B. K. S. Iyengar

Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar was born on December 14, 1918, in Bellur, Karnataka state, India. He had an exceptionally difficult childhood—sickly from birth and malnourished due to his family's poverty, he survived by a miracle. To improve his health, he began practicing Hatha Yoga at the age of 16 under the guidance of the famous guru Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya. In 1937, he started teaching on his own; in 1952, he had the opportunity to become the Yoga teacher of the violinist Yehudi Menuhin, who paved his way to the Western world. Following the publication of Light on Yoga in 1966, B. K. S. Iyengar gradually established himself as the most popular and authoritative contemporary Yoga teacher in the West. He reached this status solely through his personal qualities and dedication, his persistence, and hard work—practicing ten hours a day at the age of 85, performing asanas just as well as he did 40 years earlier, making him a living and undeniable proof of the true possibilities of authentic Yoga practice.