11 yoga teachers, from B.K.S. Iyengar to Indra Devi and Judith Hanson Lasater, each with achievements, years active, students taught and nationality.
For each of the 11 names you get the record, the years active, who they coached and where they came from. We ranked them by the mark they left on yoga rather than by titles alone, and the FAQ at the end answers the usual questions.
If you are working through the subject more broadly, we keep the same kind of list for yoga books and yoga films and documentaries.
Best Yoga Coaches:
- B.K.S. Iyengar
- T.K.V. Desikachar
- Swami Sivananda
- Swami Vishnudevananda
- Sri Dharma Mittra
- Ana Forrest
- Sharon Gannon
- David Life
- Indra Devi
- Judith Hanson Lasater
- Vanda Scaravelli
#1 B.K.S. Iyengar
- 🏆 Achievements: Founder of Iyengar Yoga
- 📅 Years Active: 1930s to 2014
- 📖 Books Authored: “Light on Yoga,” “Light on Pranayama,” and more
- 🌐 Nationality: Indian
Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar, known as B.K.S. Iyengar, is renowned for founding Iyengar Yoga, a form of Yoga known for its focus on precision and alignment with the use of props such as belts and blocks.
Iyengar played a significant role in popularizing Yoga in the West, traveling internationally to teach his method. His authoritative text, “Light on Yoga,” has been considered the definitive guide to asana practice and philosophy for generations.
As one of the earliest students of T. Krishnamacharya, Iyengar’s influence on modern postural Yoga is profound. He taught many students who themselves became influential Yoga teachers, and his teachings continue to shape Yoga practice worldwide.
#2 T.K.V. Desikachar
- 🏆 Achievements: Developer of the Viniyoga approach
- 📅 Years Active: 1960s to 2016
- 🧘♀️ Yoga Institutions: The Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram
- 🌐 Nationality: Indian
Tirumalai Krishnamacharya Venkata Desikachar, commonly known as T.K.V. Desikachar, is renowned for developing the Viniyoga approach, which emphasizes personalizing Yoga practices to the individual’s changing needs.
As the son of the revered teacher T. Krishnamacharya, Desikachar continued his father’s legacy by interpreting his teachings for a broader audience.
Desikachar founded the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Chennai, India, an institution dedicated to teaching and healing through Yoga, and authored several books on Yoga therapy and philosophy.
#3 Swami Sivananda
- 🏆 Achievements: Founder of the Divine Life Society
- 📅 Years Active: 1920s to 1963
- 📖 Books Authored: Over 200 books on Yoga and philosophy
- 🌐 Nationality: Indian
Swami Sivananda was a Hindu spiritual teacher and a proponent of Yoga and Vedanta. He founded the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh, India, and played a pivotal role in spreading the knowledge of Yoga and Hinduism worldwide.
His teachings emphasize universality, serving others, and the development of the individual’s full potential, spiritual, mental, and physical.
Sivananda authored over 200 books, providing a prolific and accessible body of work on Yoga practice, health, philosophy, and spirituality that continues to inspire practitioners.
#4 Swami Vishnudevananda
- 🏆 Achievements: Established the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres
- 📅 Years Active: 1950s to 1993
- 📖 Books Authored: “The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga”
- 🌐 Nationality: Indian
Swami Vishnudevananda was a disciple of Swami Sivananda and founded the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres, with a mission of promoting peace and understanding through Yoga and Vedanta.
He wrote “The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga,” which has been an influential text since its publication in the 1960s.
Widely regarded as an authority on Hatha and Raja Yoga, Swami Vishnudevananda was a pioneer of the Yoga teacher training program and has trained thousands of Yoga instructors worldwide.
#5 Sri Dharma Mittra
- 🏆 Achievements: Formation of Dharma Yoga
- 📅 Years Active: 1960s to Present
- 🧘♀️ Yoga Institutions: Dharma Yoga Center, New York City
- 🌐 Nationality: Brazilian
Sri Dharma Mittra is a dedicated disciple of Swami Kailashananda and is known for the creation of the Master Yoga Chart of 908 Postures and the development of Dharma Yoga, a system based on classical Hatha-Raja Yoga.
He established the Dharma Yoga Center in New York City, where he continues to teach and inspire students with his spiritual vitality and experience.
Dharma Mittra’s teaching style reflects his compassionate approach to Yoga, encouraging self-realization and a journey toward inner peace.
#6 Ana Forrest
- 🏆 Achievements: Development of Forrest Yoga
- 📅 Years Active: 1970s to Present
- 🧘♀️ Yoga Institutions: Forrest Yoga Circles
- 🌐 Nationality: American
Ana Forrest is the creator of Forrest Yoga, a modern approach to Hatha Yoga that emphasizes breath, strength, integrity, and spirit.
Her own personal journey of healing inspired her to develop a Yoga practice that specifically addresses the stresses and challenges of contemporary life, with a strong focus on emotional healing and transformation.
Forrest is recognized for her powerful teaching style and the depth of her knowledge, which she shares through international workshops and teacher training courses.
#7 Sharon Gannon
- 🏆 Achievements: Co-founder of Jivamukti Yoga
- 📅 Years Active: 1980s to Present
- 🧘♀️ Yoga Institutions: Jivamukti Yoga Schools
- 🌐 Nationality: American
Sharon Gannon, alongside her partner David Life, co-founded Jivamukti Yoga, a path to enlightenment through compassion for all beings.
Jivamukti Yoga is recognized for integrating strict Asana practice with social activism, veganism, and teachings from the scriptures.
Gannon’s contribution to the modern Yoga movement emphasizes a holistic lifestyle that extends Yoga’s principles beyond the mat into daily life.
#8 David Life
- 🏆 Achievements: Co-founder of Jivamukti Yoga
- 📅 Years Active: 1980s to Present
- 🧘♀️ Yoga Institutions: Jivamukti Yoga Schools
- 🌐 Nationality: American
David Life, with Sharon Gannon, has been instrumental in the development of Jivamukti Yoga, which has attracted a vast following worldwide for its vigorous Asana practice and ethical, spiritual teachings.
He has been a pioneer in making Yoga accessible and relevant for the modern world, infusing it with a passion for animal rights and environmentalism.
Life’s innovative approach to teaching is encapsulated in the five tenets of Jivamukti Yoga and thrives at Jivamukti Yoga Schools globally.
#9 Indra Devi
- 🏆 Achievements: Opened the first yoga studio in Hollywood in 1948 and taught for more than sixty years, which earned her the name first lady of yoga.
- 📅 Years Active: 1938 to 2002
- 👕 Students Taught: Greta Garbo, Gloria Swanson, Eva Gabor, Yul Brynner
- 🌐 Nationality: Latvian born, later American and Argentine
Devi was the first Western woman accepted as a student by Krishnamacharya in Mysore, at a time when the school taught neither women nor foreigners. She then spent the rest of her life carrying the practice outward from India.
Her Hollywood studio put yoga in front of an audience that had never heard of it, and she was still teaching in Buenos Aires past her hundredth birthday.
#10 Judith Hanson Lasater
- 🏆 Achievements: Co-founded the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco and Yoga Journal, and brought restorative yoga into wide practice in the United States.
- 📅 Years Active: 1971 to today
- 👕 Students Taught: Teacher training groups across 44 American states and abroad
- 🌐 Nationality: United States
Lasater holds a doctorate in East West psychology and a physical therapy qualification, which is why her teaching is unusually careful about what a body can and cannot be asked to do.
Restorative yoga, the branch she is most associated with, is the one that reaches people recovering from injury or illness. She has trained teachers for over fifty years.
#11 Vanda Scaravelli
- 🏆 Achievements: Developed a distinct approach built on breath, gravity and the spine after studying with B.K.S. Iyengar and T.K.V. Desikachar.
- 📅 Years Active: 1960s to 1999
- 👕 Students Taught: Diane Long, Esther Myers
- 🌐 Nationality: Italy
Scaravelli refused to found a school or certify teachers, which is rare in a field organised around lineages and brands. She taught individuals, in her own house, into her eighties.
Her students carried the method forward under their own names, and her book Awakening the Spine remains the reference for it.
FAQ
Who is the greatest Yoga coach of all time?
The greatest Yoga coach is widely subjective, but T. Krishnamacharya is revered for his influential teaching and knowledge.
Who was the most successful Yoga coach?
The most successful Yoga coach could be considered T. Krishnamacharya, credited for training prominent teachers and shaping modern Yoga.
