9 posts tagged “iyengar”
908 Poses by Dharma Mittra
In this clip, Rodney Yee explains how a few yoga moves can keep your spine healthy even if you’re stuck in a chair all day.
We live in a day and age of information overload. You know exactly what I mean. In fact, you’re probably sitting there at your computer right now beginning to think to yourself that you’ve spent way too much time on the Internet mindlessly surfing for one evening. Nonetheless, unless your will-power is stronger than your mouse clicking fingers, this blog will probably not be your final web surfing destination for the moment. In a matter of minutes you’ll be off to some other website in search of that mirage-like satisfaction that the Internet provides (unless of course you decide to stay at Daily Cup of Yoga and invest nine minutes of your life to find out who wins in the battle of Kung Fu v. Yoga). I’m reminded of the TV commercial that ran a few years back where a guy sitting at his computer at home is feverishly surfing the web and finally gets the message on his screen that says, “You’ve reached the end of the Internet” (or something along those lines). Well, if you ever find it, let me know. I think you’ll be looking for a long time.
Luckily, the eight-limbed path of yoga gives us some tools and principles that help us deal with our compulsive tendency to keep clicking the mouse, or continuing in any activity, for that matter, that draws us away from reason and into our senses. In Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar states, “If a man’s reason succumbs to the pull of his senses he is lost” (p. 45). That is a very insightful statement. It implies that unless a person is able to overcome his or her senses through the human endowment of higher reasoning, then he or she is no better than an animal. In essence, by constantly succumbing to the pull of our senses, we are in fact forfeiting or giving away the power of reasoning that makes human beings unique.
Iyengar then explains how the principles of yoga can help us combat the tendency to give in to sensual stimulation. He continues, “On the other hand, if there is rhythmic control of breath, the senses instead of running after external objects of desire turn inwards, and man is set free from their tyranny.” It is through the “fifth stage of yoga, namely pratyahara, where the senses are brought under control.”
With that thought in mind, I urge you to take a moment to listen to your breath, to feel its rhythm (or lack thereof), to take some time to turn away from whatever it is that is distracting you, to close your eyes, and turn inward. Take a few minutes to shut down your outward sensors and spend some time finding the true satisfaction that comes from just being with yourself, inside your mind, with your breath. After just five minutes of inward searching, you will undoubtedly have a greater sense of peace and self-control when you open your eyes and are confronted once again with the battle for your senses.
I always have to round out a questionable yoga clip [see previously posted Kung Fu v. Yoga clip] with something more respectable. Check out this pranayama demonstration by B.K.S. Iyengar and be seriously amazed.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a year since Light on Life by B.K.S. Iyengar was released. In 2005, NPR interviewed Iyengar to discuss the physical and mental benefits of yoga. If you haven’t heard the interview, take a minute to 
to the words of one of yoga’s foremost pioneers. In the article that accompanies the interview, Iyengar discusses how yoga is more than just physical motions (the quote is actually from the book):
The practice of yogasana for the sake of health, to keep fit, or to maintain flexibility is the external practice of yoga….While this is a legitimate place to begin, it is not the end… Even in simple asanas, one is experiencing the three levels of quest: the external quest, which brings firmness of the body; the internal quest, which brings steadiness of intelligence; and the innermost quest, which brings benevolence of spirit…Often, we hear people saying they remain active and light when they do just a little bit of asana practice. When a raw beginner experiences this state of well-being, it is not merely the external or anatomical effects of yoga. It is also about the internal physiological and psychological effects of the practice.
Have you ever wanted to create your own visual representation to follow for your yoga practice? Well, Yogafont makes it pretty easy by letting you use your word processor to create your own asana sequence. Yogafont has 98 graphic images of common yoga poses to choose from. All you have to do is download the font and you’re ready to use your keyboard to get started. The Yogafont website provides details on what keys to type for each asana. For the most part, the asanas are grouped into various categories, and each category is assigned to a row of keys as far as possible. The great part about Yogafont is that it is free! So, go ahead, download the font and have some fun.
Here are a couple of demonstration pages from the Yogafont website to give you an idea of what you might be able to do. Click on the links to see the full size pdf file.
Before the new week starts and we all head back to work or school, take a moment to ponder these words on non-coveting by B.K.S. Iyengar in Light on Yoga:
The yogi feels that the collection or hoarding of things implies a lack of faith in God and in himself to provide for the future….By the observance of aparigraha, the yogi makes his life as simple as possible and trains his mind not to feel the loss or the lack of anything. Then everything he really needs will come to him by itself at the proper time.
Read “Gotta Have It?” by Sally Kempton at Yoga Journal for additional perspective on aparigraha.
It’s really been one of those weeks. You know, the kind where everything else in life gets put on hold so that one great big project that was supposed to be done two months ago finally gets finished. The kind of of week where every day starts early and ends late, with hardly any room in between to breathe. Somehow I survived, and fortunately relief came Friday morning when I finally turned in the paper that’s consumed most of my energy.
Needless to say, I also started this blog about a week ago, at just about the same time life went into overdrive. The blog has been a nice respite during the day as well as a helpful reminder that yoga “practice” includes more than just time on the mat (of which there was very little this week). Of course, the busyness of this last week made it all the more enjoyable to finally roll out my mat last night and spend some quality time touching my toes and standing on my head. Afterwards I decided to open up my copy of B.K.S. Iyengar’s Light on Yoga for a few minutes of inspiration. It was a few minutes well spent, and what I read spoke directly to the obstacles pretty much everyone faces in one form or another on the path of yoga.
More specifically, at the beginning of Light on Yoga, Iyengar offers a checklist from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras of the distractions and obstacles (chitta viksepa) that tend to hinder dedicated yoga practice. While the list is relatively short, it is an excellent guide for review, especially when our practice seems to be suffering. The list is as follows:
- Vyadhi - sickness which disturbs the physical equilibrium
- Styana - languor or lack of mental disposition for work
- Samsaya - doubt or indecision
- Pramada - indifference or insensibility
- Alasya - laziness
- Avirati - sensuality, the rousing of desire when sensory objects possess the mind
- Bhranti Darsana - false or invalid knowledge, or illusion
- Alabdha Bhumikatva - failure to attain continuity of thought or concentration so that reality cannot be seen
- Anavasthitattva - instability in holding on to concentration which has been attained after long practice.
As I read the list I realized that within the last week I had suffered from pretty much all of the maladies at some time or other. Fortunately, Patanjali also offers what Iyengar prescribes as the fourfold remedy for overcoming these obstacles. They include:
- Maitri - friendliness
- Karuna - compassion
- Mudita - delight
- Upeksa - disregard
As for how these remedies relate to the practice of yoga, Iyengar writes:
The deeper significance of the fourfold remedy of maitri, karuna, mudita and upeksa cannot be felt by an unquiet mind. My experience has led me to conclude that for an ordinary man or woman in any community of the world, the way to achieve a quiet mind is to work with determination on two of the eight stages of Yoga mentioned by Patanjali, namely, asana and pranayama.
Thus, one of the great challenge of life is to maintain a “quiet mind.” With a quiet mind we have the ability to battle back against the pitfalls and obstacles that lull us away from the path of yoga. Hopefully, this next week can be more about cultivation of quiet mind.
When the mind is still, the beauty of the Self is seen reflected in it. The yogi stills his mind by constant study and by freeing himself from desires.
