Todays thoughts about yoga: The Iyengar yoga community seems to be aging and shrinking -- in large part because of the popularity of yoga over the past few years, even decade. As more and more people become yoga teachers, more and more schools of yoga have developed. I was perusing this years Omega catalog, hoping there would be an Iyengar workshop I could fit into my already-tight summer schedule. Only Joan White and Kofi Busia are teaching there, on weeks I cant make. Here is a partial list of other styles of yoga being presented: Jivamukti [r] Yoga The Katonah Yoga Method Yoga for Self-Esteem (given by a former Anusura star) AcroYoga Pranotthan Yoga Buddha Body Yoga Naam [r] Yoga Mandy Ingbers Yogalosophy [r] Budokan [r] Yoga Forrest Yoga Beryl Bender Birchs style, whatever its called now Little Flower Yoga Meridian Yoga Envision Yoga Former Kripalu yogi Amrit Desais Amrit Method [r] Yin Yoga Afro Flow Yoga [tm] Whew. The description of one of the 200-hour teacher training classes for one of these styles caught my eye. Would you like to teach yoga to anyone, regardless of their experience or ability...? Ive gone through a 200-hour, non-Iyengar teacher training; I felt that it only scratched the surface. I went through a 200-hour Iyengar teacher training, followed by a 500+ teacher training, and continue my training in an Advanced Studies class. I still feel like Ive only scratched the surface, in both knowledge and ability to transmit the knowledge to students. I have my criticisms of the Iyengar assessment process, yet I am going along with it because I have explored other styles of yoga and they all fall short in terms of knowledge, discipline and rigor. Its not always a feel-good, express-your-inner-goddess practice, but a certified Iyengar teacher will know how to tailor the practice for almost all physical ailments and injuries. I know of no other school that can make the same claim. Yet Iyengar classes are often not full (there are notable exceptions), compared to whatever is the yoga du jour is (Is it hot yoga? That will sure give you the feeling of having a great workout). There is such a vast amount of competition; how can we advertise what Iyengar has that other dont? Im not disparaging all of the teachers of all the the styles of yoga noted above. Im sure there are many talented teachers and I dont doubt their dedication. The US has many advantages over the Old World. Its a place of innovation and self-reinvention. The downside is that there can be a loss of things that are valuable. I know its possible to be innovative, exciting and relevant within the Iyengar system. Yet the system asks a lot of its practitioners. I hope I will eventually be worthy of being able to call myself Iyengar-certified.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 23:39:51 +0000
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