Aum Namo Bhagavathe Shri Ramanaya
A 4-day retreat on Iyengar Yoga culminated today under the guidance of Shri S Nandakumar. Shri Nandakumar has been a yoga practitioner since childhood and, after learning from Guruji BKS Iyengar and his family, has been training yoga practitioners and teachers across Southeast Asia and South Asia, for nearly 2 decades. He owns and operates a yoga studio in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
At the retreat at Ramanalayam, an intense training of the traditional yoga practice, focused largely on posture correction and alignment according to the Iyengar Yoga tradition. Appropriate use of props for more effective execution of asanas, and facilitation to achieve maximum benefit from asanas, even for those who have physical limitations were explained and demonstrated by Nandaji. In addition to asanas, an introduction to pranayama and the methodology to develop a sequence of asanas for routine practice were included during the retreat.
A significant amount of time was spent in satsangs discussing the purpose of learning yoga, to move beyond the physical and emotional benefits of yoga. How to move towards a deeper spiritual experience through yoga and reach a state of non-duality was a key topic of discussion. With only 8 participants, it was possible to get personal attention for correction and improvement from Nandaji.
The environment and space around the Ashram created a conducive atmosphere for intense practice and contemplation. The retreat started on the 2nd of February and culminated today.