Dear Students,

I hope you are well. Thank you for all the support my teaching is receiving. I am so glad to hear that these classes are supporting your practice and learning.

I have been hearing from some students that they would like more support for their home practice with questions of sequencing and what they should be practicing on their own. I usually teach a workshop on Practice that last about three hours(!) at the studio where we work on understanding categories of asana and best practices for sequencing. I know some of you have questions about practice...

What would be the best format for a practice question and answer workshop session? Please let me know if you have interest in participating and what would be the best format to support your learning.

Sincerely,

Jennifer

Jennifer Beaumont's Classes on Video

Dear Students, I wanted to share with you the resources produced for your at home study and practice that are available now at the Patreon page. I am working on recording and sharing more each week. Right now in the works are more classes for beginners, and some shorter practices, as almost all of these videos are full length classes from 90 - 120 minutes. I hope these classes help to support you find equanimity through yoga practice through these troubled times.

Proposed Sadhana Study for Troubled times

One of my yoga students would like to lead a formal discussion and study group on the Sādhanā Pāda (the second chapter of the Yoga Sūtras of Patanjali). Sadhana Pada is the chapter about the undertaking of practice. The proposed study group could happen in blog format or through live zoom meetings.
From IYCGR student Daniel Hugger:
“I first got the idea for this study last summer during a retreat Jennifer led in Charlevoix, MI. During the retreat we had a yoga philosophy discussion and one of the students raised a very interesting and technical question about a verse in the first Pāda (Part) of the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali. Jennifer answered the question but encouraged students who were new to the Yoga Sūtras to begin their study with the Sādhanā Pāda, the second part of the Sūtras on practice. I made a note of this and thought this would make a valuable study.

Below is a tentative schedule of readings:

Week 1: 

The acts of yoga, their effect on the afflictions, the five afflictions, and the root affliction. 

Reading: Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali II.1-5

Week 2: The remaining four afflictions, their nature, and their cure. 

Reading: Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali II. 6-11

Week 3: Karma, its consequences, and the nature of suffering. 

Reading: Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali II. 12-16

Week 4: The seer, the seen, and their conjunction. 

Reading: Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali II. 17-24

Week 5: The nature of emancipation and the eight limbs of yoga. 

Reading: Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali II. 25-29

Week 6: The yamas, niyamas, and how to counter contrary tendencies. 

Reading: Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali II. 30-34

Week 7: The yamas and their benefits. 

Reading: Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali II. 35-39

Week 8: The niyamas and their benefits. 

Reading: Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali II. 40-45

Week 9: Āsana. 

Reading: Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali II. 46-48

Week 10: Prānāyāma. 

Reading: Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali II. 49-53

Week 11: Pratyāhāra. 

Reading: Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali II. 54-55

If you would like to participate please let Jennifer know!

Regards,

Dan Hugger

*there is NO cost for participation in this group but please have a copy of the Light on Yoga Sūtras of Patanjali by B.K.S. Iyengar

Daniel J. Hugger is librarian and research associate at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty. He received a B.A. in history from Hillsdale College and a State of Michigan teaching certificate from Calvin University. He has written and spoken extensively on questions of education, political economy, and religion. Daniel is the editor of two books Lord Acton: Historical and Moral Essays and The Humane Economist: A Wilhelm Röpke Reader.

Finding Freedom through the armpit chest and beyond

For thousands of years yogis have been contemplating and practicing to find what could not be touched or damaged by the troubles of the world, no matter what. Yoga has been passed on because those inquiries, practices, and explorations into the nature of what it means to be a human being has amounted to some understandings and wisdom that have been of benefit to others.     

The value of any teaching is experienced in its application in practice.  When there is little we can do to control what's happening outside, there are actions that we can take to transform the states of suffering experienced in the body and mind, to endure these periods of disequilibrium and to ride through times of uncertainty with the ability to access a state of peace and ease within. 

Iyengar Yoga makes it literal, and finds the concrete expression of freedom within the confines of our vulnerable and temporal physical body.   "Open your armpits and you won't get depressed." B.K.S. Iyengar has famously said.  In class last week,  we focused on opening up our armpit chest so that the collar bone region spread and broadened.  We can experience a difference in our mood from skillful practice which aligns the muscular skeletal body so that the energetic pathways of body function better.  We breathe better and our heart works better when our chest is lifted and broadened. Practice transforms us.

There is a version of that continuing level class for experienced students to lift and free the armpit chest now available on Patreon. A beginner version will be shared soon. Our family filmed a kids yoga class this weekend, and I taught a prenatal class. Hopefully those will be shared within a couple of days…

Jennifer Beaumont is teaching Classes on Video on Patreon

“Change is not something we should fear.  Rather it is something we should welcome.  For without change, nothing in this world would ever grow or blossom, and no one in this world would ever move forward to become the person they’re meant to be.”
— B.K.S. Iyengar, founder of Iyengar Yoga, author of Light on Yoga.  

Jennifer Beaumont’s video classes are in progress and being shared here on Patreon

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In these extraordinary times of uncertainty, there's a need to find the ways to connect through new mediums. My life is devoted to teaching the art of classical yoga in the innovative method of Sri B.K.S. Iyengar. A senior teacher and longtime student and devoted practitioner, I've been dedicated to teaching Iyengar Yoga in West Michigan for almost twenty years.  To continue to serve the community of students in the current times, I have to change. I am now devoting my time to developing the art of teaching, going further to pass it on by filming classes to create a new means for students to practice these teachings and grow. These films have to potential to unite us in the teachings and practice despite any distance. In practice, we explore the instrument of the body.  The postures are objects for self-examination: this is a means to find the way in, through levels of concentration, awareness and awakening. I look forward to sharing these classes with you. This is the next step. I hope you'll join me.   Video classes are in progress and being shared here on Patreon.

So far there are classes for Level 1 Beginners

Level 1 for lower back issues

Gentle/Restorative/Women’s Class

Advanced Class Backbends

Video Classes planned to update within a week: a Neck & shoulders emphasis class for beginners, and one for intermediates, gentle prenatal yoga class, and kids yoga, and another advanced class. Thanks for your patience. This a labor of love behind the scenes!

Yoga Practice for Troubled Times: for Immunity

This is a multi-level sequence based on Yogacarya Sri B.K.S. Iyengar’s recommendations for practicing for the immune system when the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute was closed during a flu outbreak many years ago. Shown are various postures with optional variations and supports for beginner/intermediate/advanced practitioners.

Read more