Andrés is Our Yoga Teacher of the Month

We love Andrés! He has been our main DJ for Buddhi events, and when he expressed an interest in becoming a yoga teacher, we were beyond stoked. His presence is pretty rad, and we love having him around at the studio. Keep reading to find out why our yoga teacher of the month is so awesome and be sure to stop by and see him for a Vinyasa class with dope tunes every Monday night at 6:45pm.

teacher of the month

How and Why Did You Get Into Yoga

I was first brought into yoga through my meditation practice. My Mom introduced me to meditation early on and around the time I was starting to meditate, I also had a deep interest in reading about esoteric philosophy. I noticed that a lot of the philosophy I was reading and learning at the time referred to yoga philosophy and yogic principles. The philosophy behind the path of yoga really resonated with me and a lot of what was going on at that age. However, it wasn’t until I took a family trip to Mount Shasta when I was seventeen that I first started to really inquire about the practice of yoga and what it meant to me. My personal studies continued and a few years later I moved to the fast-paced and endless hustle of New York City for college. Meditation was still very much a part of my practice, and it was in NYC that I started taking my first Ashtanga and Vinyasa classes. Since then, my journey, love, and exploration of the practice of yoga has continued to evolve! Funny enough, I decided to step up the physical side of my yoga and study more of the asana side of the practice as a way to balance work, late nights and travel.

Tell Us How You Got Started as a DJ

DJing was something I initially took up purely as a hobby. I wanted to immerse myself in something that complimented my deep passion for music and sound. Music was my first love. I started playing classical piano when I was seven, guitar when I was sixteen, and went on to being in bands through high school, and continued to play guitar and piano through college. I eventually saw DJing as a way to expand my love for music, explore something different, and enter a whole new world. After picking up DJing, I was obsessed. I decided I wanted to give it a shot professionally and found my first gigs in downtown San Diego playing for the Searsucker restaurant group. Through that I connected with some amazing people, landed more gigs with other clients, continued to build my DJ business, and the rest is history!

How Do You Choose the Music for a Yoga Class

The music I choose for classes is based on what I feel the songs are emoting. I’m listening for what will correspond to a class flow, the desired energy I think will serve best, and what will connect and energize the students. When I first started bringing music into the yoga space, I gave a lot of consideration to what types of songs would relate to different postures and flows. For example, with balancing postures, I’ll usually gravitate to something with a deep, resonant, 4/4 beat; something that supports rooted, concentrated, grounding energy. With a faster Vinyasa sequence we might hear more percussion in the song, higher energy and more elements to the track. With Savasana I’m looking for stuff that’s super etheric and usually nothing that the mind can attach to. Just like every pose has a purpose, I like to think that with selecting music for yoga, or just DJing in general, every track has its own purpose and will carry it’s own energy. Ultimately I want each song, like each postures, to serve the space and people in some way or another.

teacher of the month

What Has Been the Best Opportunity that has Come from DJing or Yoga

 

DJing has been incredible in opening up opportunities to work with amazing people and brands around the world. I’ve gotten to travel, play in beautiful places, meet interesting people and really explore a big part of our culture as humans. Music is the Universal Language! Along with that, it’s by way of DJing that I got back in touch with yoga. It’s funny to think, but DJing and music actually played a big part in me teaching yoga! Music and yoga, in my experience of the two, are intrinsically connected and they both continue to bring me back in tune with each other! (pun intended ☺)

What is Your Favorite Thing About Teaching Yoga

The notion of healing; That we are all healers and we all have the ability to heal. When that idea connected for me, I was all in. We look around the world these days and it can be so easy to see so much suffering and pain everywhere. At the same time, there is also so much beauty if we look for it and allow ourselves to see and experience it. I believe we all have such an incredible responsibility to bring some sort of healing through what we do. Personally, by teaching yoga (and playing music), if I can have any part in helping be a guide on a healing path, then I’ll have no problem sleeping at night!

Where Do You See Yourself in Ten Years

I see myself continuing to do what I’m doing now but on a larger scale. I see building bridges between different cities internationally, communities, and tribes of people. At the same time, using music, yoga and celebration to break down any walls or barriers that may cause people to be in pain for whatever reason. I see myself expanding even more outside the U.S., working with a variety of clients and people, introducing new businesses that carry the intent of connection, and continuing to teach yoga wherever I am. In the next ten years I also intend to grow my yoga practice by studying new healing modalities so I can incorporate them into my teaching practice; Ultimately expanding the level at which I am able to serve, heal and connect the dots, so to say.

Are There Any Poses that Frustrate You and What’s Your Favorite Pose

 

Ha! Yeah. I have a hard time clasping my hands behind my back in gomukhasana. My shoulders are so tight! If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Sirsasana (headstand). Imagine, if humans are like an hourglass, sometimes we’ve got to flip ourselves upside down to get our energy moving properly! Sirsasana gets the energy moving. It’s the best! Also, it’s great for people who travel and are on the road constantly. If you can stand up in your hotel room, you have enough room to stand on your head!

yoga teacher

If You Could Teach Anyone a Private Yoga Class (Present or Past) Who Would it Be and Why

 

I think it would be my grandfather. He was an incredible athlete and there are so many photos of him in certain postures that look so yogic in their nature. Even just posture-wise and how he carried himself, he was definitely an inner yogi, and I’m pretty sure that he didn’t practice it in 1940’s Mexico and Spain. Although bullfighting could not be more different in nature in terms of the intent, I think the common theme of extreme inner focus rings true with what I do. A different era, but same intent.

As a Yoga Teacher Why Do You Think Music is So Important in a Yoga Class

It’s important because of vibration. We all are composed of atoms of vibrating energy. Sound, music, and all vibration impacts our own vibration and the world around us. When we tap into how we are working with energy, whether it’s through our own or someone else’s, as we can do with yoga, we literally sync up with the vibration that is around us; And that can be the vibration from music or other people. I can also say that the absence of music and focusing purely on the vibration, sound and resonance of Ujjayi breathing can also be deeply transforming for someone’s practice. Tapping into that field and the power of vibration can create incredible shifts…

What’s On Repeat Currently in Your Playlists

I’ve been loving Paws by Palms Trax! Such a rich track.


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