Inspiration
Shri Patanjali
Shri Patanjali authored the Yoga Sutras 500-200BC, a written work consisted of small sentence(sutras) and divided in four chapters or padas: Samadhi Pada(defines Yoga) Sadhana Pada ( defines the practice),Vibhudi Pada(the sidhis, supernatural powers), Kaivalya Pada( final liberation) The Yoga Sutras by sage Shri Patanjali is essential for those who aspire to live a life of Yoga, and to deeply comprehend the mind, the obstacles that prevents personal evolution and systematic strategies for dealing with them.
The journey from the physical to the spiritual is defined in the second chapter(Sadhana pada). The chapter unfolds the astanga yoga, or the eight-limbed steps towards self realization and emancipation. The eight limbs are yama (ethical conduct), niyama (personal disciplines), asana (postures), pranayama (control of the breath), pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (total absorption). As the practice of Yoga deepens the students learn to penetrate beyond the physical kosa (layer) to the suble kosas(inner layers) of mind, energy, and soul. Shri Patanjali is also considered the author of written works of the grammatics of Sanskrit, and medicine.
Shri B.K.S. Iyengar
B.K.S. Iyengar was born the 11th of 13 children during an influenza epidemic. He overcame poverty and deadly childhood illnesses to begin his study of yoga at age 16 with his brother-in-law and guru, T. Krishnamacharya. He practiced and studied intensely for years. In the process, he developed encyclopedic knowledge which fueled his teaching. Included among his many influential books are Light on Yoga, Light on Pranayama, Light on the Yoga Sutras, The Tree of Yoga, and Light on Life. Promoting yoga as an art, science and philosophy, Mr. Iyengar made yoga accessible to ordinary people worldwide, regardless of race, gender, age or religion.
Mr. Iyengar opened the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) in Pune, India in 1975. Mr. Iyengar taught classes through his 80s and continued his daily practice until shortly before his death at the age of 96.
His children the late Dr Geeta Iyengar, Sunita Iyengar, Prashant Iyengar and Abhijata continued the lineage of Guruji’s methodoloy to share Yoga as a healing path of body, mind, and the soul.
Influences from the West
Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen is a movement artist, researcher, educator, and therapist, and is the developer of the Body-Mind Centering® approach to movement and consciousness. Her work has influenced the fields of bodywork, movement, dance, yoga, body psychotherapy, childhood education, and other body-mind disciplines. In 1973, she founded The School for Body-Mind Centering®. She is the author of the books Sensing, Feeling and Action, Basic Neurocellular Patterns: Exploring Developmental Movement, and The Mechanics of Vocal Expression, and has numerous videos on the Body-Mind Centering® approach.