Over a thousand attendees sat quietly in svastikasana
awaiting the arrival of Dr. Geeta Iyengar. She climbed the stairs onto the
stage and stepped into her role as a guiding force to her father’s legacy.
Though always treated as a student of B.K.S. Iyengar, she will always be his
daughter. We got a glimpse of the daughter today. She opened the workshop to a standing ovation
by honoring Patanjali, Krishnamacharya, her father and her mother, Ramamani. A prayer to Pantanjali and her father followed
along with a moving preface that expressed the depth of loneliness felt since his
passing in August. While meant to be a celebration of Geeta’s 70th
birthday, the December 1, 2014 intensive at Balawadi’s badminton stadium in
Pune, India is also a mourning for the man who helped bring her into this
world.
Geeta talked about the how the human condition has two distinct parts: birth and death. In between, there is always some pain. Geeta spoke candidly about her
struggle with whether or not to go on with the conference. The pain of her loss
made her question her ability to move forward. However, she felt the spirit of
her father around her and he insisted on the conference going on – he assured
his daughter that he would be there and give her the added strength she needed
to continue. He also warned that he might intervene if he saw fit.
Imagining this inter-dimensional dialogue put a smile on my
face. I believe like my teacher,
Kathleen Pringle mentioned in a recent interview that BKS will have even more influence than ever before now
that he is free from the body. Geeta spoke about how he has left a Samskara (deep impression) in all his
student’s hearts that will never leave us in this lifetime or any other
lifetime. The Samskara along with the
Smrtti (memory) of him and his work
are what we take with us as we share this yoga with others.
Geeta expressed the importance of the influence we have in
maintaining the integrity, purity, and heart of her father’s work. She humbly admitted there will never be
another Guruji, she will do the best she can, but she is not BKS Iyengar --
there will never be another BKS Iyengar.
She is a beautiful speaker, but most of all she is a teacher.
From her preface on loneliness, she seamlessly connected that to her teachings and the fear complex that can happen in being alone with yourself during Pranayama. Drawing into the self is a serious journey and must be preceded
by steady asana practice to ignite the evolutionary changes in the mind and
body that are needed to understand what moving into the many layers of
ourselves will entail.
She wanted to impress upon us how integral learning standing
poses in a slow and methodical way is to readying the body for Pranayama. Pranayama is not to be practiced without experience as
anyone who has read BKS Iyengar’s Light
on Pranayama knows. Geeta says the body is naturally heavy. It is Prakrati like the rest of the material
world. However, in Pranayama the body
and mind must be light. Bringing attention to the granular actions needed in
standing poses teaches us how to lighten the body and that is the beginning of
bringing lightness to the mind, which will show us the light to follow that
will lead us into the depths of who we are.
Thank you, Geeta. I look forward
to learning more. Namaste.
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