Importance of the Breath - A reflection on Marios Argiros' November Workshop

Written by Tobias, DHIY Student Bookings Coordinator

At the start of November last year, we were fortunate enough to have Marios Argiros visit us in Botley for a day-long workshop. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but a few people whose opinions I respected had suggested that Marios would be well worth it, and I definitely agree having been through it.

Many teachers can work us through a nice sequence, or can get us to just do a lot of asana in a mindful way; and while Marios’ workshop did that, there were layers to his teaching that I’m sure I still don’t fully appreciate. However, I did take away a number of ideas which I’m using to build upon the principles established by my teacher, and by other teachers I’ve had the pleasure of studying with. What resonated with me won’t be the same for you, we’re each on our own journeys after all, but I’d like to share what I experienced in the hopes that it might spark some new ideas or help integrate some existing ones.

Powering the Asana

Right from the outset of the workshop, Marios established the principle of the breath as the power source of your asana, and from there continued to build upon it. That principle was a thread that he weaved throughout the entire day, using the asana practice in the morning to establish the principle, to set it in our bodies, and then in the afternoon having us develop our sensitivity by feeling the impact of the breath on our body while focussing on the different chakras.

This idea of breath being the power source to drive your asana was something I hadn’t understood that well until now. I knew that the rhythm of the breath was important, that if it was discordant the asana would be harder, and that matching the rhythm would make asana easier. However Marios took it further than that, and he really drove in that the breath is key to your practice.

Marios Argiros in Adho Mukha Svanasana

Marios guided us through practising in a way where we moved into the asanas while consciously focusing on the breath, feeling how the breath moved through our bodies, and how that affected our asanas. In particular he helped us find more space, extension, and precision. I was also able to find greater apparent stamina as working with the breath kept everything in better balance.

By way of example, in adho mukha svanasana we were encouraged to use inward breath into the chest to power the upper body - broadening the chest, flattening our upper back, extending our arms, and pushing into the mat. We then used an outward breath from the abdomen to power the lower body, hinging the pelvis, straightening the legs and back, and finally driving the heels down. We did this in cycles, feeling, adjusting, and breathing, and we repeated the pose a few times throughout the morning to see how we had progressed through similar practice in other asanas. By the end of it I certainly felt a marked improvement, finding a length in my abdomen that I had typically struggled with. It was also much easier to stay in the pose - normally I’m ready to come down before the teacher prompts it, but in this case I actively wanted to stay longer!

Sensitivity in pranayama

In the afternoon, Marios guided us through a pranayama session with several components along the theme of feeling the breath, with some supported asana and some interesting methods of using props to support them. The part that really stuck with me is when he had us put a brick on each of our chakras, breathing consciously where the brick was situated for a while before moving to the next chakra, and just letting ourselves feel.

Pranayama practice is useful for developing sensitivity; listening to your body as the room becomes quieter and the teacher lets you get on with the practice. Giving you the space to learn to check in with your own body to find any discomfort, and to figure out what you need to do to address it. Often these might be fairly subtle feelings, but they can be substantially more pronounced when dealing with physical injuries or emotional trauma.

For me, when we got to the manipūra chakra, I felt a deep discomfort around my navel, coupled with a strong desire to remove the brick. I had to decide between continuing to figure it out or to abandon the practice for now. In this instance I decided to persevere, to allow myself to feel what bothered me, before eventually moving on with other elements of the practice. This might sound undesirable, but ultimately, by allowing myself to feel that, I was able to identify something that held my practice back and address it. Since then I have found significantly more space and precision in my asanas around that area; including that same space I found in adho mukha svanasana earlier in the day!

Marios Argiros in Supta Swastikasana, with two bricks under his shoulders

While other parts of the session don’t stick out to me quite as prominently, there was a lot of emphasis on using the brick as a focussing element. We did several supine poses like supta virasana, supta swastikasana, and supta padmasana, positioning props at various heights and positions along our upper spine or around our tailbone and sacrum, and feeling how that affected the quality of our breath. Marios’ guidance for this part was fairly minimal - we were given a set of parameters and told to try different options, and to see what we could feel.

In supta virasana I played with the height, width, and position of the props under my sacrum, figuring out what would allow me the most space, but also feeling for what prevented me from achieving that space without the props. As I tend towards hypermobility, I was initially adding in too much height and ended up kicking my lower back in - which I felt but couldn’t figure out the solution easily. My teacher pointed this out, so I then reduced the height, and was able to engage my back muscles along with the breath. I’ve since been able to achieve a much more even curve in my back bends by being sensitive to this and working purposefully with my breath.

Integration

By integrating these core ideas into my own practice, I am able to focus on the breath in poses I’ve found harder, feeling out ways that my breath appears to be fighting the asana rather than working with it, and using that to find balance. I’m still finding new ways to apply these ideas and I’m deeply excited to see what else I’ll find on this journey! I do hope everyone found this workshop even half as insightful as I did, and that you too found new tools to enhance your practice, whether that be through the breath, or anything else.

Welcome to Yoga Prajna - Digital Edition!

Written by Bridget Campbell, DHIY Chair

Welcome to 2025, and our newly online version of Yoga Prajna.

The days are beginning to lengthen, and the spring bulbs are starting to appear, which makes me think of new beginnings. It’s always an exciting time of year when there’s lots to look forward to.

We have plenty on offer for you to look forward to, starting with our first general workshop of the year in March with Lydia Holmes. We are breaking new ground this year by hosting two weekend workshops with international teachers – Garth McLean in June and then Mary and Eddy in October. Booking will be open shortly for both. All our 2025 workshops are listed on our events page.

We want to hear about your experiences of the workshops that you attend and will be sending out a feedback form after each one. We’d love to hear your comments and any suggestions you have for improvements. We are also interested in your ideas for teachers we could invite for 2026, as we start to plan our programme for next year.

We will also be asking our members for your views about DHIY generally and a survey will be coming out shortly. Please take time to give us your thoughts so we can make sure you are getting what you need from your membership. It is 20 years this year since the original Dorset and Hampshire Iyengar Yoga Institute was first formed. We will be discussing ways to mark this, so look out for news in the next few months.

We had a very successful morning of yoga on National Iyengar Yoga Day in January. Thanks go to the four teachers who each taught a free class. There were lots of people there who were new to Iyengar Yoga. There was a really good energy and an enthusiastic response to the teaching, so hopefully some of them will follow up and join a local class. Thank you too to Sally and Tobias for their hard work to make such a successful event, as well as for all the events they organise. Tobias has made a lot of changes to the process for booking workshops which will hopefully make it easier to book. Do let us know what you think on events@dhiy.org.

I hope you will enjoy all the articles on our new blog. Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far. Ingrid is always looking for more people to write something, so please do get in touch if you have an idea.

Best wishes, Bridget Campbell
DHIY Chair

Moving Yoga Prajna to the Web!

Written by Tobias, DHIY Student Bookings Coordinator

Yoga Prajna has gone through a couple of transitions since it began, originally starting as a printed leaflet which we posted to our members, progressing to a PDF which we emailed out, and now we’ve moved it to our website, as a blog.

Why the change?

Previous editions of Yoga Prajna have been hand edited by one of our committee members, but this takes a significant amount of time and effort on their part. Particular thanks go to Cheree Low who has been editing Yoga Prajna for nearly 9 years now, on top of her other responsibilities! As we've been updating our website, we've decided to move our newsletter into the modern age, giving Cheree a bit of a break in the process.

This change also brings two benefits to our members - the blog is now fully accessible at any time from the web (no more hunting through your email inbox!), and it is also publicly accessible; so if you want to forward interesting articles to your friends or share them on social media, you can now do so easily. In fact, we hope you do share! There’s a “Share” button at the bottom of each blog post to help you with that, as well as a way to print articles if you want to read or share them physically.

Printing the articles

For anyone who prefers to read our articles in print, we haven’t forgotten about you - there’s definitely a transition, but we've aimed to make the transition as easy as possible. At the bottom of each article, we've added a “Print” button that enables you to create a more easily printable version of the article without all the clutter from the website. The button looks like this:

If you click the button from the main blog page it will print all visible articles - to print a single article, click the article title first and print from there.

Changes to how we publish

In addition to the move to the web, we’ll also be looking at changing how we deliver articles - rather than having editions twice a year, we’ll be publishing articles throughout the year - rather than all at once. We’ve put a selection of articles out already, but check back for more in the coming months! We’ll alert you to new posts via social media and alongside our usual emails whenever we send those out. If you use RSS feeds, you can also subscribe to the blog via RSS; there’s a link in the very top left of the blog, or you can click this one:

Yoga Prajna RSS

We’re also now publishing on substack, and you can subscribe to receive notifications about our posts by either signing up on directly on substack, or via email by entering your email address here:

We’d love to hear your feedback on this change, and if you have any issues accessing the content we’d be happy to help you out. You can either comment at the bottom of this page using the comment functionality (enabled for all of our articles!), or send an email to events@dhiy.org.

We hope you enjoy the latest articles and look forward to seeing what you think of them!

A reflection on RIMYI's 50th Birthday Celebrations in Pune - Part 2/4

This is the 2nd part of our mini series on the 50th Birthday Celebration, with Zoe Hobbs’ impression of the celebrations!

Be sure to read the other impressions in the series too!

Written by Zoe Hobbs, Dorset Teacher

Zoe and Friends in Pune

“Welcome back, did you have a wonderful/great/amazing/relaxing/exciting holiday in India?”

People kindly asked the above question in various ways on my return from Pune in January. I tried to answer as honestly as I could to explain it was not a holiday but an intensive two week course to celebrate the 50th year of RIMYI. I was searching for a word to describe it.

How about three words, exhausting, insightful and challenging?

This was my fourth trip to Pune, previously going for a month at a time, attending one two hour class a day, having time for personal practice, time to make notes and reflect on the class, and observation of other classes. But this intensive was a new experience for me, see the class timetable, no time to gather your thoughts, it felt at times quite relentless, and back at the hotel in the evening trying to write down what concepts I believe I had understood and what unfamiliar instructions for a familiar pose I had grasped.

And I felt I was prepared for the noise, non-stop traffic hooting and tooting, the nerve wracking challenge of crossing the road safely, walking carefully on the haphazard pavements, the multitudes of people from every social level, the litter that adorns the streets being daily swept into piles that don't seem to be collected but get redistributed by the street dogs looking for food, and the air pollution exacerbated by all the new buildings being constructed, but somehow it all felt exhausting.

But of course there were insightful moments, when I felt I had understood what was said and it made sense to me, a glimmer of understanding shone. For example, on the very first day with Prashant he gave us two formulas for yoga, one of them was “P P C” standing for Purpose, Process and Consequence.

Understandable when written like that, but the sound system was not very clear, so when he kept saying “ What's the P P C” I had no idea what that meant as I had missed the explanation (I was not alone!) But as the time went by, collectively, we worked it out, as he quoted it a lot.

On another day, Raya spent over an hour extolling the brilliance of Light on Yoga and we should all read it thoroughly and understand what Guruji was offering us, if we are “able to read between the lines” So grabbing my battered and well thumbed copy, I saw Prashant's “P P C”. The Purpose is explained under the name of the asana, the Process is under the technique and the Consequence is under effects. I felt I'd married up those two lectures, quite obvious really, but it needed pointing out so I could see it.

Then the challenge of the classes, finding a place for your mat and props amongst the other 250 participants, it was wonderful to be with students from every corner of the world, on the first day I was sandwiched between a Mexican and a Russian, all there to celebrate the 50 years of RIMYI and learn together. The event was held at a cricket ground, on the sixth floor of their very big pavilion, as the Institute building was too small for everyone. I did have two classes at the Institute, seeing the new entrance, spacious new loos and statute honouring Guruji and Ramamani together.

We were taught by four members of Guruji's family namely Prashant, Sunita (Guruji's daughter) Abhijata and Shrineet (Guruji's grandson) as well as Raya and Nawaz, each having their own way of showing us the Iyengar way.

Timetable for the celebrations

In one of Prashant's morning classes we did a standing up Sirsasana, feet together with the heels on a brick, hands clasped behind the head, standing tall, before doing Sirsasana as least five times, up and down, each time concentrating the breath on different parts of the torso, each time we came down I thought we'd finished but no, up again “use your breath” He said too many of us are “asana-ists” and not enough”pranayama-ists”

That same afternoon with Shrineet, who taught in a structured understandable way, we did Sirsasana four times, this time concentrating on the back of the legs in sections and then finally the soles of the feet, where we had to imagine a crystal ball and keep it balanced perfectly steady, should you waver, the crystal ball would become cloudy and fall down. So many headstands in one day, nine in all, but as effortful as that was, for the final one, I felt my crystal ball was safely held aloft and I was calmly stable.

In another class with Abhi, we'd repeated Vrksasana, Ardha Chandrasana and Virahbadrasana 3 a few times, including Ardha Chandrasana with the lower hand in line with the foot and only using the very tips of the fingers, not cupped hands. And then did them all again but on a brick, certainly concentrates the mind.

We were told to approach the more complex poses because if we don't “they'll become extinct” so here are the three I have never even attempted, in the course of different classes, we were offered Vatayanasana (Plate 59 in LOY) Mandalasana (Plates 526-535 in LOY) and Kala Bhairavasana (Plate 375 in LOY) The phrase “going toward” describes my attempts, but pleasantly surprised how far I did manage to travel.

Nawaz gave us a most wonderful pranayama class, simple, clear and achievable. “let the prana spread all over you, like the sun rising in the east touches all in its path” I felt quite emotional afterwards, so needed to thank her in person for the beautiful clarity, she just smiled and said, pointing to the photographs of Guruji and Geetaji, “Don't thank me, thank them”.

On a personal interaction level, it was great to travel with Giulia and Beth and to discover that Semra and Suzie were in the same hotel, all the Bournemouth teachers together. And that Cara (she was, for a time, the membership secretary when I was the treasurer of DHIY in the early days) who used to live in Bournemouth before she returned back home to Texas to study, was also there with her mother. And it was lovely that we were able to introduce ourselves to Garth Maclean, who is coming to Bournemouth in June to do a weekend for us.

I'm glad I went to experience the intensity and as time goes by and I reflect on what I can recall and truly feel, then getting together with my travelling companions to practice and share what we did, I know it has enriched me, and as my teacher Mary says “ you're never the same after you come back from Pune” As teachers, we were told to work cautiously with the students but courageously with ourselves.

So I'll end off by using and combining some of the words, phrases and sentiments Prashant uses when he starts his classes before the invocation, and hope that my few observations will encourage you to practice courageously.

“All of you, settle down, sit straight, close your eyes, bring your palms to the centre of your chest. Look for sanctity, honesty, sagacity, purity, acuity and sensitivity. Find the connection, the integration, the collective dynamic and community of your body, breath and mind. Then silently utter OM”

A reflection on RIMYI's 50th Birthday Celebrations in Pune - Part 1/4

In January, RIMYI celebrated their 50th birthday in Pune, with an intensive programme for yogis who wished to attend. Some of our members attended, and they’ve shared their thoughts in this short series of articles. In this article, Giulia shares her impressions of the celebrations.

Written by Giulia Howard-Hole, Dorset Teacher

Busts of Smt. Ramamani and Guruji side-by-side in Pune

In early January this year I, together with friends, attended the 50 th  Birthday Celebrations in Pune to acknowledge the establishment of the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute. It was my first Intensive. Although I had seen the schedule shortly prior to departing - mostly three sessions a day for two weeks - I’d not appreciated just how busy and packed those days would be, and consequently what a different experience it would be from my usual prior visits attending the Institute.

On a sunny morning the day after arrival, we went to RIMYI to register.  The reception teams were warm and welcoming.  The atmosphere felt different; you could almost sense a celebratory mood in the air. The event was held in a lovely hall on the top floor of the PYC Hindu Gymkhana, also the home of Pune’s cricket ground.  The atmosphere on the first day, with people arriving, unpacking their equipment, finding themselves a place to put their mats down, was charged with an excitement and buzz amongst the 250 participants. A large contingent came from the UK.  It was interesting meeting others from around the world, as well as seeing some familiar faces. We very quickly settled into a routine of classes, which ended each day with a welcome cup of chai or coffee and some Indian snacks, enabling us to mix and chat after the last class. The two weeks flew by with little time for anything else. 

Abhijata, who welcomed us that first morning, explained that although the celebrations were not being held at RIMYI, they wished nonetheless to convey the spirit and ethos of the Institute.  Various senior teachers would be teaching us for the duration of the Intensive. These were, Prashant, Abhijata, Raya, Navas, Sunita, and Srineet, a grandson of BKS Iyengar.  She also acknowledged there was a big group of first-timers. For them, a few classes at RIMYI would also be held, to enable them to experience the atmosphere there. 

Beth Perrior (Left) and Guilia Howard-Hole (Right) beside an image of Guruji

The classes varied, some slower paced, and others extremely fast.  Numerous asanas were covered, with some more challenging than others. Emphasis was placed on the tradition and methodology of Iyengar teaching.  We were regularly asked to study the set of large photos of BKS Iyengar on the walls, and Light on Yoga was frequently referred to.  We were urged to not just do the poses we found easy or liked, but to explore other poses within the same ‘family’ group.  We should not disregard/avoid more challenging asanas, but embrace them. Asanas such as Visvmamitrasana, or Supta Trivikramasana, to name just two, could all be broken down.  It was important to at least attempt them in the early stages.  Considering the range of age groups amongst the participants, from their twenties to eighties, and their corresponding abilities, allowances were made for everyone to work as well as they could.  If the final stage of the asana was out of reach, you worked on the preparatory stages.  There were several assistants - trainee Institute teachers - who were able to assist you if needed. It was important to try and explore what could be done, to challenge yourself.  It was wonderful though, to see some excellent yoga practice in the hall.

There was much to learn in those full few days, which will take time to assimilate into my own practice, and eventually pass on.  This two week Intensive was different from going for a month at a more leisurely pace, time for personal practice, and time for a teacher to observe classes, if desired. Personal time was much more limited, but even so, I was happy and grateful to have been able to immerse myself for two whole weeks in the practice of yoga.

I came away as always, with a sense of ‘getting back to base’, and of ‘being recharged’.

Book Review: Milestones In the Life of a Master by Rita Keller

Written by Mary Heath, Dorset Teacher

This beautiful book, a copy of which is now available to borrow from the DHIY library, is comprised not only of some of  Guruji's own words and teachings, but of contributions and tributes to him from all over the world, along with scientific articles recognising his impact on the subject of yoga beyond the physical.

It records the many milestones in his life, including in his later years: 

• a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize (2014)

• the prestigious Padma Vibhushan Award (2014)  - the second highest civilian honour anyone can achieve in India, awarded by the Prime Minister of India

• a nomination for the Templeton Prize for Religion* (2015) put forward by the Trustee of the Dalai Lama's Foundation for Universal Responsibility.

(*Its scope gradually widened to include people considered to be at the intersection of science and religion.)

In the later stages of his life especially, Guruji was constantly expounding the relationship between the individual and the universal, the microcosm and the macrocosm, the finite and the infinite, for the transformation of consciousness/chitta.

"My body is singing, ringing yoga, so naturally one has to feel the bell when I walk by." (YES!) 

"When you see fully, you are not seeking. I have seen but I can't explain." 

Guruji's understanding and experience is supported by scientific articles included in this book, for example:

From German physicist Professor Dr. Hans-Peter Dürr:

"In fact, quantum physics has come very close to the ancient Indian philosophy of the Sãmkhya School". (p.253)

And from nueropsychiatrist John Raymond Smythies:

"There is an energy which is not seen, yet can be physically detected by the behavior of another atom. What this means is that our thoughts are energy and can alter the behavior of our cells and actually override their predisposition of behavior." (p.263)

And I love the connection Guruji made, which is quoted in this book, between the trigunas, the three forces of nature, and Einstein's famous equation E=MC² where:

• E is energy/rajas

• M is mass/tamas and

• C is the speed of light/sattva

Because of the format of this book, one can in fact open it anywhere and just dip right in, to read anything from "What is an Asana?" to "Teaching of Pranayama" to "Samkhya Philosophy and the 5 Gross Elements" to "Classical to Modern Physics" ... or simply in order to appreciate the stunning array of photographs of Guruji, whether in black and white or glorious colour. Some of these breathtaking photographs are in themselves to me a experience in meditation, beyond words.

Marios Argiros Workshop Review

Written by Sally Collins, Dorset Trainee Teacher

On Saturday 9th November, DHIY members and friends were treated to a wonderful workshop led by Marios Argiros at Mudeford Wood Community Centre in Christchurch. 

As always, us students arrived at the venue with much excitement and enthusiasm, and an eagerness to learn from Marios’ wisdom. At the beginning of the class, Marios made it clear that he wanted us to answer his questions, and for us to ask him questions in return, to ensure that we completely understood the points he was teaching us. 

Marios led us on a journey of discovery, introducing several kriyas throughout the day. We were taught to utilise Svadhisthana kriya, the second chakra, which is associated with fluidity, adaptability, creativity, and the outward transmission of our energy into the world. By using a sharp exhalation, we were able to achieve more action in the various asanas. 

We also spent some time focussing on Manipura kriya, the third or solar plexus chakra, which is located between the navel and the base of the sternum, a couple of fingers above the belly button. A journey through asanas, while concentrating on this kriya, was incredibly interesting and stimulating for me personally, as it was the first time I had encountered this element of yoga. The morning session overran slightly as we were so focussed on what we were learning, we were all eager to keep going!

In the afternoon, Marios led us in an exploration of Udiyana kriya. In Supta Badakonasana, at the end of an exhalation (bahir Kumbaka) we softly, effortlessly, during the pause with no breath, lifted the diaphragm before inhaling, to open the chest before the inhalation. Using a brick on several chakra locations on our body, we were told to imagine a weight coming straight down onto the brick while we practiced this method.

Marios supporting a student with a back bend

Marios is an incredibly caring and interactive teacher, who introduced hints of humour throughout the day, which I always admire and enjoy. His energy and passion are contagious. His demonstrations were incredibly clear and precise, and he was very keen to ensure that we understood exactly what he was teaching us, and why we were doing it. Several of us students with injuries were given extra attention, by way of offering us alternative poses (for example, I learned to perform Parsvakonasana from a prone position, and discovered that I was able to get the same twist as if I was standing). Marios demonstrated to the whole class some methods of relieving injuries that some of us were afflicted by on the day, which was extremely useful and interesting to everybody.

Marios was genuinely considerate and sympathetic about the foot issues I was experiencing during the workshop, and after the class even offered to advise me and offer support following my imminent surgery, which was so incredibly kind and sincere of him.

Marios gave us plenty to consider whilst moving forward with our own practice. The feedback that was received from the students following the workshop was incredibly positive, including several requests to invite him back for another workshop soon! We hope Marios will take us up on that offer!