assessment volunteers needed

DEAR IYENGAR YOGA CENTER OF GRAND RAPIDS

LEVEL III-IV STUDENTS, 

PLEASE

SAVE THE DATE:

YOU ARE INVITED & WELCOMED & NEEDED TO VOLUNTEER
TO ATTEND IYENGAR YOGA CERTIFICATION INTERMEDIATE JR. 2 ASSESSMENT CLASSES 

AT THE ANN ARBOR SCHOOL OF YOGA

SATURDAY OCT. 29, SUNDAY OCT. 30.
STUDENTS MUST BE ABLE TO PERFORM ŚIRSASANA & SARVANGĀSANA FOR 5 MINUTES PLUS VARIATIONS

AND BE ABLE TO DO OR LEARNING TO DO PADMĀSANA

(& NOT BE PREGNANT)

PLEASE SAVE THE DATE. 

Please speak to Jennifer if you have any questions/concerns. More details from AASY Director, Laurie Blakeney, will be forthcoming soon when she returns from her teaching in Europe.

THANK YOU!!!

tolerance & equanimity

If you missed it: IYCGR student, Mellany Porraz, was recently interviewed about her experiences managing life with Multiple Sclerosis. An Interview with Mellany Porraz: How a disciplined outlook to life with diet, exercise and Iyengar Yoga helps her manage Multiple Sclerosis.  There was a question left off the blog post (accidentally) last week and it is now up there. Mellany has experienced some measurable improvements in her condition since beginning Iyengar yoga practice and she talks about that.  The interview is an inspiration for practicing yoga with discrimination & finding freedom through living with restraint.  There has been medical research into the benefits of careful Iyengar yoga practice for those living with M.S. Research articles can be found on our national website here along with more studies on Iyengar yoga for numerous health conditions...
Yoga practice teaches us to penetrate with our consciousness to experience deeper levels of being, beyond the outer layers of the body, which helps develop tolerance and equanimity for experiencing different states or conditions. It is a goal of yoga:

“The highest Self of him (or her) who has conquered himself (herself) And is peaceful, is steadfast in cold, heat, pleasure, and pain; Thus also in honor and dishonor. ”
— Bhagavad Gita VI. 7

If you haven't read it already, this interview with my teacher, Manouso Manos, B.K.S. Iyengar's Ingenious Use of Props is a deeply insightful discussion of the Iyengar method, the brilliance of B.K.S. Iyengar's innovations in the practice of yoga postures in the practice of classical yoga. There is also a fascinating new book out called Peak: the Science of Expertise by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool, and it explores the topic of peak performance, whether child prodigies really exist (the premise of the book is that there are no child prodigies, and extremely "talented" top performers and experts across a range of fields have gotten there through "a type ofpurposeful effort aimed at developing expert ability [the authors] call 'deliberate practice.' " Another point of the book is that expert teaching is responsible for helping individuals overcome their limitations and develop to their fullest potential...

“Talent is made, not born. Specifically, according to Ericsson & Pool, it’s made through years and years of deliberate practice: the process of learning to recognize and emulate existing models of elite performance, through active trial-and-error, regular expert feedback, and self-motivated resilience. Deliberate practice is necessarily painful, but rewarding for those who keep at it.”


Isn't this encouraging for our yoga practice? Our thighs may not naturally turn out as we work to learn the foundation actions in Utthita Trikonasana (Triangle pose), but through deliberate practice we can develop skills and expertise in a subject. The teaching methodology of Iyengar yoga has been innovated and refined over decades to develop the innate "talents" of any and every novice in yoga as a safe and tested approach to exploring the depths & zenith of the subject.

in practice & yoga,
Jennifer

 

going deeper... Freedom in Iyengar Yoga with Mary Reilly

It is not usually apparent to new students that there are philosophical underlays in everything we do in the Iyengar yoga lineage. The regimented, disciplined, progressive approach to asana, to teaching, to instruction, is not just systematic, but also carefully intentioned as a "do no harm" approach to passing on the teaching of Patanjali's yoga.

cultivating appropriate attitudes

Mary Reilly, a Senior Certified Iyengar yoga teacher from Petoskey, Michigan, has been gracing Grand Rapids with her annual workshop for over a decade.  This year's "Freedom in Iyengar Yoga" workshop began on Friday evening with a seemingly informal opener about her t-shirt from the Iyengar Yoga Association of the Southeast which read: "Maitri Ya'll." She explained to the class: Maitri is the sanskrit for "friendliness" and can be found in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in Sutra 33 of the 1st chapter, or Samadhi Pada (Chapter on Self- Realization). Mary went on to describe how Patanjali gives advice for yoga practitioners to act in relationship with others to maintain tranquillity of consciousness, and that B.K.S. Iyengar's book, Core of the Yoga Sutras, has also illuminated working with this sutra in the context of our own personal practice, our strengths, and our shortcomings.  Here is the sutra:

“maitri karuna mudina upeksanam sukha duhkha punya apunya visayanam bhavanatah cittaprasadanam
Through cultivation of friendliness, compassion, joy, and indifference to pleasure and pain, virtue and vice respectively, the consciousness becomes favorably disposed, serene and benevolent.”
— Light on Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Sutra I.33, transl. B.K.S. Iyengar

Furthermore, B.K.S. Iyengar guides us "This sutra asks us to rejoice with the happy, to be compassionate to the sorrowful, friendly to the virtuous, and indifferent to those who continue to live in vice despite attempts to change them.   This mental adjustment builds social as well as individual health."

This sutra set the intention for our work with our selves, and our relations with others for the weekend.  We were asked to practice compassion with ourselves, just as we should with those who are in a state of suffering, and be careful of the tendency to have expectations of ourselves (and others) that are different from reality, and when seeing reality to be gentle with ourselves as we illuminate our shortcomings and weaknesses and tendencies (or samskaras -- like dendrite paths in the brain, our conditioned behaviors that may be recognized or unrecognized, our habits, our familiar modes of behavior).  When we see these shortcomings, like the thighs that stubbornly externally rotate on the kick to the entrance into Adho Mukha Vrksasana, the appropriate response is acceptance, and repeated practice to work to overcome the tendency. 

foundational practices & preventing future pain

We were also reminded of the under layers of the difficult poses that she taught, especially when students were facing difficulties or showing collapse and imbalance in the advanced poses. That the standing asanas, with all the shoulder work, and Sirsasana and Sarvangasana are on the Introductory teaching syllabi of the Iyengar method, and should be learned in class, studied, practiced, and perfected first. Having noticed the tendency through the years in myself and others to want to go to the advanced class or the teacher training before perfecting the work in (or ever attending!) the beginning classes, there is much compassion and practice to be pursued in this department of continuing to work humbly and consistently on the foundations of our study and practice, both as individuals and in community.  The beginning syllabi, and the beginning actions should not to be overlooked-- if we haven't learned how far apart our legs should be in the basic standing poses (or even their names), or learned and practiced arm work, it sets us at quite a disadvantage for learning more complicated poses and understanding the references to the beginning poses that are made in the work of learning the morning challenging poses... "work the leg like Malasana!" makes little sense or connection to the student now struggling to approach Bakasana who has not learned Malasana or the name of the posture. This is the reason for the strictness (& compassion) of many Iyengar teachers in asking students who have never taken a class in the method, to start at the beginning.  Mary quoted this sutra II.16 directly:

“heyam dukham anagatam
The pains which are yet to come can be and are to be avoided.”
— Light on Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, transl. B.K.S. Iyengar

The importance of the foundational work of the arms and legs in the foundational postures was a theme in the weekend, as it prevents the abdomen and throat and organic body (including nervous system) from being hardened and jangled by incorrect practice.  We were continually asked to check in with our eyes receding, front brain going back, keeping eyes soft and level (promoting brain balance), and to keep the abdomen and diaphragm spacious, especially in the work of challenging postures.  B.K.S. Iyengar further explains this sutra, "Unknown future pain can be prevented by adhering now to yogic discipline." The discipline of a stable approach to yoga study and yoga practice is meant to build up our strength and protect us.  "Patanjali warns us here of the pitfalls in spiritual growth, and advises us to stabilize the body and mind so that we may not be shattered when spiritual light dawns."

Mary shared with us that Guruji was always checking the photographs of the advanced postures of his students for tension in the face that revealed the tension of the nervous system that revealed the posture as not yet perfected. She spoke repeatedly that the face should be soft in arm balances and the abdomen should not be hard. A hard abdomen stops the breath and stresses the nervous system and the functioning of the organs. A hard face reveals a tension in the brain & nervous system that blocks the light of the Self. 

“II.47 prayatna saithitya ananta samapattibhyam
Perfection in an asana is achieved when the effort to perform it becomes effortless and the infinite being within is reached.

Perfection in an Asana is reached only when effort ceases, instilling infinite poise and allowing the finite vehicle, the body, to merge in the seer.”
— Light on Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, transl. B.K.S. Iyengar

Again, the foundations of this work are found in the work of the arms and legs, the karmendriyas (organs of action) in standing postures that are intended to be the foundation for the system and learned, studied, and practiced first as a way of understanding Asana:

“II.46 sthira sukham Asanam
Asana is perfect firmness of body, steadiness of intelligence and benevolence of spirit.”
— Light on Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, B.K.S. Iyengar

steadiness of intelligence & concentration (dharana)

The focus on steadiness of intelligence (sthira means firm, fixed, steady, steadfast, lasting) in the practice of Asana is a hallmark and expectation of the teaching skillset of Intermediate & higher Iyengar yoga teachers: there is a focus on "what is to be maintained?" During the teaching of a variation of Urdhva Dhanurasana (upward bow posture), Mary told the class that the attention to the outer knee in the posture must be unwavering. "The knees should not waver!" 

This type of concentration, or dharana employed within the actions of Asana, is a hallmark of the method. In Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, B.K.S. Iyengar explains this last sutra and Patajali's explanation of sutras III.1-III.2 to describe the correct performance of an Asana. "He says 'the focusing of attention on a chosen point or area within the body as well as outside is concentration (dharana). Maintaining this intensity of awareness leads from one-pointed attention to non-specific attentiveness.  When the attentive awareness between the consciousness of the practitioner and his practice is unbroken, this is dhyana (state of meditation)." In II.48, when Patanjali says that the pairs of opposites do not exist in the correct performance of Asana he clearly implies the involvement of dharana (concentration) and dhyana (meditation).

The trio of sutras on Asana is concluded with:

“II.48 tatah dvandvah anabhighatah
From then on the sadhaka is undisturbed by dualities.

The effect of Asana is to put an end to the dualities or differentiation between the body and mind, mind and soul... This is perfection in action and freedom in consciousness.”
— Light on Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, transl. B.K.S. Iyengar

Holding an Asana with correct & disciplined firmness (from a well-prepared foundation of practice), with stability & UNWAVERING intelligence and concentration on what must be held with stability, and with peace & effortlessness in the brain, nervous system and spaciousness of the organic body, is the gateway to freedom.

going beyond the "I-ness" (small self & its attachments) & establishing the consciousness in the Seer

Mary began the Sunday class with our traditional Patanjali chant and also added the Guru Strotam that pays respect to the lineage of teaching.  She concluded the class with a request that we abstain from a traditional "Namaste" greeting and instead remain deeply established in the inner Self.  It is a difficult habit to break as it is hard to refrain from thanking the teacher.  When I studied in India, in Geeta and Prashant's classes, they never invited students to pay them respects or thank them as a routine of class closure. After classes, to give my thanks, I would make my way quickly over to Geeta, who would be reclining on the Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana bench, by the time the props had been cleared. It was up to us, the responsibility "on us" as my teacher, Manouso, says, in his ultra concise way of teaching us to find out for ourselves what is our "duty" or "dharma". In an interesting interview with Prashant Iyengar in The Indian Express "On the Record: The Importance of Yoga & the Business of Un-Yoga", he refers to the current culture of yoga business: "Today, yoga has become a commercial subject; business has creeped into it. Now there are personality cults and ego cults. That is not yoga, it is un-yogic. These un-yogic things will and are spoiling the environment." Mary made a point to tell us not to fixate on the "points" she was teaching, that the search itself is what B.K.S. Iyengar had always intended us to be directed toward. The points might be a beginning, but are not the end of the journey.

the freedom of being in the moment

The last sutra I remember mentioned (memory is imperfect, so please understand that much is missed in this account), is a comment about observing the movement of the moments in the performance of an Asana. We can find the philosophical source in the Vibhuti Pada, the chapter on powers in the Yoga Sutras:

“III.53 ksana tatkramayoh smayamat vivekajam jñanam
By samyama on moment and on the continuous flow of moments, the yogi gains exalted knowledge, free from the limitations of time and space.”
— Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, transl. B.K.S. Iyengar

Samyama means integration and a combined work or experience of dharana/dhyana/samadhi or concentration/meditation/self-realization.  We have the freedom to act with unconditioned clarity when established in the Self, and in the present moment, and not in the ego which lives in the past, the future and created constructions (vrttis).

“The moment is unconditioned reality...”
— B.K.S. Iyengar

Asana is a journey by which we can make our way to the Self through disciplined approach and continuous practice. Thanks to Mary Reilly for teaching in Grand Rapids and for her devotion to her studenthood, her practice & her teaching of yoga.

 

 

 

 

growing into new space

There is inner space and there is outer space...

As of January 2nd, classes for the Iyengar Yoga Center of Grand Rapids will meet at our new location, in the Heartside Neighborhood of Grand Rapids, on the Avenue of the Arts, at 327 S. Division Ave.

This storefront, in the recently renovated, Platinum LEED certified, Herkimer Hotel building, is conveniently located just slightly north of the 131 Wealthy Street exit.  There is parking available on the street (free after 5pm and on weekends). 

There is ample room for student's belongings, changing areas, bathroom with shower, and our Iyengar yoga library in our new space.  

What is "Being" beyond Pain & Pleasure?

“The wise man knows that owing to fluctuations, the qualities of nature, and subliminal impressions, even pleasant experiences are tinged with sorrow and s/he keeps aloof from them”
— Iyengar, B.K.S. Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali. Sutra II.15, p. 122

The practice of āsana can be yoga sadhana, spiritual yoga practice, as we work to reduce the power of klesas, afflictions (as mentioned in the previous posts, here and here) or even transcend them. Cultivation of discrimination helps us transcend our limitations in the practice of asana. For example, on the physical level--annamaya kośa (musculoskeletal sheath or layer of being, previously explained in this post)-- realizing the temporality of the experience of physical discomfort (such as sweating and working very hard to hold a posture or action in a posture), and intellectually realizing that what is painful in the present may bring health or awareness as a result, and that the seeking of only pleasurable experiences leads to disease and dullness. 

“The pains which are yet to come can be and are to be avoided.”
— Iyengar, B.K.S. Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, II.16. p. 123

When the kleśas are emotional, such as dvesa (aversion) they manifest themselves in the form of strong dislikes: hating a particular pose or category of pose, hating working hard and sweating or disliking being still and practicing restoratives from time to time. On the other hand, the affliction, rāga, has to do with our preferences and attachments, which we can find in practice also: for example, loving backbends, or restoratives, and only wanting to practice these postures.  These kleśas of aversion and rāga are very personal as they arise from our individuality (ahamkāra) . Our intellect may come up with very well reasoned explanations for the avoidance of our dislikes, such as these poses are too hard for me because I am too old, too stiff, wrong body type. It is the duty of the yoga practitioner to discriminate and cultivate non-attachment and non-identification with fluctuations arising from our individuality (asmitā). Then our practice elevates to the spiritual. So in the realm of our dislikes, we must work to cultivate the opposite. This is how we develop tolerance and equanimity even when faced with our likes and dislikes. 

When faced with kleśas on the instinctual level, abhiniveśa, fear of dying or clinging to life, can also arise in the practice of āsana when we are faced with changing who we are in the present, for some unknown future self.  In āsana class and practice we may be faced with our deeply ingrained habits and the work we need to do to change in order to cultivate health and balance. Fear also arises at times  when we move into a new space in our practice, around an injury or memory of an old injury, or while working on something very difficult. As spellbinding as they are, these kleśas are to be recognized, and reduced through the practice of yoga sādhana, by using the methods recommended by Patañjali, author of the Yoga Sutras, for the control and prevention of afflictions.   

“Practice is the study of the consciousness and stilling of it...The discarding of ideas and actions which obstruct progress in sādhana is vairagya (renunciation).”
— Iyengar, B.K.S. Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, p. 62

From Darkness to Light…

Our family celebrated St. Lucia Day on Sunday, with some friends, having breakfast by candlelight, celebrating the light within darkness.  

Yesterday, December 14th, was the 97th anniversary of B.K.S. Iyengar’s, Guruji’s, birthday. Soon, we celebrate the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year for those of us in the western hemisphere, and we start coming out from darkness.

 In classes we have been practicing chanting the Guru Strotram along with the Patanjali chant. Guru is a sanskrit word that is usually translated as teacher, but the roots of the word means “darkness, light” and the meaning is one who brings others from darkness to light. B.K.S. Iyengar was someone who brought yoga to many, millions of people around the world, and he brought so many, thousands and thousands, from darkness into light.  What is darkness? Fear, pain, suffering & confusion on physical, mental & spiritual levels.  

I am profoundly grateful to have been brought into light by teachers, trained by B.K.S. Iyengar and granted the immense responsibility to pass on his teachings.  They did it so well that for me as a young woman, it was a very big desire, a singular goal of my twenties, to be able to travel to India to study at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) to be near to him and learn. There was a lot of work and sacrifice that went into venturing for that trip.  I treasure those two months of daily practice mornings at the Institute, the awe of his brilliance, the will and vigor of his practice, even at the age of 88: 30 minute Sirsasana (headstand), 10 minute Kapotasana (pigeon pose).  He taught classes for us through his granddaughter, Abhijata, and sometimes Geeta, while he practiced in the back of the room, shouting out instructions for us, to her.  I watched him work in the medical classes, full of compassion, working with the hopeless and bringing them some relief, some healing, and some hope.  I am remembering afternoon hours in the basement library,  studying near Guruji working at his desk, and greeting him daily-- his sparkling eyes, and brilliant smile. That time being close to him, I will never forget.  He worked and practiced and strived to show us the way, even through old age, to give hope and transmit yoga, to set that example of constant practice for us all.  It is simultaneously humbling and uplifting.  When we see the photographs of his practice through the decades, of his asanas, and see the example of how he worked for understanding, for clarity, not only to help himself but to help others, may that be an inspiration for our practice.  Here are some photographs from one of his asana practices at age 94 in the hall at RIMYI in the last month of his life. 

B.K.S. Iyengar had to work so much to overcome poverty, disease, illness, weakness, and lack of education. His one chance in life was that he was sent to live with his brother in law, the yoga guru, Krishnamacharya, when he was 15 years old.  That was his beginning. Yoga saved his life and he brought it out in the world for all of us. Now even if you have not met B.K.S. Iyengar, or have just learned of his existence this year, by coming to these classes, you are all students of Guruji.

This is what the chant is about at the beginning of classes. There is a word for it: parampara, which means lineage and tradition through which the teachings are passed on.  So we pay honor to him as our teacher, whether he is our teacher’s teacher, or our teacher’s teacher’s teacher. We transmit this lineage and the light he has passed on through the power of our practice, the courage and compassion of our actions. This is the work that we do to bring yoga more into our lives, looking for the light in ourselves and others, and coming out of our darkness,  from ignorance into clarity and understanding, for refinement of action and being.  From dullness & darkness into vibrancy, from depression into openness and peace, that is the meaning of Guru. May he inspire us all to practice yoga and realize these things for ourselves.