The lower back: we’ve all felt it twinge. Sometimes through overuse, sometimes through tension or tiredness, sometimes through injury, and sometimes just because. Back pain can be a tiring and frustrating issue that even influences your day-to-day life. Fortunately, Iyengar yoga offers effective ways to relieve this pain and even prevent it. This masterclass focuses on helping you take better care of your lower back and alleviate the complaints you experience.

With the help of Iyengar yoga, you can build more space, stability and strength in your back, and thus contribute to a healthy and strong lower back.

Like your grandmother said: ‘prevention is better than cure!’

Whether you are looking for relief, prevention or simply deepening your yoga practice, this workshop will provide you with the insights and exercises to confidently care for your spine.

For whom is this workshop?
All are welcome, whether you suffer from chronic back pain, are recovering from an injury, or simply want to learn how to take care of your spine. Whether you are an experienced practitioner or an absolute beginner, this workshop is geared towards all levels. Back pain is not a prerequisite! Even without complaints, there is much to learn about prevention and building a healthy posture and balance.

Come with an enquiring mind:
This masterclass not only provides relief and support, but also gives you insight into the anatomy of the back and how to support it in the long term. Discover how conscious movement can help you make your spine stronger and healthier. Explore new postures, experiment with different props, and learn to listen to your body to better understand and tackle back pain.

Francesca Thompson originally trained as a musician, and was somewhat reluctant to start yoga in in 2010, not expecting it to change her life so completely. She is very grateful to have found a path and teachers to guide her on it. She’s also no stranger to back pain, partly through injuries, and partly through physically demanding work and a love of physical challenges. One of the first things that drew her to Iyengar yoga was the relief it provided for a back injury at the time.

She’s never forgotten that sense of relief, and has since learnt how to deal with pain which pops up now and then, and how to get rid of it. Francesca is also currently following a three-year course on yoga therapy with Stephanie Quirk, and most recently completed a module on the lower back and pelvis.

Repeated because the previous session was a success! This session will address different asanas than the previous one so if you enjoyed the first session, you might want to join this one as well. If you missed the first edition, don’t worry – this session can be taken independently.

Learn from Ahmed in this Masterclass ‘Yoga for Runners’!

Join Ahmed for this masterclass for runners. You will learn to integrate yoga into your own stretching or strengthening program.

Ahmed has been running (ultra)marathons and triathlons for quite some time. He started his marathon career in 1999 and has experienced most of the common running injuries. The addition of yoga to his training schedule resulted in running with less effort and much fewer injuries. He will share his experience about the benefits of combining yoga and running.

In this photo you see only a small part of his collection of ‘trophy shirts’! If you know, you know…

Join Tally for a Spring Surprise!

‘Immunity sequence’

Below you can see a picture of an article written by Rajvi Mehta in Yoga Rahasya in response to an outbreak of swine flu in 2009/2010.

The sequence described in it is still practiced by Iyengar Yoga students worldwide. You can take a closer look at the program at the bottom of this page.

How does Iyengar Yoga help your immune system?

In our ever-changing world, where stress and illness often go hand in hand, the importance of a strong immune system is becoming increasingly clear. All kinds of claims are made left and right about the effects of yoga on ‘the immune system’, but to be honest, there is not a lot of scientific support for this. However, that doesn’t mean that yoga doesn’t do anything for your resistance!

Reducing Stress with Iyengar Yoga

One of the main ways Iyengar yoga improves resistance is by reducing stress. Stress is one of the biggest culprits behind a weakened immune system, as it increases the production of stress hormones like cortisol, which can lead to inflammation and impaired immune function. By focusing on breathing and relaxation techniques, Iyengar yoga helps to reduce stress and balance the nervous system, which in turn strengthens resistance.

Yoga improves circulation

In addition, Iyengar yoga promotes the circulation of lymphatic fluid in the body. The lymphatic system plays an essential role in the immune system by removing toxins and waste products from the body and transporting white blood cells to places where they are needed. By holding poses for long periods of time, consciously tensing muscles and applying gentle compression, Iyengar yoga stimulates the flow of lymphatic fluid, which can help remove waste and promote the functioning of the immune system. Inverted postures are also an important building block here.

Strengthening muscles and joints through yoga

Another aspect of Iyengar yoga that benefits resistance is the focus on strengthening the body and improving posture. Through regular practice of the poses, muscles are strengthened and joints stabilized, which makes the body more resistant to injury and infection. Additionally, good posture helps to improve breathing and optimize the flow of energy throughout the body, contributing to a healthy immune system.

Yoga to support healing

Inflammation in the body also contributes to numerous diseases and conditions. By using carefully selected poses and breathing techniques, Iyengar yoga can help reduce inflammatory responses in the body and support the natural healing process.

Garth will guide you through yoga postures (asana) and breath work (pranayama) that promote calm and stability. You will learn practical techniques to reduce stress and enhance your overall well-being.

Is it mandatory to participate in the entire workshop?

Over the last few years, we have noticed that people are hesitant to commit to an entire workshop and prefer to pick and choose one or two sessions.

While it is highly recommended to attend the entire weekend for the best experience, it is not required. So there is an option to do a single session.

There are (at least!) three significant advantages to joining the entire workshop. Firstly, it allows Garth to better understand you, your condition and circumstances, so that he can offer tailored assistance. Secondly, the workshop is designed to progress gradually, maximizing the benefits of participation in multiple sessions. Thirdly, view it as a gift to yourself. Consistency and repetition are key in yoga practice, and by committing to the full weekend, you’re investing in your own well-being and growth.

For those concerned about fatigue, rest and relaxation opportunities are integrated into the program. Garth will also be attentive to signs of exhaustion and can provide support if needed.

Schedule

Friday 27 september
17:30–19:30

Orientation and Restorative Session

After a short orientation and introduction, we will engage in a restorative session designed to calm and quiet the nervous system and mind. This practice provides deep rest and recovery for both muscles and internal organs, often providing deeper relaxation than sleep.

Saturday 28 september

10:30 – 13:00
General Asana Class

In this morning session, we will tailor a variety of asanas to meet the needs, abilities, and energy levels of all attendees. Garth will share his insights and experience with asanas that enhance mobility, strength, balance, rest, and function, particularly for those dealing with nervous system conditions and movement challenges.

Adaptations and support will be provided to suit each participant.

14:30 – 17:00
General Asana/Pranayama Class

It is also possible to book both Saturday sessions as a separate event with a slight discount. Use the button below to book!

Sunday 29 september

10:00 – 14:00 (with break)

Asana Class: What’s Your Next Step?

BKS Iyengar always encouraged continuous learning and small steps toward improving health and well-being. Building on previous sessions and considering each individual’s current practice level, this empowering class will guide practitioners safely, one step at a time, to achieve their goals.

While aiming high is admirable, it is also important to respect where we are each day with awareness, compassion, and self-acceptance. Utilizing Iyengar’s inventive use of props, we will practice asanas that help remove barriers and create a transformative, rewarding experience.

Garth brings years of compassionate exploration and creative adaptation to encourage and empower students of all abilities, with or without physical challenges, to move beyond perceived limitations. His goal is to equip practitioners with practical tools to improve their health.

All are welcome, from seasoned practitioners to those with physical challenges. It is really helpful if you also have participated in at least one of the previous sessions on Friday or Saturday.

Participants with physical challenges must be able to transfer to and from the floor, with or without assistance.

About Garth McLean

When I was first diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1996, I was experiencing frightening MS related symptoms and mobility restrictions. Filled with trepidation about an uncertain future, I felt isolated and very much alone. Along with prescribed medication, my doctor recommended I try yoga to help get and keep my MS in remission, my body functioning and my mind calm.

Once we arrive to ourselves and own our personal truth of where we are, we can then work to align the body, the peripheral nerves with the motor nerves, in such a fashion that the body is given the opportunity to realize its potential. BKS Iyengar opened up a door to possibility and gave me the tools to take action to move beyond my limitations with courage and caution.

As a person living with MS, a certified yoga therapist and a certified senior Iyengar Yoga teacher, I have seen and worked with a wide variety of people around the globe in all stages of MS, Parkinson’s, and with other neurological or movement restrictive conditions. If you, or someone you know, is facing neurological or mobility challenges and could benefit from yoga, I invite you to join me. Together we can investigate, share and explore ways to alleviate symptoms when required, brighten the future and enhance our lives!

Why do you actually do yoga? If you’re young, healthy and balanced? What is the need to constantly subject yourself to a regime of watching your body in stillness and movement? You may think you’re doing yoga to be able to take a nice selfie, in impressive poses. Or to get your body ‘bikini ready’. To avert diseases. That may all be true to some extent. But I think the greatest value of continuous practice is that you have a foundation. To be prepared for when you need it. Building up a reserve, putting money in the bank, for more difficult times. If you exercise to maintain your body and mind, to feel it, to be in contact with it, you can also do that if you are under extreme stress. If you’re used to practicing, you can also practice for recovery when you need to. If you are used to facing the restless movements of your mind, and noticing that all those emotions, thoughts, feelings are transient, you can fall back on that knowledge when emotions run high.

Over the past two weeks, I have experienced what it’s like to face the facts. Pain, fear, uncertainty. I am currently admitted to the UMC, with so far an unclear diagnosis. There’s something in my lung, a mass, and they can’t see what it is with scans. But it causes problems. So it has to go, along with a lobe of my lung or maybe my entire lung. That’s the short story. The long story is very long, and nothing is clear, so I’ll leave that for what it is. But this way you know why things at the yoga school are now a bit different than they used to be. Claas does a lot, but also has to take care of me a bit. And fortunately, we have fantastic teachers who all help.

Of course, I feel insecure and anxious. And I can allow that. Because I’ve practiced to see how the emotions rise, increase, engulf me… and then also ebb away again. I can now, before surgery still move well and stay in shape (sometimes to the surprise of the nurses), and my left lung takes over quickly and from the right. So I feel quite good, actually. Thanks to those reserves that I have built up over years. So, guys, keep practicing! You don’t know when you’ll need it.

Now on the website: Below you can read about how to continue your practice with us in the summertime, and about how you can get refreshed and inspired in a delicious Summer Workshop with Tally, or with Garth McLean in a workshop about the Nervous System (or actually, really about just yoga). And you can expect more information about our In-Depth Course soon, and about sessions with Eyal Shifroni later this year.
We keep looking ahead!

-Hiske

This is “back to school” season. New students arrive in Utrecht, working people come back from vacation, and the Hema is full of children buying diaries, wrapping paper and other school supplies. Full of anticipation, looking forward to the new, unknown. Also here at iYoga we are getting ready to go back to school and look forward to a new school year.

I’m back from hospital, and I’m actually recovering very quickly and well. It’s quite a long story, but I know a lot of you are wondering what exactly is going on. So, as briefly as possible: I was suddenly admitted for coughing up blood. After all kinds of complications in all kinds of examinations, the top half of my right lung was removed. It turned out to contain a large encapsulated hematoma. It is not malignant, and the reason why this uninvited guest has settled with me is still unknown. After the surgery I had complications again: thrombosis in my leg, and pulmonary embolism. That was unlucky, but I was also very lucky because just then an innovative procedure was possible that allowed for removal of most of the embolisms. Then the recovery process started, and I’m still in the middle of that. But I am looking forward to teaching again soon. I have received a lot of sweet, heartwarming reactions in the form of cards, emails, messages, books, delicious food, vegetables from the vegetable garden, flowers… too many to mention really. Thank you all for that,and also for ‘just’ your interest. And a special thank you to all the teachers who filled in for me, especially to Eyal Shifroni who offered to do that from Israel! I feel so grateful to be part of this community.

We’re also happy that Tally is here this month to help us out, that also allows Claas and I to get away from time to time… and if you want to enjoy Tally’s presence too, you can do that until the end of August. For example, in the next few days, at her summer workshop – there are still a few spots available!

Furthermore, I cannot express how happy I am with Iyengar Yoga. Even in the hospital, the doctors and nurses were amazed at how well I could feel what was wrong with my body and how quickly I recovered. Apparently it is not normal that you can put your own hair in a ponytail within a week after a thoracotomy. But if you practice Urdhva Baddhangulyasana (among others) daily, with patience and sensitivity, mobility turns out to return quite quickly. And so I was standing on my hands against a tree again within 6 weeks. The physiotherapist almost had a heart attack when I told him ;) And that’s why I’m extra happy with the opportunity to be able to share Iyengar Yoga.. In regular classes of course (the summer schedule ends soon!), but also in workshops and courses. Below you can see what we have in store for you in the near future!

-Hiske