in The Times of India
Yoga Guru Iyengar to tour Russia, meet President15 Apr 2009, 2350 hrs IST, Rahul Chandawarkar, TNN
PUNE: Pune's nonagenarian yoga guru BKS Iyengar will fly to Moscow this Sunday on a week-long tour of Russia. This will be the yoga guru's second visit to the country. He had toured Russia 20 years ago in 1989, when it was still the Soviet Union.
The 90-year-old yoga guru is expected to meet Russian president Dmitry Medvedev himself an ardent yoga practitioner on April 21 at the Kremlin. Later, on the evening of April 22, the Indian ambassador to Russia will host a reception in the yoga guru's honour. It may be noted that in 1989 the health ministry of the Soviet Union had invited Iyengar to deliver lectures and demonstrations on yoga. This latest invitation has been extended by a Russian yoga magazine, Yoga Journal', whose publisher Derk Sauer has personally invited the yoga guru and his contingent of 14 senior teachers to Moscow. Iyengar's contingent comprises six teachers from Pune, two from Mumbai, one from Delhi and the rest from USA, France, Spain and Netherlands. The yoga guru is expected to address the Russian media on April 21 in a press conference during which the therapeutic benefits of yoga will be highlighted. Nivedita Joshi, senior Iyengar yoga teacher from Delhi, who recovered from a debilitating physical ailment herself, is expected to tell her story to the Russian media. Speaking to the Times of India' on Tuesday, the yoga guru said, "I am looking forward to this visit, because I am very keen to see the changes that have taken place in Russia over the last twenty years." According to Iyengar, in 1989, yoga enthusiasts in Moscow and Russia had admitted using photocopies of his popular book, Light on Yoga' to learn and practice yoga. "I remember addressing a hall of about 300 yoga enthusiasts in Moscow in 1989. This time, however, as many as 550 yoga teachers trained in Iyengar yoga techniques will attend a series of master classes that will be held by me and my senior students. There are thirty to forty Iyengar yoga centres in Russia today," he said. On this week-long tour, special master classes on all yogic asanas followed by classes on pranayama will be held by the yoga guru and his senior students on four consecutive days under the auspices of the Yoga Journal' magazine. "I will be discussing and demonstrating yogic asanas and pranayama techniques in great detail, thus all sessions will be video documented. It will be a good gift for posterity," he said. Praising the Russians, the yoga guru said, "Russians are unique. They have an occidental head and an oriental heart. This makes them very interesting." Recalling his 1989 tour, Iyengar said, "The Russians are also very intellectually and philosophically sound. I still remember that the questions posed by the yoga enthusiasts to me on my first visit were intense and deep."
Yoga Guru Iyengar to tour Russia, meet President15 Apr 2009, 2350 hrs IST, Rahul Chandawarkar, TNN
PUNE: Pune's nonagenarian yoga guru BKS Iyengar will fly to Moscow this Sunday on a week-long tour of Russia. This will be the yoga guru's second visit to the country. He had toured Russia 20 years ago in 1989, when it was still the Soviet Union.
The 90-year-old yoga guru is expected to meet Russian president Dmitry Medvedev himself an ardent yoga practitioner on April 21 at the Kremlin. Later, on the evening of April 22, the Indian ambassador to Russia will host a reception in the yoga guru's honour. It may be noted that in 1989 the health ministry of the Soviet Union had invited Iyengar to deliver lectures and demonstrations on yoga. This latest invitation has been extended by a Russian yoga magazine, Yoga Journal', whose publisher Derk Sauer has personally invited the yoga guru and his contingent of 14 senior teachers to Moscow. Iyengar's contingent comprises six teachers from Pune, two from Mumbai, one from Delhi and the rest from USA, France, Spain and Netherlands. The yoga guru is expected to address the Russian media on April 21 in a press conference during which the therapeutic benefits of yoga will be highlighted. Nivedita Joshi, senior Iyengar yoga teacher from Delhi, who recovered from a debilitating physical ailment herself, is expected to tell her story to the Russian media. Speaking to the Times of India' on Tuesday, the yoga guru said, "I am looking forward to this visit, because I am very keen to see the changes that have taken place in Russia over the last twenty years." According to Iyengar, in 1989, yoga enthusiasts in Moscow and Russia had admitted using photocopies of his popular book, Light on Yoga' to learn and practice yoga. "I remember addressing a hall of about 300 yoga enthusiasts in Moscow in 1989. This time, however, as many as 550 yoga teachers trained in Iyengar yoga techniques will attend a series of master classes that will be held by me and my senior students. There are thirty to forty Iyengar yoga centres in Russia today," he said. On this week-long tour, special master classes on all yogic asanas followed by classes on pranayama will be held by the yoga guru and his senior students on four consecutive days under the auspices of the Yoga Journal' magazine. "I will be discussing and demonstrating yogic asanas and pranayama techniques in great detail, thus all sessions will be video documented. It will be a good gift for posterity," he said. Praising the Russians, the yoga guru said, "Russians are unique. They have an occidental head and an oriental heart. This makes them very interesting." Recalling his 1989 tour, Iyengar said, "The Russians are also very intellectually and philosophically sound. I still remember that the questions posed by the yoga enthusiasts to me on my first visit were intense and deep."
Joana Mc.