Maleny Yoga Centre

28/05/2026

“Bandhas are essential in the practice of pränăyăma. If you cannot do Sálamba Sarvängäsana and Halãsana, well, you cannot do Jälandhara Bandha. In Sälamba Sarväńgăsana there is a natural Jalandhara Bandha (a chinlock) If you cannot do Sälamba Sirşäsana you cannot do Uddiyăna Bandha, because the moment you do Sälamba Sirşäsana, there is a natural Uddiyăna Bandha. These bandha are essential factors in prănăyäma. In-order to save stress on the brain and acceleration of heartbeats (as in jogging), you need to do Jälandhara Bandha by bringing the head down to rest on the notch of the chest. Strain should not be felt in pränayāma and the heartbeats should be very rhythmic and slow. Uddiyãna Bandha is the gripping of the lower abdomen. So too with Müla Bandha, in asanas like Ürdhva Dhanurăsana, Dwi Pada Viparita Dandăsana, Kapotăsana, Viścikasana, Chakrabandhasana and Mülabandhāsana, one leams Müla Bandha wherein the a**s is contracted and gripped up to the a**l sphincter muscles. It needs to be done in pränayăma, so that the energy does not dissipate in an untrained body. These are examples of why asana is said to be so important before pränäyăma is started.”

BKS Iyengar
Astadala Yogamala
Vol 5

28/05/2026

Many sincere students have asked it:
When will I be able to do Śīrṣāsana?
When will my backbends open?
When will I stop comparing myself to the person on the next mat?

Underneath these questions is often something quieter:
Am I progressing?
Am I good enough?
Am I falling behind?

These are not bad questions. They are human questions.
But practice invites us to stay with them a little longer before demanding an answer.

In the Iyengar tradition, āsana is not simply a posture you achieve.
It is a state you enter — involving body, breath, mind, attention, and consciousness together.
So the question begins to change.

Not only:
“When will I be able to do this pose?”

But also:
“What is this pose teaching me now?”

Even a familiar standing pose like Utthita Trikoṇāsana contains the seeds of advanced practice:
Alignment.
Attention.
Breath.
Steadiness.
Presence.

If we are not fully present in Trikoṇāsana, we will not suddenly become present in Śīrṣāsana.

The harder pose does not automatically deepen attention.
It only makes it harder to pretend.
This is why practice does not rush us.
The teaching is already in the room.
It is in the pose you are in.
Right now.

A question to sit with this week:
Not, “When will I be able to do this?”

But:
“What is this pose, the one I am in right now, teaching me?”

👇 Share your reflection in the comments.
We would love to hear from you:
What is your current pose teaching you?

📱 WhatsApp: +60 12-416 4115
🌐 bksiyengaryogashala.com

28/05/2026

28/05/2026

Your backbend begins in the legs.

In Viparita Dandasana — or Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana when both legs are involved — many students think the main work is in the spine, chest, or neck.

But in Iyengar Yoga, the teaching goes deeper.
The legs are not passive.
They are the foundation.

When the legs lose firmness, the pelvis begins to shift.
When the pelvis shifts, the lower back receives unnecessary pressure.
When the lower back collapses, even the neck may begin to suffer.

This is why the quality of Dandasana legs must remain alive in the pose — firm thighs, steady knees, grounded direction, and an intelligent pelvis.

Whether the legs are bent, straight, parallel, or open, the upper thighs must remain active. They guide the knees, support the pelvis, and help the spine extend without strain.

Support also matters.
A chair, block, bolster, or other prop is not used randomly. The height must suit your body. Too low, and the upper back cannot lift. Too high, and the lower back may over-arch.

The practice is not to force the backbend.

The practice is to study:
Can the legs remain steady?
Can the pelvis stay balanced?
Can the spine open without gripping?

If the legs lose their action, return to the bent-leg variation.
That is not going backward.
That is intelligent practice.

In Iyengar Yoga, progress is not measured by how deep the pose looks.
It is measured by how clearly the body is working.

Want to understand backbends with safety, clarity, and proper support? Join our Iyengar Yoga classes and learn the method step by step.

💬 Comment LEGS if this changed how you see backbends.

18/05/2026

Happy birthday to Sir David Attenborough who turned 100 yesterday 🎉 and thank you for your wonderful work 🐘🐅


David Attenborough collaborated with the violinist Yehudi Menuhin on the 1963 BBC documentary 'Yehudi Menuhin and his Guru". His guru was B.K.S. Iyengar who also appeared on the show 🙏

The three appear above in a BBC still which also featured on the front cover of our Dipika magazine 2023 for the article 'Rediscovering B.K.S. Iyengar on the BBC after Sixty Years' by Simon Crisp.

Dipika editor:
Picture still:

18/05/2026

Throw Back!




-gram

18/05/2026

“We step away from our busyness of life, to learn the art of calmly observing. In that quiet observation we begin to see ourselves and the world more clearly.” — Alan Goode