:: September 2005 Volume 4/Number 6

Hard Work and Surrender,
The Healing Benefits of Iyengar Yoga

By Laura Faye

Archive photos courtesy of the Iyengar Yoga National
Association of the United States, with the assistance of Eddy Marks, San Diego

Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1996, Garth McLean was told by his doctor to start practicing yoga, which he faithfully began after leaving the hospital. Today he is stronger, much improved and he teaches Iyengar Yoga to others.

Because M.S. causes inflammation and subsequent scarring of the myelin sheath surrounding the nerves. McLean’s doctor explained the importance of maintaining a cool body temperature during exercise. He gravitated to the Iyengar system because at the time he couldn’t stand or walk: “the props looked therapeutic,” he said and “the ropes made it seem possible.” Over the years he has battled with blindness, loss of feeling in his torso resulting in bladder control issues and negative side effects from drugs.

McLean, now a 9 - year veteran of the Iyengar Yoga system, is currently preparing for the Junior Intermediate certification exams this fall so that he can continue teaching students with M.S. During a visit to Pune to study directly with Mr. Iyengar, McLean says that Mr. Iyengar advised him to “walk the line between courage and caution every day.”

Since every case is different, McLean had to develop an intuitive practice and found that inversions worked best for him. After discussing it with his doctor, weighing the options and “thinking really hard” about Mr. Iyengar’s guidance, McLean decided in early 2004 to go off all medications. This year, an MRI showed “significant reduction is brain lesions,” a result which McLean attributes to his Iyengar Yoga practice. McLean’s body is strong and toned. He looks fit.

The Iyengar method is especially well suited for prevention and treatment of disease. Iyengar’s teachings are deeply grounded in the ancient Yoga tradition, and his intense personal practice plus more than 60 years of teaching have produced significant innovations such as the emphasis on standing poses to develop strength, stability, stamina, concentration, and body alignment and the use of props to facilitate learning and to adjust poses to individualize the practice. Mr. Iyengar states in the introduction to Appendix II Curative Asanas for Various Diseases at the back of his renowned book Light on Yoga: “I am giving groups of asanas for different functional and organic ailments and diseases based on experiences with my pupils.” This list includes 76 conditions extending from brain to varicose veins. In addition, his daughter Geeta Iyengar’s book Yoga, A Gem for Women, describes yoga teachings for all the stages in a woman’s life.
For those who continue to pursue knowledge through the Iyengar system, the quality and type of healing is even more extensive, from immediate relief of an upset tummy, to cured bunions after six months of consistent toe spreading, to profound, dramatic and life altering treat ment of major ailments such as scoliosis, multiple sclerosis, heart conditions or high blood pressure. Today, the use of Mr. Iyengar’s system applied to various ailments and diseases is widespread.

A 2003 Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States (IYNAUS) survey of students enrolling in Iyengar yoga classes, found the most common health problems reported were lower back pain, allergies, joint/muscle problems, depression, headache and anxiety. Still, immediate results should usually not be expected, even when the sensation of physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual healing is noticed immediately; many of yoga’s benefits manifest only after years of struggle, hard work and ultimately surrender. For example, a student with deformed leg bones committed to working diligently, correctly and with strict attention to alignment and form as per the requirements of Iyengar yoga found that after five years “my friends are noticing my legs have gotten straighter.”

However, many Iyengar yoga teachers are cautious about using terms such as therapeutic yoga. “All yoga is therapeutic in nature,” says Gloria Goldberg, Senior Intermediate instructor and head of Iyengar Yoga Center of La Mesa. As a primarily philosophical subject, yoga is goal-less, therefore any agendas, expectations or attempts to ‘fix what is broken’ runs counter to the genuine point: self acceptance. If one gains benefit from yoga, one should consider it a gift.

But the multitude of favorable reports such as McLean’s has attracted scientists and medical researchers from across the spectrum of research fields from breast cancer to osteoporosis. Preliminary findings have encouraged scientists in the hope of gathering a more thorough explanation of the healing aspects of practicing yoga. Iyengar Yoga is often the method of choice for these scientific studies. According to John Kepner, Director of the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), a Non-Profit Educational Organization, “the Iyengar system of yoga naturally lends itself to research, as the teachers are well trained and relatively standardized, an important factor in controlling for variables in scientific studies.” Additionally, Iyengar teacher certification is comprehensive; Introductory level teacher training takes a minimum of two to three years, thereby ensuring a high degree of credibility. The Iyengar certification process is the only yoga system in which the adjudicating body dispensing the credential is independent from the teachers. “This gives a lot of integrity to that certification process,” says Kepner. Furthermore, IYNAUS is the first and only regulatory body in this country to set a standard for therapeutic teachers, at least Junior Intermediate III or higher.

At the UCLA Pediatric Pain Program, Dr. Lonnie Zeltzer chose Iyengar Yoga because “it is highly therapeutic and safe for people with medical conditions, including chronic pain.” Iyengar Yoga places great importance on timing and sequencing, and many students with pain problems need to hold poses for periods of time to get the desired results. In Zeltzer’s book, A Pediatrician’s Guide for Claiming a Normal Childhood, she explains that, “One of the most important things that Iyengar Yoga offers these kids is a feeling of mastery. Through their own skill and actions, they can take charge of their healing and solve their chronic pain problem by virtue of their own effort.”

Beth Sternlieb, the Iyengar Yoga teacher in the Pediatric Paim Program, helps children and young adults who suffer from digestive disorders, chronic fatigue, rheumatoid arthritis, neuropathic pain from injuries and other chronic disorders. The UCLA Pediatric Pain Program, explains Sternlieb, consists of three interrelated branches: a patient treatment clinic, a research program and a new area studying persistent fatigue in breast cancer survivors. This October, Dr. Zeltzer will be presenting Mr. Iyengar with an award on behalf of all of the children around the world with chronic pain and health problems who have benefited from his methods of practicing yoga.

The results of Iyengar Yoga are not limited merely to physical benefits. Dr. David Shapiro, UCLA Department of Psychiatry, in a series of ongoing investigations looked at the link between physical movements, posture and emotion. Dr. Shapiro estimates that as many as 1 million Americans begin practicing yoga as a means to alleviate depression. He hypothesized that stretching and pressure at reflex points on the skin affects functions of the organs and glands and that specific postures may have an effect on emotional release. In one study on “Mood Changes Associated with Iyengar Yoga Practices,” he compared classes which either emphasized forward bends, standing poses or backbends and found a reduction in negative moods for all three types of classes and also a statistically significant increase in positive emotions for the backbend classes.

In a continuing study, “Yoga as a Complementary Treatment of Depression,” Dr. Shapiro tested subjects with Major Depressive Disorder, focusing on backbending postures in the classes. Marla Apt, one of the Iyengar instructors who participated in this study “absolutely saw a difference with these people, from sullen and withdrawn to laughing and clapping, encouraging each other.” Although it is unclear exactly which aspects of the Iyengar Yoga caused the changes, Shapiro believes “the improved moods and reduction in symptoms supported the potential of yoga as a treatment of depression.”

As yoga becomes more prevalent as a complementary therapy that appears to achieve the desired results, interest in studies such as these appears to be increasing. Steinberg is slated to receive another grant from the National Institutes of Health, Zeltzer ‘s program is growing and Shapiro is actively recruiting more subjects. While the scientists learn more about how and why Iyengar Yoga affects health, Iyengar students and teachers apply the techniques and reap the benefits, just like I did recently.

My student was bent over wheezing and gasping, and by the look on her face, terrified as she struggled for air. I had never seen anyone with a full-blown asthma attack, so I went straight for my copy of B.K.S. Iyengar’s Light on Yoga, and turned to Appendix II, Curative Asanas for Various Diseases, quickly finding the list of recommended asthma postures. Despite the fact that Light on Yoga was published in 1966, and even though Mr. Iyengar continually updates and elaborates upon that original work through his ongoing teachings, Appendix II remains a blessing and an invaluable tool. I chose to be cautious especially because the first posture on the list is sirsasana (headstand), and this student was a novice. Although she was in a state of panic, I got her to hang upside-down in a pelvic swing doing supported sirsasana.

I had faith in the Iyengar Yoga system and expected it to work, yet I was still astonished by how quickly her breathing calmed. Regardless of how comprehensively science explains why Iyengar Yoga works, observing the healing process is a miracle every time.

Laura Faye holds degrees in Biology and Chemistry, as well as certification to teach yoga according to the Iyengar tradition. She has been teaching and practicing yoga for over 20 years. Laura’s husband, Bobby King, builds yoga props consistent with Iyengar specifications.

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