John's Letter Archives
SUMMER 2005
B.K.S. Iyengar is coming to Washington!!!
NAMASTE,
Here at Unity Woods we are very excited about Mr. Iyengar’s visit to the Washington, DC area this fall. We expect him October 17-20 in conjunction with a national book tour announcing the publication of his new book, Light On Life. Mr. Iyengar has said that, at age 86, this will be his last trip to the United States, so it especially significant.
This is, of course, a major event for Iyengar practitioners. Most people who study Iyengar Yoga would never otherwise have the opportunity to see in person the fountainhead of the tradition in which they practice. Very few have the desire or circumstances to allow them to go to India to the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune where Mr. Iyengar lives and teaches. Furthermore, to attend classes at the Institute, one needs to have studied Iyengar Yoga for eight years, be recommended by a senior teacher, and then be on a waiting list for at least two years. A daunting prospect. Now there will be an opportunity to do the near impossible and not only see B.K.S. Iyengar for oneself, but hear him speak about the focus and primary passion of his life: yoga.
This is a big deal not only for students of Iyengar Yoga, but for anyone who has the least interest in yoga. B.K.S. Iyengar is a true Yoga master and a living legend. Rarely does one have the great good fortune to be in the presence of someone who has attained the level of expertise and wisdom that Mr. Iyengar has attained through his seventy years of study, practice, service, and devotion. And if you have contact with yoga at all, regardless of the style, you almost certainly have been touched by Mr. Iyengar’s influence. As I wrote in the Fall 2004 newsletter, Mr. Iyengar’s fingerprints can be found on much of the yoga that is being taught in America today. From the emphasis on alignment to the use of props to the therapeutic application of yoga for a host of maladies, his innovations have changed yoga in America and, indeed, the rest of the world. Indeed, it was for these reasons that Time magazine (April 26, 2004) named B.K.S. Iyengar among “the 100 most powerful and influential people in the world.”
He will begin his tour in Estes Park, Co at the 10th Annual Yoga Journal Conference. Within the Conference, Mr. Iyengar will be present for an Iyengar Yoga Intensive, during which his senior teachers will teach under his guidance and supervision. This will take place Monday through Wednesday, September 26-28. He will also conduct a question and answer session on Thursday morning, September 29. Information about the Conference is available online at www.yogajournal.com, although when registration for the Iyengar Intensive became available in April, it sold out completely within two minutes. (Right up there with Britney Spears.) Needless to say, a lot of people feel that the opportunity to see B.K.S. Iyengar in person is a momentous occasion.
After the Yoga Journal Conference, he travels to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, and New York. His last stop will be here in Washington. Each of these cities has a substantial Iyengar community as well as being a large metropolitan area, and part of his purpose in going to these cities, in addition to promoting his book, is to inspire his community of students and devotees with his presence. It is particularly fitting that Washington be the last stop on his final visit to the U.S., since his first visit to the U.S. took place here in Washington nearly fifty years ago.
Planning for Mr. Iyengar’s visit here is just beginning, so I can’t give you any details as yet. Since he is 86 years old and will have traveled to five cities in three weeks, appearing before thousands of people, we don’t want to overburden him with too many demands. Besides, he has given so much to so many over the years that our intention for this visit is to pay tribute to him rather than ask him for still more. Still, it is in his nature to give, so I expect that we will have one large event open to the public. We are contemplating a program that will present an idea of his life and his accomplishments. We want to give to those who attend a sense of the man and the view of life to which he has come after all his years of yoga. There is probably no better way to do this than to allow Mr. Iyengar to speak for himself. This may take the form of a question and answer session or a short talk. Through communication with him, we’ll try ascertain what suits him best and arrange things in accord with his wishes.
This is a book tour as well. Mr. Iyengar has just completed Light On Life, which is the organic outgrowth of his series of books beginning with his classic, Light On Yoga, through Light On Pranayama and Light On The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. I just received an advance manuscript of Light On Life and haven’t yet had time to read it in its entirety. But I have read enough know that it contains gems from his teaching that I have been fortunate enough to hear from his own lips over the years. I am delighted that others will now be able to receive these words of wisdom for themselves rather than getting it second hand through his students. And I can see that in this book he skillfully weaves the majesty and mystery of yoga into the challenges of everyday life in a way that is accessible to one and all. Light On Life is due out at the end of August. The publishers, Rodale Press, will certainly hold a book signing, but that has not as yet been arranged.
Perhaps I should have waited until the fall newsletter when the schedule would be more settled to speak of all of this, but like a kid at Christmas, I am too excited about it to wait. Besides, there will be so much going on surrounding Mr. Iyengar’s visit that the air at Unity Woods will be filled with it, so I thought it best to tell you what I know so far. The fall newsletter will contain all the details of his Washington visit and the attendant events, and we will try to keep the website updated as we go along.
Thrilling as it is to have a man of B.K.S. Iyengar’s stature come to us, more important for me is the opportunity to honor this man for the tremendous gifts he has bestowed upon us all. Speaking personally, he has affected my life in a very profound way through my practice, my teaching, and my own understanding of the interplay between yoga and life. I seriously doubt that Unity Woods would exist today without the inspiration and guidance that Mr. Iyengar provided. He has, thereby, also affected all who have been influenced in varying degrees over the years by their contact with Unity Woods. B.K.S. Iyengar is the source of so many ripples that have rolled over so many of us for so long that he has truly brought to us all a light on our lives.
