Why We Use So Many Props (or "No, They are Not the Blankets of Shame")

Iyengar Yoga is known for its use of props. (For what it's worth, many of the props we use were actually created by Iyengar Yoga's founder, B.K.S. Iyengar.) Often, students (especially students newer to Iyengar Yoga) are resistant. This can be for lots of reasons: They see props as cheating. The ... Read More

Dandasana (Staff Pose) - Not "Just Sitting There" but Really a Great Workout for Both Your Legs and Your Core

I'll be honest that I never thought too much of Dandasana, thinking of it mainly as "just sitting there" or as something you did between other poses. I least I thought that until one particular class. This was when I was living in Atlanta, and I'd gone to one of my usual classes with Kathleen Pri... Read More

Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) - A "Basic" Pose with Endless Possibilities

I have loved Trikonasana (triangle pose) since I first practiced it and felt the possibilities for easing my lower back pain through both stretching and strengthening. What I didn't understand then were the endless possibilities of Utthita Trikonasana (extended triangle pose). As a one-sided pose... Read More

What are the Gunas? or How do we balance stability and action to become more mindful?

What are the gunas? (not a moderately disturbing 80’s movie….) Guna means thread in Sanskrit. The gunas are three qualities (or threads) – tamas, rajas, and sattva – that are said to run through everything – from inanimate objects to individual personalities. Tamas is stability, steadiness, darkn... Read More

Now we begin / What are the Yoga Sutras? / What are the eight limbs of ashtanga yoga?

Atha yoganusasanam. Put simply, "Now, we begin." This first of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is one I come back to a lot. I love that it is “now,” not a certain day or date or season, simply now. You don’t have to wait for a specified time to come to begin – begin now. If you got distracted, if you fel... Read More