This subject asks – What is Yoga? It identifies that conjunction and dissociation are central to an understanding of why we practice. ‘When the seer identifies with consciousness or with the objects seen, he unites with them and forgets his grandeur. The natural tendency of consciousness is to become involved with the object seen, draw …
Prashant Iyengar says ‘What is an ‘object’? An object is something which you can know, something which you can keep in front of you and watch. Yoga, as you are all aware, is something to know yourself with, and how do you know yourself? Basically, the point is that we identify ourselves with the mind …
‘The five afflictions which disturb the equilibrium of consciousness are: ignorance or lack of wisdom, ego, pride of the ego or the sense of ‘I’, attachment to pleasure, aversion to pain, fear of death and clinging to life’. Iyengar BKS, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. p.111 ‘These endless cycles of fluctuations are known …
Abhyasa and Vairagya describe the dual pathways of action and renunciation. This subject is an introduction to the important role they play within practice and teaching. In the opening chapter of the Yoga Sutras Patanjali indicates Abhyasa/ Vairagya (Action and renunciation) as a practice for those who are supremely intense in their efforts. This subject …
Abhyasa and Vairagya describe the dual pathways of action and renunciation. This subject examines the important role they play within practice and teaching. In the Yoga Sutras Patanjali gives the two general means of practice. In the opening chapter he indicates Abhyasa/Vairagya (action and renunciation) for those who are supremely intense in their efforts and, …
Students often struggle to engage with the yoga sutras of Patanjali finding the text dry and uninteresting. This subject introduces the sutras by covering their main themes to build a picture for those wanting to explore the subject in closer detail. Providing an overview and a stepping stone. This Subject is best completed are a …
Remedial Assessment, considers issues pertinent to running remedial classes. This subject also proposes an approach to dealing with injuries in the student body of a school. Iyengar notes: ‘Yoga is a universal subject. As the physics and chemistry cannot change for Westerners or Easterners so also yoga cannot be changed. All the rules, regulations, principles …
‘Once you know the psychology and physiology of asanas, then you will be able to make a proper schedule of sequence of asana. It is a very subjective thing, it cannot be so generalised. It is a science, but it is not a rigid science; it is a fluid science, because it is subjective. It …
Prashant Iyengar writes ‘Teaching the body is a facet, which even a beginner has to evolve. But here, the ardent seeker teaches Trikonasana to the body, at times by the mind and at times by the breath’. the statement above recognises that learning is not merely the acquisition of points of detail about an asana. …
T-Ph10. Teaching from and to the body, mind and breath Read More »
BKS Iyengar writes ‘There are seven frontiers to be integrated between the Seen (prakrti) and the Seer (purusa). They are integration of – the body, the senses, energy, mind, intellect, consciousness and soul, each realising its own individual identity. Proficiency in yoga will bring this seven fold knowledge. According to Patanjali the seven states of …
