page_title: Iyengar Yoga
section_title: Style
hierarchical_section_title: Iyengar Yoga / Style
caption_attribution_description: English: Eyal Shifroni demonstrates Vasisthasana posture with props. עברית: איל שפרוני מדגים את תנוחת ושיסטהאסנה עם כסא
context_page_description: Iyengar Yoga, named after and developed by B. K. S. Iyengar, and described in his bestselling 1966 book Light on Yoga, is a form of yoga as exercise that has an emphasis on detail, precision and alignment in the performance of yoga postures.
  The style often makes use of props, such as belts, blocks, and blankets, as aids in performing the asanas. The props enable beginning students, the elderly, or those with physical limitations to perform the asanas correctly, minimising the risk of injury or strain.
context_section_description: Iyengar Yoga is a form of yoga as exercise with a focus on the structural alignment of the physical body through the practice of asanas. It differs from other styles of yoga in three ways: precision, sequence and use of props.
  Precision is sought in body alignment in every asana.
  The sequences in which asanas are practiced is considered important in achieving the desired result.
  Iyengar Yoga led the use of props, designing suitable means to assist practitioners.
  According to the Iyengar Yoga Institute, unlike more experiential approaches where students are encouraged to independently "find their way" to the asanas by imitating the teacher, an Iyengar Yoga class is precise, with misalignments and errors actively explained and corrected. It states that the style "emphasises precision and alignment", and prioritises correct movement over quantity, i.e. moving a small amount in the right direction is preferred to moving more but in other directions. Postures are held for a relatively long period of time compared to other schools of yoga; this allows the muscles to relax and lengthen, and encourages awareness in the pose. Props including belts, blocks and blankets are freely used to assist students in correct working in the asanas.
  The New Yorker writes that Iyengar Yoga is characterized by great attention to detail and precise focus on body alignment. Iyengar pioneered the use of "props" such as cushions, benches, blocks, straps and sand bags, which function as aids allowing beginners to experience asanas more easily and fully than might otherwise be possible without several years of practice. Props also allow elderly, injured, tired or ill students to experience the benefits of a wider variety of asanas via fully "supported" methods requiring less muscular effort.
  Yoga Journal notes that in contrast to other styles, beginners in Iyengar Yoga are introduced early on to standing poses (such as Trikonasana and Virabhadrasana), executed with careful attention to detail. For example, in Trikonasana, the feet are often jumped apart to a wide stance, the forward foot is turned out, and the centre of the forward heel is exactly aligned with the centre of the arch of the other foot.
  The Guardian observes that the style prioritises correct movement over quantity, i.e. moving a little in the right direction is preferred to moving more but in a wrong direction. Postures are held for a relatively long period of time compared to other schools of yoga; this allows the muscles to relax and lengthen, and encourages awareness in the pose. Another major difference is that props are used freely whenever support can encourage correct movement.
  The New York Times writes that Iyengar Yoga is distinctive in its diversity of sequencing and choice of asanas. This, suggests Carrie Owerko, an Iyengar Yoga teacher, helps to reduce injury. Owerko states that the style emphasises the inversion poses, headstand (Sirsasana) and shoulderstand (Sarvangasana), more than other styles, "insist[ing] on a yoga blanket to prevent overstretching of the neck area". In Owerko's words, "Iyengar yoga is very cautious and mindful."
  A founder of Iyengar Yoga in America, Mary Dunn, stated that "People have incorrectly pigeonholed Iyengar Yoga into 'alignment, technique, props' rather than 'learning, experiencing, integrating'—which I think are the real words".
caption: Vasisthasana using props
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