Amrita 6: Asana through the ages - Magazine - Page 20
Iyengar
The reply was apt and concise: ‘You are sensible; teach, but
never anticipate pain. It is so important in teaching not to addo not call your method Iyengar.’ I felt very honoured by this
dress the student’s intellect with words, but communicate
and named the centre Karuna Yoga. I remain his student and
through hands-on, physical corrections, encouraging each
am forever grateful for his inspiring and intuitive teaching.
person to listen to the body and feel rather than think. This
Once a year, Iyengar would invite his teachers to visit
gives the overactive mind a chance to quieten down. Think of
Pune for his intensive teaching. At the time all I could manyour aches and pains as gifts or opportunities and if you have
age was three weeks as I had my two young daughters to
the courage to take this opportunity and look into the heart of
care for. Most of the students who went to India fell sick at
these gifts you may find that it is just mind stuff after all.
some time during their stay. We called it ‘Indian tummy’.
An example of this is when I was teaching with Hamish
Iyengar would line us all up and give extension for the spine,
on the Greek Isle of Lesbos and he was taking an evening
back arching opening the stomach and hips and inversions.
class. I shouted from my balcony that I was sick and wasn’t
After two hours he went down the row asking if we felt betcoming. ‘That’s a pity,’ he said. ‘I had a posture to show you.’
ter. When he came to me I had to report that I didn’t and still
I made myself put on my leggings and went. After the first
felt sick.
posture I forgot my ‘sickness’ problem and
He said, ‘You’re pregnant!’ I was very
was at one with the posture.
surprised and shocked. In my experience,
Iyengar knows it is not about the body
“‘Does it hurt?’
Iyengar never looked at x-rays or medical
and would call us his ‘mental’ class. This unreports. He always said, ‘True knowledge
derlines the importance of pranayama and
Iyengar would ask,
comes from observation.’ He used three
as he deftly lifted an meditation in our daily practice. Iyengar
eyes – I was only 10 days overdue. Rowas reluctant to give philosophical talks, but
inverted body by
land is now 43 and 6’2” tall. He had a
would let pearls of wisdom drop during his
great start in life. So too did my daughters
asana classes. All the limbs of yoga were
the ankles.”
as I was taught by Iyengar in both their
present when he was teaching. Yes, even
pregnancies. Consequently I am delightSamadhi. It was apparent in his voice.
ed to teach ladies in waiting; the unborn child is well aware
We are so fortunate to have access to the knowledge of
of the space and reduction of pressure created when a
great teachers. May this inspire you to practise.
mother practises. There are two golden rules in pregnancy:
Here are two examples of time and waiting and attitude:
not to compress or twist the abdomen.
I was sitting next to the pilot in a six-seater propeller plane.
Iyengar would turn no one away from a class. Before the
I was on my way to Wanganui with Karuna R.W. from Auckclass began, students would line up to tell him of their woes
land, New Zealand. ‘When are we going to leave?’ I asked the
and he would usually base his whole class on the corrections.
pilot. He looked most surprised that I should ask such an
Yoga is such an adept way of counterbalancing our so called
obvious question and replied, ‘When the plane is full, of
problems. I have had a fair share of problems which have all
course.’ Eventually four more passengers ambled on and I
turned out to have a silver lining. I know the truth in ‘the sweet
watched the propeller start up. How strange it is that when
uses of adversity’. In fact, I would never have met Iyengar had
it gathers speed it seems to disappear! How much more is
I not been suffering from a damaged lumbar spine.
there out there that we don’t see?
‘Does it hurt?’ Iyengar would ask as he deftly lifted an inI was once visiting Iyengar in Pune and staying in the
verted body by the ankles. If there was a pause before the
Jewel of India Hotel (which it certainly wasn’t). I was atanswer he would shout, ‘If you have to think, it does not!’ He
tempting to find some breakfast, but not too successfully as
was very keen that we should come out of our heads and
everything was curried and I was pregnant. ‘Could I just have
RUTH WHITE WAS experiencing chronic back problems when she ‘fell at the feet of a Master’, namely B.K.S. Iyengar. He was holding small
yoga classes in London in the 1960s and it was here that he showed Ruth how to work to be free of pain. So inspired was she by his teaching
that she followed him to India. During an international career she has trained over 100 teachers, written regularly for magazines and journals,
appeared on radio and television and made yoga DVDs. She holds weekly zoom classes and weekend residentials when possible. Please see
www.yogawithruthwhite.com for more information.
18 AMRITA Issue 6 / Spring 2021
