BOOK by B. K. S. Iyengar: The Tree of Yoga
Those already familiar with Iyengar's work will find subtlety and depth here that will increase with each rereading. Iyengar method is a form of yoga that focuses on developing strength, endurance, correct body alignment, as well as flexibility and relaxation. The Iyengar method integrates philosophy, spirituality, and the practice of yoga into everyday living. In The Tree of Yoga, he offers his thoughts on many practical and philosophical subjects including family life, love and sexuality, health and the healing arts, meditation, death, and Patañjali's Yoga Sutras.
Iyengar achieved an international reputation with the publication of his classic Light on Yoga in 1966, which today stands as the definitive work on hatha yoga, a work made distinctive not only by the 602 photographs of Iyengar himself demonstrating the various poses, but by the detailed manner in which they are explained. He was then 38-years-old. Since then he has written several other books on yoga and lectured widely while continuing his teaching practice. He is today recognized as one of the best contemporary yoga educators. Iyengar's yoga is the yoga of Patanjali, whom he reveres as "the noblest of sages." It is yoga of discipline and dedication, yoga of power and grace developed over at least several thousand years of practice. It is certainly the one with the widest international application since it melds well into any and every way of life, from the monastery to the streets of the city.
In this book, editor Daniel Rivers-Moore has taken it upon himself to construct a narrative by Iyengar, gleaned from lectures given by the master in Europe and India during the nineteen-eighties. One sees that Iyengar is speaking to teachers of yoga as well as students. The extended metaphor of yoga as a tree is an appropriate one since when our practice is strong we are like a tree, solid and unshaken. The value of asana, pranayama, and meditation in preventing disease and maintaining health has been established beyond doubt, and is under no circumstances to be underestimated. But what is most interesting and valuable in this book are the chapters on approach to meditation and pranayama, and the advice and warnings that Iyengar extends to teachers of yoga.
This compilation of lectures is a more philosophical look at his yoga, unlike the more technical books Light on Yoga and Light on Pranayama. Although these last two are indispensable, in this book, Iyengar's love of yoga shines through his words. He develops the analogy of the eight limbs of yoga as a tree skillfully and beautifully. Tree of Yoga is wonderful in explaining some basic principles of yoga, and the concepts behind it. The book didn't go into explaining or documenting the various asanas but instead spoke of the history of yoga, the concepts, types, what it was about, etc.
Iyengar has been described by some as a teacher of physical yoga only, an unfair description that he recalls and rejects in two different places in this book. On the contrary, he demonstrates here that he is also a master of raja yoga, and in particular a man who understands that the prerequisites of hatha yoga are essential to the achievement of samadhi.
Those who are familiar with Light on Yoga and Iyengar's other works, will find this volume a fine addition to their library and of value because of the light it sheds on the personality and understanding of one of the great teachers of the ancient art of yoga.
Iyengar brings the practice and understanding of yoga into everyday people terms. He weaves the intricacies of yoga into a picture beginning with the tree and connecting the tree's parts to all the different parts of yoga. It is filled with simplicity and humanness. His knowledge and experience of 80 plus years is weaved together to create a complete understanding of the history of yoga to how to practice it with more wisdom. He is an inspiration to those of us who don't intend to give up family, career and laptops to live on mountain tops. He assures us that living as a married man and as a father has not diminished his practice but has enhanced it. This is a great book for the new and the familiar to yoga, a must for bookshelf of beginner and advanced student as well as for those who want to teach others.