These are some amazing clips of BKS Iyengar when he was still a young man. He puts on quite the exhibition. I love the beginning of the first clip where he stands up with his leg behind his head. If only my hamstrings were a little looser.
Part I
If you enjoyed the first clip, continue on to find more!
Click to continue reading “BKS Iyengar Yoga: 1938 Silent Newsreels”
Doesn’t sitting at a desk all day, hunched over and staring at a computer screen, give you a major kink in the neck and make you feel like you’re going blind? Since I’m a law student (third year, almost done thank goodness!) that’s pretty much what my days consist of–blurry eyes and tight shoulders. If you’re in the same boat, next time you feel like popping a couple of ibuprofen to get through the last two hours of the day, instead why not practice a litte Face Yoga to release the tension. There are a lot of different ways to incorporate yoga into the daily routine–we just have to be creative and willing to step outside the traditional vinyasa yoga box. Why not make yoga at the office part of your daily routine. You’ll feel better and be more productive – at least I know I am when I remember to be mindful and take a few minutes to stretch and relax. And last but not least, don’t forget to breathe while sitting at the desk all day long. Enjoy!
I ran across a great image on the AshtangaNews blog today (check out the image below). It was produced by Flickr Leech, an image application that creates image collages based on keywords. All you have to do is type in “Ashtanga” and a great set of photos pops up. It looks like it could be especially helpful for looking up poses by name. I just really love looking at all the cool poses one after the other. Might as well give it a try! AshtangaNews looks like an excellent yoga blog as well.
Before this morning, I’d only sort of heard of Amma, the Hugging Mother. NPR had an interesting segment on a few aspects of this Indian Saint’s work for making the world a more peaceful, compassionate place to live. Listen to the interview here: 
Read more about her life at Amma.org. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the brief biography found on the Amma website:
When someone asked Amma why she receives every person who comes to her in a loving embrace Amma replied, “If you ask the river,’ why do you flow?’ what can it say?”
Once a press reporter asked Amma how was it possible for her to embrace each and every one in the same loving way, even if they were diseased or unpleasant. Amma replied, “When a bee hovers over a garden of varied flowers, what it beholds is not the difference between the flowers but the honey within them. Similarly Amma sees the same Supreme Self in each and every one.”
