Indira Devi

A visionary Indian yogini who globalized yoga through her schools and publications in the mid-20th century.

Indira Devi (1899–2002) revolutionized the global perception of yoga as a holistic practice. Born in Ukraine to a family of mystics, she moved to India in 1936 and became a disciple of Swami Sivananda. In 1947, she founded the Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy, one of the first institutions to teach yoga systematically to international students. Her book 《Yoga, the Art of Reintegration》 (1953) became a cornerstone text in Western yoga studies. Devi established yoga centers in Mexico City (1948), Hollywood (1958), and Buenos Aires (1969), introducing millions to yoga's physical and spiritual benefits. She trained celebrities like Indira Gandhi and Margaret Bourke-White, ensuring yoga's adoption beyond spiritual circles. Her advocacy led to the United Nations recognizing yoga as a cultural heritage in 1972. Devi's life story is chronicled in the documentary 《The Yoga Pioneer》 (2010), which highlights her role in transforming yoga from a niche practice to a global wellness phenomenon.