Hundreds of yoga practitioners and instructors from all over the country gathered in the South Loop on Sept. 15 for the opening ceremony of “From the Heartland,” an Iyengar yoga conference.

This was the first Iyengar yoga conference in the Midwest, according to a “From the Heartland” press release. The four-day event included classes from instructors for all levels of students as well as chanting rooms, dinner circles and a speech during the opening ceremonies from keynote speaker Matthew Sanford, author of “Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence.”

Sanford, who is paralyzed from the chest down, shared with an audience of more than 400 the impact that Iyengar yoga has had on him.

“It has changed my life,” Sanford said. “My life’s work is dedicated to helping other people experience the hope, potential and vitality that comes from the principles

of Iyengar yoga.”

This type of yoga focuses on alignment and precision through the use of props, such as belts and foam blocks, according to Peggy Hong, the public relations chair for the conference.

“Sometimes people come to an Iyengar yoga class and are surprised to be corrected because maybe they’ve been going to classes for years, but they’ve never really been corrected or adjusted,” Hong said. “The purpose of the adjustment or correction is to help the student go deeper and have a better understanding of the pose.”

Chicago was chosen as the location for the conference, which was hosted by the Iyengar Yoga Association of the Midwest, due to of its tourism appeal, according to Hong.

“Why not? Chicago is a beautiful city,” said Laurie Blakeney, one of the chief organizers of the event. “It’s the gem of the Midwest.”

Columbia became part of the Iyengar community through an art exhibit dedicated to yoga photography, according to Bob Whittinghill, special events coordinator and Iyengar yoga instructor. The exhibit opened on Sept. 17 and is located at the 33 E. Congress Parkway Building, room C101.

The conference featured morning classes for all ages with internationally recognized Iyengar yoga instructors from around the Midwest. One instructor, Leslie Freyberg, certified Iyengar yoga teacher and instructor at the American Sanskrit Institute, led practitioners in ancient Sanskrit chants of Pantanjali, also called yoga sutras, at a special “chanting room.”

According to Hong, the chanting room was meant to “deepen people’s experience of yoga philosophy.”

The conference also held ongoing movie screenings at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel, 17 E. Monroe St. The mini-theater continuously played movies about Iyengar yoga and its founder, B. K. S. Iyengar of Pune, India. Films included “Samadhi” (1970), “From the Ground Up” (2001) and “Ultimate Freedom” (1977).

The tone for the overall sense of community and yoga philosophy was set during the opening ceremonies when a slideshow of Iyengar himself doing yoga poses was set to live, classical cello music.

“I do not feel constricted by the careful articulation of technology or biomechanics of the poses,” Whittinghill responded when asked why he practices

Iyengar yoga.