Discussion Forum: General Discussion: Iyengar Yoga: Home Practice

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Discussion Forum: General Discussion: Iyengar Yoga:
Home Practice

Kalidas
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Nov 5, 2004, 2:50 PM

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Home Practice	Can't Post

Hello, I have been doing more Iyengar yoga than other styles for a little while now and have a question for any Iyengar Teachers or long time Iyengar students here. In the other styles of hatha yoga I have studied there are usually a set of basic asanas, supplemented with more advanced poses, taught in every class. You probably know the drill: Surya Namaskar followed by (in different orders) Inversions, Twists, Forward Bends, Back Bends. This makes for an easy translation to a home practice. But with Iyengar, the classes usually address only a few poses, going into them in depth. Any suggestions for a home practice with Iyengar ? Do most of you concentrate on just a few poses in your home practice or go for a more rounded set of asanas to affect the whole body?

I know there are sequences for specific conditions in Iyengar, I'm just wondering about a day to day home practice between classes that works for you.

Namaste, Kalidas

Nadia
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Nov 5, 2004, 9:08 PM

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Hi,

I have a yoga book called "How to Use Yoga" by Mira Mehta which has a ten week course with poses set out for you. They're pretty basic ones for beginners, it just depends on what your level is I suppose.

Also, if you go to a class regularly you might find after a while that there a some areas of your body you need to work on stretching or strengthening more than others, but the class doesn't always cater for all your needs. I have found that some areas like my hips, are less flexible than other parts of my body so I should focus more on them at home. It just depends on your strengths and weaknesses.

I hope that helps a bit Smile

Nadia

pascal
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Nov 6, 2004, 2:01 PM

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Re: Home Practice [In reply to]	Can't Post

hello kalidas; i practice for 7 years at the same iyengar school; i train almost every day just repeating the poses i have practiced with my teacher (one day a week) ; usually we divide the 4 training days of the month this way : one day for standing poses/ torsion ; the next day for forward bend ; the next day for backbends ; the next day for pranayama. So, in my 2h daily practice, i just follow the same rythm : 1/ standing poses 2/ forward bends 3/ backbends ; ans so on. i practice always 15mn pranayama after savasana ( i know, i shoud let more time between asanas and pranayama, but i simply have no time for it Unimpressed

the best is to note the sequences you practice, show it to your teacher, and he (she) will approve Tongue

or modify

it. what is special in iyengar yoga is that we keep the poses quite a long time (usually the standing poses should be kept for a minute; virabardrasana 3 included Tongue

) . as we say at the school : enjoy your pain Cool

(This post was edited by pascal on Nov 6, 2004, 2:08 PM)

Kalidas
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Nov 8, 2004, 2:00 PM

Post #4 of 4 (1050 views)
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Re: Home Practice [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thanks to both of you for excellent advice. I checked out the book, looks good. One of my teachers has been away, but got back today and announced he was going to do a weekly schedule much like Pascal mentioned, so now I have good options for a home practice that makes sense in an Iynegar way.

Namaste, Kalidas

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