As Iyengar's yoga teaching began to gain popularity in Europe, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium asked to meet him. Impressed by the yogi, Queen Elisabeth said she wanted him to teach her how to do a headstand. She was 86 at the time. Iyengar taught her sirsasana (headstand) citing her as an example that yoga can be taken up as a practice at any age. "The Queen of Belgium started doing headstand at the age of 86. Nothing happened to her," he writes in his book The Tree of Yoga. Here is other wisdom about aging from BKS Iyengar -
1. One is never too old to do yoga. "If it were, then I should have stopped my practice long ago," he said.
2. Yoga is especially important as one ages. "The body does decay...By performing asanas we allow the blood to nourish the extremities and depths of the body, so that the cells remain healthy. But if you say, 'No, I am old,' naturally the blood circulation recedes."
3. The risk of yoga injury and aging is minimal. "Much has been said by certain people about the dangers of yoga and the risk of injury. But if you walk in the street carelessly, you can have an accident. So do you advise people not to walk? People die when they are bed. So is it dangerous to sleep on a bed?" The key to injury free yoga is to be careful and mindful.
The Queen of Belgium was so pleased with her yoga instruction about headstand that she later presented Iyengar with a bust of his head which she herself sculpted. Then, when Queen Elisabeth suffered a stroke in 1965 she asked Iyengar to visit and help her regain some control over her body.
1. One is never too old to do yoga. "If it were, then I should have stopped my practice long ago," he said.
2. Yoga is especially important as one ages. "The body does decay...By performing asanas we allow the blood to nourish the extremities and depths of the body, so that the cells remain healthy. But if you say, 'No, I am old,' naturally the blood circulation recedes."
3. The risk of yoga injury and aging is minimal. "Much has been said by certain people about the dangers of yoga and the risk of injury. But if you walk in the street carelessly, you can have an accident. So do you advise people not to walk? People die when they are bed. So is it dangerous to sleep on a bed?" The key to injury free yoga is to be careful and mindful.
The Queen of Belgium was so pleased with her yoga instruction about headstand that she later presented Iyengar with a bust of his head which she herself sculpted. Then, when Queen Elisabeth suffered a stroke in 1965 she asked Iyengar to visit and help her regain some control over her body.
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