Two outstanding personalities, B K S Iyengar and Mother Teresa have done great work to ease the suffering of marginalised sections of humanity. Kripafoundation Iyengar Yoga has benefitted from both of them. This is a treatment module that blends the teachings of the west and the east. In the west, the programme of Alcoholics Anonymous with its emphasis on de-addiction includes spirituality and psycho-social insights for healing the addict. However in India, it was important to add the essential dimension of the soma or the body to the healing programme. Hence, we used Iyengar Yoga to give the self-help model of Alcoholics Anonymous, a holistic dimension.
The starting point of this dimension is the 11th step which states: “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve my conscious contact with God, praying for the knowledge of God’s will and the power to carry it out.” The word meditation is actually linked to Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga. Through the seventh step of the Ashtanga Yoga — dhyana, we learn about the meditation practice which goes beyond the ‘relaxation response’ and the ‘remembered wellness’ and takes the sadhaka to the ‘peak transcendence.’ Guruji taught us to make the practice of yoga not a ‘work out’ but a ‘work in.’ It is a journey from the periphery to the centre of our bodies, from the sympathetic nervous system to the central nervous system, via the autonomous nervous system.
The practice integrates bahiranga sadhana with the essence of antaratman. This is the reason, Iyengar said, “While the body is the temple of God’s Spirit, the asanas have to be a prayer.” In yoga, major ‘conversion’ takes place when there is a shift in the locus of control from the ego to the Self.
The word conversion in Latin is ‘metanoia’ meaning going beyond the discursive brain. When the addict rises above the preoccupations of the world of maya and comes to the pinnacle of consciousness, recognising his true identity — So Aham — it’s indeed a great ‘conversion’ experience. For a recovering addict, Mother Teresa and B K S Iyengar are like the Ida and Pingala nadis of one’s spirituality. The common denominator between them is compassion. Just as Mother taught us to reach out to the poorest of the poor, Guruji showed us how to reach out to the poorest of the poor in health. n
The writer is the Managing Trustee, Kripa Foundation India
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