The opening ceremony was held at the Cultural Center, about a half a dozen blocks from the Palmer House. The Cultural Center is a beautiful space domed ceiling, beautifully lit, marble staircase.
Chairs filled the second floor around a small stage and an extremely large screen. The evening began with a taped message from Mr. Iyengar wishing us a successful conference. Or at least I think thats what he said. I have difficulty with accents and didnt catch a word he said.
Laurie Blakeney made a few remarks welcoming us, looking stunning in a gorgeous red dress. She introduced Matthew Sanford, keynote speaker. Matthew is a certified Iyengar yoga teacher who is a paraplegic. He teaches yoga in Minnesota to able bodied people as well as those who have a limiting injury. He spoke about the accident that killed his father and sister and rendered his legs useless. He read a couple of passages from his book, “Waking”, talked about his recovery, and, most of all, conveyed his love for yoga.
His message, or as he called it, sharing his stories, contained several wonderful principles as well as his great admiration for Mr. Iyengar, our method, and the way yoga has helped him make sense of some of his feelings and enabled him to believe in himself.
Hes an inspirational person with an inspirational story. He spoke of talking to doctors and to physical therapists, teaching them to use some of the principles of yoga to help others in rehab. He has a non-profit, which I need to research, which sounds like it takes the message of yoga to those who wouldnt otherwise think it would be in the realm of possibility for their bodies.
I could have listened to him all night.
The evening continued with Yoga in Three Movements. The lovely and talented Alicia Rowe played her cello to three movements of yoga asana done by Mr. Iyengar. The first movement was him as a young person. Footage from 1938 showed him outdoors on a mat, putting his foot behind his head and doing arm balances. The second movement comprised a series of still taken midlife. And the third movement was footage from the Institute in Pune about 20 years ago when he was about 70. The sequence was mostly made up of backbends, a good number (if not all) I can only do in my mind.
It was a lovely start to the conference.