Bobby Clennell

Bobby Clennell has practiced yoga since 1975 and taught since 1977. She has studied in India with the Iyengar family 15 times and considers B. K. S. Iyengar her primary teacher. In 1991, after working in film animation in London for 20 years, she moved to New York. Incorporating her skills as an animator and illustrator, she has written and illustrated three yoga manuals: Props and Ailments, detailing the therapeutic applications of Iyengar Yoga props; Iyengar Yoga Glossary, an introduction to the unique “language” of Iyengar Yoga; and A Cosmic Body Map, a key to the Vedic gods, their location and function within the body, and their mythological significance. Bobby is experienced in using yoga for therapeutic purposes, including fertility and prenatal needs. Her newest book, A Woman’s Yoga Practice: Poses for the Menstrual Cycle, is to be published in 2006. “In my teaching, I try to help students restore the balance between the constant pull of the external world and our own—oftentimes neglected—individual world,” she says. “Yoga helps us operate on a quieter, less ego-driven path.” Describing Chaturanga Dandasana as one of her more challenging poses, she says, “All of us face challenges in our individual practice. Have faith and give Iyengar Yoga a chance.”