During the practice of Asanas, it is the body alone which should be active while the brain should remain passive, watchful and alert. If they are done with the brain, then you will not be able to see your own mistakes. ~ Iyengar
Iyengar via judithjonesyoga UK
In the absence of Asana practice aided by mirrors and heat, my husband and I spent 90 minutes in a technique driven class focused on posture precision at the BKS Iyengar Institute of LA in honour of Guruji’s Birthday. BKS Iyengar turns 94 on the 14th December, so this was an early celebratory class.
In a teaching style that favours props, blankets, and bolsters to support the body, today’s sequence of poses was determined by the teacher based on what she noticed was needed by the group. And that was: strengthening of the quadriceps. This action is termed ‘locking the knee’ in Bikram Yoga -the key to cultivating balance and achieving power in its Standing Series.
As I reflect on the one and a half hour class – posture practice interspersed with teacher-student dialogue, I am gradually learning that it is through a broad embrace of yoga that I am strengthening my own practice. In the case of this class, for example: taking the time to refine the intricacies of an Iyengar style Triangle pose helped me realise, and correct, a couple of bad habits that I had formed in my Bikram style Triangle; hearing an excerpt from Iyengar’s book, Light on Life, gave me plenty to think about in terms of mindfulness (see the words at the end of this post); chanting a collective ‘Om’ reminded me of my internal light, my core – it centred me in class.
Iyengar sums up my thoughts succinctly on yoga as a way of living, “Change is not something that we should fear. Rather, it is something that we should welcome. For without change, nothing in this world would ever grow or blossom, and no one in this world would ever move forward to become the person they’re meant to be.”
In light of Guruji Iyengar’s birthday, I am so grateful to the master yoga teachers who have shared their knowledge and wisdom about this ancient science. They have made yoga accessible to the world.
Personally, I know it is the reason why I am practicing yoga today.
Bikram and Iyengar
Today’s Iyengar teacher shared an excerpt from Light on Life, in honour of Guruji’s birthday. I am sharing it here with you too. I hope you enjoy.
Namaste.
“The whole educative thrust of yoga is to make things go right in our lives. But we all know that an apple that appears perfect on the outside can have been eaten away by an invisible worm on the inside. Yoga is not about appearances. It is about finding and eradicating the worm, so that the whole apple, from skin inward, can be perfect and a healthy one. That is why yoga, and indeed all spiritual philosophies, seems to harp on the negative – grasping desires, weaknesses, faults, and imbalances. They are trying to catch the worm before it devours and corrupts the whole apple from the inside. This is not a struggle between good and evil. It is natural for worms to eat apples. In yoga we simply do not want to be the apple that is rotted from inside. So yoga insists on examining, scientifically and without value judgement, what can go wrong, and why, and how to stop it. It is organic farming of the self – for the Self.”
Guruji Iyengar via sunsetyoga
Such a thoughful post. Perfect.
Marina, if everyone had such an honest and receptive attitude about their experiences in life, the world would be a different place. I have also found that my 30 years of practicing Iyengar yoga has been made richer through a dialog with teachers in other systems of yoga.
As I was also in this class, teaching, I am reminded of how complex communication can be. I focused on strengthening the quads because many of the students had hyper-extended knees. In Iyengar yoga we advise students to NOT lock the knees. Perhaps I need a better understanding of what Bikram yoga refers to as locking of the knees.
In my experience, straightening the legs is made possible by the quadriceps. But for some people, the lower leg aligns behind the femur bones when the leg is straight. This is hyper-extension. For these people, the knee can be prone to injury if the quadriceps are not engaged in the process of straightening the leg. These people press the knee back rather then lift the quads up. That is what I was focusing on, to NOT lock the knees back.
I am aware of some of the poses in the 26 asana series, and there is one where the standing leg bears a lot of weight (where one leg is lifted and the torso is folded parallel the floor, lengthening along the lifted leg). The quads must be very strong to avoid the natural tendency to press back on the standing leg knee joint.
The technique and alignment in Iyengar yoga has several purposes. It trains the mind to focus, like a mantra. The focus creates an embodied practice. We sensitive the mind to the sensations and the “karmic” effect of each alignment point. The body lives very much in the present, so the quality of mindfulness that is cultivated through this practice is here and now. We learn to remain alert and yet quiet, to maintain a coordinated balance between being receptive and focused. Guruji has said, among other things, that yoga is the balance of polarities. Thus, we become alert inside and able to engage with the world around us without sacrificing a sense of center and Self.
In addition, the alignment gradually reconstructs dynamic balance in the body, and health throughout the system. The dynamic poses are presented along with restoratives, to replenish the physiology along with the physical body.
Props can be teachers as well as supports. They help us experience what is possible and can give feedback, similar to how you use mirrors. When we put the block behind the calf in yesterday’s class in Trikonasana, that positioned the leg bones completely differently. It coerced the student into a different place in the hip socket and the knee. So the props help us cultivate new insights. There is a lot of misunderstanding about the use of props in Iyengar yoga.
Marina, thank you for your words on Guruji during this week of our celebrating his contributions to yoga. I hope that our paths cross again!