BKS Iyengar Practicing in 1938, Part 1
May 15, 2006 @ 07:35 PM Filed in: Video
This amazing footage was uploaded to YouTube.com by
MCPetruk. It comes from a 1938 newsreel that features
footage of both BKS Iyengar (aged 20) and his
brother-in-law and guru, Krishnamacharya,
demonstrating advanced yoga poses. This was long
before Iyengar developed and refined his method of
yoga into the Iyengar Yoga we know today.
To begin with he demonstrates part of what he refers to as the "Eka Pada Shirshasana Cycle" (Single Leg Behind The Head Pose) in Light on Yoga:
All on on one side:
Chakorasana (Partridge Pose) - Light on Yoga plates 379 + 380
Durvasana (Durva's Pose) - plates 381-383
Richikasana (Richi's Pose) - plates 384-385
Chakorasana (Partridge Pose)
Skandasana (Skanda's pose) - plate 372
Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose) - plate 66
Urdhva Mukha Shvanasana (Upward Facing Dog Pose) - plate 74
The footage skips for a moment and we see him briefly in Padmasana (Lotus Pose) from behind.
From there he jumps from Adho Mukha Shvanasana (Downward Facing Dog) - plates 75 and 76 - into stage 1 (plate 342) and then stage 2 (plate 343) of Ashtavakrasana (Ashtavakra's Pose). Then back up into stage 1 before the footage shifts again.
Then he goes through the stages of Ganda Bherundasana (Terrible Cheek Pose) - plates 571-583 - a formidable backward extension. He comes out this almost casually into Tadasana (Mountain Pose).
The footage cuts once again to show him flow from Adho Mukha Shvanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose) into Chaturangan Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose) and back before jumping into Vajrasana (Thunderbolt Pose) and going up into Shirshasana (Head Stand).
This is perhaps the most amazing part of this clip.
He comes up slowly into Shirshasana through Urdhva Dandasana (Upward Staff Pose) and takes the legs over his head with complete control, not dropping back, to place them lightly on the floor in Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana (Two Legged Inverted Staff Pose). He then takes one leg up and then the other to go into Eka PAda Viparita Dandasana (Single-Leg Inverted Staff Pose). He walks his feet in to grab one heel and raise the other leg for Eka Pada Viparita Dandasana II. From there he straightens the arms into Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Wheel Pose) and then rolls up to Tadasana once again. He repeats the whole thing facing the other way. He flubs the roll-up to Tadasana, so he does it again, impeccably this time.
It's hard to judge the pacing of the practice. The footage appears to be a little slowed down in a couple of places but, regardless, his control is amazing to see. We mostly see him in the form of the static pictures in LoY from the 1960's, when he was in his late 30's and early forties and from the pictures taken in his later years that adorn Iyengar Institutes around the world. To see him at the height of his youth working away like this is quite breathtaking. It makes me think that if this man tells me to turn my thigh in a certain way, or to firm this part or that, I should bloody well listen and do as he says!
To begin with he demonstrates part of what he refers to as the "Eka Pada Shirshasana Cycle" (Single Leg Behind The Head Pose) in Light on Yoga:
All on on one side:
Chakorasana (Partridge Pose) - Light on Yoga plates 379 + 380
Durvasana (Durva's Pose) - plates 381-383
Richikasana (Richi's Pose) - plates 384-385
Chakorasana (Partridge Pose)
Skandasana (Skanda's pose) - plate 372
Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose) - plate 66
Urdhva Mukha Shvanasana (Upward Facing Dog Pose) - plate 74
The footage skips for a moment and we see him briefly in Padmasana (Lotus Pose) from behind.
From there he jumps from Adho Mukha Shvanasana (Downward Facing Dog) - plates 75 and 76 - into stage 1 (plate 342) and then stage 2 (plate 343) of Ashtavakrasana (Ashtavakra's Pose). Then back up into stage 1 before the footage shifts again.
Then he goes through the stages of Ganda Bherundasana (Terrible Cheek Pose) - plates 571-583 - a formidable backward extension. He comes out this almost casually into Tadasana (Mountain Pose).
The footage cuts once again to show him flow from Adho Mukha Shvanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose) into Chaturangan Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose) and back before jumping into Vajrasana (Thunderbolt Pose) and going up into Shirshasana (Head Stand).
This is perhaps the most amazing part of this clip.
He comes up slowly into Shirshasana through Urdhva Dandasana (Upward Staff Pose) and takes the legs over his head with complete control, not dropping back, to place them lightly on the floor in Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana (Two Legged Inverted Staff Pose). He then takes one leg up and then the other to go into Eka PAda Viparita Dandasana (Single-Leg Inverted Staff Pose). He walks his feet in to grab one heel and raise the other leg for Eka Pada Viparita Dandasana II. From there he straightens the arms into Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Wheel Pose) and then rolls up to Tadasana once again. He repeats the whole thing facing the other way. He flubs the roll-up to Tadasana, so he does it again, impeccably this time.
It's hard to judge the pacing of the practice. The footage appears to be a little slowed down in a couple of places but, regardless, his control is amazing to see. We mostly see him in the form of the static pictures in LoY from the 1960's, when he was in his late 30's and early forties and from the pictures taken in his later years that adorn Iyengar Institutes around the world. To see him at the height of his youth working away like this is quite breathtaking. It makes me think that if this man tells me to turn my thigh in a certain way, or to firm this part or that, I should bloody well listen and do as he says!