Early years
[Where he grew up, and what first brought him to yoga. From Session 2 of the interviews.]
Learning from Guruji
Narayan Sir studied under B.K.S. Iyengar, Guruji, learning not only the postures but the precision, discipline and therapeutic use of the method.
[How they met, how Guruji taught him, and a moment he still remembers. From Session 1.]
The line of the teaching
Iyengar yoga was shaped by one teacher over a lifetime, and carried on by students who learnt at his side.
- Ancient IndiaSage Patanjali sets down the Yoga Sutras, with the eight limbs of yoga.
- 1918B.K.S. Iyengar, Guruji, is born in Bellur, Karnataka.
- Aged 16He is introduced to yoga by his teacher, Sri T. Krishnamacharya, and at 18 is sent to Pune to teach.
- 1966Guruji's book Light on Yoga is published and carries the method across the world.
- 1975The Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune, named for his wife, is inaugurated.
- DecadesNarayan Sir studies directly under Guruji, and goes on learning from him for decades.
- 1988Narayan Sir begins teaching in Vijayanagar, Bengaluru.
- 2014Guruji passes away. The teaching continues, hand to hand, through students like Narayan Sir.
Teaching since 1988
In 1988 he began teaching in Vijayanagar, Bengaluru. In the -18 years since, students have come to him with stiffness, pain, stress and long-standing complaints, and many have stayed for years.
[How his teaching has deepened over the years, and what he notices first when a new student walks in. From Sessions 2 and 7.]
How he teaches
[His observation, compassion and guidance, ideally described by students and in his own words. From Session 7.]
He speaks Kannada and Tamil, and the essence of the practice is grasped by practising beside him over months. The teachings section shares his words, translated for meaning.
