Iyengar Intensive Class 1
This morning's session was classic Iyengar instruction: exquisitely precise, detailed physical pointers that led us into deep concentration and internal quietude.
Mr. Iyengar called the practice an "educational sequence" that he created especially for this event, and he used it to call attention to key foundational elements in each pose.
Officially, the instruction was to be conducted by the senior teachers who joined Mr. Iyengar on the teaching stage. But Guruji ended up presenting much of the teaching himself.
He not only taught much of the class, he also simultaneously provided a practicum on how to teach, good-humoredly chiding and correcting the senior teachers and coaching them on how to make their instruction even more stellar.
Here's the sequence.
Manouso Manos led off with:
Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
Adho Mukha Savasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose) with the forehead on a bolster of folded blankets
Uttanasana (Intense Standing Forward Bend) with the crown of the head resting into a block (or, for less flexible folks, a stack of blocks)
These three poses were then repeated.
Patricia Walden taught:
Parsvatonasana (Intense Flank Stretch)
Prasarita Padottanasana with crown of the head on the floor (or on blocks)
Mary Dunn instructed:
Sirsasana (Headstand)
Virabhadrasana II (Warrior Pose II)
Dean Lerner then taught:
Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose)
Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand)
Halasana (Plow Pose)
Class ended, as usual, with
Savasana (Corpse Pose).
As each teacher provided basic instruction, Mr. Iyengar wandered through the room, scanning the ranks of students and then using what he saw as impetus for gathering all of us at the stage and giving us specific practice pointers, which the senior teachers demonstrated.
Guruji's passion for yoga and for teaching brightened the whole gymnasium, and as always he sprinkled the class with subtle yet incredibly effective physical instructions. At one point he asked, "In this pose, which way should the base of the fingernail travel: toward the tip of the finger or toward the finger pad?" Sure enough, as he said, focusing on moving the base of the nail toward the pad improved the actions of the entire arm, shoulder girdle, and upper back. He gave some equally effective instructions that focused on toes and toenails, and couldn't resist joking, "You see? You know how to polish your toenails, but do you know how to cultivate them?"
