Ingelise loved and valued life. Her greatest loves were her children, Peter and Anette, her grandchildren Noelle and Angeline, Iyengar Yoga, singing, her grand-dogs and humour.
Born in Denmark to Edith and Sofus Mullar, Ingelise spoke Danish, English and German by age 18. She further learned French as an au-pair in Paris.
Ingelise married Bent Segato and together they lived (and created their children,) in Rangoon, Burma (Myanmar) and Ghana on the Ivory Coast of West Africa, also Denmark and Vancouver, Canada. Ingelise travelled to many countries both with her family, and after her divorce, on her own, as a devout yoga student and teacher.
Feisty, flirty and fiery, Ingelise preferred white wine over red, savory over sweet, (although in her last few weeks we went through boxes of chocolate covered ice cream bars and digestive cookies with whipping cream,) and loved getting dressed up in elegant dresses and high heels as much as she loved her “mole days” at home.
She often half-joked about how, if she were wealthy, she would take a personal chef first, a chauffeur second; but when she had to, she cooked the most delicious Danish meals and took pride in feeding her loved ones. In the last few years, she found joy taking the bus and making it a game to see who she could make smile and laugh somehow.
With the gift of music in her soul Ingelise’s favorite songs were Danny Boy and Edelweiss. She adored Doris Day and loved to play any piano she came upon. Elevators she took would echo with her stunning voice. Rooms vibrated when Ingelise chanted Om. In the late 50’s Ingelise was signed on to what was one of the largest recording companies in the world, but was called back to Denmark by her parents, whom she loved dearly.
As an internationally renowned Senior Iyengar Yoga teacher, Ingelise studied under her Guruji, BKS Iyengar at his Ramamani Iyengar Yoga Institute in Pune, India where she visited ten times.
Ingelise taught yoga classes for over 40 years, and opened her own studio, ‘Room for Yoga’ in West Vancouver, which she ran for eight years. Opening her own business was one of the scariest things she’d ever done and it brought her great pride as an accomplishment. Her devout students were blessed with many invaluable gems of wisdom, insight and inspiration that were channeled through her.
At age eighty, toward the end of her 8-month fight with pancreatic cancer, she sat on a chair and still taught her dedicated students—so in love with teaching and people she was!
Ingelise lived simply, had the brightest smile, an indomitable spirit and a keen zest for life. She loved her church, West Vancouver United and would go early to hear the choir practice. Her most cherished books were Light on Yoga, Astadala Yogamala, and her beloved Danish and English bibles. She studied the Koran and Buddhism as well as yogic philosophy. Ingelise was fascinated by the prospect of other life in the universe and watched Ancient Aliens on TV with great wonder. A true Aquarian, she loved the wind in the trees, the ethereal, birds in flight, and space science.
Ingelise survived breast cancer in the 1980’s, but her body succumbed to pancreatic cancer Sunday March 15th, 2020. She will be hugely missed by many.
Her parting advice to her children was: Be fair to others and to yourself. Forgive. Practise peace and harmony, harmony, harmony. God, we miss her so, but thank you for loaning her to us for eighty short years.