BKS Iyengar on Yoga Practice & Ageing
At 92 years of age BKS Iyengar continued to practice yoga for several hours each day. He describes how his practice changed with age and offers advice to students on yoga in later life.
You may have no problems at all up to the age of fifty or sixty.
After that, the real problem arises when the tissues of the body do not bear the load.
WHAT I PRACTICE NOW..
...is more difficult than what I did when I was young or struggled to learn. Though today, I don’t consider those practices as very hard although I practiced ten hours a day then.
Today, it is a big fight between the body and the mind.
The body says, “I can’t do it.” The mind says, “Do not force me.”
WILL OVER MATTER
Believe me, after a certain age, to practice asana and pranayama is going to be very hard. I am doing it because of this reason only. The body ages. It descends towards deterioration. The rate of catabolism increases more than anabolism. The bones become brittle. The blood vessels get hardened. All these are known facts. I do not want to fall prey to these.
If I surrender to the will of the body, then I am no more a yogic practitioner. When I practice, I watch how to stop this deteriorating process.
That is the will over matter.
HOW AT THIS AGE I NEED TO PRACTICE
Then you say, “Iyengar doesn’t need anything because he has practiced earlier”. But that is not the right way of thinking. In fact, I see how at this age I need to practice. I have to avoid the constriction of the sternum. I have to see how the diaphragm remains free.
If I look at the possible deteriorations and maintain my practice of asana, then people say that I am a physical yogi.
INCREASED TIMINGS
Often people think that at the old age they should do dhyana (meditation) or japa (repetition of mantras) instead of asana and pranayama practice. I am not that type of a sadhaka (practitioner) to take shelter under the garb of old age. I will not run away from my practice because of the fear complex of old age.
I do meditation in each asana as in each asana I see God who is infinite and beyond measure. Because of age I have increased timings in my practices. Mind and body want to give way. I daily charge my body and mind to stand with will power so that I do not surrender to the weakness of my body and mind.
Having a good background of philosophy, practicing yoga, I now continue life without depending on anyone. I have to stick to the philosophy of the body as I am already ingrained in the spiritual knowledge.