Mary Niker - Iyengar Yoga

03/09/2026

It’s Standing Pose Week at IYCSD 😊

Join us in-person or on-line via Zoom for class this week.

Check out our class schedule and register here
https://www.sandiegoyoga.com/schedule/

02/09/2026

Mapledurham Pavilion class starts again Tuesday 22nd September 6pm beginners are welcome.
[email protected]

29/08/2026

In person Iyengar Yoga Class Tuesday 6-7.30pm Mapledurham Pavilion
Caversham
Starts 22nd September
[email protected]

29/08/2026

11/07/2026

07/07/2026

Just as a seed cannot be forced to sprout or bread rushed to bake, the nervous system requires uninterrupted stillness and time.

Based on decades of therapeutic observation, B. K. S. Iyengar taught that restoration has a gestation period.

20 minutes in Viparita karni: the benefits

BODY
-Fuller fluid drainage from the legs and feet reducing swelling and tiredness ( you can do leg variations)
-hips, and lower back and neck fully release, as muscles start to relax
-heart rate slows down as the venous blood flows along with gravity, accumulates in pelvic region and slowly trickles to the heart

BREATH
-Due to the chin lock (jalandar bandha) breathing naturally slows and deepens, exhalations become longer & smoother
-Diaphragmatic breathing becomes easier since the body is fully supported
-Slower breath rate itself feeds back into calming the nervous system — it’s a two-way loop

NERVOUS SYSTEM
-20 minutes is long enough for a fuller parasympathetic shift
-Cortisol (stress hormone) tends to drop more with longer holds than short ones
-you experience a meditative state similar to the effect of early-stage relaxation or light meditation
-Heart rate variability (a marker of nervous system balance) often improves with sustained stillness like this

Caution : eye issues, BP, menstruation

Do practice under the guidance of a teacher

03/07/2026

Brick under dorsal

Opens the chest and shoulders, counteracting hunched, desk-bound posture and helping in anxiety and depression.
• Stretches the front of the neck, throat, and intercostal muscles between the ribs
• Encourages deeper breathing by expanding the rib cage and lungs
• Gently extends the spine, relieving tension built up from forward-flexed positions
• Stretches the hip flexors and front of the thighs (with legs extended as shown)
• Calming for the nervous system when held passively with support, since the prop does the work rather than the muscles

caution: neck/shoulder issues, blood pressure. Easing in slowly and using a lower prop height is a good way to test how your body responds.

Do practice under the guidance of a teacher.

08/06/2026

You can hear the ocean inside yourself.
Not as imagination.
Not as metaphor only.
But as the subtle sound of breath when the body becomes quiet, the chest opens, and the mind learns to observe.

Geeta S. Iyengar taught pranayama as a disciplined and subtle practice.

The body must be prepared.
The breath must be refined.
The mind must learn to watch without force.

One way to understand this approach is through three parts:
The body is the laboratory.
It provides the conditions — a quiet seat, an open chest, and a spine that can hold its length without strain.
Until the body can sit in stillness without complaint, pranayama cannot begin in earnest.

This is why asana comes first.
The breath is the experiment.
Not something to seize.
Not something to dominate.

Something to study.
Its length.
Its texture.
Its sound.
Its pauses.

The work is not to push the breath further each day.
The work is to observe it more closely.

The mind is the observer.
Not commentary.
Not impatience.
Not ambition.
Just watching.

When the mind learns to watch without interference, the breath becomes quieter, subtler, and more receptive.

Pranayama is powerful. It deserves respect.

It is not a breathing exercise to learn casually from a video or post. In the Iyengar tradition, it is introduced progressively, after the body has been prepared through consistent asana practice, and under the guidance of a qualified teacher.

What has your experience of pranayama been — difficult, quiet, surprising, or deeply calming?

08/06/2026