Iyengar Yoga Poses & Classes in Philadelphia – Training, Anatomy and Sanskrit
I’ve been doing yoga for over 15 years but I only recently discovered Iyengar yoga. After getting familiar with William Broad’s, Science of Yoga book and hearing all the ire it got for it’s chapter about injuries I wanted to learn more about this not-very well known kind of yoga. Many yoga teacher training programs do not have rigorous standards for anatomy or bio-mechanics or how to work with students that have injuries or other limiting conditions. I often did quite a bit of research on my own on how to address working with students safely.
Iyengar Yoga Poses and Classes in Philadelphia and on the Main Line
Iyengar teachers have the most rigorous standards in order to pass their certification. In order to become an Iyengar teacher, you have to be practicing Iyengar yoga for at least 3 years which means you should be attending at least 3 classes as well as have your own home practice. There are also over 5 levels of teacher training which range from introductory knowledge to Senior teacher. There are also exams and theory papers that are due at each level. Just signing up for an Iyengar training is no guarantee that you will become one. You can expect rigorous tests on poses, anatomy and other tenets about yoga philosophy.
What can you expect from an Iyengar yoga class? What are the poses like?
Going to an Iyengar class is unlike the flow-iness that you find in a typical hatha or vinyasa class. I have only been to two studios here in the Philadelphia area but both of them are rather austere. There is no music, no aromatherapy and no candles. The teachers will want to know about what physical limitations or injuries you have. Do you have a herniated disc, torn rotator cuff or arthritis in your knee? Are you scared that going to a typical yoga class will be painful or you’ll hurt yourself more? If yes, get your bum body to an Iyengar class. The teachers will work with you on a fairly customized level ( depending on how many people show up in the class)
Because most Iyengar classes assume a certain amount of knowledge about the poses and yoga in general it is not a great option if you are a brand new beginner. They will often say the names of the Iyengar poses in Sanskrit. They also assume you have a certain level of bodily awareness and propioception which most beginner yoga students don’t have . If you are a yoga beginner, you would either want to talk to the teacher first or attend a more basic yoga introduction course. Avoid going to an advanced, power yoga , hot yoga, or “all-levels class” since you will feel intimidated and overwhelmed with the poses there.
You often spend a long time dissecting and breaking down a pose. First you might see the teacher model the pose first, then instruct you how to get in it with some very technical anatomy cues to pay attention to in your own body. After being in the pose, the teacher might model it again or have another student go into and point out certain ways the student is holding their body in the pose. Often you will go into the pose again with these further anatomical refinements. Since the poses requires a lot of props, you spend some time getting and putting away props as well as building your pose with the props.
One of the teachers I go to is Donna Debs who has a home studio out in the Philadelphia Suburbs on the Main Line. Her home studio is on a beautiful private street and the studio itself is clean with all of the requisite props required for an Iyengar practice such as blocks, chair, wall-straps, bolster, blankets and eye pillows. I’m not sure how old she is but I suspect she is about my mom’s age with Jennifer Aniston’s toned, cut and sleek body. ( One thing about Iyengar teachers, they have the most defined, toned muscles which shows how much they are fully and completely engaging their body to do their practice) Donna teaches about 5 classes a week, a few in the morning and a few in the evenings but no weekend classes. Donna also cuts back on classes from the end of November and starts up again in January and there are no classes during the summer.
The other Iyengar teacher I take classes with is Robin Lowry who has a home studio in Germantown. Robin is a full-time high school teacher so only teaches about two classes a week in the evenings so it’s been tough for me to be able to attend her classes. Her studio is in an older style Philadelphia twin on the 3rd floor My only complaint about Robin is that I wish she had more classes or maybe a Saturday class .Robin only teaches classes during the regular school year and not on Mondays when there are school holidays. There is no AC in the studio which is why there are no classes from the end of May to the end of September.