Today’s Google Doodle comes perilously close to cultural appropriation by celebrating the 97th birthday of B. K. S. Iyengar (died 2014), a man who did much to popularize yoga in the West. The Doodle shows some yoga poses, and perhaps readers can name them. There are several poses in different Doodles:
Here’s some information from the Google site:
B.K.S. Iyengar, it’s been said, could hold a headstand for nearly half an hour well into his eighties. He was instrumental in bringing yoga to the West, beloved by followers on nearly every continent (certainly a few of his techniques have reached a base camp somewhere in Antarctica, but we couldn’t be sure), and advised such aspiring yogis as Aldous Huxley, Sachin Tendulkar, and Queen Elizabeth of Belgium. His style–Iyengar Yoga–is characterized by tremendous control and discipline, which he exercised in ways not limited to confoundingly long headstands.
To remember the pioneering and deeply spiritual yogi on what would have been his 97th birthday, Kevin Laughlin used a few of the master’s poses, or asanas, to help complete the logo on today’s homepage.
The Independent has four more facts about Iyengar that yoga devotees might want to know. I’ll add that Iyengar became popular in the West after befriending violinist Yehudi Menuhin, and Wikipedia says this about his charitable activities:
Iyengar supported nature conservation, stating that it is important to conserve all animals and birds. He donated Rs. 2 million to Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Mysore, thought to be the largest donation by an individual to any zoo in India. He also adopted a tiger and a cub in memory of his wife, who died in 1973.
Iyengar helped promote awareness of multiple sclerosis with the Pune unit of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of India.
Iyengar’s most important charitable project involved donations to his ancestral village of Bellur, in the Kolar district of Karnataka. Through a trust fund that he established, he led a transformation of the village, supporting a number of charitable activities there. He built a hospital, India’s first temple dedicated to Sage Patanjali, a free school that supplies uniforms, books, and a hot lunch to the children of Bellur and the surrounding villages, a secondary school, and a college.
I really need to start doing yoga again. It really stops you from stiffening up.
Yes it does – works for me since w/o yoga I would not be able to touch my knees let alone toes!
A couple of years ago I tried the P90X home workout which had a yoga component. The yoga workout was the most humbling for this middle aged man. I definitely saw the benefits of it though.
I have sciatica and stretching regularly really helps.
In fact, it is the only way I can manage not to be in constant pain.
I do some yoga poses at a particular class at my gym, but not the three depicted in the Google Doodle! Those are hard. But yoga is great — provided you leave the religious claptrap associated with it behind and just see it a physical discipline (the word “exercise” seems to capture too little here).
Yes, and I don’t get the common fascination with the claptrap. Some exercises are good exercises, some doesn’t seem to be exercises at all (no effect), et cetera. It is like with meditation, which also have no measurable effect that a catnap wouldn’t make (whether placebo or not).
Speaking of catnaps, the humble feline shows that grace and fitness can be captured simply with long naps and short stretches.*
*The irony here being that some yoga routines are claimed to be inspired by observing felines. Oh, _sure_ …
I did yoga for about ten years, and Iyengar was certainly my favorite method.
I’d like to encourage myself to stretch. Stretching feels fantastic and yet I rarely do it. I think I’ll stretch for 60 seconds now.
I do yoga; I find it very helpful for tension management. It’s also good for strength training.
HANG ON – CULTURAL APPROPRIATION! Oh, it is OK as it was his culture – but surely not allowed to teach to people from a different culture!
Confused!
😉