Our first mega class at the Iyengar Yoga Convention in Boca Raton began at 8:30am this morning. I have never been to a mega class and it is suitably named! There is an inch maybe between yoga mats and everyone is bustling around organizing our props (yes Iyengar Yoga always uses props at some point and in some form). I situate myself in my spot with my props properly arranged and sit down. I look around trying to take in the enormity of the space and all the buzzing energy. I see Senior Teacher Carrie Owerko 2 mats away from me and think to myself what an incredible experience. I am exactly where I am meant to be. Incense is lit in front of an altar of B.K.S. Iyengar known in Iyengar World as “Guruji,” and Abhijata, our teacher, and Mr. Iyengar’s granddaughter bows deeply to him before she takes the stage. It’s so quiet you could hear a pin drop. My thoughts are wondering what she will be like as teacher. I remind my thoughts I will find out soon enough. She greets us and begins leading us into the invocation. The room vibrates with voices chanting in unison. The last three Om’s seem to float forever in the room and in my body. We bow our heads and she asks us to be as beginners. To not think we know anything. And then, we begin.

The class is focused on standing poses and as always it begins in the feet. Standing up seems like such a simple thing but if you’re really investigating Tadasana (mountain pose) then you will understand there are so many things to observe! She leads us into beginner’s poses and she builds the work from the foot to the ankle to the knee, thigh and hip. I find new sensations and pathways as we repeat the poses and continue to be absorbed into the moment and our bodies. She is teaching us yoga but she is also teaching us about life. She says “we all have mental weeds we must pull.” These weeds are anything that blocks us from doing the pose. Fear, doubt, judgement, laziness and so on. These weeds also show up in life off the mat. It’s not preachy because it comes from someone who you know has deeply worked the poses from the outside in and back again. Her eye is sharp. She seems to see all of us at once.  The class is 3 hours long but flies by. My body feels sublime as I lye down in Savansana. Even then she is speaking to us saying “Let your skin soften and melt so there is no rigidity held there.” I come out of Savasana feeling grounded and relaxed.  This is the just a glimpse into the art and science that is Iyengar Yoga. I know i will leave this convention once again transformed from Iyengar Yoga. My life’s work is to translate inspiration into action and to share it. I cannot wait to come home to Tampa, Florida and my yoga studio ZOE Yoga Lifestyle, a place that will be an Iyengar root in the local community. The teaching is so pure and so simple yet mastering these ques could take a lifetime. The voice deep inside me says “yes, what else could you imagine devoting your life  to?” I can think of nothing else. For this purpose I was created.

Written by Dina Georgoulis