Meet the Innovators: John Schumacher

Schumacher's view of yoga in America today reveals a faith in venerable tradition.

By Holly Hammond

Senior Iyengar Yoga teacher John Schumacher runs the Washington, D.C. area's largest yoga center and the biggest Iyengar Yoga center in the country. Unity Woods, opened in 1979, has three locations, serving over 2,000 students weekly. Schumacher has studied and practiced yoga for 30 years and is a full teaching member of the International Yoga Teachers' Association.

Schumacher's view of yoga in America today reveals his faith in a venerable tradition. "Yoga is like a huge rock that tectonic tremors have thrust up on a turbulent beach. The frothy sea of American society may pound its surface relentlessly with the power of mass acceptance, the eroding influence of commercialization, and the rapidity of change and movement. Yoga will undoubtedly weather these forces, but just as undoubtedly, its face will change. I trust that the sincerity and intensity of our practice will guide us in molding a visage that honors yoga's foundations and provides renewed inspiration for the generations to come."

To read asana columns by John Schumacher, click here.