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while studying at the University of Toronto because the Sivananda Centre was located a
few steps from the campus. She credits her teacher at the Toronto Sivananda Centre for
inspiring her to continue. She also claimed The Beatles‟ Indian influences as having had
an effect on her as well. When she first arrived in Montreal she visited the Sivananda
Centre but found it “small and stuffy with bad lighting”. Her friend suggested she try the
Montreal Iyengar Centre and she hasn‟t missed a class in fifteen years. She has been
teaching for the past eight years. Despite her obvious commitment to her practice, she
claims have been quite inactive before starting yoga. She stays with Iyengar because she
says she likes the gradual introduction of postures with “lots of adjustments, corrections,
directions and details”. She admitted that “Iyengar Yoga is not for everybody” on account
of its very strict method and style; she also added that Iyengar Yoga does not have classes
for children or teenagers.
The Iyengar teacher training is distinctive when compared with any other system
of yoga training, especially when one considers that the Iyengar system is very structured
and hierarchical. The training takes three years and can be completed at a distance. IT1
and IT3 went to California to study at the Iyengar centre in San Francisco whereas IT2
took the course in Victoria and finished while in Montreal. IT1 explained to me the
classification of teachers. There are six levels of teacher and the sixth and highest level
has never been awarded to anyone. Only two people in North America have completed
the fifth level. Each level is then sub-divided into two or three stages. At each level a
teacher must qualify for practical and written examinations. I was told by IT3 that
regardless of whether you have completed the course, you are not guaranteed to be
permitted to write the examination. During the course, every aspect of your own practice
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is dictated by the course curriculum. During the teaching period you must qualify by
working for an assigned number of hours under a teacher of a high level. What and how
you teach is also strictly outlined in the course curriculum. To be able to continue
training, you must remain associated with a higher level teacher, awaiting that teacher‟s
approval to start the next level. This means that you must continue to take classes
regularly with that teacher to keep your standing in the Iyengar ranks. If there is no
higher ranked teacher in your area, you must spend one month in Pune, in India, every
two years. Moreover, successful completion of the examinations does not sanction you to
teach. After the course a teacher is awarded a diploma but must apply to their national
Iyengar board to receive certification (which could also be denied). The Iyengar council
prefers that all Iyengar teachers teach and practice the Iyengar method exclusively.
(B) Yoga teachers’ belief about yoga practice and its benefits
The Iyengar teachers seemed a little more interested in the non-physical benefits
of their practice than the teachers of the other two schools whom I interviewed. IT1
called the physical benefits “a bonus”. He enjoys most the mental effects of what he
described as being “not scatter-brained”. IT2 said she had a better awareness of her
emotional self and better balance in her life. She told me very definitely that she “does
not handle life as well” without her practice. She also mentioned that she is stronger and
healthier than when she trained with weights. IT3 claimed that her practice gave her more
freedom in her own life. She used to be very shy and self-conscious; yoga aided her to be
confident and “feel good inside”. In addition, she said her physical health is good and her
mind has become more relaxed as a result of practicing yoga. Each teacher felt that
maintaining the mental benefits was part of their purpose and motivation to practice yoga.
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IT2 placed her goal in a larger social frame: to be the “best person I can be in the world, a
better participant in the world”. This ideal is very familiar in the context of religious
communities and is expressed here through her yoga practice.
(C) Iyengar Yoga teachers’ relationship with yoga tradition
Like Ashtanga Yoga, Iyengar Yoga was also developed by an Indian. B. K. S.
Iyengar was also a student of the famous T. Krishnamacharya. All three Iyengar teachers
I interviewed have a connection to India and to the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga
Institute in Pune. IT1 has been there four times and IT3 twice. IT2 has planned her first
trip this year. Of the three teachers, only IT3 referred to Patanjali with respect to yoga‟s
origins. Both IT1 and IT3 felt that tradition was important but IT3 admitted that she
“struggles with its place in the modern world”. She also said that she was “worried about
where yoga is going in North America”. IT1‟s quick definition of yoga is “meditation in
motion”. He said that it only seems like exercise but its real purpose is focusing the mind.
He continued by describing yoga in religious language: “being kind to your neighbour,
self-study, seeing God all around and reading the scriptures”. IT2 found yoga to be a
process toward “union or connection to God or the universe”; in other words, physical
exercises to aid in finding the true self. IT3 called it a union of body and mind that also
maintains your health. She added that its “not just a physical exercise, it can lead to a
spiritual path”.
With respect to Sanskrit use in classes, IT1 mentioned that Iyengar Yoga also uses
an invocation to Patanjali at the start of every class though he was quick to add that it was
not the same as that chanted in Ashtanga classes. Iyengar classes require teachers to use
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