I got to meet Mr. Iyengar twice in Pune, once at a convention in California (where he helped me with my back problem), and once when he came to D.C. and Unity Woods hosted an evening honoring him and the publication of his book Light On Life.Honoring B.K.S. Iyengar
As you may have heard, B.K.S. Iyengar died on August 20, 2014. I am enclosing three links, the New York Times obituary, an interview describing what made his method unique, and a tribute from Unity Woods Director John Schumacher..
I got to meet Mr. Iyengar twice in Pune, once at a convention in California (where he helped me with my back problem), and once when he came to D.C. and Unity Woods hosted an evening honoring him and the publication of his book Light On Life.
In the medical class I got to observe Mr. Iyenger working with students who had not received healing from Western or Eastern medicine. A young man who had no power in his arms got up into full-arm balance with Mr. Iyengar's assistance and full support in the medical class. When the young man came out of the pose, there was movement in his arms, circulation, a light came into his being, and his eyes. He was so grateful, and look that passed between him and Mr. Iyengar was pure grace. I'll never forget it. It felt in the realm of the miraculous.
Many of us feel that sense of a small miracle when we have a breakthrough in yoga class. I think that’s why we stick with the practice: to experience again and again a sense of discovery, surprise, delight.Mary Dunn, a senior Iyengar teacher who died some years ago once said a teacher like B.K.S. Iyengar comes along only once in many centuries, and she called him the best teacher she ever had.
I am grateful that I got to study with him, and I know he lives on in all of us who’ve been influenced by his method.