10 Ashtanga yoginis you must know…..

There are a lot of famous yoginis, like Indra Devi, Shannon Gannon, Vanda Scarvelli. But I wanted to focus on Ashtanga yoga. It astonished me, but it is so. Minimum 90% of the Ashtanga yoga practitioners are women, but I know the yogis.

Is it like cooking: 90% of the cooking do the women and when I switch on the TV I see men as TV cooks. Shall this motivate me to write about women and yoga in further posts, too.

And the conclusion of all this: If you want to be known in the community, write a book, use the media.
Practice and write about it and all is coming.
Pattabhi Jois must have known this, because once he was asked what a yogi is and he answered that a yogi was someone who has published a DVD.

Here is my list of  Ashtanga yoginis, yoginis you stumble upon when you talk about Ashtanga yoga within the community.

1. Saraswathi
She is the daughter of Pattabhi Jois and the son of Sharath. She teaches Ashtanga yoga for decades  mainly in India in the shala. With almost 70 years she is also travelling to NYC i.e. to give workshops. Her adjustments are great. With great dedication she even holds heavy men, who have the idea to drop back into urdhva dhanurasana. She is a very centered person. When I have the chance to travel again to India, I’d again study with her. She is a great teacher and a wonderful person.

2. Nancy Gilgoff
She belongs to  the first generation of Ashtanga yoginis and has her shala in Hawaii. Ohhhhhh. She practices and teaches yoga for decades.

3. Beryl Bender Birch
She is also one of the women who went to India decades ago to learn the Ashtanga system from Pattabhi Jois. She obviously loved the yoga style and wanted to spread it with the name power yoga. Later she focused on teaching runners and people who do other sorts of sports. She is still a travelling yogini offering workshops around the globe.

4. Melanie Fawer
She is also one of the few Ashtanga yoga teachers authorized by Pattabhi Jois. I appreciate her DVD primary series. It is a pleasure to watch her practicing.

5. Dena Kingsberg
Dena is also one of the first generation of Western practitioners of this yoga style. When discussing workshops her name is always mentioned. She is still teaching and offering workshops

6. Kino MacGregor
She belongs to the young generation of Ashtanga yoga practitioners. She is a passionate practitioner, offering workshops around the world. She seems to be very diligent. Kino is present in all the social medias with thousands of followers. Kino combines yoga and business perfectly.

7. Here is room for further yoginis you stumble upon in the community when you chat about Ashtanga yoga? Your help is needed. Feel free to comment…..

Picture: Krishnamacharya (the father of Ashtanga yoga) with Indra Devi, scanned from the book “Health, healing & beyond, Yoga & the living tradition of Krishnamacharya” by T.K.V. Desikachar