Hello,
Is Iyengar yoga in line with the Gokhale method? I have seen a few posts on here where Esther mentions BKS Iyengar's way of bending. Does that mean that she approves of his form of yoga and would recommend it to those who follow her method? There is a class in my town and my daughter, who went in the spring term, said she thought the teacher was very good and worked with each participant individually, taking into account any problems they had.
3 years 2 months ago
12/15/2010 - 7:51am
Yes! Of all the Yoga varieties available in the US, Iyengar is usually the most closely aligned with the Gokhale Method. The use of props and bending properly at L5/S1 is very conducive to protecting the spine while participating in Yoga asanas. Many of the yoga photos that Esther references as good models of Yogic posture include BKS Iyengar's positions. If you have a teacher who seems well versed in helping you individually and knowing about injuries, I say go for it!
Best,
Charlene Hannibal
Gokhale Method Teacher, Palo Alto and San Francisco
11 years 8 months ago
07/23/2012 - 5:44am
Thank you, Charlene. I'm not actually in the US, but that doesn't really matter. I'll certainly go for it as my daughter was very impressed with it and it helped her greatly with her back - she's a student forever bending over books and was beginning to feel the consequences. I'll show her the Gokhale method, too, but at her age she likes to reject outright any suggestion coming from her mother :).
All the best,
Maja