Beginners and practitioners

At the national Iyengar Yoga convention in Dallas this past April the teacher, Abhitjata Iyengar, the grand daughter of B.K.S. Iyengar, differentiated between beginners and practitioners. She instructed the beginners to concentrate on gross actions. The practitioners were asked to work more subtly. I wondered, who were the beginners? And who the practitioners? The criteria…

Asana as fact finding mission

In the yoga sutras of Patanjali, yoga is defined as the cessation of the movements in the consciousness. There are five classifications of the movements in the consciousness, they are: correct knowledge, delusion, illusion, sleep and memory. At any time your consciousness can be fluctuating in one of these classes. We hope though to get…

In Memory of Geeta Iyengar

Dr Geeta S. Iyengar, daughter of Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar, and the senior most teacher in the Iyengar community passed away today morning. She had completed 74 years on December 7. Sister to her five siblings but a mother figure to the whole community of Iyengar yoga practitioners which now spans 59 countries across the world,…

What is Iyengar Yoga known for? (part 1: roots in tradition)

Iyengar Yoga is known for: being a method with roots in tradition creating the best of the best teachers accommodating a huge variety of students As described on the IYNAUS (Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States) website: Iyengar Yoga is firmly grounded in the ancient Indian art of yoga. More than 2,500 years…

His end is our beginning

As I write this it has been almost three months since B.K.S. Iyengar died. He passed away on August 20, 2014. Since his death there have been many great articles written in tribute to his life’s work. Teachers from all over writing testimonials about how his work has changed their lives and in turn the…