Iyengar is Still My Teacher

For someone who’s never formally taken Iyengar yoga classes BKS still runs through my mind regularly. Mostly what I get from his teaching is awareness, feeling and continued ongoing work. The art of bodywork and of yoga is never finished. It’s an evolving art and continues til the last breath.

When I gave a talk about Reboot™ and what I’m creating at the Lauterstein Conway Massage School recently students who are 2 months away from finishing their massage schooling were puzzled by the talk I gave. As I mentioned fusing yoga and massage together in a new package they expressed surprise when I told them that yoga is massage. Why would they think otherwise?

In the west massage and yoga are seen as separate disciplines. Having done both for 15 or so years I see them as two sides of the same coin. One requires a license. The other has none. Massage therapists have confusion about what I’m teaching and I suppose that’s just par for the course. The yoga community doesn’t understand the bodywork and the massage community doesn’t understand the yoga.

I’ll continue working on myself using blocks, straps, a suspension system, breathing and allow everyone else to wonder what’s going on. I can smile internally and know that Iyengar approves of my continued exploration and that anything I can do to relieve suffering, my own and that of my students and clients, is just fine. Every time I breathe and press into my own tissues I wonder what the research and science actually says and how long it will take for the massage industry to catch up.

Massage is passive. Yoga is active. I use both. Reboot™