14 minute read
Yoga Tech Heather Haxo Phillips
from Yoga Samacher FW2018
by IYNAUS
YOGA TECH
FROM DVDS TO FACETIME, HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN DEEPEN PRACTICE
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By Heather Haxo Phillips
In today’s parlance, we would call our Guruji an “early adopter”—a person who starts using a technology as soon as it
becomes available. When he was a teenager, Guruji was willing to use any medium to inspire others to practice yoga. Imagine the year 1938: The first commercial films made in India were gaining popularity, but few people had cameras of their own. Yet there was Guruji, participating in the first known yoga demonstration ever to be captured on film.
Decades later, when TVs appeared in most households, he was on every show that invited him, demystifying the practice, making it both accessible and exciting to viewers so they would take up a practice of their own.
Today, technology plays an equally important part in spreading the practice of yoga. So much has changed since the days when Guruji was the only Iyengar teaching yoga. We now have access to his family, to senior teachers in India, and to thousands of other Certified Iyengar Yoga Teachers (CIYTs) worldwide. But also, anyone who has access to an internet connection can create their own deeply personal and personalized practice.
That is not to say that the direct guru-sisya relationship is not tremendously important. The practice has to be handed down in person from teacher to student, with the right information given at the right time to progress in the practice. Yet technology today is so varied, so vast, that it creates incredible opportunities to propel us in valuable ways.
My first direct experience with technology in yoga was around the year 2000. I had been going to classes for several years, no longer a complete novice but completely dependent on my teacher for guidance. I was offered an opportunity of a lifetime— to move to Beirut to start a nonprofit organization. My one hesitation about moving across the world was leaving my yoga classes. How would I survive without my teacher’s guidance? Unsure of what to do on my own, I slipped an AM/PM yoga DVD featuring Patricia Walden into my suitcase. I decided to let Patricia be my guide! Having no home practice whatsoever, I completely relied on Patricia every day for the months I lived in Beirut. Each evening, I pulled out my very heavy laptop and let Patricia direct me as the sun set over the Mediterranean.
Those months in Beirut with Patricia by my side were deeply transformative. I learned that I could practice on my own. I went from doing yoga twice a week to doing yoga every day. I saw how much my body and mind could transform with a daily practice.
Stateside, my yoga life continued with technology firmly in it. I was still a novice, but somehow, I got talked into teaching yoga (I guess the daily practice had taken hold in my body, and I showed some tiny amount of promise). Eventually I became certified and continued my studies, listening to audio classes from my trips to Pune, taking careful notes, and bringing what I could into my own teaching.
And then when I was preparing for my Intermediate Junior II assessment, I got stuck. Where could I learn these Junior II poses? I wasn’t learning them in class. Luckily, I discovered the website iHanuman and realized I could download audio classes with John Schumacher.
Over several years of studying for the assessment, I downloaded dozens of asana and pranayama classes with John. I felt like I got to know everyone in class—including his students and assistants. I felt hot even in January, because John’s class that day had been recorded in August when it was sweltering. I tried out the knee pain variations even when my knee was fine. I groaned at certain poses, along with the rest of the class. In some ways, it was a surreal experience. I studied “with” John as often as I studied with my local teacher. I took all
his advice, though it was never offered to me personally. So was John my teacher?
No, he wasn’t. But John was part of my support team. And I studied with him enough that it seemed important to reach out and create an actual relationship. I helped organize a trip for him to the San Francisco Institute and made sure to take his class at the 2013 IYNAUS convention in San Diego. When it came time for me to develop my own pranayama course, I reached out to John for advice. He responded immediately with incredible generosity, not knowing me but trusting me nevertheless.
Using technology in my yoga practice and ongoing studies has given me direct access to particular knowledge when I’ve needed it. Despite being on opposite coasts, John and I have developed an actual student-teacher relationship in a limited but critically important way. I have been lucky enough to do two assessments at Unity Woods with students I knew from his online classes and with John actually in the room.
Our smartphones have also revolutionized practice in so many ways. We can “voice memo” classes and workshops and use pictures to document setups to try at home. I have done informal recordings of every Lois Steinberg workshop I have taken since the day I got my iphone. In the weeks and months after each workshop, I return to the audios again and again. I especially rely on them when I am traveling and without my local mentor for weeks at a time.
Even without a smartphone, you can have the Iyengars with you every day if you want. Every major convention has been carefully recorded and edited for all of us to enjoy. The online store at www.IYNAUS.org has nearly all the American conventions. These classes offer a trove of riches as valuable today as when they were recorded. It’s fun to watch clips of these videos at home and with others. Especially if you mentor others, these videos are a critical way for students to feel connected directly to the Iyengar family.
Want to get started right away? Go online and search “Master Class with B.K.S. Iyengar London 1985.” Watch the video, and take part in the class. Better yet—project the video onto the studio walls where you practice, and invite your students and colleagues to join you in “taking the class.” Senior teacher Carolyn Belko did this at her center. It was a popular event and the studio was packed mat to mat. Today, technology affords us all more opportunities than ever. Those of us who enjoy Facebook have benefited tremendously from the videos and quotes that social media provides. For example, a group of ladies from New Zealand wrote daily dispatches from RIMYI on the ropes course that Geeta taught this summer. The pictures and descriptions were so vivid, I was able to take it directly into my practice and teaching. No longer do we have to wait months for our friends to bring us CDs from RIMYI. Now we can benefit from the teachings on the same day. We benefit and our students benefit.
Instagram is another platform that can be a tremendous source of information on how to use certain props or how to address certain issues. In the same way that Guruji used pictures in Light on Yoga to instruct us as we approach our practice at home, Instagram can be a similar tool for investigation and inspiration. Last month, I hosted a teacher gathering to discuss what to do when a pregnant woman shows up in a regular class. We invited one of our pregnant students and together with the teachers, we practiced many of the most important poses. There was one particular setup I just couldn’t get quite right, so we returned again and again to a particular picture I had stored from Lois’ pregnancy workshop in 2014. Other poses were much more familiar to us and came easily. One of our colleagues documented the session with pictures, and we were able to narrate it using the Instagram Story function to help others in our community spark their own personal study.
It was a student who pushed me to venture into Instagram in the first place. Yogi Zain Syed encouraged me to be an “early adopter,” patiently explaining all the different social media platforms and how to use them to communicate Iyengar Yoga effectively. In fact, he launched the social media program for Adeline Yoga and then went on to develop his own niche, combining his passion for Iyengar Yoga and videography with his DJ skills. And now yogis from around the globe can enjoy and learn from his artful videos.
These social media platforms are helpful teaching tools, but they also help our Iyengar Yoga family get to know each other better and stay in touch. They give us a forum to be creative and express ourselves to a larger audience.
The most innovative uses of technology provide platforms where we teach and learn in a deep and sustained way. In my teacher education program, it is important to connect participants to the lineage of Iyengar Yoga. I introduce my students to the Iyengar family as well as to the senior teachers who have impacted my personal practice. Students learn in a variety of ways: They have to see, hear, and experience. So instead of relying on books and my personal stories, I include videos as homework assignments so my students can develop their own connection to the Iyengars.
In the first month of the program, we contemplate the term sadhana. I assign the video of Geetaji’s discourse on sadhana as a way for students to tease out what sadhana can mean to them personally. Much later, we get to Marichyasana III, a pose with many approaches. I assign videos of Marichyasana III as taught by Rebecca Lerner and as taught by Lois Steinberg. Students practice it both ways and write an essay comparing, contrasting, and applying the techniques in their own body. You can find these videos yourself on the Roads to Bliss website for your own compare-contrast experience. The Roads to Bliss videos are incredible learning tools and worth checking out if you haven’t already.
Technology not only helps the students in the room, but it also helps students far away. Over the past two years, Carolyn Belko has been my main mentor. Monthly, I have been flying 500 miles to study with her—but what about weekly classes? Carolyn has opened my eyes to the opportunities. First, she invited me to Facetime into her weekly advanced class, which works amazingly well. I have a yoga buddy who patches me into class, setting me up on a stool right next to all the mats. I am part of the class but practicing from my studio at home. She catches my mistakes and encourages me as if I were right there with them.
Other times, I have actually been in Carolyn’s studio during peer teaching sessions while the peer teaching us handstand was in Oregon. It seems highly unusual, but this does work very well for us. In part, it works because the person teaching from Oregon is a long-time colleague and already an experienced teacher. Also, we keep the setup to only one long-distance student among a group of students in person together, with a senior teacher present. Of course, my colleague misses out on the opportunity to physically help us get into Adho Mukha Vrksasana, but nonetheless, she can participate and gain knowledge when otherwise she would have been completely left out.
The use of technology is exciting, but I do not recommend that everyone run out and start pressuring their teachers to get on the bandwagon. It works for Carolyn because she is excited about technology and its ability to bridge the distance with her students. Teachers and students need to be interested in using technology and sticking with it even if a call drops in the middle of class. Not every technology works for everyone. Years ago, excited by my experience with iHanuman and John Schumacher, I signed up to be an iHanuman teacher myself. It took me exactly three classes before I dropped the idea. The iphone and lavalier microphone combination that was strapped to my arm made my demonstrations clumsy and put a psychological barrier between me and the students in front of me. At the same time, I felt disconnected to any potential students who might be listening. Realizing that I just wanted to teach the students in front of me was a valuable lesson, and I let go of my audio dream.
Tech Resources for Yogis
IYNAUS Video Collection: Find a long list of YouTube videos featuring Iyengar Yoga, including interviews, lectures and demonstrations, examples of teaching from various classes in Pune, as well as conventions led by B.K.S. Iyengar, Geeta Iyengar, and many senior teachers. https://iynaus.org/articles-essays/videos
iHanuman: Download audio classes with John Schumacher, Lois Steinberg, Kofi Busia, Elise Miller, Bobby Clennell, and many more. Or, sign up to offer audio classes of your own. www.ihanuman.com
Iyengar Yoga 101 With Carrie Owerko: Take this online yoga course as part of AIM Healthy U. www.aimhealthyu. com/courses/iyengar-101-reg
John Schumacher Yoga: Download audio classes, including pranayama, asana, and more with John Schumacher. www.schumacheryoga.com/
Roads to Bliss: Discover free video clips with senior Iyengar Yoga teachers from around the country. www. youtube.com/user/Roads2bliss
Vimeo: Type “Iyengar Yoga” into the search tool to find many snippets as well as full-length presentations from aspiring teachers on up to B.K.S. Iyengar. www.vimeo.com
IYNAUS Facebook page: Read posts from Iyengar Yoga practitioners around the world, sharing inspiring teaching tips, videos, quotes, and sequences. www.facebook.com/ IYNAUS
Instagram: Sign up and search for “Iyengar Yoga” to find and follow Iyengar Yoga practitioners around the world posting interesting prop setups and more. www.instagram.com
Skype: Try “skyping” with your colleagues to share teaching techniques, or skype in a student who is far away. www.skype.com
FaceTime: Use this built-in iPhone app in the same way as Skype to connect with students and colleagues over long distance. FaceTime can also be downloaded for Android smartphones or for use on a PC or Mac-based desktop computer.
IYNAUS member benefits: Login at www.IYNAUS.org, and click the “Member Benefits” tab to see sequences, interviews, as well as audio and video recordings for members only.
Yogi Zain’s Recommended Instagrammers
sadhanaayoga
Rochester-based CIYT who started and led one of the first Iyengar Yoga “Instagram Challenges” this past summer. Less of a contest and more of a tribute for Guru Purnima, it was wonderful to see yogis from around the world participate daily for the two weeks of the challenge, which included an asana of the day and some kind of tribute to Guruji and his teachings. A fun mix of photos honoring her sadhana and Indian heritage.
elegantganeshayoga
A teacher friend from Austin who captures great studio and practice shots, which speak to the essence of Iyengar Yoga practice. She also does some really cool cut-and-paste artwork using Guruji’s photos from Light on Yoga juxtaposed over collage backgrounds. Great Instagram to check out!
zeynstuff
Turkish-born and Brooklyn-based Iyengar Yoga practitioner who shows fun practice photos as well as shots of her handmade yoga accessories from Etsy
yogacordium
Nashville-based CIYT mixes rock ‘n’ roll with Iyengar Yoga. Love it!
iyengar_yoga_miami_beach
Fun and engaging updates from this Iyengar Yoga center in Miami
funwithprops
Fun with props :)
carrieowerko
Carrie posts high-quality streaming videos of her Iyengar Yoga chair material.
bobby_clennell
Bobby shares her art and teachings.
adelineyogastudio
We have a wonderful shutterbug at the studio taking live action shots of classes taught by Michael Lucey, Heather Haxo Phillips, and Anneke Faas.
Adeline Yoga student Katrina Totten filming Yogi Zain Photo: Jon-Mycal Cox
Even so, this method of long-distance study has given me the courage and experience to help others. Last year, a student from St. Lucia contacted me—who’s 4,000 miles away. Lenka Gargalovicova wanted to become a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher but was doubtful of the possibility given that she had no access to a mentor qualified to do teacher education at that time. We carefully mapped out a plan—several months of in-person study combined with classes with her local teacher, long-distance assignments, and plenty of Facetime. It worked. St. Lucia now has its second Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher.
Where will technology and Iyengar Yoga go next? Already, meeting-sharing services are helping us organize regional activities here in the Bay Area as well as business training support through IYNAUS.
Nothing can replace in-person learning and the deep somatic experience of being directly connected to your teacher. But technology can truly bring us together and inform our practice. It can also deliver Iyengar Yoga to bigger audiences in a variety of authentic and meaningful ways.
