25/02/2026
Meet our very special guest for 5th Iyengar yoga convention 8-10 May in Riga, Latvia.
Jayne Orton is the Director of The Iyengar Yoga Institute of Birmingham (the name was suggested by BKS Iyengar himself ) when it opened in 2002 with his full blessings. She is an Advanced level Iyengar teacher. She was a direct student of ‘Guruji’ since first meeting him in Oxford in a Master Class when she was only a teenager – a pivotal moment that completely changed her life…..Jayne subsequently made annual trips to Pune to study with him and the rest of the family. Since the early 1980s she made over 25 trips to the Institute. In 2010 BKS Iyengar awarded Jayne an Advanced level certification which only a few teachers worldwide received from Guruji. Jayne likes to think that the Institute she opened in Birmingham is unique in that it is the only privately owned building of its kind in the Midlands dedicated solely to the teachings of her beloved Guru.
In Jayne’s own extensive teaching career of 45 years she has taught all around the globe including intensives at many Iyengar Yoga Institutes in Europe and the US and Canada. More recently she taught the main Belgium Iyengar Yoga Convention and also the one in Holland. She has taught the main conventions in Scandanavia and trained many of the teachers there too and in other parts of Europe. She taught the Spanish Convention in Valencia 2025 and will teach the Latvian Iyengar Association Convention in 2026. She is honoured to teach Iyengar Yoga including particularly her own regular local students in Birmingham many of whom have been with her for decades. Over the years she has taught all kinds of classes from childrens, teenagers, pregnancy classes to sessions for severely disabled students. She has also taught many famous people too who went on to practice Iyengar yoga long term – including film stars, rockstars, top sports teams including the England Cricket team, football teams, amateur and professional golfers and professional ice hockey players. She has a particular interest in Indian Philosophy and leads study groups on the subject. She also runs the medical class at the Institute and trains other Iyengar teachers in Therapy Work and guiding them through level 2 and 3 certification.
For many years Jayne has been the teacher to the first team at Birmingham City Football Club where she teaches at the training ground in Birmingham on a weekly basis alongside the physiotherapy team and backroom staff and assists the players with specific injuries on the recommendation of the team doctor.
Apart from being a lifelong BCFC fan, her interests also include Indian Philosophy, reading and writing poetry and walking in nature with her beloved Jack Russell – Sparky (aka ‘Spark of Divinity’)
https://www.iyengaryoga.uk.com/our-teachers/jayne-orton
Registration link for convention with Jayne Orton
https://forms.gle/jWTjmEJyKrsxA8wR8
