Letter from the President and CEO September 2024

Dear Reader,

Over Labor Day weekend, the Institute for Spirituality and Health was honored to host The Yoga Institute’s 50th anniversary retreat, themed “Every Teacher Has a Teaching.” A faculty of ten, including a congregational minister, several yoga and meditation teachers, a philosopher, a Harvard-trained religious studies professor, a Baylor psychiatrist, and me, joined over 60 participants to celebrate the occasion. Significantly, as part of the festivities, we were pleased to announce the permanent dedication of our studio space to Lex Gillan, The Yoga Institute’s founder and a long-time supporter of the Institute for Spirituality and Health.

Lex founded The Yoga Institute in 1974, opening a studio and bookstore at the corner of Portsmouth St and Greenbriar Dr, decades before yoga studios were ubiquitous in the urban landscape. For a half century, “Uncle Lex” has taught tens of thousands of classes, reaching hundreds of thousands of students, and certifying over 2500 yoga teachers.

Joining the Institute for Spirituality and Health’s faculty in 2005, for the past 19 years, “Uncle Lex” has been one of our most important teachers, friends, and colleagues. His contributions include serving as the principal organizer of the Psychotherapy & Faith Conference for over a decade, leading a collaborative program for students at DeBakey High School for the Health Professions, bringing dozens of speakers to our halls, consulting on strategy and development, and teaching many cohorts of medical students contemplative and breathing practices so that they may more effectively face the challenges of 21st-century medicine with care and compassion for themselves and their patients.

One of the retreat’s principal focal points was to help participants consider the importance of teachers in our lives – the transmitters of the spiritual and religious beliefs and practices that help us to walk our respective paths. The most significant spiritual teachers in my life have been those who, as Khalil Gibran writes, have given not of wisdom but rather of faith and lovingness. In other words, they have not just told me facts and details - they have demonstrated faith and love through their actions and way of being, inviting me to experience these things alongside them so that my faith may be ever fuller.

As we enter the fall season, I encourage you to consider - who have been your most significant spiritual teachers, and how have they shaped your life? How might you honor their contributions?

Warmly,
Stuart

Stuart C. Nelson,
President and CEO