Is the purpose of yoga to help improve your health? Yes it is. WAIT! I mean… no it’s not. Well, it kind of does. Let’s sort this out: “Classical yoga” (which is yoga as outlined in ancient philosophical texts) is defined as the “cessation of the movements in the consciousness.” This means that yoga is […]
Last December I traveled to India to attend classes at the Iyengar Yoga institute in Pune. The yoga institute started by B.K.S. Iyengar and now run by his son and granddaughter. The practice hall at the institute. It’s been less than a month since returning from India. The experience is still very fresh in my […]
In such-n-such pose, “is my knee supposed to be straight, like this?”, said every new student. Students always have lots of questions about the logistics of poses. Class is a great venue for answering your questions. The Iyengar Yoga method is known for a few things, one is the instructions we give students on how […]
Yesterday we had a great group discussion on the topic of self study. Self study (Svadhyaya) is one part of Kryia Yoga or yoga of action. In the yoga sutras instructs the eager student to take action in three ways: cultivate excitement for yoga (Tapas)self study (Svadhyaya) surrender to God (Ishvara Pranidhana) Practicing these three […]
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 […]
As some of you have heard, a couple of weeks ago, I passed the Intermediate Junior 1 teacher assessment. I was already a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher before I took the exam but passing the test means that I have another certificate beyond the basic certification. There are three levels of certification; Introductory, Intermediate, and Advanced. […]
How does doing some exercises on a yoga mat change your life? Unless you are of the “burning bush” variety it is probably unlikely that doing yoga poses once in your life will have a large affect on it. It is doing them once most days consistently over a period of time that has made […]
I spent the first two weeks of December teaching at Pranayama Yoga Studio (www.yogarockford.com), pictured at left. This great Iyengar Yoga studio is owned by my dear friend Jennie Williford. I met Jennie years ago in Ann Arbor at one of Laurie Blakeney’s teacher trainings (www.annarborschoolofyoga.com). We traveled to Pune together to study at the […]