Thursday, June 21, 2001


recently i received an email from a nice person who's into iyengar yoga. i don't practice a strict iyengar style, but i think it has many benefits, and i try to incorporate insights from iyengar into my vinyasa practice.

iyengar is a style of yoga that focuses on the physical as a means into a new understanding of yourself. you must really concentrate on the poses in iyengar yoga, and this itself is a form of meditation. thus, the style strongly emphasizes correct form and alignment in the poses. this in turn leads to the use of props, such as blocks, straps and chairs to help ensure that all students achieve correct form.

some people tell me that they find iyengar restrictive and difficult to follow; sometimes people say they can't understand the precise instructions of the iyengar style, such as "rotate your bicep externally" or "embellish your kidneys." however, i think almost everyone agrees that good form helps you grow strong. this lets you progress in your yoga and move to more advanced poses, while it helps prevent injury. thus in a certain way, other types of yoga will lead you to learn more about iyengar.

whether you practice this style of yoga or not, i think it's very interesting to read bks iyengar's famous book, light on yoga. it's been very influential and is one of the reasons iyengar yoga is said to be the most popular style of hatha yoga around the world.

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