B.K.S. Iyengar, founder of Iyengar Yoga, is one of the most respected yoga teachers in the world. He has millions of students and followers around the world, and has written a number of definitive yoga texts.

Early years

B.K.S. Iyengar was born on December 14 1918 into a poor Iyengar family. He had a difficult childhood. His home village of Bellur in India was experiencing an influenza epidemic at the time of his birth, leaving him sickly and weak. His father died when he was 9 years old, and he continued to suffer from a variety of maladies in childhood, including malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and general malnutrition.

At the age of 15 Iyengar went to live with the famous yogi Sri T. Krishnamacharya. There, Iyengar began to learn asana practice, which steadily improved his health. Soon his childhood weaknesses were overcome.

With the encouragement of Krishnamacharya, Iyengar moved to Pune to teach yoga in 1937. There his practice developed as he spent many hours each day learning and experimenting in various techniques. As his methods improved, the number of students at his classes increased and his fame spread. In Pune, his brothers introduced him to Ramamani, and they were wed in an arranged marriage in 1943.

International recognition

In 1952, Iyengar met and befriended the famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin. Menuhin arranged for Iyengar to teach abroad in London, Switzerland, Paris and elsewhere. This was the first time that many Westerners had been exposed to yoga, and the practice slowly became well known. In 1966, Iyengar published Light on Yoga, an international best-seller. More than anything else, this book made yoga an international phenomenon. Iyengar Yoga soon became the most practiced form of yoga in Europe and America.

In 1975, Iyengar opened the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune, in memory of his recently departed wife. He officially retired from teaching in 1984, but continues to be very active in the world of Iyengar Yoga, teaching special classes and writing books. Iyengar's daughter Geeta and son Prashant have become internationally acclaimed teachers in their own right.

External links

• The official Iyengar website
• Iyengar's autobiography
• The official biography from the Iyengar Institute
• The Iyengar Yoga Institute in London

Further reading

• B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga, Schocken Books; Revised edition (January 3, 1995), trade paperback, 544 pages, ISBN 0805210318
• B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Pranayama, Crossroad/Herder & Herder; (June 1995), trade paperback, 320 pages, ISBN 0824506863
• B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, South Asia Books; 1 edition (August 1, 1993), trade paperback, 337 pages, ISBN 1855382253