Mothers of Yoga

We have been studying the yoga sutras in class since January. This first written text of yoga dates back over 1500 years, and just in the last 100 or so years women have participated in the practice of yoga.  Before then it was a man’s endeavor.  In 2020, 38.4 million Americans, or 11% of the population practiced yoga. 75% of yoga practitioners are women. We have many people to thank for bringing yoga into our lives and I’d like to tell you about 2 very important women in the world of yoga.

Life isn’t about finding yourself, It’s about CREATING yourself.

Indra Devi, was born Eugenia Vassilievna, in the spring of 1899 in Riga, Latvia, then part of the Russian Empire.  Raised in the home of her grandparents, she appreciated the comforts of a wealthy and well connected family.  Eugenia’s mother, Sasha was in and out of her life from early on.  Both women were aristocratic and apolitical, and thus they moved virtually unobstructed throughout Russia and Europe during war as actors and performers on stage.  In 1923 they arrived in Berlin, perhaps the most artistically vibrant city in the world at the time.  They performed in Weimer Berlin cabaret.  After the war, Eugenia became interested in spiritualism and theosophy. She had always been drawn to India, and she traveled there in 1927.  She met and traveled with many interesting people, including Krishnamurti, Alice Adiar and Gandhi, and was offered several parts in Indian silent films, the emerging Bollywood.  This is where she became Indira Devi.  She had a knack for showing up in places that were the center for monumental change in the world, much like Forrest Gump today.

Indra Devi

The yoga we practice today, hatha yoga, was not the conventional practice of yoga in the early 1900’s.  It was through Indra Devi’s work, and others, that developed a more physical practice to heal the body and prepare the mind. A crucial piece of the history of yoga in the US is the 1893 world’s fair in Chicago, that Vivekanada brought ‘modern yoga’ to the World’s Fair in Chicago. Swami Vivekananda spoke of karma yoga, or giving back and social service. In 1924 the US immigration imposed a quota on Indian immigration, making it impossible for easterners to travel to America.*  If westerners wanted to learn yoga, they had to travel to the east.

Indira Devi followed the teachings of Theosophy, Kirshnamurti being her most admired. Eventually she made her way to India and found her first yoga teacher Swami Kuvalayanada,. Much like yoga teachers today, Kuvalayananda dreamed of melding modern rationalism and ancient wisdom. He offered yoga classes to both genders and Indira was soon one of his students. She studied with him until 1936 her diplomat husband was called to China.  She stayed behind in India, and because of her societal connections, she was invited to the wedding of the nephew Maharaja of Mysore, and there met Krishinamacharya, whose brother-in-law is B.K.S. Iyengar.  At first he denied her tutelage as he only accepted male students, but she went over his head and asked the maharaja to advocate for her, and he ordered Krishnamacharya to teach her.  Iyengar described Krishnamacharya as “unpredictably moody, and sometimes violent”.  He directed Devi to adhere to a strict regime and schedule.  After eight months under the guru, the benefits of her new lifestyle began to show.  Krishmamacharya encouraged her to teach, and when she joined her husband in Shanghai, that is just what she did.  Unlike most contemporary teachers, she led her students through deep relaxation before starting them on asanas, having them lie on their backs and systemically let go of tension in each part of the body, beginning with the toes.

As World War II spread throughout the world, tensions rose in Shanghai.  Devi’s husband a Czech citizen, returned to his homeland, and Devi returned to her beloved India in 1946. It was here, in Bombay, that she wrote her first book Yoga:  The Techniques of Health & Happiness.  Still trying to find a home undamaged by the war, for she and her mother Sasha, Devi arrived in Los Angeles in 1947.  Once again, she found herself in the middle of the action, as southern California was becoming a spiritual center.  It didn’t take her long to use her connections to form a community and open a yoga studio on Sunset Boulevard. Her classes began to fill, as she went to great pains to explain the practice in scientific rather that spiritual terms. “Yoga is first and foremost a commonsense exercise and relaxation system, utterly practical and wholesome, promising transformative results without the grunting agony of physical regimes.”

The results of her teaching caught the attention of many successful individuals, and her client list grew to include Gloria Swanson, Valentina, Jennifer Jones, and Greta Garbo.  She published her 2nd book:  Forever Young, Forever Healthy in 1953.  This book offered chapters in healthy living, including diet and healthy habits for living, and feminism.  Her teaching spread to Mexico, where she set up a retreat center with her new husband, physician Sigrid Knauer.  The 1960’s and 70’s brought about a new way of thinking toward health, and stress.  The first anti-depressant, Midtown, was developed and widely prescribed. Yoga offered a non-medicinal way to relax and reduce stress.  Devi offered classes and trained many teachers to fill the need. 

Her travels led her to her new guru Sathya Sai Baba, and she stayed on and off with him in his ashram Prasanthi Nilayam, in Puttaparthi India thru the early 1980’s.   Sai Baba never traveled to the United States, but he had several million devotees and an estimated 1,200 Sai Baba Centres in 114 countries.  Devi continued to travel the world and taught light and love and service.  Later in life, she found a home in Argentina, and at the age of 103, she passed on quietly and peacefully.

* A 1965 revision of U.S. law removed the 1924 quota on Indian immigration, opening our shores to a new wave of Eastern teachers.  In 1966, Swami Satchidananda arrived in New York for a couple of days and ended up staying permanently. He opened the Woodstock Festival in 1969, echoing Vivekananda’s greeting of 75 years earlier:  “My beloved sisters and brothers.”

The Julia Child of Yoga

When someone asks me how long I have been doing yoga, I immediately go back to my 9-year-old self on my living room floor watching Lilias, Yoga & You.  Lilias Folan was my first yoga teacher, and many others through her PBS show starting in 1970.  Lilias came into your living room with her long black braid draped over her shoulder, and her leotard, popular in the day.  She spoke to you as if you were having a private conversation with her.  She let you know that moving your body was all that mattered, and it wasn’t about how you looked, but how you felt.  It was so accepting; yoga found me, and I found yoga.

Lilias Folan

Lilias was herself a young mother when she turned to yoga in the mid-60’s. Living in Connecticut with her husband and young sons, she had it all on the outside.  On the inside, she was not sleeping well, suffered back pain, was easily fatigued, and smoking a half a pack of cigarettes a day.  Part of the generation that may have turned to anti-depressants, she luckily found a doctor that prescribed exercise instead of pills. Lilias turned to yoga. When her husband’s job took her to Cincinnati, she taught yoga in a school cafeteria.  One of her students was the wife of a TV executive from the local PBS station.  And as they say, the rest is history. 

Her show went on for 30 years.  She developed her own approach to yoga, teaching to an audience she did not see, but who corresponded with her through letters.  She often shared these letters with her viewers on air.  For most of her viewers, she was the first anyone had seen of yoga.  Many misunderstood her at first, but her gentle and demystifying approach to yoga made it accessible and practical. She was determined to “make it for the young mother who doesn’t sleep well, for the athlete for flexibility-so that it would be Americanized and still keep its heart”.

Few have done for yoga what Lilias has done.  Her friend, and producer Jack Dominic, puts her in the company of Children’s TV host Fred Rogers and legendary newsman Walter Cronkite.  Dominic went on to produce her follow-up series, Lilias! Yoga Gets Better with Age during the 80’s and 90’s. Lilas was on the air for 30 years and 500 episodes. She continued to teach in her local town through her 70’s.  Her message is summed up here in one of her quotes “Don’t omit - adapt, until you can softly smile while in a pose.  As you work your physical body, become aware of your witness self: that ever present inner friend.  You feel more and think less.  We eventually come to a still, quiet place that is quite joyful.”  

Lilias can still be seen occasionally at wellness conferences.

I hope you enjoyed this blog.  I very much enjoyed learning more about these fascinating women’s lives.  I named my new puppy Devi.

My Sankalpa for 2024 ~ Forgive

New Year , New You, New Opportunities

What is Sankalpa?  A phrase, or just a word, that expresses your heartfelt desire.  Not a goal, but an intention to move your life in a direction for the year.  And with good intention and self-study, after the transformative  year, it will be a part of you. 

Each January we look forward with anticipation of a better year.  Some people make resolutions that are goal oriented.  Sanklapa is deeper than just a goal, it is an intention to make changes so that you have recreated your thoughts to make a better you.

Imperfection was my first sankalpa, several years ago.  I embraced the idea of being imperfect. Resulting in accepting myself for who I am, and not what I am not. It was my best year ever!! So good, I choose it again the next year.  I allowed myself to be the person I was meant to be.  I added the idea of ‘instant forgiveness’ to myself and it was the freest I’d ever felt.  These sankalpas may come to you quite easily or you may need to give yourself some time to find the idea that is meaningful to you. 

This year I choose ‘Forgiveness’.  To allow for forgiveness to those that have hurt me.  Without any one reason, I just knew that there would be some event, hurt feeling, grudge,  or conversation, that is lingering and holding me back. And if I am to move forward with love and light, I’ll need to let go of resentment and be purely accepting of what was and what is.  We can’t change the past, but we can give it time, and understanding, and thank those that have given us an opportunity to learn from the things that didn’t go our way.  Life is full of lessons, learn from them. 

So this year I will commit to explore, with love, what I continue to hold onto like a hot coal.  Buddha says ”holding on to anger is like holding on to a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else.  You are the one who gets burned”.  Embrace this new year!

Namaste, Lesa

Infinite Possiblities

Welcome to infinite possibilities in the upcoming year! 

One thing I have learned over my lifetime is that nothing is guaranteed.  You can place everything in one of 2 categories; what you can control, and what you can’t control.  The latter is by far the largest.  Let’s take a look at what we CAN control. Truly we can control how we react to something.  We can be open minded and let in opportunities with love and grace.  We can greet each other with love and kindness, and give our love to those we meet.

Duane Allman made a New Years resolution on Jan 1, 1969, as a wise young man of 22, just 2 years before he died.  He said “I will take love wherever I find it, and offer it to everyone who will take it”.  Choose to react with love, not fear.  I choose love every time.  Make space in your life for what for what the universe offers us, hold the door open and invite in the guests.  When you choose love, love comes back. 

You can also control your breath.  Take in each breath lovingly, let it fill your body with newness and strength.  Breath out and release what does not serve you, what has already been of use to you and you no longer need.  Use your breath to be present, to experience this life with peace, love and joy. 

Let in the possibilities of 2024 with a simple vow to react with love and be mindful of what you can control, and accepting of what you can’t.  Connect with your purpose and with nature and find balance.  Live simply, love much.