Ida Esther Unger

Very sad to hear of Ida's passing. I will always fondly remember her. I worked as her personal assistant in the mid to late 90s and she was always so kind to me. She let me sit in on some of the yoga classes. Later, I worked with her to build the first website for the Yoga Garden. She was a treasure and will be missed.

I learned yoga from Ida. I first met her at the yoga classes she taught through Santa Monica extension then I moved on to the Yoga garden. The yoga garden was the only yoga studio I ever went to. And on beautiful days she taught classes on the deck outside. I learned so much from her and to this day when I do yoga I can hear her caring voice and feel her gently correcting my pose. I lent my computer design skills to her poster that combined the power of the Hebrew alphabet with yoga asanas. It was so fascinating and beautiful. I was so surprised and sad to hear she had passed. My condolences to her family and all those that loved her.

I met Ida in 1979. She was teaching at Manual Arts HS, and i had just come to Los Angeles. Our first date we saw two movies: China Syndrome and Hair. We lived in a house on Holly Drive. 5 years later we got married. Despite our differences, I still admire her. One of the aspects was how she organized friends. We had the baby group, parents of babies born in July 1988. The Smash group, parents of the roller hockey team the boys from SMASH self organized. These groups continue to this day, and i am sure there are other groups she kept connected through the years.

She wasn´t afraid to do things. When in Jamaica we picked up hitchhikers, with them taking us to Bob Marleys grave way up in the hills, and to a battle of DJ´s in some school house gymnasium. We also paid a visit to tuff gong recording studio where she went in and met Sly and Robbie. She volunteered for KCRW´s Reggae beat amongst other cool jobs.

Ida was an amazing mother, caring teacher and i grew under her caring heart as well. I am crying today and wish her well as she moves into her final resting pose. Namaste. -Paul