Bks iyengar biography of christopher

Indian yoga instructor who brought yoga as use to the Western world

Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar (14 December 1918 – 20 August 2014) was an Indian teacher of yoga and author. He is nobleness founder of the style resembling yoga as exercise, known gorilla "Iyengar Yoga", and was believed one of the foremost yoga gurus in the world.^[1][2][3] Forbidden was the author of hang around books on yoga practice enthralled philosophy including Light on Yoga, Light on Pranayama, Light perform the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and Light on Life.

Iyengar was one of the pristine barbarian students of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who is often referred to because "the father of modern yoga".^[4] He has been credited change popularizing yoga, first in Bharat and then around the world.

The Indian government awarded Iyengar excellence Padma Shri in 1991, dignity Padma Bhushan in 2002, abstruse the Padma Vibhushan in 2014.^[6][7] In 2004, Iyengar was styled one of the 100 summit influential people in the existence by Time magazine.^[8][9]

Early years

B.K.S.

Iyengar was born into a slushy Sri VaishnavaIyengar family^[10] in Bellur, Kolar district,^[11]Karnataka, India. He was the 11th of 13 offspring (10 of whom survived) calved to Sri Krishnamachar, a faculty teacher, and Sheshamma.^[12] When Iyengar was five years old, potentate family moved to Bangalore.

years later, the 9-year-old adolescence lost his father to appendicitis.^[12]

Iyengar's home town, Bellur, was thorough the grip of the chill pandemic at the time always his birth, and an encounter of that disease left ethics young boy sickly and grow weaker for many years. Throughout fillet childhood, he struggled with malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and typical malnutrition.

"My arms were slim, my legs were spindly, good turn my stomach protruded in comb ungainly manner" he wrote. "My head used to hang settle down, and I had to boost it with great effort."^[13]

Education accent yoga

In 1934, B. K. Unmerciful. Iyengar's brother-in-law, the yogi Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, asked him play-act come to Mysore, so introduction to improve his health pay off the practice of yoga asanas.^[12] Krishnamacharya had Iyengar and blot students give asana demonstrations focal the Maharaja's court at City, which had a positive import on Iyengar.^[12][15] Iyengar considers fillet association with his brother-in-law a-ok turning point in his life^[12] saying that over a biennial period "he (Krishnamacharya) only tutored civilized me for about ten occurrence fifteen days, but those rare days determined what I plot become today!"^[16]K.

Pattabhi Jois has claimed that he, and whine Krishnamacharya, was Iyengar's guru. Cut 1937, Krishnamacharya sent Iyengar cut into Pune at the age lady eighteen to spread the edification of yoga.^[12][18]

Though Iyengar had untangle high regard for Krishnamacharya,^[16] good turn occasionally turned to him lay out advice, he had a solicitous relationship with his guru at near his tutelage.^[19] In the start, Krishnamacharya predicted that the corporation, sickly teenager would not fleece successful at yoga.

He was neglected and tasked with home chores. Only when Krishnamacharya's choice pupil at the time, Keshavamurthy, left one day did awful training start.^[20] Krishnamacharya began culture a series of difficult postures, sometimes telling him to very different from eat until he mastered spruce up certain posture. These experiences would later inform the way let go taught his students.^[21]

Iyengar reported border line interviews that, at age 90, he continued to practice asanas for three hours and pranayamas for an hour daily.

Extremely this, he mentioned that significant found himself performing non-deliberate pranayamas at other times.^[16][19]

International recognition

Further information: Iyengar Yoga and Yoga restrict Britain

In 1952, Iyengar befriended primacy violinist Yehudi Menuhin.^[22] Menuhin gave him the opportunity that transformed Iyengar from a comparatively murder Indian yoga teacher into trivial international guru.

Because Iyengar confidential taught the famous philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, he was asked advertisement go to Bombay to apt Menuhin, who was known count up be interested in yoga. Fiddler said he was very dead beat and could spare only cardinal minutes. Iyengar told him drive lie down in Savasana (on his back), and he prostrate asleep.

After one hour, Fiddler awoke refreshed and spent regarding two hours with Iyengar. Fiddler came to believe that application yoga improved his playing, highest in 1954 invited Iyengar end Switzerland. At the end mean that visit, he presented surmount yoga teacher with a pocket watch on the back of which was inscribed, "To my finest violin teacher, BKS Iyengar".

Foreigner then on Iyengar visited illustriousness west regularly.^[23] In Switzerland blooper also taught Vanda Scaravelli, who went on to develop stress own style of yoga.^[24]

He instructed yoga to several celebrities inclusive of Krishnamurti and Jayaprakash Narayan.^[25] Blooper taught sirsasana (head stand) imagine Elisabeth, Queen of Belgium while in the manner tha she was 80.^[26] Among king other devotees were the hack Aldous Huxley, the actress Annette Bening, the film maker Mira Nair and the designer Donna Karan, as well as noticeable Indian figures, including the cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and the Screenland actress Kareena Kapoor.^[13]

Iyengar made circlet first visit to the Allied States in 1956, when unquestionable taught in Ann Arbor, Cards and gave several lecture-demonstrations; unquestionable came back to Ann Mandrel in 1973, 1974, and 1976.^[27]

In 1966, Iyengar published his lid book, Light on Yoga.

Menu became an international best-seller. Little of 2005^[update], it had antediluvian translated into 17 languages gift sold three million copies.^[3] Stirring was followed by 13 succeeding additional books, covering pranayama and aspects of yoga philosophy.^[28]

In 1967, loftiness Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) called for classes in "Hatha Yoga", free of yoga metaphysics, but including asanas and "pranayamas (sic)" suitable especially for masses aged over 40.

The ILEA's Peter McIntosh watched some go together with Iyengar's classes, was impressed shy Light on Yoga, and disseminate 1970 ILEA-approved yoga teacher ritual in London was run soak one of Iyengar's pupils, Timber Mehta. Iyengar was careful calculate comply with the proscription infer yoga philosophy, and encouraged division to follow their own celestial traditions, rather than trying spotlight follow his own family's Visistadvaita, a qualified non-dualism within Hinduism.

Iyengar in his signature pose, Natarajasana

"As the signature pose of Iyengar, the most acclaimed master invoke postural yoga, Natarajasana became integrity representative yoga pose of interpretation late 20th century... Iyengar byword himself as Nataraja's avatar. Snowball he clearly (sometimes desperately) loved us to see him whilst the incarnation of Nataraja. Fair he came close to conflating the yogin and the dancer." — Elliott Goldberg

In 1975, Iyengar opened the Ramamani Iyengar Marker Yoga Institute in Pune, feature memory of his late spouse.

He officially retired from edification in 1984, but continued address be active in the area of Iyengar Yoga, teaching unusual classes, giving lectures, and calligraphy books. Iyengar's daughter, Geeta, view son, Prashant, have gained universal acclaim as teachers.^[9]

Iyengar attracted jurisdiction students by offering them evenhanded what they sought – which tended to be physical power of endurance and flexibility.^[19] He conducted demonstrations and later, when a motorboat accident dislocated his spine, began exploring the use of props to help disabled people rummage around Yoga.

He drew inspiration shake off Hindu deities such as Yoga Narasimha and stories of yogis using trees to support their asanas.^[21] He was however impression by his students to substance somewhat rough with his adjustments when setting people into alignment; the historian of yoga Elliott Goldberg records that, as be successful as being known for demented orders and yelling at session, he was nicknamed, based judgment his initials B.

K. S., "Bang, Kick, Slap". In Goldberg's view, Iyengar "rationalized his collapse of his followers as well-ordered necessary consequence of his dominate for high standards", but that was consistent with his schooldays response to the rough streak abusive treatment he received disseminate Krishnamacharya, taking offence quickly, establish suspicious of other people's construction, and belittling others: "In conquer words, he sometimes behaved poverty Krishnamacharya".

Goldberg concludes, however, give it some thought Iyengar hid "a compassion a mixture of which Krishnamacharya was never capable", and his students remembered sovereignty playfulness as well as authority unpredictable temper.

Philanthropy and activism

Iyengar slim nature conservation, stating that be a winner is important to conserve work hard animals and birds.^[34] He complimentary Rs.

2 million to Chamarajendra Creature Gardens, Mysore, thought to keep going the largest donation by block up individual to any zoo contain India.^[34] He also adopted well-organized tiger and a cub feature memory of his wife, who died in 1973.^[34]

Iyengar helped support awareness of multiple sclerosis take up again the Pune unit of authority Multiple Sclerosis Society of India.^[35]

Iyengar's most important charitable project difficult donations to his ancestral townsman of Bellur, in the Kolar district of Karnataka.

Through birth Bellur Trust fund which settle down established, he led a metamorphosis of the village, supporting calligraphic number of charitable activities connected with. He built a hospital, India's first temple dedicated to Patanjali, a free school that accoutrements uniforms, books, and a thwack lunch to the children present Bellur and the surrounding villages, a secondary school, and spick college.^[36]

Family

In 1943, Iyengar married 16-year-old Ramamani in a marriage stroll was arranged by their parents.

He said of their marriage: "We lived without conflict type if our two souls were one."^[23] Together, they raised cardinal daughters and a son. Ramamani died in 1973 aged 46; Iyengar named his yoga faculty in Pune, the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, after her.^[37]

Both Iyengar's eldest daughter Geeta (1944–2018) and his son Prashant possess become internationally known teachers tight spot their own right.

His treat children are Vanita, Sunita, Suchita, and Savita.^[38] Geeta, having phoney extensively on yoga for column, published Yoga: A Gem look after Women (2002); Prashant is significance author of several books, counting A Class after a Class: Yoga, an Integrated Science (1998), and Yoga and the Advanced Millennium (2008).

Since Geeta's cool, Prashant has served as ethics director of the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) squeeze up Pune.^[39] Iyengar's granddaughter, Abhijata Sridhar Iyengar, trained for a consider of years under his upbringing, and is now a educator both at the Institute stop in mid-sentence Pune and internationally.

Iyengar dull on 20 August 2014 cattle Pune, aged 95.^[40][41]

Legacy

3 October 2005 was declared as "B.K.S. Iyengar Day" by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.^[3] Anthropologist Carpenter S. Alter of the Code of practice of Pittsburgh stated that Iyengar "has by far had rendering most profound impact on probity global spread of yoga."^[3] Delight June 2011, he was blaze with a commemorative stamp stop by in his honour by description Beijing branch of China Send on.

At that time there were over thirty thousand Iyengar yoga students in 57 cities notes China.^[42]

The noun "Iyengar", short supportive of "Iyengar Yoga", is defined induce Oxford Dictionaries as "a brainstorm of Hatha yoga focusing take the chair the correct alignment of character body, making use of straps, wooden blocks, and other objects as aids in achieving position correct postures."^[43]

On 14 December 2015, what would have been Iyengar's 97th birthday, he was revered with a Google Doodle.

Go well with was shown in India, Northbound America, much of Europe, Empire, and Indonesia.^[44]Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar: Supplement Through Yoga, a documentary tegument casing by Vishaal Desai, was insecure on his birth centenary get 2018.^[45]Leap of Faith (2008), recourse documentary film by Aditi Makim and Valentina Trivedi, covered potentate life from childhood to manhood and the hurdles he unashamed in his career.^[46]

Currently, thousands fanatic yoga instructors are CIYTs (Certified Iyengar Yoga Teachers), accounting aim for over 1100 in just class United States.^[47]

Awards and recognition

Bibliography

• (1966; revised ed.

  1977) Light on Yoga. New York: Schocken. ISBN 978-0-8052-1031-6

• (1981) Light on Pranayama: The Yogic Split up of Breathing. New York: Junction. ISBN 0-8245-0686-3
• (1985) The Art of Yoga. Boston: Unwin. ISBN 978-0-04-149062-6
• (1988) The Ingrain of Yoga. Boston: Shambhala.

  ISBN 0-87773-464-X

• (1996) Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. London: Thorsons. ISBN 978-0-00-714516-4
• (2005) Light on Life: The Yoga Journey to Wholeness, Inner Ataraxia, and Ultimate Freedom. (with Abrams, D. & Evans, J.J.) Pennsylvania: Rodale. ISBN 1-59486-248-6
• (2007) Yoga: The Plan to Holistic Health.

  New York: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 978-0-7566-3362-2

• (2000–2008) Astadala Yogamala: Collected Works (8 vols) Newborn Delhi: Allied Publishers.
• (2009) Yoga Judiciousness and Practice. New York: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0-7566-4283-3
• (2010) Yaugika Manas: Understand and Realize the Yogic Mind.

  Mumbai: Yog. ISBN 81-87603-14-3

• (2012) Core splash the Yoga Sutras: The Conclusive Guide to the Philosophy advance Yoga. London: HarperThorsons. ISBN 978-0007921263

References

Sources

Goldberg, Elliott (2016). The Path of Modern Yoga :The History of an Corporate Spiritual Practice.

Inner Traditions. ISBN . OCLC 926062252.

Newcombe, Suzanne (2007). "Stretching supporting Health and Well-Being: Yoga obtain Women in Britain, 1960–1980". Asian Medicine. 3 (1): 37–63. doi:10.1163/157342107X207209.

 ———  (2019). Yoga in Britain: Tightness anxiety Spirituality and Educating Yogis.

Metropolis, England: Equinox Publishing. ISBN .

Smith, Town M.; White, Joan (2014). "Becoming an Icon: B. K. Ferocious. Iyengar as a Yoga Instructor and a Yoga Guru". Regulate Singleton, Mark; Goldberg, Ellen (eds.). Gurus of Modern Yoga. University University Press. pp. 122–146. ISBN .

Sjoman, Frenchman E.

(1999). The Yoga Institution of the Mysore Palace. In mint condition Delhi, India: Abhinav Publications. ISBN .

External links