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| How interesting. For me they are not at all alike.
I've taken only a couple of classes of each, so I really don't have much information to go on. But I do have some level of awareness.
In my Iyengar sessions one woman was lovely. She taught only what she knew and it was a very beautiful class - not in its bright colors of poetic language. Just that it was so directly from her. The other Iyengar teacher stomped around, was a bit loud, and yanked on several students under the guise of "adjusting".
To me the Anusara class was a rail drink. Some cheap vodka but mostly orange juice. Most of the principles are clearly Iyengar but not enough of them for me to call it an alignment-based asana practice. Added to it was quite a bit of flowery dialogue delivered with a lilt. So to me it felt like someone else's asana (in part) and some nice things to say - but there didn't seem to be anything at all behind the words. Just words.
Even if I set that aside...I walked out of class and could not remember where my car was. I am very kapha and that's a significant reaction for me to have. I do realize many people think yoga IS about being blissed out. So my very statement here will serve to reinforce their position. But I simply did not find the residue of that practice very effective for my living.
Edited by purnayoga 2009-02-03 2:13 PM
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| I have taken many classes with Anusara trained teachers. My impression is that they are, as a rule, very well trained in alignment and in modifying poses for each individual. As a former dancer, I found this to be incredibly helpful and positive. There are so many instructors who merely teach to their idea of what students "should" be doing. It takes far greater skill to look at each individual and assess his or her needs based on limitations and abilities. My assessment of Anusara instrctors is that they are almost universally gifted in this domain.
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| Iyengar teachers don't hit students.
BKS did it in a particulat time and place...and students felt it was helpful not hurtful that it brought attention and intelligence.
J Friend was an Iyengar teacher for long time, but was always crediting his yoga to guru maya of SYDA yoga. anusara grew out of friend's iyengar foundation and its strengths come from that.
it can be very flowery and sugary-sweet. as someone else had mentioned all the "heart talk" can be ambiguous and taken many ways. and the spiral teachings often seem unclear to the person using the language.
to me (and i do have a bias toward iyengar--which is just where i come from and my preference) iyengar strives for clarity, anusara goes for feel-good. |
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New User
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| I started taking yoga at an Anusara-based studio about two months ago. Prior to this stint, I studied with a very gifted young Iyengar teacher about 20 years ago. I can say that the Iyengar teacher was much more precise in the physical aspects of the yoga and left the spirituality part to the practitioner. In the Anusara studio, it depends on who is teaching. Some teachers are more verbal about the spirituality stuff, some are less. I personally would prefer a "less is more" approach with the New Agey spirituality stuff as I find it distracting and annoying at times. Also, how is anyone really qualified to teach anyone else the "truth"? Why should their truth be privileged over anyone else's. Then, again, I'm an analytically-oriented psychologist and have spent years trying to learn how to talk less and help others find and speak their own truth. In any case, I'll continue going to the studio I go to because it's close to home, affordable, clean, and I really enjoy the heat. And it is possible to avoid the teachers who are overbearing with their pseudo-philosophies. There's one teacher in particular who is trained in "Power Yoga", and who I will avoid at all costs. I took one class with her (she was subbing) and there were several points at which I had the urge to just roll up my mat and leave. I was reeling from the experience for days.
If you want to know more about the differences between Iyengar and Anusara you should take a look at their teacher training programs. Anusara requires a commitment of 200 hours of in-studio teacher training after which you are considered a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT). Iyengar requires that you have 3 years of practice under an Iyengar teacher before you are considered qualified to begin teacher training. Then it's something like 3 weekend-long training seminars. From my brief encounter with Anusara, I'm struck by how many teachers in the studio I go to are people who are coming to teaching yoga after many years of teaching aerobics, body sculpting, personal training, etc.
As the previous poster, my preference is for Iyengar. There is a very well-known, seasoned Iyengar teacher in my area. She's a little out of the way and teaches one class a week in each level. I'm planning to start practicing under her as well. I figure it'll be kind of like learning to play an instrument. You go to a lesson once a week, and then spend the rest of the week practicing what you've learned, the little tweaks and details and what-not. It'll be ironic, however, that part of what I'll be practicing is how to filter out the "heart talk" of the Anusara teachers.
Edited by PadmaMudra 2010-09-21 6:36 AM
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Expert Yogi
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| PadmaMudra - thanks for that comparison. I will just correct you a little bit. Once a person is accepted into Iyengar teacher training, it is a three to five YEAR process, many weekend and several week-long training sessions and a weekend long certification exam before the trainee is certified. Trainees do begin to teach after a year of TT, but they are under the supervision of a senior mentor teacher during that time. |
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| Padma - who is the teacher? i'll typically opt for less of the hippie crap myself |
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| PadmaMudra - 2010-09-21 11:18 AM
If you want to know more about the differences between Iyengar and Anusara you should take a look at their teacher training programs. Anusara requires a commitment of 200 hours of in-studio teacher training after which you are considered a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT). Iyengar requires that you have 3 years of practice under an Iyengar teacher before you are considered qualified to begin teacher training. Then it's something like 3 weekend-long training seminars. From my brief encounter with Anusara, I'm struck by how many teachers in the studio I go to are people who are coming to teaching yoga after many years of teaching aerobics, body sculpting, personal training, etc.
Hi all
Just for the record, thats not actually the case. 200 hrs for RYT is a yoga alliance thing. Anusara has a two tier system of accreditation. To be an Anusara Inspired teacher you have to do 200 hours teacher training, 2 years of study with a certified teacher, teach for 2 years and tick a few other boxes.
Once you've done this, you can begin the 1000 study hours that you need to become a certified teacher. There aren't very many other schools of yoga with such stringent requirements, in fact, I only know of Purna and Iyengar being equally demanding (though I'm sure there are others i don't know of).
Namaste
Chris
PS. To the person that asked - Anusara means 'flowing from grace', or 'in the flow of grace' to reflect the central principle of Anusara which is to become aware that we are part of something bigger. |
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Expert Yogi
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Location: A Blue State |
Just a fun fact - Krishna Das wrote the Anusara invocation. ... :-)
.. bg |
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| I think They're both very focused on alignment but Anusara goes about it somewhat differently, describes it very differently. The whole loops and spirals thing. I did a Todd Norian workshop a while back and I was really beat after it! |
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Anusara & Iyengar
