Frances Homewood - Pune Journal Week One

Week One

The trees have grown very tall around the Iyengar Yoga Institute since I first came here over 30 years ago. Looking out from the main hall they form a canopy of green that seems to offer a benign protection from the noise, bustle and chaos that is urban India.This bustle has not changed. Nor has that moment for me of stepping back into the yoga hall with a mixture of awe and gratitude. Awe as I gaze at the photos around the room of Mr Iyengar as we called him then, Guruji now (most respected teacher) in the extraordinary poses that have inspired the world to do yoga. Gratitude for my fortune in finding his teachings at such an early point in my life and that I can be here again at the heart of them.The first morning of our month of yoga, bleary eyed from jet lag, Sharada and I arrive for the 7am class with Prashant, the son of Mr Iyengar. Sharada, one of my students and a teacher in Rotherham, is here for the first time and I show her the ropes. Literally.The hall slowly fills and there is a sense of expectation as Prashantji begins with the invocation we know so well. His main teachings are about the essence of yoga, how it’s true nature is found not in the outer performance of the pose but in how far we can use each pose or asana as a means of connecting our body, mind and breath. He uses the imagery of a pilot in the cockpit of a plane, who uses the dials and mechanisms around him to fly the plane yet the plane cannot fly unless all of these are synchronised together. This takes years of training and at first the pilot has to learn what each control will do by itself, just like we learn first to stretch our legs in Trikonasana, then add how to adjust the back , the head etc. Finally we may be flying but only if all the parts communicate and synchronise with each other.Flying imagery came next in class with Raya, who likened the use of the arms bent and lifted in paschimottanasana to the wings of a bird taking flight. After it has risen up it can catch the air thermals which will carry it with much less effort. So with our practice if we can tune into the ways we can ease forward in the asana using the breath to help us soften.One of my favourite parts of the days here are the early morning walks through the park to get to class. There is a softness in the light at that time and the birds sound so exotic. I am aware again of the utter otherness of India which has yet become so familiar to me from the many times I have stayed and travelled through this country. I feel inexplicably at home here. And I am impressed again at how the Iyengar family open their home and lives to those of us from so many countries gathered here. This week they are preparing the puja ceremonies that mark the first anniversary of the death of Geeta Iyengar and we feel included in what might be in the west a very private affair.More about this next time. In the meantime, sending warmth and light from Pune.Frances [metaslider id=2962]