News From the Regions

IYACSR

The Jan. 31, 2016, meeting of the Iyengar Yoga Association of California— Southern Region (IYACSR) was an open membership meeting, hosted at San Diego Yoga Studio. We held our elections, welcomed the in-coming board, and bid farewell to outgoing board members.

In 2013, two of our outgoing board members, Cyndy Cordle and Vicki Abbott, were the energy, effort, and seva vayu behind the success of the well-organized, user-friendly, and enriching yogasana experience of our Sarvabhauma Yog combined Conference and Convention. We know that our national associates join us in thanking them for their service. They were also instrumental in bringing Birjoo Mehta back to southern California in fall 2015. For these and many other accomplishments during their tenure, they will receive, with heartfelt gratitude, Certificates of Service.

We had a very productive open discussion with members on how to share Iyengar Yoga with the greater San Diego community in general and our military in particular. We learned that some of our members have taught Guruji’s method on military bases, in Veterans’ hospitals, and to veterans and active duty military in San Diego and the Southern Region. Thanks to these teachers, the benefits of Guruji’s method for service members is recognized and touted by the participants and the hospital administrators. Our association thus pledged to better serve our active duty personnel, veterans, and their families. We will invite this community to Iyengar Yoga centers in the region for subsidized classes. We will also promote the benefits of

Members of IYACSR view photos of developments in Bellur that their donations have funded.

Iyengar Yoga to the particular afflictions of armed services members.

We want to congratulate area teachers for their new certification levels— Sheri Cruise, Gloria Goldberg, Christie Hall, Dora Hasenbein, Debra Johnson, Cory Johnson, Stephanie Lavender, Koren Paalman, Amy Pachowicz, Suneel Sundar, Christine Thompson, and Kimberly Zanger Mackesy.

And, of course, at our annual meeting, we practiced. Thanks to Gloria Goldberg for treating us to a short but sweet class.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the 2016 Iyengar Yoga Convention in Boca Raton!

IYAGNY

In September 2015, donated funds helped IYAGNY launch a new program in our Brooklyn Institute called the Community Class. This class is unique because it combines continuing education with an affordable $5 class for the local community. Student teachers who are planning to go up for assessment or already have, lead the group, while a junior intermediate teacher observes and gives direct feedback after the class. This experience also helps train the teachers giving feedback to hone their skills as mentors and recommending teachers.

Also in September, IYAGNY welcomed its 2015–2017 teachertraining group of over 20 students. We are glad to have them as part of our community.

In December, 13 of our faculty and several association teachers made the journey to Pune to take Geeta’s intensive. For the faculty who stayed home, it was quite an undertaking to ensure that the Institutes ran smoothly. Those who traveled to Pune led

IYAGNY participants enjoy Geetaji’s Yoganusasanam Intensive in Pune, December 2015

a “Back From India” sharing, a free benefit for all IYAGNY association teachers, to bring us all together on the latest teachings.

At our annual meeting, held this year on Jan. 17, Association Director James Murphy gave a free members’ class to over 60 of our more than 1,400 members. We welcomed new board members Kapil Agrawal, Mike Branson, and Kate Karet and thanked outgoing board members Gailanne Grosso, Neil Stevenson, and Adam Vitolo for their dedicated service. Executive director Ed McKeaney reported the state of the association, including that during 2015, we had over 3,000 new students, raised attendance by 13 percent and taught 108 classes a week between our Manhattan and Brooklyn locations. He also noted that we had the most successful Yogathon ever last year, partially because of an online fundraising tool in tandem with the association teachers’ successful efforts to engage students, family, and friends for their invaluable support.

IYAGNY currently has 150 Certified Iyengar Yoga Teachers, including 17 who are newly certified and 11 who upgraded their level of certification. Congratulations everyone!

IYAMW

The Iyengar Association of the Midwest (IYAMW) is pleased to welcome Gwi-Seok Hong, Ann Socha, Donna Furmanek, and Becca Lindsay to join our current board of directors, which includes David Larsen, Alex Hansen, and Kelly Sobanski. A special thank you goes to Lorene Zant, Sue Salaniuk, Annie Melchior, and Alicia Rowe for their contributions to the board during their terms. As we transition, we are excited to continue organizing annual fall retreats, scholarship opportunities, community outreach grants, social media avenues, and ways to promote Iyengar Yoga throughout our five-state region.

4th Annual IYAMW Fall Retreat

This past September, we hosted our 4th Annual IYAMW Fall Retreat in St. Charles, Illinois. Laurie Blakeney and Debra Johnson shared knowledgeable insights that helped our practice grow with precision and grace. The theme was Luminosity, and two tracks— Flame and Crystal— allowed for all to attend regardless of experience level. Several delicious locally sourced meals were shared, along with a spirited book discussion and moderated philosophy presentation.

Please join us for the next Annual IYAMW Fall Retreat, Sept. 23–25, 2016. We are thrilled to have Chris Saudek and Patrina Dobish as teachers for this event. Please visit www.iyamw.org for registration and specific details, including scholarship information. All proceeds from our annual fall retreats are put into a scholarship fund to support future opportunities.

To keep up with IYAMW workshops, scholarships, and news, and to read artistic philosophical musings, please “like” our Iyengar Association of the Midwest Facebook page, follow us on Twitter at Iyengar Yoga Midwest (@iyamidwest), and visit our website www.iyamw.org

IYANC

The Iyengar Yoga Association of Northern California (IYANC) and the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco (IYISF) are excited to explore the possibility of working with The UCSF Women’s Center for Prevention of Heart & Vascular Disease (WCPHVD). This potential joint venture would create a “Yoga With Your Doctor” type of program. IYISF will host classes designed for people from WPCHVD with the main focus on teaching students how to integrate into regular classes. Another catch phrase that we are talking about using for this program is “Practitioners NOT Patients!” We are hoping we can formalize this relationship and get classes started in the near future.

IYANE members in Pune, December 2015, attending the Yogãnu†ãsanam intensive with Geetaji

In other news, the IYANC has just developed a new scholarship fund to assist our next generation of practitioners and students in covering a small portion of membership dues. Our hope is that this will be another way that being a part of the association will help bring Iyengar Yoga to our region.

IYANE

The Iyengar Yoga Association of New England (IYANE) held its annual general membership meeting on Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Before the meeting, IYANE President Jarvis Chen taught a free asana class for IYANE members and Patricia Walden taught a deep and profound Savasana to all those assembled.

Several important board transitions took place at our annual meeting this year. Susan Elena Esquivel (Massachusetts) was appointed to a three-year term on the board of directors and Jarvis Chen (Massachusetts) and Kathleen Swanson (Rhode Island) were each reappointed.

After three years of service on the board of directors, Karen Bump (Massachusetts) has stepped down from the office of treasurer. IYANE would like to thank Karen for her service over the past three years as she has worked tirelessly behind the scenes to keep our association’s finances in order. We are grateful for her graciousness, clarity, and attention to detail in developing systems to manage the day-to-day running of the association.

We would also like to extend our thanks to Board Member Kathleen Swanson, who has been the chair of IYANE’s membership committee for the past six years. Kathleen is continuing on as a board member while stepping down from the membership chair position. Board Member Kim Peralta (Maine) took up the membership chair position in January. At the annual meeting, Board Member Claire Carroll (Massachusetts) was appointed to the office of treasurer, while Jarvis Chen, Patricia Walden (Massachusetts), and Mary Wixted (Massachusetts) were reappointed to the positions of president, vice president, and secretary, respectively.

Many of our region’s teachers and students now travel to Pune on a regular basis to study at RIMYI. This past December, 11 members from our region travelled to Pune to attend the Yoganusa sanam intensive with Geetaji.

Under the leadership of Scholarship Chair Claire Carroll, IYANE is expanding its scholarship offerings this year. In addition to the annual Pune scholarship fund, which supports study at RIMYI, IYANE awarded two scholarships this year to support IYANE members attending the IYNAUS Convention in Boca Raton. Patricia Walden funded an additional third scholarship for an IYANE member to attend the convention.

In February, IYANE launched its new and improved website at www.iyengarnewengland.com. Please visit to find out more about IYANE teachers, events, scholarship programs, and community service projects.

IYANW

The Iyengar Association of the Northwest (IYANW) has several new programs this year that support our continuing goal to reach yoga enthusiasts with ever-growing resources and support for their yoga endeavors. We are excited about these multifaceted programs.

Over the years, many northwest studios have committed time and services in their local communities. Tree House Iyengar Yoga in Shoreline, Washington, for example, takes part in an ongoing local elementary school lunch program. The school’s “Backpack Program” provides food for students in need of meals over the weekend. Yoga students contribute nutritious, easily prepared food to fill the backpacks.

Teachers from Rose Yoga of Ashland, Oregon, have donated yoga programs for at-risk teenage girls in conjunction with county services for many years and continually provide gentle yoga at local retirement homes and senior centers at significantly discounted prices.

In an effort to support Northwest Iyengar Yoga studios’ services to their local communities, the IYANW Board implemented a new Philanthropy Grants program this year. Studios that want to conduct classes for underserved populations can receive assistance getting a program off the ground or offsetting expenses to help bring yoga to those who may not otherwise have access. We expect this IYANW grant program to be accepting applications this fall.

IYANW is so grateful to the many senior teachers who have traveled here to conduct workshops and inspire the Northwest yoga community. Because it is not always feasible for smaller studios to host senior teachers, however, Shaw-Jiun Wang, owner of Seattle Iyengar Yoga Studio, has made the commitment this year to showcase dedicated and knowledgeable Iyengar Yoga teachers certified at Intermediate Junior levels to provide affordable, yet quality workshops.

In 2015, Shaw invited Jarvis Chen, a long-term student of Patricia Walden to her studio. Shaw will continue this “new tradition” in 2016. Other northwest studios have hosted similar intermediate teacher workshops. Yoga Namaste in Astoria, Oregon, hosted Sharon Conroy in March, and Rose Yoga of Ashland, hosted Brian Hogencamp in January.

In the vein of continuing education for all our members, Anne Geil (Intermediate Junior I), also of Tree House Iyengar Yoga, began teaching a series of anatomy classes earlier this year. As a massage therapist and former anatomy instructor, Anne’s approach was both medical and practical. So far she has helped educate students to have a better understanding of their knees, hips, shoulders, low back, and neck. Requests keep coming in for other classes on how the body works and how to better use it in both yoga and everyday life.

Finally, the current IYANW Board, recognizing the importance of communication, has made great strides this year in the makeover of our website, which now gives updated access to Northwest-related resources, such as our grants programs and lending library. E-newsletters and Facebook have also improved communication for our members.

IYASCUS

The Austin scene is bursting with newly certified teachers and events. Peggy Kelley’s Austin Iyengar Yoga teacher training is in full swing. Peggy is also very involved with growing and assessing the Mexico Iyengar Yoga Community. Austin Yoga Tree is making a big splash. Melissa Hagen’s Yoga Ride and Donation Yoga on Sundays at Clear Spring are both reaching new audiences and bringing more and more people to Iyengar Yoga. Friday Advanced Practices now have more people leading them. Peggy Kelley, Melissa Hagen, and Mary Scott are all now regular leaders of this popular practice. Mary Scott has started Friday Dinners Out. The First Friday of each month after Advanced Practice, anyone is welcome to come along to dinner somewhere near the studio. The first outing was a lot of fun.

The Saturday pranayama and asana classes at Clear Spring are becoming quite popular as are Anne’s Saturday afternoon pranayama workshops. Val Rios has moved back to town after a long stay in the Netherlands. She’s started teaching at Austin Yoga and is also beginning to offer classes in Buda and the San Marcos Area. Jerry Crowley of San Angelo was featured on the local news promoting Iyengar Yoga. A link to the video can be found on the Iyengar Yoga Association of the South Central U.S. (IYASCUS) Facebook group.

IYASW

We had a warm and busy winter and spring in the Southwest and saw some significant changes to our community over the past several months. In the Phoenix area, we bid farewell to a staple of our Iyengar Yoga community, Archana Yoga. Longtime friend and teacher, Josie Lazarus sold her home and the space housing her center along with it. Josie and her husband have started a new chapter of their lives in Santa Fe and are enjoying the natural beauty of New Mexico.

The Iyengar Yoga Center at Scottsdale Community College (SCC) was thrilled to begin construction on a long-anticipated ropes wall this spring. For nearly two years the center has been diligently working to raise funds, doing t-shirt sales and receiving generous support of private donors, and it’s now ready to begin construction. The wall is anticipated to be completed well before SCC hosts assessment for the second time this fall. The support of the Iyengar Yoga community to help build the wall was an uplifting demonstration of commitment and support for Iyengar Yoga in the Southwest.