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Exclusive Content for Yoga Journal Conference Alumni and Friends -- May 2010 |
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Welcome to the May Edition of Conference Connection. Colorado Conference: Registration Open! Come join us for 7+ unforgettable days of Yoga Classes, Lectures, Meditations, Special Events and the Yoga Marketplace. Choose from 40+ world renowned teachers, and 100+ classes in all styles, for all levels. Register Now! Space is limited. Krishna Das Concert: Buy Your Ticket Today! Join us for a special kirtan concert with Krishna Das at the Colorado Conference.
Read more about one of our 40+ teachers that will be at the Colorado Conference and how yoga changed her life. 
Conference Video: Sneak PeekClick here to see our new Yoga Journal Conference video and a glimpse of what makes these events so special. Stay Connected with Yoga Journal Conference 
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Teacher Spotlight: Marla Apt Editor's Note: Marla will be teaching 5 classes during the Main Conference. Click here for details. 
I can trace my first exposure to anything yogic to a childhood memory of being mesmerized by a group of people on the sidewalk chanting the maha mantra: "Hare Krishna…" It took an effort by my parents to keep me, a normally reserved child, from joining the circle of dancing devotees. I was first exposed to India through my elementary school friend whose family was from India. At the age of nine, I begged my parents to allow me to accompany my friend on her annual summer trip to visit family in India and amazingly, they agreed. Unfortunately, an unstable political situation in their hometown led to a last minute trip cancellation and my dream of going to India was put on hold for another 10 years.
In a Junior High English class, the teacher introduced us to the basic principles of Buddhism in a discussion of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha. At the time I didn't know that she had confused the tenets of Hinduism with Buddhism. I only understood that the philosophy she outlined explained the nature of reality in a way that made perfect sense to me and I wanted to study more. Therefore, in college, I took advantage of the opportunity to study with professors well versed in Buddhist philosophy, one of whom was a Tibetan monk. My studies led to me to my first trip to India where I traveled, took teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and lived in a Tibetan monastery. In High School, I was politically and socially active and my interest in Buddhist philosophy was informed by my concern for human and environmental rights. My college studies and thesis focused on the social face of Buddhist psychology. It was my dual interests in social activism and Buddhism that drew me to study with Bhikku Buddhadasa, a monk and philosopher in Southern Thailand who was a proponent of Socially Engaged Buddhism, a movement to apply the insights from meditation practice to situations of social, political, environmental, and economic suffering and injustice. On the first day of a silent meditation retreat in his monastery, the participants were offered the option of a morning yoga class. There were no volunteers among us to lead the women's group so the females were going to have to go without. I, who had only intermittently attended yoga classes as a kind of stretching compliment to dance classes, selfishly volunteered to lead the morning practice so that I could at least prepare my hips for entire days of sitting in meditation. At first I was concerned that having to talk while leading the yoga would disrupt my practice of silence but I found that the few words that were spoken in those morning yoga sessions were not about social interaction but were rather a kind of direct transmission of technique that drew my attention deeper inward. Little did I know that I had just taken a first step into what would later become a full time involvement in teaching yoga. During college, when visiting home on summer vacations, I would drag my mother to any convenient and inexpensive yoga class I could find. In my absence, she continued taking classes and when I returned home for an extended stay, she gave me a Birthday present that would change the trajectory of my adult life, a gift certificate to the Iyengar Yoga Institute of Los Angeles. In my first Iyengar Yoga class, the teacher was able to illustrate how a quality of self-inquiry would lead to inner penetration in the authentic practice of yoga. While in that class, I perceived the link between the yoga philosophy I had studied and the practice of yoga asana. I was also moved by the very tangible practical nature of yoga as well as its healing potential. Hungry for more knowledge about yoga, I found excuses to postpone graduate school and took advantage of the opportunity to study with the many senior teachers available and ultimately in Pune, India at the Institute founded by B.K.S. Iyengar. 
I consider myself lucky to have the opportunity to study with a living master. Perhaps the most impressive quality of Iyengar's method is that his teaching is based on over seventy years of uninterrupted practice. A natural skeptic, I was intrigued by the fact that he urges students to try the techniques and decide for themselves if they work. It is a practice-based discipline and the practice supports the theory and philosophy. I try to take advantage of every opportunity available to study with B.K.S. Iyengar, his daughter, Geeta Iyengar and son, Prashant Iyengar.
I am grateful for every day I am able to share the wonders of yoga with willing students. The vast and methodical approach of Iyengar yoga challenges the teacher to be sharp and present to the needs of each student. In this way, I am constantly learning from teaching as well as my personal practice. I consider having teachers to guide me as a true blessing and I am continually discovering the fluid nature of the secrets I so ardently wanted to unlock. The depth of discipline takes us on an inward journey to develop the presence of body and mind required in practice to be alert to the flux of our true nature. |
