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“that‟s not the pose!” IS1 reflected that Iyengar teachers can be “a little boxed in”
because of their thorough training and she finds it shame that some teachers “stay in the
box”. She likes the safety of the Iyengar classes; she never feels that she will injure
herself in class. She compared it to her Ashtanga experience wherein she was worried
about the risk of injury. Her attraction is to the style and not the studio. In fact, of the two
or three classes she takes per week, she mostly attends Iyengar classes elsewhere. She
also practices a little every day at home, anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour and a
half. It varies from day today but might consist of only a few sun salutations or a few
bends.
IS2 is forty-two years old and described herself as “a little all over the place”. She
has degrees in Economics and Philosophy. She has had many jobs but the most recent
was as a Pilates teacher. She always enjoyed sports but was never very competitive. She
took her first yoga class 17 years ago with a friend and “giggled the whole way through
it”. She came to yoga through the body; Pilates was interesting for body awareness but
she found it incomplete. She also said that yoga was more accessible than Pilates. Her
mother practiced yoga and had always encouraged her to practice for the mental benefits.
IS2‟s brother practiced a lot of Ashtanga earlier and even lived in Mysore with his wife.
IS2 has been practicing more regularly for the past three years after a visit to the
Sivananda ashram in Val-Morin with her family. She started going to the Iyengar centre
in Paris but had mixed feelings at first. She explained that the teacher was rather militant
and aggressive but she loved the detail and it was clear the teachers knew what they were
talking about. Also, she felt better after the class than she had with any other yoga style,
so she “just had to go back”. Many of the features she did not like at the beginning came
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to be the enjoyable aspects: the precision, detail and rigour. She says she appreciates the
studio because it is less commercial: no bright colours, no chit-chat, no candles or
incense. She respects that the studio is “raw and dry” and will not change for others. She
said she understands why most “people don‟t want to come back” after a visit to the
Iyengar centre. IS2 also mentioned that only older people can be found in the classes at
the Iyengar centre. She said she had practiced Bikram Yoga for nearly a year but found it
pushy. She wasn‟t convinced the Bikram teachers knew what they were talking about,
especially after she had asked a question about a shoulder injury and was told to “just
push through it”. She did not feel that this was correct and quickly lost interest in that
style. For now, she does not have a home practice and attends two classes a week at the
studio. She is curious about the training and has started a pre-training course. She would
like to pursue it but doubts she can give the commitment the Iyengar training demands.
IS3 is a forty seven year old graphic designer. He has been practicing yoga for
five years and all of that at the Iyengar centre. He is overweight and a friend had
suggested trying yoga. Many yoga styles seemed inaccessible to him on account of their
physical demands in the practice. The same friend suggested Iyengar and he has been
enjoying it ever since. He was not an active person but Iyengar Yoga offered him a
physical activity that he enjoys. IS3 found the style rather strict but does not mind it as he
says the details are really good. What he likes most about the style is the use of props to
support the body while performing postures. He thanks this feature for making yoga
accessible and enjoyable for him. He tries to attend three classes a week at the Iyengar
centre.
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(B) Iyengar Yoga students’ belief about yoga practice and its benefits
IS1 found yoga to physically benefit her in her everyday activities; walking,
sitting or lying. She also found that it has helped to increase her mental awareness. She
also mentioned bringing the patience she finds on her mat into her daily life. She added
other physical benefits that she thought were the real attractive ones in North America:
strength, flexibility and stress relief. Through her practice she seeks a connection to the
earth and to herself as well as to build more non-physical strength and flexibility in her
life. IS1‟s idea of a remarkable class is if “a teacher awakens one thing or something
really sinks in”.
IS2 knows that yoga offers many benefits but she thinks she does not practice
enough to get them. She feels confident that the benefits are coming. She declared in the
future tense: “Yoga will change my life”. Still, she finds she gets temporary calmness and
the discipline is good for her on account of her personality. She assured me that yoga is
beneficial for people and one of these benefits is “helping clear the clutter in their lives”.
On the other hand, she felt there was a problem with yoga practitioners who become
obsessive about their practice. She used two of her own acquaintances as examples of
fanatical yogis who became self-absorbed, alienated and isolated as result of their strong
commitment to their yoga practice. Her goal during her practice is to focus on the
physical details (as Iyengar Yoga offers many), which replaces her mental clutter. IS2
feels that Iyengar teachers have what it takes to give good classes, in as much as they are
“clear, knowledgeable and precise”.
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