Amazing Iyengar Yoga Teacher?

November 7, 2010 2:10 PM

Can anyone recommend a really experienced and rigorous Iyengar yoga teacher in NYC?

I am very forlornly missing my former yoga teacher, an 80-year-old Iyengar instructor who's been teaching for forty years. She was extremely rigorous, precise, and I never injured myself because she was so exacting with positions. She gave great adjustments, had an incredibly calm and non-judgmental demeanor, was the strongest person in class, and I miss her.

Now that I've moved to New York, I'm hoping to find someone equally awesome-- I'm in Brooklyn, but I'd be willing to travel. Preferences: extremely experienced (teaching for decades rather than years), precise, rigorous, and affordable.

Many thanks!

posted by enzymatic to Health & Fitness (5 answers total)

Have you tried starting here: The Iyengar Society of Greater New York.
posted by BlahLaLa at 2:57 PM on November 7, 2010

They're all precise and rigorous - perhaps even to a fault. I'm a fan of Priscilla Gilmore [e-mail] , all the way out in Centerport, Long Island. She's largely unknown to the NYC Iyengar community, but has a medium-level certification and doesn't have any of the stern, condescension you can see in other teachers, and has wonderful intuition (she can take one look at you doing one pose and figure out where all your issues are....and VERY creatively devise personalized stuff, often with props, to do to resolve those issues.

But before you drive all the way out there (well, heck, drive out once just to meet her!), y'know, Iyengar certification is VERY tough. And competition in NYC is VERY tough. So, really, anybody you go to will fit the description. It's mostly a matter of affordability; I'm assuming you checked the Iyengar Institute and were aghast at the prices. Look here for more far-flung (and affordable) options. Again, you really won't find a bad one. It's a matter more of personal taste than competence and rigor.

Good luck. Om shanti yadda yadda.
posted by Quisp Lover at 3:03 PM on November 7, 2010

Yogasana is an Iyengar Center in Brooklyn, 5 minutes from the intersection of Flatbush & Atlantic avenues. I can't speak to their high-level classes, but my Physical Therapist, who was a pretty serious practitioner herself, recommended them to me during rehab, and I had very good experiences there.
posted by swngnmonk at 3:51 PM on November 7, 2010

I wanted to chime in for Yogasana as well. Try a class with Eve, Deborah, or Kristen- I have scoliosis and have practiced Iyengar in a wide range of studios, and those teachers are simply outstanding. They are rigorous, attuned to individual bodies and adjustments, and have an in-depth knowledge of anatomy.
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 4:02 PM on November 7, 2010

nthing Yogasana--it's where I go when I'm in Brooklyn, and it has all the hyper-precise, look-at-a-skeleton-model, use-lots-of-props qualities of Iyengar everywhere, and a simpatico clientèle.
posted by Mngo at 6:08 PM on November 7, 2010