Bobby Clennel, a senior teacher who has come to Jakartadoyoga Studio a couple of times, share her memories of BKS Iyengar. Thanks to Yehudi Menuhin, who was one of the first Westerners to study the method, Iyengar yoga took root first in the UK. It was the approved yoga method, taught in school halls across London. In fact, Lindsey taught some of these “evening classes” in his spare time. The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) welcomed B.K.S. Iyengar’s yoga provided there was no hocus pocus, mumbo jumbo (or Indian philosophy). So Guruji’s yoga in those days was influenced in part by ILEA regulations. Unlike other “methods,” which talked about Chakras and the like, Iyengar yoga was grounded in the physical. It was practical, down to earth, and systematic, and somewhat of an antidote to the hippy culture that was beginning to wind down when I came upon yoga in the mid 70s.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 00:31:09 +0000