About Yoga
What is yoga?
Most often in our western culture, when we think about yoga, we think about learning and practicing the physical yoga poses, or “asanas”, perhaps along with some breathing and meditation techniques. Practicing yoga helps us to become physically stronger and more flexible, and gives us tools for relaxing and reducing stress.
This is an excellent way to begin the study of yoga, although there is much more to it than that. Yoga is an entire system for developing our physical, mental, and spiritual health and well-being.
Yoga is one of the branches of classical philosophy in India, originating perhaps before 3000 BCE. It was codified by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras about 200 – 500 BCE.
The word “yoga” means “to yoke” or “unite”. We can think of yoga as the union of the different parts of the body working together as a healthy, cohesive unit; or the union of body, mind, and spirit; or as the union between the Individual self and the Divine. Yoga is all of these.
What is Iyengar yoga?
Iyengar Yoga is classical yoga based on the teachings of living yoga master, B.K.S. Iyengar, who turned 90 in December, 2008. He began practicing yoga at age 14 to overcome severe health problems, and started teaching yoga at age 18. He’s been intensely practicing and teaching ever since. His daughter, Geeta, and his son, Prashant, are also accomplished yoga teachers.
A few key elements of Iyengar yoga
- Learn to move the body into better alignment to enjoy greater health benefits and to develop greater self-awareness.
- Standing poses are emphasized to build strength and stamina, develop more flexibility in all parts of the body, as well as develop better balance and coordination, and to increase vitality.
- Props (mats, blankets, blocks, straps, etc.) are often used to accommodate individual needs, to facilitate better alignment with more ease.
- Safe, systematic approach to learning the poses.
- Rigorously trained teachers who are committed to excellence in teaching.
Check the links below for more information (will open in a new window):
The official B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga website
Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States
History of Iyengar Yoga in Ann Arbor (347 MB PDF file)
Iyengar Yoga Assoc. of Greater New York (good FAQ page)
