Jane Munro is an award-winning Canadian poet and dedicated yogi. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, and practises Iyengar yoga at The Yoga Space. In 2014, she found herself in Pune, India at the Iyengar Institute having her Sirsasana 'renovated'…
Thoughts from Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher, Jennifer Zelmer We’ve been navigating new territory over the last few weeks, leading the World Health Organization to describe COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11th. While as of now (morning of March 15th),…
I spent the month of December 2019 at the Iyengar Institute (RIMYI) in Pune, India. This was my third trip to Pune. As sometimes happens at the Institute, regular classes were suspended to accommodate special sessions, in this case, for…
I like to practise this supported variation of Goraksasana. Reaching up the ropes helps me to sustain lift in my torso, and the wall gives me a reference for plugging in at the midline of my buttocks. - Niren Pandya,…
I like this variation of Urdhva Dhanurasana because it challenges my arms more strongly than without a chair. It demands a lot of strength in my arms as I lift up (and on the way down!) which makes it more…
I've always found this particular variation of Virabhadrasana I super-informative. I especially love how the wall helps me to understand the relative position of my pelvis and how the extra height under my front foot shifts substantially more weight into…
I enjoy practising Paryankasana with a vertical block under my thoracic spine because it gives lift to a part of my back that is challenging to access otherwise. I use the block under my forearms to push against, and this…
Changing the orientation of Salabhasana by using a wall helps me to access my upper back. My shoulder blades dig nicely into my back and from the sharp upward extension of my legs, my entire spine can curl back. My…
Using the trestle for Parivrtta Trikonasana gives me the stability to extend the trunk further and access a deeper twist. The feedback I get from having my back body touching something helps me align my head, ribcage, and pelvis…
The block in this Setu Bandha Sarvangasana stabilizes my sacrum. I love it at the end of a practice because the extra stability helps my spine to relax and soften. - Kara Thorsen, Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher