they usually do.” —Amy Duncan, student, 59

wanted to work with young people. We already have great resources, with Rajiv and Swati Chanchani.” —Chris O’Brien, student, 48

“ Iyengar could easily be taught with more movement. We could train up younger ones to teach more safe yet fun Vinyasa-style classes in

“ Instruction has to be simplified, pared-down so it is meaningful and

the Iyengar spirit. I’ve been to R.I.M.Y.I. plenty of times and attended

accessible. Remember B.K.S. taught a fiery Vinyasa style for many

such classes. Ultimately, people who love yoga can appreciate our

years. A combination of Vinyasa and static work could be the way

style and learn to love our nuanced methods of instruction, but it has

to go.” —Cynthia Worby Nero, Intermediate Junior III, 54

to be presented with a light heart and a less rigid, dry style, which is a rut that many of our Senior Teachers seem to have gotten stuck in.”

—Anonymous Certified Teacher

“ I have been in Iyengar Yoga classes that are incredibly challenging and full of movement and I have been in Iyengar Yoga classes where I am cold and bored. It’s up to the teacher to keep it interesting.”

“ Emphasize that alignment can actually help them do more, better.

—Anonymous Certified Teacher

Focus more on philosophy and the emotional effects of yoga practice.

Emphasize the practice aspects.” —Anne-Marie Schultz, Introductory II, 44

“ I teach yoga at a private secondary school, so my ‘young people’ are 15 to 17. I’ve learned they want challenge. It’s important to focus on building strength and awareness and increasing awareness and

“ Emphasize movement and variety, not instruction. Guruji said, ‘To

stamina. Teenagers keep their focus better if you regularly introduce

teach young people, keep them moving.’” —Victoria Austin,

poses that are a little beyond them. They want to try exciting poses

Intermediate Junior III, 57

like arm balances and inversions. Even if they can’t do them well at first, having them test their abilities keeps young people motivated.

“ My son is 14 and recently had a few days of yoga in his 9th grade P.E.

Teenagers need to move. They complain about Surya Namaskar, but it

class. He said it made him feel so good he laughed.”

does them good to begin with a few rounds. Teenagers want to talk.

—Anonymous student

Even the more introspective kids are still just beginning their spiritual journey. They need to be encouraged to explore. During a class, I ask

‘Get Iyengar Yoga introduced in the high school, in extracurricular activities and with credit for PE time.’

them questions: Where are you feeling the sensation? How was it different this time? Does this pose remind you of any others you’ve done? What do you want out of this class? Young people today live in a world that is anything but subtle. Although they desperately need the subtlety and thoughtfulness that Iyengar Yoga emphasizes, they need help preparing to appreciate them.” —Anonymous teacher “ Iyengar Yoga is very clear and direct. Playfulness needs to be allowed.

Some personality and laughter are healthy too.

—Carla Helena Anselm, student, 39

“ We all know Iyengar is suitable for this population. Almost more than anyone, they need this type of practice. What could help distinguish

“ It’s suitable for all practitioners! Some of my teaching is in a gym, so I

Iyengar from the more flowing styles is emphasizing the well-

run across this all the time. I stay as dynamic as possible (verbally)

roundedness of the practice: the integration of standing poses,

and make sure there are strong poses with directions that will allow

backbends, forward folds, inversions, restoratives. And discussing the

them to go deeper, yet give alternate directions for those without the

importance of different types of yoga based on time of day, time of

ability to go that far. Students who don’t want my type of teaching

year, etc.” —Catherine S. Marquette, teacher, 34

simply leave. Not everybody will be happy with Iyengar Yoga.”

—Anonymous Certified Teacher .

“ We meet students where they are. If they’re spacing out, as the Nintendo generation can do, find ways to grab their attention. We are trained to do that. Younger students may need a more concrete explanation of what the benefits are. They have a hard time slowing down and focusing. Many young people have been told they suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder and they become complacent, refusing to strive for greater focus and contentment, taking medication instead, often in an erratic manner. This A.D.D. complacency could change if we offered a strategy targeted toward students who want to 27

Spring /Summer 2011

Yoga Samachar

AN ethIcAl AttItUDe

By Felicity Green The word “yoga” means a devoted

greater than our ego/personality, and we pay devotion to that—to the spark of the

practice that helps us become

Divine that is in each one of us.

integrated, authentic people, linking together mind, body, and spirit. It is a

We practice Asana and Pranayama to cleanse our systems physically and mentally.

spiritual endeavor we launch ourselves

These practices create space and freedom in the body, as well as strength. Through

into when we start to practice yoga and

them we learn which parts of the body are Rajasic, overactive, and which are Tamasic,

then decide that we want to teach

under-active. Sattva is the balance point between these two extremes. These are all

because we have been inspired.

integral parts of the practice of yoga, but as we are all unique, we will find different ways to express these aspects of ourselves.

To cultivate an integrated practice we first have to be devoted to the four

With regular practice of Pranayama, we move our awareness to deeper levels including

practices of Yama, Niyama, Asana, and

our attitude and understanding of Asana. Remember, B.K.S. Iyengar has said you are a

Pranayama. Most of us start with Asana,

beginner for ten years in Pranayama, so before you teach it, it is ethical that you have

and through a daily practice, we learn

an established daily practice for at least a year. It seems difficult for students to

about our physical selves. It’s also

establish a practice with their busy lives. But if you are serious about the path, yoga

through our daily Asana practice that we

practice has to be number one in your life. Set the same time and place in your daily

learn how to apply the philosophical

life for practice; do not try to fit it into the cracks of the day. As a mother with four

precepts to our bodies and teach yoga

children, I practiced every morning when they had gone off to school before doing my

to others.

housewifely tasks, so I know it can be done.

Set the same time and place in your

In Asana we learn to practice Ahimsa, non-violence, and Satya truthfulness,

daily life for practice; do not try to fit it into

through our bodies. We learn to practice with Brahmacharya, moderation, and

the cracks of the day.

Aparigrahja, how not to be competitive with others. Practicing Asteya, nonstealing, teaches us not to overwork one part of the body and allow another part

The Bhagavad Gita, another text which gives us a different view of yoga, indicates that

to be lazy and contracted.

selfless service is of prime importance. It tells us not to be attached to the fruits of our labor, and yet to do everything devotedly, and to the best of our ability. We need to

These principles are the ethical base for

apply all of this learning to our individual practice and to our teaching, as well.

yoga and should be applied at every level.

B.K.S. Iyengar encourages us to teach with energy, but we need to be in touch with the capacity of the students. Over-activity creates injury, and this is not moderation.

Saucha, the first of the Niyamas, is not just about external cleanliness but has

In the system of Iyengar Yoga there are lots of opportunities to practice the ethical

to do with our practice of Asana and

aspects of yoga. The organization has been based on students volunteering time and

Pranayama and living our lives with

energy to give back to the community. Another way is to not turn away any sincere

purity. Santosa is that state of

student because of a lack of money.

contentment that we reach when we stop comparing ourselves to others.

We live in a society where money is the measure of success and fulfillment. As

Tapas, burning zeal, allows us to do

B.K.S. Iyengar says, “We all have to have money to live, but we do not teach to make

everything we do in life with a sense of

money.” This is a very important attitude to embrace to keep our ethical standard clear

devotion and commitment. Svadhyaya,

and pure and in line with yoga principles. Teaching yoga is a vocation, not a career.

the study of ourselves, our actions, and behavior, must be a continuing practice.

Our teacher, Guruji, is the epitome of an ethical teacher. He does not teach to please

We need to study our thoughts and

his students. He makes a stand when he sees behavior that shows that the student is

attitudes, the stories we tell ourselves,

not open to learning or is not being humble. This sometimes appears harsh, but it is

our Samskaras, and our direction in life.

truly compassionate in that he sees that the potential of the person is not being reached.

Finally, we practice Ishvara Pranidhana,

Continued on page 29

the understanding that there is a power

Yoga Samachar

Spring /Summer 2011

28

regIoNAl NeWS

FroM the heArtlAND An IYNAUS and IYAMW Regional Conference in Chicago, Illinois, September 15-18, 2011 From the Heartland, the regional IYNAUS conference to be held

Open to students of all levels, From the Heartland will provide

September 15-18 in Chicago, will be an inspiring weekend of

Pranayama and Asana workshops each morning with Senior

Iyengar Yoga taught by stellar Senior Teachers and up-and-

Teachers such as Patricia Walden, Manouso Manos, Lois

coming teachers from the host region, the Iyengar Yoga

Steinberg, and Laurie Blakeney. In the afternoons, participants

Association of the Midwest (IYAMW). The conference will be

can attend a variety of special topic workshops with

held at Chicago’s Palmer House Hilton, an architectural

intermediate-level teachers. From the Heartland will feature

landmark rich with cultural history.

other special activities such as the “Chanting Room,” where participants can chant Patanjali’s yoga sutras with certified

Highlights of From the Heartland include the opening night

Iyengar Yoga teacher Leslie Freyberg of the American Sanskrit

keynote, “Room for Everyone,” by Matthew Sanford, Certified

Institute, an Iyengar Yoga “Movie House,” and “Dinner Circles,”

Iyengar Yoga teacher and author of Waking: A Memoir of Trauma

which will group visitors with a Chicago native to lead evening

and Transcendence. Matthew Sanford will share his personal

culinary adventures.

journey with Iyengar Yoga and paralysis to demonstrate the width and breadth of B.K.S. Iyengar’s vision, whose unparalleled

To help make Iyengar Yoga truly accessible to everyone, we will

work has created room for everyone to experience the heart

provide need-based scholarships and a community class for

of yoga.

Chicago teenagers. From the Heartland is open to yoga practitioners of all levels of experience, traditions, regions, and abilities.

Opening night will also include a live cello performance by Alicia Rowe accompanying film footage of B.K.S. Iyengar. In

Registration is now open. Visit the website at

addition to being a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher, Alicia Rowe is

http://www.iyengaryogaconference.com.

an avid chamber musician who has performed widely in North America in ensembles and orchestras.

Ethical continued from page 28

As Guruji says in Light on Life, “We all receive God-given talents, and it is our duty to

IMIYA reorgANIZINg

develop them energetically to realize their full potential, otherwise it is as if we are turning our nose up at the gifts of life. But more than that, our talents, however much they may vary from individual to individual, when realized to the full, provide the link

A new Intermountain Iyengar Yoga

that will take us back to a reunion with the divine.”

Association is taking shape and needs volunteers to serve as board

In the system of Iyengar Yoga there are

members. IMIYA also hopes to create a scholarship committee to

lots of opportunities to practice the

support the ongoing education of its members in need. The website is

ethical aspects of yoga.

nearing completion; it will list all studios, teachers, and workshops in

Hopefully all Iyengar yoga practitioners—teachers and students alike—follow this

the region. Please check imiya.org

system that is proud of its clarity and ethical stance.

soon or contact the regional representative, Leslie Bradley, at

Felicity Green has an Advanced Certificate and was a founding member of the Iyengar Yoga Institute of

leslie@bluespruceyoga.com, if you

San Francisco, and she received the 2010 IYNAUS Lighting the Way Award for distinguished volunteer

have questions.

service to the Iyengar Yoga community. She has recently moved from Lopez Island, WA to Seattle. Felicity conducts classes and workshops in Yoga Philosophy and Pranayama. She sees students individually to help them develop a balanced practice. This is specially suitable for those with chronic difficulties.

29

Spring /Summer 2011

Yoga Samachar

book reVIeW

IYeNgAr YogA ASANA AlterNAtIVeS: the Neck AND ShoUlDerS

by Lois Steinberg, PhD Reviewed by Jesse Moore Kelsch

Without a doubt, Lois Steinberg

themselves because of the tamas and the lack of consciousness that have built up in

understands the background tension

the joints over time.

that sufferers of neck and shoulder trauma experience on a regular basis.

Lois also addresses the difficulties that multi-part poses present to students with

This is why the first several poses in her

upper-body trauma. For example, Anantasana (Vishnu’s couch) is presented, but only in

new book, Iyengar Yoga Asana

its intermediate stage. She instructs the student to lengthen the armpit to the elbow

Alternatives: The Neck and Shoulders, are

to close the gap between the armpit and the floor. This preliminary action can be

very targeted and deep releasing poses—

unobtainable to those with stiff shoulders, so the student is instructed to practice this

so releasing and opening that I, with my

stage regularly. For Chaturanga Dandasana, Lois gives explicit directions for the hands,

own complicated history of shoulder

knuckles, elbows, shoulders, and sternum—directions to be maintained with repeated

injuries, imbalance, and mobility

practice from a nearly vertical position (hands on the wall at shoulder height)

limitation, almost cry in gratitude when

progressively toward the classical pose. The reason I (and maybe others) don’t come

practicing them.

into the full pose from straight arms is an instability in the shoulders that causes last moment misdirection of correct actions into incorrect ones. Through repetition of the

Even though her prescribed sequences

correct actions as we build up to the final pose, “strength will build intelligently,” Lois

start with exceptionally releasing poses,

tells us. I will certainly testify that I stand taller with a more expanded chest after

she goes farther than this because there

practicing this progression of variations even once.

is work to be done. Quite specific work, in fact. An example is Ardha Parsva

This book, like the first edition from 2000, is organized as a series of photos with

Hastasana, where the palm is placed on

captions, although this edition is much more extensive. The instructions are

the wall at shoulder height, arm straight

unequivocal, leaving no doubt in the student’s mind about what to do and how to do

out to the side. Lois directs the student

it. Lois also provides reasons for the instructions, including both immediate and long-

(and the Iyengar instructor who is

term effects. For me, an Iyengar yoga student with long-time shoulder trauma, this

assisting the student) to rotate this,

collection exemplifies the satisfying thoroughness with which the Iyengars continue

press that, move this here… and she

to “discover improved and innovative ways to address what ails the human race

tells us to feel the actions in the arm all

through the art and science of yoga.” As a teacher, I believe that therapeutic

the way to the sternum and upper back.

instructors will find this book indispensable. The teachings in this volume are so

This pose is a foundational, active

valuable because they thoroughly address the anatomical problems students with

reliever of chronic misalignment for the

neck and shoulder issues struggle with, and they provide clear solutions.

upper body, and it’s clear to me when practicing, when I feel the actions she

Jesse Moore Kelsch has been practicing Iyengar yoga for eleven years and teaching for five. She has

describes, that it should be repeated

passed her Introductory I teaching assessment and is pursuing Intro II. She teaches at the Granada Yoga

often. Lois’ clear instructions help

Studio in Alpine, Texas. Earlier in life, she carried a heavy backpack on one shoulder, had low self-

students organize the actions that they

esteem resulting in poor posture, had an unaddressed case of whiplash from a car accident, used to

wouldn’t have been able to discover for

reach for gallon jugs of water behind the passenger seat while driving, liked to throw a baseball without warming up, sat (and still sits) at the computer a lot, forgets to put ice on her injuries…

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gUrUJI FeAtUreD IN petA AD “Energize your mind, body, and spirit. Go vegetarian!” says Guruji in a new public service ad for PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. “If animals died to fill my plate,” the ad reads, “my head and my heart would become heavy with sadness. Becoming a vegetarian is the way to live in harmony with animals and the planet.”

Certified Iyengar Yoga teacher Suzie Muchnick remembers how the ad came about. “Last year at a book signing event, Ingrid Newkirk, President of PETA, told me PETA had an office in Pune, in Koregaon Park. The last week I was in Pune, I finally connected with the Director of PETA India, who invited me to come by. The office staff, university students or graduates interning with PETA, were not yogis, and the only thing we had in common was our love for animals and the practice of ahimsa. I was excited to learn more about these young peoples’ lives; then they asked me if I would ask my teacher to create a public service announcement (PSA) for vegetarianism.”

Muchnick, Intermediate Junior III of Naples, FL, says, “I told them how busy Guruji is, but they implored me, saying his stature in the global community could really make a difference. As succinctly as I could, I told Guruji of my visit to PETA and made my request. He reminded me that he is a lifelong vegetarian. Here are the wonderful results of his PSA.”

IYeNgAr YogA eVeNtS

IYeNgAr YogA proDUctS WANteD! Yogamatters is Europe’s leading distributor of Iyengar Yoga resources. Do you have any Iyengar products that you would like distributed in Europe?

Please contact: paul@yogamatters.com

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, 12550 Third Avenue, #511, Seattle, WA 98121. Deadline for the Fall 2011/Winter 2012 issue is Sept 1, 2011. patricia Walden Intermerdiate Residential Retreat Nov. 8 – 13 Santa Fe, NM Contact: Gail Ackerman/White Iris Yoga 719.686.9642 whiteiris@newmexico.com

Dean lerner Sept. 30 – Oct. 2 Granada Yoga Studio Alpine, TX 432.364.2292 granadayogastudio.com jesse.veena@gmail.com

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Spring /Summer 2011

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.

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Watch Me Do Yoga: Children’s Workshop and Book Signing Nineteen children between the ages of 2½ and 8 showed up for a children’s yoga class and book signing at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of New York on December 5, 2010 to celebrate the publication of Bobby Clennell’s newest book, Watch Me Do Yoga.

First off Clennell, Intermediate Senior I, read If The Nutcracker Did Yoga, a story written by a student at the Institute, choreographer Pamela Pribisco, and illustrated by Clennell. Carolyn Christie, another teacher at the Institute, enacted yoga poses mentioned in the story.

The children’s yoga class followed. With the exception of helpers or picture takers (and, in a few cases, those who were ‘asked’ to stay by a very young child), adults left the room.

“The class was pure magic!” Clennell says. “I was surprised at how intent, engaged and focused the children were. And their joy touched all of us. This teacher, the parents, the helpers, and the other yoga teachers who were present were all charmed and uplifted.”

The second hour was the book signing. Each child had to be accompanied by at least one adult, but in many cases, the children had brought along grandparents, godparents, uncles, aunts, and friends of the family. “Three or four moms had been in my prenatal class some years earlier,” Clennell said, “and were introducing me to their three- or four-year-olds for the first time.”

The Institute bookkeeper, Elizabeth Pintos, provided mini-cupcakes. Each child went home with a balloon. “I treasure the memory of one child who went home with six balloons, which she somehow managed to squeeze, along with her mother and grandmother, into the elevator,” Clennell says.

Watch Me Do Yoga, written and illustrated by Bobby Clennell. Published by Rodmell Press: http:// www.bobbyclennell.com/watchme.html

ce a l P icia Ind ere H IYNAUS 1952 First Ave South, Ste.1B Seattle, WA 98134

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Photo by Tamar Kelly

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