About Nancy Gilgoff

Nancy began practicing Ashtanga Yoga in 1973 with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, in Mysore, India. She had traveled with David Williams joining him on his search for yoga.

While in college, Nancy suffered from severe migraine headaches that resulted in her university taking her out of all physical activities. At 19 years old, she was told never to exercise again and was given drugs to help relieve the pain but nothing to cure the headaches. She was told there was nothing to be done except to learn to live with the situation. Pattabhi Jois had a very different idea. For 4 months Nancy and David practiced twice a day and throughout this time learned all of the Primary and Intermediated series.

In the early days, Nancy was very weak and Pattabhi Jois put her in every single asana. She could not support herself through Chaturanga and Pattabhi Jois moved her body through each vinyasa, it was very hands on. Nancy was very flexible, and Pattabhi Jois could put her into every asana in the correct way. She experienced directly the correct movement, use of bandhas and breath by being moved in and out of the postures. It was a learned embodied experience. This is how Nancy learned the practice, through the experience in her body, not intellectually. I believe that this gave her the unique and in-depth understanding of this practice.

Years later she assisted Pattabhi Jois and he was teaching her the art of adjusting in the Mysore room. She maintained this way of teaching throughout her life and was one of the very few people who did not make any changes to the system, as she was taught by Pattabhi Jois.

Nancy Gilgoff and David Williams were the pioneers of the early Ashtanga days in the West. They established their own Mysore style classes on Maui / Hawaii and brought Pattabhi Jois to the USA to teach. 

Nancy established her yoga room on Maui and attracted many students and teachers from all over the world. For over 4 decades she continued to share the practice in her authentic way, ‘the way how she was taught’, until it was time for her to leave her physical body. 

Nancy is deeply missed by her family, friends and students.