Iyengar Quotes On Teaching, Explained

Iyengar quotes on teaching: the short version

What makes a good yoga teacher? Mr BKS Iyengar said teaching yoga is very simple, but teaching it in the right way is very difficult. These Iyengar quotes on teaching come from Mr Iyengar, Geeta and Prashant. They are about practice, plain words, humour and watching the student. Each is explained in plain English, with links to our notes on Iyengar yoga teaching.

Iyengar quotes on teaching in short form

• Practise first: teaching without practice is cheating.
• Use plain words: Geeta wanted instructions that reach the right part of the body.
• Watch the student: the mental clock matters more than the wall clock.
• Be firm and kind: roar like a lion outside, be a lamb inside.
• Ask why: Prashant says to learn the reason, not just the copy.

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. The quotes below come from Mr Iyengar, his daughter Geeta S Iyengar and his son Prashant S Iyengar, who both became leading teachers in the tradition.

What makes a good yoga teacher?

Eight lines from Mr Iyengar and Geeta about the teacher’s own practice and character.

Teaching without practice is cheating. Then there is no difference between a teacher and a cheater. Only the order of the letters changes.

What it means: Mr Iyengar loves a pun, and this one is sharp. Swap two letters in “teacher” and you get “cheater”. His point: a teacher who does not practise has nothing real to share.

This is why Iyengar teachers keep a daily practice of their own and keep studying. It also explains why they ask you to try things for yourself rather than just take their word.

Read more: who Mr BKS Iyengar was, Iyengar yoga and philosophy notes. See also: More quotes on practice.

Teaching yoga is very simple, but to teach yoga in the right way is very difficult.

What it means: Anyone can say “lift your arms”. Mr Iyengar says to teach in the right way is very difficult. Right means seeing each student, finding the words that help them and judging how much to say.

That is why teacher training takes years in the Iyengar method, with a minimum three-year path before certification.

Read more: who Mr BKS Iyengar was, yoga class levels.

What you know, teach well; what you do not know, do not teach.

What it means: Honest and simple. Teach what you know well, and do not teach what you do not. It protects students from half-understood instruction.

As a student you can use the same rule. If a teacher says, “I’m not sure, let me check”, that is a good sign.

This is also good news for students. A teacher who stays inside what they know well is giving you something solid to build on.

Read more: who Mr BKS Iyengar was, yoga for beginners notes. See also: More quotes on learning.

Be a guinea-pig on your own self before you play with others.

What it means: A guinea pig is the animal that gets tried out first. Mr Iyengar tells teachers to try everything on themselves before they try it on anyone else.

It is why a good teacher can say, “I know that feels strange at the hip, here is what helped me”.

Students in an Iyengar class often hear a teacher say they have tried a set-up themselves first. That habit comes straight from lines like this one.

Read more: using props in yoga, yoga practice at home. See also: More quotes on practice.

The master is one who knows how to come down to the level of the pupil and who knows how to go up.

What it means: A teacher who can only teach at their own level will lose most of the room. Mr Iyengar says the master knows how to come down to the pupil’s level and how to go up again.

In a mixed class this is what you see: one pose, but different props and adjustments so each person can find the shape at their own level.

Read more: using props in yoga, yoga for beginners notes. See also: More quotes on beginners and stiffness.

Teachers should roar like a lion outside but be like a lamb inside.

What it means: A teacher has to be firm on the outside and gentle inside. Mr Iyengar’s lion roars to wake up your effort, and the lamb keeps care for the student underneath.

Many students remember the demanding classes they loved most.

The picture is about balance. All roar and no care frightens people off. All lamb and no roar leaves students sleepy. A good teacher has both ready, and knows which one the moment needs.

Read more: how the Iyengars used humour in teaching, who Mr BKS Iyengar was.

The person who knows his own mind will better know the other’s mind.

What it means: Geeta says that if you understand your own mind, you will better understand someone else’s. So teaching begins with self-study.

If you have ever got frustrated with a slow learner and then remembered how slow you were yourself, you know what she means.

Teachers in the Iyengar tradition are asked to keep up their own practice for this reason. What I have felt in my own hip helps me see what you are feeling in yours.

Read more: who Mr BKS Iyengar was, Iyengar yoga and philosophy notes. See also: More quotes on mind and meditation.

Compassion is always needed. But we think that compassion means to be soft.

What it means: We often think a kind teacher is a soft one. Geeta says that is a mistake. Compassion is not softness. Sometimes the kindest thing is to ask a student to try again.

In practice that means high standards for the pose and warm care for the person.

Think of a teacher who held you to a high standard and also plainly cared about you. That is the kind of compassion Geeta has in mind.

Read more: how the Iyengars used humour in teaching, yoga class levels. See also: More quotes on life and happiness.

How do teachers choose their words?

Instructions have to land. These quotes are about the craft of saying the right thing.

Your words should shoot like arrows to the part of the body you are teaching.

What it means: A teacher can only help if the instruction reaches the part of the body in question. Vague words do not land.

Compare “stretch more” with “lengthen the back of your right knee”. The second one sends the student’s attention to a place.

For a student the lesson is to listen for the part of the body named, then send your attention there. Words do their best work when you follow them with your awareness.

Read more: Triangle Pose, yoga for posture. See also: More quotes on body and alignment.

Ask them to look at you. You can’t give instructions to the air.

What it means: A simple rule from a teachers’ course: get the student’s eyes first. If nobody is listening, the words go to the air.

It also works at home: before you ask a child to do something, make eye contact.

In a class this might sound like “please look over here for a moment” before a demonstration. Once you have the room’s eyes, the instruction has somewhere to land.

Read more: yoga class levels, how the Iyengars used humour in teaching. See also: More quotes on attention and awareness.

You don’t say “Open your heart” you say “Open your chest”. If you say “Open your heart”, they may do anything with the heart.

What it means: Words matter. “Open your chest” points to a place. “Open your heart” is poetic but vague, and a student might do anything with it.

Geeta chose plain, physical instructions. That is one reason Iyengar classes feel so clear.

Try the difference yourself. Say “open your chest” and lift the breastbone. You can feel exactly where to go. The choice of words is a form of care for the student.

Read more: yoga for posture, yoga for body, breath and mind. See also: More quotes on body and alignment.

If I say “Go on the outer edge”, you let loose the inner edge. If I say “Be on the inner edge”, you let loose the outer edge.

What it means: Geeta noticed how students respond to instructions. Say “outside edge of the foot” and they let the inside go. Say “inside edge” and they drop the outside.

A good instruction keeps both. This is why teachers often give two cues at once: press the outer heel down and lift the inner ankle.

Read more: Triangle Pose, Mountain Pose (Tadasana). See also: More quotes on body and alignment.

Thigh is a simple word, why don’t you use it? Why make something unnecessarily complicated unless you are very sure about some particular action.

What it means: Why say “femoral region” when you can say thigh? Geeta asks teachers to prefer plain words unless a technical word is needed.

It is the same rule we try to follow at Flametree: explain things in words a twelve-year-old would understand.

Plain words also help the student. When you understand the instruction on the first hearing, you can spend your time on the pose instead of on decoding the language.

Read more: yoga for posture, yoga for beginners notes. See also: More quotes on learning.

I will often say to a student, “Your brain is not in your body! That is why you can’t get the asana.”

What it means: Mr Iyengar’s classic line when a student cannot get the pose. It is said with a smile. He means attention has wandered from the body.

The teacher’s job is to bring you back to the place. Look at your hand. Feel the floor. Come home.

If you hear something like this in class, take it as a friendly nudge. Look at the hand or the foot. Feel the place the teacher is pointing to. Then the pose often comes.

Read more: how the Iyengars used humour in teaching, Mountain Pose (Tadasana). See also: More quotes on body and alignment.

As a teacher, if I say ‘move’ you stay and if I say ‘stay’ you move.

What it means: Every teacher knows this feeling. Say “move” and the student freezes. Say “stay” and they fidget. Mr Iyengar’s joke has a gentle edge: we hear what we expect.

It is a reminder to listen carefully, as a student and as a teacher.

If you catch yourself doing the opposite of the instruction, laugh and try again. Mr Iyengar’s jokes often point out our habits so we can smile at them.

Read more: how the Iyengars used humour in teaching.

How do teachers read a class?

Timing, humour and watching the student.

The teacher has to watch the mental clock of each student and not the physical clock.

What it means: A teacher watches the clock on the wall. A good teacher also watches the mental clock of each student: who is ready for more, who needs a rest, whose attention is fading.

Mr Iyengar said this in an answer about teaching children, but it applies to every class.

A tired student at the end of a long day needs a different class from a fresh one at eight in the morning. Reading that well is a large part of the teacher’s art.

Read more: yoga class levels, how the Iyengars used humour in teaching. See also: More quotes on attention and awareness.

Everybody knows how to begin, but nobody knows how to end the class.

What it means: Everybody knows how to begin, nobody knows how to end. Mr Iyengar’s remark is both a joke and a lesson about pacing.

It is why Iyengar classes finish with a deliberate, quiet resting pose and not just a wave goodbye.

A class has a shape like a story. The ending gets as much care as the opening. For students it means you can stay for the last few minutes of rest. They are part of the class.

Read more: how to do Savasana properly, why the order of poses matters.

Did you come to watch your clock or to do yoga?

What it means: Mr Iyengar teased students who watched the time. “Did you come to watch your clock or to do yoga?” It is funny and pointed.

It invites you to stay with the pose rather than count the seconds.

The tease works because it is friendly. Most of us have glanced at the clock mid-pose. Mr Iyengar asks us to notice why we did. Usually it is because the pose got uncomfortable, and that is exactly when to stay.

Read more: how the Iyengars used humour in teaching, stillness in yoga. See also: More quotes on attention and awareness.

If you have lost something in your room don’t you look for it in every nook and corner? If your diamond wedding ring is lost how anxious you are and how you search. Is it not your duty to search from inside if the movement is not coming.

What it means: Geeta uses a lost diamond ring. You would turn the room upside down. So if the movement in a pose is not coming, you should search inside with the same care.

It is a nice picture of attention: patient, thorough and a little anxious to find what is lost.

Try this: in your next pose, ask what you would do if you had lost your keys. Go slowly over the leg, then the hip, then the foot. Search patiently until you find the place that is not yet awake.

Read more: stillness in yoga, Mountain Pose (Tadasana). See also: More quotes on attention and awareness.

Life cannot be always serious. Without humour, teaching cannot be fresh and it cannot easily be absorbed.

What it means: Even a strict teacher needs laughter. Mr Iyengar says without humour teaching cannot be fresh and cannot easily be absorbed.

A good laugh relaxes the room and wakes the attention. Many students remember the funny moments longest.

Humour does not mean silly. It means the teacher is human, the room is easy and nobody is afraid to try. Mr Iyengar was strict and funny in the same class.

Read more: how the Iyengars used humour in teaching, who Mr BKS Iyengar was. See also: More quotes on life and happiness.

I may be a martinet when you are on your feet, but I do not think I have ever woken a student from Savasana, except possibly in time to send him home.

What it means: Mr Iyengar admits he can be a martinet (a strict disciplinarian) when you are on your feet. But Savasana is protected.

Rest is part of the teaching, and good teachers guard it.

It is a joke at his own expense. It also tells us what he valued. The strict part of the class was in the standing poses. The rest at the end was left alone.

Read more: how to do Savasana properly, how the Iyengars used humour in teaching. See also: More quotes on relaxation, rest and sleep.

What should students look for in a teacher?

Prashant speaks to students as well as teachers.

As a student, it is not important for you to know WHAT Guruji does but WHY Guruji does.

What it means: Copying the shape is the easy part. Prashant says to ask why the teacher does what they do. Why this prop, why this order?

If you know the reason, you can use it at home and when the teacher is not there.

Prashant is talking about his father, Mr Iyengar. His advice applies to any teacher: if you know the reason, you can use the idea when you practise at home.

Read more: why the order of poses matters, using props in yoga. See also: More quotes on learning.

There are many things that we know but we need to be told that we know. A teacher has to make the student know that he knows.

What it means: Sometimes you know more than you think. Prashant says the teacher’s work is to make the student know that he knows.

It is a respectful idea of teaching. A good teacher asks questions that help you notice.

For example, you may already know your knee is bent. A good question lets you say so yourself. That feels different from being told, and it tends to stick.

Read more: yoga class levels, yoga for beginners notes. See also: More quotes on learning.

Let my techniques not be memos let them be love letters.

What it means: Prashant says a teacher’s techniques should not be memos, but love letters. A memo is a to-do note. A love letter is written to a person and meant to land.

Instructions given with care feel different from instructions read from a list.

A good instruction asks something of you and makes you feel it was meant for you. That is a high standard for any teacher, and a lovely one.

Read more: how the Iyengars used humour in teaching, who Mr BKS Iyengar was. See also: More quotes on learning.

Related pages

• How the Iyengars used humour in yoga teaching
• Who was Mr BKS Iyengar?
• Yoga philosophy and Iyengar yoga: notes and articles
• Yoga class levels explained
• Iyengar quotes on learning

Frequently asked questions

What did Mr Iyengar say makes a good yoga teacher?

He said teaching without practice is cheating, and that you should teach well what you know and not teach what you do not. He also said a master knows how to come down to the level of the pupil and how to go up.

Why do Iyengar teachers use such precise words?

Geeta taught that words should shoot like arrows to the part of the body being taught. Plain, physical instructions such as open your chest tell the student exactly where to go, so they are less likely to guess.

Were the Iyengars funny teachers?

Often, yes. Mr Iyengar said that without humour teaching cannot be fresh, and many of his lines on this page are jokes with a point. Our article on the Iyengars and humour gives more examples.

Who teaches Iyengar yoga in Darwin?

Flametree Yoga Studio teaches Iyengar yoga in Darwin, at Woolner and Coolalinga, in the studio and LIVE online. Your first class is free if you’re new to Flametree, and the timetable shows what is on.

Flametree Yoga Studio, Darwin and LIVE online. Information only, not medical advice. The quotes on this page are short credited extracts from the books, articles and talks named beside each one.