Yogi North East
Iyengar Yoga in Tyne and Wear with Laura
BKS Iyengar, our Guruji
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Without BKS Iyengar, it is debatable whether so many of us in the UK and across the Western world would be practicing yoga in its many forms in 2017.
Born on December 14 1918 in Bellur - a village in Southern India - Guruji suffered from a range of illnesses as a child including tuberculosis, typhoid and malaria. Introduced to yoga by his brother-in-law Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, he has credited yoga with saving his life.
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Guruji began teaching yoga in the 1930s, facing an arduous journey for respect and recognition:
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“I set off in yoga 70 years ago when ridicule, rejection and outright condemnation were the lot of a seeker through yoga even in its native land of India….Indeed, if I had become a sadhu, a mendicant holy man, wandering the great trunk roads of British India, begging bowl in hand, I would have met with less derision and won more respect.”
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In the 1950s, Guruji’s chance meeting with the renowned violinist and aspiring yogi Yehudi Menuhin was a turning point for both – it was a sign of a burgeoning interest in yoga in the West that Guruji facilitated. The publication of his book ‘Light on Yoga’ in 1966 contained hundreds of asanas and raised the profile of yoga. The establishment of many Iyengar Yoga institutes worldwide followed.
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The Ramamani Institute of Iyengar Yoga in Pune came in the early 1970s. Named in honour of Guruji’s late wife, the Institute continues to be a focal point for yogis. Many teachers travel to India to study at the Institute with the Iyengar family to this day.
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Guruji still practised Sirsasana (headstand) with utmost precision right into his 90s and was living proof that yoga keeps both body and mind young - see the video below of him aged 70 for inspiration:
Guruji died on 20 August 2014 at the age of 95. He dedicated his life to yoga and remained vital in his practice to the end, as is evidenced by the final photographs a month before his death.