Information

 By Carol Krucoff - www.yogajounal.com (lifestyles)

Menstruation is hardly ever mentioned in yoga classes, except when women are cautioned to avoid inversions during their periods. It used to be that at B.K.S. Iyengar's institute in Pune, India, menstruating women were sent to the back of the room to work with his daughter Geeta, while Mr. Iyengar taught the rest of the class. Author of the classic guide Yoga: A Gem for Women, Geeta specializes in employing yoga to help balance and regulate the female reproductive cycle and teaches women how to synchronize their practice with ovulation, menstruation, and the pre- and postmenstrual phases.

Two American yoga teachers who study with the Iyengars were so impressed with Geeta's teachings that they have compiled her wisdom into two books—both with forewords written by the woman affectionately called Geetaji. Geeta S. Iyengar's Guide to a Woman's Yoga Practice, Vol. 1, is a more scholarly work by Lois Steinberg, director of the B.K.S. Iyengar Institute of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, who had fibroid and thyroid problems when she arrived in Pune in 1993. She was taken under Geeta's wing, and "within weeks the fibroids became quiescent, and my thyroid started functioning on its own again," writes Steinberg. "Most importantly, my spirit soared."

In her comprehensive 244-page volume, which includes more than 500 black-and-white photographs illustrating helpful asanas, Steinberg meticulously details the practices, as taught to her by Geeta, for all phases of the menstrual cycle, as well as for irregular menses and menstrual headaches. "These contents are not meant for novices," writes Steinberg, who says her book is designed for students of Iyengar Yoga, and teachers.

Bobby Clennell's The Woman's Yoga Book is more accessible to beginners—while remaining informative to seasoned practitioners—with attractive illustrations and separate chapters on specific concerns such as irritability, mood swings, bloating, breast tenderness, insomnia, migraines, and abdominal cramps.

A core faculty member of the Iyengar Yoga Institute of New York, Clennell writes that a yoga ritual—including seated forward bends, bolster-supported twists, and restorative poses—that she learned from Geeta helped her overcome menstrual discomfort as well as "broaden my perspective on my place in the world beyond my day-to-day concerns." Clennell says that during her more than 30 years of teaching yoga, "I have observed how women's lives have been transformed as a result of practicing yoga with attention to their cycles."

In a world where women are encouraged to ignore—and often dread—their monthly changes, these important books offer empowering information and practical strategies for relieving pain and enhancing reproductive health.

If anybody is interested in buying these books please email Simone through "contacts" on Chevron Island Yoga Centre (this) Website.  A worth while purchase and addition to your home library.

Who is B.K.S Iyengar?  The following is a short extract on B.K.S Iyengar and also included is Time Magazine brief extract and the full list that B.K.S. Iyengar was part of - enjoy.

The Oxford Dictionary now has "Iyengar" listed as a method of yoga.

Biography of BKS IyengarB.K.S. Iyengar is one of the foremost teachers of Yoga in the  world and has been practicing and teaching for over sixty years. Millions of students now follow his method and there are Iyengar yoga centres all over the world. He has written many books on yogic practice and its philosophy including "Light on Yoga," "Light on Pranayama," "Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali" and more.

Mr. Iyengar was born in 1918 into a large poor family in the village of Bellur in Karnataka state in India under very difficult circumstances. His mother gave birth to him during an influenza epidemic leaving him sickly and weak and his father died when he was only 9 years old. As a result he went to live with his brother in Bangalore. His childhood was further marked by a variety of serious illnesses including malaria, tuberculosis and typhoid together with malnutrition.

At the age of 15 Mr Iyengar was invited to Mysore to stay with his eldest sister by her husband, the scholar and yogi Sri T. Krishnamacharya, who was visiting. Krishnamacharya ran a yoga school in the palace of his patron, the Raja of Mysore, where Mr Iyengar eventually received some basic instruction in asana practice to improve his health. His guru however, was an erratic and terrifying personality who drove him hard and so at first Mr Iyengar had to struggle from day to day. This diligence in practice gradually paid off as he mastered some of the postures and improved his health.

Then in 1937 Mr Iyengar was asked by his Guru to go to Pune to  teach yoga. In Pune life was still very difficult as he was a stranger there with weak language skills, speaking only a little English and the local language Marathi. As he had left school before he could complete his examinations and had no skills, he was left with little choice but to continue to make his living through teaching yoga. Moreover as he felt he had little experience or theoretical knowledge, he decided to practice with determination and learn by trial and error. In the beginning his students were better than him so he would dedicate many hours a day to practice, sometimes surviving for days on only water and perhaps some bread or rice. This was also a difficult time in his yoga and he would suffer great pains through incorrect technique, often having to place heavy weights on his body to relieve the aches. However through determination and a refusal to give up he gradually began to understand the techniques of each posture and their effects. The number of his students also began to increase, though financially times were still incredibly hard as yoga was not greatly respected or understood, even in India.

Then In 1943, his brothers arranged his marriage to Ramamani. Mr Iyengar had avoided marriage for some time as he felt he could not support a family, but on meeting her consented. Initially life continued to be very hard for them but bit by bit they worked their way out of poverty. They agreed that she would take care of their family while he would provide the income. Strangely it also fell upon her to introduce the subject of yoga to her children for some time.

Gradually Mr Iyengar's recognition as a yoga teacher grew but it  was a meeting with the violinist Yehudi Menuhin in 1952 which led to Mr Iyengar's eventual international recognition. It was Yehudi Menuhin who arranged for Mr Iyengar to teach abroad in London, Switzerland, Paris and elsewhere and so meet people from all over the world and from all walks of life.

Events continued to develop and grow, leading up to the publication of Light on Yoga in 1966 after many years of development. This book turned out to be an international best seller which continues to be reprinted in several languages all over the world and succeeded in making Yoga truly universal. This was later followed by titles covering Pranayama and various aspects of Yoga philosophy. His latest work "Yoga: The path to Holistic Health" was published in 2001.

Finally in 1975 Mr Iyengar was able to open the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune, in memory of his recently departed wife, where he still resides and teaches. By this time Mr Iyengar's eldest daughter, Geeta and son Prashant had also started teaching yoga under his guidance.

In 1984 Mr Iyengar officially retired from teaching though he continues to take medical classes and teaches at special events as well as being fully active in promoting yoga world wide and being involved in the institute and its charitable foundation. Though physically quite capable of continuing, he felt it was time to "let the next generation come through" and did not want to become attached to his position there. Classes still run regularly which are hugely popular and oversubscribed and are conducted by Geeta, Prashant or senior teachers.

It can be said that Mr Iyengar is therefore one of the premier Yogis responsible for introducing yoga to the West and Iyengar style yoga is probably the most widely practiced form of yoga in Europe and America today.

B.K.S. Iyengar is now 90 years old and still remains unsurpassed in his practice and Teaching.

ReferencesAstadala Yogamala, BKS Iyengar.
Iyengar: His life and work, Various authors.
Text written by Cedric Taylor and edited by Mira Mehta.

TIME MAGAZINE

In 2004 Time Magazine had a list published showing who in their opinion was 100 of the most influencial people in the last 100 years.  BKS Iyengar fell under the category of 'Heros and Icons' the following is a breif extract of what was written.

The list comprised under 'Heroes &
Icons' Categories as the following
 
Nelson Mandela
Aung San Suu Kyi
Queen Rania of Jordan
Shirin Ebadi
Bono
Bernard Kouchner
Bill Belichick
David Beckham
Lance Armstrong
Yao Ming
John Bogle
Mel Gibson
Arthur Agatston
Dalai Lama
Tiger Woods
Paula Radcliffe
Oprah Winfrey
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Evan Wolfson
BKS Iyengar

 
FROM THE ARCHIVE: Heroes & Icons from 1900-1999

 
Bringing the East to the West - By MICHAEL RICHARDS, actor

 
PABLO BARTHOLOMEW FOR TIME  -  FROM THE TIME ARCHIVE 
  
The Power of Yoga
It bends. It stretches. It turns you into a human pretzel. But can it really cure what ails you? [4/15/2001]   
 
Our bodies are great. They carry our brains around wherever we want to go, sit us down with a friend for a good meal or make us feel invigorated after a run or a swim. Yoga may have origins outside our culture, but its benefits are now felt within it. The beauty of Iyengar yoga in particular is the revelation that there is a living architecture hidden in all of us that only needs unveiling. Like any architecture, it demands diamond-like precision. In fact B.K.S. Iyengar teaches that the body should flow into a yoga posture the way light fills a well-cut diamond.

Iyengar is 85 now, and he still teaches at the institute in Pune, India, that he founded in 1973. He taught his first class in 1936, but it wasn't until he struck up a lifelong friendship with violinist Yehudi Menuhin that Iyengar brought his teachings to the West. His 1966 book Light on Yoga—with 300 pages of instruction and photographs of postures, or asanas—introduced yoga to people around the globe. Aficionados founded Iyengar groups in the U.S. as early as 1974 and slowly fed what has become mainstream Western acceptance of a 3,000-year-old Indian tradition.

Iyengar teaches practitioners to lavish attention on the body. The goal is to tie the mind to the breath and the body, not to an idea. His philosophy is Eastern, but his vision is universalist. You can incorporate Iyengar into your life and yoga practice—but ultimately we're Westerners on Western soil.

In my acting, as in my yoga, every nuance, every detail and gesture is the subject of my focus. I'm always paying careful attention, like a pianist, and translate that attention into my performance. Iyengar knows what the body needs, and he's introduced to the West the Easterner's best path to health and well-being.

Who is Patanjali? Legend has it that Sri Patanjali dropped from the skies into the open palms of a woman named Gonnika who was praying to Lord Vishnu for a child.  Moved by her purity and beauty, Lord Vishnu sent his beloved serpent, Ananta, to Gonnika.  In the form of half serpent, half man, Sri Patanjali fell into Gonnika’s palms.  His name thus came from pat (which means ‘from heaven’ in Sanskrit) and anjali (‘open palms’). According to historians, Sri Patanjali was alive two hundred years before the birth of Christ.  There are several versions of who Sri Patanjali really was, though all versions credited him as the sage who compiled and expanded the ancient teachings of yoga. Nobody really knew when yoga began – it has been said that Dead Sea scrolls pointed to yoga being practised as far back as to the time of the Sat Yurg era (‘Civilisation of Light’) thousands of years ago, though more conservative estimates place yoga’s origin to between four to eight thousand years ago.   Before Sri Patanjali came along, yoga was mainly an oral tradition, with its mysteries and age-old wisdom passed directly from master to disciple.  And in those days, these sages and mystics were only to be found in caves and mountains and remote places, and therefore, enlightenment was not easily accessible to all but the most dedicated or those with a higher calling. Artefacts dating back to 3000 BC pointing to the practice of yoga have been found.  Description of yoga had also been found in the Rig Veda, which is the oldest existing text.  In its earliest history, yoga was practiced mainly for healing the community and for self-realisation.  The compilation of fragments of ancient philosophies and sacred knowledge was weaved together by Sri Patanjali into 196 aphorisms contained in 4 chapters (‘pada’), some time between 100BCE and 500CE.  It became known as the Yoga Sutras (‘threads’) and is the foundational work on yoga, in particular, on Raja (‘king’) Yoga.  Since then, there had been many, many translations of Sri Patanjali’s work by yoga teachers, scholars and academicians. Often, bedazzled by the complexities, we forget the beauty of simple truths.  Sri Patanjali’s work is not philosophical or academic in nature.  It is not a treatise nor is it a religion.  There is no memorising of verses, no learning of new concepts and no chanting of sacred mantras. Sri Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra is simply a way of living, and its wisdom is as applicable today as it was hundreds of years ago when it was first compiled.  It is pointless to debate about the semantics or to try to intellectualise the 196 aphorisms.  Insights do not come from intellect but from quiet reflection and from being immersed deeply in something.  In short, to find self-enlightenment, you have to live your life in full techni-colour, not through the pages of a textbook: secondhand knowledge gets you nowhere.  I like to think of the Yoga Sutras as a laboratory book that we all had when we were in school, the book where we followed instructions, did experiments, write down the observations and learned from our own experience.  And really, that is what Sri Patanjali’s book is: a guide to living our lives better.