The Belle of Bellur: Four Days of Gratitude with Abhijata Iyengar - Day 2

Day two of the workshop with Abhijata Sridhar, BKS Iyengar’s granddaughter, highlighted for me the grace and gratitude that Iyengar Yoga fosters. It is unfathomable for most of us to imagine leading a class as large as the Iyengars do, and yet, it is what BKS Iyengar and his daughter Geeta dedicated their lives to. It is what his son, Prashant, continues to do. Abhijata trained with all of them since she was 16. She carries the legacy of impeccable instruction forward.

She is such an inspiration. She mentioned today that if we didn’t know her grandfather’s birthday or he didn’t have the telling hair color ( read gray) — watching him in the studio before his passing; you’d never know his age. Likewise, listening to Abhijata, experiencing her wisdom, confidence and clarity, you’d never know she is only 38 years old. Her Kriya Yoga, acts of yoga: Tapas (self-discipline that burns impurities), Svadhyaya (self-study from the outer to the inner sheaths), and Ishvara Pranidhana (the ultimate surrender to the divine) have given her such grace.

Today she emphasized how we should never underestimate the importance of how yoga brings the unconscious (whatever you want to call it) to the surface. We explored extension of the frontal body and circularizing that with lengthening and engaging the back body in standing, revolved, and seated asana. We studied the Bhranti Darsana, delusion or false ideas that can come with attempts to find that extension in an asana that requires more than surface awareness like Parvritta Trikonasana or Parvrtta Parsvokonasana (revolved triangle and side angle pose respectively). These poses require us to explore beyond our superficial involvement to the much deeper place of internal awareness.

In some poses it is easier to stay on the surface. For example, Uttanasana, an intense forward bend, we can think we are extending. However, when Abhijata put our backs to the wall for feedback, we realized, what we thought was an big effort on our part to extend from pubic bone to sternum was in reality more shifting our buttocks towards our head side- as opposed to truly extending in the manner she instructed. We had a false sense of what was happening. A proper extension is an integral action to moving beyond capabilities in asana. It is a wonderful example of the difference between Iyengar Yoga and other yoga in the energy requirement of Tapas and Svadyaya that must take place to achieve it without illusion.

Students of other practices may go for years under the illusion they are conducting the right action. Iyengar Yoga has proven, student after student, how with explicit instruction, dedicated uninterrupted practice and detachment (Abhyasa and Vairagya), we can go beyond illusion and beyond what we expect of ourselves. Through Tapas, Svadyaya, and Ishvara Pranidhana, truth and possibility surface. In the process, we glimpse yogah cittavrtti nirodhah, the cessation of fluctuations of the consciousness. We glimpse freedom from stiffness of mind and body to a place beyond our perceived abilities. It brings confidence, and clarity.

Abhijata explained how easily humans get dejected and downtrodden by the smallest criticism or comparison to others we think are doing better. We all do it. When that happens, the body gets heavy. It doesn’t want to move. It wants to go to bed or be alone. Nothing positive can happen in that place. The Iyengars know when a student’s body is in this state, and they alter the perspective to shift the heaviness immediately. It’s why props are so important in our practice because they enable a student to experience the pose so they have a vision of where they can go. The Iyengars have an incredible sense of where students are because they have been through it themselves, and they have served hundreds or thousands of students going through it in all its iterations. They seem to know what we are capable of even if we don’t know yet.

In her clarity and grace, Abhijata demonstrated the magic of forgiveness. She forgave us for forgetting actions and having a false impression of what we were doing in class. She gave us more instruction to aid our understanding. She explained, we all forget. We all get deluded. She didn’t give up on us. We can’t give up on ourselves. We can’t give up on each other. We have to forgive and keep trying from every perspective we can. Imagine if we could all have her level of confidence, clarity, grace and gratitude—how different the world would be.

Thank you Abhijata, and all those who have worked tirelessly to make this event possible. I look forward to tomorrow.

Namaste.