(In front of Guruji’s alter in the practice hall.)

The Iyengar Yoga weekend has come and gone leaving me with a profound sense of what it is in yoga to work in practice from the periphery to the core and then back out again. Every class was built on the knowledge of the prior class. Poses were repeated with Abhijata Iyengar’s sharp eye making sure we were remembering the work from the previous day.

For every pose Abijata had a technique to help us all go deeper into the pose with better and better alignment. She is strict but loving and funny. She had the priveledge to study every day for fourteen years under her grandfather B.K.S Iyengar. She is the one carrying the proverbial torch into the future for us. The convention was about teaching us to go from outer body to inner and back out again. This is the root of Mr. Iyengar’s life long exploration of yoga asana, meditation, and pranayama (breathwork).

Abhijata explains yoga practice is just a metaphor for understanding our mind. Yoga as defined by the ancients is a process of stilling the fluctuations of thoughts. Yoga practice shows us how we are resisting, fearful, anxious, overzealous, lazy and the list goes on. She goes on to teach and ask the question “how does one do yoga from the heart and not the head?”

For beginners in Iyengar Yoga the work is all muscular. Meaning they have to work very hard to begin educating the muscles on what the teacher is asking them to do. Legs and arms have to learn to work at the maximum to begin a pathway to access the spine. Without intelligent action of the legs and arms, nothing will happen with the trunk. That is why maximum effort must be put forth from beginners. All the work is from the head at this stage.

If a student stays on the path of Iyengar yoga after a year they will notice as I have that certain aspects of the pose become second nature and the muscles are now trained much more to understand correct action in posture practice. This does not mean that we don’t keep reaching for maximum usage of the muscles but rather the work begins to penetrate deeper into the core. Begginers minds cannot be quiet when the work is coming from the muscular plain or outer peripherery. Doing yoga from the core comes when the brain is quiet and in a state of observing the body in action. Thus, doing yoga from the heart.

Abhijata let us experience this in several ways throughout the classes. When the mind is passive there is no grip in the body. When the muscles are gripping the brain cannot be quiet and passive. Rather, it is active. When you see Senior teachers of Iyengar yoga practice what you see is the passive brain and it is something to behold. It is even greater to experience it in ourselves on our mats in our own practice. That is why The Iyengar Yoga method takes time to build in the body but most begin feeling the effects right away.

Whether novice or advanced practitioner the poses truly are infinite. The message Abhijata left us with was practice and teach from your heart not your head. Mr. Iyengar himself said the same thing many times. And so to have been given an experience this weekend in my own practice and body to understand the difference is priceless. Now to continue in honest practice and light the way for all those who are on the path and yet to come is how we as teachers honor Guruji.

Written by Dina Georgoulis