Gratitude
Yoga Connections
On December 14, 1918, Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar graced the world with his birth. He was the eleventh child born of thirteen during the wake of an influenza outbreak which left his system weak and vulnerable. Having survived devistating diseases such as malaria, typhoid, and tuberculosis, he began serious yoga training with his brother-in-law, Guru Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya. Guru Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya had harsh training methods, which might be considered abusive in the West; however, BKS Iyengar trained hard and it could be argued what he lacked in physical strength he made up for with will and effort. Within two years Sri T. Krishnamacharya sent him to Pune to teach yoga leaving him to continue his yoga journey without a guru.
A capable student brings fame to his teacher
-Guru Sri T. Krishnamacharya, the Father of Modern Yoga
BKS Iyengar continued his training in essence becoming his own guru. He sought to get to know every cell and sinew of his body through a thorough examination of its function to whole of his being. It could be said, his yoga practice became his way of honoring the vessel that fought for him when diseases threatened his life.
The body is my temple. Asana are my prayers.
~BKS Iyengar
The process of his personal training along with teaching and learning from his students transformed him into the World's Best Yoga Teacher. Passing on August 20, 2014, he left the legacy of his life's work to humankind: developing a systematic method of teaching the eight-limbed path of Astanga Yoga.
Several years ago, as a tribute to B.K.S. Iyengar and his inexhaustible work, I started a list of reasons why everyone should experience Iyengar Yoga. I urge Iyengar practitioners to contribute, add to, enhance or correct my attempts here. I am a Level 1 Certified Iyengar Instructor. I have been on a very private and personal yoga journey since my father’s health began to decline and I decided to assist in his care and go back to college. I am and will always be a student. What insights I bring are my own. I have practiced silently listening to my body with the imagined fervor of a man I have the utomost respect for and a man who has become the symbol of a generative father for me, whose integrity as teacher and a man never waivered.
I am by no means a master of Iyengar's work. The choice and order of my reasons were approached very organically and based on my humble idea of how to begin simply (some may view it as oversimplified) and progress into less simple reasons. Needless to say, this list is not in the right Krama (sequential order), though some effort has been applied to do so. As I gain more Light from the study and practice of Iyengar's work, I will probably want to change this list. For now, it is simply a small tribute to a man I will never meet, yet who has affected my life in profound ways. Perhaps it will also serve to encourage at least one person to explore The Iyengar Method for themselves.
1. Alignment matters: Poor body alignment leads to poor bone, muscle, joint, and ligament alignment. improve your body alignment and you extend the life and vitality of the body.
2. Alignment matters: Poor body alignment leads to poor health. When the body is misaligned it puts undo stress on all the systems of the body, decreasing function and capability. Improve your body alignment you improve your health.
3. Alignment matters: Poor body alignment leads to poor mind alignment. When the body is misaligned, the mind is constantly troubled by tamasic (dull/heavy) and rajasic (fiery/active) states of mind and unable to reach a harmonious sattvic state. Improve your body alignment you improve the state of your mind.
4. Alignment matters: Poor body alignment leads to poor emotional alignment. When the body is misaligned the emotions are troubled and mentally imprisoned by the kleśas (five afflictions). Improve your body alignment and you improve your emotional health.
5. Alignment matters: Poor body alignment leads to poor inner alignment. Improve your body alignment and you improve your connection to your true self.
6. Alignment matters: Poor body alignment leads to poor breath alignment. Improve your body alignment and you improve your ability to bring this vital nutrient to more areas of the body and tap into your own life force energy.
7. Alignment matters: Poor body alignment leads to poor energy alignment. Improve your body alignment and you improve the alignment of (72,0000) energy or nadi channels in the body.
8. Alignment matters: Poor internal alignment leads to poor external alignment. Improve your internal alignment and you improve you ability to align with the world around you.
9. Alignment matters: Poor alignment with your community responsibilities leads to poor community integration and support. Improve your alignment with your community responsibilities and you improve your standing in your community.
10. Alignment matters: Poor alignment with healthy habits leads to poor alignment with your aspirations in life. Improve the alignment of your personal habits and you clear a path to your goals.
11. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method will enable your highest self to unfold naturally.
12. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method will enable you to focus to such an extent that learning anything becomes easier and more accessible.
13. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method teaches you to know yourself --your habits, your strengths, your weaknesses, your emotional state, your conscious state, your ignorance, your intelligence, your wisdom, your sense of grace and compassion for yourself and others.
14. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method gives you wisdom and discretion.
15. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method systematically and compassionately opens new pathways to healing yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
16. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method gives you courage so you can liberate yourself from your fears, stresses, and anxieties.
17. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method teaches you safe ways to push your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual abilities through the use of props and other resources.
18. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method demonstrates how small successes can accomplish big goals.
19. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method gracefully shifts what and how you choose to engage your mind, body, and spirit; whether that's choosing a healthier diet, or reading, watching, and listening with more discernment.
20. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method gives you the tools, the words, and the experience to share what you have learned with others.
21. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: "Transformation is achieved through sustained change, and it is achieved through practice." - BKS Iyengar
22. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: "Knowledge is always something that is universal. It is not meant for one person. It is not individual, but every individual contributes. When knowledge goes in the right direction and ignorance is removed it takes all of us in the same direction. So I learn when you learn. When you feel, and you understand, that gives knowledge to me. In a similar manner when I give knowledge to you, you also start to understand." Geeta S. Iyengar.
23. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: "The intelligence […] grows faster vertically than horizontally." - BKS Iyengar. (Vertical = Intelligence, Horizontal = Wisdom).
24. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Learning to stand first roots the body's intelligence in the feet first providing what is known as "base intelligence."
25. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Learning to root the body from the base enables vertical growth to happen.
26. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Learning standing poses enables the practitioner to activate and grow the intelligence in the outer limbs and basic structures of the body.
27. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Mobilizing the mind to activate the outer limbs of the body through extension develops a firm foundation and fundamental intelligence needed for standing forward bends.
28. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Standing extensions and forwards bends mobilizes the gluteals and teaches the concavity actions necessary for seated forward bends.
29. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Seated forward bends increase the flexibility in the gluteal, sacral, and coccyx regions to prepare the body for lateral extensions (twisting).
30. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Standing upright teaches the elements of inverted standing poses on our shoulders, hands, forearms, and head.
31. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Standing, forward bends, lateral extensions, and inversions, ready the abdomen for deep abdominal contractions.
32. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Mastering the proper alignment of the sacral and coccyx regions along with the concavity actions of the upper back prepare the body for the introduction of preliminary back bending poses.
33. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Systematic learning enables the body, mind, and intelligence to awaken gracefully and compassionately.
34. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Sequencing is not provided in a haphazard way according to the instructor's whim, it is progressive to foster maximum growth of the mind and body at every stage of development.
35. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Systematic learning frees the body and intelligizes the mind while increasing awareness how different sequences stimulate the adrenals, while other sequences pacify the adrenals while still others stimulate the pituitary and thyroid glands to balance the hormones.
36. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: The Iyengar Method systematically teaches in order to stimulate specific systems in the body in order to bring more physical, mental, and emotional balance.
37. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: From a more balanced body, "the body becomes a universe for the mind to travel within." BKS Iyengar.
38. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Once vertical intelligence is achieved horizontal wisdom can flourish. The intelligence can spread to occupy every minute area of the body creating space. This is what BKS refers to as a "yogic mind".
39. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Once a "yogic mind" is developed physical and mental health flourishes and control of intensity in action, relaxation, or stillness are in your hands.
40. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Once a "yogic mind" is developed the body and mind can evolve in such a way as to ready itself towards deeper inner awareness or "involution".
41. Dedicated Study in the Iyengar Method Makes Discipline Easy: Once the "yogic mind" is developed the Yamas (Global Disciplines) and the Niyamas (Self-Disciplines) naturally follow."They are meant to train, channel and purify the energy of the organs of action and senses of perception ." "The principals of yama tame the organs of action. Yama strengthens dama -restraint of the senses; whereas the principles of niyama bring śama - calmness and quietness in mind due to simplicity in life." --BKS Iyengar Aṣṭadala Yogamālā- Vol. 1
42. Dedicated Study in the Iyengar Method Makes Discipline Easy: Once the Yamas and Niyamas are cultivated higher levels of āsana naturally follows.
43. Dedicated Study in the Iyengar Method Makes Discipline Easy: Once the Yamas, Niyamas, and Āsanas are mastered, the discipline of Prānāyāma follows naturally.
44. Dedicated Study in the Iyengar Method Makes Discipline Easy: Once the discipline of the Yamas, Niyamas, Āsanas, and Prānāyāma become a natural part of the practitioners life, a discipline of sense withdrawal or Pratyahara naturally follows.
45. Dedicated Study in the Iyengar Method Makes Discipline Easy: Once the discipline of the Yamas, Niyamas, Āsanas, Prānāyāma and Pratyāhāra become a natural part of the practitioners life, Dhārnā (concentration) and Dhyāna (meditation) can be cultivated naturally in succession.
46. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: Integrity in his physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual life.
47. The Iyengar Method was Developed by a Man of Integrity: BKS Iyengar has dedicated over 80 years of his life to analyzing his own practice and discovering ways to give voice to the subtleties required to evolve every āsana. His early practice was up to 10 hours a day. At 95 he continued a 3-hour daily āsana practice with a 1-hour pranayama practice. It has been said that he explains he has to continue practicing because he hasn't been able to access "every cell" in his body yet.
48. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: He has a rigorous teacher training program to ensure his teachers can safely and systematically develop students physically, mentally and emotionally into a more yogic state of balance and alignment.
49. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: He systematically gives voice to instruction that will eventually bring about an evolution whereby the student begins to experience Sthira Sukham Āsanam (Sutra 11:47, sweet, stable, comfortable yoga pose within a vibration of oneness), so that Prayatna śaithila ananta samāpattibhām (Sutra 11:48, the effort to perform the pose becomes effortless), and Tatah dvandva ānabhighātah (Sutra 11:49 from that dualities cease to disturb or constrain us).
50. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: BKS Iyengar has written over 20 books like some of the following:
• Light on Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
• Yoga - A Path to Holistic Health
51. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: He trained his children in the art of yoga.
52. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: His daughter Geeta and son Prashant chose to continue their father's work.
53. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: With the help of his daughter Geeta he has developed Guidelines for Teachers of Yoga.
54. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: He fostered his daughter Geeta's passion towards women's issues and health. Her definitive guide for women Yoga: A Gem For Women has been a great resource for women interested in yoga all over the world.
55. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: He fostered his son Prashant's exploration into subtler whelms of yoga. Prashant is the author of several books:
Organology and sensology in Yogash_stra
Alpha and Omega of Trikonasana
56. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: He doesn't waiver from his roots and yet he is constantly dissecting those roots to learn more so he can share more with all of us.
57. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: Please click on this link to read another recent tribute: Ingela’s Reflection, Guruji Turning 95, An Artist, Scientist; Philosopher, forever learning, sharing; helping.
58. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: “Yoga, as practiced by Mr. Iyengar, is the dedicated votive offering of a man who brings himself to the altar, alone and clean in body and mind, focused in attention and will, offering in simplicity and innocence not a burnt sacrifice, but simply himself raised to his own highest potential.” ~Yehundi Menuhin, Forward, Light on Yoga by BKS Iyengar
59. The Iyengar Method Works: It progressively teaches the science of yoga, the art of yoga, and the philosophy of yoga. All of which result in the development of "a fresh mind"state.
60. The Iyengar Method Works: "If we maintain that state in our daily lives, that is known as integration. To be fully integrated means to integrate oneself totally from the body to the self and also to live in integration with one's neighbors and surroundings." --Tree of Yoga, BKS Iyengar
61. The Iyengar Method Works: Iyengar constantly analyzes the details of ancient texts such as Hatha Yoga Pradīpikā and Patañjali's Yoga Sutras. His method is based on developing what these texts define as the primary goal of yoga, which is to “Prana-vrtti-nirodha” or stilling the fluctuations of the breath and “Citta vritta nirodha” stilling the fluctuations of the mind. When movements of consciousness are restrained, a space is created, much like the space between inhalations and exhalations. As that space expands, a realization begins: that consciousness has no light of its own. It is dependent on something else. Much like the interplay between the Sun- Ha and the Moon-tha. The Ha=Sun=Hot=day=light=atma=soul and tha=Moon =Cool =night =dark =chitta=consciousness. The moon is merely reflecting the light of the sun. However, without the cooling effects of the moon, the energy of the sun would burn itself out. Iyengar's Method works on the idea that the balance of Ha and tha is an imperative, which puts one on the path to experiencing the even greater force within the various levels of samadhi -absorption.
62. The Iyengar Method Works: Iyengar uses personal experience and constant reassessment to teach us how we can use the breath to control the consciousness, while in turn controlling the consciousness through regulation of the breath.
63. The Iyengar Method Works: Iyengar has systematically broken through the Western belief that yoga is only a physical exercise by teaching and abiding by the Eight Limbs Of Astanga Yoga: 1) Yama 2)Niyama 3) Āsana 4) Prānāyāma 5) Pratyāhāra 6) Dhārnā 7) Dhyāna 8) Samādhi.
64. The Iyengar Method Works: Iyengar's book Tree of Yoga serves as a guide to how yoga goes beyond the studio and permeates in all aspect of our lives to bring us more freedom and peace.
65. The Iyengar Method Works: Iyengar is known as the first real "class" teacher of yoga. He has developed a method that communicates according to the students ability. "In the majority of pupils, the intellect of the head is very strong, but the body does not react to the volition of the brain. Usually, their brain acts as the subject, but you have to learn to treat the brain as an object and the body as a subject. This is the first lesson yoga teaches. When that is learnt, the effect of yoga is very quick." Tree of Yoga.
66. The Iyengar Method Works: The Method works no matter if you are well or sick, young or old, energetic or lazy, well formed or deformed.
67. The Iyengar Method Works: Iyengar has a knowledge of the causes of the disease. His Method integrates therapeutics that work on chronic issues by strengthening surrounding areas before addressing the affected area.
68. The Iyengar Method Works: It could be said, The Method's therapeutic approach is based on Sutra II.16, heyaṁ duḥkham anāgatham, which according to BKS Iyengar's Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali is interpreted, "The pains which are yet to come can be and are to be avoided."
69. The Iyengar Method Works: In the article linked above, "Therapeutics in Iyengar Yoga: 'Your Job is to Put the Student on the Path to Yoga", by Stephanie Quirk, "[In The Iyengar Method] we have Abhyāsa and Vairāgya. No alternative health method has this. Your job as a yoga teacher isn’t to be someone’s doctor, nurse, or psychiatrist. Your job is to put the patient/student on the path of yoga. They must become followers and practitioners if they are to finally eradicate all trace of what disturbs them (dosha). Abhyāsa (practice) and Vairāgya (detachment) are at the core of everything one has to undertake. They are the irreducible plinths upon which yoga is based, and what truly separates the yogic path from other alternative health therapies."
70. The Iyengar Method Works: The first book written on the technique of yoga with detailed descriptions and photographs, Light on Yoga by BKS Iyengar is still the best resource on the proper practice of the yoga Āsana and Prānāyāma. First published in 1966, it was written based on Iyengar's 27 years of experience at the time. The book covers 200 āsanas, bandha, kriya, and pranayama with over 600 photographs.
71. The Iyengar Method Works: In addition to descriptive books on technique, the Iyengars also provide "Hints and Cautions" in order to assure the student is learning in the safest and most effective environment. However, despite the many books and resources, Iyengar always stresses the importance of experience and study with an Iyengar Certified Instructor or Master Teacher to guide your progress.
72. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patañjali: He recognizes the nine obstacles that impede progress on the path of yoga.
Vyadi: Illness
Styāna: Langour, mental stagnation
Samṥaya: Doubt
Pramāda: Heedlessness, lack of foresight
Ālasya: Sloth, fatigue
Āvirati: Dissipation, overindulging
Bhrāntidarshana: False views, illusions
Ālabdhabhūmikatva: Lack of perseverance
Anavasthitatva: Instability, regression
73. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patañjali: The physical obstacles, which can range from laziness to disease are overcome through the Iyengar Method with the use of all kinds of props. Props make poses possible (even in illness) for everyone (removing doubt, laziness, and fatigue) which encourages the perseverance in practice that will begin to break through these obstacles.
74. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patañjali: The other obstacles are mental obstacles. These can range from doubt and illusion to idleness. Iyengar recognizes that when teachers pace lessons they can begin to develop a student's mental faculties in order to reduce the mental obstacles while sharpening focus and stamina.
75. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patañjali: The five kleśas 1. Avidyā (Ignorance) 2. Asmitā (ego) 3. Rāga (attachment) 4. Dveșa (aversion) 5. Abhiniveṥa (fear of death) along with the nine obstacles serve as distractions to that scatter the mind. Iyengar's method works to significantly reduce the hold the nine obstacles and five kleśas have on the student in order to create a better foundation for progress.
76. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patañjali: Iyengar encourages self-study or svadhyaya.
77. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patañjali. By concentrating on a particular object the consciousness becomes serene. Iyengar makes the āsana the object of focus. When the student becomes engrossed in the study of āsana, the mind steadies fostering deeper progress.
78. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 sutras of Patañjali:
“The yogi conquers the body by the practice of āsanas and makes it a fit vehicle for the spirit. He knows that it is a necessary vehicle for the spirit. A soul without a body is like a bird deprived of its power to fly.”
~ BKS Iyengar, Light On Yoga.
79. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patañjali: Though only three (to five according to Aṣṭadala Yogamālā- Vol. 1) sutras are attributed to the practice of āsana. Āsana helps the student move from the gross to the subtle - from the external to the internal. Iyengar's method concentrates on the external alignment in āsana in order to create the environment to penetrate and align the internal world of the student.
80. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patañjali: "Whatever āsana one performs, it should be done with a feeling of firmness and endurance in the body, good will in the intelligence of the head, and awareness and benevolent delight in the seat of the heart." BKS Iyengar Aṣṭadala Yogamālā-- Vol 2.
81. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patanjali: Only after the perfection of asana (Sutras 11:47, 11:48, 11:49) is a student begin Prānāyāma.
82. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patañjali: Pranayama must be introduced gently. In his book Light on Prānāyāma, Iyengar covers the 14 basic types of Prānāyāma broken down into a careful formulation of 82 stages so that the student can safely progress. He outlines the difficulties and dangers while providing a detailed 200-week course to help avoid them. To explain he power of prana he said, “Hindus often say that GOD is Generator, Organizer, and Destroyer. Inhalation is the generating power, retention is the organizing power, and exhalation, if the energy is vicious, is the destroyer. This is prana at work. Vigor, power, vitality, life, and spirit are all forms of prana."
83. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patañjali: Iyengar takes great care in his teachings on Prānāyāma. "[…]breath-control, that is Prānāyāma is not merely deep breathing or breathing exercises, normally a part of physical culture. It is something far more, involving exercises which affect not only the physical, physiological and neural energies but also the psychological and cerebral activities, such as memory-training and creativity." --R.R. Divwakar in Forward of Light on Prānāyāma.
84. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patañjali: Iyengar offers respect and admiration to those who are credited for the discovery of Prānāyāma, namely Patañjali and the ancient Yogis of India. He explains how he can write about the subject, but words are limiting. Practice and experience done with caution, sustained effort, and patience are the only way to gain by this limb of yoga.
85. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patanjali: Avidyā, (ignorance) is what Iyengar deems the "mother of all afflictions." This may be why he encourages the study of Yoga with the guidance of a Guru. Gu=Light Ru=Ignorance. A Guru is simply someone who has mastered the art and science of yoga and can shed light on the dark areas where there is a need or want for knowledge and understanding. Pranayama is said to be "exalted knowledge" according to the Yogachudamani Upanisad.
86. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patañjali: Patanjali prescribes ways to train the mind. There are five basic qualities of mind 1) Mūda (dull) 2) Kṣipta (lazy) 3) Vikṣipta (oscillating) 4) Ekāgra (steady) and finally 5) niruddha (still). One of my instructors, Nancy Mau explained in class once and I will attempt to impart here: that Iyengar describes two banks between a river, one bank being the yamas and the other the niyamas by adhering to the boundaries of the banks we will flow in the right direction. The two banks align us, irrespective of birth, time, place or sex. The banks keep us going in the right direction where friendliness, compassion, joy and indifference (as needed) naturally spring forth along the way. The mind steadies itself and eventually finds stillness.
87. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patañjali: The four chapters or padas of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 1) Samādhi Pāda (Sub Consciousness) 2) Sādhanā Pāda (Study) 3) Vibhūti Pāda (Power) and 4) Kaivalya Pāda (Freedom) are according to Iyengar ordered for their interdependent cultivation. "The theory of the first chapter and the practice of the second and third chapters, when converted into science, art, and philosophy, become yoga sastra (teaching), yoga kala (unit/time), and yoga darsana (for sense awareness)." -BKS Iyengar Aṣṭadala Yogamālā- Vol. 1.
88. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patañjali: As a Master Teacher, Iyengar codified the Sutras of Patañjali according themes for quick study for his students in his Aṣṭadala Yogamālā- Vol. 1.
89. The Iyengar Method believes three things must be united in yoga: Love, Knowledge, and Action.
"It must not be just your mind or even your body that is doing the āsana. You must be in it. You must do the āsana with your soul. How can you do an āsana with your soul? We can only do it with the organ of the body closest to the soul - the heart." - BKS Iyengar in Light on Life
90. The Iyengar Method believes three things must be united in yoga: Love, Knowledge, and Action. Iyengar explains that he teaches a "spiritual practice in action." He uses the body as the vehicle to discipline the mind toward consciousness of the soul.
91. The Iyengar Method believes three things must be united in yoga: Love, Knowledge, and Action."You must feel your intelligence, your awareness, and your consciousness in every inch of your body." - BKS Iyengar in Light on Life
92. The Iyengar Method believes three things must be united in yoga: Love, Knowledge, and Action.
"Love must be incarnated in the smallest pore of the skin, smallest cell of the body, to make them intelligent, so they can collaborate with all the other ones, in the big republic of the body." - BKS Iyengar in Sparks of Divinity
93. The Iyengar Method believes three things must be united in yoga: Love, Knowledge, and Action. "Sadhana should be pursued even though pain and death are at our throat." Sadhana means self-effort, spiritual discipline.
94. The Iyengar Method recognizes three things must be united in yoga: Love, Knowledge, and Action.
"The eyes must go to the region that does not work, not the one that does." - BKS Iyengar in Sparks of Divinity
95. The Iyengar Method believes three things must be united in yoga: Love, Knowledge, and Action.
You are in bondage. So while you are sweating and aching, let your heart be light and let it fill your body with gladness. You are not only becoming free, but you are also being free. What is not to be glad about? The pain is temporary. The freedom is permanent. - BKS Iyengar in Light on Life
96. The Iyengar Method teaches:
"Before peace between nations, we must find peace within the small nation which is our own being." - BKS Iyengar, Sparks of Divinity, The teachings of BKS Iyengar, Compiled by Noelle Perez-Christiaens.
97. The Iyengar Method teaches, "The seed is the cause for the tree to grow, but the surprising thing is that in the seed there is nothing visible for one to know how the tree grows and with what content. From this apparent 'nothingness' of the seed the tree shoots up. In sthe same way, the seed of our life force, at the core is the Self." BKS Iyengar, Aṣṭadala Yogamālā- Vol. 7.
98. BKS Iyengar teaches: It has been said that BKS Iyengar used to address the weaknesses in a particular part of the body as our “trouble child” giving the trouble child the attention it needs to work through its issues. Be patient with yourself. Pause and be with the difficulties you encounter with your body with compassion and empathy. Together your heart, mind, body, and spirit can work through the troubled areas and bring you to the other side.
99. BKS Iyengar teaches us to be with our pain whether that is mental, physical, emotional, or spiritual. Stay present with it as if you are a curious observer, this way you can get to its source with more awareness to eradicate it for good. I have spend the last few years being with a man who I didn’t grow up with or really know but he shaped my sense of myself. Without the practice of Iyengar Yoga, I would never have been able to face the rawness of the pain I had knotted deep inside me. It took over ten years of dedicated daily practice to get to a point where I was ready to unknot that knot. I did and I have thanks to Iyengar Yoga.
100. Iyengar Yoga is not easy and anyone who has embarked on its path has experienced physical, mental, and emotional discomfort; however, the rewards come: moment by moment.
101: Iyengar Yoga sheds light on the dark places within you. Whether that is a muscle you haven’t connected with or emotion or memory you haven’t faced. It recalibrate you back to wholeness.
102: Iyengar Yoga isn’t an Olymbic sport to compete with others. It is a practice you choose for yourself that takes you on a very personal journey.
103: Iyengar Yoga won’t recognize your progress, yoga isn’t a destination. It won’t put you on the cover of a magazine. In fact, most people will have no idea the journey that Iyengar Yoga takes you on or the healing that takes place along the way. However, you will know. Perhaps, you will feel mentally, emotionally, and physically stronger, clearer, and more at peace, and it inspires you to continue on the path with enormous gratitude.
Namaste