24/09/2026
BKS Iyengar often spoke of the front brain and back brain as being two distinct entities.
In Light on Life he wrote:
"While working in asana, if the action is ‘done’ solely from the front brain, it blocks the reflective action of the back brain. The form of each asana needs to be reflected to the wisdom body (vijnanamaya kosa) for readjustment and realignment. Whenever asana is done mechanically from the front brain, the action is felt only on the peripheral body, and there is no inner sensation, there is no luminous inner light. If the asana is done with continual reference to the back of the brain, there is a reaction to each action, and there is sensitivity. Then life is not only dynamic, but it is also electrified with life force."
Now, research at Stanford suggests that the brain is made up of 2 separate organs, hind brain and forebrain.
Researchers’ studied early embryonic development. They discovered that the hindbrain follows a separate developmental path, running in parallel to — rather than branching off from — the pathway that creates the forebrain and midbrain.
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