Help! questions about Iyengar!

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

I have been practicing Iyenga for a while now on and off, but now more on… Last night I got a talking-to from my Iyenga teacher telling me if I wished to continue doing iyenga, I would become “rigid and robot-like” . Did I wish to lose my flexibility, and “softness” - does anyone know what does this softness mean? does iyenga make your mind rigid and robot like? I kept telling her that I do nto know how to get my mind into my left foot as it were and could she teach me that… YOU need to concentrate, she said! that’s ok… but I don’t know how to do this…I always like the esoteric connected (or at least have enough lattitude to find it myself!) to the practical excercises.

Does Iyenga really make you like a robot? or rigid? or was she trying to tell me to find another class because she does not want to answer my questions …how do I do this, or can you show me that again…kind of questions?

I am terribly confused. immensly hurt and unsure whether I should go back to her classes…

hope someone can help…
thanks
Astrix.

#2

I find it best when posting these sorts of questions to use as few generalities as possible. IN your post I am wondering how long you’ve been doing an Iynegar practice? You say “a while” which could be 10 weeks or ten years or ten classes. My feedback abut this differes based on this sort of thing, sometimes dramatically so.

Yoga deosn’t “make” you anything. Yoga merely puts a person in position to make something of themselves. In the better classes, a toolbox is opened and you are free to take one tool or many.

Specifically to your question, if you are a raw beginner (less than ten classes) or a beginner then an instruction to put your mind in your foot is not an instructio crafted for your level of practice. If you wrangles your way into a level three class then this is your responsibility. If the class is a primary level then the responsibility falls to the teacher.

The instruction itself is sound but it is not appropriate, clear, or concise enough for a beginning student.

It also sounds like the teacher was either being sarcastic or playing Devil’s Advocate or some such other thing. INstructions should be given in a way so that they cannot be misinterpreted.

If the class doesn’t suit you try another instructor, not another style.

#3

thanks for your response.

I am not a beginner. nor have I wrangled myself into an advanced class. thank you for asking tho’ I have been doing yoga - Iyenga for 5-7 years with 2 year break. so in essence 5 years in classess.

No I do not follow how I can put my mind into my foot. i wish for someone to teach me. if she is playing devils advocate, then I did not understand…

I think my inner eye is opening up and I want more from my classess. I DO and have started to question my practice - then I feel it is her responsibility to teach me, not to tell me off sharply that I will lose my “softness”

I attend an advance class. we mainly -almost always only do practice. with her dronning on about face soft/mouth soft… that’s about the extent of instructions for me to follow to get to my foot!!

surely there are other lessons out there that I could learn and keep to my iyenga?

with thanks,
A

#4

Hello Astrix,
Would you be willing to shift the focus and the phrasing of your questions to what [I]seems[/I] to be the real outer issue here: your individual teacher? This not an issue with B. K. S. Iyengar the man nor with the Iyengar technique. I would hate for your postings to unfairly misrepresent Iyengar Yoga to the new-to-yoga members who visit Yoga Forums.

[QUOTE=ASTRIX;5453]
…with her dronning on about face soft/mouth soft…[/QUOTE]

I say this to you with true compassion, it seems that you are already sure about not going back to study with this particular teacher, but not listening to your own guidance about it. To use your words, you are immensely hurt and confused and now your are using insulting language about your teacher here. If you feel you are done with this teacher, then move on with integrity to a new Iyengar teacher or to another style of asana. If you feel like you still have unfinished business with this teacher, uncomfortable as it may[I] feel[/I], then stay and finish your work.

In times of emotional pain and confusion, it is better to wait on outer action (your original post with all the exclamation points in the title asking outsiders on what you should do) and best to go inside yourself with an attitude of self-reflection and contemplation. – What is my teacher[I] really[/I] saying to me? Is this an opportunity to grow where I’ve stuck? Is this teacher coming from a place of compassion for me? Is this teacher unethical? Do I need to attend class with another teacher to gain some perspective on what I am feeling about this teacher? Is my pain and confusion the result of avoiding my individual lesson? Do I use pain and confusion to avoid growth? Am I done here or do I need to stay? You already have all the answers you need.

I wish you the best.

Namaste

#5

Before moving on further, I want to point out the lineage of the yoga your are practicing. This style was developed by B.K.S. Iyengar (eye en gar). Iyengar was a student of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, as was Indra Devi, Pattbhi Jois, and his son T.K.V. Desikachar. Out of respect for the lineage and the masters it wouldbe appropriate for future references to be to “Iyengar” rather than “Iyenga”.

As I mentioned earlier, if your teacher doesn’t suit you then it’s time for another.
The ability for the student to place the awarenss or consciousness in parts of the phyhsical body has to be cultivated. It is not a coarse or gross action but rather a fine one.

The right teacher, and by “right” I mean appropriate for the student in question, is one that gives instruction suitable for that student. If I have a student who does not easily place their awarenss in the physical body I would not give the instruction you are referencing. The instruction has to be altered so it can penetrate the belief cocoon of the listener and most of those are very tightly wound.

If in the student’s five years of practice an awareness has not been cultivated AND the student has been studying with the same teacher AND the student is defining their yoga as an awareness practice or seeks awareness from the practice AND the ressponsibility does not fall to the student, then it is time to reconsider the choice of teacher. Only then.

In the yogic context all we see is us. Life mirrors back to us the things of ourself. So we look there first. But both sides of the issue must be examined. If you’ve looked at your self in theprocess and ruled out that you are the issue, then shift and look at the circumstances too. Both must be evaluated.

#6

[quote=Nichole;5479]Hello Astrix,
Would you be willing to shift the focus and the phrasing of your questions to what [I]seems[/I] to be the real outer issue here: your individual teacher? This not an issue with B. K. S. Iyengar the man nor with the Iyengar technique. I would hate for your postings to unfairly misrepresent Iyengar Yoga to the new-to-yoga members who visit Yoga Forums.

I say this to you with true compassion, it seems that you are already sure about not going back to study with this particular teacher, but not listening to your own guidance about it. To use your words, you are immensely hurt and confused and now your are using insulting language about your teacher here. If you feel you are done with this teacher, then move on with integrity to a new Iyengar teacher or to another style of asana. If you feel like you still have unfinished business with this teacher, uncomfortable as it may[I] feel[/I], then stay and finish your work.

In times of emotional pain and confusion, it is better to wait on outer action (your original post with all the exclamation points in the title asking outsiders on what you should do) and best to go inside yourself with an attitude of self-reflection and contemplation. – What is my teacher[I] really[/I] saying to me? Is this an opportunity to grow where I’ve stuck? Is this teacher coming from a place of compassion for me? Is this teacher unethical? Do I need to attend class with another teacher to gain some perspective on what I am feeling about this teacher? Is my pain and confusion the result of avoiding my individual lesson? Do I use pain and confusion to avoid growth? Am I done here or do I need to stay? You already have all the answers you need.

I wish you the best.

Namaste[/quote]

Dear Nichole,

I like the tone of your email, and appreciate your perception very much. I do feel immensly hurt. very confused and bewildered. I have never been in trouble for trying too hard. not told off for saying thank you or sorry either. my teacher only wants silence, as she said, robotic behaviour, with no interaction with her during classes, it seems. I am sorry that I was rather slow in realising this.

my inner conflict still remains, and my questions are not answered. I have read what you have written (and inner athlete) and am processing all this…but how do I learn these things that I do feel she does “just drone on”. after a while it becomes white noise in my mind as I am concentrating (and too much in her view) on getting my mind into my foot… do you think I need someone else as well as her to teach me meditation/esotheric aspect of yoga, not jsut iyengar?

thanks both of you, and hope you can answer my questions…

many thanks
A

#7

Decide to stay or decide to go. We’ll support you fully in either decision.

Less intellectualizing over this. It is more simple than it is being made. Take the rumionations out of it for now. When the practice looses its quality of joy then there is no point to it.

Either free your mind and take with this teacher or try another. Very simple.