Student Spotlight: Ankita Vaidya

What is your name and where do you study Iyengar Yoga?

Ankita Vaidya. I am a student of Karen’s at Yoga Centre London, London, Ontario, Canada

How long have you been practicing Iyengar yoga?

I started with Karen about 2 years ago.

What first brought you to Iyengar Yoga?

We had ‘yogasana’ as a part of our academics from the age of 8 till 13. If I remember correctly, some of the teachers who taught us were Iyengar teachers. Besides, I belong to Mumbai and therefore always knew ‘Iyengar Yoga Institute’. 

After I moved to London, ON, I simply googled ‘Iyengar yoga near me’. Under images, I saw ropes, straps, blankets and blocks. I was ecstatic! I emailed Karen and started right away, the same week. I was so thrilled to find a studio just 15 minutes away from me! I was a little upset that I didn’t find it earlier, But oh well, better late than never. Like Mr. Iyengar once said, there is always a time and place for things to happen!

What keeps you coming back?

Yoga is an ocean of knowledge. Every class I attend I learn something new about the human body, or about myself. I always walkout feeling elevated, happy and accomplished. It is quite amazing to do things that you never imagined you could.

What is your favourite asana? Why?

That’s a tough question to answer. The more classes I attend, the list of favorite asanas keeps elongating. 

If I absolutely have to pick one, I would say urdhva dhanurasana. Difficult and challenging, yet life changing!

If you had 30 seconds to describe Iyengar Yoga and why someone should try it, what would you say?

I always say Iyengar yoga is the LEGIT form of yoga. Iyengar yoga talks about alignment, connection, ‘breathing through the stretch’, feeling the pose and more importantly being aware of every limb of your body, even when you are in a pose or not. Use of props to generate the awareness is what makes Iyengar yoga unique. Purest essence of yoga is the mind-body connection. And through each of the poses, at Iyengar yoga, you truly experience yourself.