“My first yoga class with BKS Iyengar was on 18th May 1972. He was a very good teacher and a very strict teacher. You couldn’t do any nonsense with him. He didn’t tolerate it. Teachers like BKS Iyengar were not for the faint-hearted. There was no mollycoddling in his classes. If you could handle his toughness, you could survive and thrive, if not, you said bye, bye and left. He was only interested in the student’s practice. If you practised regularly and sincerely, he accepted you as a student,” says Iyengar teacher Kobad Variava in conversation with Sophia Ann French.

“My students set me on a path of therapeutic yoga because they asked me to help cure them of some physical discomforts they were experiencing, and to help them practice yoga with their various limitations. This ability of yoga to heal the mind and body is an interesting journey. Teaching and practising therapeutic yoga has helped me to sharpen my focus, deepen my research and build a stronger understanding of how to be precise in technique and execute instructions with ease,” says Yogacharya Raju Ghosh. He explains his therapeutic approach to yoga in conversation with Tanvi Mehra.