Three Famous Female Yoginis

Walk into your local studio and you’re bound to see a woman, if not many women. At my local studio, I’d say our membership is at least 70% female. We have dedicated male teachers and students too, but the space is largely occupied by ladies. Marketing in the yoga industry knows this too. From pants to props, and scents to supplies, most ads in the yoga world target women. That may seem logical and natural to those of us that grew up in the baby boomer era and onwards, however, prior to the 1940s women had very little presence on the mat. Yoga was once a male-dominated space. So much so, that women weren’t actually allowed to study, not to mention teach.

In honor of women’s history month, we’re doing a deep dive into the evolution of this once gender-specific practice — from the mid 1900s to modern day. We’ll be highlighting three female yoginis that pioneered the path for women everywhere to evolve and expand our modern-day practices of yoga.

Indra Devi

Indra was an action-oriented woman with a global reach. She was the first woman ever to be welcomed into a yoga Ashram, becoming a dedicated student under the “father of modern yoga” Krischnamacharya. She came to speak five languages fluently and traveled the world to educate and inspire others to teach yoga.