There are calendars for yogis featuring CGI cats and dogs twisted (rather unnaturally) into yoga asanas, motivational quotes over sunsets and even meditative colouring calendars, but none of them give you all the dates a good yogi should know.
Well we’re here to fix that! Take a look at the list below for some important and alternative dates yogis should know that won’t be marked in your run-of-the-mill calendar, and suggest your own in the comments below!
January
5: Paramahansa Yogananda’s Birthday — Peruse your copy of Autobiography of a Yogi and practice a little Kriya Yoga in honour of Paramahansa Yogananda.
8: First day of YogaLondon classes after the Christmas holiday
12: Swami Vivekananda’s Birthday — Tip your hat to one of the founders of yoga in the Western world.
19: YogaLondon Community Class — Click here to find the registration link.
February
3: YogaLondon Community Class — Click here to find the registration link.
21: World Yoga Day — Unroll your met between 11am and 1pm your local time to join a 24-hour worldwide moving meditation! Read more about it here.
23: YogaLondon Community Class — Click here to find the registration link.
26: Shiva Rea’s Birthday — Founder of the Samudra Global School for Living Yoga, and made great contributions to yoga sequencing.
March
1-7: International Yoga Festival — The 17th annual yoga festival in Rishikesh organises over 60 hours of yoga classes by world-class teacher for one incredible week!
16: YogaLondon Community Class — Click here to find the registration link.
20: Spring Equinox
23: Holi — The Hindu festival of colours.
29: YogaLondon Community Class — Click here to find the registration link.
April
13: Solar New Year
May
12: Indra Devi’s Birthday — An enterprising female yoga teacher and actor largely influential on yoga in Latin America.
14: Dharma Mittra Birthday — Creator of the master yoga chart of 908 postures.
June
20: Summer Solstice
21: International Day of Yoga — Declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 2014, IDYoga is one of the biggest yoga movements in the world.
21: David Life’s Birthday — Co-founder of Jivamukti Yoga with Sharon Gannon.
21: TKV Desikachar’s Birthday — Son of Krishnamacharya and pioneer researcher in the healing powers of yoga.
July
14-17: Yoga Connects Festival, Rugby — One of the largest yoga festivals in the world, where you can pitch your tent in a plastic-free campground, explore yoga styles and deepen your practice.
26: Pattabhi Jois’ Birthday — If you’ve ever done Ashtanga yoga, dedicate today’s practice to Guruji who founded this particular style of yoga.
August
3: David Swenson’s Birthday — Try one of the Ashtanga yoga sequences today in honour of one of it’s most accomplished practitioners.
15: Sri Aurobindo’s Birthday — Birthday of the original yogi-activist.
26: Yogi Bhajan’s Birthday — Founder of Kundalini Yoga and the 3HO Organisation.
September
8: Swami Sivananda’s Birthday — Guru to two of the most prominent lineages of yoga: Sivananda and Satyananda.
12: Kino McGregor’s Birthday — Social media yoga queen and influential modern-day teacher.
16: Lunar Eclipse in London
19: Seane Corn’s Birthday — Take your yoga off the mat and into the world in honour of this yoga activist.
22: Fall Equinox
October
21-23: OM Yoga Show in London — The last stop of the OM Yoga convention at Alexandra Palace in London.
30: Happy Diwali! — The Hindu festival of lights.
November
14: Larry Schultz’s Birthday — American yogi and creator of the original Rocket Yoga.
18: Krishnamacharya’s Birthday — The Father of modern yoga.
December
5: Bhagavad Gita Day — The day that Sri Krishna spoke to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra in this classic yogic text.
8: Baron Baptiste’s Birthday — Founder of Baptiste Power Yoga and prominent American yogi.
11: Ana Forrest’s Birthday — Author of Fierce Medicine and founder of Forrest Yoga.
14: BKS Iyengar’s Birthday — The man behind Iyengar yoga.
21: Winter Solstice
22: Swami Satchidananda’s Birthday — Penned the most easily accessible translations of Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.
25: Swami Satyananda’s Birthday — Author of over 80 books on yoga and Yoga Nidra.
Have we covered everything? Is there something we missed out? Let us know in the comments below!
