02/24/2026
New Blog Post: 50 Years, 50 Countries, and One Mat: Iyengar Yoga in New Zealand
While in India in January 2025, I decided the time for more travel was now. No more waiting. I quietly set a goal to visit 50 countries in honor of my 50th birthday. This meant traveling to 25 countries in two calendar years—which I’m not sure I realized at the time!
Back home, surrounded by travel books as I began mapping out which countries to visit in 2026, I emailed RIMYI to request Abhijata’s teaching schedule for the year.
As a mom of four with two daughters still at home, a month-long trip to India is difficult, but two weeks away is manageable.
So, to celebrate turning 50, I planned a two-week trip that included free diving in Australia and the New Zealand Iyengar Yoga convention.
Since that trip to India, my yoga mat has hitched a ride in my suitcase to 17 new countries. By the time I return to India again, I will have physically traveled around the globe with my mat. Follow those travels Instagram at .
Studying in person with Abhijata was well the worth the 20,000 mile journey. Read the blog to see why.
At the end of the convention, without a regional group to join for the photo, the visiting Australians pulled me in and renamed themselves “the international group,” to account for the foreigners living in Australia. At first guess, they assumed that was me!
Thank you Iyengar Yoga New Zealand , for allowing me to attend your convention. I greatly appreciate the hospitality.
50 Years, 50 Countries, and One Mat: Iyengar Yoga in New Zealand Why fly halfway across the world to attend an Iyengar Yoga Convention? It’s a fair question with answers rooted in a milestone and a mission. I am on a quest to visit 50 countries while I’m 50. To achieve this, I’m visiting 12 ne...
