2023 Iyengar Yoga Australia Convention…
“The humility and grace with which Abhijata Iyengar guided and supported us made me fall more in love with Iyengar yoga.”
It’s difficult to put into words all the insights and lessons I took away from the 2023 Iyengar Yoga Convention. I think much of it is still being absorbed and much more will not land for quite some time - tiny seeds which will grow alongside my practice.
The asana practice itself wasn’t super fancy, complex or advanced, but we certainly covered a lot and worked from many different and new angles and perspectives - penetrating into the deeper layers of our being.
It was great to catch up with my ‘yoga family’ from around the country and meet new yogi friends - especially after practicing alone in my living room for almost 3 years. But finding a balance between being social and friendly and wanting to be quiet and still after class was a bit of a challenge for me…
Hot tip: book an extra day before and after the convention for extra socialising and integrating.
I made a few notes on the first days (see below) but found myself wanting to be in the moment. You may be surprised to hear that I used social media sparingly - sharing posts before and after convention, and just a sprinkling of stories from the various other activities.
I also had my laptop, intending to do a little work during the breaks, but I only turned it on briefly on two occasions AND my weekly phone usage was down by 80%!!
Overall, attending the convention allowed me to step away from the routines and pressures of life and work, and provided the unique opportunity to re-connect our community after the pandemic, but ultimately it was the yoga and pranayama practice that was the highlight and hero - and that’s the hardest part to articulate and share…
Photos courtesy of Iyengar Yoga Australia
Which brings me to the other major highlight and hero - our incredible teacher: Abhijata Iyengar - aka Abhi.
Abhi expertly and effortlessly guided 250+ people over 5 days and 20 hours, like a shepherd leading her flock. She was delightfully warm, generous, genuine and so funny. She was reassuringly grounded, down-to-earth and relatable - regularly sharing stories of her own struggles with yoga and making us laugh often.
She didn’t stand before us as some magical being or guru to bow down to and yet I was in total awe of this amazing woman - not only a brilliant yogi but a mother, daughter and grand daughter - balancing many roles, just like we all do!
At one point, Abhi shared a story about going overseas to teach for the first time and feeling uncertain about whether she was ready. Apparently, BKS Iyengar replied with something like - ‘what makes you think they’re coming to see you; it’s the teachings I’m giving you that they want’.
There were many similar stories and comments showing how each of us is nothing but a mere vehicle for sharing the powerful and transformative teachings of Iyengar yoga….
I felt that there was no sense of ego or ownership in what Abhi was teaching us or even in her role as our teacher. She stood alongside rather than above us, which was so refreshing in a world so fixated on self-promotion, celebrity and status.
Photos courtesy of Iyengar Yoga Australia
My notes:
Unlearn and relearn - Learning is for beginners, as intermediate or experienced practitioners we must unlearn and then relearn every time we step on the mat.
Focus on feelings and sensation rather than the doing, actions or making the shapes.
“Drop into [the pose] like a flower falling from a tree” – this was something Guruji apparently said about not always being so strict and rigid with how we do things.
Notice the relationship between breath and actions. E.g. in Trikonasana we were asked to notice if the exhalation continued after we arrived in the pose, and to adjust the breath to match the movement.
Relationship between breath and action, and breath and mood - we can affect one by working on the other.
Light on buttocks - Abhi proposed this as the title of a new book, after a forward bends class which had a focus on our buttocks.
Calm the face and throat - a hard throat means a hard mind and too much thinking.
Attention vs concentration - these are different things.
Abhi doesn’t plan her classes any more, and teaches 5 - 6 classes a week.
Poses:
Prone Parivritta Trikonasa - with blocks to support both feet/ legs.
Parsvottanasa with a belt around the wrists and arms straight behind the back - to keep the chest open and trunk long.
Dynamic jumping into Trikonasana, Parsvakonasana and Ardha Chandrasana - for younger/ teenage students.
Ardha Chandrasana - at the end of the forward bends and twists class to feel the space and opening.
Pranayama before backbends - to settle the mind and nervous system and work from a different perspective.
Gratitude and special thanks to:
The ethics committee, senior teachers and James Hasemar for preparing such wonderful talks/ discussions each day - providing an opportunity and place for questions, voices and opinions to be heard (and sometimes answered), enabling so many important and rich conversations to be started and making the yoga Sutras (often seen as complex and out of reach) more accessible and relevant.
Abhijata Iyengar and Iyengar Yoga Australia - especially the events and comms committee for all their hard work and making the 2023 Convention possible.
I’m feeling connected, inspired and energised and look forward to doing it all again soon!
“Brain and body are the child of the soul.”
- Abhijata Iyengar
All photos courtesy of Iyengar Yoga Australia
