Bec's Yoga

21/11/2025

Have you ever heard someone say, “Yoga is a great alternative therapy”?
It sounds well-meaning… but it’s not quite true.
Let’s pause and look deeper — because Yoga is not an alternative system of medicine.
There is no alternative to Yoga, and Yoga itself cannot be an alternative to anything else.
Why? Because Yoga doesn’t fit into the boxes of modern medicine.
Medicine is objective, while Yoga is subjective.

💊 Medicine treats symptoms.
You get a pill for pain.
You take an antacid for acidity.
And it works the same way for everyone.
But Yoga doesn’t work that way.
You can’t prescribe an asana for back pain like a doctor prescribes paracetamol.

Every asana, every breath, every pause in Yoga depends on the inner condition of the person — their state of body, mind, and energy at that very moment.
That’s what makes Yoga profoundly personal and deeply transformative.

🧘‍♀️ Yoga has remedial powers, but it’s not a “remedy.”
Yoga can heal, yes — but not because it’s a substitute for medicine.
It heals because it awakens the intelligence of the body and consciousness.

Modern medicine works in three ways:
*Preventive
*Curative/Corrective
*Recuperative
But Yoga introduces a fourth dimension — a space beyond self-interest.
You don’t practice to fix something.
You practice to experience something.
You work on your spine not to ease pain, but to awaken awareness.

🌸 “Work on your spine not for relief, but for realization.”
This is the heart of Prashant S. Iyengar’s teaching.

He reminds us:
“Do not work on the spine in your asanas only to overcome soreness, stiffness, or pain. Work on it without desire, without greed, and for no returns. Then only it will bestow Yoga — an immeasurable return.”

✨ The Deeper Truth: Yoga Transforms the Healer Within
When you stop treating Yoga like a therapy, it becomes transformation.
When you stop practicing for results, healing happens on its own.

Yoga is not about curing the body — it’s about culturing consciousness.
And in that process, the body finds harmony naturally.

✨Inspired by Prashantoscope: Yoga as a Remedial System — by Prashant S. Iyengar

💭 Reflect:
What does “subjective healing” mean to you?
Can you practice Yoga without expecting an outcome — simply for the joy of awareness?

Drop your thoughts in the comments below ⬇️
Let’s start a mindful conversation about the true essence of Yoga.

19/11/2025

19/11/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/17TQQjtBWB/?mibextid=wwXIfr

According to B.K.S. Iyengar, it absolutely can — but not in the way most people think.

“A Yogi does not count his life in terms of years, but in terms of breath. Every breath that he takes has to be pure. The energy should flow undisturbed and should not be wasted.”

Iyengar reminds us that Yoga isn’t about chasing longevity through external means — it’s about refining the inner rhythm of life itself.

When our breath becomes steady, calm, and conscious, our energy (prana) flows freely. That flow sustains vitality, mental balance, and spiritual peace.

💓 A True Story from B.K.S. Iyengar
Iyengar once told a student who had survived a heart attack to practice Setubandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose) with the support of props.

Curious, the student asked, “What will this pose do for me?”

Iyengar replied gently:
“If you practice this every day for at least five minutes, you will postpone your next heart attack by ten years.”

That is the power of Yoga — not a miracle, but mastery.

Yoga gifts us the ability to conserve our energy, control deterioration, and live with awareness.

🌿 The True Gift of Yoga
Life and death may not be in our hands — but how we live between them, absolutely is.

Iyengar teaches that we are the makers of our own destiny through disciplined, mindful living.

Through Yogic practice, we can strengthen not only our physical body but also our mental and spiritual health — the deeper sources of longevity.

When one is free from worries, anxieties, and mental restlessness, the body does not degenerate easily.

Mental health, Iyengar says, is a great gift of Yoga — and spiritual health is its greatest boon.

💫 The Art of Living and Dying
Yoga doesn’t just teach us how to live — it teaches us how to die majestically, nobly, and gracefully.

Even when disease or destiny visits, a true Yogi meets it with calm acceptance, not fear.

Through Yoga, one learns to face death not as an enemy, but as a sacred transition.

🕊️ The Deeper Message
Death is certain — but how we live until that moment is a choice.

Yoga doesn’t just aim to prolong life; it aims to deepen it.

Medicines can extend your years, but only Yoga can fill those years with meaning, peace, and spiritual maturity.

So yes — Yoga can prolong life.

But more importantly, it can help you live every single breath fully, consciously, and beautifully.

✨ Pause for a moment. Take a deep, conscious breath.
Ask yourself — am I truly living this breath, or am I rushing through it?

💬 Share in the comments:
What has Yoga taught you about life, health, or peace?

❤️ Save this post if it inspires you to live more mindfully.
🔁 Share it with someone who could use this reminder today.

Inspired by Does Yoga prolong the life - BKS Iyengar, Yoga Rahasya A

30/10/2025

“Good for back ache, slip discs, alternative to forward bends, liver health….”
BKS Iyengar.
Glad we did it this week in restorative.

15/08/2025

Urdhva Mukha Svanasana isn’t about pushing up with brute force—
It’s about lifting from within. 🔥
If your lower back feels compressed or your chest feels flat in Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, here’s how to reset your alignment the Iyengar way:
👇 6 Powerful Cues to Lift from Within:
1. Back ribs in, front body rises. Draw the upper back ribs in to lift the chest—this opens the front body from the inside out.
2. Lift the upper abdomen. Don’t let it drop! Draw the upper belly upward—this is the real source of the pose’s energy and structure.
3. Protect your lower back. Avoid collapsing. Let the front thighs move back and the buttocks descend to support the lift.
4. Broaden from the heart. Widen your collarbones and guide the shoulders down—keep the neck long and free.
5. Balance through hands AND feet. Don’t dump into the wrists. Press firmly through both hands and tops of feet—active legs protect the spine.
6. Let breath do the lifting.
- Inhale: Lift chest and upper belly.
- Exhale: Soften and release tension.

True alignment comes from awareness, not force.
Practice from the inside—and your pose will transform.

💾 Save this for your next backbend session.



🌍 https://www.bksiyengaryogashala.com/

10/07/2025

🌺 🕯️ 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗚𝘂𝗿𝘂 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮 - a sacred day to honour our Gurus, mentors, guides and teachers.

We celebrate 3 generations of great yoga teachers - B.K.S. Iyengar, Geeta Iyengar, Prashant Iyengar, Sunita Iyengar and Abhijata Iyengar.

🙏 And we recognise all the teachers who carry the light and wisdom of the Iyengar tradition and lineage forward into the future.

14/05/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Ag1NRzig9/?mibextid=wwXIfr

“I did not invent the word alignment, it is Lord Krishna, Yogeshvara (The Lord of Yoga) who has used the word alignment in Chapter 6.13 of the Bhagavad Gita, ‘samam kãya Sirogrivam dhãrayan acalam sthirah’ He has given a plumb line of the body to perform each asana or an asana to sit for dhyana. These are the crown of the head, well of the throat and the perineum as plumb line. This means that each and every part of our body must be measured from the centre of the body and maintained in its bank. He uses the samamkaya. If one does the asana with this guide of Lord Krishna there is no contortion, no distortion. The body does not go crooked, muscles do not get tilted. When one stands in Tadasana, certain muscles work to bring stability.

When one does Sirsasana the very same muscles oscillate, causing change in the asana though one says, "I am doing the asana well". But are we keeping the body in that plumb line which is the centre of the right side and left side? This is what Lord Krishna demands. It is not that Mr. lyengar demands precision. He says, samatvam yoga ucyate, (B.G., 1I.48). Again, he says that there should be equanimity. Equanimity cannot happen without the techniques of alignment in body, senses, mind, intelligence and self. One can develop this in the art of adjustment in asana which turns into auspicious action. Instead of attachment to asana one has to become the asana. In order to get that equanimity (samatvam) one needs kusalata or adequate skilfulness. Yogah karmasu kausalam (B.G, I.50). There should be skilfulness in action and that skilfulness of action cannot come unless one rubs with his mind and intelligence to gain alignment. This is actually svadhyaya.”

BKS Iyengar
Astadala Yogamala (vol 8)

16/04/2025

"There are no special qualities required to become a student of yoga but only regularity, determination and discipline are needed. These go with urgency, passion and courage. Besides these, one has to be accepting failures as stepping stones to success and persist in practice with perseverance. A sharp memory is needed for comparing day-to-day practices with watchful attention. One has to connect the mind and intelligence to be in constant touch with each and every fibre and cell of the body. The most important vehicle that is needed is to trace where the mind and intelligence do not touch and how to work to make their attention to flow there. Lastly, practice must be done with labour of love. These are the qualities required from a student not only in yoga but in all arts. Remember that yoga begins from the base stick art and takes one towards the divine art. Know that in yoga one has to depend entirely upon self-determination and the ways to tap the inner source of energy and strength through a group of instruments, namely the body, mind, intelligence and will-power to tune oneself fully to the music of life. In other arts like music, dance, paintings, architecture, sculpture and so forth, one has to depend on external resources to express one’s hidden light."

B.K.S.Iyengar
Astadala Yogamala

31/03/2025

Ramamani Iyengar with her family 🧡