SVADHYAYA - IYENGAR YOGA BLOG

SVADHYAYAVolume 3, Issue 1A Newsletter from The Iyengar Yoga Centre of Hong Kong2005JanuaryA Yoga Sadhana with Geeta Iyengar for her 60th BirthdayThis is Geeta Iyengar. It is the moment when the workshopbegins and at this time over 500 students are standing ontheir yoga mats and cheering for her. It is India, December2004. Fourteen of us from Hong Kong were present.SVADHYAYA 1

GEETA IYENGAR’S YOG-SADHANABy Linda ShevloffIn December, fourteen Iyengar yoga students andteachers from this studio traveled to Pune, India tocelebrate the 60th birthday of Geeta Iyengar. Wewere part of a large group of well-wishers from 25countries who attended a five day yoga sadhanagiven by Geeta. About 550 of us crowded intolarge hall and spread out our yoga mats to practicetogether.On the first day, Geeta began by talking about herown yoga practice. She said that throughout herlife she has practiced yoga and yoga practice hasalways been part of all celebrations. For hersixtieth birthday, as so many people insisted onhaving a special celebration, she agreed to lead aspecial practice or sadhana to mark this event inher life.She talked about her own yoga standard, humblyexplaining that in her view her standard of yoga isnot very high. Those of us listening all know Geetaas a dedicated and brilliant teacher, so hercomments were moving. She said that her yoga issimply practice, and that her practice is alsoregulated by the other demands and duties of herlife. She has health limitations now and she iscurrently working with an arm injury and so shedoes her yoga practice within that restrictedframework. Nevertheless, all of her life she hastried to bring her practice of yoga to a certainlevel.Sutras of Patanjali, Guruji BKS Iyengar explainsthat this external quest includes the first four limbsof Astanga Yoga, namely the Yamas,Niyamas,(ethical principles and observances)Asana and Pranayama (yoga poses and breathing).The second step is “Antaranga Sadhana”, apractice concerning the internal quest. Whenconsidering the eight limbs of Astanga Yoga, thisphase includes Pratyahara and Dharana (sensewithdrawal and concentration).The third step is“Antaratma Sadhana”, a practice concerning theinnermost quest for the soul. This corresponds tothe last two limbs of Astanga Yoga, Dhyana andSamadhi (meditation and a profound deep state ofmeditation and awareness).Geeta said that no yoga sadhana is possible unlessyou are totally involved in the practice. Body,mind and soul need to do the sadhana. She alsoexplained that the first stage, bahirangas sadhana,is quite big. Bahiranga sadhana includes trainingthe outer body including the muscles, bones andskin. It also includes the inner organic body andthe senses. She said that a lot of time is needed toculture the cells of the body so that they fullyparticipate in the sadhana.Antaranga sadhana only begins when the outerbody is prepared to help you and can be availablefor you. On this level one begins to penetrate themind. In Antaratma sadhana one goes even deeperinside using the instruments of body and mind.Geeta discussed the theme of the Yog-Sadhanaworkshop. “Sadhana” roughly translated means“practice”, but for a yogi it means more thanmerely just a practice. She said, “It tells how weneed to have a complete gravitation toward ourinner evolution, our inner improvement. The innerinclination needs to lead us to go inside to reachthe soul.”Geeta said that all three steps of the sadhana gotogether. Even though we verbally divide them, allthree parts must be there. At first the practice isvery much bahiranga, while the antaranga isproportionally much less, and the antaratma muchmuch less. However, over time, with sincere effortand training, the penetration within comes morequickly.A yoga sadhana is roughly divided into three steps.The first one, “Bahiranga” is the more external,physical quest. In his edition of Light on the YogaWhen we start a yoga practice, she said we mustcome to the beginning and watch ourselves withSVADHYAYA 2

Yog-Sadhana cont’dfresh eyes. Being pupils of yoga our penetrationhas to begin from the outside. The outer skin of afruit protects the inner fruit until it is ripe. This ishow we need bahiranga sadhana to protect ourinner interest and to protect our inner gravitationtowards the soul. Inner absorption does not comeat once, but it has to be assimilated. The innersystem has to be healthy and clear in order toassimilate so that yoga penetrates deeper anddeeper within.Geeta said that we can’t expect all of this tohappen within one life. As practitioners we can seetime limits, but in a sense there is no limit. Youcan’t fix the development of these stages into ayoga course. It is not a question of one life. Wehave to have hopes that may extend over severallives. Like the fruit, we need to protect ourselvesnow so bahiranga needs to be done by all of usevery day.We repeated tadasana several times and eachtime Geeta went deeper in her instruction. Shesaid that repetition is needed to penetrate thebahiranga further.“You have adjusted the outer body but youhaven’t adjusted the inner body. If you just doonce you can’t pay attention. After manyrepetitions your mind begins to penetrate. Forthe fruit to become ripe it takes a longer time.Need the mind to reach everywhere. Then youbegin to enter antaranga sadhana. You can’tdo this in a five day course. Penetration takestime. Keep your knee caps firm ” and on itwent for five glorious days.What a wonderful birthday celebration thiswas. After five days I felt awakened, chargedwith energy and completely alive. Thank youGeetaji. Happy BirthdayAfter that introduction to the true meaning of“yoga sadhana”, we started the yoga asana practicewith heightened attention and alertness.The first pose was tadasana and once we werestanding in it she began to call out instructions:“Everything has to be built up. The foundationhas to be firm. The mind and intelligence has tostand ready. Bring yourself to attention. Beattentive to yourself. Be attentive everywherewithin your cellular body. Attention withouttension. Be quiet within to catch. Distribute yourenergy evenly, equally. A great chance to look atyourself. Are you in the right position?”She proceeded to address the placement of bones,the direction of particular muscles, the feel of theskin, the state of the eyes and ears so that weshaped our bodies into tadasana, the mountainposition, standing still.SVADHYAYA 3

Birthday Celebrations for Guruji BKS IyengarBy George DovasThe Hong Kong Iyengar students’ trip to India to attendthe Yog-Sadhana convention was made more specialwith the invitation to attend Mr. Iyengar’s 86th birthdaycelebrations. For many of the students this was going tobe the first time that they would have the opportunity tomeet Guruji.Mr. Iyengar’s birthday is on the 14th December. Tocelebrate, the Iyengar family invited over 1000 people todinner. It was on the day after the Yog-Sadhanaconvention had come to a finish, so in some ways, aswell as celebrating our Guruji’s birthday, it also felt likea celebration of the entire convention – the teachings,learning and sharing that had preceded the dinner.We were honoured to be invited to the celebrations andshare this special occasion with the Iyengar family.Iyengar students and teachers from all corners of theworld had traveled to Pune to attend.In preparation for the evening, most of the Hong Kongstudents (and others from around the world) dressed intraditional Indian style dress. It was symbolic of thestudents’ being open to a culture other than their ownand their willingness to immerse themselves and learnfrom those differences.The Hong Kong students were well prepared for theevening. We booked two vans to transport our group toGovind Gardens where the celebrations were to be held.Not wanting to be late, we set off from our hotel withample time. After a pleasant ride through Pune andheading out of the city we arrived at what was abeautifully decorated outdoor function centre with rowsof tables amongst plants and flowers. There was onething missing from this beautiful function centre –people! Apart from us there was no one else around. Itbecame apparent that we were in “Govind” Gardenswhen we should have been in “Govinda” Gardens.Another short ride in our vans we arrived in GovindaGardens just as proceedings were beginning.SVADHYAYA 4George stands in front of Guruji’in the birthdaychairWe sat outdoors in chairs that had beenarranged in rows in front of a stage. The stagewas adorned with lights and a beautifullystyled backdrop that read “Happy BirthdayRevered Guruji”. On the stage, there was alarge red chair, ornately decorated with silvertrim.Birjoo Mehta, a long time student of Mr.Iyengar, was the master of ceremonies. RajviMehta, his sister, presented us with a pictorialhistory of Bellur, Mr. Iyengar’s birthplace andchildhood home. On a large screen, we wereshown photos of the village, including a photoof Mr. Iyengar’s family home. Rajvi sharedmany interesting anecdotes about his early life.In 2003, the charitable work of Mr. Iyengarallowed the building of Bellur’s first schoolthat was named after Mr. Iyengar. In the pastyear or so, yoga has been taught to the studentsof the school, and we saw photos of keenchildren who now demonstrate their yogaposes when they see any visitors in the village.In one photo a group of students were lined upalong the side of the road in Trikonasana,posing for a photo taken by Rajvi.Following the presentation, My Iyengar waswelcomed to the stage and he was receivedwith warm applause and a spirit of joy.

Guruji’s Birthday cont’d.We listened eagerly to his words and he encouraged us to maintain and improve our yoga practice and tostay focused on the path. He thanked us and acknowledged the work that was being done around the worldto teach Iyengar Yoga.Geeta and Prashant were at the function and the respect and love for their father was obvious to everyone.Following Mr. Iyengar’s message, we were treated to a fireworks display that was organized by Prashant.The fireworks lit the sky with colourful light and just when we thought the fireworks had finished anotherone would go off!!Everyone present was given the opportunity to meet Mr. Iyengar. We queued patiently and one by onecame in front of Mr. Iyengar offering our gesture of Namaste, thanks and good wishes. Mr. Iyengaracknowledged every one of us, a precious moment for many of us who had previously not met our Guruji.The Iyengar family had catered the function treating us to a traditional Indian meal. We sat under the nightsky enjoying our meal in the company of the Iyengar family and our fellow students and teachers. Therewas a spirit of celebration, love and reverence amongst all and it was a night that would provide longlasting memories.Photo Journal: Hong Kong Yoga Students Go To IndiaPhotos by Linda Shevloff, George Dovas & Soni StudiosLauren Cox (on left) came from Canadaand managed the Hong Kong studiowhile we were gone.Anticipation and excitement at theHong Kong airportSVADHYAYA 5

Getting rickshaws outside our hotel in PuneWaiting for dinner in a local restaurant.In a rickshaw, going to yoga class.Students in class before Geeta arrivesWe sat in the front on the first day.Geeta taught great lessonsSVADHYAYA 6

We visited the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial YogaInstituteGuruji clarified many points.Elephant RideCoconuts were refreshing after yogaVisiting an ancient templeFriends.SVADHYAYA 7