
BKS Iyengar, who helped bring yoga to the West, has died - krsree
http://www.vox.com/2014/8/20/6047603/bks-iyengar-who-helped-bring-yoga-to-the-west-has-died
======
wallflower
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
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
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

~~~
igravious
Ah. In Western philosophy there is talk about attaining 'happiness' or even
'true happiness' but it does not surface much, I am open to correction here.

I totally dig Karen Armstrong, I have two of her books :)

I think Western culture is absorbing these Eastern ideas about not identifying
with our thoughts and emotions, that you can acknowledge that 'you' (whatever
that is) have thoughts and emotions but that they don't have to define you. I
would be extremely interested in seeing if this way of thinking has been
advocated in Western philosophy prior to now. Prayer in religion may come
close?

An interesting advance on this I have seen recently is the social model of
human interaction. By which I mean, we are not a duality: physical and
psychological beings but a triad: physical, psychological, and social. To
achieve 'happiness' or 'wellness' or 'enlightenment' or 'bliss', call it what
you will (I know they are not strictly synonymous) that you'd have to work on
all three: the body (exercise or yoga poses or ...), the mind (meditation or
mindfullness or ...), society (? charity? other virtuous acts?)

Food for thought indeed :)

~~~
dragonwriter
> In Western philosophy there is talk about attaining 'happiness' or even
> 'true happiness' but it does not surface much, I am open to correction here.

It surfaces more in a _religious_ context; perhaps another East-West
difference that is relevant here is the separation between secular philosophy
and religion.

------
codenberg
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.

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

------
shimshim
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.

------
seedcode
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

------
easytiger
And it became a $27 billion pa business.

[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/16/how-the-yoga-
indust...](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/16/how-the-yoga-industry-
los_n_4441767.html)

~~~
camillomiller
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
Also, you don't need to buy a darned thing to do yoga. Lululemon or no.

~~~
hessenwolf
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.

------
dheer01
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.

~~~
andrewl
Some forms of yoga can be good for some people. And some of them can be quite
bad, which isn't often acknowledged. There's a lot of dogma in the yoga
community. See the _New York Times_ article _How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body_ [1]
and the followup discussion _The Healing Power of Yoga Controversy_ [2].

[1] [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/magazine/how-yoga-can-
wrec...](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/magazine/how-yoga-can-wreck-your-
body.html?pagewanted=all)

[2] [http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/the-healing-
pow...](http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/the-healing-power-of-
yoga-controversy/)

You can get around the login by using an Incognito or Private window, in
Chrome or Firefox.

~~~
peterwwillis
Here's my $0.02 on the subject. Every modern western yoga teacher (if they've
passed teacher training) will tell you several things when you're starting
out:

    
    
      1. If it hurts, don't do it.
      2. Listen to your body.
      3. You can not 'win' yoga.
      4. If you have an injury, use a modified pose.
      5. It's your practice, do it your way, at your own pace.
      6. Rest if you feel like it.
      7. Don't do everything everyone else does.
      etc
    

I've injured myself once so far. Most other people I know who practice
regularly have also hurt themselves doing asanas, usually improperly. But the
same goes for anyone who does a challenging physical activity, which yoga can
definitely be if you push yourself or aren't mindful of your body. At the end
of the day, there is no perfect way to prevent injury as all our bodies are
different.

So unless everyone did the senior-citizen-modified poses there's always going
to be risk of injury. Assuming a person could just jump into a crazy backbend
like Vrschikasana without injury would be crazy... I don't know who you think
isn't acknowledging this as every yoga instructor has probably also hurt
themselves at one point or another.

The people who advocate yoga as healing or beneficial are not incorrect. But
they're also not explaining to you _everything about yoga_ in one paragraph.
People who read one or two sentences and stop learning are dooming themselves
from ignorance.

Much like people who work out without a personal trainer, people who do yoga
without an experienced teacher (not just practitioner) are going to be at a
significant disadvantage. Perhaps the real issue is that most people don't
acknowledge that yoga is complex and can't be minimized or simplified.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Yeah but injury while skiing or wrestling makes some kind of sense. Injury
while sitting on a mat - something is not right there. Something intrinsic to
the activity, if "there's always going to be a risk of injury".

~~~
peterwwillis
When you're skiing or wrestling, you naturally engage a significant number of
muscles and position your body to engage in said activity. When your whole
body is in motion you instinctively flex your muscles to do things like
balance, twist, bend, jump, etc. A body in motion is essentially in a more
healthy alignment and supports your passive body parts (bones, blood, nerves,
organs, etc).

When we are still and calm, our muscles relax (in general). This is basically
a bad thing for our bodies because it stops the support that a lot of our body
needs. For example, letting your neck sag forward or hunching over your desk
over a long period of time can damage parts of the neck and spine, overdevelop
your deltoids/chest and hurt your lower back.

When you're doing yoga asanas, this is all exacerbated as you intentionally
put your body into positions that we don't naturally move into without lots of
practice. So in effect, it's significantly more dangerous to sit on a mat if
you're _not engaging_ your muscles or positioning your body in the correct way
to support everything.

Yoga is dangerous in the way that every physical activity that requires skill
to perform is dangerous, with one caveat: yoga asanas are dependent on the way
you personally move your body and the state it's in. So really, it's only
dangerous for people who naturally move their bodies in a way that might
promote injury. This is why learning from a teacher how exactly to get into a
pose, and practicing that regularly, is so important: it removes ambiguity and
improves the entire physical act to not only be safe, but also be superior to
how you might naturally do something.

But as a practitioner, I don't personally see how yoga is any more dangerous
than skiing or wrestling. You can break an arm in wrestling, and a collarbone
in skiing, if you're not careful. Just because sitting on a mat _looks_ easy
doesn't mean it is.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
I think it has something to do with hurling your body at 50mph down a mountain
slope, that makes injury seem more normal.

