Misia Denéa ,one of our team members at Adeline yoga, caught up with one of our instructors. Michael offered some lovely insights about Iyengar Yoga! Read the full interview in the BLOG post below.
Misia Denéa:When did you begin practicing yoga?
Michael: When I was in college some friends of mine were doing yoga, and I got interested. Then I had a chance to spend two years at Oxford University doing a Masters Degree. One day I saw a flyer for a yoga class, so off I went and totally by accident stumbled into the world of Iyengar Yoga. I was hooked from the first class. I felt wonderful afterwards. Then for the next few days I was really, really sore, and the thing that felt best to do to relieve the soreness was to sit up straight, so I took that as a sign this was a good thing for me.
M.D:What does your own personal practice look like?
M.L: I practice pretty much every day. Somedays I only have 45 minutes. Some days I take 3 hours. Mostly I aim for 2 hours. But because of my work schedule, it can be unpredictable what times of day I will have free for my practice, so I’ve learned different ways of practicing at different times of day, from earliest morning to nighttime.
M.D:Do you have a favorite pose or element of yoga other than asana?
M.L : These days, I’m working on the 2 “K” poses a lot: Kurmasana and Kapotasana. Lots of the forward bending poses take you towards Kurmasana, and lots of the backward extensions prepare you for Kapotasana. They are both fun and challenging to work on in different ways, and they require you to explore yourself, your body, and various limitations you have in close detail.
M.D:What is your advice to beginners?
M.L: Be curious about how yoga works, and how it affects you, and enjoy your practice and your classes.
M.D:What is your favorite book/ quote/ teaching by Mr. Iyengar?
M.L.: I spend a lot of time looking at the pictues in Light on Yoga and in The Art of Yoga. I enjoy reading different articles Mr. Iyengar wrote over the years that are collected in the volumes called Astadala Yogamala. I’m always dipping into Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali for insight.
*END INTERVIEW*
Michael Lucey is a certified Iyengar yoga teacher at the Senior Intermediate 1 level. He holds the highest level of Iyengar Yoga certification in the East Bay. Michael stumbled into an Iyengar yoga class in England in 1982, while he was a student at Oxford University. From his very first class he has been fascinated by the many ways yoga can transform your relation to your body, mind, and breath. He has been fortunate to study with many senior teachers from around the United States and Europe. He has also made 11 trips to Pune, India to study directly with the Iyengar family at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute. His most recent trip was in December 2018. Michael is also a professor of Comparative Literature and French at the University of California, Berkeley, and served as President of the Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States from 2014-2017. Visit Michael’s blog at assortedpracticalities.blogspot.com .
Michael leads classes weekly at Adeline Yoga
( visit https://adelineyoga.com/schedule/ ):
| 5:45pm – 7:15pm | Level I / II Monday |
| 10:05am – 11:50am | Level III | Wednesday |
Peter says
Great questions and truly insightful answers.