Beryl Bender is an iconoclast. She coined the term "power yoga" in the 1980s and went on to write her first book Power Yoga. She took the Ashtanga Yoga teaching tradition and translated and made it accessible for westerners. She wanted the phrase to describe strength (versus just flexibility), appeal to men, and show that yoga could be a workout. In addition to later writing Beyond Power Yoga, her favorite of her books, she was also a Wellness Director way before it was cool. It is in this way that Beryl's career has occurred: She got her start way back in the 1970s in meditation, found yoga, integrated the two, and has been pushing the boundaries of what presence, stillness and practice mean. I just loved that she taught 100K runners in New York City a progressive yoga curriculum —and that not one person in any of those classes was injured. Talking to Beryl made me think so much more about what goes in to teaching yoga. Enjoy!

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