Iyengar Yoga—Deconstructing the Form and Constructing the Soul YOGA’S PROFOUND IMPACT ON MY HISTORY WITH SCOLIOSIS BY MARCIA MONROE “Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.”
—B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life
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nlike trying to fix a spine with mechanical exercises, yoga addresses the mind, body, and consciousness. These are not treated as detached entities but as a network for selfstudy in the pursuit of self-realization and freedom. Inner expansion is possible through practice. Patanjali’s Ashtanga yoga lays the foundation for understanding the mind, the obstacles that prevent self-evolution, and a methodology for dealing with these obstacles. The evolutionary master and beloved teacher B.K.S. Iyengar emphasized the important role asanas play as the main channel for experiencing the physical plane and higher levels of evolution. He further developed a living language and a map with specific directions used worldwide as an intelligent reference for casual and experienced practitioners. Guruji delineated the existence of the front, back, middle, and sides of the body and made refined differentiations of the spine, limbs, ribs, pelvis, shoulders, and the senses. Guruji further differentiated the inner spine from the outer spine, the inner edges of the upper and lower limbs and ribs from the outer edges, and inner layer and outer layers of the senses and organs of perception (tanmatra). Guruji emphasized that scoliosis is a muscular-skeletal disease—a disease of the annamaya kosha, the physical body. When addressing structural scoliosis, Guruji used to call the convexities the mountains and the concavities the valleys. He called the mountain side the aggressive, and the concave side the timid. Both sides need opposing actions and teach each other. A yoga practice is imperative for the practitioner’s self-study to permeate the subtle layers of the body. Guruji stated that in scoliosis the bones must be pliable, soft and act like muscles. The skin has to have its proper currenting to guide the flesh, and the flesh has to be differentiated from the bones. He used to say the flesh hugs the bones but in a state of action. In the thoracic convex side, the skin moves toward the flesh and the 20
When addressing structural scoliosis, Guruji used to call the convexities the mountains and the concavities the valleys. flesh hugs the outer layers of the ribs. On the convex side, the skin of the side and back of the armpit, chest, and outer ribs has to move toward the inner layers of the bones. On the concave side, the inner layers of the ribs have to spread to touch the flesh, and the flesh has to expand toward the skin. In thoracic scoliosis and asymmetry, he distinguished thick ribs on the convex side and thin ribs on the concave side. I often hear comments from students, teachers, and professionals about yoga not being conducive for scoliosis. Some of their preconceived ideas come from articles and old photos of asanas extracted from websites. Most of these criticisms come from professionals who are not acquainted with Iyengar Yoga or with Guruji’s specialized use of props, such as ropes, bricks, belts, walls, tables, chairs, and whatever else will enhance the alignment in specific poses for the student with scoliosis. EXTENSION IN YOGA What is often called ‘forward flexion’ by others is, in Guruji’s system, a forward extension. It places an emphasis on length, elongation, and subjective inner expansion and space. In forward extension, we do not compress the
Adjustment in Parsva Uttanasana for scoliosis
The Light | Spring – Summer 2021
