Serving Morrison, Conifer, and Evergreen Colorado
About Yoga Near Denver Colorado
Yoga is an ancient art, science and philosophy for creating harmony between body and mind so that we achieve self realization, or freedom. Creating this balance is the aim of the yoga postures, or asanas. Performing asana has the beneficial effect of toning the body, strengthening the bones and muscles, correcting the posture, alleviating pain and improving breathing and energy. These benefits help create physical well-being and calm the mind. When the mind is calm we approach life from a place of peace.
Yoga is more than just physical exercise. One of the first written works describing the practice of yoga is the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, written around 400 BCE. Drawing from sacred texts and practices of the time it sets out 196 aphorisms (sutras or threads of knowledge) that one must practice to achieve liberation in this world. Often described as the eight limbs of yoga these observances include moral and ethical rules, breath awareness and sense withdraw, and mental practices of concentration and meditation that synergistically create what is known as yoga. One who practices yoga is a yogi and one who becomes a master is a guru. BKS Iyengar was a yoga guru.
Mr. Iyengar’s contribution to the world of modern yoga cannot be overstated. He authored numerous texts on the subject, including the seminal Light on Yoga, which has become an influential treatise for modern yoga practitioners. His written works were based on a lifetime spent using his own body as a tool of enlightenment.
Mr. Iyengar determined that correct alignment of the body in a pose is important to gain the greatest potential and avoid injury. From that awareness grew the use of props (as necessary) to improve alignment. Today props are used in yoga for a variety of reasons: to stabilize the body so that the student may work more deeply, to correct for physical ailments, to make a pose accessible, relaxing, or more challenging to name a few. Mr. Iyengar also taught yoga in a sequential manner moving the student from one pose to the next with intelligent design. In 2004, Time Magazine identified Mr. Iyengar as one of the world’s most influential people.
In 2005 Diane met Mr. Iyengar when he visited Colorado to teach at the Yoga Journal Convention and promote his book, Light on Life. You can read more about that experience on my blog- go to Meeting Mr. Iyengar. BKS Iyengar died at his home in Pune, India on August 20, 2014. Diane was in India at the time and attended ceremonial prayer tributes, known as Puja, at the Institute. She is trained and certified in the Iyengar method and continues to refine her knowledge and teaching to remain authentic to the method, the greatest way to honor the teacher.
