Why Iyengar Yoga?
Neck and shoulder pain has plagued me ever since I was in school. When I started working a desk job, it got worse. Often I went about in my life with some kind of neck pain everyday, somehow, thinking it was "normal" (!). Sometimes I would not be able to turn my head when I woke up, then life would be really miserable and I would have to make an appointment with the chiropractor to get it "fixed". I tried many things - massages, chiropractors, spas which all helped relieve the pain but the pain would often return.
I had a really bad neck pain once during a training session and I wanted to run to my habitual pattern – my chiropractor. My teacher, Peter, immediately stopped me from going. He made me do a few yoga postures, and by the end of class, I felt 70% better and I could hardly believe what the practice had given me. That incident opened up a small window of light that helped me realize that from having faith in the Teacher and the Practice, healing can be achieved by ourselves, if we just give ourselves a chance. It has been about 8 years since I last saw a chiropractor and it is not that I don’t have anymore pain but I know how to fix my own pain. And through mindfulness, I know what I do to cause the pain. I often tell my students, fixing the problem is one thing, but if we can see the root cause of the pain…. we could be pain free for a long time.
Why Iyengar yoga? To me, Iyengar yoga, teaches a method which builds in its students, qualities of patience, an investigative mind, honesty, humility, kindness and compassion. On a general level, with Mr Iyengar's creation of props, Iyengar yoga allows everyone and anyone from senior beginners to people with illness and injury to have a yoga practice. On a deeper level, Iyengar yoga teaches us how to meet the demands of life and how to be a better person for the people around us.
This practice that Peter Thomson taught me, is what I hope to pass on to my students. Peter Thomson is a Senior Iyengar teacher from Australia who has studied with Mr. Iyengar and the Iyengar family since 1979.
I started practicing yoga in 2004, received my Intro 2 Iyengar Teacher certification 2011 and continue to study with Peter Thomson.
I had a really bad neck pain once during a training session and I wanted to run to my habitual pattern – my chiropractor. My teacher, Peter, immediately stopped me from going. He made me do a few yoga postures, and by the end of class, I felt 70% better and I could hardly believe what the practice had given me. That incident opened up a small window of light that helped me realize that from having faith in the Teacher and the Practice, healing can be achieved by ourselves, if we just give ourselves a chance. It has been about 8 years since I last saw a chiropractor and it is not that I don’t have anymore pain but I know how to fix my own pain. And through mindfulness, I know what I do to cause the pain. I often tell my students, fixing the problem is one thing, but if we can see the root cause of the pain…. we could be pain free for a long time.
Why Iyengar yoga? To me, Iyengar yoga, teaches a method which builds in its students, qualities of patience, an investigative mind, honesty, humility, kindness and compassion. On a general level, with Mr Iyengar's creation of props, Iyengar yoga allows everyone and anyone from senior beginners to people with illness and injury to have a yoga practice. On a deeper level, Iyengar yoga teaches us how to meet the demands of life and how to be a better person for the people around us.
This practice that Peter Thomson taught me, is what I hope to pass on to my students. Peter Thomson is a Senior Iyengar teacher from Australia who has studied with Mr. Iyengar and the Iyengar family since 1979.
I started practicing yoga in 2004, received my Intro 2 Iyengar Teacher certification 2011 and continue to study with Peter Thomson.
