Iyengar Yoga, named after and developed by B. K. S. Iyengar, and described in his bestselling detail. The yoga scholar Andrea Jain called the book "arguably the most significant event in the process of elaborating the [Iyengar Yoga] brand". Jain and others have noted that the book's biomedical claims, such as of toning up various organs of the body, were attractive to its audience but were stated directly without any supporting evidence. Authorities such as the yoga scholar Elliott Goldberg have described it as the bible of modern <!--asana-based -->yoga; the book has sold over three million copies, and has been translated into at least 23 languages.
Iyengar Yoga became an institution with the 1975 founding of the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune, named in memory of his wife. A further major step was the founding of the first of many institutes abroad, the Iyengar Yoga Institute (IYI) in Maida Vale, London, in 1983. The old IYI building was replaced in 1994, and the new one was officially opened by Iyengar in person in 1997. Iyengar Yoga had however been taught in London before that, in evening classes run by the Inner London Education Authority starting in 1968. From the start, Iyengar personally assessed the quality of the teaching every year.
The first Iyengar Yoga Institute in America was founded in San Francisco in 1976 by Mary Dunn, Judith Lasater, and others; Iyengar visited the area that year. Further Iyengar Yoga Institutes have been opened in 1984 in Los Angeles, and in 1987 in New York. National Iyengar Yoga Associations have been created in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Chile, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and New Zealand.
Style
thumb|upright|left|[[Sarvangasana with a chair, belt, blanket and bolster in a therapeutic use of yoga]]
Iyengar Yoga is a form of yoga as exercise with a focus on the structural alignment of the physical body through the practice of asanas. It differs from other styles of yoga in three ways: precision, sequence and use of props. It states that the style "emphasises precision and alignment",
The New Yorker writes that Iyengar Yoga is characterized by great attention to detail and precise focus on body alignment. Iyengar pioneered the use of "props" such as cushions, benches, blocks, straps and sand bags, which function as aids allowing beginners to experience asanas more easily and fully than might otherwise be possible without several years of practice. Props also allow elderly, injured, tired or ill students to experience the benefits of a wider variety of asanas via fully "supported" methods requiring less muscular effort.
thumb|[[Vasisthasana using props]]
Yoga Journal notes that in contrast to other styles, beginners in Iyengar Yoga are introduced early on to standing poses (such as Trikonasana and Virabhadrasana), executed with careful attention to detail. For example, in Trikonasana, the feet are often jumped apart to a wide stance, the forward foot is turned out, and the centre of the forward heel is exactly aligned with the centre of the arch of the other foot.
The New York Times writes that Iyengar Yoga is distinctive in its diversity of sequencing and choice of asanas. This, suggests Carrie Owerko, an Iyengar Yoga teacher, helps reduce injury. Owerko states that the style emphasises the inversion poses, headstand (Sirsasana) and shoulderstand (Sarvangasana), more than other styles, "insist[ing] on a yoga blanket to prevent overstretching of the neck area". In Owerko's words, "Iyengar yoga is very cautious and mindful."
Practitioners in the West can attend the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Institute (RIMYI) in Pune, Maharashtra, India once they have practised yoga for eight years. A "Protocol" governs attendance at the Pune institute.
In 2019, the Iyengar National Association of the United States decertified one of its most senior teachers, Manouso Manos, on grounds of sexual assault, and updated its ethics standards based on the Yamas and Niyamas in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali as a result.
right|upright=0.7|thumb|A statue of [[Patanjali, author of the Yoga Sutras, as Adi Shesa, the serpent god]]
Invocation to Patanjali
Iyengar Yoga (like Iyengar's Light on Yoga) has the following invocation to Patanjali:
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! Sanskrit !! IAST !! Translation