Ramanand Patel’s profile goes something like this:
“initiated into yoga practice by his father at the age of thirteen, studied from may different teachers culminating in finally becoming a student of the renowned yogacharya Shri B.K.S. Iyengar in 1968. He is a founding member of the Iyengar Yoga Teacher Training Institute of San Francisco, where he was known as the teachers’ teacher. As a senior yoga teacher he is highly respected in the Iyengar community. He is respected as an innovator in the use of props and working with students who have special needs. He combines this vast technical expertise with knowledge of Vedanta philosophy and sarcastic sense of cynical wit in his instructions on various asanas.”
Just went to Ramanand Patel’s workshop over at what used to be Piedmont Yoga studio originally founded by Rodney Yee and Richard Rosen. It’s now a new studio with a new name and new owners who have made the space and feel, quite lovely:)
I actually thought I was going to a workshop called “Yoga and Sound” so I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t but … I enjoyed his dry sense of humor and his teachings as brief as it was for having to leave early… (sad) It’s always an honor to learn from someone with so much life experience and dedication. It was insightful how he explained “happiness” and that in a child and how we forget who we really are as we grow into an adult, brainwashed from years of conditioning. It was funny to think I start out thinking I am attending a workshop called “Yoga and Sound” only to realize no, it’s a workshop called “Penetrating the Layers”? How did that happen? … twilight zone…did I misread something? Had to leave early so regret missing the last portion which probably was the meditation portion of the workshop, the part I needed the most.
As much as I enjoy vinyasa flow style, I really get so much out of Iyengar system because the practice really makes you think about what your body is doing (or in many cases, not doing). That attention to finer sensation of the body forces me to pay attention and focus. I hope to explore more and more this “Thinking Body”… and like he said, happiness is when you forget all your troubles completely. And under all the layers, our true Self, at the very center is … happy to the core, needing nothing.
Sharing some notes later on but for now – pause…
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