Iyengar yoga teaching and the spaces in between
Afternoon rays: Observing the light during yoga practice at the home studio
This month during my daily Iyengar yoga practice I’ve been musing on the spaces in between. With the seasonal change here in Auckland to autumn, the light is so beautiful in my home studio and the old Piha schoolhouse right now. It’s caused me to find myself catching these exquisite moments in the warmth of this light - whether I’m teaching yoga online or with students in the studio.
What I’m reflecting on is that becoming an Iyengar yoga teacher and the commitment we have to our practice to be able to teach this traditional style of Hatha yoga has taught me, through watching the alignment in my own body, to more acutely observe and delight in finding the spaces in between.
These are…
The spaces in between where short bursts of practice can be snatched.
The spaces in between that come as the muscular-skeletal system aligns itself.
The spaces in between each vertebrae from daily devotion to a structurally sound yoga practice.
The spaces in between the joint structures as lengthened muscles, ligaments and tendons secure them into place.
The spaces in between the breath, the pauses in kumbhaka (retention during prānāyāma).
The spaces in between the thoughts during seated meditation.
The spaces in between darkness of the dawn and the softness of early morning and late afternoon light.
These are the spaces in between that a regular structurally sound yoga practice will create. I know this to be true from my own experience and it something Mr Iyengar has written extensively about – the way yoga supports us to cultivate consciousness.
Yoga is progressive. Over time, as we work through the body, concentrating our mind on different parts of the structure, we equally transform the emotional and mental body. This sharpens our perceptions, both to the way we move our body and the way we observe the fluctuations of the mind.
“There is a popular misconception that yoga is only for those who have the power of concentration,” writes B.K.S Iyengar in Light on Life. “But all of us are not so endowed. Yoga can be practiced by anyone, whatever one’s state of mind or health. It is through practice that the scattered mind is brought to a focal point (knees, chest etc). This is a training regime that moves us toward direct perception.”
Want to join me to learn Iyengar yoga online or at the old Piha schoolhouse?
