A comprehensive illustrated guide to the famed yoga method developed by B. K. S. Iyengar.
Featuring one hundred key postures with detailed step-by-step instructions and photographs—from Silva Mehta, a disciple of Iyengar and cofounder of the the Iyengar Yoga Institute in Maida Vale, London; and Mira Mehta, founder of and teacher at The Yogic Path in London, who studied with Iyengar from childhood.
Yoga gives the energy to lead life fully and with enjoyment. Time spent alone in practice puts mundane issues in perspective and builds a fund of inner strength. Family, friends, and work all benefit. We illustrate the value of Yoga in everyday life by giving a brief outline about ourselves. I had an accident when I was 25 in which I sustained a crush fracture of the spine. I was in tremendous pain. Doctors, surgeons, naturopaths, and osteopaths predicted I would be in a wheelchair by the time I was fifty. A few years later I developed osteoarthritis. I was living in India at the time. A naturopath friend told me: "There is only one thing for your arthritis - Yoga and Mr. Iyengar." I knew very little about Yoga, but within three weeks I was in B.K.S. Iyengar's class and have been ever since, whenever the opportunity presented itself, and so have my children. In India there is a saying, "When the pupil is ready, the Guru appears." We must have been ready. Starting Yoga gave me periodic, almost miraculous, lifting of pain, and the feeling of excitement and euphoria. I began to shake off the depression caused by physical agony. Over the years Yoga has improved my physical health, and has given me a new outlook and optimism. Far from being in a wheelchair, I am able to help others surmount their physical problems. Teaching Yoga has been rewarding and satisfying.
-SlLVA MEHTA
