Iyengar Yoga: No Cheaters Allowed

When I first started practicing yoga regularly, I thought props were cheating. After a couple of months of everyday Iyengar practice and an intensive workshop with a props master, my attitude has changed completely.

Not only do the correct props, situated in the correct manner help practitioners to achieve the asana, but they also make sure the pose is correct and that we are not cheating to achieve it.

These are some of the lessons I learned studying with three longtime students of the master yogi B.K.S. Iyengar in recent weeks – Ian Lewis, an English ex-pat living in Goa; Father Joe Pereira, who has pioneered recovery yoga with his Kripa Foundation Iyengar Yoga practice; and most recently with H.S. Arun, a 50-year yoga practitioner who operates the Prashant Yogashraya in Bangalore and the Ramanagara Center where we had a weeklong retreat last week. In mid-March, I will also study with a Swiss teacher named Usha Devi, who has used the teachings of Iyengar to recover from not one but two major injuries sustained in automobile accidents.

The Workshop

Every day, we had a three-hour morning asana practice and in the evenings, we had between 90 minutes and two hours of pranayama, or breathing exercises.

I was shocked to learn in my first class that Arun-ji (adding ji at the end of a name is a sign of respect akin to a Japanese speaker adding -san to the end of a name) does not use yoga mats in his classes.

Instead, we had piles of five blankets each that we would arrange into various formations to support the body during practice. I remember when I first saw blankets in yoga classes, I thought they were mainly for people who wanted to stay warm in Sivasana. I now know they can be used for much more than comfort.

And then there were the chairs, which I had previously thought were just props for old people who could not stand for long periods of time. These are actually specially-designed yoga chairs, much like standard folding chairs, but with no back. And there was even a special extra large blue chair just for me. In Ian’s class there were two large red chairs, which Steve and I used.

Of course, all the standard props for other yoga classes, like blocks, bolsters and straps are used as well.

But Iyengar shalas also have one other unique set of props you can’t just buy on Amazon. Specifically, there are sets of ropes tied to metal hooks that are cemented into the walls. And even the walls themselves are props.

Actually just about anything can be made into a yoga prop. Steve and I were using the cement porch railings at Selwyn’s Guest House to do standing pigeon poses. And even before that, back in Ohio, I used to use my 5-foot high bathroom cabinet to do leg stretches while brushing my teeth in the morning.

Anyway, lesson learned: Props are not just for cheaters and old or injured people.

The Benefits of Props

While I was at the workshop, I bought a copy of Arun-ji’s book, “Experiment & Experience on the Chair the Yoga Way,” which is dedicated to the use of the yoga chair as a prop. The book features dozens of yoga poses, each with multiple variations and illustrated with photographs.

In the book, Arun-ji describes the use of props as follows:

“An Asana is not about sitting in any comfortable pose, and props are not used to increase our comfort as many seem to assume. They not only help us to keep our body properly aligned while practicing an Asana but also to understand the basic concept of Sthira Sukham Asanam.”

Sthira Sukham Asanam is a term used by Sage Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras (II:46) that roughly translates to “steady comfortable posture.” The Sanskrit work sukham, or sukkha, can also be translated as bliss or happiness and is opposite to dukkha, which is pain or suffering. This is probably the foremost lesson I have learned while practicing yoga in India. The goal is not to look good in photos but to be firmly rooted within oneself and comfortable enough that the outside world melts into the inner world and the practitioner begins to experience true inner bliss.

So, getting back to the topic at hand, Arun-ji continues on to explain the benefits of props as follows:

“There are several other reasons why props are used. It is said that energy leaks from the body through some of the extremities, such as the toes and fingers. Moreover, about 80% of our Prana is leaked through our eyes. So when we practice Asanas and draw in energy, we need to lock this energy by pressing the feet and the middle of the palm on a block, chair or the floor… When that is done, the energy flows upwards against gravity. If the Asanas are not practiced correctly this way, we may end up with injuries and pain.”

Another yoga teacher I was studying with in Bodh Gaya, a 77-year-old Australian named Annie, who has studied with Guruji BKS Iyengar and his children, also brought this concept up in class. She prompted me to close the gaps between my fingers in my Virabhadrasana (warrior poses) as well as Trikonasana (triangle) in order to avoid leaky prana.

As Arun-ji notes, that is also why we try to close our eyes during asanas, although that can be easier said than done in many cases.

During our classes, we did some challenging poses and I won’t say that the props made the poses easier, because they did not. Instead, they allowed me to find a sense of comfort and relaxation while deeper in the pose than I would be able to attain without the use of the props.

I’ve actually found myself working my way into some amazing back bends that I thought were far beyond my reach. And using the wall for support in headstand has taught me what it feels like to remain inverted for upwards of five minutes – how to keep a comfortable and steady breath and how to remove tension from the neck and back when it starts to sneak in.

In the forward to the book, which was published shortly before B.K.S. Iyengar’s death, Guruji himself writes:

“Sri H.S. Arun has shown the role of props to not only maintain holistic health but also how the asana-s done with the help of props lead to full extension, expansion and good circulation as well as toward relaxation and natural reflection and meditation.”

All I can say is that if you have never really tried using props in your yoga practice or if you still have hang-ups about the props being shortcuts, put those misconceptions aside and give it a try. I think you will be pleased with the results.

About Town

The workshop took place at a small village somewhere near Ramanagara, India, which is about 50 kilometers outside of the metropolis of Bangalore. The are was beautiful, but there was not much to do in the town other than yoga.

We did take an excursion to the property of some nearby farmers who grow mulberry bushes, not for the berries they produce, but to feed silkworms. These rural Indian farmers raise up the worms until they spin themselves into cocoons and then they take these cocoons to market where they can be sold for 700 rupees per kilogram. The threads used to make the cocoon are then processed into silk threads, from which silk fabric is later woven.

It was really a quite interesting process to see. Practically everyone knows silk comes from worms, but not so many people can say the know how that process takes place.

In addition to the silk factory, I used some down time to hike up to a holy temple situated on the top of a nearby rock. The landscape around that area is dotted with these huge outcroppings of s'tone and while walking around with my new friend Sudarshan Reddy one day, we spotted one such boulder off in the distance that appeared to have a blue-roofed covered walkway leading to the top.

The hiker in me immediately said, “I want to go there.” So the following day, I did just that. The cooks who prepared our meals were leaving after brunch to go to the city for some supplies so they dropped me about two kilometers down the road and pointed me in the direction of the SRS Temple, as it is known.

I walked along a road the two kilometers back to the site and hiked barefoot up the rock. Although it was covered to keep the strong sun at bay, the path itself was hewn into the stone and was quite steep and difficult to climb at points.

I made it to the top and had an amazing 360-degree view from the top of the rock. I am not exactly sure what deity the temple was devoted to as there were no statues or anything inside but I paid my respects and made the descent and hike back to the ashram well in time for the evening pranayama class.

I have since moved on to Sadhguru's Isha Foundation at Coimbatore and will be heading to Fort Kochi in Kerala tomorrow, but I will save those stories for a later blog.