What Is Iyengar Yoga?

By Mike Selvon

Belur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar, founder of Iyengar yoga, has been practicing this relaxation technique for over 60 years and is considered to be one of the foremost meditation instructors in the world. He was born into a poor Iyengar family in the village of Belur Karnataka, South India. Iyengars are a community of Brahmins (a priestly class) who study the vedas and ancient religious texts that indicate a Supreme Being, as well as subsidiary gods, whose existence depends upon the all-powerful God.

After receiving spiritual treatment, B.K.S. Iyengar survived malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever and malnutrition. He began teaching this meditation technique in 1937 and has since traveled the globe, spreading his ideas to the Western world.

He has won several awards and published fourteen books, including "Light On Yoga," which has been dubbed "the bible of yoga." Time Magazine called Iyengar one of the "100 most influential people" in 2004. Iyengar yoga is one part spirituality and one part physical fitness, paving the way toward a united mind and body.

Spiritually, Iyengar meditation is based upon Patanjali's eight limbs of raja yoga. The first is Yama, meaning physically and mentally abstaining from the following five things: violence toward others and oneself, from coveting others' belongings, from sexual intercourse, from attachment to possessions and anything that is untrue.

The second limb is called Niyama, referring to the five observances: cleanliness of body and mind, satisfaction with what one has, penance and mental control, introspection and surrender to God. Asana refers to posture and position (ideally an erect stance with relaxed muscles) and Pranayama is the directed control of one's breath, which is so vital to successful yoga practice.

Pratayahara calls for the quieting of senses connected with the outer world. Only then will Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation) and Samadhi (oneness with the Supreme Being) naturally follow.

In practice, Iyengar yoga is characterized by the use of belts, straps, sandbags, benches and blocks to aid in performing 200 asanas (postures) and creating body alignment. Equally important are the 14 pranayamas (breaths). Less emphasis is placed on muscular effort and more importance is given to finding the ideal position.

Standing yoga poses can build strong legs, improve circulation and coordination and help students with skills they can take to other forms of this meditation. The instruction is rigorous, compared to other styles, with highly trained and certified teachers actively placing students into the right positions and correcting misalignments. Beginners will surely get individualized attention and the most out of their instruction if they attend Iyengar meditation classes.

The benefits of Iyengar yoga include: increased circulation and comfort, better posture, stronger muscles, better balance and coordination -- in addition to feeling more at peace, with less stress and anxiety.

Iyengar Yoga Can Promote Well-Being In Women Breast Cancer Survivors

Breast cancer is the most prevalent type of invasive cancer attacking women in the United States. Last year alone some 213,000 women were diagnosed with the disease. The good news is that two million women have survived. Many women with breast cancer seek complementary interventions that will enhance their quality of life. Yet research is lacking whether these programs such as yoga, also benefit immune function.

A new study of breast cancer survivors practicing Iyengar yoga - a form of yoga that incorporates all of the components of physical fitness and focuses on structural alignment of the body as well as mental relaxation - has found that breast cancer survivors who practice yoga have changes in the way their immune cells respond to activation signals, which may be important for understanding how physical activity and meditative practices benefit the immune system. The function of genes in immune cells can be regulated by proteins called transcription factors. Transcription factor nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) is linked to immune cell activation and to the stress response.

The study, entitled Down-regulated lymphocyte NF-κB activation in breast cancer survivors following yoga participation, was conducted by Pamela E. Schultz, Mel Haberman, Ph.D., Kenn Daratha, Ph.D., Sally E. Blank, Ph.D., from Washington State University, and Joni Nichols, M.D., from Cancer Care Northwest (US Oncology), in Spokane, WA. They will discuss their findings at the 120th annual meeting of the American Physiological Society (APS; www.The-APS.org), being held as part of the Experimental Biology (EB '07) meeting. More than 12,000 scientists and researchers are attending the conference, being held April 28-May 2, 2007 at the Washington, DC Convention Center.

Methodology

Active practice of Iyengar yoga, named for its creator B.K.S. Iyengar, differs from the gentle restorative practices typically offered to cancer survivors as it can include all the components of physical fitness. The active practice of âsanas (postures) can incorporate cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility and balance.

Nineteen women, average age 61 years, diagnosed with stage I-III breast cancer and receiving antiestrogen or aromatase inhibitor hormonal therapy participated in the study. Time since diagnosis was approximately four years. None had any experience with Iyengar yoga. The subjects were randomized to either yoga (n=10) or a wait-list control group (n=9).

Beginning level Iyengar yoga classes were conducted two times per week for eight weeks and included the following yoga poses: standing poses, chest and shoulder openers; and inversions. The women were given a home instruction sheet to practice once a week at home a week at home for a total of three yoga sessions per week.

A survey of the subjects demands of illness and a blood sample to determine lymphocyte NF-κB activation were collected prior to and following the intervention.

Results

Preliminary findings indicate:

-- Demands of illness, which reflects the burden and hardship of breast cancer survivorship, decreased following yoga participation.

-- Compared with pre-intervention responses, women who participated in yoga had lower stimulated lymphocyte NF-κB activation after eight weeks of yoga than did the control group

-- Decreases in demands of illness were associated with decreased lymphocyte NF-κB activation in the yoga participants, only.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that an active yoga practice taught in the Iyengar tradition can be successfully offered to breast cancer survivors who are approximately four years out from initial cancer diagnosis and who are receiving certain types of hormonal therapy. It also shows that the program can have important psychological benefits for breast cancer surivors. This study is an important addition to the literature on the effectiveness of yoga intervention on the quality of life for female breast cancer survivors and that these changes may be associated with cell signaling regulating lymphocyte function.

The American Physiological Society (APS) has been an integral part of the scientific discovery process since it was established in 1887. Physiology is the study of how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function to create health or disease.