Iyengar Quotes On Fear And Courage, Explained

Iyengar quotes on fear: the short version

Have you ever stood on your mat, looked at a pose and thought, I can’t do that? Mr BKS Iyengar, Geeta and their teachers knew that feeling well. Their Iyengar quotes on fear treat it as something to meet calmly, one small step at a time. Here are 20 of them, with plain explanations and ideas for using them in class.

Iyengar quotes on fear and courage in short form

• Fear is normal: the quotes treat it as part of learning, never as a flaw.
• Face it calmly: one small step beats a leap you are not ready for.
• Courage and care go together: be bold, but use caution.
• Doubt can come along: you do your work and let the doubt do its own.
• Teachers build courage in steps: a good teacher breaks a scary pose into small ones.
• Practise at Flametree: start with a free first class if you are new.

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 and his son Prashant carried the teaching on, and you’ll meet all three on this page.

What did Mr Iyengar say about fear?

Fear sits at the start of many poses. These eight quotes are about meeting it, naming it and taking the next small step.

To master fear is the most important battle to win.

What it means: This is a strong line from a man who started life as a sickly boy and became a famous teacher. Mr Iyengar puts fear first among the things worth winning over, ahead of flexibility or strength.

In class it often looks small. It is the moment before you kick up to a wall, or lean back over a chair, when your body says no. Meeting that moment calmly, with a teacher beside you, is the practice.

Read more: Wheel Pose and the fear of dropping back, yoga and anxiety

Do not be afraid. Do not be attached to your body. Even if fear comes, accept it and find the courage to come through it.

What it means: He gives three steps. Do not be afraid. Do not cling to the body. If fear arrives anyway, accept it and find courage to come through. He does not say fear will not come.

Accepting a feeling is different from obeying it. You notice the flutter in the stomach, name it quietly and then take the next small step.

Read more: learning a handstand at the wall without fear | Also on: The Mind And Meditation

Forget about fear. You may only fall on the floor, not beyond. In the future there is fear. In the present there is no fear.

What it means: Mr Iyengar is making a point about how much of fear lives in imagination. The fear is of what might happen, while in the present moment you are simply standing there.

He is not telling anyone to be careless. In a class, a teacher will set up a wall, a rope or a friendly hand so that falling is not a worry. With that in place, you can bring your attention back to the present moment.

Read more: headstand with a wall and a teacher, rope yoga | Also on: Poses, Teaching

Fright should descend; confidence should ascend.

What it means: Picture a lift with two buttons. Fright goes down, confidence goes up. It is a neat way of saying that as you practise, the fear gets lower and your confidence gets higher.

There is a physical side to it as well. When we are scared, the shoulders lift and the breath rises into the upper chest. Letting the shoulders and breath settle is the first step in letting fright descend.

Read more: how to calm your nervous system | Also on: Practice

Fear and fatigue block the mind. Face both, then courage and confidence flow into you.

What it means: Fear and tiredness both fog the mind. When you are scared or worn out, you cannot think clearly or feel what your body is doing. Mr Iyengar says to face them both and courage and confidence follow.

On a tired day, a gentle version of the practice is often the way to face it. On a nervous day, a simpler version of the scary pose is the way in.

Read more: yoga when you are tired or travelling | Also on: Effort And Discipline

Freedom is about dropping the shackles of fear and desire.

What it means: He describes fear and desire as shackles, things that hold us fixed in place. We are afraid of losing something or we crave something we do not have, and either one limits us.

In practice, you can feel this in a pose where you are gripping. Gripping to avoid discomfort and gripping to chase a result are both the same hold. Loosening the grip is a small taste of the freedom he mentions.

Read more: the eight limbs of yoga explained plainly | Also on: Life And Happiness

The presence or absence of intelligence is shown when you face insecurity. Security lies in insecurity.

What it means: Mr Iyengar says intelligence shows up when things feel unsafe, not when everything is easy. Anyone can feel calm when nothing is asked of them.

Think of a standing balance. The moment your foot wobbles you find out what your attention does. Staying alert and adjusting calmly is the intelligence he means, and the wobble is where it gets trained.

Read more: Mountain Pose and steady standing | Also on: Life And Happiness

If my mind is heavy then I cannot raise my body up. Body becomes heavy if the mind is negative with fear.

What it means: Geeta describes something many students feel. When the mind is heavy with fear or negativity, the body feels heavy too, and lifting it into a pose is harder.

That is why a teacher may start a class with something that gets you breathing and moving gently before the harder poses. A lighter mind makes a lighter body.

Read more: breath and pranayama notes | Also on: The Mind And Meditation, The Body And Alignment

How do you find courage without taking silly risks?

Courage in the Iyengar tradition is never reckless. These seven quotes pair boldness with good sense.

Use caution and be bold.

What it means: Four words that hold two ideas together. Courage without care leads to silly risks. Care without courage keeps you stuck.

In practice, boldness means trying something new, and caution means doing it with the right set-up, such as a belt, a block or a wall. Put the two together and you can try new things safely.

Read more: using props in yoga: cheating or teaching | Also on: Life And Happiness

You have to take a chance, then balance comes.

What it means: Balancing poses are hard to learn if you never let your weight leave a safe place. At some point you have to commit your weight to the standing leg, and then the balance can start to appear.

Teachers often suggest practising near a wall at first, so the leap of faith is a small one.

Read more: standing with steadiness, yoga for balance and bones: notes from Flametree | Also on: Standing Poses

If there is no wind in our sails, the only way out is to row.

What it means: When conditions are not helpful, you can sit and wait or you can row. Mr Iyengar picks rowing. Some days, practice has no wind in it, no energy, no mood, and the answer is to do the work anyway.

It is the same idea as lifting your feet onto a cold floor. The small effort you make is the thing that moves you.

Read more: a daily yoga habit that lasts | Also on: Effort And Discipline

In your discipline, if doubt comes, let it come. You do your work and let doubt carry on with its work. And let us see which gives up first!

What it means: There is humour in this one. Doubt is welcome to come along, but you are not going to stop your work for it. Doubt does its job, you do yours, and sooner or later the doubt tires out.

It is a useful trick for anyone starting something new. You do not have to be sure. You only have to keep doing the next thing.

Read more: getting started with yoga in Darwin | Also on: Effort And Discipline

Show courage at the time of doubt; do not take risks if you are in doubt.

What it means: This line from the guidelines for teachers holds a safety rule inside a courage rule. Show courage when you feel doubt, but do not take risks if you are in doubt. The two work together.

The point is the difference between nerves and a real warning. Nerves are fine to work through with support. A real sense that something is wrong is a signal to stop and ask your teacher.

Read more: yoga class levels explained | Also on: Teaching

Instead of restricting the movement, one should be courageous to get more movement there. You need courage to do.

What it means: Geeta says that when something is tight, the instinct is to restrict the movement to protect it. Being courageous means gently going into more movement there, in a supported way.

This is the idea behind many props. A belt or a block gives you a little room to explore a stiff area without fear that you will go too far.

Read more: yoga for stiffness and flexibility | Also on: Effort And Discipline

If one does not face the pain in the present, the pain is stored for the future. It will be worse by that time.

What it means: Geeta is talking about the ordinary discomfort of stretching and holding a pose, such as the hard work in a long hold. Her point is that avoiding it every time keeps you stuck, while meeting it with attention gets you somewhere.

This is not about sharp or sudden pain. Sharp pain is a signal to come out of the pose and ask your teacher. The discomfort she means is the stretch that you can breathe through.

Read more: why the pose begins when you want to leave | Also on: Health, Illness And Injury

How do teachers help a nervous student?

Teachers learn to build courage in their students. These five quotes show how it is done.

I will prepare the person who is afraid of doing Sirsasana physically and mentally to build up the courage. I won’t inform them that I am preparing them.

What it means: Geeta describes a teacher’s quiet craft. A nervous student is prepared in body and mind, step by step, without a big announcement. If the teacher says, “Today we are going to do the scary one,” the fear gets bigger.

In a class you may find you have done several useful preparations for a pose before you realise which pose they lead to.

Read more: how headstand is learned safely | Also on: Teaching, Poses

If the students are afraid to do the asana, then you may just ask them to do the first step of it. Build up courage in the student.

What it means: If a student is afraid of a pose, the teacher can ask for just the first step of it. Do that, then stop. Next time, do a little more.

This breaks a frightening pose into stages that each feel doable. By the time you reach the whole pose, you have already done most of it.

Read more: Wheel Pose in small steps | Also on: Teaching

Bring in refinement later. Your presentation gives them courage to break their limitations.

What it means: Teachers are encouraged to show a pose clearly and cleanly, because a good demonstration shows the student that it can be done. Refinement of the small details can wait until the student is settled.

This is why Iyengar classes use so much demonstration. Seeing a pose done well can give you the courage to try your own version.

Read more: yoga for beginners in Darwin | Also on: Teaching

To tell a beginner that it is going to be a backbending class is not going to prepare them. They are unprepared mentally.

What it means: Geeta points out that announcing a big pose in advance can leave beginners feeling unready. Their minds have time to run ahead and fill with worry.

A good teacher builds the class so students arrive at the harder pose already warmed up, calm and a step at a time.

Read more: backbend yoga, why the order of yoga poses matters | Also on: Poses, Teaching

Violence is the outcome of fear, selfishness, anger, and lack of confidence. Non-violence is respect for others; it is a state of mind.

What it means: Geeta links fear to anger. When people feel afraid, selfish or short of confidence, they can lash out. Non-violence, or ahimsa, is respect for others and a state of mind.

This is a quiet reason to deal with fear on the mat. A person who is calmer inside is generally kinder to the people around them.

Read more: yoga and anger, contentment in yoga | Also on: Philosophy, The Sutras And The Ego

Related pages

• Yoga For Beginners: notes from Flametree
• Poses And Practice notes
• Headstand with a wall and a teacher
• Yoga for anxiety in Darwin

Frequently asked questions

What did BKS Iyengar say about fear?

He called mastering fear the most important battle to win. He also said to accept fear when it comes and find the courage to come through it, and that frightened students should be brought along step by step. He paired courage with caution.

How do I get over my fear of a yoga pose?

Break the pose into small steps and use support such as a wall, a belt or a block. Geeta Iyengar suggested asking a nervous student to do only the first step of a pose, then building up. Do the next step only when the first feels steady.

Is it safe to push through fear in yoga?

Work through nerves with support, but stop when something feels wrong. Geeta Iyengar and Mr Iyengar said to show courage at the time of doubt and not to take risks if you are in doubt. A teacher can help you tell the two apart.

Where can I learn to face scary poses in Darwin?

Flametree teaches Iyengar yoga in Darwin and LIVE online, with walls, ropes and props so that harder poses can be learned in small steps. New students get a free first class.

Flametree Yoga Studio teaches Iyengar yoga in Darwin and LIVE online. This page is general information about yoga, not medical advice. The quotes are short credited extracts from the books, articles and talks named beside each one.