I came into the hall every day, full-spirited keen young and eager to learn. I could always feel his attention on me and his concerned eye as I had come from a totally different background and was here on my own.
I have left from my 4-storeyed townhouse in St Johns Wood, London. I remember nothing of India because London became my home at a young age.
I ride in an auto rickshaw for the first time; it’s good to be so close to the road, the aliveness, the earth. The rawness of the city is such a contrast to where I come from. The realness wakes me up.
We work at the institute, a room filled with pure yogic energy, floors of pale green marble and Black and white photos adorn the walls with him in asanas in his 40s. They are a beauty to behold. He is twisted into the most perfect postures. It is surreal being here in India in his light-filled presence. Always feels so calm, truthful to be near him and safe. A hall I always come back to where my heart comes home and I feel a certain safety as well as the excitement of new learning. The institute, for many of us, is home away from home.
I am struck by how Mr Iyengar embodies a joyful and youthful presence and I love the twinkle in his eye. He takes me on as one of his students because he detects my steely courage and my perseverance. It takes immense guts for an 18-year-old Londoner to come to Pune, a primitive country town, on her own at this vulnerable age and in this emotionally depleted state and to face a man of his calibre. I am in awe of this man. I suspect he can see through me and everything I try to hide. His sharpness names everything and brings all that one wants to hide to the surface.
He teaches me a full arm, I accomplish my first one minute. I accomplish it easily he celebrates – “Give me 5 Prithi,” he laughs. Then he teaches me Sirsasana (headstand) and guides me by saying that if you can stand on your head, you can stand on your own two feet. It is exhilarating working with him. He has the energy, the safety and the containment I need. He put me in two-point Sirsasana. My hands apart and balancing on my head. Anything was possible when you were near him. He told me, this pose will give you a lot of power in life. His words and this practice he held me through everything thing. I love the yogic way of living. I feel like he gave us not just a practice but a way of life. I remember him telling me, “Yoga is not just on the mat, it is off the mat as well.”
Through the practice he prescribes, we work to stabilize my nervous system, to re-energize and strengthen my thinking power, even my tired brain cells feel rejuvenated. Deep in my bones, I know this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I felt like I have landed. I felt present, alive and inspired.
I am receiving a life force I was missing in my life. He seems to be pouring a magical elixir over me. This feels like meeting with my God on this earth. Is this what heaven feels like?
He teaches me Bakasana, crane pose. I learnt it in thirty seconds, he says to a senior teacher, Patricia, “This is the benefit of the youth.” I barely had time to understand what posture I was contorted into, all I knew was that it felt great and the focused energy makes me come alive and gives me a fresh outlook on life. It’s a bit tricky because your knees must be balanced on your elbows, with your bottom in the air. He places four or five brick so I can step up onto it and do the pose independently and quickly. He senses my element of doubt and says “There is no time to think, just do it!” My doubt quickly changes and I immediately do all the asanas without a doubt. I have surrendered fully and I’ve learnt all the advanced asanas in minutes. The impossible is possible when you are with him. After seeing my face so flushed, he could also tell that I was at my limit and says, “Now it’s time to change asanas. People like you get bored. There are no quick fixes.” there was no sugar coating in his words.
Next, I stand on his wrinkly, toes and he puts ropes on my waist and I swing back while he holds me by the whole body with his arms while I do a back bend. I held on to his shoulders and his sagging skin felt soft like butter. I can still smell his skin, the sweet smell of sandalwood, subtle but mixed with his skin was pure. I clasped his shoulders as he said in his soft voice, “Hold on to me.” I trusted him, his grip, his power and most of all his compassion and love, as I swung up I laughed, he was able to bring me alive again. I literally felt my heart my inner organs just beginning to function better in minutes.
We laughed together, keep your eyes open, and continue, open the chest, arch the back, open the armpits. He held my body with his feet and we did a set of ten backbends together. He prescribes me this strengthening practice that sustains me for many years. When I practice, the problems in my life look small. The asanas regenerate my depleted energy. I was grateful to be held, and I felt his love and his deep compassion. Backbends with Guruji were exhilarating and a feeling you never forget and always want to do, more and more of. The power of backbends cannot be described only in the action. It strengthens every part of your body and to be taught by him, was an experience that is never forgotten. Backbends are heart opening. Mr Iyengar is literally giving me my life back and releasing the feeling of being stuck. My past is washing away and a new, renewed sense of being embodied me. I feel like I was born again.
He pushes me to my physical edge in the asanas and then acknowledges me when I’m at my limit.
After my three weeks of gruelling yoga, he implies he would not hesitate to kick me out and send me back home. He then softens, “You and me, Prithi, we will become famous together!” Your being a rebel Prithi, is the message I got from my family.
My family advises me to come back to London, to live my social life. I felt it be so boring compared to practising yoga with Guruji.
The practice he gave me saved me on every level: physically, emotionally and mentally. Working with Guruji was like being illuminated inside and out by golden rays of the sun. He beamed and brimmed with light, inspiring me to find the strength I never knew existed within me. I desperately needed that strength to face the challenges of my life. One thing is certain, he is missed by all those who knew him. In his own words, “Practice practice practice and the light will come.” May his work continue to spread as he would have wanted in his light and trueness.
– Prithi