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| tonight i attended an iyengar class at an iyengar studio. i took class from the director/owner of the studio- a woman who has studied with b.k.s. himself. not once did she ever discuss inhale, exhale- not once did she even mention it. i found myself more concerned with every little detail of what she was saying about alignment, that i totally neglected my breathing. i don't feel nearly as good as i do when i really practice pranayama during my yoga practice. how is it that this teacher who is certified at intermediate level 3 in the iyengar school did not once talk about breathing? please enlighten me.
i would also like to make an observation that iyengar instructors seem a little bit as if no other yoga style matters except iyengar. yes, i respect the style very much, but geez, i think there are many other wonderful styles out there. |
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| No breath, no yoga.
Maybe she was just interested in focusing on other things? |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| Iyengar teaches asana and pranayama separately. Your Iyengar class is also just that, a class. It is not your practice, which you do at home, although even during your asana practice, while you keep your breath smooth and steady, you do not practice ujjayi. From my perspective, I live, teach and practice in a very Iyengar-filled area so I don't have a lot of contact with other styles. But I also find the Iyengar system so engrossing and complete, I don't feel the need to look around at other styles. I have found my teachers to be very welcoming and warm to students from Ashtanga, Bikram and other styles who come to class. While it may be true that we aren't too keen on students who come in and say "my Kripalu teacher says x,y,z" or want to do their poses in the way they did it in someone else's class, I can't see other teachers being keen on hearing that from Iyengar students, either. If I went to a class in another style I would jsut try to do as I was told  Hope this is helpful. |
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| I'm sorry did you mention what level this class was that you were taking? I must have missed that.
Whether the teacher mentions breath or not has nothing do do with certifications. Unless of course a teacher is instructing from a script. Then it might be appropriate to wonder why one did and one did not mention such and such a thing.
If you are in an intermediate class it is reasonable for the instructor to make some assumptions about your skill level. Levels in yoga are not about the degree of difficulty of the asana or it's sequenceing. Though that is not to say that these things don't matter. They do but intermediate students, those coming to an intermediate class, can be expected to have solid foundational work already, which MAY include "breathe in, breathe out".
Some teachers get so immersed with teaching poses that they neglect to teach students. "we teach students, not poses" means that based on our assessment of class they do not, overall, as a whole, need rudimentary reminders to breathe. Now if the balance of the class appears aggitated and their breathing becomes choppy, yes that's a time for that instruction.
If you were in a beginning class the story would be slightly different. The second point about teaching students could still apply. And it may have simply been an oversight by a very experienced teacher. It can be challenging as an instructor to teach advanced classes and an Intro. How many times can you hear yourself say "inhale, exhale"? If it's needed it must be taught. Maybe your instructor just missed it or maybe it was not a necessary instruction for the class being taught based on the class experience observed by the teacher at the time.
And as I have said elsewhere on this forum, yes some Iyengar teachers are militant. It's not the tool it's the user. When we go out to eat and get sick we don't stop going out to eat, we just go to a different restaurant. Another way to put this is that a shovel in the hands of a gardener is art. The same tool in the hands of a mentally disturbed person can be mayhem. This is the same concept around yoga teachers. Just because someone is Iyengar and is Certified that does not mean they are doing the life work and have their act together.
In my teachers first book he says we do not evaluate a yoga teacher by their asana but rather by their life.
Edited by purnayoga 2006-07-21 5:51 PM
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| purnayoga - 2006-07-21 5:46 PM
In my teachers first book he says we do not evaluate a yoga teacher by their asana but rather by their life.
That's pretty much the no bs test for gurus. Do I want to live my life the way that so and so is? |
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Veteran
Posts: 258
| One of the reasons that had made me try my first yoga class in India (and I was coming from a country where yoga was not that spread and not that known) was that I felt I wanted to better "explore" and mainly to "improve" my breath and my breathing technique. I had then NO idea at all about all the existing different yoga styles, but thanks to my good luck (and to the girl staying in the next hut), I stumbled on one of the most experienced Iyengar Yoga teachers.
First day, second day, third day, I was wondering why the hell there was yet so little discussion/practice having to do with the breathing and with the way I "should breath"... Except of some very simple advise every now and then, reminding us that we shouldn't stop breathing while trying an asana, or that we should exhale calmly and make it last a little bit longer, while in relaxation asanas. After those few first days I had totally forgoten all about the "improving my breathing technique" reason that had led me to these classes and had started enjoying the brand new experience of hatha yoga that seemed to be changing my life... I didn't care anymore about my breathing. And then gradually and veeery quickly, it came aaaal by itself: I started observing my breath widening, getting more stable, more open, more "right". It was the asanas that had brought this result. My teacher was right ! Mr. Iyengar is right !! |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| great story Kristi and os true. It is the opposite of the ashtanga system where you do the breathing and the asana eventually works, we do the asana and the breathing eventually works. I suspect they are both right  |
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| Yes, I am learning asana and pranayama separately and it is especially helpful with my anxiety. These are totally separate practices and Iyengar goes in to both in detail. I started by taking Iyengar classes, I have since tried other forms of yoga and I don't really know how to explain it but none of the other classes speak to me the same way. Iyengar yoga has changed my life and I have also found when I try to do the asanas following a different style of yoga I feel like I get hurt much easier or I find I can't get in to the poses correctly or I find that no one in the class including myself is doing the pose correctly and I get frustrated. I love the way Iyengar yoga helps you slowly learn each pose correctly and practice it correctly as you go deeper and deeper into each pose.
I could go on and on. I guess something about Iyengar yoga can make one militant but only in good ways. |
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no breathwork
