“The practice of meditation frees one from all affliction. This is the path of yoga. Follow it with determination and sustained enthusiasm...”. Bhagavad Gita, śloka 6.23

In Iyengar Yoga we train the restless mind to become absorbed in the actions of the body through the practice of asana (first), then the breath (pranayama). Through developing the skill of concentration on the experience of the present, these practices prepare the student for meditative states leading toward experiences of oneness or union.

Iyengar Yoga Deep Study Saturday with Jennifer Beaumont at the Iyengar Yoga Center of Grand Rapids. January 27:

9am Pranayama

10:30am - 1pm Asana

2pm - 3:15pm Teacher Mentoring

Photo is Jennifer Beaumont practicing Ūrdhva Mukha Śvānāsana with the support of a chair

The bow the arrow the target

“Use the body to discipline the mind and to reach the soul. Asanas, when done with the right intention, will help to transform an individual by taking the person away from an awareness of just the body toward the consciousness of the soul. Body is the bow, asana the arrow, and soul is the target.” BKS Iyengar, Light on Life, p. 62-3.

Dhanurāsana. Bow pose  

In the heart

“It is the light of lights,

beyond all darkness: it is knowledge,

the object and goal of all knowledge;

it is seated in the hearts of all beings.”  

Bhagavad Gita

Eka Pāda Rajakapotāsana III 

One legged king pigeon #3

Oneness

The presence that pervades the universe is imperishable, unchanging, beyond both is and is not: how could it ever vanish?

Myriad beings emanate from the One

and have their source in the One. —13.30 Bhagavad Gita

Ākarna Dhanurāsana (stage II) — near the ear bow pose 

Freedom through disciplined practice

“When we are free from physical disabilities, emotional disturbances, and mental distractions, we open the gates to our soul (atma). To understand this, one must gain far more than technical proficiency, and one must do asana not merely as a physical exercise but as a means to understand and then integrate the body with our breath, with our mind, with our intelligence, with our consciousness, and with our core. In this way, one can experience true integration and reach the ultimate freedom.” BKS Iyengar, Light on Life, p. 23. From the chapter on Stability—the Physical Body (Āsana). 

Baddha Padmāsana— bound lotus pose 

Earth quality

“For the yogi, the physical body corresponds to one of the elements of nature, namely the earth. We are mortal clay and we return to dust. All cultures recognize this truth, but nowadays we treat us at as mere metaphor. It is more than that. As you explore your own body, you are in fact exploring this element of nature itself. You are also developing the qualities of earth within yourself: solidity, shape, firmness, and strength.  As we perfect āsanas, we will come to understand the true nature of our embodiment, of our being, and of the divinity that animates us.” BKS Iyengar, Light on Life, p. 22-23.  

~~Virabhadrasana II ~ warrior

Practice is the foundation for teaching

“As the master tests the pupils, so too the pupils should test the teachers’ standards before accepting them as teachers. A medical man cannot give medicine without undergoing proper training. So the pupils must give medicine to their teachers if they know that their standards are not up to the right level. This is known as an ethical discipline. Teaching with practice is ethical, but it is unethical when teachers teach without clarity in their practice.” ~~BKS Iyengar, from the essay On Teachers and Teaching from his book “Tree of Yoga”, p. 163. 

~~ Jennifer Beaumont, CIYT, teaching a pregnant beginner student.

Photo by Matthew Provoast

the body as the means

Yoga allows us to move forward in our lives.

“Is not the greater challenge and greater fulfillment to be found living in the world with its tribulations and temptations, and at the same time to maintain balance and self-control in everyday life?  To be spiritual, one must not deny or forget the body. Throughout the journey to the spiritual goal, the body must be kept active. Yoga is as old and traditional as civilization, yet it persist in modern society as a means to achieving essential vitality. But Yoga demands that we develop not only strength in body but attention and awareness in mind. The yogi knows that the physical body is not only the temple for our soul but the means by which we embark on the inward journey toward the core. Only by first attending to the physical body can we hope to accomplish anything in our spiritual lives. If a man or woman has aspirations to experience the divine, but his or her body is too weak to bear the burden, of what use are their aspirations or ambitions? That’s all the more reason, therefore for the vast majority of us who suffer physical limitations and debilities to some degree to start Yoga as soon as possible so that we may fit ourselves for the journey ahead of us. Yoga offers us techniques to become aware, to expand and penetrate, and to change and evolve in order to become competent in the lives we live and to initiate sensitivity and receptivity toward the life of which we are still only dimly aware.” Yogacharya BKS Iyengar, Light on Life, p. 21-22.