Following in the Footsteps of Indra Devi
The Secret Unlocking Yoga for Women
Yoga is not just a physical practice. It is philosophy, wisdom, and a way of life. Originally, yoga was taught only to men. Masters shared teachings privately with male students. Today, however, it is women who shape the global yoga community.
What changed?
The story begins with Indra Devi, the first woman in history to study with one of yoga’s greatest teachers.
Who Was Indra Devi?
Indra Devi was born Eugenie Peterson, a Russian aristocrat with a passion for Indian culture. In 1937, no woman, and especially no foreign woman, was expected to study yoga. Indra Devi discovered yoga in Mysore, where she attended a demonstration by T. Krishnamacharya for the Maharaja of Mysore. This moment marked the beginning of her desire to study with him.
After an initial refusal, support from the Maharaja convinced T. Krishnamacharya to accept her as a student. She became the first woman and first Westerner to study under his guidance.
She later opened yoga centers in China and Hollywood, where she taught figures such as Greta Garbo and Marilyn Monroe. Although Indra Devi is often associated with Marilyn Monroe, there is no verified historical evidence that she actually taught her yoga.
“If we do not encourage women, the great Indian traditions will die.”
— Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, 1938
My First Yoga Experience in New York
« I think if we do not encourage women, the great Indian traditions will die because men do not follow Vedic rules and regulations. They all become businessmen. » Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, 1938
In the early 2000s, I attended my first yoga class. Immediately, I felt something profound ; physical ease, mental clarity, a sense of inner peace.
Daily practice at a small studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn transformed me. But I felt a deeper call: to study yoga at its source, in India.
Before I left, my teacher gave me From Here to Nirvana by Anne Cushman, a book that sparked a lifelong quest to find my own teachers.
In Mysore, while studying Ashtanga Yoga, I experienced a turning point. After an adjustment my body was not ready for, I injured my knee and could no longer practice as I had been.
That interruption introduced me to yoga therapy, an approach rooted in adaptation rather than performance. With guidance, I learned to continue practicing without forcing my body, adjusting postures to meet my specific needs.
This shift changed everything. Yoga became less about form, and more about listening, care, and the intelligence of the body. Principles that later shaped my teaching.
Mysore: The Heart of Yoga Practice
In 2003, I spent a year in South India. After traveling ashram to ashram, I arrived in Mysore, a city known for silk, sandalwood, incense, and deep yoga tradition.
Here, I studied Ashtanga Yoga, a structured and disciplined practice developed by Krishnamacharya and popularized by K. Pattabhi Jois.
During training, I experienced a serious knee injury. My path seemed to derail until I met Sudhesh Chandra, who introduced me to yoga therapy.
Under his guidance, I learned how to practice safely, with respect and mindfulness. I studied yoga sutras, pranayama, and practice karma yoga. For my final exam, I was entrusted with teaching his students, a true initiation.
Deepening My Yoga Studies
I began my studies in India at The Yoga Institute in Mumbai. Later, back in New York, I studied anatomy for over a year with Leslie Kaminoff. After that, I went to Chennai to train at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM). By then, I was already a mother, and I did not complete the program due to a serious case of pneumonia.
A Modern Yoga Renaissance
I moved to Mysore with my family, studying, teaching and living yoga full-time. I ran a guest house where I hosted international yoga students. Years later, I settled in France and opened my own yoga center in Haute-Savoie.
I created Karma Chocolat Yoga a method for children that supports movement, confidence, and joy.
Back to India with My Students
In 2014, I returned to India with a group of students from France. During this journey, I went to the archives in Mysore in search of traces of Indra Devi, but found none.
This research was part of my preparation for a short 20-minute documentary film, Timeless Yoga. Rather than focusing directly on Indra Devi, the doc explores the impact of yoga on women’s lives today. Through conversations and questions, it reflects on how yoga shapes women’s experiences across cultures and on why so many foreign women come to India to study yoga.
Yoga as a Way of Life
I teach yoga not just as a series of postures, but as a way of living, to cultivate awareness and inner transformation.
Yoga is not a trend. It is a tradition carried forward by women like Indra Devi… and by all of us who choose to live it.
Author’s note: This article was originally written in 2014, in the context of my work around the documentary Timeless Yoga.
