I am proud to introduce to you Swamini Shraddhananda Saraswati. SwaminiJi is the founder and primary teacher of Kula Kamala Foundation & Yoga Ashram, a 501c3 nonprofit organization. She is a monk in the Sivananda Order of Sannyasins and a 500E-RYT registered with Yoga Alliance. She began practicing yoga in her early twenties and has found it to be a continually transformative, reaffirming and uplifting lifestyle, one which continues to help her integrate and connect more deeply.
When you put your mind to something, you get the job done. (2:19)
What gave her the drive to follow through on her dream? (7:43)
How did you become a yoga therapist? (18:12)
Mantras as a way to learn. (23:35)
Yoga as a solution to violence. (28:56)
Conservation of the environment and the local ecology. (35:12)
Everything is brahman and everything is god. (40:36)
What do you think when you think about Gandhi? (46:25)
How did you build your own temple? (52:50)
Understanding vs. intellectual knowledge. (58:34)
Meeting people where they’re at. (1:03:47)
With thousands of hours of advanced study in Yoga and its adjuncts, SwaminiJi authored and directs 200YTT, 300YTT, 870PYT, hospital based Yoga Therapy programs, and curriculum for Yoga in primary schools, in addition to other specialty training curriculum such as Goddess Based Wisdom and Tantra as a Practical Healing Methodology.
For over 12 years, SwaminiJi has worked with abused and neglected children, at-risk teens, women in crisis, and individuals seeking spiritual clarity in their life and relationships.
SwaminiJi’s experience and knowledge as a teacher, guide and advisor are grounded in decades of education, application, experience, research, and reflection. Personally and professionally, SwaminiJi abides in principals and guidelines that are grounded in non-harming, empathy, compassionate discipline, and the acquisition of meaningful life skills.
In addition to her skill and education in Yoga and Yoga Therapy, SwaminiJi holds a PhD in Anthropology and has held the position of Professor of Yoga and Meditation (Georgian Court University) and Professor of Cultural and Evolutionary Anthropology (Temple University and Monmouth University). She has published scholarly articles on ancient human diet and its relationship to health and socio-political issues.
SwaminiJi enjoys self expression and creativity. An artist in several mediums, she writes daily and has published books of poetry and reflection.
SwaminiJi is available to provide satsangs, blessings and trainings at local and regional centers, yoga studios, retreat centers, and events. To request SwaminiJi speak at one of your events, please contact the Ashram office at 484-509-5073 or email casey@kulakamalafoundation.org
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Meet Adam Husler. A yoga teacher based in England who teaches yoga around the world. Inspired by a fascination with anatomy, Adam specialises in Alignment-Based Vinyasa Yoga, informed by years of study and with Jason Crandell, and assisting him on a number of advanced teacher trainings.
How do you go about continuing your education in anatomy?
Adam’s tips for teaching yoga.
The challenges of getting sponsorships.
Based in London, Adam teaches a robust schedule in one of the worlds top yoga studios, Triyoga, and renown gym, Equinox. On top of this, Adam leads workshops, trainings and teaches festivals continuously around the world, leaving him with thousands of teaching hours under his belt and plenty of appearances in national and international media.
During this podcast Adam shares his love for Vinyasa yoga on this vinyasa yoga podcast. Adam is an english yoga teacher who specializes in alignment based yoga practices and is experienced teaching yoga for beginners. Join this yoga podcast conversation led by Todd McLaughlin yoga. Native Yoga Toddcast is recorded at Native Yoga Center in Juno Beach, Florida. During this yoga podcast free episode Adam shares what it is like to be a traveling yoga teacher. Adam offers Yoga teacher training and yoga teacher tutorials that help make accessible yoga available for all. We hope you enjoy this conversation and share it with your friends.
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New Student FREE 30 Minute Yoga Meet & Greet ~ Are you new to Native Yoga Center and have questions that you would like us to address? Whether you are coming to In Studio, Livestream or Online Recorded Classes we offer a one time complimentary 30 minute zoom meeting to answer any questions you may have. Schedule a time that is convenient for you. Click Here
Elena is a mother, mentor, artist, teacher, bestselling author and host of the Practice You Podcast, Elena has taught yoga and meditation since 1999. After graduating Cornell University in 1992, she designed textiles and apparel for almost a decade before focusing on yoga, meditation, art and writing. Her first book, Art of Attention, has been translated into seven languages; her second, Practice You, is a bestseller. Both Practice You and Being You are utilized as teaching tools in a variety of settings.
During this podcast we discuss topics like:
Elena’s upcoming book.
How to prioritize self-empathy.
Smoothing the edges of misunderstandings.
What her first entry into yoga and meditation was like?
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New Student FREE 30 Minute Yoga Meet & Greet ~ Are you new to Native Yoga Center and have questions that you would like us to address? Whether you are coming to In Studio, Livestream or Online Recorded Classes we offer a one time complimentary 30 minute zoom meeting to answer any questions you may have. Schedule a time that is convenient for you. Click Here
Join me for this fascinating conversation I had the chance to have with Alexandria Crow titled The Physics of Yoga. Alexandria is an inspirational and thoughtful yoga teacher. She has years of experience challenging her body and mind. Listen as she shares some of the wisdom she has found along her journey.
Alexandria’s Bio My daily yoga practice has shown me how to approach my life with eyes wide open, allowing me to achieve a sense of ease and acceptance I never thought possible. Choosing to walk down this path has changed my life completely and left me more accepting of myself and the nature of reality than I ever thought possible. Challenges will always exist, but I see them clearly and quickly now, and thanks to my yoga practice, I have the tools to act with great skill.
Transitioning from competitive gymnastics to yoga.
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New Student FREE 30 Minute Yoga Meet & Greet ~ Are you new to Native Yoga Center and have questions that you would like us to address? Whether you are coming to In Studio, Livestream or Online Recorded Classes we offer a one time complimentary 30 minute zoom meeting to answer any questions you may have. Schedule a time that is convenient for you. Click Here
Join us for this fascinating discussion with JENNIFER ALLEN. Jennifer is the author of Mālama Honua | Hōkūle’a – A Voyage of Hope. She had the honor of documenting the journey and produced one of the most beautiful books. She is a yoga teacher and practitioner and she shares her love of the connections between the Aloha and Namaste spirit.
The mission of the Mālama Honua voyage was to connect with environmentalists and indigenous peoples around the globe to create a network of communities protecting our island Earth. The purpose was to ignite and inspire these communities while also connecting with those who are working hard to save our oceans and earth.
Purchase a copy of Mālama Honua | Hōkūle’a – A Voyage of Hope on Patagonia’s site here: https://rb.gy/ggc1e
During this conversation Jennifer speaks about:
The authorship of her book Mālama Honua | Hōkūle’a – A Voyage of Hope.
How she first learned about the Hōkūle’a voyage.
How she received permission to go on the voyage?
The journey from Aotearoa to Australia.
Feeling nervous on the sailing journey.
Yoga with professional athletes.
Yoga with Maty Ezraty at YogaWorks.
About Jennifer
Jennifer documented the three-year Worldwide Voyage of the Polynesian voyaging canoe, Hōkūle‘a, for a book published by Patagonia in 2017. She is also the author of a collection of short stories, “Better Get Your Angel On,” published by Alfred A. Knopf, and a memoir, “Fifth Quarter: the Scrimmage of a Football Coach’s Daughter,” published by Random House. As a journalist, her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, The New Republic, George, Buzz, ESPN.com, NFL.com and PLAY. Her essays have been anthologized in “Because I Said So,” “Paris On The Mind,” and The Library of America’s “Football, Great Writing About the National Sport.” She has also written for HBO’s comedy series ARLI$$ and has served as an on-air reporter for the NFL Network and NFL Films.
Check out an excerpt of the podcast here:
Todd McLaughlin
That’s amazing Jennifer, that’s so cool. So you’ve lined up this incredible sponsor, you got permission from the Hawaiians to go forward, you have a an amazing photographer….. and you have the writing skills. So what happened next? How did your journey begin?
Jennifer Allen
So we began and we just we charted out what places we thought we would go. Of course, that would change, you know, and you would think, we’re gonna have a schedule, but then you soon realize the whole idea of a schedule is impossible because it just depends on what the wind is doing. It depends on you know, you soon realize that, like, you may think that you’re in control, but nature is in control. And nature is determining when you’re going to sail when you’re going to fly, because we would fly to meet them when you’re going to do anything really is at the pace of nature, which is as it should be. So we we went to American Samoa, and then we went to Aotearoa, which is New Zealand, which was beyond the beyond. When you’re with the Hawaiians going to these places, they had already arranged for it to be that the communities were ready to welcome them. They made sure that the Hawaiians would say, “do we have permission to come?” And so the communities that met them were the people of that place. So it wasn’t your usual experience. It was very, very original. The original people of that land and that ocean. There were many times where English was not being spoken. And we were in a forest in New Zealand and the Maori language is similar to the Hawaiian language, but not the same. So they were chanting back and forth. And speaking. And I’m, as you know, I’m feeling everything because I’m feeling like I grew up in a house with many languages. My mom was from North Africa, so I’m comfortable not understanding, okay. And just reading the feelings, but then halfway through I’d think, “I have to document this.” I have to articulate this in English somehow, you know, and I think that’s also where the yoga helped me of just like intuiting by being in the place what it is, and then afterwards, I would ask people in English was this what was conveyed? And I was often correctt. Which was incredible, because I wasn’t trying to understand what’s going on. I didn’t need to understand it. I just needed to experience it. What is he feeling? What is she feeling? What is she saying? Like, just be in it. Don’t try to grasp it. You know, and that’s yoga too. Yeah, yes. Yeah. So I felt like a lot of things have prepared me for this project. If it was 20 years prior I wouldn’t have been mature enough to do the project.
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Sandra Jersby is known as the Elite Stretch Therapist of Los Angeles. Sandra’s unique approach to recovery is widely popularized amongst many, from professional athletes to novice exercisers. Her extensive knowledge, in several different recovery methods, has allowed her to adapt to each client with an individualized program geared to their specific needs.
If somebody listening has never had Thai massage. How would you describe Thai massage to them?
Sandra Jersby
The first thing that pops into my mind is it is a meditation, in flow, a meditation in movement. And through that meditation, your body is taken through difference stretches. They’re receiving palm pressing. It’s not a massage with oils although it could be in certain modalities. But it’s more palming and pressing to move the energy around your body to help remove blockages. Also switching up the rhythm and tempo at the same time relaxing your nervous system. When your nervous system is relaxed, usually your muscles and joints will let go. It kind of takes you into a theta brainwave stage. So that’s why I call it meditation and flow, because your mind really relaxes. When that happens, then everything else let’s go. So a lot of the tension that we may be holding on to we may not need. It doesn’t require much force and we may just need to relax. The Thai massage moves help your body to let go and relax. We are relaxing also while we are moving you into these stretches. It’s more of a welcoming from the body like I am willing to let go and receive. And then also with the Osteo Thai, we do a lot of mobilization of the joints as well. So it’s a lot of circumduction basically moving in circles, that helps to open. We bring in this fluid movement , like we know from yoga. And we also do a lot of traction movement, like pulling to help create that space. So the combination of all these different palming the pulling, the stretching, helps to open up the body. And a lot of times people have never experienced in being in a lot of these positions. So even that is an experience like, oh my gosh, I didn’t know my body can go in all these positions. It feels invigorating and recharging at the same time being taken on this journey. The experience of all these different flows and directions and upside down. And so that in itself can be just a huge energy boost after receiving Thai Massage.
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New Student FREE 30 Minute Yoga Meet & Greet ~ Are you new to Native Yoga Center and have questions that you would like us to address? Whether you are coming to In Studio, Livestream or Online Recorded Classes we offer a one time complimentary 30 minute zoom meeting to answer any questions you may have. Schedule a time that is convenient for you. Click Here
Join in listening to this wonderful conversation I had the pleasure of having with Christina D’Arrigo. Christina is a Mom and a Yoga Teacher from New York.
About Christina My name is Christina, I’m a native New Yorker, and I’m the yoga teacher over here at ChriskaYoga. I have a background in dance having studied movement all my life, and along with my 500 hour Yoga Teaching certification in the YogaWorks Method, I also have a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in dance and choreography.
You said you published three books, what are the other two that you wrote?
Christina D’Arrigo
So the second book was a chair yoga book. So basically yoga in a chair all sequences that take place, seated in or be seated in a chair, or, you know, standing next to a chair and things like that, using the chair as an aide to get into the poses, basically, for anybody with mobility issues, or any any injuries. Yeah, things like that. And then the third book was a pelvic floor book. So basically all about pelvic floor yoga, and how to strengthen your pelvic floor how to release if it’s too, you know, tense, any? Yeah, recovery from pelvic floor trauma, injury to the area, things like that.
Todd McLaughlin
With your dance background, is that something that was taught to you when you were going through dance training? Or is that something that you became more aware of in your yoga practice and training?
Christina D’Arrigo
It definitely was a part of the dance training. For sure. Actually, along with yoga, dance training, we also do a lot of Pilates. So it was actually more strongly emphasized in our Pilates kind of supplementation to the dance training. So I do have that as a, I had that in the back of my head as well. But the poses are fairly similar. It’s just a different. Yeah, totally different thing. Got it. Yeah. The dance training helped a lot.
Todd McLaughlin
That’s cool. Did you said you dance professionally, when you were a child? I’m just trying to imagine. Does that mean like in plays, or for television, and TV? Or movies? Or?
Christina D’Arrigo
I was a part of a dance of ballet company as a child. So we did stage work. Yeah.
Todd McLaughlin
Do do any work currently with dancers outside of the yoga realm? Or have you have you transitioned fully from the dance world?
Christina D’Arrigo
Yeah, I’m no longer involved with dance. Which I mean, in a sense of staff, but you know, that was one part of my life. And then I moved on.
Todd McLaughlin
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That’s cool. Did Did you ever injuries in the dance world? Had you ever sustained in your or suffered any?
Christina D’Arrigo
Yeah, dance is intense. Being a dancer is very difficult on the body, especially ballet. So when I was young, I think I was in high school. I had my first kind of real injury, where I had a knee issue. It was tendinitis in the than the kneecap. So yeah, it was tough. And you have to do a lot of physical therapy around that. And then I had some hip injuries and things like that. So yeah, that being a dancer is tough on the body. But then in college, I discovered yoga and it definitely helped. And the yoga and pilates also really helped with keeping my body injury free.
Thanks for reading this blog post from this YouTube video. Check out:
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Ever wonder if there is more to yoga than just the yoga postures? Join my guest Eric Shaw for a discussion around his new book called Sacred Thread: A Comprehensive Yoga Timeline: 2000 Events that Shaped Yoga History. Eric’s teachings and passions have been influenced significantly by his teachers, in particular Shandor Remete and Rod Stryker. You can visit Eric on his website at prasanayoga.com and you can purchase a copy of Eric’s new book on Amazon here.
We discuss topics like:
What is the pre-common era?
Yoga sutras and urbanization in India.
Buddha gives us a new philosophy of life.
The difference between consumer consumerism and environmentalism in India.
Mapping connections through language patterns.
Who were the key cultural movers of the Theosophical Society?
The History of the Hatha Yoga Project.
Historical perspective of Krishnamacharya’s story.
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New Student FREE 30 Minute Yoga Meet & Greet ~ Are you new to Native Yoga Center and have questions that you would like us to address? Whether you are coming to In Studio, Livestream or Online Recorded Classes we offer a one time complimentary 30 minute zoom meeting to answer any questions you may have. Schedule a time that is convenient for you. Click Here
Check out this discussion with Jeremy Strickland titled Jin Shin Jyutsu in Rishikesh. Jeremy practices and teaches Yin Yoga and Jin Shin Jyutsu bodywork in Rishikesh, India. Enjoy stories from the heartland of yoga as Jeremy speaks about the power and efficacy of Jin Shin Jyutsu therapy.
During this conversation Jeremy speaks about:
How he decided to live in Rishikesh?
Cranial sacral therapy and massage.
The convergence of traditional Chinese medicine and astrology.
Feeling the pulse of the heart.
Living in the yoga capital of the world.
The wildest thing he’s seen in India.
Jeremy’s bio: Jeremy Strickland is a yoga instructor with a 500 hr RYT certificate from World Peace Yoga School, Rishikesh, India. He brings a light-hearted approach to asana practice, lifting spirits and making the complicated simple. His background is over 20 years as a Certified Massage Therapist in the USA, with a focus on Craniosacral Therapy and the esoteric art of Jin Shin Jyutsu physio-philosophy.
Well, welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. I’m so happy that you are here. Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Jeremy Strickland. Jeremy is a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner, which is a form of manual therapy utilizing contact points or points of awareness of the pulse in the body. And he is also a yin yoga instructor. He resides in Rishikesh, India, originally from USA, he has a website, check them out at yinyoga1.com. And you can also find him on the IG the Instagram with the handle @yinyoga_jinshinjyutsu. And of course, those links are in the description. Wherever you’re listening, just give a little click and I’ll take you right over. So happy to have this chance to introduce you to people that are experts in the field of yoga, and bodywork from all over the world. Remember that if you would like to practice with us here at native yoga center, in the description and links below, there’s a link for you to join to try two weeks of unlimited live stream yoga with us for free, you can join us for the classes that we offer to the public on a daily basis. And also every Thursday on YouTube Live, I do a free webinar where you can ask questions and so I have a different topic each week. And you can join in and ask questions via the chat box. So there’s a link there as well. You can click on that, check it out. And remember to go look for Jeremy on his website. yinyoga1.com. I hope you enjoy this discussion. Enjoy some cool stories from the other side of the world. Alright, let’s begin. I’m super excited to have the chance to speak with Jeremy Strickland. He’s a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner, also a yin yoga instructor. And he’s joining me today from Rishikesh, India. Jeremy, how are you doing today?
Jeremy Strickland
I am fabulous. It’s really exciting to be here.
Todd Mclaughlin
Oh, thanks, man. I’m really excited to have a chance to talk with you. First of all, I’m really curious, how did you land in Rishikesh India and managed to not leave?
Jeremy Strickland
Well, all by happenstance, just before India, I was actually living in Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City, and I had been there for eight months, I was my first time living outside of the US had had a big life change just before then. And was kind of not doing much of anything, just experiencing life in a new culture, studying language and what have you. And I thought I would get a yoga teacher certificate. I practiced vinyasa and bodywork for 20 years and I have dabbled in and out of yoga classes and had a pretty decent Ashtanga experience at one point. And as I was just out traveling, I thought I should get a yoga teacher certificate so I can see if I can make something happen, you know, and I was going out with a yoga instructor at the time in Vietnam. And she told me to go to Rishikesh. Yeah. And so I just did some research and it was cheaper to fly here and do a 500 hour program than it was to do anything in Vietnam or anything around there. So two weeks later, I’m in Rishikesh, first time in India. I had signed up to do a 500 hour program and ended up staying because I’m familiar with the meridian system that they’re using in yoga. And so the manager of the school that I was out when she found out that I knew the theory fairly well. She said you should stay and teach Meridian theory and the yoga teacher training which is very cool. And so I took off after my program for a couple of months and worked in Nepal and Thailand and traveled around a bit, and was about to start looking for something and she messaged me again. She was like, hey, what are you doing? She said, “You should come back here and do the 100 hour and yoga teacher training and start teaching meridian theory.” And I thought, it sounds like a good opportunity and came back and did exactly that at the beginning of 2019. I was teaching three, four or five classes a day couple of drop in classes, some Meridian theory in the 10 day teacher training program, up until COVID. And then when COVID happened, locked down was pretty intense here. But I didn’t want to go back to the US. And so I just ended up staying nice.
Todd Mclaughlin
How does it work in relation to your work visa? And then with COVID? I know a lot of folks that move to Indo and usually have to do a visa run after either a six month or one year period. Did that enable you to not have to do visa runs?
Jeremy Strickland
Yeah, well before I was just on one year tourist visas. And on the US you have to leave every six months. Yeah. And then we’re just do like a border run to Nepal. But when COVID happened, you they stopped making you leave the country and you did everything online for a while. Yeah. And then eventually, when they started kicking everything back in again. They gave everybody exit visa and told people to leave and so I left and got them. I was the first time and then I went back to the US for five months. That was the first time I’ve been back to the US and like four years.
Todd Mclaughlin
Are you around visiting family and came back like eight months ago? Are you originally a San Franciscan?
Jeremy Strickland
No. Well, originally I was born in Ohio, just for a couple of years. And then I was pretty much raised in small town in Texas. Henrietta, Texas.
Todd Mclaughlin
Yeah, very cool.
And you have a 20 year bodywork history?
Jeremy Strickland
Yeah, I stumbled into massage school when I was about 19 or 20 years old or something.
Todd Mclaughlin
That’s cool. And what is that story?
Jeremy Strickland
So I actually I had when I was a teenager, I was detailing automobiles. My dad was in the car business. My whole life was a child. And so I wound up at 19 years old, I was like detailing cars, grungy, dirty work, didn’t know what I was going to do with my life or anything. And my dad had started managing a bunch of PT schools at this time, and I came home one day and he had a female friend. And I was complaining about being dirty and sweaty and grungy and not liking my work. She said, almost verbatim. She said in six months from now, you could have a manicures license and be working in an air conditioned salon wearing nice clothes and holding hands with girls all day long. And sure enough, six months later, I’m in a salon polishing fingernails and giving manicures and pedicures. And at one point I see a reflexology chart by the pedicure stage. And that was the first time I’d ever seen that or that concept. Yeah. And so I thought, well, I should maybe learn how to do some reflexology, if I’m giving people foot massages for pedicures or whatever. So I called the local school and asked if there was a class. And I say, Well, we talked about it in our massage training program. But we don’t offer it as an individual class. And so soon thereafter, I’m signed up for the massage therapy program. And I went to that was in 1995.
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New Student FREE 30 Minute Yoga Meet & Greet ~ Are you new to Native Yoga Center and have questions that you would like us to address? Whether you are coming to In Studio, Livestream or Online Recorded Classes we offer a one time complimentary 30 minute zoom meeting to answer any questions you may have. Schedule a time that is convenient for you. Click Here
Special guest, Raji Thron, shares stories from his life lived in the pursuit of yoga. Raji is full of interesting tales of adventure from his birth in India that started him on the path of yoga.
During this conversation he speaks about:
Living in an India as a youth.
What was the state of yoga in Boulder in the 70”s and 80’s?
Making the decision to become a yogi.
How he met Richard Freeman?
Falling in love with ashtanga.
Guru Barometer and respect for elders.
Reframing the guru/ yogi dynamic.
The rise and fall of John Friend.
Raji is the co-owner of Yoga Synthesis studios and Program Director of YS Teacher Trainings, which since its inception in 1999 has had hundreds of graduates who have earned certifications. He is registered with Yoga Alliance as a E-RYT 500, lead trainer and continuing education provider and certified through International Association of Yoga Therapists (CIAYT) as a Yoga therapist.
Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. My name is Todd McLaughlin. I have the pleasure of bringing Raji Thron to the podcast today. And Raji is the founder and co director of Yoga Synthesis in Ramsey, New Jersey, which was founded in 1999. Please visit his website, yogasynthesis.com. And you can also check out his personal website Rajithron.com. And I had a really incredible discussion with Raji, I’m so excited for you to hear this. And he’s got a very rich and vast history of personal practice experience with yoga and the world of yoga. And I’ve heard amazing things about Raji years ago from a student that came and visited and I happened upon his website. And I thought, I wonder if this is the Raji that my friend Tim was talking about? And it is! All right. I’ll let him speak for himself here. Let’s get started.
I’m so excited to have Raji Thron here today with me. Raji, thank you so much for joining me. How are you doing today?
Just to get started here, you’re in New Jersey. Is that correct?
Raji Thron
Well, actually, yeah, we live just over the border in New York.
Todd Mclaughlin
Okay.
Raji Thron
Rockland County. So pretty much like Northern New Jersey, it feels the same.
Todd Mclaughlin
Yeah, I bet. I bet I hear you. And you have a yoga studio called Yoga Synthesis. Right?
Raji Thron
Yeah in Ramsey, New Jersey.
Todd Mclaughlin
Wonderful. I feel like somewhere along the way, someone has come in to our studio and told me about you before. And I feel like I’ve heard about you over the years. The way that I found your website actually was I had purchased that an anatomy coloring book by I believe…. a woman that may have practiced or taught for you at your studio.
Raji Thron
Yes, she was one of our main teachers for a while.
That’s right.
Todd Mclaughlin
And in the process of looking to see like, where she was, I found your website. When I saw your bio, and I was like, Wow, he looks really interesting. You have a really rich history of practice and teaching. So I’m excited to have this chance to ask you some questions about your yoga journey. On that note, can you give me a little bit of a historical perspective about how and when you started yoga practice?
Raji Thron
Well, I guess I should go back to I was born in India, in Chandigarh, and my father was a mathematics professor. He was teaching at the university in Punjab, which is in northern India. So we traveled there on a number of occasions. And the time I first learned yoga was when I turned 12. And we were living in San Diego at the time.
Todd Mclaughlin
Wow.
Raji Thron
And so then coming back to the United States, I kind of got into it and got really hooked. This is like mid 70s.
Todd Mclaughlin
Nice.
Raji Thron
That’s the short answer.
Todd Mclaughlin
That’s the short answer. That’s good. That paints a really cool picture. You learned yoga in India at the age of 12! What an incredible age to have such a eyes opening experience.
Raji Thron
Exactly.
Todd Mclaughlin
And then you find what type of yoga class or yoga teacher experience? What was that like?
Raji Thron
Well, in India, I studied with an old man. He was actually in his 80s. He was a friend or our family. And he, he passed away that year. And so it was what I would call a classical hatha yoga practice. And it was a very kind of intense time, as you might imagine, for me, coming from Boulder, Colorado, where we lived, where I grew up, when went back to there. That’s where my dad, you know, was teaching, was a professor. So basically, the teaching that I got from my teacher there was when I turned 12. By the way, his name was Yogendra Paul, which is kind of wild.
Yogendra Paul Yogananda. Paul. So he
was he was a yogi named Yoginder. Yeah. He was an older man, and he taught me just basic, hatha yoga. Let’s just say, that’s what I call a classical hatha yoga. Now, I know not everyone uses that terminology. I like to use that. Because, you know, when you have kind of the standard form that you might see in India, it’s not Ashtanga. It’s not Ashtanga vinyasa anyway. And it’s not Iyengar. And it’s just, you go to any town, any village, you’re gonna find yoga that has a certain in the way it’s kind of come to the modern world, modern yoga, modern India. It’s what I would call a classical hatha yoga.
Todd Mclaughlin
Can you paint a picture what a practice session with him would look like then? I’m guessing classical positions, such as like a triangle?
Raji Thron
Yeah. classical sense. Fluid is different from the Ashtanga sense. You’re probably familiar with that, like stepping back, going to cobra, upward dog. And then stepping into the lunge. You know that whole form? And then classical poses. Really actually, in the beginning, it was way less standing poses. And more just sitting, you know, doing forward bends, twists, and hip openers, some back bends, and inversions was covering a framework of these basic poses. But I mean, at the time, I was really young.
Todd Mclaughlin
So did he try to impart any information regarding theory or philosophy?
Raji Thron
Interestingly, after he passed, I was still living in India for a little while before we moved back to the United States. And so, I mean, he was less philosophically oriented. He was definitely oriented in a certain way, telling me about Mahatma Gandhi, and like Indian saints, and that sort of thing. Yeah. Then I met a younger man, whose name was Surindir who was a Sikh member in Punjab in India. Those are names of a lot of Sikhs. So, this guy was definitely a major influence on me philosophically. He was actually a cricket player at the university, you know, being in shape and he wasn’t doing so much yoga per se, but he did all kinds of exercise and we’d sit and he would talk to me about basically the reality of existence. And you know, how and you know, being 12 years old, is definitely it was a shaking up, transformational time for me, because there I was having come from, you know, being in this very, kind of like, what would you call it upper middle class kind of situation and maybe middle class, whatever you call it, professorial? Yes, University, you know, yeah. And going living in India, and the first time I ever really saw poverty, and, you know, living at a standard of living that was much lower than I was used to. Sleeping on cots with, with a concrete floor. Yeah. And just the whole, the whole thing of seeing India. I could look over the wall from where we lived. And, you know, there were shards of glass on the top of the wall, right. And on the other side was a slum. I could see it from our balcony, and I’d see these people like, basically living right there. So for me, there was this whole interesting Awakening on so many different levels, you know, to really the blessings of life. Knowing that life can be hard. Yeah. You know, and it’s like, how do we learn to relate, personally and collectively, to this, this existence, this human existence? So there’s a lot of conversation I was having with Surindir. Questions like why is this happening? Why are people living like this? You know, yeah.
Todd Mclaughlin
So did he have an answer for you? Did he offer you any more insight?
Raji Thron
Yeah.
It was really into how he personally had gone off to travel around India. And he was like, he was in his 20s. And he said, he left home, he traveled around India. And that’s why he was so kind of philosophically inclined. Yeah. And he is like, yeah, you know, you get out there and you see what’s going on. And it makes you realize certain things like being a wandering Sadhu, you know, yes, you go. I think this is, this is part of what yoga, you know, in a way, the essence pointing to the essence of it is to let go of all these outer trappings. Yeah, this holding on to sit really almost anything at a certain point, you know, yeah. But, I mean, we do love our creature comforts. Yeah, it’s still, it’s definitely you know, there’s a certain pointing towards, you know, austerity are asceticism. And, for me at the time, I was questions like, What are you? So then, you know, actually, as I got further along, I realized, you know, what, what the implication was, and even now, I’m still still trying to, you know, integrate. I don’t know, I’m not sure if I’m giving you the nutshell of it very clearly. But it’s, it’s, it’s really a lot of different aspects.
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