Note: To become certified as an Iyengar Yoga teacher you must pass a test, often referred to as an ‘assessment’. This assessment is rigorous and takes years of working with a mentor to prepare. I went up for Intro 1 & 2 assessment, for the first time, in 2017. I passed 3 of the 4…
Why do we want to build stamina in our poses? The poses are the playground for exploring how the body, mind and breath relationship. We first learn simple actions within simple poses. (such as the triangle pose, seen here above). Actions such as how to lift the knee caps or how to straighten the arms….
Even if you have never done yoga it is likely you have heard the jingle “Body Mind Breath” before. And it’s also probably likely that you think that improving your Body-Mind-Breath relationship is important. But how do we do that? Start with the Body In Iyengar Yoga we start with the body. Compared to the…
At the intensive in India, this past December, Prashant Iyengar many times said that he wants us to become our own teacher. That we need to stop relying so heavily on our teachers to tell us what to do in our practice. Which doesn’t mean we don’t need a teacher. You need a teacher so…
Do you think it’s important to have a yoga teacher? I do. This past weekend I traveled up to the Ann Arbor School of Yoga to attend the weekend intensive with my teacher, Laurie Blakeney. (In the photo below, that’s me standing on Laurie’s shoulders!) I have been attending these weekend intensives regularly for years….
The yoga student journey from potential new student to practitioner is not a straight line. When students come to class for the first time I definitely don’t assume they will want to dedicate their life to a yoga practice. I assume new students are trying it out casually and I don’t put pressure on them….
I sat down with my mentoree Dawn (pictured here) to discuss her experience with Iyengar Yoga and talk about a new class she is offering this fall. Aaron Fleming: Hi Dawn, tell us a little about yourself. Dawn Baurichter: In addition to yoga I enjoy being outside, traveling to national parks and walking the trails….
I attend class with my teacher, Laurie Blakeney, three or four times a year, usually during her weekend intensives up in Ann Arbor. In between her intensives I try to take class with other senior certified Iyengar Yoga teachers. There’s no certified Iyengar Yoga teachers senior to me in Cincinnati so I must travel to…
Misconceptions about yoga abound. But I am here to tell you that it is not what you think it is. Yoga is not what you think it is. And Iyengar Yoga is not what you think it is. If you have never taken a yoga class I bet you already have an idea of what…
If you stick with it practicing yoga can lead to a life of contentment. But how does doing poses lead to contentment? Let’s explore a recent experience I had which will hopefully illustrate the process. I spent last week vacationing on Lake Michigan with six adults, six small children and one pretty big dog. There…
