I discovered yoga in Sydney during my 'chubby' phase at this school on the beach that taught ashtanga-hatha flow. I gradually moved towards ashtanga, going beyond the primary level, which is a feat in itself, and even did an internship as I thought I wanted to become a yoga teacher.
I encourage students to check out different styles of yoga and different teachers even within one system. Seek the teacher that inspires you, and practice the yoga that makes you feel the best. You'll then find the authentic practice for your life and path.
My father was really into yoga, and back then, it seemed like we were really the only ones who knew about yoga. It amazes me now... just what a movement yoga has become and what an industry it's become.
Yoga is a big misnomer in the west, people don't know what this yoga is. Yoga means union with the divine. When you become one with the divine, the divine starts flowing through you and you become part and parcel of the whole.
If you become very close to your teacher, if you do well in your meditation, a deep emotional bond will develop between both of you over a period of time. You can be thousands of miles away from your teacher and find that induction is always taking place. That's the ideal.
My yoga teacher is a guy from Michigan. 'Yoga Dan' - that's what he calls himself - he's been a big help for me.
Have you ever seen the stereotype of the angry yoga teacher? There are some people that are at an 11 and yoga takes them down to a nine. That's me.
What I get on a yoga mat, and from a yoga teacher, has been more beneficial onstage than any other workshop I've ever done.
In the yoga of love, one has a teacher. It is the teacher whom one loves.
The yoga of love is for those who want an all-consuming relationship with their teacher. They see the teacher as an extension of God, of eternity - which all of us are.
Yoga has been something that's always there to take with me and practice throughout any journey. There's no place I've ever been where yoga hasn't fit itself in. I currently work on a commercial fishing boat in Alaska and I am still able to find time to lay my mat on the deck and practice what makes me the best me I can be, thanks to yoga.
I think the advantage I have with yoga is that it is something I can do on my own and can't make excuses that I don't have a place or the time. One can practice yoga anywhere, anytime. You don't have to worry about what you're wearing. For all of these reasons, yoga works for me.
Yoga is really big - I'm actually a certified teacher, although I've never taught classes at a studio. I really find myself drawn to more traditional styles.
I think the time is right for yoga, we really are living in a very complex time - a time of great turmoil and change. Yoga is a good antidote to all that...It is almost like music in a way; there's no end to it.
There are four principal pathways that lead to enlightement: The yoga of love, the yoga of service, the yoga of knowledge, and the yoga of mysticism.
Yoga means we accept responsibility for the tasks in our life, and we know that being a king, being an enlightened teacher, being someone who sweeps the streets, we know that nothing is a greater yoga than anything else.