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The Mary Dunn Fund The Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York announces the launch of the Mary Dunn Fund as a continuing legacy to the life and work of our beloved founder and Senior Teacher. Mary’s intelligent study and skill as a teacher introduced thousands of students to the art and science of Iyengar Yoga. The Mary Dunn Fund creates a committed pool of resources to continue Mary’s life-long work for excellence in teaching and the spread of Iyengar Yoga at the global, national and local levels. Our thanks to those who have already made donations to the IYAGNY in Mary Dunn’s honor – your contributions are being held for the Fund. Others may make a tax-deductible contribution to the Mary Dunn Fund by making a donation to the IYAGNY and indicating that your gift be directed to the Fund. All contributions to the Fund will be held until the Board of the IYAGNY has made a final determination of the exact nature and uses of the Fund, and contributors will be notified of these details and be given the opportunity to confirm their gifts. Please direct contributions to the IYAGNY, 150 W. 22nd Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10011, and indicate “Mary Dunn Fund” on your check or click here to make a secure donation online. To post a tribute to Mary, share photos or videos and other memories by contacting the Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York at info@iyengarnyc.org. Mary faced her cancer diagnosis with wisdom and courage, and continued to teach and inspire others, communicating with her students and friends about her illness and how it informed her magnificent life. Read Mary's Blog.
Mary Dunn (June 2, 1942-September 4, 2008) Mary Dunn was the first director of the Iyengar Yoga Institute of New York, which she helped to establish in 1992. She was also a founder of the Iyengar Association of Greater New York (IYAGNY), which turns 25 in 2012. Mary headed the Institute’s teacher training program and was Senior Teacher, primary instructor and senior authority for dozens of teachers. Mary grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan in a house commissioned from Frank Lloyd Wright by her parents, Mary and William Palmer. Those familiar with B.K.S. Iyengar’s first book, Light on Yoga, may recognize the name Yehudi Menuhin, who studied with Mr. Iyengar and who wrote the forward to the book. Mary recalled the great violinist practicing his repertory in that home. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1964 and began her professional life as an English teacher, also maintaining a strong interest in music, art, history, and philosophy. Mary’s mother introduced her daughter to yoga. Mrs. Palmer had studied with Mr. Iyengar in India in the late 1960s, and she played a major role in arranging his second visit to the United States in 1973. Mary Dunn became his student the following year. Many years later, Mary said of his teaching: “We tend to cubbyhole the different parts of human experience. ‘Is it physical? Is it mental? Is it emotional?’ But here was a man teaching that all these parts are connected.” Throughout her life she continued to study regularly and extensively with Mr. Iyengar and with his children, Geeta and Prashant. She became a founding director of the Iyengar Yoga National Association in the United States (IYNAUS) and was a founding member of all three Iyengar Yoga Institutes in the United States—in San Francisco and San Diego as well as in New York. As a permanent member of the board of IYAGNY, she provided continuing vision and direction for the Association and the Institute. Featured in American Yoga and honored by Yoga Journal as one of the most influential yoga teachers in the United States, Mary trained generations of teachers throughout North America. Thousands of students worldwide claimed her as their teacher, from her beginnings in Berkeley, California in 1974. Here in New York and worldwide, her voice strengthened the roots and encouraged the potential of the Iyengar Yoga community. Mary examined the subject of asana and taught it with clarity, perspective, and humor. She often began classes by delightedly recounting a recent experience with one of her grandchildren, or an encounter with a dog she had stopped to greet on her morning walk. After the class had chuckled at her story, she would use some observation about those encounters to bring their attention to their first asana of the day. Quite often she would make a comparison to cooking: “The first Downward Facing Dog of the morning is like making pancakes. You just throw the first one away.” In an interview with the New York Times in 1995, she explained how after more than 20 years of teaching Iyengar Yoga, it continued to be rewarding. “It’s as if a great musician sat down and played the same Bach Invention he knew 15 years ago. Only now he understands what those notes really meant.”
A Great Big Thank You! We would like to send a heartfelt thank you out to those who helped make our Celebration of Mary Dunn weekend so special. The event was a tremendous success filled with great teachings and fond remembrances.
Laurie Blakeney, Ann Arbor MI We would also like to thank all the teachers in our Association, the Board of Directors of the Association, the staff of the Institute, the teacher trainee volunteers and all those who came forward to make this event so wonderful (and sweet!). Below are some images from the celebration:
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