Tuesday 16 January, 2001
Yoga: Head to Toe
Yoga, which has become an essential part of any new age life style, has its roots in more ancient and less relaxing traditions. In Omnibus Mark Tully meets B K S Iyengar, one of yoga's finest teachers. As he explores the Iyengar headquarters with Guruji, as his pupils call him, a rich and genial picture emerges of the power of yoga to transform, enlighten and sustain.
On our way to the western Indian city of Pune to meet the international yoga guru B K S Iyengar, I told Vanessa Harrison, the producer of Yoga: Head To Toe, that my teacher was gentle. She always said that yoga should not involve any strain, and insisted that I lay on my back and relaxed between exercises. Vanessa warned me that I would be in for a bit of a surprise when I met Guruji, as all his disciples know B K S Iyengar.
A Demanding Discipline
Guruji was so demanding a teacher that some of his earliest British disciples had described him as Bang Kick Slap Iyengar. In spite of that Iyengar Yoga is now taught in 42 countries, and Guruji's books have been translated into 13 languages.
Vanessa herself practices Iyengar yoga at a centre in London, but so great is the awe Guruji inspires in his disciples that she was very nervous about our project. I, too, wasn't at all confident about interviewing such a stern guru, especially as I was sure that he wouldn't approve of the yoga I had been taught.
First impressions were not encouraging either. With his long white hair pulled back off a broad forehead, eyes undimmed by age, eyebrows for which bushy would be an inadequate epithet, he was clearly not a man to mess with. Unlike many modern gurus Iyengar has never had much time for the media. His reputation has spread by word of mouth, particularly by the word of his most famous disciple Yehudi Menuhin. So he wasn't particularly pleased to see us.
But once we started to interview Guruji his enthusiasm took over and we began to feel more welcome. We were allowed to witness Guruji forcing his disciples into correct postures and barking instructions at classes. He introduced us to one of his star pupils, a young woman who had been bed-ridden for ten years. After only ten days with Guruji he had ordered her to do a handstand. She'd protested with tears but Guruji had insisted.
Now she's a yoga teacher herself. I also learnt that under his stern exterior Guruji was a very warm-hearted person, and quite willing to answer criticism. When I suggested that his methods were rather harsh he laughed and said,
| 'The intensity of my approach makes the person who is dull become sharper.' | |
Relax
For all the strenuous postures Guruji advocated he did value relaxation too. Finding him standing on his head once, I asked what he gained from that. 'I make my brain cool,' he replied.
When he first met Yehudi Menuhin, the violinist complained that he never had time to relax and never got a good night's sleep. Within one minute Iyengar had him snoring happily away. But Guruji did warn me, 'relaxation doesn't mean yoga is a soft option. It's a disciplined subject – a casual attempt only gains casual results.'
Guruji himself, over 80 years old and still standing on his head, and Guruji's disciples are evidence of the effectiveness of his way and the wisdom of his words. As yet, however, I have to admit I haven't had the discipline to follow that way or heed those words.
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| Life At A Glance |
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1918 Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar born 14 December
1934 Introduced to yoga by his eldest sister's husband, Sri T Krishnamacharya
1936 Deputed by his guru to teach yoga in Pune, Western India. Here he surrendered to his order
1943 Married Ramamani. They went on to have five daughters and one son
1952 Met violin maestro Yehudi Menuhin who was instrumental in introducing yoga to the western world
1966 Published Light On Yoga
1973 Founded the Iyengar Institute. Between 1975-1984 he taught most of the classes.
1998 Taught 800 students for week to mark his 81st birthday.
2000 Taught a special course for senior Iyengar Yoga teachers from 40 countries. |
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