Following art college and an BSc in Psychology I began my Iyengar journey in 2000 qualifying as an Iyengar Yoga teacher in 2009. I opened Loft Studio in 2017.
The joy of yoga for me is that every practice reveals something new. As a beginner student I loved the shapes, stretches and challenges. Now I find that the moment I step on the mat, I am completely able to withdraw from the outside world and its problems. When I step off the mat, I am better able to cope with the same.
This is the real gift of yoga.
Part of the genius of B.K.S Iyengar, our Guruji was his precise and exacting teaching instructions. However far apart Iyengar teachers are from each other in personality or place, this a theme you will find amongst us all. As the mind follows the instructions in class for the physical self, the body becomes better aligned, stronger and more grounded but vitally, these same impressions are felt mentally.
Geeta Iyengar wrote a book called ‘stability and mobility’. I think these are two vital words to describe the yoga journey and what we aim to achieve in class. Correct alignment and upright posture help us to maintain strength and balance. The standing poses are the foundation of Iyengar yoga and we repeat them often in class. They are grounding poses help us feel earthed, that align
bones and strengthen the muscles. This is stability.
Our body is our physical vehicle through life. The better it functions, the smoother our journey. All the postures or asanas of Iyengar yoga keep the joints ‘oiled’ so they can articulate through their full range of movement and therefore remain healthy. This is mobility.
I think it is beautiful to see these two aspects as the masculine (stability) and feminine (mobility) energies of the body, (left, right, sun, moon, conscious, sub conscious, inhalation, exhalation, logical, compassionate…..it’s a long list)
The more we bring these two halves of ourselves into balance the more harmonious we feel. In any successful relationship we learn to move in and out of each other’s focus, but one always knows when to either yield or support the other.
B.K.S Iyengar also developed the use of props so that any body can do any pose. This methodology has been adopted by many other traditions. These props are there to help us understand actions and access what might seem impossible. Imagine a delightful looking twist on the floor but your knees do not allow you to get up and down off the floor easily. Take a chair, sit on it and use the back of the chair to help you turn first left, then right. The twist will have a better quality from your level seat, and you will feel that you want to stay there following the breath and the deepening of the twist – as opposed to fighting to survive on the floor!