Rope Yoga In Darwin: What The Iyengar Wall Ropes Do, And Three Weekly Classes

In Pune, Mr BKS Iyengar tied ropes to a wall and turned gravity into a teacher. Darwin has the same wall, and three rope yoga classes a week to use it.

Rope yoga in Darwin: the short answer

Rope yoga is Iyengar yoga done with strong ropes fixed to hooks in a wall, so the ropes hold part of your weight while you work in a pose. At Flametree Yoga Studio in Woolner, Darwin, the yoga wall ropes are used for supported standing poses, backbends, forward bends and upside-down poses. Rope yoga now has three weekly non-beginner classes, in the studio only, because the ropes are on the wall. Here is the whole article in short form.

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 ropes are one of those props, and our Props notes cover the rest.

• What it is: poses done with the help of Iyengar yoga ropes fixed to a wall.
• Where it comes from: Mr BKS Iyengar’s institute in Pune, India.
• What students notice: they can stay longer, with less strain.
• Upside down, with support: the ropes take much of the load.
• Stiff back, neck or shoulders, and older students: many find the ropes make poses easier to reach.
• Safety: head-down poses are not for everyone, so tell your teacher.
• The three classes: Monday 9.45am, Monday 5.45pm and Friday 8.30am.
• Next step: choose a rope class on the non-beginner timetable.

What is rope yoga?

Rope yoga is yoga practised with ropes that hang from hooks set into a wall at different heights. You loop a rope around your hips, your thighs or your feet, or you hold it in your hands, and then you move into a pose.

The rope does one of two jobs. Sometimes it holds you, so you can let go of effort and stay longer. Sometimes it gives you something firm to pull against, so you can work harder in the right direction.

Most people see the ropes on the studio wall long before they use them. A common first thought is, “What on earth are those for?” The short answer is that they are one of the props (simple aids such as blocks, belts and chairs) that make Iyengar yoga what it is.

Where the yoga wall ropes come from

Mr BKS Iyengar developed the wall ropes at his institute in Pune, India. In the Iyengar tradition the practice is called Yoga Kurunta. “Kurunta” means puppet, because in the ropes you are a little like a puppet on strings.

Iyengar teaching holds that the ropes let students be supported in a pose, hold it for longer, and learn where the body should be. Some in the tradition also say the idea grew from the way vines were once used in ancient yoga practice. That is a story the tradition tells, not something history has pinned down.

The rope wall spread from Pune to Iyengar studios around the world. Flametree’s wall is at the Woolner studio, 19B Bishop Street, Woolner.

Why does Iyengar yoga use wall ropes?

Iyengar yoga uses wall ropes because support changes what a body can learn. When the ropes take some of your weight, you are not fighting to stay up. So your attention can go to the shape of the pose.

Mr Iyengar built a whole method around props for this reason. A prop is not a crutch. It is a way of showing the body a direction it has not found yet.

The ropes do that more strongly than most props. A belt on the floor can hold a leg. A rope fixed to a wall can hold the whole pelvis, while you lean away from it.

Gravity becomes your teacher

In most poses on the mat you hold yourself up with muscle. In the ropes you can lean back, hang and let gravity do part of the work. The hips soften, the chest widens and the spine lengthens, often without the struggle many of us feel on the floor.

Our students often tell us that this is the first time a pose has felt spacious rather than hard. That is known from practice, not yet tested by modern research.

What are the benefits of rope yoga?

The benefits of rope yoga, as Iyengar teaching and our students describe them, come down to support, time and feedback. Here they are one at a time.

You can stay longer, with less strain

Because the ropes carry part of the load, you can stay in a pose for longer without tiring. Time in a pose is where much of the learning happens. We have written more about this in how long to hold yoga poses.

You find tension you did not know you had

When the ropes hold you, the places you keep gripping stand out. A tight jaw, a hard belly, shoulders up near the ears. The ropes act like an honest mirror. They show you where you grip, and they give you a quiet chance to let go.

Your body learns the shape

A rope around the hips gives steady feedback. You can feel the pelvis go back and the spine reach forward. Many students find that once they have felt the direction in the ropes, they can find it again on the mat.

Backbends can melt instead of being forced

In a rope backbend the ropes hold the pelvis, so you can lift the chest and lengthen the front of the body before you arch. Iyengar teaching holds that backbends lift energy and open the chest. With the ropes, many students find they can arrive in a backbend without forcing it. There is more in our post on backbend yoga.

Backbends bring up fear for many people. In a pose such as Camel Pose (Ustrasana), the ropes act as an anchor, so you can lean back with a sense of being held rather than falling into space. A common habit in Camel Pose is to collapse into the lower back. With the ropes supporting you, you can lift and lengthen the spine before you arch, which spreads the bend more evenly along it. The ropes also take some of the load off the arms, so the chest can open more fully. That is known from practice, and research has not yet tested it.

It is fun

This one surprises people. Hanging in the ropes can feel playful, a bit like being a kid on the monkey bars again. There is often laughter at the rope wall, and a lightness that stays with you afterwards.

A quieter mind

In the Iyengar tradition, supported poses, and supported upside-down poses in particular, are taught to quieten the mind. Students commonly tell us they walk out of a rope class calmer than they walked in. That is known from practice, and research has not yet tested it for rope work.

These are only some of the benefits of Iyengar yoga. Flametree has also written about how yoga builds strength, yoga and fascia (the connective tissue around muscles) and yoga for back pain.

What does rope yoga look like upside down?

Upside-down poses are called inversions (poses where the head is below the heart). In the ropes, the classic one is Headstand in ropes (Sirsasana in ropes, or rope Sirsasana).

The ropes go around the top of the thighs and the pelvis. You hang from them, with your back to the wall, and the ropes take much of your weight. So your head and neck carry far less than in a Headstand on the floor.

For many students this is the first time they have ever been upside down as an adult. At first the mind says, “Is this safe?” Then, with a teacher right there, something shifts. The fear softens, the breath slows, and the world looks different from the other way up.

How a rope headstand is set up

Setting up a rope Headstand takes care, and it is always taught step by step. A folded blanket pads the ropes where they meet the body. In some versions a wooden stick or bar sits in the ropes to spread the load. Your teacher checks the height of the ropes and where they sit before you go up.

Once you are up, the variations begin. Legs straight and together. Soles of the feet together with the knees wide. Hands on the floor or holding the ropes. Each changes what you feel.

Is rope yoga safe?

Rope yoga is safe for most people when it is taught by a trained Iyengar teacher and set up properly. Every set-up is checked before you go into a pose. Still, some poses are not right for everyone, so the teacher needs to know about you.

Head-down poses are the main thing to watch. A 2023 study of 107 regular yoga practitioners, published in Maedica, measured eye pressure before and after a range of poses. Headstand raised eye pressure for a short time, while several other poses lowered it. So if you have glaucoma (a condition with raised pressure in the eye), high blood pressure, or any eye, neck or heart condition, tell your teacher before class.

That does not mean rope yoga is off the table. It means the teacher gives you a different version, or a different pose, that suits you. In Iyengar teaching there is almost always a version of a pose that works.

Also tell your teacher if you have an injury, are pregnant or are menstruating, as a few poses are done differently.

What research has tested so far

Research on rope yoga itself is very thin. We found one small study that used a rope wall. In 2024 Dawoud and colleagues, writing in the journal Children, ran an 8-week yoga programme with props and a rope wall for teenagers with juvenile arthritis (arthritis that starts in childhood). Thirteen attended. They reported enjoying it, satisfaction was high, and there were no adverse events (no harm from the classes). The study was too small to show more than that.

So most of what this post says about the ropes is known from practice: from decades of Iyengar teaching, and from our own students. Not yet tested by modern research is not the same as not working.

Do you need to be flexible to use the ropes?

No. You do not need to be flexible or advanced to use the ropes. You need to be a little curious, and maybe a little brave.

The ropes meet you where you are. A stiff body gets more support. A more open body gets more to work against. Iyengar teaching holds that the ropes let older and heavier students do poses that would otherwise be hard to reach.

What you do need, for these three classes, is some experience. They are non-beginner classes. If you are new to Flametree, start with our half price beginner deal, then move across to the non-beginner timetable.

Chris on her first rope dropback

Chris Lalor, Flametree’s Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher, learnt to drop back from standing into a backbend with a rope tied around her sacrum (the flat bone at the base of the spine). Before that she had tried dropping back onto a wall, and never felt in control.

In her words, the rope “let me deal with my fear of dropping back. I suddenly felt secure.” It held her pelvis in place, so she could lift and lengthen before arching back. It took a few attempts to bring her hands to the floor. With each one, the fear grew smaller.

Can rope yoga help a stiff back, neck or shoulders?

Many students tell us it does make them easier to work with. In Iyengar teaching the ropes give three things that matter when a back, neck or shoulders feel stiff: support, because the ropes carry part of your weight; gentle traction (a steady, lengthening pull); and guidance for alignment, so you can feel where the body should go.

With the ropes holding you, the spine can lengthen and the chest can open without you gripping to stay up. Students with sore or tight shoulders from desk work often use the upper ropes, where the arms reach and hang. Because you can stay in a pose longer, tight muscles around the shoulders and neck have more time to soften. These are known from practice, from Iyengar teaching and from our students.

The research is thin. The one rope-wall study we found, described above, did not test the back or shoulders. So we do not claim the ropes treat or fix anything. If you have back, neck or shoulder pain, tell your Flametree teacher before class so they can set up the ropes for you. Our Back Care notes have more.

Is rope yoga for older students?

Yes, many older students use the ropes, because the ropes carry part of the load. In her book The New Yoga for Healthy Aging, Iyengar teacher Suza Francina describes a student in her seventies whose injured elbow made weight-bearing poses hard to hold. Hanging in the ropes, she could stretch both arms fully for as long as she liked. That is a story from Francina’s teaching, not one of our students.

Francina adds that people can keep using wall ropes into their 80s and 90s. This is her experience as a teacher, not a trial. At Flametree, the rope classes are non-beginner classes, so tell your teacher about your health and any injuries, and they will set up the ropes for you.

Can you make a home version of the ropes?

You cannot take the rope wall home, but you can try a simple stand-in. A Flametree demonstration used a yoga belt looped around a door handle as a substitute for the wall ropes. The belt also works hooked around any bar at about waist height, such as a stair railing or a verandah rail.

Check first that the door handle or bar is completely secure and cannot slip, give way or swing. A home belt is not the same as the rope wall, so keep to simple poses, such as a supported Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) with your head resting on a block, bolster or a pile of books. Our notes on how to use a yoga strap and the yoga sandbag show other props, and are yoga props cheating? explains why we use them.

The three rope yoga classes in Darwin

Flametree now runs three rope yoga classes a week at Woolner. All three are Non-Beginner Mixed classes, in the studio only.

• Monday, 9.45 to 11.15am: Non-Beginner Mixed, a shared class with Chris and another Flametree teacher.
• Monday, 5.45 to 7pm: Non-Beginner Mixed, with Chris.
• Friday, 8.30 to 10am: Non-Beginner Mixed, with Chris.

The new Monday evening class means people who work during the day can now get to the rope wall too.

Why rope yoga is studio only

Rope yoga is studio only for a simple reason: the ropes are on the wall at Woolner. You cannot take the wall home, and you cannot hang from it over Zoom.

The rest of the non-beginner timetable still runs LIVE online as well as in the studio. So you can mix online classes in the week with time at the rope wall. Students already drive in from Coolalinga for these classes, because the ropes are only at Woolner.

How to get a place

Rope yoga classes are part of the normal non-beginner timetable, so any Flametree non-beginner pass covers them. The studio has 16 sets of ropes, so each of the three classes is limited to 16 people and there is no online version of these classes. So for these classes, please click the class time you want ahead of time to save your place, rather than just turning up. If a class is full you can join the waitlist. The waitlist moves automatically: the moment someone cancels, the next person on the waitlist is given their place and sent a confirmation, so there is no need to keep checking back. That is also why it matters if you cannot make a class you have signed up for: please cancel so the place opens up for someone else.

See all the times on the non-beginner timetable, or go straight to the class list and click the class time you want. To learn more about how Iyengar yoga is taught at Flametree, read Iyengar yoga in Darwin.

Practise this at Flametree

Your first class is free if you’re new to Flametree. New students, and anyone who has been away three months or more, can also get a half price 10 class pass with 2 extra classes free, to use online, in the studio, or both. The rope classes are studio only and for non-beginners; the rest of our classes run in the studio at Woolner in Darwin and LIVE online.

• Beginners: see the half price 10 class pass for new and lapsed students
• Not a beginner: see the half price 10 class pass for new and lapsed students
• The timetable, including online classes

Rope yoga: frequently asked questions

What is rope yoga?

Rope yoga is Iyengar yoga practised with ropes fixed to hooks in a wall. The ropes hold part of your weight, or give you something to pull against, so you can stay longer in a pose and feel its shape more clearly.

Why does Iyengar yoga use wall ropes?

Mr BKS Iyengar developed the wall ropes, called Yoga Kurunta, at his institute in Pune so students could be supported in poses, hold them longer and learn alignment. Support frees the attention to go to the shape of the pose.

What are the benefits of rope yoga?

Iyengar teaching and our students describe more time in poses with less strain, clearer feedback on alignment, backbends that open without forcing, supported upside-down poses, a quieter mind, and a lot of fun. These are known from practice and not yet tested by modern research.

Is rope yoga safe?

For most people, yes, when it is taught by a trained Iyengar teacher. Head-down poses raise eye pressure for a short time, so tell your teacher about glaucoma, high blood pressure, or any eye, neck or heart condition, and you will be given a version that suits you.

What is a rope headstand?

A rope headstand is Headstand in ropes (Sirsasana in ropes). Ropes around the top of the thighs and pelvis hold you upside down with your back to the wall, so the ropes take much of the weight off the head and neck.

Do I need to be flexible to do rope yoga?

No. The ropes give a stiff body more support and an open body more to work against. Flametree’s rope classes are non-beginner classes, so newcomers start with a beginner course first.

Can I do rope yoga online?

No. Rope yoga needs the rope wall, so it is studio only. The rest of Flametree’s non-beginner timetable runs LIVE online as well as in the studio. Each of the three rope classes is also limited to 16 people, one for each set of ropes, so please save your place ahead and cancel if you cannot make it.

Where can I do rope yoga in Darwin?

At Flametree Yoga Studio, 19B Bishop Street, Woolner, Darwin. There are three rope yoga classes a week: Monday 9.45 to 11.15am, a shared class with Chris and another Flametree teacher, Monday 5.45 to 7pm with Chris, and Friday 8.30 to 10am with Chris.

Is rope yoga good for a stiff back or stiff shoulders?

Many students tell us the ropes make a stiff back or stiff shoulders easier to work with, because the ropes hold part of your weight and give gentle traction (a steady lengthening pull). That is known from practice. We did not find research that tests rope yoga for the back or shoulders, so tell your teacher about any pain or injury first.

Can older people do rope yoga?

Many older students use the ropes, because the ropes carry some of the load. Suza Francina writes in her book The New Yoga for Healthy Aging that people can keep using wall ropes into their 80s and 90s. Flametree’s rope classes are non-beginner classes, so tell your teacher about your health and any injuries.

Can I make a home version of the yoga ropes?

Some students make a simple stand-in with a yoga belt looped around a door handle, or around a bar at about waist height, such as a stair railing. Check first that it is completely secure and will not slip or give way. It is not the same as the rope wall, so keep to simple poses such as a supported Downward Facing Dog.

Sources

• Dawoud A, Blitz J, Moonaz S, Grout L. Feasibility and Acceptability of Yoga for Adolescents with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. Children, 2024. doi.org/10.3390/children11070812
• Morya AK and colleagues. Effect of Asanas in Yoga on Intraocular Pressure of Practicing Healthy Individuals: a Prospective Observational Study. Maedica, 2023. doi.org/10.26574/maedica.2023.18.2.238
• Francina S. The New Yoga for Healthy Aging (book). Student story and comments on ropes at older ages, as quoted in a Flametree post.

Flametree Yoga Studio, 19B Bishop Street, Woolner, Darwin, and LIVE online across Australia. This post is general information, not medical advice. Tell your teacher about any health condition before class. Feel free to check with your professional advisers if you wish, but also give yoga a try.