Day #14 - Core of Iyengar Yoga
/Abhijata gave a talk on the Core of Iyengar yoga.
The idea to talk on this topic came to her because she often gets emails from students and teachers around the world who are confused about what classifies Iyengar yoga teaching.
An email she recently received was from a student who had observed that senior and notable ‘Iyengar’ teachers are teaching at ‘Iyengar’ schools around the world but what they are teaching is not necessarily pure ‘Iyengar’ yoga. So there was a question of mixing styles and wanting guidelines.
Abhijata thought if she could define the ‘Core of Iyengar yoga’ she would be able to respond adequately to this email.
Her talk (in my opinion) was impeccable. It was well crafted, took us on a journey that considered so many conditions that need to be addressed to answer the question and then concluded with the core of what Iyengar yoga is.
I will not try and impart the journey she took us on in her talk, I would not do it justice. I hope they share the recording of it with the public.
What I am keen to share with you is what really challenged and resonated with me.
In the context of the future of Iyengar yoga now that Guruji has left us and also Geeta, a big question hangs in the air of how and what is Iyengar yoga without these seminal figures?
Abhijata said we need to be as honest as BKS Iyengar was.
Since starting Yogabranches I have been questioning if this online offering is or is not disseminating Iyengar yoga around the world in a honest way.
I have doubted and questioned if starting Yogabranches is right, correct, respectful.
It has been a big worry for me. I have been in fear of retribution.
I have often sought external approval.
But now after listening to Abhijata, I know that I will never get external approval. I will never know if what I am doing is wrong or disrespectful…
I am not going to find the answer to these worries outside. I will only find the answer to this from within.
Abhijata said something like… to potentialise the Iyengar system without disrupting the foundations we need to be honest.
We need to question, am I loyal to the system? am I bending the system to my benefit?
Because we often choose what is convenient for us and we look for justification for that in what someone said or what we think they said.
We can trick and lie to ourselves.
We have to ask ourselves ‘what am I doing’, ‘why am I doing’ and ask ourselves the same question three times to strip back and drill down and get to the truth.
The first time we ask ourselves we will give a superficial answer, the second time we will come with something more, but the third time we will have nothing to hind behind and come to the truth.
We need to question, observe, be aware and comment on ourselves. This kind of honesty take courage.
I understood that if we can objectify the mind we are on the right path to
remove impurities
be discriminative
carry the flame of wisdom
As BKS Iyengar did.
So, the core of Iyengar yoga is Yoga.