A Workshop On Transitions with Bobby Clennell - Part 1

Bobby Clennell is a name female Iyengar students learn early on in our practice. Many of us found her when we sought to better understand Geeta Iyengar’s Yoga: A Gem for Women, the definitive guide to yoga for women during the various stages of life.

The first lesson women in an Iyengar Yoga class never forget is that they must let their Iyengar instructors know when they are menstruating. I considered that my business and no one elses. I read A Gem for Women through the lens of my ego. At the time, I didn’t understand why I needed to embarrass myself by letting an entire class know my situation by doing “special” poses. Bobby’s book, The Woman's Yoga Book: Asana and Pranayama for all Phases of the Menstrual Cycle with its delightful illustrations, gently broke through my Western ego with the impact of a loving sister sharing her experiences and deep understanding of Geeta’s guidance.

“As women, we witness a constant dance of creation and renewal played out in our bodies. Thus, it is important to take a mindful and sensitive approach to the practice of yoga. Different poses produce different responses within the system. You can nurture a state of vibrant good health by doing the right poses at the right time of your cycles.” ~Bobby Clennell, The Woman’s Yoga Book

Bobby has written several other books for women and children. Later in my practice, her Guide to Pune, became my go-to-book during my trips to Pune. I considered her an indispensible friend, but I’d never met her. I finally did last weekend thanks to Iyengar Yoga Therapeutics (IYT), a research, educational, and training organization that supports yoga techniques developed by B.K.S. Iyengar as a complementary treatment for diseases and health conditions. IYT is hosting Bobby’s six-part menopause workshop.

Bobby turned out to be everything I’d imagined she’d be — engaging, authentics, sharp as a tack, and refreshingly kind.

She holds in her heart a flurry of wisdoms, from her 30+ years studying with the Iyengar Family, that she sprinkles like stardust. She doesn’t expect you to digest them all in that moment. She does hope you’ll hold on to them, and trusts they will all come together for us in good time.

The workshop began in Baddha Konasana, cobbler’s pose, a vital pose for women. While we experienced the hip mobilization and pelvic organ decompression benefits of the pose, Bobby shared her appreciation for life’s transitions. She touched on the various age transitions from youth to teens to adulthood. She shared a recent Ayreveda talk she’d heard where they explained how we are always experiencing transitions. Her favorite example was the simple transition from sleep to wakefulness — if we don’t honor the change and skip breakfast, we will crash. The Iyengar community acknowledges seasonal transitions, and how the body has to navigate sometimes drastic temperatures from freezing to hot.

She offered general definitions of perimenopause, as the run-up before the period stops, menopause when the period stops, and post menopause, after the symptoms of menopause end.

She stresses how important it is to understand that different phases are not a “step down,” but opportunities for svadyaya, self study.

“Having a body means change”

For many women yoga practitioners, pregnancy and postpartum transitions are difficult for them to honor. They are eager to get back to their regular practice, so they don’t respect the body’s need to transition and end up hurting themselves.

“Having a body means change,” she explained, and a woman’s body changes something like every 5-7 years.

It’s not just women who have to deal with transitions. She shared her experience watching BKS Iyengar’s practice over the years. Since his practice was “in the service of everyone else,” he had to preserve his energy. Over time, she witnessed his practice shift, which she associated to his acknowledgement of the transitions he was going through, and his need to save energy so he could continue to serve his students.

The transition of menopause can bring about a sundry of complaints like hair loss, brain fog, sore breasts, and weight gain. Bobby didn’t bring these up to frighten anyone, instead, she strived to put our minds at ease that the symptoms are very real and shouldn’t be dismissed. She explained how Geeta even encouraged women not to lose weight during menopause, but to wait because the extra flesh holds estrogen to ease the hormonal ups and downs of the process.

In the first two days of the workshop, Bobby addressed how to approach standing poses and forward bends with specific variations for perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause. We learned about emotional changes: the need for some of us to escape to hear our voice, nurture ourselves, and then return to nurturing others with more balance. We learned about physical changes: things like how osteoporosis begins in the pelvis, and the importance of forward bends to cultivate the water element in our joints and feminine parts. We also learned how the post menopausal variations require the most sharpness and attention. While we may be released (which we will feel in every ounce of our body) from Mother Nature’s grip on us since we can no longer procreate, it may be one of the most critical stages of a woman’s yoga practice.

I look forward to sharing another glimpse of her workshop on menopause next time. Click here to learn more about Bobby Clennell and Iyengar Yoga.

Namaste.