News
FROM THE REGIONS
IMIYA
IMIYA Develops One-, Three- and Five-Year Action Plans
Community Involvement IMIYA will sponsor its third annual Yoga Day on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. Yoga Day is a community-building event and an
The Intermountain Iyengar Yoga Association (IMIYA) is
opportunity for students to take classes with different certified
committed to four distinct goals:
Iyengar Yoga instructors in our region. Yoga Day is offered to IMIYA members at a discounted price, but everybody is welcome.
• Helping members deepen their individual yoga practice For the second year in a row, we’ll participate in Yoga Rocks the • Teaching the Iyengar method to new and continuing students
Park, a celebration of yoga, music, and community for the entire family in parks across the U.S. to spread the word about yoga. These monthly events begin Memorial Day weekend and
• Disseminating the values inherent in the art, science,
go through September in Denver. Check the website
and philosophy of yoga according to the teachings of
(www.yogarocksthepark.com) for events in your city. There will
B.K.S. Iyengar
be one or two IMIYA board members at each event in Denver, staffing a table to talk about the benefits of Iyengar Yoga.
• Promoting awareness of those teachings throughout our region (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming)
IYAGNY Since opening in July 2013, the Iyengar Yoga Institute of
To address these goals, the IMIYA Board has been working with
Brooklyn has enjoyed many successes. Nine Iyengar Yoga
an outside consultant—Aaron Cohen of 3PG Consulting—to
Association of Greater New York (IYAGNY) teachers have asked
help us align our member services and other activities with
to join the faculty, benefit workshops run almost every
these goals. We began with two half-day planning sessions in
Saturday, and classes continue to grow. The tree of Iyengar Yoga
March. Here are some of the items on our agenda:
is flourishing in Brooklyn.
• Create multiyear strategic goals with well-defined
The flagship Institute in Manhattan held its 10th annual
organizational alignment
Yogathon and Mary Dunn Celebration. Its biggest yearly gettogether, the event celebrates Senior Teacher Mary Dunn’s
• Generate one- and three-year plans based on the multiyear goals
ongoing contributions to the community, including the Spirit of Mary Dunn Class, in which teachers teach pose the way they remember Mary teaching it. Each year, participants present
• Develop a schedule for reviewing IMIYA’s progress and updating our plans as needed
poses for duration, repetition, or artistic merit, asking sponsors to pledge them. This year’s fundraising goal was $50,000, and attendants were asked to “Take It to the Next Level” at the
• Address board roles and responsibilities to ensure that our efforts have maximum impact • Develop goals and strategies for fundraising to make IMIYA’s budget reliable and sustainable
event. The Yogathon was the Institute’s last event held in its current home on the 11th floor of 150 West 22nd Street. Later this summer, the New York Institute will move to the second floor of the building into a reconfigured space with more room for classrooms and a library of Iyengar Yoga
During the two half-day sessions, we put together one-, three-,
resources that will be open to the community.
and five-year goals for the board. Our primary aim is to make the promise of yoga—the union of body, mind, and spirit—
The community also enjoyed the return of inspiring guest
easily accessible to all through a compassionate approach to
teacher, Matthew Sanford, author of Waking.
allow the true self to shine into the world.
The four-day June workshop included a writing workshop and a conversation with neuroscientist Barbara Ganzel at The Rubin
We set some fairly aggressive objectives, tasks, and actions;
Museum of Art.
measures of success; and accountability and follow-up for each board member. Of course, we’ll be looking for volunteers to help us succeed with all of our long-term goals. We also look forward to putting together comprehensive operational guidelines for all board members as they commence with their board activities. Spring/Summer 2014 Yoga Samachar
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