http://denverpost.com/style/ci_3087074
Iyengar is notorious for his abuse of students:
"Midway through this rainy morning, as 800 people pant through a
particularly long headstand, Iyengar shouts at them to stop
immediately. Turning to the woman demonstrating the pose onstage, he
barks that she must show it properly, once again.
But as she starts to move into headstand he slaps her, hard, a
resounding whack on the back. Her head jerks up. She struggles to
hold back tears, takes a deep breath, and then rises up into a
headstand that looks flawless.
The class moves on, straining to catch each nuance of this intense,
demanding lesson.
At this point, astonished and disgusted, a 32-year-old yoga
student from Broomfield quietly rolls up his mat.
"I came expecting to study with this living guru, but I had to walk
out," says Hayden Hernandez. "He was incredibly disrespectful and
rude the whole time, physically and verbally abusive to everyone. He
hit that woman hard enough for her to cry out."
***
BUT it is not hard to understand why Iyengar is so abusive, given
the abuse his teacher dished out:
"Krishamacharya frequently lost his temper with Iyengar, his blows
falling on the boy like an iron rod. If Iyengar could not put his
feet on his head, his guru denied him food until he could. Sometimes
it took two or three days before he earned the meal.
Once, Krishnamacharya forced him to do a pose - one leg back, one
leg forward, sitting down with straight legs - that he had never
before performed. This resulted in a torn ligament and the inability
to walk for two years.
"My guru had stern discipline," says Iyengar. "Gradually a fear
complex grew in me."
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