“Do you have a question that can’t be answered?

Do the stars frighten you by their heaviness and their endless number?

For some souls it’s easy; they lie down on the sand and are soon asleep.

For others, the mind shivers in its glacial palace, and won’t come.

Yes, the mind takes a long time, is otherwise occupied than by happiness, and deep breathing.

Now, in the distance, some bird is singing...

The body is not much more than two feet and a tongue.

Come to me, says the blue sky, and say the word.

And finally even the mind comes running, like a wild thing, and lies down in the sand.

Eternity is not later, or in any unfindable place.”

—Mary Oliver, from The Book of Time. ~~

“Pose and repose.” Manouso Manos 

Openings

“An opening is like a doorway, and there is no such thing as a doorway that you can only go through one way. Yes, we are trying to penetrate in, but what is trying to come out to meet us? It is the light of the innermost sheath of bliss (ananda), which wants to shine out. Normally we are like a shuttered lantern; our light within invisible. As we create opening, this draws back the shutter, and the light of the lamp shines out.” BKS Iyengar, Light on Life p. 62.

Dwi Pāda Viparīta Dandāsana~~two legged inverted staff pose. The yogi’s prostration. We bow the head down so the heart can shine out. 

“When you cannot hold the body still, you cannot hold the brain still. If you do not know the silence of the body, you cannot understand the silence of the mind. Action and silence have to go together. If there is silence, there can be conscious action and not just motion. When action and silence combine like the two plates of a car’s clutch, it means intelligence is in gear.

While doing the posture your mind should be in an interior conscious state that does not mean sleep; it means silence, emptiness, space that can then be filled with an acute awareness of the sensations given by the posture. You watch yourself from the inside. It is a full silence.” BKS Iyengar, “ Light on Life” p. 32. 

Eka Pāda Viparīta Dandāsana — one legged inverted staff pose with support. 

“The practice of yoga uplifts a child morally, physically, mentally and emotionally. It nurtures their creativity and joy for life. Regular practice helps correct faulty [postural] habits and structural imbalances in the formative years. It is a true culturing of human beings and builds up will power and self-discipline. It channels the energy of youth into positive outlets. It teaches children to heal many ailments and problems without medication or its side-effects. Besides, it teaches them experientially through movements, about themselves and helps eliminate limitations that modern lifestyles create. Finally it prepares them deal with the stresses and strains of life as grown-ups in an increasingly tense, polluted and hectic world.” —Geeta S. Iyengar from “Yoga for School Children”

My children playing in padmasana (lotus) variations: Parvatāsana (mountain pose) in Padmāsana (lotus pose) and also Matsyāsana (fish pose) in 2016.

Extraordinary effort

“Intellectual work, sometimes, spiritual work certainly, artistic work always—those are forces that must travel beyond the realm of the hour and the restraint of habit. Nor can the actual work be well separated from the entire life. Like the knights of the Middle Ages, there is little the creatively inclined person can do but prepare herself, body and spirit, for the labor to come—for her adventures are all unknown. In truth,the work itself is the adventure. And no artist could go about this work, or would want to, with less than extraordinary energy and concentration. The extraordinary is what art is about.” Mary Oliver, from “of power and time”. 

Padangustha Dhanurāsana ~~holding the feet bow pose

“Though it will all vanish utterly, and surely in a little while, I know what is wonderful—

As reliable as anything you will ever know, time moves its dim, heavy thumb over the shoreline, making its changes, its whimsical variations.

Yes, yes, the body never gets away from the world,

its endless granual shuffle and exchange—

everything is one sooner or later—

When the praying mantis opens its wings

it becomes a green flower.

When the egg breaks

it becomes a bird.

When the river is finished, its avenues of light

fold and drop and fall into

and become the sea.”

Mary Oliver

Parśva Bakāsana ~~Crane/wading bird (to the side) pose

Change is inevitable. How will you transform? Can we learn to flow with the changes instead of struggle to hold onto the past? When we practice yoga Asana we start to see and realize how external forms are impermanent. By learning to pay attention to our actions in the present we can evolve in a healthy nourishing and productive direction. In Iyengar Yoga we use the body to train the mind to become present and skillful, to align the aspects of ourselves with the divinity within.

Parśva Bakāsana —crane to the side  

“Yoga for children is one way to ensure that our children grow up healthy and happy. Of the many aspects of Yoga, Yama and niyama and Asana are relevant for children. While the principles Yama and niyama reinforce the universal values such as truth, non-violence, cleanliness and contentment, the āsanas help a growing child develop physically, emotionally, and psychologically. In this way Yoga is a necessary complement to formal education. By practicing this wonderful art and science, children can blossom into healthy and well-balanced men and women with strong bodies, clear minds and pure hearts.” Chanchani, “Yoga for Children”. ......

This is my son Sebastien hanging out in rope Śīrsāsana before class at the Iyengar Yoga Center of Grand Rapids. He’s been attending the Level 1 class for 6 months and is happy kids yoga is back on the schedule. Kids Yoga class is Tuesdays 4:30pm - 5:15pm. 

 “Our body does not want to open itself in the way we see in a perfectly expressed asana. So we apply ourselves and learn the adjustments that will cause the whole body to open. We extend and redress our arm, lengthen the chest, and open the pelvis. But we also, in the process of applied learning, open our mind and intelligence.” Yogacharya BKS Iyengar, Light on Life. p. 62.

Chelsea Tiernan, PhD, CIYT, teaching the community class (Level 1) Virabhadrasana II (warrior 2)