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| BKS Iyengar aged 95 |
Iyengar Yoga: the waist-trimming exercise class the A-listers love
from The Times on Saturday 17th October 2015
Nigella (Lawson) swears by the yoga style that promises a long, lean physique and flexibility into old age. Peta Bee tries it out.
Nigella Lawson's slim new figure is not down to fasting or cutting carbs. So what is behind her latest transformation? In the November issue of Good Housekeeping magazine, the nation's most glamourous TV cook says that her secret is simple. "I have never been on a diet to try to lose weight, but I'm possibly in better shape," she says. "I am doing a rather slow form of yoga now called Iyengar."
Quietly and without the overt commercialisation of some yoga brands, Iyengar is among the most popular yoga forms in the world, and Nigella isn't the only celebrity to discover its ability to lengthen limbs and tighten stomachs. Madonna is a fan, as are Jennnifer Aniston, Andie MacDowell and Joanna Lumley. More so than many other varieties of yoga, Iyengar also focuses on perfecting alignment, improving posture and rehabilitation after injury. It appeals to men as much as women. The precise strengthening postures have attracted sports stars such as Ryan Giggs, Jo Hart and Rio Ferdinand, and the New Zealand rugby union team. The ballet dancer Alessandra Ferri, who is 52 and still a star ballerina, credits it for helping to extend her career.
For the well-connected, the fitness oasis is the Iyengar Yoga Institute, tucked away at the end of a narrow cobbled lane in the leafy enclave of Maida Vale, west London. Classes are snapped up immediately, and if you manage to grab a place you can expect your mat to be sandwiched between those of glamorous local mummies who have heard about its glute-lifting effect, top athletes and the hard-worked bodies of the nearby Notting Hill and Primrose Hill sets. Despite being the first purpose-built yoga centre in Europe when it opened 30 years ago, until recently its light-flooded studios were known only to an army of hardcore enthusiasts. But word has spread. As I wait for my class to start, a bewildered receptionist is fielding calls from model agencies and glossy magazine editors all trying to secure a place on the most sought-after class in town. Many of the 50 or more weekly classes are booked up the minute they become available and there has been a sharp uptake in the number of first-timers trying taster classes and in those signing up to become members.
Developed by the pioneering yoga teacher BKS Iyengar, the white-haired, bendy-bodied guru from Karnataka in India who is credited with introducing yoga as we know it to the West, the underlying principles are that yoga should be accessible and achievable for everyone and easily incorporated into a western lifestyle. Iyengar started practicing the 2,000-year-old tradition of postures after a series of childhood illnesses and began teaching in the 1930's in Mysore, India. Over the next three decades he honed the way he taught traditional postures, documenting new methods that used aids such as blocks and ropes to help people to achieve them. In the 1960's he published his book Light On Yoga, which became an international best seller. With 500 pages of detailed instruction and photographs of postures, it was the first yoga publication of its kind. It is still regarded as something of a bible and dipped into by millions of people around the world.
None of Iyengar's postures is unique. You will find the headstands, shoulderstands and other moves typical of the approach in other types of yoga class. What distinguishes it is that it aims to work every part of your body systematically, giving great muscle definition without adding bulk. It is methodical, the very antithesis of the fast-moving, posture-packed versions to which the 'fitterati' have flocked in recent years, and its regimen of precise alignment and deliberate sequencing is reputed to be fantastic for correcting posture, balancing the body's weak spots and for rehabilitation after injury. It is especially good for fixing problems linked to desk-hunching or keyboard tapping. A study this year by researchers at the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva found Iyengar yoga to be an effective way of healing back and neck pain when compared with control groups. While it won't burn calories in the same way as, say, Ashtanga (which is a dynamic, demanding form of yoga, with a cardio workout and resistance training in one), it is hardcore and can do wonders for tightening the stomach muscles, shaping the upper arms and giving the illusion that you have grown longer and leaner.
Nigella's claim that she just does a bit of Iyengar "in a very slow way; sometimes lying down" is deceptive. It's harder than you might think. Even in my basic class, props such as bolsters, harnesses and blocks are used to increase awareness of your positioning and to make the poses accessible. There's a stronger emphasis on accuracy than I have experienced in other yoga, to the point that the edges of your mat must be parallel to the floorboard joints.
Iyengar yoga involves holding a position for what seems like forever - in our class, one to three minutes is not unusual - while practicing strict breath control and repeating each pose three to four times.
Unlike Bikram, with its fixed order and poses, there is no strict format to follow. Instructors dip into the catalogue of 200-plus poses outlined by BKS Iyengar, according to their preference and the ability of their class. "Each instructor will bring a different set of postures in a different order to each class," says Judy Lynn, who is teaching this morning's beginners' lesson. "Don't expect a set format to the order of teaching". Many consider the diversity of the poses to be Iyengar's most therapeutic attribute.
All its teachers are trained to understand biomechanics, which positions are most likely to cause injuries, and how to modify them by tweaking your tehnique. They dispense instructions in a more clinical fashion than you might typically expecty from yoga, repeating advice until it evenually clicks. There is little risk of overuse injuries when sequences vary every session; devotees claim you can stick with it for life.
Indeed, another of my instructors is Elisabeth Wengersky, who is 83, remarkable not only for her age-defying appearance but for her flexibility. Wengersky took up Iyengar yoga in 1978 and has been teaching it since 1996. With her chic white bob and enviable physique, she would not look out of place among a class of women a third her age. There can't be many 83-year-olds with bodies as flexible and well conditioned as hers. "Iyengar teaches progression," she says. "It's a matter of building layer upon layer." There is no limit, she says, to the age at which you can get the most out of your body. BKS Iyengar died last year, aged 95, staying true to his belief that daily yoga practice "will keep old age at bay" by working on his own body for three hours a day and teaching for many more. Nearing 90, he could still pipe-cleaner his body into a backbend and hang upside down on a rope swing for 20 minutes or more.
The thought leaves me feeling inadquate. Wengersky pulls and pushes my hips and shoulders into position with minute tweaks that produce a stretch deeper than I have felt in years. There is, she assures me, no need to head straight for the endpoint. "You need to build up, to learn the progressions correctly before you attempt full asanas (poses)."
Our studio is adorned with black-and-white pictures of a wiry Iyengar contorting himself with ropes, hanging upside down and doing impossible backbends. As I withstand the head rush that comes with holding a shoulderstand for several minutes at the end of the 90-minute class, I realise that I have pushed myself to the point of achyness, to that level of muscle fatigue you might assume you would get only at bootcamp or in a spin class. Yet there's a long way to go. I could well be back for more.
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| Peta Bee in Vrksasana (Tree Pose) |
Continuing the series about the great masters who have influenced yoga as we know it today, now seems a good time to look at the life of BKS Iyengar.
Born into a poor family in Karnataka, India in 1918, Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar was a sickly child who suffered from malnutrition, malaria, TB and typhoid. When he was 15 his brother-in-law the yogi Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (see my post from 28th September here) persuaded him to stay with him to learn yoga to improve his health. He steadily regained his health, and his proficiency in yoga grew. After studying with Krishnamacharya for 3 years, Iyengar started his own teaching career.
Inspired by the improvements in his own health, Iyengar started to adapt the traditional postures with blocks, tables, ropes and straps so that anyone, no matter how unwell or disabled they were, could do yoga. He paid careful attention to the alignment of the body, instructions were very precise, and each pose was held for a considerable time to build the strength and stamina of the practitioner.
In 1952 he became both friend and teacher to the violinist Yehudi Menuhin. It was this relationship that led to BKS Iyengar to start travelling abroad and teaching internationally. In 1966 Iyengar published his first book "Light on Yoga" which became an international bestseller and is to this day considered to be one of the most important books on yoga, covering asana and pranayama clearly and fully.
His teachings became the system we know today as Iyengar Yoga and there are now hundreds of Iyengar Yoga Centres worldwide. Iyengar teachers are intensively trained - no shortcuts or weekend training courses here! - and offer a slow, disciplined and steady way to improve health and wellbeing.
My own teacher, Ruth White, was one of BKS Iyengar's first British pupils and my teaching style is therefore influenced by his system. I use the blocks, blankets and straps in my classes so that the postures are available to everyone and I encourage the correct alignment of the body in each pose. I regularly refer to my very battered and well-used copy of Light on Yoga for it's clear step-by-step instructions.
BKS Iyengar continued to practice yoga daily almost up to his death in August 2014. He was 95 when he died following a short illness. Some of the photos below are from his final photoshoot, taken only a month before he died. He had a profound impact on yoga for which we are all indebted, no matter what style of yoga we choose to practice. His son Prashant and his daughter Geeta continue to teach and train the Iyengar system.
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| BKS Iyengar adjusting Yehudi Menuhin in Shoulderstand |
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| The photos above were taken a month before his death aged 95 |
The video above shows BKS Iyengar practicing in 1938
The video above shows BKS Iyengar teaching a very vigorous
vinyasa style class in 1977
vinyasa style class in 1977
Carving Pumpkins This Weekend? - what to do with the leftover pumpkin seeds
I'm not a fan of Halloween but I do love pumpkins! I love pumpkin soup (it's sweet and creamy) and I especially love pumpkin seeds. I sprinkle them on my salads, put them in flapjack and granola and enjoy them on their own as a snack too. They're really good for you containing, amongst other nutrients, phosphorous, magnesium, manganese, copper, zinc and iron, and they are a good source of protein too.
Here are some easy recipes for healthy snacks which use the raw seeds left over from hollowing out a pumpkin. The recipes assume that you've got about a cupful of seeds.
First heat the oven to 150 degrees C (300 degrees F or gas mark 2) and line a baking tray with parchment.
Pick off as much of the pumpkin pulp as you can then put the seeds in a bowl of water and leave them for about 5 minutes. The pulp should sink to the bottom and the seeds float to the top. Drain the seeds and pat them dry on a tea towel.
Toss the seeds in about a teaspoon of olive oil and then add the extra ingredients for the flavour of your choice. Spread the coated seeds out on the baking sheet and bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes until they are golden. Leave to cool and crisp up and then enjoy the goodness.
Spicy Pumpkin Seeds
half a teaspoon garlic powder
half a teaspoon cayenne
quarter teaspoon sea salt
quarter teaspoon paprika
Cheesy Pumpkin Seeds
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
half teaspoon basil
half teaspoon oregano
quarter teaspoon sea salt
eighth teaspoon garlic powder
Sweet Pumpkin Seeds
half teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon brown sugar
pinch of salt
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