Yoga: Mary Niker

My yoga teacher, Mary Niker, could be really helpful in providing some original photographs and poses, as well as key facts or quotes that I could combine in my work about yoga.

Iyengar Yoga carefully focusses on body awareness and alignment - systematically working through a sequence of postures called 'Asanas'. Mostly, one could expect to start the class with a quiet few moments of preparation. In a beginner's class, the emphasis is on the standing poses to build strength, stability and stamina, before being able to move on with the practice. With the teachers quidance, one is able to learn the fundamentals of how to adjust and align the body correctly - the correction of the body alignment is what makes Iyengar Yoga profoundly different from other yoga practices. The practice could then focus on specific postures for that day as more standing postures, inverted postures, back bends, recuperative postures or breathing exercises called pranayama. The class will end with recuperative and re-energising postures. Students will often say they walk away from an Iyengar Yoga class taller, straighter and full of energy in spite of having worked hard. They also say that they can sleep better, are more self-confident and feel more at peace.
Only fully qualified teachers in the Iyengar method who have been examined by the Iyengar Yoga Association can use the term Iyengar in their teaching qualifications and bear the Inyengar Certification Mark.