It would not be an exaggeration to say that finding yoga changed my life -- and it happened in small increments, like good organic change. My interest in yoga began shortly after college. Recently graduated from the University of Michigan and considering further study in oceanography, I tried a yoga class on a suggestion from a co-worker at the food co-op. To my surprise the classes were taught by inspiring women who had lived a full life: marriage, kids, careers. They were somehow teaching and practicing this stuff which I found surprisingly challenging at 21, and coming up with kernels of wisdom in the process. I didn’t know then that I had stumbled on the first Iyengar yoga program in the U.S., and that my teachers would frequently give up Christmas with their families in order to study at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune, India in December. Had I known, I might have run the other way. Fast-forward nine years and I was itching to go to India myself.
A WAITING LIST In order for a month of study at “the institute” to come about, a few stars have to line up. Eight years of Iyengar yoga study in the U.S. and a few recommendations are necessary for new students to get a place in class, and the waiting list can be years long. Students are responsible for all their own housing and meals; it is not a residential program. And of course, transportation to India is a substantial expense. My first trip was in 1987, and at that point we came over in groups from our respective countries for intensive sessions for an entire month. Today, foreign students are tracked into the regular class schedule, depending on experience. As a senior Iyengar teacher I was able to arrange a place in class for this January, and luckily a room in an apartment with friends opened up at the last minute. I got a great fare by traveling over New Year’s Eve. It’s a grueling trip: 26 hours door-to-door in my case, so a surprise complimentary first class upgrade on the plane while I was waiting to board the next eight-hour leg in Amsterdam was a wonderful omen and a huge gift. The apartment turned out to be sunny, spacious and clean, and best of all, next door to the institute, which meant less time in a rick -- the three-wheel motorized taxis that are also known as autorickshaws. Getting around a city like Pune, one is forced to either walk long distances -- sometimes in terrible heat -- or take ricks. The drivers are good, but it’s a scary ride since the traffic is crazy and chaotic.
LIFE IN INDIA My apartment mates included Peentz Dubble of Boston, who I had met on my first trip in 1987, and Linda DiCarlo of Rhode Island, with whom I had served on the National Iyengar board. We were friends, seasoned students and teachers and had been to Pune many times, so we settled into a wonderfully focused routine. Our daily schedule was to do morning routines like pranayama (breathing practice) alone in our rooms, and then head over to the institute for three hours of asana practice. The room would be crowded with over 100 people doing their own practice. In the Iyengar tradition we learn the art of sequencing poses in an order that gradually takes us deeper into more complex and challenging poses. The main focus might be backbends, forward bends, standing poses or arm balances. Inversions like head-stands and shoulder-stands are standard in most full sequences. Some practices are passive and called restorative for their nerve-quieting effect. B.K.S. Iyengar, the guru of this tradition, came to most practices. I would set up my mat near his area because his practice was so inspiring to observe, and because many times he would pause to teach his granddaughter Abby. Some of us would observe what he taught her and try it ourselves. Three hours is a luxurious amount of time to practice yoga. I loved it and learned a lot observing. Classes are held six days a week, either from 5-7 p.m. or 9:30-11:30 a.m. My main teacher was Iyengar’s daughter Geeta. She is a phenomenal yogini and teacher. Her superb ability to sequence poses and directions within each pose allows students to experience the stability and stillness within themselves -- a goal which is at the heart of yoga. Poses feel light and strong, and inside we feel free. Even though it may look physical from the outside (classes can have 50 poses), yoga brings vitality, clarity, and inteilligence to our deeper layers of being.
LANGUAGE BARRIER I had compassion for the new foreign students (over 10 countries were represented) who could not understand English or the particular Sanskrit pronounciation very well. Geeta has well over 100 students in each class and is acutely aware of whether students are following her instruction, so it was sometimes a frustration to her as well. Local students made up a third to a half of the class, so Geeta might switch to Marathi, the local dialect to help them out or tell an inside joke. (got to learn Marathi!) After class, my friends and I would go home and take notes together, discussing the class and what we gleaned from it. Our apartment came with a cook, so often we would have a wonderful dinner waiting for us, avoiding the hassle of going out to eat. This was the heart of the month-long experience, and although we did take ricks to go shopping or to see a dance performance, my time in India was basically this simple, study-focused life. I stayed in touch with my husband, Greg Putalik, through e-mail and phone conversations. I heard about all this great snow and news from our kids, and also knew that I was in a parallel universe. I am very lucky to have his support.
CHANGES On a sadder note, watching the development that prosperity is bringing to Pune and Mumbai, it is hard not to literally choke on it. I have been to India eight times and have seen the changes speeding up. The old banyan trees have given way to more and busier roads and many, many cars and motorcycles. The resulting air is horrible. It is quite hard to cross the street as they have not heard of crosswalks yet. Even the locals are not crossing streets with their old confidence that drivers will stop for them, as everybody is driving faster and there are a lot of newly-licensed drivers. I read that the driving test was pretty much to turn on the car, drive it in a circle and stop! The dollar is weaker in India now, but it’s still a great deal. There are roughly 38 rupees to the dollar and a good restaurant meal would be 200 rupees, though you could eat well for less. Our home-cooked meals were 50 rupees each, and well worth it. Also, with development, the traditional small stores are now flanked by malls several stories high, and the farmers markets are threatened by the food stores in the malls. Sound familiar? I am aware of the carbon footprint of my trip, however simply I chose to live there, and hope that sharing what I learn with my students can help offset this negative impact. To be with your tribe and people passionate about what you love, especially when it’s yoga, is a powerful mix. Love, labor, and laughter, one of my favorite B.K.S. Iyengar quotes, sums up how yoga has brightened my life.
Mary Reilly is director of the North Woods Yoga Studio in Petoskey.
About Iyengar Yoga
B.K.S. Iyengar started studying yoga at 13 and will be 90 this year. He started life as a sickly child with tuberculosis, and after yoga healed him he was sent to northern India by his guru to teach. Iyengar had to overcome extreme poverty and remind India of the rich heritage of yoga, which was not at all popular at the time. His manual “Light on Yoga,” published in 1966, is still considered one of the most complete sources on yoga. He followed up with similar watershed books, “Light on Pranayama” and “Light on the Yoga Sutras,” the underlying philosophy of yoga. When violinist Yehudi Menuin was in India he called on Iyengar to teach him, and a lifelong bond was forged. In the foreword to “Light on Yoga,” Menuin wrote, “The practice of yoga induces a primary sense of measure and proportion. Reduced to our own body, our first instrument, we learn to play it, drawing from it maximum resonance and harmony.” (for the complete forward go to northwoodsyoga.com) In 2004 Time magazine voted B.K.S. Iyengar one of the world’s 100 most influential people.
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