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,…
I was recently talking to a yoga practitioner from another lineage. We were discussing various topics in our conversation, not just yoga. At some point the conversation switched to my yoga classes and she gave a few reasons why she had never attended one of my classes. One reason was a shoulder injury and one…
Inversions are a big part of the Iyengar Yoga method. There’s headstand, shoulderstand, handstand, forearm balance — just to name a few. But how do you get started learning these poses? And are they safe to practice? If you want your inversion questions answered come to the Inversions Basics target class! This class is good…
Pranayama, the yogic art of breathing, leads to a control of the emotions which in turn brings stability, concentration and mental poise. Pranayama is a bridge which helps the student of yoga to cross from the realm of purely physical development to that of the spirit and forms a crucial stage in his journey towards…
Sometimes life’s messages are foggy and require some effort to uncover. Other times, they’re like flashing neon lights and arrows guiding you down a path. Reading Aaron’s email about the opportunity to rent space at College Hill Yoga was a shining neon light moment for me. Having taught iRest® meditation in my day job as…
Iyengar Yoga is known for its creative sequencing. It is possible to go to an Iyengar Yoga class every week and never be taught the same sequence twice. In the beginning level classes there are similar poses taught week to week but hardly ever in the same order. Most times poses are sequenced so they…
1.13 tatra sthitau yatnah abhyasah Practice is the steadfast effort to still these fluctuations. In this yoga sutra “these fluctuations” are the movements of consciousness. We experience the movements in our consciousness when our thoughts are bouncing around. We have a thought which sparks another thought which turns into another thought, and so on and…
abhava: feeling of non-being, absence of awareness pratyaya: going toward conviction, trust alambana: support, abode, dependence on a prop vrttih: function, condition, thought-wave nidra: sleep without dreams Sleep is the non-deliberate absence of thought-waves or knowledge. In a dreamless sleep the consciousness is stilled without any effort.
Someone told my wife Sarah that they want to take class at College Hill Yoga but they feel intimidated. Sarah said they are worried they won’t know what to do in class. Of course, I think this is so silly! I think this is silly because I know that in Iyengar Yoga we teach the…
sabdajnana: verbal knowledge anupati: followed in sequence, pursued vastusunyah: devoid of meaning vikalpah: imagination Verbal knowledge devoid of substance is fancy or imagination. Having an imagination is helpful (and fun) but we cannot live in this realm all the time. At some point the imaginary words or thoughts can become an untruth.
