Getting to Know Us:
An Interview with
Karin O’Bannon

(The following is an interview with Karin O'Bannon by Phyllis Rollins, former president of IYASE.
Karin will be instructing this year's
IYASE sponsored Junior Intermediate Teacher Training, Nov. 2 - 4, 2007)

(to teacher training information)

PR: What drew you to yoga and Iyengar yoga in particular?

KO: Those are two different stories, but as for yoga, I had a busy life and needed exercise but had very little free time. My sister said, "Five minutes of yoga a day will keep you fit." So I started taking a beginners class. After 6 weeks, my teacher me told me to take her Teacher Training program. Three months later my teacher left the country and she gave me her classes to teach.

PR: So that answers my next question. Which was, when did you begin teaching? So it was literally 3 months?

KO: Yes. When Guruji says "You learn more from your students than you teach your students," it is true; I certainly did.

PR: So when did you get introduced to Iyengar yoga?

KO: I was living in Kentucky at the time, and quite a few of the senior Iyengar teachers were traveling around the country. They would teach weekend workshops in Ohio. Meanwhile, I had been reading Light on Yoga and I began to understand that he had a vision of asana that went beyond the physical. The first U.S. Iyengar convention in San Francisco made an impact on me that changed my life. I was impressed by Guruji's wisdom and the knowledge of his teachers. I felt that he instilled in the teachers an insight into the body that I did not have. When the teacher would say things like, "Do you see how this area is empty and this other area is full?" And the Iyengar students would say, "Yes!", but I couldn't see it. I wanted to learn to see in this way. I began my study of Iyengar Yoga when the 1 st class began in Los Angeles with Bonnie Anthony. I was living at a Jain Ashram in Long Beach, California at the time and traveled each week to class. I received my introductory level certification and began to teach at what was then called the B.K.S. Iyengar Studio of Los Angeles.

PR: You went to India to live for a bit. How did that happen, and what was it like?

KO: Puja Swami Chitananda Saraswati gave a talk on the Bhagavad Gita at the L.A. Iyengar Institute. I had the honor of placing the garland around his neck, and I was thinking what a waste that always is, because they take it off immediately. But when I garlanded him, he kept it on. After his lecture he called me to the platforrm, placed the garland around my neck and said, "Don't you think it's time you came to Rishikesh?" So I did. I sold my condo and car and went there for almost 4 years. It was a wonderful experience. The most important thing I finally learned was that expectations can make experiences frustrating. If we enter into new experiences with acceptance rather than expectation, wisdom becomes available to us. I went with the expectation of being a student of a spiritual master instead I taught yoga all day to as many as 70 students in the morning class. In that teaching I gained from my practice and the students some measure of wisdom. Again, I learned from my students. Now I'm back in the U.S. with the "new" teacher's familiar struggle of 1-2 students in some classes and teaching in 3 different locations. It, too, is a good experience.

PR: When you moved back to the U.S. you chose the south as your new home. Why?

KO: My roots are in the south and my daughter and granddaughter live here.

PR: When did you begin a serious practice?

KO: I began practicing the day after my 1st yoga class. I don't consider that a discipline. I'm not a disciplined person, it's just a part of my life.

PR: What is your practice like these days, and how has it changed over time?

KO: It has changed a lot. I had a lot of hip trouble and had a hip replacement 2 years ago. After the healing process, my practice is a process of going back to the beginning and going back over the things I've learned. It is more of a process of reflection now instead of presenting myself with a challenge. In the beginning, there were always the poses that I was trying to achieve; now, I am looking for a wholeness to my understanding of the asana.

PR: You have been involved in teacher training programs and have taught many people the fundamentals of yoga and teaching. What makes a good teacher?

KO: Different kinds of people become good teachers, there isn't a stereotype. But a good teacher is someone who can draw out the student's best potential. There is no absolute format for that. I think the good teacher has to bring their whole life experience into their teaching, and be willing to discover what each student needs to excel.

(to teacher training information)

For more information, also download these documents(.pdf ):

Brochure with Registration Form
Scholarship Application

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