Iyengar Quotes On Ageing, Explained

Iyengar quotes on ageing: the short version

Does your body change with the years, and does your practice have to stop when it does? Mr BKS Iyengar practised into old age, and wrote and spoke about it with humour and honesty. These Iyengar quotes on ageing, from him and from his daughter Geeta, are short lines with a plain-English explanation of what each one means and how it shows up in class. Each one names a change that comes with the years and, in the same breath, what you can do with it.

These Iyengar quotes on ageing in short form

• Practice changes shape: from doing more to seeing more.
• Never too late: start where you are, with props if you like.
• Keep using it: the remedy for rust is use.
• Accept first: Geeta says accept the body, then make the effort.
• Keep the fire: interest and steady effort matter more than range.

Iyengar yoga is the style developed by Mr BKS Iyengar. In the 20th century he did more than anyone to set down traditional Indian yoga, through his books and his teaching, and he pioneered the use of props. It is sometimes called modern classical yoga, and it’s the style we teach at Flametree. His daughter Geeta (1944 to 2018) and his son Prashant, who still teaches in Pune, became teachers too.

How did Mr Iyengar describe his own practice as he got older?

When I was young the body was very active but the mind was not willing. Today the mind is willing, but the body is not willing.

What it means: Look at the swap he describes. Young, he had a body that would and a mind that wouldn’t. Older, his mind is willing and the body has its limits. He says it without complaint. For a lot of us the lesson is that practice changes shape with the years: the mind has more to give, so the practice turns toward patience and attention.

Read more: Yoga for over 50: what a good class works on · Our notes for older adults

Previously I used to challenge the body, now the body challenges me.

What it means: This one is neat: once he challenged the body, now the body challenges him. It’s a gentle reminder that a long practice is a conversation, not a contest. In a class you may notice that the same pose asks you a different question this year than last.

Read more: Managing effort in your yoga practice

Then I was seeking. Now, I am seeing.

What it means: Four short words with a lot in them. Seeking is searching from outside; seeing is noticing what’s already there. Years of practice, Mr Iyengar says, moved him from the first to the second. It’s an invitation to stay with a pose long enough to see what’s happening in it.

Read more: More quotes on attention and awareness

My practice is not changing. It is transforming. It is becoming subtler and finer.

What it means: He draws a line between a practice that merely changes and one that transforms: it becomes finer and subtler. For many people, the advanced stage of yoga isn’t a harder pose but a more refined look at the same pose. That’s good news at any age, because refinement doesn’t need a big range of movement.

Read more: More quotes on practice · Pose and practice notes

When I was young, I played. Now I stay.

What it means: “I played” and “I stay” show the change of pace. The young person moves around, tries things and has fun. The older practitioner stays inside the pose and looks. Neither is better; they’re different seasons. Staying in a pose with attention is a skill you can build.

Read more: Stillness in yoga · How long to hold yoga poses

I am also ageing but my yogic practice, for hours together, is very regular like the rising and the setting of the sun.

What it means: He says he is getting older too, yet his practice runs for hours, as regular as the sun rising and setting. What he’s describing is steadiness, not intensity. A small practice done regularly can be more use than a big one done now and then.

Read more: Making yoga a daily habit · Yoga for balance, bones and strength

I have not retired and never shall. I will always keep the inner fire burning.

What it means: “I have not retired and never shall.” In this line, the fire is interest and effort, which you can tend for life. Many people begin yoga later in life, and it’s a practice you can keep going for decades. Keeping the fire lit means finding a version of practice you can do, and then doing it.

Read more: Who was Mr BKS Iyengar?

I have deliberately kept a little bit of paunch to show that a stout septuagenarian can be very agile.

What it means: A bit of humour: a man in his seventies, proud to be a “stout septuagenarian” who is still agile. The point is that skill and ease are not the same as being slim or young. It’s a freeing message for anyone who thinks yoga is only for a certain body.

Read more: More quotes for beginners · Yoga for stiff guys

I ate seventy-six jalebis. While I can still stand on my head for twenty minutes, I don’t think I could still eat seventy-six jalebis.

What it means: A jalebi is a sweet, syrupy Indian dessert, and he once ate seventy-six of them. Now he says he couldn’t, but he can still stand on his head for twenty minutes. He names what time has taken away and what it has left in the same breath. It’s an honest, funny way of saying that some things change and some stay, and you can enjoy both.

Read more: More quotes on life and happiness

Even as the body ages and is able to do less, there are subtleties that reveal themselves, which would be invisible to younger or more athletic bodies.

What it means: Here’s a line that rewards slowing down. As the body does less, finer things show up that a younger or more athletic body can miss. For example, a student who can’t go far into a pose may feel exactly where it’s working, which a more flexible person skips past. Slowing down can be a way in, not a loss.

Read more: More quotes on the body and alignment · Chair yoga

Is it too late to start, or to keep going?

It is never too late in life to practise yoga. If it were, then I should have stopped my practice long ago.

What it means: The answer first: he says it’s never too late. His own long practice is the proof he offers. If you’re starting later in life, a good class begins where you are today, using props such as chairs, belts and blocks to make poses reachable.

Read more: Chris Lalor’s story: starting yoga stiff in her late 30s or 40s · Using props in yoga · More quotes for beginners

Yoga is a gift for old age. One who takes to Yoga when old gains not only health and happiness but also freshness of mind.

What it means: Geeta calls yoga “a gift for old age” and says that taking it up when older brings freshness of mind. That’s her view, and it’s one we share: it’s a practice that can begin at any age. In class, props such as chairs and belts let you start from where you are.

Read more: Yoga for over 50 · Yoga for brain health: what the studies suggest

An iron gets rusted if it is not used. So also, your physiological, emotional, intellectual, mental body gets rusted.

What it means: Iron rusts if you leave it, and so does the whole self if left unused. The remedy he points to is use: keep the body and mind working. It isn’t meant to frighten anyone. It’s a push to keep moving at whatever level you can, with care and in a way suited to you.

Read more: Yoga for balance, bones and strength · Falls and yoga studies, including the 2013 Sydney pilot

I want every one to stand on their two feet till the last breath. Do not think of the third leg, be on two legs, and if yoga has given you that, yoga has given you plenty of joy.

What it means: He wants everyone to stand on their own two feet to the end, without needing a third leg (a stick). He doesn’t treat a stick as a failure, he’s naming a hope. Standing poses are a big part of an Iyengar class, and they ask for exactly this kind of steadiness.

Read more: Mountain pose: how to stand properly · Falls and yoga studies

You may not disclose your age but the muscles tell you what your age is.

What it means: You can keep your age private, but the muscles have their own record. Geeta’s point is practical: if you want to work with your body as it is, you need to look at how it is. Practice is the way to see that clearly and kindly.

Read more: Yoga for strength · Can yoga build muscle?

Suppose I want to look younger so I go on using makeup and polishing my nails. How long can I hide? You have to face the truth.

What it means: Makeup, polish, a younger look: Geeta asks how long it hides anything. Her answer is to face the truth. In yoga, facing the truth means starting from the body you’ve got today, not the one you had at twenty. It’s a relief once you do it.

Read more: More quotes on life and happiness

One has to accept the fact that the body has become a little old and then take efforts to make it young.

What it means: Two steps in one sentence. First accept that the body has aged, then make an effort to bring it youthfulness. The order matters. Acceptance comes first, without bitterness. After that, steady practice becomes a kind effort rather than a fight with yourself.

Read more: More quotes on effort and discipline · Our notes for older adults

You may be able to do, the young may be able to do, but can you guide people who are ageing?

What it means: Geeta challenges teachers: it’s one thing to do a pose, and another to guide people who are growing older. That is why we say good teaching means seeing each person in front of you. In an Iyengar class a teacher may offer a chair, a wall or a rope so every body can work well in the pose.

Read more: More quotes on teaching · Iyengar yoga props

Related pages

• Yoga for older adults: brain, memory and ageing notes
• Yoga for over 50: what a good class works on
• Falls and yoga studies
• Yoga for balance, bones and strength

More Iyengar quotes, explained: Attention And Awareness, Beginners And Stiffness, The Body And Alignment, Effort And Discipline, Health, Illness And Injury, Life And Happiness, Poses, Practice, Teaching. Or see all the quotes on the Iyengar Yoga Quotes, Explained page.

Frequently asked questions

What did Mr Iyengar say about getting older?

He said his practice kept changing as he aged: “My practice is not changing. It is transforming. It is becoming subtler and finer.” He also joked about it, as when he said he could still stand on his head for twenty minutes but could not eat seventy-six jalebis any more.

Did Mr Iyengar keep practising as he got older?

Yes. In Yoga Wisdom and Practice he said he was ageing too, but his practice, for hours together, was very regular like the rising and the setting of the sun. In Light on Life he wrote, “I have not retired and never shall.”

Did Mr Iyengar think it is too late to start yoga?

No. In The Tree of Yoga he wrote, “It is never too late in life to practise yoga.” Geeta called yoga “a gift for old age”. A good class begins where you are, with chairs, belts and blocks to make the poses reachable.

Does Flametree in Darwin use chairs and props for older students?

Yes. Iyengar yoga uses props such as chairs, belts, blocks and walls so that each person can work well in a pose. Flametree teaches in Darwin and LIVE online, and the timetable shows the classes.

Flametree Yoga Studio teaches Iyengar yoga in Darwin and LIVE online. This page is general information, not medical advice. The quotes are short credited extracts from works by the Iyengar family; each credit names the source. Sources quoted on this page: Astadala Yogamala, Light on Life, The Tree of Yoga, Yoga Rahasya, Yoga Wisdom and Practice, Yoga: A Gem for Women, Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health. Further reading: Mr Iyengar on Wikipedia · Geeta Iyengar on Wikipedia