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To achieve a contented life, our physical need is health, our psychological need is knowledge, and our spiritual need is inner calmness. When all three are present, there is self-awareness and harmony. This is the way and purpose of yoga.
Iyengar Yoga poses and relaxation and breathing techniques strengthen the body and calm the mind, increasing mental clarity, aiding concentration and steadying the emotions, bringing awareness and the ability to be still.
Yoga means union or communion. Our intention in practicing yoga is to unite body, mind and soul. By practicing yoga poses one develops agility, balance, endurance and vitality, enhancing both physical and mental health.
I n modern life, so much emphasis is placed on 'having' and 'doing', but very little attention is given to ?being?. Our state of being affects us in our daily lives, colouring our perceptions and shaping our interactions with everything and everyone around us. Yoga is a tool for self-observation that is accessible to all people. In order to attain benefit from yoga one is required only to begin, and then continue?
Links
Official website of Yogacharya BKS Iyengar
BKS Iyengar Yoga Association of Australia
Iyengar Yoga Teachers Directory
Yoga Research and Education Centre
Writings and more links
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BKS Iyengar
Many forms of yoga have evolved since its development about 5000 years ago in India. In the twentieth century, the foremost exponent of yoga was BKS Iyengar, whose precise approach to asanas and pranayama, solidly grounded in anatomy and physiology, has revolutionised the way yoga is taught in the West. Iyengar yoga is physically more demanding than some other forms of yoga, but beginners’ classes require no particular levels of fitness or flexibility.
When first coming to yoga, students are introduced to asanas (postures) with an emphasis on the standing asanas. In all the asanas taught in the Iyengar tradition emphasis is on accuracy in alignment. This accuracy and attention to detail is not merely a 'physical effect' but involves also the psychological and physiological processes. The asanas affect and penetrate every cell and tissue sharpening the intellect and concentration, bringing relief from countless ailments thus generating a sense of health and wellness.
BKS Iyengar sees yoga as an art, a science and a philosophy. He has popularized all aspects of yoga developing them without sacrificing the purity of the original teachings. He continues, in 2003, at the age of 83 to teach and inspire students all over the world, to write and research and live his life according to the philosophical precepts of yoga.
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