Clear Yoga offers Iyengar Yoga. We have instructors certified in the Iyengar Method.
What is Iyengar Yoga?
Iyengar yoga is named after Shri B.K.S. Iyengar of Pune, India.
Precise alignment is a hallmark of Iyengar yoga. Regular practice increases strength, stamina, tones muscles and brings relief to aching and injured joints. Stress, anxiety and depression are alleviated.
The New York Times points out that because Iyengar yoga “focuses meticulously on proper alignment” and its teachers undergo “rigorous training,” it allows instructors to cater to students’ individual needs and to minimize the risk of injury. Certified Iyengar teachers undergo a minimum of three years of intensive training and testing which they begin after at least six years of study with a senior teacher (whose training period normally runs fifteen to twenty years). WebMD states, “Analytical in its approach with a constant attention to detail, Iyengar yoga is great for learning the subtleties of correct alignment in each pose. The use of props — belts, blocks, and pillow-like bolsters — help beginners get into poses with correct alignment, even when they’re new to the poses, injured, or simply stiff.”
Anyone can practice Iyengar Yoga…
Iyengar Yoga is accessible to everyone regardless of age, ability, or physical limitations. It’s not about anyone else in the room. It’s about you.
We practice different poses every class, every week. Over the period of a month your entire body will have been “worked out” and you will have “worked in” to your mind, the various things you learned about yourself.
You begin to understand how the shape of the pose works for your hip, or your back, or your shoulder, or neck etc. The way the poses are taught helps you pay attention to what’s going on in your body so you have tools to fix, help, or get stronger on your own.
There are hundreds of ways to approach every pose depending on what you need to work on. Because of that, Iyengar Yoga has many therapeutic applications. Back issues, hip and knee issues, shoulder and neck, and also stress, depression, anxiety can be helped, and in some cases cured through regular practice. BKS Iyengar said “Yoga will cure what can be cured and help us endure what cannot”.
