From April 27–29, the Iyengar Yoga Convention took place in the beautiful city of Bregenz, organized by the Iyengar Yoga Association of Austria.
Bregenz is an Austrian city on the eastern shore of Lake Constance. It is the capital of the state of Vorarlberg. It is famous for the annual Bregenzer Festspiele music festival and the Bregenzer Spring dance festival, held at the Congress Centre. And that was exactly where we were headed.
Our journey began a day earlier, as we had 560 km ahead of us. With a van full of yoga props and butterflies in our stomachs, we set off. The first stop was for breakfast, which we had brought with us – chia pudding with mango topping. Soon after, traffic stopped and we were stuck in a long traffic jam on the highway. We decided to leave it and ended up on a gravel road, which led us to the colorful town of Landsberg, in Bavaria, Germany, about 65 km west of Munich. After another hour’s drive, we finally reached the parking lot in front of the Congress Centre in Bregenz.
We prepared everything for selling yoga props: bolsters filled with buckwheat hulls, zafus, eye pillows, shorts, cork yoga blocks, shoulder stand supports, yoga straps, mat cleaners, water bottles. We were especially proud of the handmade mini backbender, which we gave away to the winner of our raffle at the end of the convention.
Tired, but full of excitement for the next day, we went for a well-deserved matcha latte and dinner – and in a blink, the next day had arrived.
We came to the yoga convention to present Run To Yoga and all the yoga props available in our online shop. Secretly, we were also hoping to find a place for our yoga mats among the 500 participants, even though we thought it wouldn’t be possible because the tickets were sold out. Luck was on our side – a spot opened up, and in the main hall, there was also room for our yoga mats, which we had brought just in case. The convention was led by Abhijata Iyengar, who comes from a long family line of Iyengar Yoga teachers. It’s hard to put into words all the feelings and gratitude we felt when we put on the bracelet that gave us access to practice with Guruji’s granddaughter.
On Saturday morning, the great convention hall was filled with the beautiful sound of OM and the Invocation to Patanjali. Afterwards, Abhijata shared how nervous she had been before her first international teaching trip. The reason was that she was teaching people who had been practicing and studying yoga much longer than she had been alive. She was afraid of what she could possibly teach them since they had far more experience than her. Her grandfather Guruji saw her doubt and fear and reassured her by saying: “Do you think people are coming to learn from you? They are coming for what I have taught you.” With a smile, her nervousness disappeared instantly. The burden was gone.
In her words and presence, I often felt goosebumps, as if Guru himself was speaking through her. It was a weekend I will never forget; we met wonderful people, and Abhijata’s teaching has forever become part not only of my memory, but also of my personal yoga practice.