On the Light

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to On the Light . I'm your host, Susan Johnson. My guest today is Nikki Costello, a longtime student and teacher of Iyengar Yoga. Nikki reflects on her first encounters with Light on Yoga , her studies with Mary Dunn and Gulnaz Dashti, and the profound experiences that shaped her understanding of the teachings at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pu...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to On the Light and to what is now our fifth season. I'm your host, Susan Johnson. My guest today is Jaki Nett Jaki is one of the recipients of the Lighting the Way Award presented by IYNAUS in recognition of her decades of dedication to the study, practice, and teaching of Iyengar Yoga. Jaki received this honor at the recent IYNAUS Convention in Philadelphia. In...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Light on Cooking: The Iyengar Tradition . I’m your host, Susan Johnson In this opening conversation, Prashant Iyengar reflects on the role of food within the life and culture of Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar—not simply what was eaten, but the deeper philosophy surrounding food, discipline, ritual, timing, silence, and awareness. What unfolds is far more than a discussion ab...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Light on Cooking: The Iyengar Tradition , a companion podcast to On the Light . In this series, conversations move into the kitchen and toward the role of food within the life and teachings of Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar. Through stories shared by family members, students, and long-time practitioners, we explore cooking, nourishment, daily ritual, and the ways yoga extend...

Send us Fan Mail This episode holds a special place for me because …it is my 50th interview! and it feels deeply appropriate that this milestone is shared with Prashant Iyengar. From the very beginning of this podcast, Prashantji has been a guiding presence. His generosity with his time, his willingness to engage in these conversations, and his continued support have made this work possible in way...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to On the Light . I’m your host, Susan Johnson. In this episode I am deeply honored to be in conversation with Eric Small—a pioneering teacher of Iyengar Yoga whose work has spanned more than six decades. At 93, Eric brings a lifetime of experience shaped by direct study with Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar and Geeta Iyengar, as well as his groundbreaking work adapting yoga for...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to On the Light . I’m your host, Susan Johnson. Today I’m joined by longtime Iyengar Yoga teacher Mary Reilly. Mary began practicing yoga in the early days of Iyengar Yoga in the United States, studying with teachers who had just returned from India after working directly with B.K.S. Iyengar. What began as a simple attempt to regain her concentration after finishing a dema...

Send us Fan Mail Today I’m joined by Jennie Williford, a longtime practitioner and teacher of Iyengar Yoga. Jennie has spent the past two decades studying, teaching, volunteering,  and helping build Iyengar Yoga communities across the Midwest and beyond. In this episode, Jennie shares how she first discovered Iyengar Yoga, what drew her deeply into the method, and her experiences studying at the R...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to On the Light. I’m your host, Susan Johnson. Today, it is my great honor to speak with Gloria Goldberg, a longtime student and teacher of the Iyengar method, whose decades of dedicated study and service have placed her in direct contact with Guruji, Geetaji, and the Iyengar family for many many years. Gloria’s journey began in the early 1970s, when she was first dra...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to On the Light. I’m your host, Susan Johnson. In today’s episode, I’m grateful, as always, to sit down with Prashant Iyengar for another conversation that takes us deeper into the subject of Sangeet. Prashant begins by explaining that Sangeet arises from the Natya Shastra — the ancient Indian treatise on dramaturgy and the performing arts, a text that explores music,...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to On the Light . I’m your host, Susan Johnson. Today I’m joined by Devki Desai. Devki’s journey with Iyengar Yoga began in Mumbai in the mid-1980s, when her father first brought her to class as a teenager. What began with some resistance soon became a lifelong path, shaped by early study with senior teachers and, soon after, direct exposure to B.K.S. Iyengar himself....

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to On the Light. I’m your host, Susan Johnson. Today I’m honored as always to speak with Prashant Iyengar. In this episode, Prashant offers a rich historical lens on yoga, he further discusses the origins of Sangeet,   where he speaks to sound not as performance, but as a spiritual practice deeply woven into nature, ritual, and self realization.  In this episode he al...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to On the Light. I’m your host, Susan Johnson. Today I’m honored to be joined by Lois Steinberg. Lois’s journey into Yoga began at just fourteen years old, sparked by a black-and-white television screen and a young girl’s curiosity about movement. What followed was a lifelong devotion to practice, study, and teaching that would place her heart devoted in the Iyengar t...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to On the Light . I’m your host, Susan Johnson. In today’s episode, Prashantji continues to explain the spiritual heart of Indian classical music, or sangeet , and its profound relationship to yoga and devotion.  Prashantji draws important distinctions between Indian classical music and Western music, emphasizing that sangeet was never meant to be mere performance or...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to On the Light. I am your host, Susan Johnson. In this episode, I speak with Corine Biria, who lives and teaches in Paris and around the world. Corine shares how a chance introduction to yoga led to a lifelong dedication to the Iyengar method, and how meeting B.K.S. Iyengar (Guruji) in Pune in 1983 profoundly changed her life. She reflects on Guruji’s disciplined and...

Send us Fan Mail ✨ Welcome back to On the Light with Susan Johnson.✨ In this first episode of season 4, I have an absolutely fascinating and  in-depth discussion with Prashant Iyengar on the profound spiritual connection between the traditional Indian concept of 'sangeet' (a combination of vocal music, instrumental music, and dance) and its role in yoga. Prashantji distinguishes betwee...

Send us Fan Mail This very special episode is a must listen! Prashantji opens this episode with a touching tribute to his sisters and all they did for the family after they lost their mother. Listening to Vanita and Savita speak is very heartwarming. Please listen or listen again to this episode and enjoy. 😊  In this episode of On the Light, I had the distinct honor of speaking with two of Guruji...

Send us Fan Mail I hope you are enjoying the re-release of these episodes while I work on preparing new interviews for season 4. Whether you're listening again or tuning in for the first time, I hope these conversations continue to inspire, inform, and bring a little more light to your day. ✨ Episode 3: Welcome back to "On the Light." a podcast dedicated to illuminating the profoun...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to On the Light. I’m your host, Susan Johnson. Today, I’m re-releasing a special episode with Srineet Sidharan, grandson of B.K.S. Iyengar. Srineet shares personal memories of his grandfather and offers a beautiful glimpse into Guruji’s life beyond teaching. It’s one of my favorite conversations, and I’m so happy to share it with you again... In this episode I have a...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to On the Light. I'm so happy to re-release this interview with Joan White. I had so much fun recording this interview. A few months after this interview I got to be Joan's roommate in Bellur while we were there to study with Prashant. That experience was just as much fun! I feel so fortunate to call this amazing woman my friend.  Joan began her studies with...

Send us Fan Mail Today I invite you to re-listen (or listen for the first time) my first interview with Prashantji. This is a very special episode as he recounts Guruji's early years ... Welcome to "On the Light," a podcast dedicated to illuminating the profound teachings and legacy of Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar. I’m your host, Susan Johnson. In this first episode, I'm happy to...

Send us Fan Mail For today’s episode I am honoring the request of listener, Ramani, from Northern Virginia. She wrote to me and asked  if I could have Prashant tell the story of when Guruji and his wife had an identical dream which then changed their fortune. Prashantji recalls this remarkable incident and brings it to life for us today. I want to thank you all for listening and supporting the pod...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I talk with Marla Apt about her journey into Iyengar Yoga. Inspired by her mother and shaped by her college studies in Buddhist philosophy, Marla found her way to the Iyengar Yoga Institute of Los Angeles and, eventually, to Pune to study directly with Guruji, Geeta, and Prashant. She shares vivid stories of those experiences—Guruji’s precise adjustments, Geeta’s...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to On the Light. In this episode, I sit down with Kirsten Agar, who shares how she first came to Iyengar Yoga in her early twenties after years of intense academic study. What began with a simple weekly class soon became a central part of her life. Kirsten talks about her unforgettable encounter with Guruji at the 1993 Euro Yoga Convention and how his teachings shaped...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to On the Light. In today’s episode Prashantji continues the discussion on practice where he tells us that practice is not something that should be belittled. It is necessary in our formative periods of our education. He says that any effort to be steady the citta is abhyasa . Then he goes on to explain Sadhana and the importance of Satsangha. Please enjoy this very e...