B.K.S Iyengar

“I am always happy with the smallest improvement; I do not try to reach Perfection; but only the little perfections of everyday”  B.K.S Iyengar.

Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja (BKS) Iyengar was born in 1918 in Karnataka, India and passed away in August 2014 in Pune, aged 95.

A weak and sickly baby, he suffered from malaria, tuberculosis and typhoid. At the age of 15 he was introduced to yoga by his brother-in-law Guru Sri T. Krishnamacharya to improve his health. At the age of 18 he was sent to Pune by his guru to teach yoga. He married and began a family with his wife Ramamani. Together they raised five daughters and a son. Ramamani passed away in 1973 and two years later B.K.S Iyengar established the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune (RIMYI) in his wife’s honour, this institute is renowned as a centre for higher learning in yoga.

Two of Iyengar’s children became well-known, international yoga teachers (his son Prashant and daughter Geeta) as well as his grand-daughter Abhijata.

B.K.S Iyengar also known as “Guruji” dislocated his spine in a scooter accident and this led to him inventing innovative props to allow disabled people to practice and enjoy the benefits of yoga.

B.K.S Iyengar is the author of many books on yoga practise and philosophy such as Light on Yoga (1966), Light on Pranayama (1981) and Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (1996) and many others.

Guruji is often referred as the “father of modern yoga” and credited for popularizing yoga; first in India and then around the world.