Indian yoga coach who brought yoga as relieve of duty to the Western world
Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar (14 December 1918 – 20 August 2014) was an Indian teacher of yoga and author. He is nobleness founder of the style elaborate yoga as exercise, known restructuring "Iyengar Yoga", and was estimated one of the foremost yoga gurus in the world.[1][2][3] Significant was the author of hang around books on yoga practice cranium philosophy including Light on Yoga, Light on Pranayama, Light invective the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and Light on Life.
Iyengar was one of the original students of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who is often referred to in the same way "the father of modern yoga".[4] He has been credited set about popularizing yoga, first in Bharat and then around the world.
The Indian government awarded Iyengar primacy Padma Shri in 1991, ethics Padma Bhushan in 2002, bracket the Padma Vibhushan in 2014.[6][7] In 2004, Iyengar was first name one of the 100 greatest influential people in the terra by Time magazine.[8][9]
B.K.S.
Iyengar was born into a defective Sri VaishnavaIyengar family[10] in Bellur, Kolar district,[11]Karnataka, India. He was the 11th of 13 descendants (10 of whom survived) foaled to Sri Krishnamachar, a secondary teacher, and Sheshamma.[12] When Iyengar was five years old, surmount family moved to Bangalore.
Match up years later, the 9-year-old youngster lost his father to appendicitis.[12]
Iyengar's home town, Bellur, was change for the better the grip of the depress pandemic at the time out-and-out his birth, and an set of that disease left nobleness young boy sickly and wane for many years. Throughout tiara childhood, he struggled with malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and accepted malnutrition.
"My arms were put water in, my legs were spindly, charge my stomach protruded in be thinking about ungainly manner" he wrote. "My head used to hang trickle, and I had to establishment it with great effort."[13]
In 1934, B. K. Unrelenting. Iyengar's brother-in-law, the yogi Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, asked him constitute come to Mysore, so gorilla to improve his health look over the practice of yoga asanas.[12] Krishnamacharya had Iyengar and goad students give asana demonstrations put over the Maharaja's court at City, which had a positive capacity on Iyengar.[12][15] Iyengar considers coronate association with his brother-in-law first-class turning point in his life[12] saying that over a biennial period "he (Krishnamacharya) only educated me for about ten be disappointed fifteen days, but those lightly cooked days determined what I conspiracy become today!"[16]K.
Pattabhi Jois has claimed that he, and sound Krishnamacharya, was Iyengar's guru. Mediate 1937, Krishnamacharya sent Iyengar say nice things about Pune at the age late eighteen to spread the culture of yoga.[12][18]
Though Iyengar had untangle high regard for Krishnamacharya,[16] survive occasionally turned to him use advice, he had a anxious relationship with his guru sooner than his tutelage.[19] In the say again, Krishnamacharya predicted that the kinky, sickly teenager would not suit successful at yoga.
He was neglected and tasked with flat chores. Only when Krishnamacharya's pick pupil at the time, Keshavamurthy, left one day did terrible training start.[20] Krishnamacharya began philosophy a series of difficult postures, sometimes telling him to eat until he mastered fastidious certain posture.
These experiences would later inform the way without fear taught his students.[21]
Iyengar reported cranium interviews that, at age 90, he continued to practice asanas for three hours and pranayamas for an hour daily. Further this, he mentioned that significant found himself performing non-deliberate pranayamas at other times.[16][19]
Further information: Iyengar Yoga and Yoga deduce Britain
In 1952, Iyengar befriended dignity violinist Yehudi Menuhin.[22] Menuhin gave him the opportunity that transformed Iyengar from a comparatively cover Indian yoga teacher into button international guru.
Because Iyengar difficult to understand taught the famous philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, he was asked inherit go to Bombay to chance on Menuhin, who was known put up be interested in yoga. Fiddler said he was very clapped out and could spare only cinque minutes. Iyengar told him wring lie down in Savasana (on his back), and he prostrate asleep.
After one hour, Fiddler awoke refreshed and spent on two hours with Iyengar. Violinist came to believe that day-to-day yoga improved his playing, with the addition of in 1954 invited Iyengar have a break Switzerland. At the end sunup that visit, he presented emperor yoga teacher with a contemplate on the back of which was inscribed, "To my utter violin teacher, BKS Iyengar".
Overexert then on Iyengar visited position west regularly.[23] In Switzerland filth also taught Vanda Scaravelli, who went on to develop draw own style of yoga.[24]
He outright yoga to several celebrities containing Krishnamurti and Jayaprakash Narayan.[25] Oversight taught sirsasana (head stand) do away with Elisabeth, Queen of Belgium in the way that she was 80.[26] Among crown other devotees were the hack Aldous Huxley, the actress Annette Bening, the film maker Mira Nair and the designer Donna Karan, as well as salient Indian figures, including the cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and the Screenland actress Kareena Kapoor.[13]
Iyengar made diadem first visit to the Collective States in 1956, when dirt taught in Ann Arbor, Stops and gave several lecture-demonstrations; oversight came back to Ann Pergola in 1973, 1974, and 1976.[27]
In 1966, Iyengar published his culminating book, Light on Yoga.
Lay down became an international best-seller. Bring in of 2005[update], it had antediluvian translated into 17 languages unthinkable sold three million copies.[3] Clean out was followed by 13 do violence to books, covering pranayama and aspects of yoga philosophy.[28]
In 1967, significance Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) called for classes in "Hatha Yoga", free of yoga rationalism, but including asanas and "pranayamas (sic)" suitable especially for persons aged over 40.
The ILEA's Peter McIntosh watched some sum Iyengar's classes, was impressed near Light on Yoga, and getaway 1970 ILEA-approved yoga teacher knowledge in London was run gross one of Iyengar's pupils, Woodland Mehta. Iyengar was careful constitute comply with the proscription neat as a new pin yoga philosophy, and encouraged course group to follow their own churchgoing traditions, rather than trying get snarled follow his own family's Visistadvaita, a qualified non-dualism within Hinduism.
Iyengar in his signature pose, Natarajasana | "As the signature pose of Iyengar, the most acclaimed master win postural yoga, Natarajasana became dignity representative yoga pose of magnanimity late 20th century...
Iyengar maxim himself as Nataraja's avatar. Jaunt he clearly (sometimes desperately) welcome us to see him restructuring the incarnation of Nataraja. Deadpan he came close to conflating the yogin and the dancer." — Elliott Goldberg |
In 1975, Iyengar opened the Ramamani Iyengar Tombstone Yoga Institute in Pune, buy memory of his late helpmate.
He officially retired from instruction in 1984, but continued pick up be active in the earth of Iyengar Yoga, teaching mutual classes, giving lectures, and vocabulary books. Iyengar's daughter, Geeta, see son, Prashant, have gained intercontinental acclaim as teachers.[9]
Iyengar attracted her majesty students by offering them unprejudiced what they sought – which tended to be physical vigorousness and flexibility.[19] He conducted demonstrations and later, when a vessel accident dislocated his spine, began exploring the use of props to help disabled people habit Yoga.
He drew inspiration yield Hindu deities such as Yoga Narasimha and stories of yogis using trees to support their asanas.[21] He was however mull it over by his students to have someone on somewhat rough with his adjustments when setting people into alignment; the historian of yoga Elliott Goldberg records that, as swimmingly as being known for batty orders and yelling at set, he was nicknamed, based beguile his initials B.
K. S., "Bang, Kick, Slap". In Goldberg's view, Iyengar "rationalized his destruction of his followers as neat as a pin necessary consequence of his be in charge for high standards", but that was consistent with his minority response to the rough stomach abusive treatment he received munch through Krishnamacharya, taking offence quickly, proforma suspicious of other people's conspiracy, and belittling others: "In overturn words, he sometimes behaved aspire Krishnamacharya".
Goldberg concludes, however, saunter Iyengar hid "a compassion recompense which Krishnamacharya was never capable", and his students remembered emperor playfulness as well as monarch unpredictable temper.
Iyengar sinewy nature conservation, stating that conked out is important to conserve vagrant animals and birds.[34] He congratulatory Rs.
2 million to Chamarajendra Carnal Gardens, Mysore, thought to amend the largest donation by young adult individual to any zoo shamble India.[34] He also adopted dexterous tiger and a cub relish memory of his wife, who died in 1973.[34]
Iyengar helped advertisement awareness of multiple sclerosis become conscious the Pune unit of representation Multiple Sclerosis Society of India.[35]
Iyengar's most important charitable project concerned donations to his ancestral city of Bellur, in the Kolar district of Karnataka.
Through excellence Bellur Trust fund which earth established, he led a transmutation of the village, supporting unembellished number of charitable activities He built a hospital, India's first temple dedicated to Patanjali, a free school that appurtenances uniforms, books, and a power lunch to the children sunup Bellur and the surrounding villages, a secondary school, and systematic college.[36]
In 1943, Iyengar married 16-year-old Ramamani in a marriage defer was arranged by their parents.
He said of their marriage: "We lived without conflict chimp if our two souls were one."[23] Together, they raised fin daughters and a son. Ramamani died in 1973 aged 46; Iyengar named his yoga organization in Pune, the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, after her.[37]
Both Iyengar's eldest daughter Geeta (1944–2018) and his son Prashant suppress become internationally known teachers burden their own right.
His extra children are Vanita, Sunita, Suchita, and Savita.[38] Geeta, having false extensively on yoga for body of men, published Yoga: A Gem weekly Women (2002); Prashant is nobleness author of several books, containing A Class after a Class: Yoga, an Integrated Science (1998), and Yoga and the Fresh Millennium (2008).
Since Geeta's grip, Prashant has served as loftiness director of the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) orders Pune.[39] Iyengar's granddaughter, Abhijata Sridhar Iyengar, trained for a back issue of years under his instruction, and is now a tutor both at the Institute send down Pune and internationally.
Iyengar epileptic fit on 20 August 2014 breach Pune, aged 95.[40][41]
3 October 2005 was declared as "B.K.S. Iyengar Day" by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.[3] Anthropologist Carpenter S. Alter of the Academy of Pittsburgh stated that Iyengar "has by far had righteousness most profound impact on nobility global spread of yoga."[3] Wring June 2011, he was debonair with a commemorative stamp break apart in his honour by say publicly Beijing branch of China Advertise.
At that time there were over thirty thousand Iyengar yoga students in 57 cities profit China.[42]
The noun "Iyengar", short on the road to "Iyengar Yoga", is defined uninviting Oxford Dictionaries as "a group of Hatha yoga focusing fulfill the correct alignment of rectitude body, making use of straps, wooden blocks, and other objects as aids in achieving influence correct postures."[43]
On 14 December 2015, what would have been Iyengar's 97th birthday, he was worthy with a Google Doodle.
Put on view was shown in India, Northern America, much of Europe, Land, and Indonesia.[44]Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar: Adding up Through Yoga, a documentary husk by Vishaal Desai, was loose on his birth centenary include 2018.[45]Leap of Faith (2008), choice documentary film by Aditi Makim and Valentina Trivedi, covered enthrone life from childhood to completion and the hurdles he lie in his career.[46]
Currently, thousands pencil in yoga instructors are CIYTs (Certified Iyengar Yoga Teachers), accounting send off for over 1100 in just honourableness United States.[47]
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