BKS Iyengar Yoga Centre, Oudtshoorn, Klein Karoo, Western Cape: 16 Jan 2008

August 2007

Last class at the B.K.S.Iyengar Yoga Centre, Camps Bay, South Africa

all smiles before the Chair Salabhasana

Parvattanasana in Virasana

Viparita Dandasana in chair

more photos at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yogawithdavid/

About Iyengar Yoga

When taught and practiced correctly, Iyengar Yoga is not only meditative but also physically challenging and ideally tailored for all fitness levels and for everyone who wants a vigorous yoga practice. This form of hatha yoga is a powerful asana practice with sequences designed to give the body a challenging workout for increased strength, energy and flexibility, without heating the room or repeating a preset asana sequence every day. In this exhilarating style of yoga practice, students will build strength and tone their muscles. The intensity and variety of postures will revitalize the whole body, reduce stress levels and keep you in peak condition.
Iyengar Yoga is an innovative and inspired approach to the classical Eastern discipline particularly relevant to our Western culture.

Developed over a period of 50 years, Iyengar yoga, which emphasises precision in the execution of postures and also makes extensive use of props, is the most popular approach to Hatha yoga. Iyengar yoga even purely as an exercise, offers what no other from of exercise can offer -- a way to build strength along with relaxation, flexibility along with endurance, and balance along with a peaceful state of mind.

Iyengar yoga is based on the teachings of BKS Iyengar and begins with learning the art and science of asana and pranayama, which fine-tune the body and revitalize the mind. Then we can embrace our personal progress more completely, and live a more whole and meaningful life. Students experience meditation in action, a state of being focused and absorbed in the moment.

Who is BKS Iyengar?
Internationally acknowledged as a Master of yoga, Mr Iyengar began teaching 60 years ago. The Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Institute in Pune, India is at the forefront of modern yoga. Here Mr Iyengar, his daughter Geeta and son Prashant teach and refine the constantly evolving method that is one of the world's most widely practised yogas.

Iyengar yoga : effort and surrender
For the beginning student, the mind is often too undisciplined and unframed to focus on several isolated muscular actions simultaneously. Also, the body is usually weak, stiff and lacks stamina. Consequently, for most beginning students, Iyengar yoga requires a considerable amount of effort. Effort is necessary to resist the tendency of the mind to wonder and the body to collapse.
It not only takes intelligence of mind and body to follow and understand the alignment instructions, but strength and stamina of mind and body to maintain constant muscular action in various parts of the body simultaneously. As one practices regularly, the mind and body become more focused and strengthened. New energetic patterns in the mind and body will develop and so less effort will be needed to perform the poses with proper alignment and action. Any amount of effort in a pose should be balanced or tempered with a sense of release or surrender.
The face should be relaxed and the eyes soft in every pose. Advanced practitioners will express more of the state of surrender and freedom than effort, while beginners will need to focus more on effort and discipline. Effort without a sense of surrender can lead to violent and constrictive action and therefore to injury.

Iyengar yoga : discomfort vs. pain
As stated in "effort & surrender", Iyengar Yoga is a very challenging physical and mental discipline. Consequently, physical and mental discomfort is often experienced by beginning students because of lack of flexibility, strength, stamina and mental focus.
As one puts forth effort to perform postures that the body and mind are not used to, many resistances are felt. These resistances commonly manifest in the body as discomfort. A feeling of discomfort in a general area of the body while performing a posture with good alignment is not a problem. The discomfort will cease when one comes out of the pose. Discomfort is a relative feeling. A beginning student performing the same pose with the same good alignment will generally feel much more discomfort than the advanced student.
Discomfort does not indicate injury. The feeling of discomfort will often soften and lessen if one does not mentally fight the feeling.
Pain in a yoga pose, on the other hand, usually indicates a physical misalignment or improper muscular action. A specific burning or intense, localized sensation in the body is referred to as pain. If one feels pain in a muscle or joint, one should immediately change or modify the posture until the pain is relieved. One should closely observe the postural misalignment that caused the pain, and correct the pose accordingly. Pain indicates that injury will probably occur if the misalignment is maintained.

Iyengar yoga : use of props
Iyengar Yoga does not aim at the perfect posture - but aims at bringing the performer to the full use of his potential, even when that leaves the pose imperfect. External tools, aids and props tend to distract the attention from the real pose and give a false sense of accomplishment. It is better to do the pose slowly and to your capacity even if that capacity is limited, rather that force the body with the aids of props to do what its own innate intelligence is not yet capable of handling.
So a healthy body that still does not achieve perfection in a pose must not be given a prop just for the sake of helping him to reach perfection. We as students and teachers must work on the flow of energy and inner awareness, persistence and much repetition - and eventually greater perfection will be achieved. But never should we curtail the learning curve by allowing unnecessary use of props.

Styles of Yoga

Most yoga taught is a form of hatha yoga, which is comprised of physical postures, breathing techniques, relaxation and meditation. Hatha yoga is the umbrella under which most of the sub-specialties of yoga fall. What makes the styles different from each other is their emphasis and technique. The type of yoga you choose depends upon why you want to practice and what you want to get out of the experience. Therefore sample different classes until you find one that satisfies your needs. The teacher is a most important factor in your decision. Ask the teacher for their credentials and background. The match between student and teacher is crucial.

Iyengar Yoga
Iyengar Yoga, a dynamic and challenging style of yoga, is named after BKS Iyengar, an Indian Yoga Master who is one of the world's most influential yoga masters. Iyengar focuses on precise alignment, posture and attention to subtle details. The poses are held for longer periods of time and repeated several times. Standing poses are emphasized for beginners, because they set the foundation and build correct alignment from the feet up. When the student has reached a certain level of mastery, the study of the breath, called pranayama is introduced. Like ashtanga yoga, Iyengar yoga is not for the casual practitioner as it is an incredibly challenging practice that will require a serious level of involvement, both physically and emotionally during its practice. The training of an Iyengar teacher is rigorous and challenging. Teachers must meet specific requirements to receive Iyengar certification.

Ashtanga Yoga
Ashtanga yoga is a fast paced series of sequential poses linked together by Ujjayi breath and a flow of postures called vinyasas. It is a style that appeals to the individual who enjoys an intense and challenging exercise form. This is not a practice tailored for the beginner for a number of reasons. For one, you need to memorize the series by studying under someone who is him- or herself and advanced practitioner, so that he/she can assist you in aligning your body into positions you may not be able to reach on your own. If you were interested in pursuing this practice for yourself, it would be a good idea to first speak to the teacher of the class, to get a better sense of his knowledge of his practice and where he is in his own practice. Generally one should not teach the primary series if they have not graduated from this series themselves.
Power YogaThis is a hybrid of Asthanga yoga, a term originating from an American teacher. Most power yoga is a flowing series of postures based upon the Asthanga yoga system.

Bikram Yoga
Bikram yoga is a hot and aggressive yoga style, developed by Bikram Choudhary. The practice consists of a prescribed sequence of 26 postures. The yoga room is heated up to 100 degrees to encourage sweating and the release of impurities. Each posture is usually performed twice and held for a certain length of time.

Sivananda Yoga
Sivananda yoga is based on the teachings of Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh, India. Sivananda yoga consists of twelve basic yoga postures to increase strength and flexibility, chanting, breath work and meditation.

Kundalini Yoga
Kundalini yoga is a tantric yoga discipline, based upon the arousal of the Kundalini (serpent power/energy housed in the base of the spine.)

Other styles of Yoga (not so popular)
Viniyoga
Kripalu Yoga
Integral Yoga
Ananda Yoga
Ishta Yoga
Anusara Yoga

There is a style of yoga for everyone and there is some overlap between styles. As a new student, please take some time to find the type of yoga that's right for you.

Recommended books

"Iyengar Yoga,The Intergrated and Holistic Path to Health" by Dr.Thomas
"Yoga wisdom and practice" BKS Iyengar
"Yoga for Arthritis" - Loren Fishman
"A Physiological Handbook for Teachers of Yogasana" by Mel Robin
Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Svatmarama
"Cure back pain with yoga" - Loren Fishman
"The Inner Tradition of Yoga" by Michael Stone
"Fire of Love" - Aadil Palkhivala
"Yoga, the greater tradition" - David Frawley
"The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali" - Alistair Shearer
"Sciatica Solutions" - Loren Fishman
"Light on Life" - BKS Iyengar
Astadala Yoga Mala - Vol 1 - 8
"The Thread of Beath" - Tias Little
"Athlete's Guide to Yoga" - Sage Rountree
Yoga Rahasya
"Yoga Anatomy" - Leslie Kaminoff
Geeta S Iyengar's Guide to a Woman's Yoga Practice
"Yoga in Action" - Preliminary Course - Geeta Iyengar
"The Path to Holistc Health" -- BKS Iyengar
"The Women's Book of Yoga & Health" - Sparow & Walden
"Iyengar yoga" -- Judith Smith
"Yoga explained" - Mira Metha
"Yoga for Pregnancy" -- Sandra Jordan
"Runner's yoga book" -- Jean Couch
"Health through yoga" -- Mira Metha
"How to use Yoga " - Mira Metha
"Yoga, the Iyengar way" - Silva, Mira and Shyam Metha
"Yoga, a gem for women" - Geeta Iyengar
"Light on Yoga" - BKS Iyengar

Invocation to Sage Patanjali

yogena cittasya padena vacam
malam sarirasya ca vaidyakaena
yopa karot tam pravaram muninum
patanjalim pranjalir anato smi
abahu - purusakaram
sankha - cakrasi - dharinam
sahasra - sirasam svetam
pranamami patanjalim

To the noblest of sages, Patanjali, Who gave Yoga for serenity of mind,Grammar for purity of speech, And medicine for perfection of the body, I bow, I prostrate before Patanjali, Whose upper body has a human form, Whose arms hold a conch and disc, Who is crowned by a thousand-headed cobra,O incarnation of Adisesa, my Salutations to Thee.

Why we chant the Invocation to Lord Patanjali

As with certain aspects of our daily life, it is custom to give credit, recognition and or thanks to our teachers and/or mentors. It is deemed appropriate to make payment if one makes use of words and ideas that will ultimate benefit the user.
Royalties are paid daily to creators and artists whose words and tunes we make our own, or use for our benefit. Making this information your own without the consent of the 'creator' is tantamount to stealing. Therefore some form of payment and/or recognition is afforded the source.
The same applies to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. For thousands of years, we have been benefiting from this information; the science of Ayurveda for a healthy body, grammar for purity of speech, and yoga for serenity for the mind.
It is fitting that each student recognizes these aspects as they impact on their spiritual and physical lives, and show the appropriate respect to that source, Sage Patanjali.

BKS Iyengar Yoga Centre, Oudtshoorn, Klein Karoo, Western Cape

Wednesday 16 January 2008

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Abby and her grandfather, Guruji

Invocation to Sage Patanjali

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