Funky Bad Lady and the Pasasana Kid

[Guest guest]

Don't you feel that in yoga as in life you make a

few decisions on your own and take some

responsibility for your own actions? It's not just about going

to classes. I think you will find that many of the

more dedicated yogis in any form are practising on a

very regular basis as their well being requires.<br>As

for the blankets in say Pasasana, well how about if

you reduce the height gradually as the achilles

tendons start to stretch more until eventually you are

using no blanket.........how would that be? Then at

least you are working in the asana to get the twist of

the spine which is the major work and should your

heels not be flexible from day one you are still

working towards.........especially if you do not have

someone spotting you in that pose that is how it

works.......if you watch David Swenson's second series video he

also rolls up a portion of his maty in

this............<br>One thing I tell my students is that in yoga there is

no rush to get things perfect as there are no prizes

at the end of class, or exams to pass, if you are

going to live a healthy life then most of us have

another thirty years of practise ahead so relax and enjoy

where you are at and let the practise unfold naturally.

Yoga is not about ambition or pride, those things are

pitfalls on the pathless path.<br>On a personal note, I

have just had a back injury a (three day event) and am

now recovering from surgery on an unrelated

matter......bothg of these things mean that I cannot be practising

fully in the astanga method.......if I believed that

was the only way and must be done only to the max as

some of the posters seem to do I would probably be

angry, frustrated, depressed and generally sad, instead

I allow "what is" to unfold as it may and go gently

on myself with a smile on my face and peace in my

heart. To keep flexibility in my spine I adapt poses and

uses props rather than do nothing. I am therefore very

glad for the work of BKS Iyengar and the Iyengar

teachers who have taught me how to do this. When I am

recovered and can do intense practise then I will also

enjoy that.........to me that is yoga nmot this sense

of one upmanship that many of our posters seem to go

in for, it's not Beatles vs Stones, Oasis vs Blur or

Korn vs Limp Bizkit.......yoga in whatever form is

about enhancing the quality of your life. My guru is

better than yours is something you should have matured

out of long ago.

[Guest guest]

No, no, no! What are you talking about? For the

third time, I am not confusing going to classes with

yoga practice. Since as you say, in Iyengar, it is not

all about going to classes, what is it about when you

don't go to classes? What I am asking is in a class,

there is a teacher, and the teacher will teach the

students about what a regular practice consists of, and

this is my question. All I want to know is WHAT IS THE

RECOMMENDED PRACTICE THAT IYENGAR TEACHERS TEACH THEIR

STUDENTS? I know what it says in the back of Light on Yoga.

But in Iyengar classes, no one ever says anything

about what a regular practice involves. And every time

I ask this question, I am told that "it is not

about classes..." What? Classes? Who asked about

classes? What is "it?" In fact, althought your response is

eloquent you unfortunately didn't answer my question.

<br><br>The funny thing is, every time I ask an Iyengar

person this question, I get the same kind of evasive

answer. So will someone please tell me what kind of

regular practice is taught to Iyengar students. Or is

there none. I just want to know what qualified Iyengar

teachers teach their students to do at home when they

don't go to class. Let me word it another way, what do

qualified Iyengar teachers teach their students a regular

yoga practice consists of? Or, let me word it another

way... Or another way... <br><br><br>FBL

[Guest guest]

A long time ago, I asked John Schumacher about

that recommended course of practice in the back of

LOY. His reply was that Iyengar said (of himself) "the

man who wrote the book knew nothing." <br><br>Which,

I guess, could be taken as an evasive answer.

[Guest guest]

I am not being obnoxious this time. I really want to know. This is getting

funny and possibly boring. <br><br>FBL

[Guest guest]

Hey, I wasn't trying to offer a glib remark

(there, anyway). I agree, the ways of the Iyengar method

are mysterious to behold.<br><br>A couple of weeks

ago I referred to a book about Iyengar that contained

several very revealing interviews. In one, BKS says

something along the lines: that a fundamental aspect of his

yoga is that it should be totally free of rigid forms.

<br>I wonder, though, given the way "Iyengar" is taught

these days, whether or not B succeeded in transmitting

his vision of yoga to the world. Or maybe, Irony,

like suffering, is a constant in this relative world.

[Guest guest]

Perhaps it is difficult for an ashtanga

practioner to understand a regular home practice without

having a routine.<br><br>Iyengar home practice is very

much encouraged. What is learned in class can be taken

home. It can be creative and flexible and each session

can be tailored to an individual's needs. A woman

with her period will be recommended a certain set of

poses. Or people with certain needs like someone with an

injury can focus on resolving that. Or one can focus on

backbends one day and forward bends the next day and

twisting the next or else combine them. Beginners are

instructed to work a lot on standing poses. I believe

certain asanas are encouraged to be done regularly (even

daily) like shoulderstand and some standing poses. The

order of asanas being performed is totally different

from ashtanga. Headstand is recommended to be done

before shoulderstand for example. And inversions are

supposed to be done toward the beginning to avoid fatigue

when doing them.<br><br>A person can decide for how

long they want to practice. A person does what they

need for therapeutic reasons within the

recommendations for their level of expertise.<br><br>With

ashtanga it is much different.<br><br>Crowjuice

[Guest guest]

Thank you Mr. Juice.<br>Now will somebody PLEASE give FBL the poses for a woman

having her period because one can only assume that she was (is?)

prementrual......

[Guest guest]

FBL,<br><br>I have been a student of Iyengar yoga

on and off for about 6 years. It is my understanding

that a home practice per se is not stressed. And, it

is my understanding that a home practice is very

unique and evolves from yourself after years of

practice. It is a practice that you come up with. However,

I did request and got a series of asanas to do at

home for myself from my Iyengar teacher after a

private consultation. The series focused on an area of my

body that needed more opening.<br><br>Ashtanga and

Iyengar work from opposite approaches. Iyengar focuses on

the exact alignment and therefore takes years of

instruction to learn and master whereas most ashtangis learn

the asanas and can have a daily practice right away

and only years later, if at all, will come to know

the most energetic (prana) way do be in the

asana.<br><br>Hope that helps.<br>Yeshe.<br><br>PS Why don't you

just go to some Iyengar classes.

[Guest guest]

Fret not, warriorgirl: few indeed are the posters on this board who have

escaped FBL's sting. She's grouchy but apparently not malicious.<br><br>Peace

and Good,<br>Homer

[Guest guest]

warriorgirl you were perhaps being tongue-in-cheek but this may be helpful for

people anyway<br><br><a href=http://yogacircle.com/menses.html

target=new>http://yogacircle.com/menses.html</a><br><br>crowjuice

[Guest guest]

Not very helpful for astanga girls who use nothing but sticky mats & Mysore rugs

for their yoga practice.