workshops, and certification expenses. We encourage IYASE members to visit our website and apply. It’s not too early to start looking for next year’s board slate. Please contact president@iyase.org if you are interested in helping us serve our members or know someone who would be a good fit.
IYASW As the holiday season dissipated after an unusually cold and rainy winter, our delayed spring in the Southwest finally came. The Iyengar Yoga Association of the Southwest (IYASW) started 2017 with a successful membership drive. New interested members meditated while walking a healing labyrinth. February brought an amazing weekend with senior teacher Nancy Stechert at the Iyengar Yoga center in Scottsdale, Arizona. Nancy shared how to move from the periphery to the core with her gentle yet dynamic teaching. All students who attended came away eager to practice what they had learned. All appreciated her passion for the teachings of B.K.S. Iyengar. Former IYASW Treasurer (2014-2015) Meredith Smith passed away at the end of February. Meredith was an ardent supporter of Iyengar Yoga and a devoted student. He supported the
growth of Iyengar Yoga in Scottsdale by being the lead donor for the yoga rope wall that was constructed in the fall of 2016 at Scottsdale Community College’s Iyengar Yoga Center. All of us in the Southwest region are saddened by this loss and will always miss him. In March, we attended the Yoga Festival amid Sedona’s beautiful red rocks. Marivic Wrobel taught an asana class, and Karen Smith lectured on benefits of Iyengar Yoga. IYASW sponsored a booth to promote Iyengar Yoga, sell B.K.S. Iyengar’s books, and share our own passion for this style of yoga. It was an opportunity to spread the teachings of B.K.S. Iyengar to yogis who may not have previously experienced Iyengar Yoga. Our April workshop with Carolyn Belko was a success. The classes were filled with students eager to learn. We are always grateful when Carolyn comes to visit and shares her depth of knowledge and therapeutic modifications. The yoga community is growing in the Southwest, and we are fortunate to have the support of several senior teachers to guide us on this journey.
FROM CRIPPLING PAIN TO ASTAVAKRASANA: HOW ONE YOGI OVERCAME CROHN'S DISEASE BY SUSAN GOULET
C
rohn’s disease runs in our family. My father died in 1960 of Crohn’s complications at the age of 27. My sister, brother, aunts, and a cousin all have Crohn’s. I was finally diagnosed in 1996 when I was 38 years old. Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect different areas of the digestive tract. However, with Crohn’s, the immune system not only attacks the gastrointestinal (GI) system, but the inflammation can spread or “spill over” and affect the skin, eyes, and joints. Symptoms vary from person to person, even within our family. My sister has diarrhea, my brother constipation. Their “spill over” inflammation affects their skin. She has severe psoriasis, and he has eczema. I didn’t suffer diarrhea or constipation. My main symptom was cramping, and the inflammatory “spill over” affected my eyes, lungs, and joints. I was a graphic designer with my own business. For several years before my Crohn’s was finally diagnosed, I had chronic bouts of both iritis (a painful inflammation of the iris) and bronchitis (chronic inflammation of the lining of the bronchial tubes). With Crohn’s disease, the immune system can also attack the musculoskeletal system, leading to spondyloarthritis, a painful condition that affects the spine and joints. It was this severe joint and back pain that finally led me to yoga. Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2017
When I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, my ankles were black and blue and so swollen that they were unrecognizable as body parts. They resembled massive eggplants. I could barely go up and down stairs and was wheel-chaired into my hospital room. I was scoped top to bottom. The doctor informed me that he could not find one square inch of normal GI tissue. He explained that one of the problems with Crohn’s disease is that the inflammation spreads deep into the layers of the gastro intestinal tissues so that the more surface area of the GI tract that is affected, the less absorption there is of nutrients, which then leads to malnutrition and severe fatigue. Sitting in the doctor’s office, I listened as his words swam around me. I looked down at my eggplant ankles and gestured 9
