Mental Health and Iyengar Yoga

The alchemy of Iyengar Yoga comes about through the tenacious work of B.K.S. Iyengar and his unremitting efforts to transmit the eight-limbed path or Astanga Yoga in a way that resonates with all people from the periphery to the core of our being.

In a recent celebration, which honors teachers like BKS Iyengar, his granddaughter, Abhijata brought up the question of mental health and Iyengar Yoga to her Uncle and BKS Iyengar’s son, Prashant, who related mental health to our relationship to our cells —the over 28 trillion cells (28-37 trillion) that make up the human body and what we refer to as “I” or “Me.”

It is this writer’s understanding that Prashant associated mental health to learning to connecting to the wonderland of trillions of cells within us, and building solid positive relationships with the parts of the body the cells create via our mind, body, breath, and senses. In his book Alpha & Omega of Trikonasana, Prashant uses a single asana trikonasana or triangle pose to delineate “learning, doing, studying, practicing” into student processes of “activity, sensitivity, perceptivity, pensivity, and reflexivity” within the dynamics of mind, body, breath, and senses (p. 30). It is part of yoga practice that when applied creates an ever-growing awareness that lights the way to connections and healthy relationship to all the parts of our being and helps us identify and reflect on the impact each part has on the others.

Prashant used an example of when he and Abhijata are together in a room to express the interactivity involved with different parts. If someone else walks into the room, this changes the dynamic—like say Abhijata’s husband or child. Attention and behaviors shift and adapt to the changing environment, and alters the dynamic of the relationship in that moment. Such is the way with the parts of our being.

Consider how lifting your sternum frees your ability to breath; however, if your shoulders begin to droop, it caves your chest, which impacts your sternums ability to lift and constricts the breath. Low oxygen negatively impacts mind, body, and senses. However, when you have a solid relationship between your sternum, shoulders, and breath, you know how to work together to ensure maximum oxygen intake.

When we can identify the parts. Know the role each part plays in relation to other parts, it cultivates connections, and builds relationships that enhances our ability to align with the trillions of cells within us and positively impact our mental, emotional, and physical health.

Iyengar yoga teachers are trained to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the eight-limbed path by constantly delineating learning, doing, studying, practicing with activity, sensitivity, perceptivity, pensivity, and reflexivity within the dynamics of mind, body, breath, and senses with master teachers and yogic texts so they can hone their ability to transmit this alchemical process to their students who become empowered to support their own mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing.

What happens on the mat can also help us understand what happens off the mat as well. We can identify the vast number of parts outside of us and how to cultivate better connections and relationships in our social environment such as family, friends, neighbors, community, and broader society. Many mental health theories and interventions have some basis in the ancient art, science, and philosophy of yoga.

Please take a moment to honor the World’s greatest yoga instructor, BKS Iyengar, his daughter, Gheeta Iyengar, and the legacy that lives on and grows with his son, Prashant and granddaughter, Abhijata, and the many other Iyengar instructors who continue to increase the depth of their understanding and enhance our lives and wellbeing.

The Belle of Bellur: Four Days of Gratitude with Abhijata Iyengar - Day 4

Celebrating BKS Iyengar’s birthday From the soil of his birth and in Bellur, India, and supporting his dream through the Bellur Trust  is a gesture. His granddaughter, Abhijata Sridha Iyengar expressed the emotions of love, respect, and reverence, all of those who have been touched by his work felt. We wanted to honor his birthday whether we ever got a chance to meet him in person or not. His energy is still very present. His life’s work continues to make it possible for people from all walks of life to experience the transformation of yoga.

Many refer to him as Guruji. It is from the word guru or bringer of light. It is very fitting for someone who put yoga into a language the modern world could understand —regardless of country, class, race, gender, age, or physical abilities or limitation. “Access” is a term we hear a lot relevant these days, and Guruji sought to find ways to offering any willing students access to the transformation of yoga.

Since its origins somewhere between the fifth and third centuries BCE, yoga has evolved and been packaged in innumerable ways. Diving into its depths is a daunting task, which is why BKS Iyengar’s work is such a gift. Anyone who has had the opportunity to observe or assist in the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) therapy classes located in Pune, Maharashtra, has witnessed the healing powers of his work. It is why he has students from all over the globe. It’s not that he thought himself god-like as so many with his kind of influence tend to think of themselves. He worked, played, lived, and breathed yoga with the highest integrity any man can have. He gave us a learning method that aligns and connects us, mind, and body, because he knew once that happens, the yoga can do the yoga.

Tamas - inert, dull

Rajas - fire, dynamic

Sattvic - luminosity

There are three qualities of nature or Gunas: Tamas, solidity, Rajas, dynamism, Sattva, luminosity. They are ever-present and changing throughout nature and life. Abhijata brought awareness of the Gunas and the transformative power of yoga in her final class. She began and ended with a Savasana or corpse pose. She pointed out the vast difference of experience between the two asana. For some of us, it was very early morning; for some, after lunch, others, it was evening. Time, place, weather, level of study all affect the experience. Abhijata highlighted the Sutra of Sage Patanjali, which BKS Iyengar transcribes as “Perfection in an asana is achieved when the effort to perform it becomes effortless and the infinite being within is reached.”

II.47 prayatna shaithilya ananta samapattibhyam

Beginners may experience a generalized dullness, which is why Iyengar Yoga emphasizes standing poses in early training. They wake up the body. In Utthita Hasta Padasana, extended hands and legs pose, Abhijata taught with instructions such as lift the kneecaps and thighs and extend the arms from the sternum: the right sternum out to the fingertips and left sternum to the fingertips. Clear actions required the body and mind to engage progressively from the outer skin inwards to our muscles, bones, and nerves. The tamasic dullness moved into a more rajasic active state. Asana in an Iyengar class require intense focus and effort. Repetition allows that focus and effort to evolve. When we can better align and connect the mind and body, we move into another stage, a more rhythmic flow of effort, and a less effortful luminous state. These qualities of dullness, activity, and luminosity cycle within and around us day-to-day, moment-by-moment, class to class, asana to asana. With continuous practice, we can mindfully utilize these qualities of nature. When we need rajas, we can call upon it. When we are angry or agitated and we need to pause, we can call upon tamas. The harmony or balance of the two is sattva, so it is the more luminous state. We can learn to calibrate ourselves to adjust to inward changes or help us deal with outward changes in our environment.

In class, Abhijata generated rajas after the first few asana. She paused less between the asana, the rigor and intensity forced focused effort and then we experienced asana from the beginning of class again, now the effort was less effortful, the rigor and repetition transformed the body and mind, so by the time we got to Savasana, corpse pose for the second time, we were now acutely present with our legs, feet, ankles, thighs, hips, abdomen, chest, arms, neck, head, ears, eyes, mouth, nose and breath. We could actively surrender to earth from which we came and with it perhaps more conscious gratitude towards the man who helped us get there.

Iyengar Yoga is an experience not to be missed.

Thank you, Abhijata, for your willingness, your time, effort, and insight; Kishore for all of your patience and support; all of the panelists for demonstrating the poses and the many prop alternatives in the Iyengar repertory to address specific issues. I am grateful to you all. None of this could be possible without the birth of BKS Iyengar. Our continued experience, learning, and sharing of Iyengar Yoga can give him many happy returns.

Namaste.

The Belle of Bellur: Four Days of Gratitude with Abhijata Iyengar - Day 3

“If the foundation is firm, the building can withstand calamities. The practice of Yoga is the foundation, so that the Self is not shaken under any circumstances.”~B.K.S. Iyengar

Yoga is a metaphor for life and living. BKS Iyengar made the study of asana his life and gave us a library of learning to light our path, along with his lineage after him who have brought their insights into his work, and many other devoted instructors. He took as many as 40 years, Abhijata explained, to find a single word to describe a particular instruction. Abhijata distinguished the difference between her grandfather’s yoga practice and a student of Iyengar Yoga. BKS Iyengar studied with a teacher for only a few years. He spent the rest of his time in self study embodying the Sutres of Sage Patañjali :

Sutre 1:14 - sah tu dirgha-kaala-nairantarya-satkaaraa-sevito dhruddha-bhoomi-ha

Guruji transcribed this Sutra in Light On the yoga Sutras of Pantanjali as “Long, uninterrupted, alert practice is the firm foundation for retraining the fluctuations.” We have no concept of the decades of uninterrupted, discipline and devotion. We are the lucky recipients of it. As we celebrate his 102nd birthday on December 14th hold on to that thought.

Guruji has been quoted often as saying, “The body is my Temple. Asana are my prayers.” Asana were his prayers, so much so, he developed a specific Krama or sequence and order of asana to build a foundation for Tapas (self-discipline) and Svadyaya (self-study) and Isvara Pranidhanani (devotion). He also established the Krama of words to articulate instruction down to a level of subtly that brings a depth of unconscious to the surface that is truly remarkable —all in a systematic and sequential manner.

To appreciate why Krama is a crucial component of Iyengar Yoga, Abhijata gave a relatable example: we would never force a child who has just learned to walk to cross a wall or balance beam on their own. We have to build unity of mind and body, without it stress happens. Yoga means union. Abhijata explained interrupting children doing a puzzle or math problem can be very disruptive. They are focused, but can’t handle disruption. It is this kind of singularity of focus that Iyengar Yoga seeks to cultivate to a higher level. It is why Iyengar instructors do not teach a pose until the student has developed the necessary foundations to work in that asana safely and properly.

Stress is a word that is top-of-mind in this pandemic. It has come up often during the Bellur Iyengar Yoga Workshop. Upon research, etymologically, the word may be derived from the Old French word estrece, which means narrow or oppressed. Calamity like the pandemic has brought stress. There is a sense of chaos with fear of the unknown coupled with the pains of confinement and restriction. These stressful emotions can come up in difficult poses like Sirsasana, headstand. There can also be stiffness of the mind and body when attempting a forward bend or revolved pose. It can be a pre-existing condition or can come as a result of the idea of a difficult asana. Stiffness causes stress. However, Iyengar Practitioners develop more flexibility and freedom in both mind and body. They can stay completely present in a pose. Self-adjusting, pausing to evaluate the response throughout the body and mind, and continue to work like that while exploring deeper and deeper aspects of the posture. All the while they can also remain calm and steady despite disruptions, uncertainty, chaos or calamity.

Students who go to an Iyengar Yoga class can evolve into Iyengar Yoga Practitioners. It requires dedicated study with Certified Iyengar Instructors, following explicit directions so proper cultivation can be established. Dedicated Abhyasa (uninterrupted practice) and Vairagya (detachment) in every aspect of Kriya Yoga (action of yoga): Tapas (self-discipline), Svayaya (self-study), Ishvara Pranidhanani (Surrender of oneself to God) follows as the student transitions into a practitioner. The level of experience they can reach is high, thanks to the foundation of Iyengar Yoga. For over seven decades, Guruji dug into every fiber of his being to create a rich fertile soil for yoga to thrive.

What a gift.

Namaste.

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.