Yoga Spy

Students seem either to be enthralled by Prashant Iyengar‘s manner of teaching–or not to relate to it. Either way, his classes are memorable because they are unique.

After four classes with Prashant in one week, I’ve found them both compelling and frustrating. I’m compelled by his attempt to go beyond asana: Prashant is trying to teach us why we do yoga, not how to do asana. A charismatic speaker, he has an impressive facility with the English language. To make a point, he uses imagery, analogy, simile, or metaphor. He can speak intelligently, off the top of his head, for hours (literally).

He often wraps up his points with a rapid-fire, “Do you follow?” But it’s a rhetorical question–and no one dares interrupt his flow of ideas. He does has a sense of humor, lightening the mood with a funny example (often involving his local students) or an amused expression.

That said, it can be frustrating to be crammed into a space with 150 or more students. If you’re not in front, Prashant’s low voice is hard to hear, especially when he names poses. He’ll call out two to four poses, and students pick one to do. Then we switch. If we’re the least bit slow in setting up, he booms, “Quick!” but otherwise external asana form is unimportant to him. It’s a madhouse as students scramble to find a spot. There’s no such thing as “my spot” or “my mat” (or my American-sized zone of personal space!)

In the first two or three classes, he focused on “what is taught” versus “what is learned.” What a student learns might not be what the teacher intends to teach. Further, even if a student learns what is intended, that learning is superficial, only a first step. In-class learning is to learn what we should be learning.

Once, he discussed why people do asana. Often it’s done for display or performance, to improve health or to cure medical conditions. These are not the right reasons. It is not done in front of a mirror; it is not a gym sport.

Regarding physical benefits, asana will improve your health regardless of whether you focus on it–so why make this the main goal? Medical reasons are also suspect; as soon as you solve one issue, another will crop up.

You can do asana for 10, 20, or 50 years (for the above reasons) and never go beyond. In asana you must go toward “becoming in being.”

Before the first 9am-12pm open practice, which follows his 7-9am class, he commented on what people do: Some start doing one pose (for example, twists) and then see another person doing (say, chair back arch). They then decide that they should do chair back arch. They’re like a child with a toy basket: all of the toys are outside the basket, and the child is playing with none of them.

During the practice that immediately followed, I noticed six or seven students adjacent to me–since they had formed a circle and were doing group practice. Everyone in Baddhakonasana, everyone in Upavistha Konasana, everyone in Vamadevasana prep. The next day, same thing. Picture the whole group in Eka Pada Sirsasana, their legs splayed like those of synchronized swimmers. I was surprised; Prashant’s ideas can be complex, but one thread–to do asana from within–was clear. (Maybe there was a language barrier since the students, with whom I later chatted, are from Italy. Or perhaps they cannot override their Italian sociability!)

Maybe Prashant’s ideas would sink in better in smaller groups, where there could be more interaction. Or maybe what he’s trying to teach ultimately can’t be taught.

Recommended reading: Interview with Prashant Iyengar, 2010, by Bobby Clennell and Richard Jonas

Image: Prashant Iyengar, IYNAUS