Foreword : I found this footage of Mr Iyengar teaching in 1977 which was the year I first went to Pune. I stayed for 2 months and most of the time, there were few students. This must have been filmed during a group “intensive”. It gives an idea of his totally mastery. I just tried to keep up and watch his every movement. It took me years to master these techniques.
Tuesday April 15th at Taj was a private class for Diana so we looked at specific poses she’s working on.
1: Start as always with five sūrya namaskāra.
2: Back bends. I want you to be confident and comfortable with ūrdhva dhanurāsana. Practice with chair and then blocks until you can stay comfortably in the pose.
3: viparīta daṇḍāsana. Push up and place head on floor then move the hands to the head and the elbows towards the floor.
4: Three point headstand (śīrṣāsana) and bakāsana. Notes on this are in earlier class notes.
5: Twists. We worked on the matsyendra poses. We have looked at these twists before, so no further notes. Here is an astonishing photo from over 80 years ago. An American who studied in Tibet in the 1930’s and wrote about his experience. This is an incredibly advanced pose which I have achieved only with help. He looks totally at peace. Hatha Yoga Theos Bernard
6: The aṣṭāṅga primary series forward bends. I did get the order wrong and totally forgot jānu śīrṣāsana B (I don’t approve of poses that put heavy load on my knee joints). I want to look briefly at everything in the primary series since Diana will be doing a workshop with David Swenson soon.
7: Other forward bends. Including upaviṣṭa koṇāsana and kūrmāsana
8: sarvāṅgāsana. Nice long stay with no variations.