Spotlight on Iyengar Yoga

By Andrea Ferretti

The Iyengar Yoga community is looking at a full calendar this fall and winter, with birthday and anniversary parties spanning the globe. Pilgrims will be heading to Pune, India, to pay homage to Geeta Iyengar (daughter of B.K.S. Iyengar, the founder of Iyengar Yoga) as she turns 60. She'll teach two public classes each day December 9–13, then celebrate with a picnic in her honor on December 14. "People typically come to Pune in December to celebrate her dad's birthday," says Marla Apt, vice president of the Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States. "This is the first year she's letting people make a big deal about her. It's really very sweet." Geeta's classes are open to students who have been practicing Iyengar Yoga for five years or more. For more information, visit www.iynaus.org.

Meanwhile, in the United States, three flagship Iyengar studios have their own reasons to celebrate. On September 26, the B.K.S. Iyengar Institute of Los Angeles had a 20th-anniversary party, where guests were treated to a screening of a documentary on the life of B.K.S. Iyengar, Atma Darshana, Reflection of the Soul. The Iyengar Yoga Institute of New York is moving into glorious new digs in early November. (See Manhattan Yoga Tour for more details.) And the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco (www.iyisf.org) will mark its 30th anniversary with a fund-raiser at famed San Francisco vegetarian restaurant Greens on November 14. Classical Indian singer Pandit Mukesh Desai will perform, and past alumni of the institute are expected to attend.