Iyengar Yoga For Beginners – What & How

Hello hello beautiful lovely yogis, welcome back to my blog 🙂

Onto my next episode with the different types of yoga series, I’ll be writing about Iyengar yoga! 😀 Most importantly, Iyengar yoga for beginners! Hopefully (fingers crossed) I’ll get to explain it in the simplest form so you guys can understand better what it is and its history.

So, when we talk about Iyengar yoga, or when you’re walking down the street and see a cool yoga studio and it writes Iyengar yoga class, the first thing that you need to remember about Iyengar yoga is the word “detailed”. Cause that’s what Iyengar is, super detailed.

Iyengar yoga is in fact loved by many, and I would definitely recommend for you to try it out even if you’re a beginner! 🙂

P/s: To read on where I do my daily yoga practice, check out my review on Alo Moves here.

Read More: Different Types of Yoga And Their Benefits

History of Iyengar Yoga

So if you guys remember on my last post on Ashtanga yoga where I talked a little bit about its history, then you guys would know that I’d like to think T. Krishnamacharya is the father of modern yoga. & this guy has a few devoted followers and one of them is called Iyengar.

B.K.S. Iyengar.

After becoming one of the devoted students of a great teacher, he also became a teacher, and later found himself to be at the center of yoga “renaissance” in India (purely on my personal understanding).

Some say that he practiced what’s known as Iyengar yoga now because he wasn’t a very healthy child. & the reason why he focused a lot on body alignment and anatomy was to sort of heal and strengthen himself. He found and saw that yoga in a more therapeutic light rather than a simple asanas sequence or a spiritual teaching.

This, of course, stood out quite a bit during his time because his focus was more than just the spiritual side of yoga. He still believed in the spiritual side, but it’s via umm more of body awareness. And then, his take on yoga became more famous as it appealed to a lot of yoga instructors and now he has a specific yoga type under his name 🙂

He also wrote a book called Light on Yoga (you can buy it on amazon.com) in 1966 and it’s thought to be a go-to book for yogis who want to try a stay-at-home yoga.

How Is Iyengar Class Like?

As I mentioned before, Iyengar really looks deep into the detail of the body movements and postures. The poses will usually be held for a period of time. During the poses, students need to focus on the breathing as it will get you to pay more attention to how your body’s working, as well as to sort of empties out your mind.

There’s just like, sprinkle of magic dust in yoga that you get to go into a state of trans when you’re doing asanas and focusing on your breathing. (I’m not even kidding)

Iyengar yoga also uses a lot of props to go with the movement and posture. This is to ensure that students are forming the correct posture and activating the right muscle – especially for a yoga newbie. You’d be so thankful for all the glorious props you’ll be using!

Even though Iyengar yoga can be pretty slow for some, you will still feel the heat from holding the pose and just breathing. Trust me, it’s harder to hold a pose when you’re breathing deeply – but it’s good because it means that you’re activating your muscles.

But the best part of going to an Iyengar class would probably be because of the versatility of the props (yes, the props! They are incredibly useful!) and that you get to know your body like you have never known before 🙂

Is Iyengar Yoga For A Beginner?

Of course! 🙂

Iyengar yoga can definitely be practiced by a beginner – in fact, by everyone! Though everyone has their own levels. If you’re a beginner and unable to do certain poses, there are props for you to use. It’s very gently, as long as you’re not pushing yourself too hard beyond your current limits.

I will definitely recommend Iyengar yoga even if you’re a beginner because it will greatly increase your balance, flexibility and your body strength the more you practice it 🙂

Iyengar Home Practice

For this type of yoga, I won’t be sharing a few basic poses as how I usually do it. This is because Iyengar yoga usually comes with a sequence and honestly, the instruction would be too long for me to write here (a lot of “rules” in Iyengar yoga!).

So I’ll be sharing a few videos that are available on YouTube that can get you started with Iyengar yoga at home if you wanna try it out 🙂

Conclusion

Give Iyengar yoga a go even if you’re a beginner!

The pace will definitely won’t intimidate you as they are slow-paced. It can be really fun as you will definitely get to learn new poses and movements that you didn’t know your body could do. & overall just becoming more aware of your body – and that’s what yoga all about too. To become more aware.

If you are a pretty seasoned yogi but haven’t tried out Iyengar yoga, give it a shot. Because you honestly learn so many new techniques and correct body placements. It will take you to another level of practice and knowledge.

& if you have tried out Iyengar yoga before, let me know in the comment section below on what you think of it? 🙂

If you’re a beginner, will you give it a try after reading this?

Till next post, Namaste.