"One of the beautiful things about doing yoga at the Feathered Pipe Ranch is that can devote more time to the practice. We get to spend hours in daily mindful practice yoga. The mind, body, and emotions are all aspects of our consciousness. Refining and culturing them has a potent and cumulative effect. So being able to do that for several days in a row can be profound."
~ Marla Apt
Dearest Friends,
For the past thirteen years, we have been honored to host senior-level Iyengar yoga instructor Marla Apt. Marla’s approach is one of sincere reverence and devotion to the Iyengar yoga tradition. Her keen focus, understanding, and insight gleaned through being in the experience married with her warm and joy-filled nature makes for a week not to be missed. Enjoy this interview with Marla.
From our understanding you first came to yoga and Iyengar yoga through your study of Buddhism. Is that true?
Marla: Yes, that is true. I was studying Buddhist philosophy, which exposed me to yogic philosophy. I was somewhat familiar with yogic philosophy, but not with the practice or how the practice and the philosophy merge. Buddhism was the lens through which I viewed yoga during my first years of practicing yoga.
Did you find that they resonated with each other, or were some things in conflict with each other?
Marla: I immediately felt that they resonated with each other. When I first discovered Iyengar yoga I was kind of blown away. While I enjoyed the intellectual stimulation of the philosophy, I thought it difficult for laypeople to to grasp. When I took my first Iyengar yoga class, I was amazed at how the concepts could be experienced in a practical manner, accessible to anyone with a body. I continued to be impressed with how BKS Iyengar was able to use asana and
pranayama to access the goals of Yoga. Having already done some seated meditation practice, I found yoga to be complimentary and to be a sort of meditation in action.
You started Iyengar Yoga Therapeutics. What was your motivation for doing this?
 Marla: Iyengar yoga is inherently therapeutic. BKS Iyengar developed yoga therapy early in his studies and practice of yoga. He started working with doctors and took an interest in helping people through yoga. He saw very quickly in his teaching career how
yoga could help people overcome illness and injury and devoted a large part of his life to that subject.
While all Iyengar Yoga teachers are trained with a therapeutic approach to modify and help students with basic problems and common ailments, we don’t consider that to be yoga therapy. Rather, therapeutic Iyengar Yoga is prescriptive, specified to individual students and their condition. Iyengar yoga therapy has been taught to the senior teachers directly by BKS Iyengar. I wanted to help share knowledge of this healing art to all teachers of Iyengar yoga and to most importantly,
make this therapy accessible to the general public.
Iyengar yoga has really been one of the pillars of everything we have done at the Ranch during our almost forty-five years. What is your experience of the Feathered Pipe?
Marla: It’s an honor because I know the history of transmission at the ranch. Many of the senior teachers who helped spark the flame of yoga in this country began that process at the ranch. So I definitely feel that history when I’m there: the wisdom of the teachers and seeker in the students.
It’s nice to be able to help continue the thread of the ranch’s tradition of yoga studies in the same beautiful yoga room. At the ranch, I feel that we are supported in our practice. The lack of distraction helps to maintain our intention. Feathered Pipe provides an ideal retreat setting. The yoga is the focus of the week and everything else serves to support that.
Yoga Journal's #1 Ranked "Mindful Yoga Destination"
 The greatest treasures we have been blessed with over the past 45 years, has been developing deep relationship within the vibrantly rich community of yoga and holistic healing in America. Feathered Pipe Ranch is honored beyond words to have been chosen by Yoga Journal
in their current Travel & Culture issue as the #1 Mindful Yoga Destination world-wide.
We so hope you will join us this summer. It's going to be a rejuvenating and joy-filled celebration of life and being! Explore here.
Faith & Eternal Blessings,
Feathered Pipe Foundation
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Brain Health: How Aging Affects The Brain & Nervous System – Baxter Bell, MD
We have recently shared some basic information about what the brain and nervous system are and what they do. And we’ve also shared with you how yoga can help with healthy aging of these essential parts of our bodies. Yet we have not been clear on what the normal aging changes are for the brain and the nervous system, so today, I will address that deficiency!
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The Gift Of Creativity: Learning To Listen Deeply Within – Erich Schiffmann
Your power is the creative power of Life flowing through you. When you feel it, you will intuitively understand that not only can you use this power to shape your experience and external circumstances, but that you have been doing so all along. We are constantly pulling things and events into materialization. That is how we are built. We have been given the gift of creativity. The idea is to now do it consciously, guided from within.
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Contact Us |
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Feathered Pipe Foundation
P.O. Box 1682
Helena, MT 59624
(406) 442-8196
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