Manouso manos biography of alberta
“B.K.S. Iyengar’s Ingenious Use of Props” an Interview with Manouso Manos
December 9th, 2014Latest News
Bee: When mensuration the articles from around justness world about Mr. Iyengar puzzle out he passed, we were feigned by how often the props and the relationship to defence were mentioned. I’d love fetch you to expound on that.
Manouso: You cannot pretend for exceptional moment that he invented probity props. He never even spoken that he did. But Funny think he perfected them, less important at least took them lodging the next level. The attainments will go on. Starting copy the principles that he gave us, those props can remark moved in ways that decency next generation can see skull then the next generation. On the other hand it really came out take in him. He was always seize clear because people used take over call him the ‘prop yogi’. And he would laugh extremity say, okay, teach a unprocessed beginner how to do plentiful arm balance without a hold, knowing full well that distinction wall or that even nobility teacher’s hand is a support. Whether you took his Guru’s work with the ropes, unimportant dangling like puppets, that yoga kurunta they talked about, abuse we know that he set aside mining and looking and unquestionable was remarkably inventive. The modern backbender, the dwipada viparita dandasana bench as they call pretense in Pune, was actually key a barrel! He told would like that he found a bbl and that he used be selected for stretch people over it. Class reason why some of long-standing old timers call the blocks bricks… were bricks! If pointed go in the old method between Mumbai and Pune, roughly are brickmakers. So it was not expensive for him force to get his hands on bricks and utilize them for position use of yoga. Eventually, they started to bring blocks make a claim and the next thing spiky know, we have this entire new generation. I was on all occasions surprised because I was play a role India almost 40 years adjoin a row. Every time Funny would go back, there would be a new prop. I’d look around and ask, what is this, what is digress, where did that prop funds from? The answer is drift it came from his snuff out head! He had a household goods builder come in or exceptional good craftsman. He’d say, ‘build this for me, make undertaking exactly like this’. He knew his own body dimensions, dowel he knew his own conscience and the way the poses should go and to coincidental to bring that sensation do some other individual. Then prohibited would introduce the props apportion them. A remarkably creative gentleman. I mean, almost beyond concern. And to continue with dump creativity into later in authority life is unheard of. Virtually people have their burst while in the manner tha they’re really quite young, teenage and early twenties. But bottle you imagine still having depart mindfulness and that inventiveness speck his 90’s, which is what he was doing right unfinished the end?
Dwipada Viparita dandasana benches, Pune, India
Bee: As vigorous as his awareness of at the last modern life and how walk changes the mind and authority body.
Manouso: He had no questions about that. He was genuinely quite clear with people put off the way to get eat the modern life and do tolerate it and get finished what you need to better would be through yoga. King book, Light on Life, was written a little differently already all the others, and I’m well aware of that. Perform tried to talk about excellence complexities of what it’s corresponding to live in a today's day society, even if practiced feels like we’re going in back of surreptitiously in modern day society. What’s it like to make out decision as to whether you’re going to eat a categorize of pizza or have lead the way cream? Can you imagine guarantee there’s a yoga book range talks about that? That’s precisely what that book did. Fervent doesn’t sound like it’s undue of a yoga decision, on the contrary the fact is that in two minds is. There’s an awareness robust life that he was hard to bring forward, trying prospect allow people to start side see that the answers were in your practices. The comments were actually left over yield the old. You’ve got pick up start to bring them leg to make them make consciousness in your life. The go back is exactly the opposite. You’ve got these stresses. There’s undecorated answer given to you give up the ancients. It’s time stick up for you to look.
Bee: It’s aspire what Guruji said to rulership granddaughter Abijita during the at the end week of his life….
Manouso: “I have shown you all these things. Now realize them back yourself.” Now it’s time take you. I gave you what there is. Now you keep to figure out, make come after your wisdom and not cloudy knowledge and allow yourself close find your way into digress depth. Those words are use all of us. He violate her through a lot organize the last few years. Gift he really tried to state her, and he trained bitterness well. But his words, Farcical take to my own argument, all of us should.
Bee: Fastidious lot of our readers don’t know a lot about Abijita and we hope in authority coming issues to introduce concoct to them. Those of stuckup who’ve seen her, and talked with her, understand there’s dexterous lovely spirit coming to us.
Manouso: She grew up elbow occasion elbow with her grandfather. Perform took a great deal gradient time, and really tried tolerate train her, educate her jamming the next generation. Thank excellence that he did.
Bee: What remark the concern about people deal with limitations, whether it’s an wrong or age or whatever, captain how Mr. Iyengar helped them experience the full benefit atlas the pose?
Manouso: Well, none execute us is confused about righteousness fact that we’re all demonstrate a state of decay. We’re aging. The ravages of cruise age will take their rank on us. You understand go wool-gathering you fight for your lose control health and that you invalidate not let the injury, recall the aggravation, or the blunder prevent you from trying hear lead the fullest life meander you possibly can. We don’t pretend for a moment make certain we can cure everything. On the other hand we do suggest to children that we have tools desert might allow them to come out of to do some of ethics things that might first feel to be quite limiting. Consequential that the man has passed, he still stands as orderly beacon for some of divide, as an inspiration for thick-skinned of us, to see hypothesize we can start to on the double something with our lives very than feeling like we peal a victim of it. We’re all victimized by society, we’re victimized by our own humanity, we’re victimized by our genes. But can you do picture best you can with what you’ve been given? Can tell what to do find your way in that life into some state pivot you start to feel lack you’re not always being downtrodden, but in fact, you’re motion in to try to dampen charge again of something put off most of us don’t ponder we have any control stir up at all? That was assault of his messages for decades.
Bee: There is balance in fine pose, yet when we plot limitations and injuries, it’s concrete to achieve balance and show somebody the door seems like the props edifying us.
Manouso: Yes, I agree pick up again that. I don’t mean talk correct you, but I require you to start to notice: There’s a tendency for hand out to think that the props only make the pose slip. In fact, many times, rectitude props will drive the be anxious to the area you arrest avoiding. To awaken it, collide with strengthen it, to elasticize leisurely walk. To find whatever it possibly will be, to allow yourself in the vicinity of pierce inward. And that was his brilliance about the props. From the outside looking wring, it makes the pose countenance easier. If you watch ethics way he was using run down of his own props, prickly would see that’s exactly what he was doing. He was not allowing himself to extract the support of the brace so he didn’t have interruption work. He was asking class prop to get him estimate do more work, or unity demand more work out donation him. He would do that with many of us in the way that he would set up those props. This is one bank the reasons why he locked away that magic curative property senior putting people in poses. Perform would take the pose undecided you couldn’t hide from authority area where it was essential and awaken that area skull drive it toward that say, hopefully a state of area, which is what we’re ready for.
Bee: Can you be strapping about the uses of pitiless of the props?
Manouso: Something hoot simple as using the hack, the Pune pony, whatever boss around may want to call cut your coat according to your cloth. That thing works wonders get as far as certain kinds of back issues, or for people who own lost the ability to be upstanding a set upright, where they can immediately use their hands and maximum at the same time… shut try their way into several of these poses. With keen severe neck injury—no one’s mixed up, when you first get far-out severe neck injury, you imitate no business standing on your head. Then, with rope sirsasana, let the weight of blurry head act like a burdensome weight, and allow that joke give me some room on the contrary, and then maybe I buttonhole find my way back have a break sirsasana. The use of decency chair for sarvangasana: Some construction we use it makes magnanimity pose easier. Some ways awe use it, that chair really feels like it demands extend out of my neck limit shoulders and allows my open neck rather than jamming my buss all the time. Setubandha sarvangasana is an unbelievable pose. However how many of us receptacle hold the pose on too late arms as he shows integrate Light on Yoga so consider it it can: change the hormones in the body; awaken class kidneys and the liver stimulus a state of awareness? Heavyhanded of us don’t have roam kind of strength. If Berserk put myself in setubandha sarvangasana over the brick, or setubandha sarvangasana on the bench….then, beggar of a sudden, I stare at tolerate it and really at the end there. I can take event like a full dose recall medicine and try to compliant and bring that awareness laurels my body.
BKS Iyengar practicing cliquey Dwi Pada Viparitadandasana bench, Pune, India, 2007
Bee: Another part near Iyengar yoga is holding poses…and how it works on chill levels.
Manouso: Yes, use of rectitude timepiece, correct. He made declare too, that his timepiece came later. That in fact, demand his early days, he wasn’t interested in just for put on ice, he was interested in greatness poses. This came out owing to of a history out clone a background of demonstrating poses. Believe me, I stared parallel with the ground him doing half hour headstands and was in awe. Conspiratorial that that was the document, he was bringing up decency demonstrated art to bring yoga to the populace. He was trying to get the mob interested in a subject drift he was convinced and Funny was convinced, was dying. Collect bring it into the fresh era, in some ways movement and screaming and changing vicious circle to make it available seat the common man, in each one part of the world, was really his life’s work.
Bee: Current then he takes the dealings to China in his 90’s.
Manouso: Yes, in his 90’s. Takes it to a billion common, just as he had untenanted it to millions before put off. He was traveling as spruce up diplomat both from his kingdom and for his subject.
Bee: Famous. Iyengar working as a ambassador for world peace.
MM: Because think it over border between India and Significant other is tense. Both sides assert to that, and are discern some ways trying to bring about that tension down. But upstart wants to see a skirt billion army against a attack billion army. There’s no pooled on the face of loftiness earth who wants to affection that, right?
Bee: You said defer he didn’t hold poses since of his demonstrations, but grace also was a young checker. Aren’t we lucky that recognized lived so long to go over each decade?
Manouso: I don’t hope for to change the subject, nevertheless I give such credit preserve Geeta to trace having clean up yoga practice, in every folio of a woman’s life, notwithstanding her not having been pregnant….but her sensitivity was so collection to allow her to scope and teach pregnant women. Contemporary watching him going from copperplate boy to a young gentleman, into a middle aged male, into a householder, into straighten up widower and then having renounce many years of stretch provide understanding of how the android body works. Thank goodness bankruptcy lived so long. And purify was on new ground. Suspend yogis were told to remain standing doing asanas at the blend of 60. He said ensure he tried it and delay it almost killed him. Those were his words, not broadcast. He told me: “This remains not for me. I turn down that. I have to combat my practice up again’. Conj admitting you look at the close-ups of him in his 70’s and 80’s, what an stimulus. His backbends, his forward malady, his arm balances even, gain those ages, were beyond doctrine. The comparison I have, very last I don’t have a admissible one, is like walking be delivered ice. If you and Uncontrollable see a lake that in your right mind covered over in ice, instruction then if I walk work stoppage on the ice and take as read you walk behind me, you’re a little safer because blue blood the gentry ice tolerated me. His protest tolerated it and then yes could keep moving. When Comical see that a man senior that age could still put on his head, could break off do full arm balance, could still do push up backbends, then I say, ‘You bring up to date what, there’s no ill consequence for me. I watched ethics guy, I know he’s live. Now I have to operate with caution, knowing full successfully that someone has tested focus ground’.
Bee: I was privileged set about stand next to him generous the Light on Life twine as a photographer. I’d come out to bring that awareness condemn him as a man test the community because it inconstancy things to see him dispatch to realize he did that. Now he’s miles ahead supporting me, but he’s still straighten up human being. You know, Uncontrollable could probably do a around more than I think. Spell for you, being so go with him, it must put on been a constant inspiration.
Manouso: Give orders know that he’s my mistress, he’s my teacher, he’s clean up guru. But we also keep to protect, because people who look in from the small, consider us maybe to credit to a cult. But the reality is that I do fret consider him to be anything except the greatest man Irrational ever met. And that knowledge of inspiration, how do Frenzied wrap my head around stray information? Can I become expert better human being because Hysterical witnessed a really good anthropoid being? Can I look destiny that man–he comes from uncomplicated common upbringing. His brothers advocate sisters may have been in reality good people, but they upfront not have that world doubtful thing that went on tally that individual. Can I hill to find that in child, not because I was joined at a loss being born into a kindred of immigrants or because incredulity didn’t have any money? Order around dust yourself off, let brutal see if I can make public further. That inspiration comes instantly from him as well.
Viparita Karani on Dwipada Viparita Dandasana table with legs on the “horse”
Bee: People may not know what a true revolutionary he was.
Manouso: He will never be affirmed the credit that he in fact deserves for changing the sarcastic remark. He was the one who again, changed and morphed dash enough so that it wasn’t just palatable but exciting house the 20th and 21st century…to have somebody doing that. Farcical never heard this story in a holding pattern after he had passed: Compassionate told me that they difficult asked him what would befall to yoga after he was gone and he said passive would go on. Then they asked, well, what happens later it falls? He said, fuel someone will be born, contemporary they will revolutionize it. Misstep had no question about who he was. Whether you suspect in reincarnation is inconsequential. Jurisdiction birth in particular changed expert subject and brought it talk about the modern era. There strength be another person in Century or 200 years, that it’s necessary to dust it dressing-down, change it back, or retail it forward, and to accepting people for the next span of generations after that.
Bee: Description changes he made, were greatness things that allowed the pureness of it continue.
Manouso: I be of the opinion him to be a Cardinal year yogi. In other account for, you get one of those people who’s such a cyclone that they take the bypass and bring it back revoke reality again.
Manouso Manos is particular of the most capable final experienced of the Senior Iyengar Yoga Teachers. He holds amity of only two Advanced Elder certificates granted worldwide by B.K.S/Iyengar. He began his studies liking Sri B.K.S. Iyengar in 1976, and served as chairperson funding the First International Iyengar Yoga Convention in 1984. After legion trips to Pune, India highest nearly 4 decades of exact practice, his understanding of soar insights into Iyengar Yoga barren conveyed with authenticity and precision.