The Indra Devi Foundation - yoga for the people

Indra Devi was born in 1899 in Riga, Latvia. She was fascinated with India and moved there in 1927 to dance and act in the film industry. She found yoga in 1937 and trained with Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, a Yoga master whose other students included B.K.S. Iyengar and K. Pattabhi Jois. Often referred to as the first lady of yoga, Indra Devi brought the practice to Soviet Russia, China, Vietnam, South Africa and eventually Mexico and Argentina. She moved to Buenos Aires in 1982 and set up the Indra Devi Foundation : Yoga, Art and Science of Life.

She dedicated her life to bringing yoga to all people. At age 100, she was still practicing Ardha Sirsasana, Janu Sirsasana, Ardha Matsyendrasana, and Padmasana. She died just shy of her 103rd birthday in Buenos Aires. Her students refer to her as Mataji, a rare honor for a woman who exemplifies Yoga´s principles.



When we arrived in Buenos Aires, we picked the studio closest to our hostal to go make some contacts. Luckily, we met the two individuals who run the foundation and teach throughout the city. David and his wife Iana welcomed us with open hearts and arms. We signed up for classes and started to work on our Spanish anatomy right away. Our teachers and their youth class are pictured below.

We attended classes at four of the six locations throughout our stay. Each location is beautifully decorated with artwork and fotos from decades of yoga lineage. There is a room in one of the studios that holds many of Indra Devi´s favorite things from her life.

The class structure is quite different than that of an American yoga class. The pace is slower and more relaxed. There is not as much a sense of competition. Each class started with chanting Ohm, followed by neck warm-ups. The classes were primarily asanas, but also included pranayama, mantras and mudras dispursed throughout the class. Class was usually followed by a short dharma talk or a candle light concentration/meditation. The pranayamas were simple but effective. Just when I thought the asanas were getting too hard and I was exhausted, our teacher would have us do a simple short pranayama that would quickly relieve the stress in my body and calm my mind.

The students were of all kinds - skinny and large, short and tall, young and old, new and advanced, pregnant and not. The sun salutations were slower paced and started and ended in child´s posture. But in some ways, they were harder, like transitioning from downdog to updog in a flow while bending your arms and lowering your head rather than just lowering the hips and keeping the head high.
Most asanas were taught with 2 or 3 difficulty levels and each version was demonstrated starting with the easiest. I think it is nice for a beginning student or less advanced student to see the easy version demonstrated first as opposed to demonstrating a hard posture and then explaining in words how to make it easier. This may be one way that the Indra Devi schools keep a wide range of students coming back to class. The classes were challenging for all students regardless of their flexibility and strength.
Every class ended with "Ohm signifies love and Shanti signifies peace. Ohm shanti." And then every or almost every student hugged and kissed the teacher and other students with the greeting "Ohm shanti". It was an akward experience the first day of class as rarely do students hug their yoga teacher in the US, let alone hug and kiss everyone in the room. But it was a nice experience that really helped to strengthen the sense of community and family among the class.

David invited us to several activities, including a six mile walk around a rose garden and breakfast on a relaxed Sunday. He gave us rides home several times and this gave us an opportunity to ask questions about Mataji´s life and his experiences with her over twenty plus years. We enjoyed our time at the Indra Devi studios and hope to bring more yogis from the US to study for years to come.
Om Shanti!