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Summer 1991
NAMASTE,
As you can see by looking at the schedule on pages 1 and 2, we have added an evening class at a new location: Reston, Virginia. For some time we have received requests from students, prospective and actual, for classes in Northern Virginia. Our response has been, “Find us a suitable location, and we’ll be glad to send a teacher.” No suitable location ever appeared – until Gail Lee contacted us in May about offering an Iyengar Yoga class at one of Master H.K.Lee’s Tae Kwon Do Academies in the Herndon-Reston area. Joe Adlesic, who had expressed interest in teaching in Northern Virginia, and I went to both Herndon and Reston and found the Reston location and facility quite satisfactory. After discussing the details with Gail we settled on Friday evening to offer a class for Level I and II students. We’re very pleased to be able to offer this class and hope that it will be more convenient for some of you who have been coming to Woodley or Bethesda or who haven’t been coming at all because of the distance.
Since we have several hundred people from Northern Virginia on our mailing list, and a large number are from Alexandria and Arlington, we are still interested in finding a suitable location somewhere in the Arlington-Falls Church area to start a class in addition to the Reston class. If any of you has any suggestions, we’d be glad to hear about it.
This past April Anne Wutchiett and Joe Adlesic traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to take part in the second Southeast Iyengar Yoga Teacher Certification Assessment. Candidates undergo a series of examinations over the course of the weekend to determine whether they are qualified to receive introductory teaching certificates to be certified Iyengar Yoga teachers.
The screening process to ascertain the suitability of applicants is fairly stringent in and of itself, and the test for those applicants that qualify is quite rigorous.
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We are all very proud that Anne and Joe passed the test and received their certificate.
Part of the test is a written exam designed to determine the teachers’ knowledge of some basic yoga concepts and practices. They have an hour to answer five questions. One of the questions was “What is Iyengar Yoga?” – a fairly reasonable question to ask of an aspiring Iyengar Yoga teacher.
All of the three assessors, of which I was one, were very impressed with both Anne’s and Joe’s response to this question. I thought they did such an outstanding job that I’ve asked for and received their permission to reprint their answers here in the newsletter.
Iyengar Yoga is spiritual practice in physical form. Inner action is expressed in outer form through the practice of asana – physical posture. Careful attention is paid to alignment of the body. There is a constant recycling process that occurs as awareness is continuously refined.
The poses are approached with honesty of presentation. One constantly questions whether they are maintaining the integrity of the pose and adjusts accordingly. This process of posing and reposing is constant. One listens not only to the sensation, but searches for where there is no sensation, as this, too, is a guide.
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The intellect serves as bridge between mind and body, searching for those moments of harmony and equanimity. Here there is balance. Through Iyengar Yoga, strength, flexibility, balance, endurance and lightness of limb are developed. These are actually side effects of the practice. One develops discipline of both mind and body. Steadiness of mind and body are also developed. One becomes consciously and totally absorbed as asana is practiced. This absorption is actually meditation in action.
- Anne Wutchiett
Iyengar Yoga is a specific form of Hatha Yoga which has evolved from over 50 years of dedicated, intense work with yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar.
Iyengar Yoga is Hatha Yoga taken to its highest level. There is tremendous emphasis on purity in all aspects of the practice. The yamas and niyamas are emphasized as a foundation and blended into the asana practice. Asanas are performed with absolute attention to precision in movement, alignment, and effort. This precision and attention demanded in the practice of Iyengar Yoga gives it great depth, taking the practitioner from the physical body to deeper levels of his being. It is a meditation in action where one becomes completely absorbed in performing an asana. To use Mr. Iyengar’s words, “…one moves from the skin to the core of the self." In this way, Iyengar Yoga incorporates all the aspects of ashtanga yoga: yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi.
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The last four limbs of ashtanga yoga are the process of moving to the union of the individual self with the Universal Self. Mr. Iyengar’s work demonstrates how the practice of asanas and pranayama, when done with complete attention and dedication, brings the limbs of quieting the senses, concentration and meditation into the process.
- Joe Adlesic
These two responses speak to the heart of Iyengar Yoga and contain a remarkable amount of important information about the practice, remarkable especially in the light of the time constraints and the tremendous pressure imposed by the circumstances.
All teachers of Iyengar Yoga inevitably confront this question and must find their own answer, consistent with the method and its practice.
Joe’s and Anne’s description are consistent not only with the general understanding and practice of the Iyengar method, but also with their own dedicated and sincere application of those principles to their own practice, teaching, and lives.
Congratulations, Anne. Congratulations, Joe. Well done.
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