The Yoga Podcast Episode 5 David Garrigues:

Last Spring I had a chance to take a workshop with David Garrigues at his institute in Philadelphia.

I was impressed by the impetus of his enthusiastic movements, the passion in his way of teaching, and the softness (I cried like a baby) of the chanting part.

David touches a nerve with the devotional side of yoga because when you sit through a chanting session and he is playing the harmonium and singing mantras you "feel things".

It would be very hard not to. In my case I cry like a sissy...

It's really embarrassing for me. We talk about it in the podcast, but I still wish I could hide when my emotions go raw like that.

He is easy to approach even if dead-serious about the practice, because he has a great sense of humor, which is necessary, wouldn't you say?

The ONE THING I really got from David was to use support for the shoulder stand.

I don't buy into the no-props anymore. Not after his workshop, because I can see, and feel the difference when I do it with two blankets underneath me.

The "gesture" or the full expression of the pose can be accessed much better when there is support because the body gets help in getting straight and there is a lot less strain in the neck.

Another thing that David had me see differently is that a pose, an asana, is a lot more than just a pose...

It is a GESTURE. A symbol, a yantra, a work of art...

That simple definition "GESTURE" made me look at the whole practice differently...

Even as I am getting into a pose, any pose, I feel like I am gesturing in, forming something, co-creating together with the space around me.

And I know that this can sound vague...

But the more we do asanas, the more we begin to see the profound inner world they take us into, and that is what fascinates me about David's special way of teaching.

WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT

• What brought David to the practice almost 35 years ago
• In the Summer of 2013 David survived a pretty intense car accident, what he experienced.
• Why is it that in our 30s we might want more poses but at 40 more pranayama?
• David recently wrote about the practice of yoga being only for spiritual purposes, not emotional or physical healing, I asked him how is that so
• What was the inspiration behind writing Vayu Sidhi
• Why did he call it Vayu Sidhi?
• The role of devotion, and why is it that I always cry when people chant?
• The surprising short poem that took David a long time to understand - I have to say, the poem stayed with me for a long time... simple and so very real, so no b/s.

About David

Website

Twitter

Workshops

Facebook

YouTube

Instagram

Institute in Philadelphia

Books and DVDs by David Garrigues

Download of The Primary Series (Class lead by David)

Vayu Sidhi

Beginning The Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga

Primary Series Traditionally Counted Vinyasa

A Guide To Ashtanga Yoga Pranayama

Ashtanga Yoga The Intermediate Series Disk 1

Upcoming Book Edited By Joy:

This is what Joy says about it:

Maps and Musings is a book of yoga based off of David's journal entries, finalized articles he's written, interviews he's done with me, brilliant notes of struggle and inspiration written on envelopes or pieces of scratch paper, poems and sutras he identifies with, and of course his drawings that redefine yantra and asana. The book will be released this May.

Books / Authors that David Recommends

Healing Back Pain: The Mind Body Connection By John Sarno

Mind Over Back Pain by John Sarno

TRANSCRIPT

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