In a recent Yoga Readers session, Dr. Lois Steinberg opened her teaching archives and personal memories, sharing stories that span four decades of study with B.K.S. Iyengar (Guruji) and Geeta Iyengar (Geetaji). What emerged was not just yoga history, but a masterclass in how authentic teaching relationships develop, how crisis becomes catalyst, and why showing up matters more than perfection.

Her Journey as a student to a global teacher and Author

Lois’s trajectory from struggling practitioner to internationally recognized teacher illustrates how personal healing becomes universal wisdom. Her candid account of arriving in Pune in 1993-94 reveals the depth of her crisis: “I really came broken. I had done my PhD, took me nine years and I was in a basement without windows all that time. I was working 17 hour days… all the while teaching yoga every morning at 7:00 AM all the evenings and weekends. And, um, I was really broken and I also had really painful fibroids that felt like a dagger digging into my lower abdomen 24 hours a day.”

This vulnerability in a senior teacher’s narrative offers profound permission to contemporary practitioners. Steinberg wasn’t teaching from a place of achieved perfection but from ongoing discovery. Her teaching authority emerged precisely through acknowledging limitation and seeking help.

Her approach to therapeutic work reflects this integration of personal experience with technical knowledge. She describes her teaching method: “I always did like therapy work, like afternoon sessions. We’re always working on therapeutics to share, to share with everybody.” This wasn’t abstract knowledge but lived wisdom transformed into practical guidance.

Lois’s relationship with B.K.S. Iyengar reveals both the power and challenges of traditional guru-student dynamics. Her story about presenting her women’s practice book to Guruji illustrates his exacting standards: “When I arrived in Puna, he had me sit down with him in his, at his desk in the library… he was turning the pages and page by page, he was criticizing it. For example, I remember Arti Rasson, he said, see the lines of your cloth, meaning the lines on my t-shirt, the, the way they are. He said, this shows that this side of your abdomen is going backwards instead of coming forward.”

This perfectionism, while potentially crushing, served a deeper purpose. Steinberg understood that “I would’ve never finished that book. Never… It would never, never would’ve gotten published if, um, you know, I’d given it to” Guruji during the writing process. Yet she also sought his blessing, sending him the completed work: “I just sent him a copy and asked him if he would write something about it. And he wrote such a beautiful thing. It’s on the back cover. I was so touched by it.”

This dynamic reveals something crucial about traditional teaching relationships—they operate on multiple levels simultaneously. The critical eye trains technical precision while the supportive gesture validates authentic effort. For modern practitioners accustomed to purely encouraging feedback, this combination might feel harsh, but Lois’s experience suggests it cultivates genuine competence rather than false confidence.

Geeta’s Mentorship

The heart of Lois’s transformation occurred through her relationship with Geeta Iyengar during what she describes as a “down phase for Guruji.” Geeta’s approach differed markedly from her father’s: “Gita took me under her wing and put me at the trestle for six months, wouldn’t let me leave it for standing poses. Making my abdomen soft and then taught me all these amazing practices.”

This wasn’t quick-fix therapy but profound re-education: “And quite, um, quickly, I no longer had pain. I won’t say it cured my fibroids, but it helped me to live with them.” Geeta’s teaching demonstrated something often missing in contemporary wellness culture—the patience to address root causes rather than symptoms.

The validation Steinberg eventually received speaks to Geeta’s teaching mastery. When Geeta approved her manuscript with minimal changes, Steinberg asked: “You mean all those years I’ve spent learning with you, I really learned everything. And she went [nodding gesture].” This moment represents the culmination of authentic transmission—not information transfer but wisdom internalization.

Lois’s description of their daily practice together reveals the intimacy possible in traditional teaching relationships: “Sometimes in the practice hall it was just us and Geetaji and, uh, sometimes, not all the time she would say, come, let’s practice together, you know, and so doing that for two years definitely brought us closer.”

The Evolution of Women’s Classes

Lois’s account of women’s classes in Pune provides fascinating insight into how traditional practices adapt to contemporary needs. She describes the early challenges: “I didn’t actually like the woman’s class in the beginning because it was like. The women were chattering all the time, and Gita was just trying to discipline them to pay attention and be quiet. They were so excited to be together, um, in this class of women.”

The transformation she witnessed over decades reflects broader changes in how women approach spiritual practice: “And I even talked to Gita about it once. And you know how, you know, really inward going, these women now are, and they’re so well disciplined and they’re practicing. And she said, yes, it took a long time.”

This evolution from social gathering to contemplative practice parallels Lois’s own teaching approach. Her current women’s class begins with “the first 15 minutes of class… starting with [Supta] Baddha Konasana and cross bolsters… I want the woman to relax because women works so hard. I think women really, you know, carry very heavy loads. Um, and I want them to deeply rest, at least the first 15 minutes in class. And then I’ll kill them after that.”

This combination of nurture and challenge reflects her understanding that authentic practice requires both safety and effort.

Questions Answered—And the Wisdom of Not Answering

The Q&A session revealed as much about teaching responsibility as about specific techniques. When asked about practicing after pelvic surgery, Lois’s response demonstrated professional integrity: “I can’t really, this is difficult to answer that first part about post pelvic surgery because I would have probably 25 or 50 questions to ask them. I know nothing about them.”

Rather than offering generic advice, she listed the crucial information needed: “I don’t know if they’re a class goer, if they’re a practitioner. I don’t know their age. I don’t know what kind of surgery they had… How old are they? What’s their body type? What do they look like? I would really like to see what they look like front side and back. I’d like to watch them walk.”

This response might disappoint those seeking quick answers, but it demonstrates something essential about therapeutic work—responsible teachers don’t prescribe without proper assessment. As she noted: “You need permission from your medical professional to startup practice. Again, I don’t know anything, you know, so I can’t really answer that. If I knew all these things, then possibly I can give some answers, but I need like all the facts.”

Her directness about online versus in-person work was equally honest: “During the pandemic, four years in a row, it was a miracle that we pulled off the therapy intensive week, seven days online. It was great, but now we’re back in person… There’s a lot of preparation that goes into making the therapy course work.”

When asked about pranayama and quieting thoughts, her answer was both humorous and profound: “How long does it take to shut off thoughts while practicing pranayama? Lifetimes.” She then clarified: “Most people don’t practice pranayama… The first thing about pranayama is to have that daily practice… That’s a practice. As long as you’re doing consistently every day, it shouldn’t be turned on and off.”

Practice as Refuge in Crisis

The most powerful moment in the entire session came when Kooka asked about “yoga during times of distress.” Lois’s response, grounded in her experience teaching on September 11th, 2001, offers profound insight into how practice functions during crisis.

“Today is the anniversary of our nine 11 here and a very interesting thing happened… Every single one of my students came to the advanced class, you know, they knew to get on the mat to help. Nobody showed up to the beginner class, and when they came the next week, they said, oh, sorry, I missed class. I just didn’t think it was right to go to a yoga class on that day.”

This observation reveals something crucial about the difference between yoga as lifestyle enhancement versus life support: “So do you see the difference between a practitioner and somebody who’s a raw beginner? We know that we would be wrecks basically if we didn’t have our practice. We would be completely different people.”

Her philosophy on stress challenges contemporary wellness culture’s management mentality: “You can’t manage stress, you can’t control what comes your way, except by being present, you know, not to worry about the future, not to worry about the past… When you get on your mat and you practice, you’re present and the stress that comes your way doesn’t affect you so adversely.”

This isn’t positive thinking or stress reduction—it’s presence cultivation through embodied practice. The methodology involves knowing “what to do for emotional stability… what to do for grief and shock when your world is turned upside down. You know what to do when, when you’re manic, you know what to do when you’re depressed.”

Lois’s insight about depression particularly challenges simplified approaches: “Depression is not just about doing back bends, back bends, back bends. It’s not all about back bends and it’s very person specific situation, specific what you need to do.”

Her final guidance returns to Guruji’s essential teaching: “So, like [Guruji] said, have integrity when you’re on your mat and go to your mat, go and practice.”

The Living Transmission

What emerges from this conversation is not a romanticized view of traditional teaching but a realistic portrait of how wisdom transmits through relationship, crisis, and sustained commitment. Lois’s four decades with the Iyengar family created not just technical competence but embodied understanding—the ability to know what practice serves each moment.

Her teaching approach integrates the precision she learned from Guruji with the therapeutic sensitivity she developed through Geeta’s guidance and her own healing journey. This combination produces teachers who can offer both technical accuracy and contextual wisdom.

Lois’s story suggests several crucial insights for all of us – practitioners of yoga:

First, her deepest learning occurred during her most difficult period, suggesting that challenges aren’t obstacles to practice but opportunities for deeper understanding. Second, the guru-student relationship, when functioning authentically, creates transformation that extends far beyond technique acquisition. Third, the September 11th example demonstrates how sustained practice creates internal resources that activate precisely when external circumstances become overwhelming. And – her emphasis returns repeatedly to practicing with honesty rather than performing advancement. And Finaly, Lois’s books and teaching emerged from her personal healing journey, suggesting that our own struggles often become the foundation for helping others.

As the Iyengar tradition continues to evolve and adapt to contemporary needs, teachers like Steinberg serve as bridges between the foundational wisdom of the original family and the practical needs of modern practitioners. Her willingness to share both the difficulties and breakthroughs of her journey offers permission for others to approach practice with similar honesty—bringing their whole selves, including their brokenness, to the mat and discovering what becomes possible through sustained, skillful effort.

The tradition continues not through perfect transmission but through practitioners willing to be transformed and, in turn, offer that transformation to others. In this way, each crisis becomes an opportunity, each honest teacher becomes a bridge, and the practice continues to serve exactly what each moment requires.

Resources for Continued Learning

Lois Steinberg’s website reflects her commitment to accessible knowledge sharing. Free resources include video demonstrations of challenging poses and her 15 indexed Q&A sessions with transcriptions. For certified teachers, specialized materials cover therapeutic applications for conditions like long COVID and endometriosis, available through a rental system that allows targeted professional development as needs arise. You can also buy her books on her website.

As the Iyengar tradition continues to evolve and adapt to contemporary needs, teachers like Steinberg serve as bridges between the foundational wisdom of the original family and the practical needs of modern practitioners. Her willingness to share both the difficulties and breakthroughs of her journey offers permission for others to approach practice with similar honesty—bringing their whole selves, including their brokenness, to the mat and discovering what becomes possible through sustained, skillful effort.

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