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Reconnecting with Iyengar Yoga: Through The Lens of Artemis Yoga Teachers

Throughout your yoga journey, finding ways to reconnect with your practice in a deeper way, can change your perspective and add new meaning. Earlier this year, two Iyengar Yoga teachers from Artemis Yoga, Sue Gormley and Susan Mulski, reconnected with their practice and teaching at the 2023 Iyengar Yoga National Convention of the US.

Sue likes to remind students to have fun and if a pose isn’t working for you, try the next pose in the sequence to determine what might not be working for you. It’s all about trying and enjoying your own personal practice.

Founded by BKS Iyengar 75 years ago, “Iyengar Yoga takes a pose-by-pose approach to classical yoga so you can build on your individual progress as you gain strength and increase flexibility. Iyengar Yoga seeks to align the body, mind and breath while using props to make yoga accessible to all.”  In his book, Light on Life, BKS Iyengar writes, “Yoga is like music: the rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life.”

The IYNAUS Convention invited students and teachers of all levels to practice and learn Iyengar Yoga.  This year’s theme was, Sankalpa: A Yogic Life of Intent, with keynote presenter, Abhijata Iyengar, the grand-daughter of BKS Iyengar.  During the week-long convention in San Diego, participants took 2 pranayama or asana classes a day led by Abhijata and attended breakout sessions about method development or teacher development that helped further their practice. The convention’s main focus is keeping the lineage fresh and continuous as well as to build and grow its dedicated community. Typically the convention takes place every 3 years in the US.

As Susan has continued to study, she has realized that your practice resonates from your physical body to your mind. You continue to practice because of how it not only makes your body feel, but how it also helps your mindset.

Sue Gormley attended her first convention as a student. Her experience as a teacher was different. Instead of thinking about her own practice, she thought about how she could bring these teachings to her classes. She asked herself questions like “How would this work in a class with someone who had restrictions or was new to the practice?”

Susan Mulski attended her first 2 conventions as a student. As a student, she was worried about keeping up with doing 5 hours of yoga each day. As a teacher, she learned the importance of receiving the teaching where you are. She has expanded her awareness and become a better student now that she is a teacher.

Both Sue and Susan spoke about how Abhijata, the granddaughter of BKS Iyengar, has brought a different lens to the method. Currently 38 years old, Abhijata is much younger than BKS and his daughter (her aunt), Geeta Iyengar were when they were teaching. At first, Abhijata was reluctant to take on being the head of this practice but she has brought a fun and active new side to the practice. Sue said “she gives more room for freedom, she wants you to have the experience of the practice.” The originators had harder lives, and you can tell because the practice was a bit more rigid but now, with Abhijata, it’s softer.

Sue said that the convention was really experimental, you had a chance to try new things and have fun with it. Abhijata told them “If a pose isn’t coming for you, try the next pose higher” and it’s something that really stuck with Sue. Iyengar Yoga in the past seemed to hold the idea that you have to do things perfectly but that’s not the case in reality. Sue likes to remind students to have fun and if a pose isn’t working for you, try the next pose in the sequence to determine what might not be working for you. It’s all about trying and enjoying your own personal practice. While becoming a certified teacher, she has seen how the Iyengar Yoga method has changed and adapted which has in turn changed her teaching.

Something that Abhijata had said during the convention that really resonated with Susan is “it’s not the pose that you do, it’s what you do in the pose”. As Susan has continued to study, she has realized that your practice resonates from your physical body to your mind. You continue to practice because of how it not only makes your body feel, but how it also helps your mindset. She loves that Iyengar Yoga is a practice that can meet any student where they are, it really is for everyone.  

Sue Gormley started practicing Iyengar Yoga back in the 80s at Patricia Walden’s studio. There were only two yoga studios in the Boston area so finding a class was difficult. At Patricia’s studio, Sue went to Peentz Dubble’s class every week for almost 8 years. Then in the 90s, more studios opened and she studied Flow for a bit. After she moved to Newton, she reconnected with Peentz in 2010 and took Iyengar Yoga again. Once her kids were old enough to go to school, she had more time to focus on her yoga practice. There was a 500 hour training session with Peentz in Newton so she decided to give it a try and now she’s at Artemis Yoga!

Susan Mulski found an Iyengar class taught by Roni Brissette in Brookline. She admired Roni’s ability to teach the poses in so many different ways and her dedication to her students. Susan started her yoga teacher journey about 6 years ago. After working at home as a writer for 20 years, she wanted to get out of the house and thought teaching yoga would be a good fit. She had no idea what an arduous path she was embarking upon. After 5 years of training, apprenticeship, and passing assessment, she received her certificate. Unfortunately, 3 months later, the pandemic closed studios. Her prior training did not prepare her for the new reality of teaching online and she needed to learn new skills. Ironically she found herself working at home on a computer again. Then she found Artemis Yoga and hasn’t looked back!

Experience a reconnection with your own practice in Sue and Susan’s weekly classes Artemis Yoga. Sue Gormley teaches Iyengar Fundamentals on Mondays at 9:30am, Iyengar General Levels on Wednesdays at 11am, Iyengar (Experienced) on Thursdays at 6pm, and Ropes Yoga on Mondays and Fridays at 11am. Susan Mulski teaches Iyengar Fundamentals on Fridays at 9:30am and a one hour Iyengar Yoga class on Sundays at 9:45am.

Privacy Policy

Protecting your private information is our priority. This Statement of Privacy applies to www.artemisyoga.com, and Artemis Yoga, LLC and governs data collection and usage. For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, unless otherwise noted, all references to Artemis Yoga, LLC include www.artemisyoga.com and Artemis Yoga. The Artemis Yoga website is a business site. By using the Artemis Yoga website, you consent to the data practices described in this statement.
 
Collection of your Personal Information In order to better provide you with products and services offered, Artemis Yoga may collect personally identifiable information, such as your:
 
  First and Last Name
  Mailing Address
  E-mail Address
  Phone Number
 
If you purchase Artemis Yoga’s products and services, we collect billing and credit card information. This information is used to complete the purchase transaction.
 
We do not collect any personal information about you unless you voluntarily provide it to us.

However, you may be required to provide certain personal information to us when you elect to use certain products or services. These may include: (a) registering for an account; (b) entering a sweepstakes or contest sponsored by us or one of our partners; (c) signing up for special offers from selected third parties; (d) sending us an email message; (e) submitting your credit card or other payment information when ordering and purchasing products and services. To wit, we will use your information for, but not limited to, communicating with you in relation to services and/or products you have requested from us. We also may gather additional personal or non-personal information in the future.
 
Use of your Personal Information
Artemis Yoga collects and uses your personal information to operate and deliver the services you have requested.
 
Artemis Yoga may also use your personally identifiable information to inform you of other products or services available from Artemis Yoga and its affiliates.
 
Sharing Information with Third Parties
Artemis Yoga does not sell, rent or lease its customer lists to third parties.
 
Artemis Yoga may share data with trusted partners to help perform statistical analysis, send you email or postal mail, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. All such third parties are prohibited from using your personal information except to provide these services to Artemis Yoga, and they are required to maintain the confidentiality of your information.
 
Artemis Yoga may disclose your personal information, without notice, if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on Artemis Yoga or the site; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of Artemis Yoga; and/or (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of Artemis Yoga, or the public.
 
Tracking User Behavior
Artemis Yoga may keep track of the websites and pages our users visit within Artemis Yoga, in order to determine what Artemis Yoga services are the most popular. This data is used to deliver customized content and advertising within Artemis Yoga to customers whose behavior indicates that they are interested in a particular subject area.
 
Automatically Collected Information
Information about your computer hardware and software may be automatically collected by Artemis Yoga. This information can include: your IP address, browser type, domain names, access times and referring website addresses. This information is used for the operation of the service, to maintain quality of the service, and to provide general statistics regarding use of the Artemis Yoga website.
 
Use of Cookies
The Artemis Yoga website may use “cookies” to help you personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.
 
One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. The purpose of a cookie is to tell the Web server that you have returned to a specific page. For example, if you personalize Artemis Yoga pages, or register with Artemis Yoga site or services, a cookie helps Artemis Yoga to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process of recording your personal information, such as billing addresses, shipping addresses, and so on. When you return to the same Artemis Yoga website, the information you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the Artemis Yoga features that you customized.
 
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of the Artemis Yoga services or websites you visit.
 
Links
This website contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of any other site that collects personally identifiable information.
 
Security of your Personal Information
Artemis Yoga secures your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. Artemis Yoga uses the following methods for this purpose:
  SSL Protocol
 
When personal information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted to other websites, it is protected through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol.
 
We strive to take appropriate security measures to protect against unauthorized access to or alteration of your personal information. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet or any wireless network can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, you acknowledge that: (a) there are security and privacy limitations inherent to the Internet which are beyond our control; and (b) security, integrity, and privacy of any and all information and data exchanged between you and us through this Site cannot be guaranteed.
 
Right to Deletion
Subject to certain exceptions set out below, on receipt of a verifiable request from you, we will:
Delete your personal information from our records; and
Direct any service providers to delete your personal information from their records.
 
Please note that we may not be able to comply with requests to delete your personal information if it is necessary to:
Complete the transaction for which the personal information was collected, fulfill the
terms of a written warranty or product recall conducted in accordance with federal law,
provide a good or service requested by you, or reasonably anticipated within the context
of our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform a contract between
you and us;
Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal
activity; or prosecute those responsible for that activity;
Debug to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality;
Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise his or her right of
free speech, or exercise another right provided for by law;
Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act;
Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when our deletion of the information is likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of such research, provided we have obtained your informed consent;
Enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with your expectations based on your relationship with us;
Comply with an existing legal obligation; or
Otherwise use your personal information, internally, in a lawful manner that is compatible with the context in which you provided the information.
 
Children Under Thirteen
Artemis Yoga does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of thirteen. If you are under the age of thirteen, you must ask your parent or guardian for permission to use this website.
 
E-mail Communications
From time to time, Artemis Yoga may contact you via email for the purpose of providing announcements, promotional offers, alerts, confirmations, surveys, and/or other general communication. In order to improve our Services, we may receive a notification when you open an email from Artemis Yoga or click on a link therein.
 
If you would like to stop receiving marketing or promotional communications via email from Artemis Yoga, you may opt-out of such communications by clicking on the UNSUBSCRIBE button.
 
Changes to this Statement
Artemis Yoga reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you about significant changes in the way we treat personal information by sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your account, by placing a prominent notice on our website, and/or by updating any privacy information. Your continued use of the website and/or Services available after such modifications will constitute your: (a) acknowledgement of the modified Privacy Policy; and (b) agreement to abide and be bound by that Policy.
 
Contact Information
Artemis Yoga welcomes your questions or comments regarding this Statement of Privacy. If you believe that Artemis Yoga has not adhered to this Statement, please contact Artemis Yoga at: 
Artemis Yoga, LLC
639 Mt. Auburn Street
Watertown, Massachusetts 02472
 
Email Address:
info@artemisyoga.com
 
Telephone number:
(617) 393-3590
 
Effective as of September 10, 2021

Accommodation Policy

Artemis Yoga is committed to enable individuals with disabilities to participate as fully as possible in classes at our yoga studio. On the first level there is a wheelchair accessible entrance, yoga class studio and bathroom.
All classes on the first floor are wheelchair accessible in our flagship, primary studio. The lower level studio is reached by two stairways. In the event that a class in the lower level is not accessible to a participant, the studio owner or manager on-premise will adjust that class location to the first floor, grade level studio. With reasonable notice, this change will readily be made as an accommodation.


The request can be made in person, via email or telephone and advance notice of the request to the studio is appreciated. Artemis Yoga will make an earnest effort and attempt to provide reasonable accommodation pending timely notice by participants needing such accommodations.

Artemis Yoga will also work with the individual to ensure that participation in class is achievable. This may include providing additional props, chairs or hands-on assistance that the teacher is able to deliver while continuing to teach the class to all participants.

If you have any questions regarding this policy, please reach out directly to the studio owner, Liz Padula.

Newcomer 2 week Pass

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Newcomer 2 week Pass

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“HOW TO” GUIDE FOR ONLINE CLASSES

Artemis Yoga offers “live” online yoga classes through Zoom. To join, find an inviting space to practice and follow the steps below:

Step 1: Use your MINDBODY account with Artemis Yoga to register for the class. 

  • Meeting ID in the class description.
  • Please register in advance to streamline attendance and to allow us to send you a recording if you miss the class or join late.
  • Please register even if the class is listed as “free community class.”

Step 2: Log into https://zoom.us/join and enter the Class-Specific Meeting ID then click “Join”.  

  • Meeting ID in the class description. 
  • Start the login process 10-15 minutes before class so that you are ready.
  • We recommend downloading the Zoom client on your computer, laptop, tablet, or phone. You can enter the Meeting ID number from there.

Step 3: Once you click on the Meeting ID, register with your name and email in Zoom. Please use your real name so we can match with Mindbody. You will then be entered in the “Waiting Room.” 

  • The Waiting Room is where Artemis Staff checks attendance. If we can’t identify you from your Zoom user name, you will not be let into class. 
  • You will be asked if you registered in Mindbody, if you had trouble doing so, please click “No” and stay in the Waiting Room, we will assist you after class. 
  • We start letting people in from the Waiting Room 15 minutes prior to class. Large classes take a bit for us to check everyone in, please be patient.

Step 4: When let in from the waiting room, click “Join with Computer Audio.” 

  • We mute participants during class but you may unmute yourself at any time to ask questions or to say hello! We like to see you and greet you, though you may choose to turn your camera off. 
  • Use “Chat” to communicate if you do not want to speak out loud. 
  • Zoom prompts for consent to be in a recorded class, please accept so you may continue to be in class. Note that the recording is set to record only the teacher who is in the spotlight. Recordings are sent to registrants who are absent.

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US ONLINE FOR CLASS!