“Yoga teaches to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.”~ BKS Iyengar
by Rebecca Haralabatos
I began teaching the Iyengar Fundamentals 10 week series at the Adeline Yoga Studio a few years ago and am continually inspired, watching new students awaken to the wisdom of this practice and experience a growing sense of healthy alignment and freedom within. With this awakening, some initially inspired students enter into overwhelm as they struggle to keep pace with the group in the face of structural imbalances and patterns developed over a lifetime. Insecurities arise as students feel their stiffness. I’ve heard some mutter worries offhandedly such as ‘is it too late for me?’, ‘how am I so stiff?’, ‘I was over exhausted for days after the last class’, ‘practicing with everyone else here does not help my self-esteem’ and ‘I know from my own experience that I cannot do this pose, I’ll injure myself’. Some of those people never return to the series or, if they do complete the series, never move on to a Level 1 class. The light of curiosity has dimmed.
B.K.S. Iyengar spent decades sharing the vast healing potential of this practice to people regardless of age or ability. And for many people, this translates into going more slowly to create a calm steady practice as described by Patanjali, a pace that promotes progress without injury to the Self.
This past summer, I lived for 10 days at one of the most successfully sustained and abundant ecovillages in the world in Ithaca, New York with a trade of room for teaching Iyengar yoga to my host and his neighbors. Residing with one of my students and being in close community with the others, I was able to more deeply appreciate their experience of the practice. Many of these beginner students vocalized feelings of stiffness and insecurity in our first session making me quickly realize I needed to slow the pace down to prevent more stiffness, injuries and bruised confidence. Insecurities still arose yet with the slower pace, they kept coming and moving into the different shapes. By dramatically increasing my level of patience, care and attention, we co-created a pace that challenged comfort zones without overwhelming, over exhausting or getting stuck. At the end of our work together, the students were curious about continuing with a home practice.
Guruji often spoke of his students as his teachers. From the wisdom of our students, Adeline Yoga and I are pleased to offer:
Easy Pace Fundamentals Series at the Adeline Yoga Studio.
This 10-session series is specially designed for beginners. The Easy Pace Fundamentals Series is yoga fundamentals at a slower pace – using a similar syllabus of the regular fundamentals course, poses will be taught at a more moderate pace.
You will learn the foundations of Iyengar yoga to help you build strength and flexibility and relieve stress. This is the perfect place for total beginners or students who want a better understanding of the basic yoga poses. All body types and abilities are welcome.
Each session will build upon the prior class in a progressive manner.
10 sessions in 10 weeks
Tuesdays 4 – 5:30pm starts tomorrow September 20th