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DARYL FOWKES

Daryl is in the process of becoming a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher, and in August 2012 passed his first assessment. He began practicing and teaching yoga almost a decade ago in New York City where he also worked as a professional dancer. Currently, he is pursuing a Master’s degree in Liberal Arts at the University of St. Thomas. He studies clarinet with Richard Nunemaker and performs regularly with the university’s chamber music ensembles. In his spare time, you might find Daryl on the other side of the building teaching ballet at the Hope Stone dance center. Daryl has found a new home in the practice of Iyengar Yoga and deeply enjoys his involvement in the community of students and teachers that make up the Houston Iyengar Yoga Studio. For him, yoga is truly the “mother of all arts,” as it is a constant source of renewal, always replenishing his soul with confidence, luminosity and inspiration.

CONSTANCE BRADEN
photo of Constance Braden yoga instructor

Constance is the founder, director, and primary instructor at the Houston Iyengar Yoga Studio. She started practicing yoga in the late eighties while teaching English in Japan; her teacher gave her a copy of B. K. S. Iyengar’s Light on Yoga, and it was Iyengar Yoga she sought out when she returned to the United States. In Houston, she studied for many years with George Purvis. She has a background in music and literature, has lately turned to visual art, and enjoys practicing and teaching Iyengar Yoga as an inexhaustible spiritual art and philosophy. For three years she was editor of Yoga Samachar, the magazine of Iyengar Yoga’s National Association of the U. S. She has studied at the Iyengar Institute in Pune, India five times, holds an Intermediate Junior II certificate, and has mentored many students who have gone on to become certified teachers of Iyengar Yoga, several of whom have opened their own schools.



JOYCE JONES
photo of Joyce Jones yoga instructor

Joyce had practiced yoga off and on for many years when she came to the studio for the first time, in 2002, to take a free introductory class. Iyengar Yoga and its detailed instruction on alignment was very inspiring to her, and she’s been with us ever since. Joyce started teaching in 2004, and was certified in the Iyengar method in 2007. Along with continuing her study of asana with senior teachers at workshops and conventions, she studies the Yoga Sutras and attempts to bring Yoga philosophy into her daily life. In addition, she has created a small company, the “Wild Goose,’ for the sale of props essential to the practice of Iyengar Yoga, including mats, blankets, blocks and beautiful bolsters she makes herself. When you call the studio, it is likely to be Joyce who will return your call. She is also responsible for designing and tending the flower garden at our entrance. She brings great warmth and light-heartedness to the studio and to her classes.

DEBBIE LANCASTER
photo of Debbie Lancaster yoga instructor

Debbie has practiced Iyengar Yoga for two decades. First it was a broken foot that wouldn’t heal—poses that brought circulation to the foot helped speed her recovery; then yoga’s calming influence encouraged her to stay with it. Certified as an Iyengar teacher in 2002, she continues her study with senior teachers at intensives and conventions in the U. S. (and Italy!), and in addition was lucky enough in 2006 to study for a month at the Iyengar Institute in Pune. Her favorite yogic principles are tapas–enthusiasm–and santosa–contentment. She strives to “find contentment in the present even when it hurts,” applying tapas, santosa, and a sense of humor. Having retired after 30 years teaching deaf children for HISD, she continues to lend considerable energy, enthusiasm and fun to the studio, while pursuing interests in environmental education and gardening. The “sharing of nature” is the thread running through all her pursuits.