News
FROM THE REGIONS
IMIYA The Intermountain Iyengar Yoga Association (IMIYA) consists of four states: Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Each year, we grow in membership size and commitment to the study of Iyengar Yoga. We currently have 147 members including 54 Certified Iyengar Yoga Teachers (CIYTs). For our 2017 membership drive, we offered five membership classes in February and March. IMIYA shows gratitude for the yearly return of our members, as well as for all new members signing up, with complimentary T-shirts. This year’s design depicts B.K.S. Iyengar in two different asanas, each centered in the thousand petal lotus flower of the high crown chakra. We also give a T-shirt to each of the senior teachers who travel to our states as a way of supporting and thanking them for their personal commitment to sharing Iyengar Yoga. This year, we have several senior teachers hosting workshops in our region: John Schumacher, Manouso Manos, Dean and Rebecca Lerner, Nancy Stechert, Devki Desai, Elise Miller, Chris Saudek, and Patricia Walden, to name a few. Some local yoga studios offer a 10 percent discount to IMIYA members for senior teacher workshops. IMIYA takes continuing education seriously, and we have heeded the words of Geetaji from a few years back: “We should learn to be good students, not just good teachers.” Our answer to that was to create a scholarship committee to review applications by anyone—teacher or student—who needs financial assistance to attend a qualified Iyengar Yoga teacher training program or workshop. IMIYA channels all money from T-shirt sales into the scholarship fund. Each year, we make funds available to cover 50 percent of the tuition of a teacher training program or to cover some portion of individual workshops. In this way, we show our commitment to the importance of learning and building up our yogic practice from year to year. For more information about our scholarship fund and to see our t-shirts, please visit www.imiya.org. We are an active community and growing. We update our website regularly and send out a monthly newsletter announcing news of the month, sharing quotes from B.K.S. Iyengar, and providing links to IYNAUS and other organizations within our greater Iyengar Yoga community around the world.
IYACSR “When your body, mind and soul are healthy and harmonious, you will bring health and harmony to those around you and health and harmony to the world—not by withdrawing from the world but by being a healthy living organ of the body of humanity.” —B.K.S. Iyengar
Yoga Samachar Spring / Summer 2017
BIRJOO MEHTA WORKSHOP AUG. 31–SEPT. 3, 2017 We are so excited to be hosting Birjoo Mehta once again. Birjoo offers profound understanding with a quiet delivery and approachability. The topic of the workshop is the Vayus, the winds within. The venue is William’s Barn in the Twin Oaks Valley of San Marcos, in North County San Diego. Situated in the middle of Walnut Grove Park, this intimate location is a breath of fresh air. COMMUNITY OUTREACH The Iyengar Yoga Center of San Diego (IYCSD) featured four CIYTs—Pat McLoughlin, Cyndy Cordle, Kim Kolibri, and Royal Fraser—at the annual San Diego Yoga Festival held Jan. 27-30. With over 100 classes, this home-grown yoga festival in Ocean Beach, California, is a celebration of all yoga in the region. IYCSD has been a part of the Ocean Beach community since 1979 and IYCSD teachers participated as part of the center’s community outreach strategies. Kim taught “Safe and Intelligent Inversions,” Cyndy deepened everyone’s Parivrttas in “A Chair with a Twist,” Royal awakened students with “Jumpings for Physical and Intellectual Vigor,” and Pat presented Iyengar Yoga sequencing for her “Developing Emotional Stability” workshop. We made new friends and also showcased Iyengar Yoga to the greater yoga community. We hope our participation in this diverse event can act as an example for Iyengar Yoga centers nationwide. IYACSR WORKSHOPS Senior teacher Carolyn Belko taught our annual open Membership workshop on Saturday, Feb. 18. Sharon Maruca (Intermediate Junior II) taught “Seated forward Extensions, from the Ground Up” in May. In the fall, we hope to have Pat McLoughlin’s expertise to share with our members—date TBA. As a member of IYNAUS, if you are in the San Diego area at the time of one of our Free for Members workshops, we will extend that benefit to you, too. IYACSR hosts three Free for Members workshops each year. Add us to your travel plans; we want you to enjoy our Iyengar Yoga community when in you’re in town, too. For more information on our offerings, please check our website: www.iyacsr.org or visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook. com/iyengaryogaassociationofcaliforniasouthernregion/.
IYAGNY This year marks the 30th Anniversary of the Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York. We have come a long way since our journey began as a collective of teachers and students without a dedicated space in 1987. Since then, we expanded into the outer boroughs with the opening of the Institute of Brooklyn in 2013 and 3
