BKS Iyengar, who helped bring yoga to the West, has died

http://www.vox.com/2014/8/20/6047603/bks-iyengar-who-helped-bring-yoga-to-the-west-has-died

by krsree • 12 years ago

100 35 12 years ago

vox.com

easytiger2• 12 years ago

And it became a $27 billion pa business.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/16/how-the-yoga-indust...

camillomiller• 12 years ago

This comment embodies the total misunderstanding of Yoga by the Western World. Yoga isn't about letting everything go during this life. It's about letting go the non important things. Iyengar himself, while extremely wealthy, strongly condemned the mercification of Yoga that we witness nowadays.

timr• 12 years ago

Also, you don't need to buy a darned thing to do yoga. Lululemon or no.

easytiger2• 12 years ago

This comment embodies

Excuse me, but what view did i express other than to point it out? I'm aware of the slight contradiction at hand. Recall this site is concerned with revenue generation opportunities

5partan• 12 years ago

You dont have to spend a penny to do yoga

shimshim2• 12 years ago

Just need a dirt floor at the very least.

dheer012• 12 years ago

Every software engineer at some time in their working life will experience lower back pain. Before, you waste time/money going to your favourite medical practitioner, who will most likely advise you with a chemical cocktail - please visit your local yoga practitioner and ask him for a one minute session on Salamba Bhujangasana. This will 'cure' your backpain completely and irrevocably.

If you havent yet crossed over, welcome to the world of yoga.

RIP BKS.

geographomics• 12 years ago

If the pain is persistent, medical practitioners would be more likely to recommend physiotherapy than an endless supply of painkillers.

maccard• 12 years ago

I found I got an ample supply of both for a slipped disc. Tried Yoga, hurt more both short and long term.

random_ind_dude• 12 years ago

I am not sure that's true, at least in my personal experience. I have lower back pain and this pose, while it relieves the pain temporarily, only makes it worse in the long run. Arching the back like in this asana compresses the lower spine. So I don't think it will cure one's back pain.

jacquesm• 12 years ago

I'm kind of skeptical about wholesale diagnosis and medical advice dispensed with authority.

lostcolony• 12 years ago

..anonymously on the internet.

lafar6502• 12 years ago

Be careful, first of all not all yoga instructors know what they're doing, and secondly you can hurt yourself when doing exercises your body is not prepared for. If you're in your 20s you'll probably handle anything without a problem, but things change when you're older.

andrewl2• 12 years ago

Some forms of yoga can be good for some people. And some of them can be quite bad, which isn't often acknowledged. There's a lot of dogma in the yoga community. See the New York Times article How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body [1] and the followup discussion The Healing Power of Yoga Controversy [2].

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/magazine/how-yoga-can-wrec...

[2] http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/the-healing-pow...

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dheer012• 12 years ago

Its obviously not a cure for everything and will not suit some people/problems - exactly like most medicine.

The overwhelmingly positive effects of yoga are though undeniable and most people will definitely benefit. Your personal mileage should obviously vary.

peterwwillis2• 12 years ago

Here's my $0.02 on the subject. Every modern western yoga teacher (if they've passed teacher training) will tell you several things when you're starting out:

  1. If it hurts, don't do it.
  2. Listen to your body.
  3. You can not 'win' yoga.
  4. If you have an injury, use a modified pose.
  5. It's your practice, do it your way, at your own pace.
  6. Rest if you feel like it.
  7. Don't do everything everyone else does.
  etc

I've injured myself once so far. Most other people I know who practice regularly have also hurt themselves doing asanas, usually improperly. But the same goes for anyone who does a challenging physical activity, which yoga can definitely be if you push yourself or aren't mindful of your body. At the end of the day, there is no perfect way to prevent injury as all our bodies are different.

So unless everyone did the senior-citizen-modified poses there's always going to be risk of injury. Assuming a person could just jump into a crazy backbend like Vrschikasana without injury would be crazy... I don't know who you think isn't acknowledging this as every yoga instructor has probably also hurt themselves at one point or another.

The people who advocate yoga as healing or beneficial are not incorrect. But they're also not explaining to you everything about yoga in one paragraph. People who read one or two sentences and stop learning are dooming themselves from ignorance.

Much like people who work out without a personal trainer, people who do yoga without an experienced teacher (not just practitioner) are going to be at a significant disadvantage. Perhaps the real issue is that most people don't acknowledge that yoga is complex and can't be minimized or simplified.

discardorama• 12 years ago

I think part of the blame lies (IMHO) in, what I'd consider the American desire to "be number 1!!11!!" and the adrenaline rush. Just doing yoga is not enough; there have to be _competitions_ and challenges and so on. Why, regular yoga not giving you the adrenaline rush? Try "Acro Yoga" ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMMlzQsQPk4

What the heck. Yoga is not about being competitive; it's just about you, and you alone. Do the same yoga that you do when you're alone, as when you're in front of 1000 people. Listen to your body.

An analogy is: yoga is like tango. The 'woman' is your body, and you are the lead.

mseebach• 12 years ago

I'm sure yoga is great, but for regular office lower back pain, pretty much any kind of regular physical exercise will do the trick.

codenberg• 12 years ago

With so many different types of yoga out there, BKS stuck out to me as something different and approachable. I was apprehensive when my wife dragged me along the first time, but that quickly changed. The classes are actually about learning the poses, not just doing them. For a beginner with no flexibility like myself it is perfect. The teachers walk you through all the different variations of the poses and help you along the way, so you can actually apply it yourself (properly) when doing it at home. There's also a level of trust for the teachers since it takes them years to become certified from what I've learned.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in yoga. Anyone in the Boston area check out http://www.yoganow.net run by Patricia Walden.

shimshim2• 12 years ago

I started doing yoga in '94, when I was 14. My mom gave me two books on my birthday: Richard Hittleman's 30-day Yoga Plan and Light on Yoga. They changed my life back then and I continue to practice Iyengar's version of yoga today.

wallflower2• 12 years ago

What I find interesting about yoga practices in America is that there is so much emphasis/focus on just the 1st level (Physical).

Physical - Annamaya kosha

Energy - Pranamaya kosha

Mental - Manamaya kosha

Wisdom - Vijnanamaya kosha

Bliss - Anandamaya kosha

Self - Atman

Even the grueling 200-hr Yoga training which some of my friends have endured is about doing all the poses (which can be quite difficult, especially if you are older and have something like a bad hip).

The 5 Koshas of Yoga: http://www.swamij.com/koshas.htm

igravious2• 12 years ago

Perhaps because the "model" we have in the West of ourselves is more-or-less a dualistic model: mind/body. I guess that people in the West consider yoga involving poses to target the body and practices like meditation to target the mind. That would then cover "everything" as far as we'd see.

There is the notion embedded in Western culture that the seat of consciousness (which many equate with the self) is contained within the Mind somewhere. We have a mostly pop cultural understanding of the mind with a good dash of Freud-speak. I think that experimental psychology and neuroscience are increasingly important as sources of understanding for the mind.

In the West, also, I figure that wisdom is pursued through religion or the arts/literature/cinema/etc. or philosophy.

I think that most in the West see energy as part of the scientific domain of things. I realise that many don't but I'm going to discount this group as pre-scientific and/or not scientifically literate and/or superstitious.

I guess what you mean by Bliss is what the Buddhists mean by Elightenment? I can't think of a direct analog for this state in Western culture. If you could tell me more I'd answer this better.

Short answer. Western culture and science is resistant to the model you are putting forward. That's why. Be happy to debate any of this further.

wallflower2• 12 years ago

Re: Bliss

I think it is along the same levels of Enlightenment.

"Our egos very often keep us from being our best selves" -Karen Armstrong

I think materialism is the short-term fix to some problems that we all have. Nothing is black or white. We are all consumers, in some form. I think true happiness comes from producing and giving more, especially when there is no monetary compensation or stress tied to the giving or producing. E.g. a real hobby

hosh• 12 years ago

These differences are superficial and skin-deep. The mystics of both East and West are more in agreement than the the scribblers of scripture. One of the common threads, East or West, is that "self" is not Self (Atman).

Bliss is not what the Buddhists mean by Enlightenment, though it is in the same general "area". The most obvious Western equivalent in that same area is the term, "Gnosis".

nzp• 12 years ago

I guess what you mean by Bliss is what the Buddhists mean by Elightenment?

Although in Buddhism there is at some point the attainment of bliss (as a factor in the first jhana[0]) the goal is to let go of that bliss and go beyond. The next step in yoga is the realisation of atman, while in Buddhism the goal, Enlightenment (which is much better translated as "Awakening") it is the very opposite--the realisation of anatman (non-self). So they're not really compatible. In fact Buddhism is doctrinally sharply opposed to all strands of Vedic thought and practice.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jhana

IvyMike• 12 years ago

The other four levels are increasingly in conflict with various religions.

seedcode• 12 years ago

If yoga is a way to watch the way we spend time, this is a beautiful tribute: a short montage of yoga demos by BKS Iyengar over the years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaba-PUd5PU RIP BKS

apu• 12 years ago

A fascinating take on yoga and exercise from British documentarian Adam Curtis: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/posts/bodybuilding_and...

BKS Iyengar, who helped bring yoga to the West, has died

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