Kim Leland Schwartz

On Oct. 21, 2024 Kim Schwartz, brilliant yoga instructor and master luthier, passed peacefully into the Higher Realms with his beloved wife, Doreen Siracusano, at his bedside. For the past year and a half Kim navigated a challenging course of treatment for an aggressive form of lung cancer that had metastasized to the bones. A month ago he and Doreen agreed to stop active treatment and shift to the palliative support of hospice care in their home.

Born in Oak Park, IL on April 17, 1953, Kim was introduced to Eastern philosophy as a child and began to immerse himself in yoga philosophy as a teenager. His studies at the Kriya Yoga Temple in Chicago under the guidance of his Guru Goswami Kriyananda led to his certification as a yoga instructor and ordination as a Swami in the Kriya lineage. He combined this philosophical foundation with years of in depth study of the system of Iyengar Yoga. Kim taught ongoing yoga and pranayama classes, designed and implemented unique yoga teacher training programs, and taught workshops here and abroad that reached countless students. For the past 25 years he taught locally at High Desert Yoga. He viewed Ramanand Patel as his primary teacher; additionally Francois Raoult and other Iyengar teachers influenced him. Although Kim was well-known as a phenomenal and cherished yoga teacher throughout the world, he remained genuinely humble.

In addition to yoga, Kim was gifted as a musician and as a professional guitar designer and builder. He created a healthy, nurturing home together with his dear wife, Doreen, and their precious cats; he enjoyed driving sports cars, being in nature, cooking and making exquisite chocolates. In our community, many lives have been deeply blessed by his presence, teaching, wisdom and humor. In Kim’s own words, “Yoga is being at peace with the present moment.”