Letter from the President

IYNAUS OFFICERS AND STANDING COMMITTEES

Continuing Education Committee Carlyn Sikes, Chair

Peggy Gwi-Seok Hong, Julie Lawrence, Octavia Morgan, Leanne Cusumano Roque, Shaw-Jiun Wang

Ethics Committee

Manju Vachher dr.manju.vachher@gmail.com, Chair Members: Robyn Harrison, Faith Russell, Jito Yumibo Contact Ethics at ethics@iynaus.org

Events Committee

Sandy Carmellini yogasandy@rocketmail.com, Chair Gloria Goldberg, Randy Just, Suzie Muchnick, Nancy Watson

Governance and Elections Committee David Carpenter, Chair

David Larsen, Patti Martin, Michele Galen

Membership Committee

Paige Noon paige.noon@gmail.com, Chair IMIYA: Jessica Miller & IYANE: Kim Peralta

Katya Slivinskaya,Co-Chairs IYANW: Gwen Heisterkamp IYACSR: Stephanie Lavender IYASCUS: Jerrilyn Crowley IYAGNY: Ed McKeaney IYASE: Samuel Cooper IYALA: Laura Baker IYASW: Carrie Abts IYAMN: Mary Jo Nissen IYAMW: Donna Furmanek IYANC: Richard Weinapple

Next Generation Committee Amita Bhagat & Gwen Derk, Co-chairs Outreach Committee

Denise Rowe Yogini5352@gmail.com, Chair

Publications Committee Anne-Marie Schultz

anne_marie_schultz@baylor.edu, Chair Don Gura, Rachel Frazee, Renee Razzano, Denise Weeks, Michelle Williams

Public Relations and Marketing Committee

Shaaron Honeycutt shaaron.honeycutt@gmail.com, Chair Amita Bhagat, Laura Lascoe, Rachel Mathenia, Zain Syed

Regional Support Committee

Patti Martin, Chair

IYANW: Janet Langley IYAMW: David Larsen IYAGNY: Caren Rabbino IYASE: Lisa Waas IYASCUS: Randy Just IYASW: Marivic Wrobel IMIYA: Cathy Wright IYAC-SR: Suneel Sundar IYALA: Jennifer Diener IYANE: Jarvis Chen IYAMN: Joy Laine IYANC: Athena Pappas

Scholarship and Awards Committee

Carlyn Sikes carlyneileen@hotmail.com, Chair Lesley Freyberg, Richard Jonas, Lisa Jo Landsberg, Pat Musburger, Nina Pileggi, John Schumacher

Service Mark & Certification Mark Committee

Gloria Goldberg yogagold2@gmail.com,

Attorney in Fact for Geeta and Prashant Iyengar Systems & Technology Committee Shaaron Honeycutt, Chair

Ed Horneij, William McKee, David Weiner

Volunteer Coordinator

Ann McDermott-Kave amkave1@optonline.net

Yoga Research Committee

Gwen Derk grderk@gmail.com, Chair Jerry Chiprin, William Conde Goldman, Renee Royal, Kimberly Williams

IYNAUS Senior Council

Kristin Chirhart, Manouso Manos, Patricia Walden, Joan White

Director of Operations

Sharon Cowdery generalmanager@iynaus.org

Contact IYNAUS

P.O. Box 538 Seattle, WA 98111 206.623.3562 www.iynaus.org

DEAR FELLOW IYNAUS MEMBERS,

I have picked a fitting time and place to write my inaugural president’s letter. I am now in Pune, having spent the past month studying with Prashant, Sunita, and the next generation of RIMYI’s teachers. And I just returned from the Punyatithi held on the third anniversary of Guruji’s death. Needless to say, this was an emotional event. It was also inspirational. Abhijata was the featured speaker, and she gave a touching tribute to Guruji. I left the event filled with optimism. To be sure, there will never be another B.K.S. Iyengar. But I think he will prove to have been a transformational figure in world history, and with the generations of teachers he groomed, his impact can be even greater after his death than when he lived.

I have also been impressed with the importance that RIMYI ascribes to IYNAUS and our sister national associations. One of the teachers at RIMYI actually began a class by asking the students to think about their national association and bring it within them. The yogic quest for knowledge and freedom profoundly depends on community. As Prashant says, yoga is a cultural activity, and like all aspects of culture, yoga is the creation of a community. We can go to our mats only if we have been educated and oriented by the community, and the community nurtures us in myriad other ways. I feel its energy and power every day in RIMYI’s practice hall, in every class I take, and every time I practice at home.

Communities depend on communication, and one of IYNAUS’ major initiatives is to improve communications among Iyengar Yoga practitioners in the U.S. We are now sending eblasts to all our members twice a month, and I have also separately sent several eblasts to our CIYT members to apprise them of matters germane to Iyengar Yoga teachers. I plan to do more of that. But I understand that many members have missed some of our communications. Even if you are receiving some of our missives, please regularly check your spam folders and please authorize all communications from IYNAUS. We are also using Facebook and other social media to share important information, and in my time here at RIMYI, several practitioners from Europe have told me that they enjoy our Facebook postings. This piece of news led one dinosaur (me!) to subscribe to social media so I won’t miss out. I urge my fellow dinosaurs to do the same.

We are also nearing completion of a top-to-bottom redesign of our website and a major overhaul of its contents. Absent some unforeseen snags, our new improved website will be up and running by the time this issue of Yoga Samachar hits the streets. We plan to regularly refresh the content on our website and use it to channel important information. So we urge each of you to establish a practice of checking the website frequently.

As we plan for the future growth of our U.S. Iyengar Yoga community, we should always remember those who have established and maintained it. As a small gesture in that direction, we will now start listing the past presidents of IYNAUS in each issue of Yoga Samachar. We also thank all of you who have volunteered your time and energy to support the Iyengar Yoga community in the U.S. Our community has grown because of the selfless work of volunteers, and we stand on your shoulders as we plan for even better things to come.

Yours in yoga, David Carpenter IYNAUS President