From Indiana Jones to Ashtanga Yoga

When I was nine years old, I saw Indiana Jones and decided I wanted to be an archaeologist. My foster brother, Tom, was always supportive of my career path and, much to my mother’s chagrin, he bought me a real whip, a hunting knife and a survival kit -- complete with a needle and thread for self-suturing, lest I injured myself saving ancient relics.

Ultimately, I discovered religious studies and became a yoga instructor. And while I don’t fight Nazi thieves to protect historical treasures, I suppose I am still interested in preserving tradition.

I am the head teacher and co-director of the Ashtanga Yoga Studio of Toronto. I teach traditional mysore-style Ashtanga, the largest program of its kind in Canada. I get up every morning at 3 am to do my practice

I started learning Ashtanga from David Swenson’s Practice Manual before going to Mysore, India in 2002 and meeting my teacher Sharath Jois. I have traveled back to India every year since then, and in 2008 I was authorized by Sharath to teach. 

For a long time, I believed that a traditional Ashtanga practice was inaccessible to Western students. With all the vinyasa classes I taught, I thought students were craving variety in their yoga - a sort of cross-training for other activities. I was told that no-one would want to practice the same series of postures everyday, 6 days a week. It was boring and too limiting.

When I started my Mysore program, I felt it would be a pet project -- a hobby that I believed in -- the Vinyasa classes would be my bread and butter. My wife promised me she would come to Mysore, so I knew I had at least one student. Now, in its third year, we have 80–90 students each day and we will likely reach 100 this fall.

I don’t think the number of students we have every morning is a reflection of my teaching. In many ways, I’ve just tried to get out of the way and pass on the system as it was taught to me. Krishnamacharya intended the practice to be for people with families. Even though the time commitment is daunting, I think the practice really appeals to people with busy lives:  the whole point of this yoga is to fulfill our duties and responsibities to the people we love.

Traditional Ashtanga teachers are notoriously crusty and demanding (it might have something to do with the long-term sleep deprivation they suffer). I do have a responsibility to my students, which is why I get up at 3am. If I can’t get out of bed in the morning to practice – I can’t very well ask them to do the same.

Of course, if that doesn’t inspire them, I can just bring out my trusty whip.