Bringing Light into the Dusk; Yoga and a birthday candle for Guruji BKS Iyengar
“Yoga is a light which, once lit, will never dim”.
As we approach this darkest time of the year, lighting a candle at dusk is a tradition which I am always drawn to. In this country, the daylight seems so brief and there is an instinct to extend it. For others, putting up early Christmas lights in the house and garden may serve the same purpose.
Lighting a lamp at this darker time is found in many cultures and traditions around the world. One of my most treasured memories is flying over Delhi, on my first trip to India, at Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Light, and seeing from the air the whole city alight with flickering lamps placed on doorsteps to bless the houses.
Our Yoga also in its way is lighting our lives and we perhaps notice it even more when we experience darkness in any form; stress, fatigue, grief, illness, anxiety, all of which have been present for many of us this last 2 years. So it is no surprise to find that the books written by our teacher BKS Iyengar almost all contain this key word in their titles; Light on Yoga, Light on Pranayama, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Light on Life, all deal with different aspects of Yoga and in essence how to create an inner light to sustain us.
As we approach Guruji’s birthday on 14th December, it is worth remembering how radical these books have been in their time. Light on Yoga for example, was not only his first book but the first worldwide to actually explain to novices at yoga how the asanas could be achieved. Even in the highly visual, Instagrammable age in which we live today, the photos of him demonstrating are both astonishing and inspiring. Light on Pranayama gives detailed instructions on the most subtle and hitherto obscure arts of breathing techniques and bandhas ( creating certain locks in the body to hold energy). Then came his explanations of yoga philosophy in Light on The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and finally, Light on Life, his final and very readable book which in many ways sums up the wisdom of his decades of practice and teaching.
What is always striking is that these books need not have been written. The ancient practices could have been kept in India. But generosity of spirit made Mr Iyengar, as we older students called him, reach out to share this light with the world and they have become a library for our modern lives.
In this festive time of giving, perhaps consider giving one of these to your selves, to delve into on a dark winter afternoon? And join me in lighting a candle at dusk on Tuesday 14th December, to honour the life of this man who has given us all a gift we can use for our entire lifetime.
Warmest wishes for this festive season
Frances