Hello, Members!

The snow has finally melted. The sidewalks are safer for outdoor walks. I hope you’re feeling encouraged by the warm sun and all the signs that spring is on its way.

About a month ago, I started thinking about the process of melting. With the application of heat from the sun, the ice’s slowly moving molecules begin to move more quickly, and ice changes states and becomes water.

Doesn’t something similar happen to us as yoga practitioners? Think about how the throat is required to soften in Sālamba Sarvāṅgāsana, or how the collar bone region is required to broaden and spread outwards so we can clasp the arms behind us in Gomukhāsana. We apply energy and action in order to open, release and move.

Through the practice of āsana and prānāyāma, we generate heat or cooling, and we change from a dissociated state to a more cohesive and communal one. We learn what is required in each pose to improve ourselves and to become more unified within the pose.

As yoga practitioners, we can be inspired by the processes of the seasons. Aided by the fire of our sādhana, we have a chance to open, soften and release the parts within us that remain hard or untouched.

Guruji writes in his commentary on 1.23 of the Yoga Sūtras, “Through surrender the aspirant’s ego is effaced, and the grace of the Lord pours down upon him like torrential rain.” While in Śavāsana, we can all imagine what that torrential rain might feel like as we surrender.

Bethany Valentini

IYAUM Membership Chair

Beth Barron

Home:  Bryn Mawr, Minneapolis, MN

Years with Iyengar Yoga:  40 (on and off)

Fun fact:  I have two five-pound pups that love Śavāsana. It takes them quite a while to get settled on my chest before we can all begin.

How can our community be more welcoming? Gathering as often as possible to practice, with social time available afterward, could be a way to build stronger friendships and community.

My yoga journey has been erratic and less than graceful. Yoga has showed me how resistant I can be, as well as how strong and resilient my body really is, even when my mind denies it. It has taken me a long time to embrace yoga, and even after a half-dozen years of a devoted practice, I’m not sure that that I would say I’m fully committed.

I first took a class in the late ’70s with William Prottengeier. The experience scared me for reasons I still can’t articulate. However, I returned to yoga many times over the years, until I began a dedicated practice sometime around 2015. It was Danielle Berres, a wonderful person as well as a great teacher, who helped prepare me to take classes, since I was averse to them. My first hurdle was simply being willing to be in a class. I was afraid of being judged by others, and I didn’t understand the spiritual aspect of a dedicated yoga practice. Danielle guided me in building strength, confidence, and stamina, so I could quiet the inner doubts that had kept me out of other yoga classes.

When Danielle returned to school, I turned to Shannyn Potter. Wow, Shannyn kicked my ass! More importantly, she pushed me fearlessly along my path, and I became a dedicated student. I once considered myself to be lazy and unmotivated, but Shannyn’s instruction and the atmosphere in her classes allowed me to open to my authentic yoga self. I was no longer afraid of practicing with other people once I realized that if I was focusing on myself, no one else would be evaluating my poses—since they were most likely focusing on themselves as well.

I am grateful to all my teachers for guiding me to where I am in my practice. I remember thinking that if I were ever able to stand on my head, that I would be satisfied. The day I was able to stay in the pose was a day I will forever remember. Now years have passed since I was first able to do Śīrṣāsana. Alas, I am not satisfied, but I had to get to Śīrṣāsana to realize that.

This past November, I joined Shannyn and Nancy Marcy on their yoga retreat in Mexico. It was another milestone for my practice to do yoga twice a day for a week. I came out of it exhilarated, and my practice was elevated.

I wish I were a quiet, stoic, easy yogini, but I am not. True confession: I grunt and groan often during my practice, (as those who have practiced with me can attest). In fact, I often apologize for the disturbance those vocalizations cause. While I view these grunts and groans as an ungraceful, “western” expression, I appreciate Shannyn’s tolerance. My intention is to someday eliminate them, but at this point I know that it is a way for me to deal with my inner conflict. I often resist and fight the pose, even as I see many subtle, positive changes in my body and mind when I really can be with my practice.

The past two years have shifted many of my dreams and expectations. As spring appears on the horizon, I hope my energy to engage with others increases. I pray that my heart opens and can start to rebuild along with our community

 By Nancy Marcy, CIYT

Śīrṣāsana (Head Balance): The King of Yoga Poses

Inversions are an important and powerful aspect of āsana practice. Of these, Śīrṣāsana, or head balance, is considered primo: the king, the father, the reigning āsana. Its effects are touted as bringing clarity, strength of will, equipoise, and stamina. Going topsy-turvy brings a different visual-mental perspective and flips our relationship to gravity. Inversions enhance venous return, so the heart can rest.

I have enjoyed doing headstands since I was a kid. In the backyard I would find a soft spot for my head, grab hold of the turf and clutch the sod. I then stretched my feet to the sun, spread my toes like flower petals and watched ants crawling up blades of grass, before I somersaulted onto the sun-soaked lawn. What fun!

When I began taking Iyengar Yoga classes in 1999, I learned quickly that you don’t just kick up into headstand any old way! There was much emphasis on preparation, proper form and adequate strength to protect the delicate disks of the neck.  The grip was carefully demonstrated: clasp the hands and interlace the fingers all the way into the webbing.  Do not grip the fingers! Rather, extend them along the backs of the opposite hands.  Place the pad of one thumb on the fingernail of the other thumb. Make an open cup of your hands. The radius and ulna bones must be vertical.The elbows must be exactly shoulder width. Place the crown of the head on the floor and slide the head into the cup of the hands…but not completely—leave a gap. Once up, I enjoyed the ease of this new-to-me grip that allowed my head to almost float in Sālamba Śīrṣāsana I.

Over the ensuing years, the many instructions I learned for Śīrṣāsana led me to realize that the teaching of the science of yoga changes with gathered evidence, is subject to controversy, and that its proper application is dependent on the subjects being taught. Examples of differing viewpoints on what is “correct”: thumb placement in the grip, cupping the head with the hands, taking weight on the head, best leg position to go up, how to leave the wall and stand independently, incorporating a blanket channel, using the two-chair method or headstand bench as an alternative.

While head balance takes some strength and courage, once learned, it becomes more a process of discernment and refined adjustment than strength. The arms, like sensitive outriggers, work with the dynamic mast of the torso and legs to keep the body on an even keel. Minimizing postural sway by quietly observing and correcting the physical vrttis is akin to stilling the fluctuations of the mind. In this way, it directs us on the path of yoga.
 

A) Ardha Śīrṣāsana (Half Head Balance)

• Place a folded blanket on the floor against a wall.
• Kneel in front of the blanket and interlock your fingers.
• Place the interlocked fingers against the wall, thumbs up and little fingers down.
• Keep the forearms down and elbows in line with the width of the shoulders.
• Place the crown of the head in the center of the cup formed by the palms.
• Press the wrists down, lift the shoulders and lift the knees so legs are straight.

Learn to consolidate this position by lifting the shoulders and spine as well as the legs, from heels to thighs, upward towards the buttocks. The legs should become light and the spine should be firm.

B) Salamba Śīrṣāsana I (Supported Head Balance)

• Swing the legs up one at a time to touch the wall, then straighten the legs.
• The whole body is now perpendicular to the floor.
• Keep the spine straight and shoulders lifted.
• Stay for a minimum of one minute in the beginning, breathing evenly and looking straight ahead.
• Later extend the duration of the āsana from three to five minutes.
• Flex the knees and lower them to the ground. Do not bang the knees on the floor.
• Rest in Adho Mukha Vīrāsana for a few seconds before standing up.

Note: Inversions should be avoided during menstruation. Discuss any medical conditions you have with your teacher before attempting Śīrṣāsana.

Nancy teaches group classes at several locations in the west metro area of the Twin Cities. You can find her schedule at lifelongiyengar. com

Reference:

Geeta Iyengar, Yoga in Action: Intermediate Course I. YOG Mumbai, 2013.

B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga. Schocken Books, 1966. 

First Annual IYAUM Spring Retreat with Laura Blakeney.   Sign up today, it's ALMOST FULL!

Scholarships and Grants are Member Benefits

Do you know your benefits as members of IYAUM?  Our website is a source for information about Iyengar Yoga, events, resources and financial assistance available to members of our regional organization.   

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE is available to IYAUM members (students, certified teachers and teachers in training) in three ways: 

1. STUDY SCHOLARSHIPS are available with a simple application found on the website.  Applicants are anonymous when considered by the scholarship committee.  Scholarships are available for the May 20-22 IYAUM Spring Retreat at Prairiewoods. 

2. COMMUNITY OUTREACH GRANTS support costs associated with promoting diversity and provision of services for students in our region who do not have access to yoga teachers and studios.  

3. EMERGENCY GRANTS sustain the teaching of Iyengar Yoga by supporting teachers, centers and studios financially impacted by the COVID 19 pandemic or other emergencies.

Information, applications and  guidelines are available on our site by following the link for Financial Support. Donations are also accepted.

Remembrance of Things Past

By Joy Laine, CIYT

You have to begin to lose your memory, if only in bits and pieces, to realize that memory is what makes our lives. Life without memory is no life at all...Our memory is our coherence, our reason, our feeling, even our action. Without it, we are nothing...      

Luis Buñuel

Overview

Memory is at the heart of our personal identity, of our sense of existing through time. Memory connects us practically, morally, emotionally and autobiographically to our past. In the absence of memory, we lose these connections and hence lose any sense of our life’s narrative. With such memory loss, our sense of personal identity erodes. We see the scale of this in those who suffer from memory dysfunction, in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.

When we think of memory, we tend to think of autobiographical experience memories; that is, memories of specific experiences from our past. Contemporary psychologists, however, distinguish between several types of memory with different underlying mechanisms in the human brain. Concert pianist Clive Wearing, for example, was still able play the piano after viral encephalitis left him with one of the world’s most severe cases of episodic memory loss. My ability to remember what I had for breakfast this morning is different from the type of procedural memory that enables me to drive a car. I know that I learned to drive a car when I was in my twenties, but I’m unable to call to mind any specific memories of taking driving lessons. Despite this lack, those driving lessons live on in my present life, manifesting in my ability to drive. This shows that there are different conduits whereby the past can influence our present, conscious memories of specific past experiences being just one avenue.

Given the pervasive influence of memory in our lives, just because memory (smṛti) comes last in Patañjali’s listing of the cittavṛttis, we should not infer that it is the least important of them.  As Carrera notes in his commentary, “memory is the only one of the five thought waves that concerns the past. Without it, we could not learn from experience.” (Carrera, p.35)   Smṛti is a tremendously important category for Patañjali, because our continued involvement with the world of suffering is bound up with the influence of our past experiences on our present. Yet smṛti is also key for liberating ourselves from suffering, since we can learn from the past and the efficacy of practice requires that we do so. The commentators therefore note that its placement as the last of the cittavṛttis merely reflects the fact that without the preceding four types of cittavṛtti, there would be no memory, since memory is parasitic on prior experience.

There is no doubt then that memory occupies a key role in Patañjali’s understanding of the human psyche. We will examine smṛti in two parts, beginning with a descriptive account of smṛti and its main features, and then moving on to an evaluative examination of what sort of relationship with the past we should cultivate if we seek liberation from suffering.

Smṛti (memory) in the Yoga Sūtras

anubhūta viṣayāsampramoṣaḥ smṛtiḥ (I.11)

Memory is the experience of recollected objects.

(Translated by Reverend Jaganath Carrera.)

In this sūtra, Patañjali is making an empirical observation, noting that previously experienced (anubhūta) objects (viṣaya) do not irrevocably slip away (asaṁpramoṣaḥ). We have the ability to reconstruct the past in our present consciousness, and this is classified as smṛti (memory).

Here are some important features of smṛti:

• Smṛti has a plurality of connected meanings in relation to the Yoga Sūtras. In the context of I.11, however, smṛti refers to our general capacity for recalling the past.
• In that it’s classified as a cittavṛtti, smṛti is understood to be a component of our conscious mental life.
• Smṛti is dependent on prior experiences, and hence is dependent on experiences provided by the other four cittavṛṭtis, all of which can be recovered through smṛti.
• Smṛti therefore equates well with what we would call long-term episodic memory—our ability to consciously remember facts and things that happened to us in the past.
• Smṛti is the activation of past saṃskāras, which are the material impressions left behind in the mind by each experience we have.
• It is important to note that smṛti is not the only conduit by which the past impacts our present experience. Saṁskāras can influence how we experience the world, even when latent and beyond our current ability to consciously remember.
• Smṛti is divided into two different categories, veridical and non-veridical. Commentator Vyāsa identifies dreaming sleep (svapna) as the non-veridical category of memory. Note that in I.38, along with deep sleep (nidrā), dreaming sleep (svapna) is listed as a resource helpful for overcoming the obstacles (antarāyas).
• Ultimately though, all smṛti experiences can be tracked back to some real experience.  Our dreams, however fantastical, are constructed from building blocks of experienced objects. When I dream of a horse with wings, my dream is drawn from real-life experiences of horses and wings. This shows a strong empiricist tendency in the Yoga Sūtras.
• In addition to bringing the past experience into present thought, commentator Vyāsa notes that veridical memories also carry with them the awareness that one has actually undergone the experience. For example, when I remember what I had for breakfast this morning, I remember not just that cereal was eaten but also that it was me eating the cereal. Memories are from “the inside,” as it were. It is this aspect of memory that gives us a strong sense of ourselves as existing through time.
• Although veridical memory allows us to access past knowledge, Patañjali does not consider it to be an instrument of knowledge (pramāṇa) in its own right. This is because it does not create any new knowledge, but depends on knowledge already achieved from the other three pramāṇas.

Smṛti and suffering

It is always helpful to go back to Patañali’s central question, “How can we alleviate suffering?” This was his motivating question, and it is the question which informs the whole text, including his attitudes towards memory. In II.16, Patañjali exhorts us to avoid future suffering, thereby acknowledging that we cannot go back and change the past. Yet in order to avoid future suffering we cannot ignore the past, because past suffering has the power to constantly repeat itself in future experience. It is through memory that we get caught up in cycles of addiction or are held captive to traumatic experiences, to name just two ways in which the past can haunt the present. You may remember that in II.15, Patañjali lists the suffering associated with the saṁskāras as constituting one of the four main sources of suffering (the others being change, pain and the inherent restlessness of nature).

Smṛti and saṁskāra are in a dynamic relationship, locked together in an ever-evolving dance whereby we endure the consequences of past experiences and set the course for future experiences. We need to understand the mechanisms whereby past sufferings perpetuate further suffering in our lives in order to break the cycle.  Patañjali clearly understands the importance of the past for the present, and hence the importance of the present for the future. He sees smṛti as a central thread that connects these together.

Given that smṛti is a conduit for the saṁskāras to be resurrected in present experience, it is also the means by which the afflictions (kleṣas) are able to exert their influence on our lives. Smṛti leads us into cycles of experience which are governed by rāga (desire) and dveṣa (aversion), resurrecting emotions that foster the ignorance (avidyā) of egoism (asmitā). Hence memory perpetuates the afflictions (kleṣas).  This is because the act of remembering resurrects not just the content of our past experiences, but also all of the accompanying emotions.   For example, if someone has insulted me in the past, then the memory of that original insult not only brings that past experience into my present consciousness, but may also come with unhealthy emotional baggage such as anger, a desire for revenge, feelings of shame etc. From a yogic point of view, this emotional baggage accompanying our memories is unhealthy because it shifts our perspective away from puruṣa to the ego self, thereby strengthening the hold of the root affliction, ignorance (avidyā) over our existence. You may remember that avidyā is a specific kind of ignorance, an ignorance that leads us to identify with our ego self rather than with puruṣa. Happy memories too can ultimately have this same result.

Smṛti and practice

Although Patañjali does not advocate dwelling on the past for its own sake, we do need to ask what sort of relationship we should cultivate with our past to avoid future suffering? How can we mitigate the impact of the past on the future? The role of memory in our lives is complex, and hence our response must take this complexity into account. Patañajli describes many different kinds of practice throughout the Yoga Sūtras, and it is fair to say that all of them in some way are intended to either mitigate the negative effect of past experience on our present or create a store of saṁskāras that will ensure our spiritual progress in the future. Some of them are more like “band-aid” practices to repair the wounds left by the past, whereas others are more forward-looking, laying down a foundation of healthy mental states in the present to bring about a better future. It should be noted that memory is key to the success of practice itself—the more we do something, the more proficient we become. Patañjali focusses on two main (but overlapping) avenues whereby we can harness the power of memory to alleviate future suffering:

(i) The cultivation of techniques to deal with the impact of past experiences on our present lives (impact of the past on the present). 

(ii) The cultivation of techniques that allow us to live our lives in such a way that we lay down new saṁskāras which will be helpful to us in the future (impact of the present on the future).

The first set of techniques focuses on dealing with the emotional fallout from the past, especially when the past unexpectedly inserts itself into present experience. Sometimes something in my present environment can trigger an unhealthy emotion—feelings of fear or hostility, for example. The goal of these techniques is to cultivate positive emotions in the face of such destructive emotions that can arise along with our memories. I.33 is a key sūtra for promoting practices of this type.  In this sūtra we are instructed to cultivate friendliness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity in response to life’s experiences, rather than hostility, despair, envy or anger. The second set of techniques look to build healthy states of consciousness—samādhi states, for example. These states bring insight and wisdom (I.48), and over time, dilute the impact of negative memories and ultimately render the past powerless to undermine our present well-being (I.50). By taking responsibility for the present, Patañjali teaches that we are laying the foundation for our future.

Conclusion

The role of memory in the path of yoga is pervasive and subtle, and there is still much left for further reflection. Here are a few outstanding questions. Commentators state that every experience we have leaves a lasting trace in the mind. Does this mean that theoretically we can remember everything we have experienced in the past? Current views argue for the necessity of forgetfulness for the human mind to function efficiently.  Is there a way to reconcile these two points of view by understanding that the past has many avenues for impacting the present?  Secondly, there is the question of false memories other than dreaming. Memories can be subject to the same distortions as perception. Just as we can misperceive objects of experience (as in the case of perceiving the rope as a snake), so too can we misremember our past. The ways in which memories can be influenced and distorted by our present consciousness poses an important question in relation to the goal of self-knowledge . Lastly, we saw at the beginning how devastating loss of memory can be. How then are we to understand the intended goal of yoga practice to destroy the potency of saṃskāras to impact present experience? How would this differ from amnesia?  

This discussion of memory brings us to the end of the opening section of the Yoga Sūtras. In this lofty text oriented to spiritual liberation, it is worth noting that Patañjali begins his exposition of yoga with a detailed and incisive account of how the human mind functions. It is a sign of his compassion and realism that he takes us as we are for his starting point.

Joy Laine taught philosophy at Macalester College for over thirty years and teaches Iyengar Yoga around the Twin Cities.

Sources and Further Study

Melvyn Bragg, panel discussion on memory with contemporary psychologists Martin Conway, Mike Kopelman and Kim Graham. “Memory,” In Our Time, BBC Radio 4.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00548yy

Reverend Jaganath Carrera, Inside the Yoga Sūtras. Integral Yoga Publications, 2006.

Dr. Gail Parker, Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race Based Stress and Trauma. Singing Dragon, 2020. This is an excellent exploration of the usefulness of yoga as a healing tool for racial trauma, and her insights on this topic shed light across the board on the value of yoga for healing the wounds of past experience.

Rāma Prasāda, The Yoga Darśana of Patañjali. Logos Press, 1912/2005.

2021 IYAUM Board of Directors

President: Nancy Marcy

Vice President: Nancy Footner

Treasurer: Dawn Talbert

Secretary: Katharine Wood

Membership: Bethany Valentini

Media & Communications: Shannyn Joy Potter

IYAUM Liaison to IYNAUS: Susan Johnson

Contact:  iyengaryogaaum@gmail.com

IYAUM Committee Newsletter

Editor: Irene Alderson

Visuals: Shannyn Joy Potter

Contact: news@iyaum.org

Iyengar Yoga Association of the Upper Midwest

P.O. Box 582381 Minneapolis, Minnesota 55458