WHY IYENGAR YOGA?
Worldwide, the Iyengar certification system is not-for-profit and entirely merit-based. No private individual, organization, yoga studio or company can issue an Iyengar Yoga Teaching Certificate. Teachers who earn Iyengar Certification have put in years of study and practice and passed rigorous, standardized assessments.
Certified Iyengar Yoga instructors teach the method set forth by B.K.S. Iyengar without mixing in other styles of yoga. They maintain a regular personal practice, continue their training throughout their lives with senior teachers or by studying at the Iyengar Institute in India, and hold to Ethical Guidelines.
Iyengar Yoga Certification requires the most rigorous degree of testing and training in the country. All Teachers at Portland Yoga Studio are either Iyengar Certified or on track for certification.
The system of certification ensures students of a knowledgeable and dedicated teacher who can observe their practice with a long range view for safety, health, and overall wellbeing.
Certification also ensures that the teacher is connected to the broader community of Iyengar Yoga teachers regionally, nationally, and internationally which offers an unparrallelled wealth of experience, knowledge, expertise, and support to it's teachers and thereby the students participating with them. Iyengar Yoga is as much a community as a method for teaching and study.
Learn more about the Iyengar Certification system:
Iyengar Yoga…
… taught in the tradition of Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar (Dec. 14, 1918- Aug. 20, 2014). Named by Time magazine as “one of the 100 most influential people in the world, " Mr. Iyengar is widely regarded as the most influential teacher in terms of shaping the way yoga is taught in the West today. He made yoga relevant to modern life and accessible to a broad base of individuals, no matter their physical and/or mental abilities. Mr Iyengar is the author of the classic Light on Yoga, called the “bible of yoga,” which has been the source book for generations of yoga enthusiasts.
Iyengar Yoga classes are based on the teachings of this yoga master. The system of teaching is methodical and progressive, emphasizing safety, alignment, and the development of exquisite self-awareness through precision in movement and attention to the subtleties of body, breath, mind, and spirit.
BKS Iyengar revolutionized the art of yoga by introducing and incorporating the use of supports called “props” to facilitate learning and accommodate safe appropriate progress.
New students who have studied other forms of yoga often remark after their first Iyengar Yoga class that this is the first time they’ve been instructed in how to do the poses.
One of the strengths of Iyengar Yoga is that it is truly a system, a method, not just an amalgam of bits and pieces gathered from here and there and patched together. Over his 78 years of practice and 75 years of teaching, B.K.S. Iyengar studied, developed, and refined his method in such a way that there is an inherent consistency that enables serious students to learn and grow if they are willing to put in the time and effort.
Look for the mark. Only the world’s most knowledgeable, rigorously-trained teachers earn Iyengar Yoga Certification.
Iyengar Yoga...
is a refined, in-depth system of yoga that emphasizes safety, optimal body alignment, individual adjustment and attention to detail. It is uniquely suited to all levels of fitness and physical conditions, including the most inflexible.
In addition to addressing the needs of healthy people, the Iyengar method is now widely acknowledged and trusted by the international medical community for it’s documented efficacy in the treatment of various medical conditions and illnesses.
