August 16, 2014 Pune, India I have spent now almost 19 years studying, practicing and teaching Iyengar Yoga. And I have come to the conclusion that I have not learned anything. Everything I've learned has been mostly from my own imagination and perspective. And I suspect, that Except for those with the actual name of Iyengar, most Iyengar Yoga teachers are deluded. Let me explain. There is only one man, BKS Iyengar, who began to share yoga in an innovative way, that he himself does not call Iyengar Yoga. We (the students and fans) call it that. He says he just teaches yoga. But wow, how he teaches yoga! I had the great fortune to be in his presence as a student on a few occasions. The first one was memorable because it was his 80th Birthday Celebration. I was very much a beginner, but the experience propelled me into a whole new world. One memorable moment was, while he was teaching Virabhadrasana 2, and he told us we needed to let our soul spread all the way into the fingert...
I Just finished a yoga class taught by a master. I could say taught by the granddaughter of a master, but in her own right, she shines on her own. I am talking about Abhijata, grand daughter of legendary yoga master, BKS Iyengar. After 6 weeks in Pune, I have taken many classes, with different teachers, and have been inspired and have learned and deepened my practice with all of them. Each and every teacher has something to offer. But it is not so much about what they give, it is really more about what I have received, as Prashant Iyengar says. My eyes, ears, and mind pay attention. But I offer myself as a student full of samskaras, or imprints from past lives. In addition, I have the imprints and the scars of this life. So I come with some knowledge, or my own perceived knowledge. As a student, I am not fortunate to have the opportunity of taking classes with a regular teacher in my hometown. Perhaps this has been a blessing in disguise, as well as a curse, as I am forced to figure...
Once Upon a Time, there was a yoga studio called Boca Yoga. This studio offered all kind of workshops, which I very often attended. The owner, Marti Parker, grew to become my friend, as well as Fairy Godmother. She suggested the workshops that I needed to improve my practice, and shared with me much of her vast knowledge of the world of yoga. She encouraged me and gave me advice on opening my own studio. One sad day, she closed her studio, but not without sharing with me many props and equipment for yoga. My dream was her wall ropes. My constant visualization of her wall ropes hanging in my studio came true one day, after I took up a collection from our community. Her walls were transferred to my walls, and our community of yogis quickly learned to hang upside-down and to defy gravity in many unusual ways. During this time, the studio was growing, and I began to think about taking on a business partner, which I did. I moved my students, my props, my wall ropes and my soul to th...
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