My time in Pune - February 2024

In February of 2024 I spent a month in India studying yoga at the Ramanani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) in Pune, India. They were holding a special intensive to celebrate 50 years of the studio. The intensive was the first two weeks and then the rest of the month moved to the normal studio timetable.

In February it is spring time moving into summer so it can be cool in the morning but warmer during the day. Pune is a large city and with that it is busy, vibrant and colourful. India is a sensory overload there are flower markets and fruit stands, beautiful ancient banyan trees, cows and goats on the back streets. Stray dogs, lots of temples of various sizes on every corner along with chai sellers. I rented an apartment just a few minutes’ walk from the institute which was perfect for going back and forth to the institute especially as I was teaching a few online classes from the apartment.

It was a different feeling to be vulnerable again and out of my comfort zone, but that was short lived. The studio is so welcoming. My first class was with Raya in the evening, I put myself at the back so I could hide before I learnt the ways of the institute and I had a difficult time hearing and understanding at first with the noise of the birds, honking cars and rickshaws outside the studio. but soon these turn to white noise.

How do I spend the month:

When you arrive, you get given your timetable for the month. Mainly you get given a class a day, usually two hours, my main teachers are Abhijata and Raya along with Prashant (Mr Iyengar’s son). We also get allocated an additional pranayama class. Prashant is known for his philosophical and metaphysical approach to classes. Abhijata is a dynamic teacher; she has a wonderful sense of humour. Sunita is Mr Iyengar’s daughter and is old school, wise and strict. We are also allocated time in the practice hall for self-practice. The self-practice time is really valuable time to review what you have learnt, to play with the props in your own time. I also used common sequences throughout the month to help my needs. The emotional stability sequence when I first landed. Week three I got signs of a cold so I spent three days doing the immune sequence and it worked, my cold didn’t turn into anything. I also practice the menstruation sequence (sadly unavoidable when you are there for a month).

We are also allocated time in the practice hall for self-practice. The self-practice time is really valuable time to review what you have learnt, to play with the props in your own time. I also used common sequences throughout the month to help my needs. The emotional stability sequence when I first landed. Week three I got signs of a cold so I spent three days doing the immune sequence and it worked, my cold didn’t turn into anything. I also practice themenstruation sequence (sadly unavoidable when you are there for a month).

During the first two weeks that we were taking part in the intensive, the days were full on with additional presentations showing us how to use props, Q&A sessions, watching old videos of Mr Iyengar and getting together for book club-like sessions. Then the second two weeks went to the studio timetable and we had more self-practice time and more time for observation of classes, more time for lunches with friends and shopping trips for fabric and to the tailors

On a Sunday we had the day off as the studio is shut but I always went to Gulnaaz Daashti at her studio in Baner. She is a senior teacher at RIMYI who has extensive knowledge working directly with Geeta and Mr Iyengar. The class is very welcoming. It’s a “teacher’s class” designed to unpick some of the concepts we haven’t understood in class and focus on one pose or one body part and watch it develop into a sequence. Then we treat ourselves to a weekly spa day at the Marriot, which is the perfect escape from the business and dust in the city.

Class Observation

You can pay extra to sit at the back and observe classes. Every day I tried to observe at least one class, the beginner classes are 1 hour, intermediate 1.5 hours. They have women’s classes, children’s classes, classes for seniors and knee/back/shoulder problems for beginners. It is really valuable time scribbling frantic notes to the speed of the teachers. No photos are allowed which is fantastic but I am unsure if my scribbles will translate when I get home. In our breaks between classes, we walk through the park to a little chai stand where you can get a cup for 1.5p (15 rupees).

Remedial classes

Abhijata takes the lead on the medical class. In this class often 20 or more patients appear with their relatives and it is often very noisy and chaotic with people and props everywhere. Each student has an individual sequence for their needs, then the teachers are assigned. I am a migraine sufferer and over the past ten years I have managed to get my headaches down to a minimum. I told Abhijata at the start of the month that sirsasana gives me a headache and she invited me to join the medical classes. I was overwhelmed with the knowledge and care of the whole team of teachers, some sessions you would be adjusted by four teachers at the same time, it takes trust in the system to work at this depth as sometimes the pain in the posture made me feel dizzy but then the moment I can out of the pose I felt the most space and trabsformation. I worked directly with Ahijata and Raya who work like a dream team and it is such a privilege to have their adjustments and I didn’t get a headache all month, so it worked. Now to try and put that practice into my daily life in London. It has been interesting thinking about what I have learnt. When we start doing yoga we learn “poses” so you can qualify this, but some of what I have learnt I can’t put into words. There is a deeper connection and understanding of my body that I haven’t had before, my fear coming back is business and the cold weather is going to take what I have learnt out of my body. There is also an aspect that I need time to digest the information and having come back I notice that it flows out of me while I am teaching or small snippets come to me while I am practising at home. The learning curve is steep and you learn more than you can sometimes process especially in Prashant’s classes.

People think you go to Pune to become a better teacher but one of my takeaways is that I need to become a better student. The time in the practice hall when we were allocated self-practice time was really special. There was complete peace not only from the energy of the room but also from the quietness in your mind, there is nowhere else you need to be or do so the length of time in the poses can really be developed. My main take away from Pune is how humble the Iyengar yoga family are and how generous they are in sharing their knowledge. I felt very held and supported during my time there.