News
FROM THE REGIONS
IYACSR We began the year with 168 members in the Iyengar Yoga Association of California Southern Region (IYACSR), which also includes Hawaii. We had our board elections in December 2018, and the board of directors installation took place at our annual members meeting on Feb. 2. Here is the new 2019 IYACSR Board: President Kathleen Quinn (CIYT Intermediate Junior II), Vice president Stephanie Lavender (CIYT Intermediate Junior I), Treasurer Sheri Cruise (CIYT Intermediate Junior I), Secretary Nikole Fortier (CIYT), Communications Coordinator Sri Kota (CIYT), Outreach Chair Radhika Ponda (CIYT), Workshops Chair Liz Levine (Member at Large), and IYNAUS liaison Gloria Goldberg (CIYT Advanced Junior II). Attendees at the 2019 IYACSR annual members meeting in February
We eagerly anticipate working with and for our growing Iyengar Yoga community. A fare-thee-well to our departing board members. The IYACSR mandate is to disseminate the teachings of Guruji and the Iyengar family. First and foremost, these departing board members were true to that; to a person, they worked tirelessly and enthusiastically to bring us closer to the Iyengars, RIMYI, and IYNAUS through the communiqués and community events that we enjoyed during their tenures. Suneel Sundar (CIYT Intermediate Junior II) is outgoing President; Sharon Crockett (Member at Large) is outgoing Secretary; Edith Rosenberg (CIYT) is outgoing Workshop Chair and Scholarship Coordinator; and Chere Thomas (CIYT Intermediate Junior I) is our outgoing Communications Coordinator. Thank you for your service! At the IYNAUS 2019 Convention in April, IYACSR held a meeting of attending members, friends, and colleagues to share experiences and get a group photo. It was exciting to gather with the community in Dallas, to share stories of last year’s centenary events, to mourn the loss of our teacher and mentor Geetaji, and to celebrate her life. Geetaji said our practice should be rigorous and “fourfold—moral, physical, mental, and spiritual.” Guruji said, “Practice with faith, practice with courage, practice with zest, practice with understanding, and practice uninterruptedly and reverentially…” Guruji and Geetaji were the embodied paradigms of their words. Together with Abhijata, we will continue along the path. On May 18, B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga Center in Ocean Beach hosted a Free4Members workshop, where Roger Cole taught restoratives and pranayama. The next two Free4Members workshops will be in September with Isabela Fortes at San Marcos Iyengar Yoga Center (SMIYC) and in December with Carolyn Belko at the Iyengar Yoga Center of Encinitas (IYCE). Yoga Samachar Spring | Summer 2019
We invite all Iyengar Yoga association members worldwide, when in the area, to join us at these Free4Members workshops. IYACSR is a major sponsor of the Festival of Yoga & Healthy Living San Diego 2019 to be held June 23 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Waterfront Park. The event is free and open to the public.
IYAGNY Several people from our region attended the auspicious centenary celebrations in Pune this past December. We learned at the feet of the most senior teachers in our method, Prashant and Geeta Iyengar, for five days each. We did not know yet that we were receiving the last teaching transmission from Geeta Iyengar before her passing on Dec. 16, 2018. We are mourning her loss and are planning some programs in 2019 to honor her and her legendary teaching. That same day, Dec. 16, the Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York (IYAGNY) hosted a celebration of B.K.S. Iyengar’s 100th birthday and offered a free members’ class to over 70 students with three teachers who had just come home from the Pune intensive, Naghmeh Ahi, Tori Milner, and Liza Toft. In January, we held our annual meeting for members, including a free class with Richard Jonas, Brooke Myers, and Sarah Perron, who co-taught the group with reflections on Geeta and Guruji sprinkled in. After the meeting, we held our first board meeting of 2019, with three new members—Ron Bozman, Judy Dennis, and Anna Iacucci—joining Kevin Allen, Mike Branson, Kate Karet, Michael Ketring, Sharib Khan, and Tzahi Moskovitz. Rebecca Lerner came in February and taught 70 of us over two days. Her teaching connected us to the depth of the subject and the Iyengars’ teachings with grace, humor, and 3
