Iyengar Yoga Centre of Victoria Teachers’ Intensive Experience

Eva-Lynn Jagoe participated in the Iyengar Yoga Centre of Victoria Teachers’ Intensive in August 2024.
Below, she shares her experience with us.

In Person Again!

A quiet tap on the shoulder as a peer begins to teach a pose. Ann Kilbertus or Louie Ettling smile at you and say, “You’ll be next.” Momentary panic, unbidden thoughts. “What if I am the worst teacher here? What will all these other accomplished yogis think of me?” You bravely stand up amongst your peers and you teach, and maybe your voice quavers or you jumble your instructions, and it’s all okay! You are surrounded by a supportive and encouraging community of fellow teachers, and you’re all having fun together.

This was our experience at the Iyengar Yoga Centre of Victoria teachers’ intensive in August. We might have all had jitters the first day, but by the second of five, we were much more willing to ask “naïve” questions or to take risks by teaching a pose or an action that we had never taught before. We relished the rare opportunity to teach 26 accomplished students who knew how to work in the poses that we taught them, and from whom we could learn so much.

Each day, we started with Pranayama, usually taught by one of the teachers with more experience teaching Pranayama. Leslie Hogya joined us the first day and taught us a Savasana that Geetaji had done, in which you lie flat with your feet pressing into a bolster at the wall. Everyone marvelled at how calming and secure it felt. Another day we sat behind a partner and, with a gentle touch, guided their Pranayama to touch different areas of the ribs and back. This subtle and quiet attention was a profound learning experience for both partners.

Then we had 2.5 hours of “Pune Practice,” an opportunity to play with all—and there are a lot!—of the props at the Centre. All of us loved this communal practice. To walk across the room and see the different approaches, adaptations, and adjustments filled us with gratitude for the richness of Iyengar yoga. It was inspiring to see the amount of knowledge that we collectively had about how to sequence a practice, work with an injury, go deeper towards a target pose, or assist each other.

After lunch in a nearby restaurant or sitting on a blanket in the park, we congregated into a circle to chat, drawing from a basket where people could write their questions. One discussion that continued over the five days was about Sutra III.15 “krama anyatvam parinama anyatve hetuh” or “Successive sequential changes cause the distinctive changes in the consciousness”.  We talked about the ways that our actions can affect our perception of the past, and how every step along the way matters. If, for instance, you come out of your Sirsasana abruptly, you actually change the flavour of the entire practice that came before it.

Another question that came up was how to pronounce “om.” We read from Eashwaran’s translation of the Mandukya Upanishad on aum and were also reminded of Guruji’s discussion of the three sounds and their meanings in Light on Yoga.

Then there were the questions about how to position a blanket or a prop, or how to adapt a pose. For the first couple of days, there was only one folded slip of paper in the “Answers” basket. The two words on it—“It depends!” became a repeated refrain. For instance, when someone asked where the shoulderstand platform should be positioned on the neck, everyone chimed in, “It depends!,” and launched into a discussion about neck length, thorasic mobility, shoulder tightness, any reddening or flushing of the face, desired effect, platform height, and state of mind. This open-ended answer to many of our questions was surprisingly liberating. It allowed us to become more flexible in our thinking in order to be attentive to our students’ capacities and needs, and to experiment, in our own practices, with different variations and approaches.

With their light touch, humour, and genuine curiosity, Louie and Ann made the afternoon sessions a delightful exploration of teaching strategies and hands-on adjustments. Sometimes we split into groups to prepare a sequence we then taught to the group, other times we all learned a therapeutic adaptation and tried it out on a few of our peers. One day the men were put into a group so that they could report on how to work with male students’ strengths and stiffnesses. We supported each other in trying out challenging poses, such as dropbacks, and shared so many ideas and approaches about the poses in our syllabi and beyond.

A highlight of the week was our group call to Shirley Daventry French, the founder of IYCV, who was having her tea as we ate an early dinner. We asked her to tell us stories about Guruji, both about his visit to her own home, where he startled her mother-in-law with his repetitive thuds early in the morning (he must have been practising dropbacks), and about her editing of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. This virtual visit reminded us of the rich history of IYCV, and made all of us feel grateful to be part of our Canadian community.

Some of us were old-timers to the intensive, even having done it on zoom during the pandemic. Others were new. All of us, thanks to the extraordinary grace and generosity of Louie and Ann, felt welcomed and valued. Our love of yoga blossomed even more in the nourishing atmosphere created by this Canada-wide community.

Should you consider joining the next August teachers’ intensive?

It depends! If you love the idea of practising and learning with others, of trying out new things in a supportive and encouraging group of peers, and if you want to immerse yourself in all things yoga for five days, then I highly recommend it!

Eva-Lynn Jagoe is a Level 1 CIYT in Toronto ON

Reprinted with permission. The original article can be found here.