For all of us, yoga can be a wonderful counterbalance to work, bringing us energy and focus and easing out our knots and strains. For the artist, yoga can relate very closely indeed to the creative process. Reflection and action; precision, stamina and courage; the freedom to search deep within and reach far beyond the self – these qualities sustain both practices. Here four of our students, working in different creative fields, reflect on how the art of yoga supports their work. […]

Scorned by some, loved by many, Pune shorts are a familiar sight in Iyengar yoga studios all over the world. Perhaps the closest thing we have to an unofficial uniform, wearing them in public requires more letting go of the ego than many students are prepared to suffer. But where did they come from and why do we (some of us) wear them? […]

Thank you very much to everybody who replied to our survey on the livestream classes and for your comments and suggestions. We had an overwhelmingly positive response with 85% of responders rating their online experience as 8/10 or more and nearly 50% at 10/10. 92.3% of responders were happy with the class times. A number of requests and comments recurred so we have prepared some FAQs to reply to those: Can we have more time slots? Can we have early morning sessions? Later classes? We are currently operating at capacity in terms of technology and staff. Each class is [...]

Roger Cole, Ph.D. is a certified Iyengar yoga teacher trained at the Iyengar yoga Institutes in San Francisco and Pune. He is also a Stanford University educated scientist with specialties in the science of relaxation, sleep, and circadian rhythms. In the video below, Roger explains why setu bandha and viparita karani are such beneficial poses. He demonstrates how to trigger the baroreflex, one of the body's mechanisms that helps maintain blood pressure at a constant level, to quiet the brain effectively in inverted postures and restorative practise.

By Alice Chadwick Many of us begin our practice with the invocation to Patanjali. His statue sits in Iyengar Yoga London’s large Maida Vale studio, one of the few objects other than props in the room. Like the birds in the garden or the rain on the roof, it lends its calmness to our space. Here we can put down the things of daily life and pick up the tools of yoga. But why this particular sculpture? Where did it come from and why is it on a plinth in the corner? The Statue is Commissioned The statue was [...]

Sallie Sullivan on stage with Geeta Iyengar at the Iyengar yoga Jubilee at Crystal Palace in May, 2002 By Sallie Sullivan Sallie started practising Iyengar yoga in 1980. She has been a dozen times to study with the Iyengars in Pune where she has also assisted in the medical classes. She taught the Introductory Teacher Training Course at Maida Vale for 25 years and is an assessment moderator for the UK Iyengar Association. After learning only from Guruji in the UK, my first experience of classes with Geeta was in Pune in 1992. She was clear, energetic, demanding and quite [...]

Geeta Iyengar died aged 74, still working tirelessly to assure the legacy of her father and guru BKS Iyengar. After his death she stepped up to oversee the teaching at RIMYI. Her ill health and failing strength was an obstacle but her spirit soared above it. Family and friends asked her to slow down and save herself for Guruji’s 100th birth anniversary. She promised: “Don’t worry, I will be with you for the centenary, then my work will be done.” She taught the second half of the 10 day Centenary celebration course with immense energy and insistence making sure [...]

Above: Geetaji at Yoganusanam 2018Uday Bhosale spent fifteen years studying, assisting and teaching at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune with the Iyengar family. In addition to teaching the Childrens, Beginners and Intermediate classes at RIMYI, he assisted in Geeta Iyengar’s medical classes. He recently moved to the UK and teaches regular classes and workshops.Do you remember your first class with Geetaji?Oh yes, I do! I was 19 years old and was used to strong and active work in class because I came from a martial arts background. Our martial arts training used to be strict and disciplined. [...]

You may have asked yourself why you keep returning to your yoga class. When we start yoga most of us don’t really know what to expect and the first class may come as a bit of a shock. Maybe we expect to be sitting cross-legged or tied up in knots or even standing on our head, but in the Iyengar yoga method you are put through rigorous standing poses in the very first class. The hamstrings sing, the arms tire from holding them up for so long and our concentration is demanded at every moment. [...]

This is an edited version of an article by Dr Suzanne Newcombe, Lecturer in Religious Studies at the Open University and research fellow at the London School of Economics. She researches the sociology and social history of modern yoga and founded the Journal of Yoga Studies. This article first appeared in the Iyengar Yoga London journal, Dipika, for the 21st Anniversary issue in May 2005.   […]

If you can see past the breeze blocks and timber you may recognise the room below as our much-loved Studio 1. It was 14th May, 1994 and the official celebration of our new, purpose-built studios, ten years after the inauguration of the Institute (now Iyengar Yoga London) at the Maida Vale site. The old building, which had served as a makeshift home for Iyengar yoga in London, was taken down and replaced by the unique and beautiful centre we enjoy today. […]