I studied several different methods of yoga before finding Iyengar yoga. Intrinsically, I knew a yoga practice was just what I needed. What I didn’t know was what kind of yoga was needed to ease my path to Samadhi. And somehow, after practicing Iyengar yoga for a short while, I felt I had discovered that path.

First of all, a yogi must leave her ego at the door. This is very hard I know but it is essential. The good news is, if you make it a point to do this and keep practicing, it gets easier. There is no shame in asking for or accepting help in aligning our poses from the teacher. That is what they are there for; to guide us on our yoga journey. The same goes for props. Even Mr. Iyengar uses props every day. The props are there to help us get the alignment of the pose.

A yogi must also remember there is no competition in yoga. This is true for all yoga, not just Iyengar. Don’t worry about what the yogini next to you is doing. While you might think she is doing the perfect pose, that pose is hers! If there is jealousy in seeing someone else in a complicated pose, you must learn to let go of this emotion. Whatever pose you are doing on that day, in that class, in that moment: it is your pose! And it is perfect just the way it is.

An Iyengar yogini learns what her body is capable of doing and how far to go in a pose. An Iyengar teacher always asks if anyone has any issues before class. If you have a sore knee or had surgery on your shoulder in the past or any other injury, you should let the teacher know. Even if you slept in the wrong position the night before and have a stiff neck, tell the teacher. If you don’t want to bring up your issue in front of the class, talk to the teacher before class starts in private. The teacher will let you know how to modify any poses or even suggest an alternative. The most important thing is you don’t go beyond your capabilities and get hurt. After practicing for a while, you will learn if there are poses to avoid, if you should modify or use a prop on your own.

While practicing yoga, you will find you might get a pose one day but not be able to do it the next. This is perfectly fine. Yoga is like life. Some days, life goes smoothly and some days it doesn’t. This translates over into your poses. I like to remember at all times that yoga is a practice. Like practicing piano, a sport, or a language, the more you do it the better you will be. It’s really more about the journey of yoga than arriving at the perfect pose.

As Iyengar yogis, we must practice with “tapas” or burning zeal. This doesn’t mean we go all out and take our bodies past what we are capable of. It just means we set an intention for our practice each time we go to the mat and then concentrate, meditate and practice pranayama with great attention. It’s always good to listen to the teacher too. Some days you might hear the instruction and some days you might not. You might not even know what the teacher is talking about! But if we do the best we can and listen, one day the understanding will come and we will know what the instruction means and why the teacher is urging us to practice in the prescribed way.

By practicing with tapas, sometimes we can burn away emotions, fears, anxieties or even loosen up areas of our body that are stiff or tight. You can stretch a shoulder or a hip and get the muscles to loosen up. Sometimes breathing into the area helps too. We can work on moving our bodies and try to dissipate our fears. If you think about it, if we can do headstand and turn our world upside down, we can do anything.

You might find in Iyengar yoga, different teachers teach the same pose in a different way. While this may seem confusing, the teacher has their reasons for doing this. For example, you might practice a standing pose in one class with a straight leg and in another class, the teacher might have you bend your leg. Each teacher works each pose with a purpose for each class.

Iyengar yoga is very alignment based. There is a reason for this. Mr. Iyengar believes if we align our bodies, everything else will fall in place. Yoga means “union”. This union means that our bodies, our minds and our spirits are all one. By practicing our asanas in a mindful and meditative manner and associating our movement with our breath, practicing pranayama, we can work toward this powerful union of body, mind and spirit and maybe reach a glimpse of Samadhi.

The more we practice yoga, the more glimpses of Samadhi we get. And then we can reach more sustained alignment and experience more Samadhi. Samadhi is the ultimate goal of yoga. When we work towards this goal, our journey helps us realize who we really are; our true self.

By Susan Abernethy