In May 2022, for the first time since COVID19 disrupted our lives, a national Iyengar yoga convention was held in Raglan. It was taught by Australian teacher, Glenn Ceresoli.

It was a wildly wet and dramatically stormy weekend in Raglan as about 60 of us gathered in the town hall. Grateful the hall was heated, we eagerly waited for the first session to begin on the Friday evening as the wind and rain lashed the windows outside. Glenn opened the weekend by speaking at length on yogic philosophy based on the sutras and discussing integration with our asana practice. I found this delightfully refreshing since most of us were teachers or well-established practitioners.

As the workshop continued over the weekend, he delved deeper into examining the koshas and how we can experience these layers of existence in our practice. He guided us to apply our attention to the sensations of the body, breath and mind in our practice. He encouraged us to observe and be sensitive to what we were doing and experiencing in a pose, gracefully guided by his clear and methodical instructions. He directed our focus to the physical base, unfolding to our deepest version of our pose and observing our experience through all the layers. Personally, I felt a deep sense of transformation and growth in these sessions. At the end of the weekend, I felt I had gained new insight into my practice and myself.

It was a festive and joyful weekend with props, convention t-shirts and books available for sale. There was a delicious catered dinner on Saturday night and a lucky draw sponsored by Suzi and Yoga Arts. Rich and tasty chai tea was available during the break on Sunday.

Deep gratitude to Glenn for so masterfully sharing his insight and teachings with us. A heartfelt thank you to the organisers, events committee and everyone else involved for their hard work and coordination ensuring a smooth and thoroughly inspiring event. After the separation we’ve experienced during the past couple of years , it was awesome to come together as a community and connect through the teachings and practice of Iyengar yoga.