6 ms·

BKS Iyengar, who helped bring yoga to the West, has died

100 points by krsree 12y ago

easytiger 12y ago
And it became a $27 billion pa business. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/16/how-the-yoga-industry-los_n_4441767.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/16/how-the-yoga-indust...
- camillomiller 12y ago
  This comment embodies the total misunderstanding of Yoga by the Western World. Yoga isn't about letting everything go during this life. It's about letting go the non important things. Iyengar himself, while extremely wealthy, strongly condemned the mercification of Yoga that we witness nowadays.
  - timr 12y ago
    Also, you don't need to buy a darned thing to do yoga. Lululemon or no.
    - hessenwolf 12y ago
      But it is a great proxy for the value that it brought to our society. Put another way, how else would you put a number on the value that it brought to our society? You could use the number of practitioners, but that wouldn't rank compared to other things those practitioners do.
  - easytiger 12y ago
    > This comment embodies Excuse me, but what view did i express other than to point it out? I'm aware of the slight contradiction at hand. Recall this site is concerned with revenue generation opportunities
- 5partan 12y ago
  You dont have to spend a penny to do yoga
  - shimshim 12y ago
    Just need a dirt floor at the very least.
dheer01 12y ago
Every software engineer at some time in their working life will experience lower back pain. Before, you waste time/money going to your favourite medical practitioner, who will most likely advise you with a chemical cocktail - please visit your local yoga practitioner and ask him for a one minute session on Salamba Bhujangasana. This will 'cure' your backpain completely and irrevocably. If you havent yet crossed over, welcome to the world of yoga. RIP BKS.
- geographomics 12y ago
  If the pain is persistent, medical practitioners would be more likely to recommend physiotherapy than an endless supply of painkillers.
  - maccard 12y ago
    I found I got an ample supply of both for a slipped disc. Tried Yoga, hurt more both short and long term.
- random_ind_dude 12y ago
  I am not sure that's true, at least in my personal experience. I have lower back pain and this pose, while it relieves the pain temporarily, only makes it worse in the long run. Arching the back like in this asana compresses the lower spine. So I don't think it will cure one's back pain.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  I'm kind of skeptical about wholesale diagnosis and medical advice dispensed with authority.
  - lostcolony 12y ago
    ..anonymously on the internet.
- lafar6502 12y ago
  Be careful, first of all not all yoga instructors know what they're doing, and secondly you can hurt yourself when doing exercises your body is not prepared for. If you're in your 20s you'll probably handle anything without a problem, but things change when you're older.
codenberg 12y ago
With so many different types of yoga out there, BKS stuck out to me as something different and approachable. I was apprehensive when my wife dragged me along the first time, but that quickly changed. The classes are actually about learning the poses, not just doing them. For a beginner with no flexibility like myself it is perfect. The teachers walk you through all the different variations of the poses and help you along the way, so you can actually apply it yourself (properly) when doing it at home. There's also a level of trust for the teachers since it takes them years to become certified from what I've learned. Highly recommended for anyone interested in yoga. Anyone in the Boston area check out http://www.yoganow.net http://www.yoganow.net run by Patricia Walden.
shimshim 12y ago
I started doing yoga in '94, when I was 14. My mom gave me two books on my birthday: Richard Hittleman's 30-day Yoga Plan and Light on Yoga. They changed my life back then and I continue to practice Iyengar's version of yoga today.
wallflower 12y ago
What I find interesting about yoga practices in America is that there is so much emphasis/focus on just the 1st level (Physical). Physical - Annamaya kosha Energy - Pranamaya kosha Mental - Manamaya kosha Wisdom - Vijnanamaya kosha Bliss - Anandamaya kosha Self - Atman Even the grueling 200-hr Yoga training which some of my friends have endured is about doing all the poses (which can be quite difficult, especially if you are older and have something like a bad hip). The 5 Koshas of Yoga: http://www.swamij.com/koshas.htm http://www.swamij.com/koshas.htm
- igravious 12y ago
  Perhaps because the "model" we have in the West of ourselves is more-or-less a dualistic model: mind/body. I guess that people in the West consider yoga involving poses to target the body and practices like meditation to target the mind. That would then cover "everything" as far as we'd see. There is the notion embedded in Western culture that the seat of consciousness (which many equate with the self) is contained within the Mind somewhere. We have a mostly pop cultural understanding of the mind with a good dash of Freud-speak. I think that experimental psychology and neuroscience are increasingly important as sources of understanding for the mind. In the West, also, I figure that wisdom is pursued through religion or the arts/literature/cinema/etc. or philosophy. I think that most in the West see energy as part of the scientific domain of things. I realise that many don't but I'm going to discount this group as pre-scientific and/or not scientifically literate and/or superstitious. I guess what you mean by Bliss is what the Buddhists mean by Elightenment? I can't think of a direct analog for this state in Western culture. If you could tell me more I'd answer this better. Short answer. Western culture and science is resistant to the model you are putting forward. That's why. Be happy to debate any of this further.
  - wallflower 12y ago
    Re: Bliss I think it is along the same levels of Enlightenment. "Our egos very often keep us from being our best selves" -Karen Armstrong I think materialism is the short-term fix to some problems that we all have. Nothing is black or white. We are all consumers, in some form. I think true happiness comes from producing and giving more, especially when there is no monetary compensation or stress tied to the giving or producing. E.g. a real hobby
seedcode 12y ago
If yoga is a way to watch the way we spend time, this is a beautiful tribute: a short montage of yoga demos by BKS Iyengar over the years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaba-PUd5PU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaba-PUd5PU RIP BKS
pond_lilly 12y ago
"Live happily and die majestically....Happy death...No anxiety, no sorrow, no distress...with hope let me leave this Earth". BKS Iyengar, May 3, 2014. http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/walk-the-talk/watch-walk-the-talk-with-yogacharya-bks-iyengar/319805?curl=1408540920 http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/walk-the-talk/watch-walk-th...
apu 12y ago
A fascinating take on yoga and exercise from British documentarian Adam Curtis: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/posts/bodybuilding_and_nation-buildi http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/posts/bodybuilding_and...

100 points by krsree 12y ago

And it became a $27 billion pa business. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/16/how-the-yoga-industry-los_n_4441767.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/16/how-the-yoga-indust...

camillomiller 12y ago
This comment embodies the total misunderstanding of Yoga by the Western World. Yoga isn't about letting everything go during this life. It's about letting go the non important things. Iyengar himself, while extremely wealthy, strongly condemned the mercification of Yoga that we witness nowadays.
- timr 12y ago
  Also, you don't need to buy a darned thing to do yoga. Lululemon or no.
  - hessenwolf 12y ago
    But it is a great proxy for the value that it brought to our society. Put another way, how else would you put a number on the value that it brought to our society? You could use the number of practitioners, but that wouldn't rank compared to other things those practitioners do.
- easytiger 12y ago
  > This comment embodies Excuse me, but what view did i express other than to point it out? I'm aware of the slight contradiction at hand. Recall this site is concerned with revenue generation opportunities
5partan 12y ago
You dont have to spend a penny to do yoga
- shimshim 12y ago
  Just need a dirt floor at the very least.

dheer01 12y ago

Every software engineer at some time in their working life will experience lower back pain. Before, you waste time/money going to your favourite medical practitioner, who will most likely advise you with a chemical cocktail - please visit your local yoga practitioner and ask him for a one minute session on Salamba Bhujangasana. This will 'cure' your backpain completely and irrevocably. If you havent yet crossed over, welcome to the world of yoga. RIP BKS.

geographomics 12y ago
If the pain is persistent, medical practitioners would be more likely to recommend physiotherapy than an endless supply of painkillers.
- maccard 12y ago
  I found I got an ample supply of both for a slipped disc. Tried Yoga, hurt more both short and long term.
random_ind_dude 12y ago
I am not sure that's true, at least in my personal experience. I have lower back pain and this pose, while it relieves the pain temporarily, only makes it worse in the long run. Arching the back like in this asana compresses the lower spine. So I don't think it will cure one's back pain.
jacquesm 12y ago
I'm kind of skeptical about wholesale diagnosis and medical advice dispensed with authority.
- lostcolony 12y ago
  ..anonymously on the internet.
lafar6502 12y ago
Be careful, first of all not all yoga instructors know what they're doing, and secondly you can hurt yourself when doing exercises your body is not prepared for. If you're in your 20s you'll probably handle anything without a problem, but things change when you're older.

codenberg 12y ago

With so many different types of yoga out there, BKS stuck out to me as something different and approachable. I was apprehensive when my wife dragged me along the first time, but that quickly changed. The classes are actually about learning the poses, not just doing them. For a beginner with no flexibility like myself it is perfect. The teachers walk you through all the different variations of the poses and help you along the way, so you can actually apply it yourself (properly) when doing it at home. There's also a level of trust for the teachers since it takes them years to become certified from what I've learned. Highly recommended for anyone interested in yoga. Anyone in the Boston area check out http://www.yoganow.net http://www.yoganow.net run by Patricia Walden.

shimshim 12y ago

I started doing yoga in '94, when I was 14. My mom gave me two books on my birthday: Richard Hittleman's 30-day Yoga Plan and Light on Yoga. They changed my life back then and I continue to practice Iyengar's version of yoga today.

wallflower 12y ago

What I find interesting about yoga practices in America is that there is so much emphasis/focus on just the 1st level (Physical). Physical - Annamaya kosha Energy - Pranamaya kosha Mental - Manamaya kosha Wisdom - Vijnanamaya kosha Bliss - Anandamaya kosha Self - Atman Even the grueling 200-hr Yoga training which some of my friends have endured is about doing all the poses (which can be quite difficult, especially if you are older and have something like a bad hip). The 5 Koshas of Yoga: http://www.swamij.com/koshas.htm http://www.swamij.com/koshas.htm

igravious 12y ago
Perhaps because the "model" we have in the West of ourselves is more-or-less a dualistic model: mind/body. I guess that people in the West consider yoga involving poses to target the body and practices like meditation to target the mind. That would then cover "everything" as far as we'd see. There is the notion embedded in Western culture that the seat of consciousness (which many equate with the self) is contained within the Mind somewhere. We have a mostly pop cultural understanding of the mind with a good dash of Freud-speak. I think that experimental psychology and neuroscience are increasingly important as sources of understanding for the mind. In the West, also, I figure that wisdom is pursued through religion or the arts/literature/cinema/etc. or philosophy. I think that most in the West see energy as part of the scientific domain of things. I realise that many don't but I'm going to discount this group as pre-scientific and/or not scientifically literate and/or superstitious. I guess what you mean by Bliss is what the Buddhists mean by Elightenment? I can't think of a direct analog for this state in Western culture. If you could tell me more I'd answer this better. Short answer. Western culture and science is resistant to the model you are putting forward. That's why. Be happy to debate any of this further.
- wallflower 12y ago
  Re: Bliss I think it is along the same levels of Enlightenment. "Our egos very often keep us from being our best selves" -Karen Armstrong I think materialism is the short-term fix to some problems that we all have. Nothing is black or white. We are all consumers, in some form. I think true happiness comes from producing and giving more, especially when there is no monetary compensation or stress tied to the giving or producing. E.g. a real hobby

seedcode 12y ago

If yoga is a way to watch the way we spend time, this is a beautiful tribute: a short montage of yoga demos by BKS Iyengar over the years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaba-PUd5PU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaba-PUd5PU RIP BKS

pond_lilly 12y ago

"Live happily and die majestically....Happy death...No anxiety, no sorrow, no distress...with hope let me leave this Earth". BKS Iyengar, May 3, 2014. http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/walk-the-talk/watch-walk-the-talk-with-yogacharya-bks-iyengar/319805?curl=1408540920 http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/walk-the-talk/watch-walk-th...

apu 12y ago

A fascinating take on yoga and exercise from British documentarian Adam Curtis: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/posts/bodybuilding_and_nation-buildi http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/posts/bodybuilding_and...