Mission - The purpose of IYASE is to build community and facilitate the learning and teaching of yoga based on the teachings and philosophy of B.K.S. Iyengar.
Iyengar Yoga
Iyengar Yoga was created and developed over 75 years ago by B.K.S. Iyengar. Iyengar devoted his life to the evolution of his approach to yoga, which is based on the traditional eight limbs of yoga taught over 2500 years ago by the sage Patanjali. Iyengar believed that yoga goes beyond being a physical discipline.
In 1975, B.K.S. Iyengar founded the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Institute (“RIMYI”) in Pune, India. Since the death of B.K.S. Iyengar in 2014, his legacy was carried on first by his daughter, Geeta, then through his son, Prashant, and granddaughter, Abhijata.
Teachers of all levels and long-term students continue to study at RIMYI, both in person and virtually. National and Regional Associations such as the Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States (“IYNAUS”) and IYASE help to further this ongoing exchange of knowledge, as do senior teachers who pass down their knowledge through teaching and mentorship, a key component of Iyengar Yoga.
The Iyengar Yoga Association of the Southeast (IYASE) is one of 12 independent regional branches of the Iyengar Yoga National Association of the U.S. (IYNAUS). IYASE strives to unite the Iyengar Yoga community in the southeast and support teachers and practitioners throughout the region through scholarship and grant programs, news updates, free-to-members online events, and more.
Our Region
Our Board
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President & Regional Representative to the IYNAUS Board
Alixe Steinmetz is a Level 1 CIYT in Raleigh, North Carolina. A yoga practitioner for over 20 years, she recently realized her longtime goal of becoming a CIYT and sharing yoga with others. Alixe is continually amazed by the ability of yoga to transform both body and mind. While she began volunteering with IYASE and IYNAUS out of a desire to give back, Alixe feels has gained so much more than she’s given in the form of colleagues and friends throughout the Iyengar Yoga community.
Contact Alixe at iyase.president@gmail.com.
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Vice President / Social Media
These positions are currently vacant. If you are interested in volunteering with IYASE - whether as a board member or to help with specific projects, please reach out to any member of our board. We’d love to hear from you!
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Secretary
Janet LeFrancois currently serves as Secretary for IYASE.
Contact Jan at iyase.secretary@gmail.com.
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Treasurer
Jill Frankel is the current IYASE Treasurer.
Contact Jill at iyase.treasurer@gmail.com.
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Continuing Education
Marisó de Colsa is a Level 2 CIYT. She worked for many years in the corporate world in IT, audit, and finance roles. Retiring from this, she found her passion in Iyengar Yoga, which healed her from a frozen shoulder. Mariso has practiced Yoga most of her life, as her grandmother was a beloved yoga teacher in Mexico. Mariso has been to India few times and continues to train with Abhijata Iyengar and with senior Iyengar teachers from around the world. She teaches at Miami Beach Iyengar Yoga Center and Yoga That, as well as in wellness centers and hotels in Miami Beach, Florida.
Contact Mariso at iyase.continuinged@gmail.com.
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Governance & Membership
These positions are currently vacant. If you are interested in volunteering with IYASE - whether as a board member or to help with specific projects, please reach out to any member of our board. We’d love to hear from you!
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Newsletter
Marian Bell is a dedicated Iyengar Yoga practitioner based in Winston-Salem, NC. Her current teachers include Lisa Waas, Marilyn Rubin and Jerry Farmer. She loves the all-encompassing aspect of her yoga practice and the richness it brings to her life.
Marian enjoyed working as a creative director in Madison Avenue advertising agencies. She founded and ran her own advertising and design agency in Winston Salem, NC, where she created and produced marketing materials for her clients.
She enjoys collaborating with passionate people on creative projects. She sees working with IYASE as a way to connect with other yoga practitioners and also, as a way to use her copywriting and design experience to give back to the yoga community.
Contact Marian at iyase.newsletter@gmail.com.
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Public Relations
Raina Fishbane is the current IYASE Public Relations Chair.
Contact Raina at iyase.pr@gmail.com.
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Scholarship / Lotus Fund
Juli Kagan has been in the mind-body space, collectively for over 40 years, as a master Pilates instructor, author of the book Mind Your Body, professor and national speaker on the topics of ergonomics and mindfulness in the dental profession, and Level 1 CIYT. Her primary teachers are Colleen Gallagher, Jarvis Chen, and Lisa Walford, and Juli has also traveled to India to study at the Bellur Iyengar Yoga Center in B.K.S. Iyengar’s birthplace. Juli holds a master’s degree in educational psychology, with an emphasis on life-long learning. Above all, her greatest joy is sharing what she learns with others. In addition to helping the IYASE Board as the Scholarship Chair, she volunteers at Hospice in Boca Raton, Florida.
Contact Juli at iyase.scholarship@gmail.com.
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Website
Weimao Lee was introduced to yoga at the county recreation center in 2011 when her cardio class got canceled. Soon after she discovered and started studying Iyengar Yoga. Weimao is fueled by the incredible discipline of the practice. She has traveled to the IYNAUS Conventions in 2016 and 2019 and has studied with many Senior teachers. She is a Level 1 CIYT and continues her studies with Senior teachers from the U.S. and RIMYI.
Contact Weimao at iyase.website@gmail.com.
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Member-at-Large
Kathryn Wroth is currently Member-at-Large on the IYASE Board.
