Buddhi Yoga would simply not be the same without Jonathan Old-Rowe. This month we would like to honor our bearded yoga teacher dude who has awesome classes and gives great hugs. He’ll tell you he loves you, and he means it. Get to know him more in our yoga teacher of the month interview.
My first yoga class was in a yoga teacher training 14 years ago and I didn’t actually want to teach yoga to begin with. I was just looking to heal my mind. At the end of the training my teacher told me I would help to run the yoga studio while he was away on a traveling experience for six months. I went directly into teaching after my training. The teaching is a great way to learn. It’s such an amazing practice to be able to share daily with so many beautiful beings.
Currently my yoga practice consists of meditation and chanting. I meditate everyday and chant every day. The time for each varies, but usually between three and five hours. Depending on the view, one might say there is no such thing as not practicing. There are always ways to practice, even while you sleep. These words are a practice, and so are the ones I will or won’t share with you when I see you or I don’t.
I am not locked up or six feet under….literally.
Let yourself be where you are and enjoy it. Know you can go farther/further.
Not wearing shoes helps to keep me grounded. There is also a perspective out there on “solar gazing,” a technique where you look at the sun at dawn and dusk to feed your body. It’s recommended to walk barefoot for forty-five minutes a day and by walking barefoot one can absorb the energy from the sun much like plants do. The no bed thing keeps me alert. It could also be looked at as a part of my practice. The body really only needs four to five hours of sleep and sleeping on the floor trains the body to rely on strengths. This is a similar idea to taking cold showers. All of these practices were adopted by early yogis.
“So think as if your every thought were to be etched in fire upon the sky for all and everything to see. For so in truth, it is. So speak as if the world entire were but a single ear intent on bearing what you say. For so in truth, it is. So do as if your every deed were to recoil upon your heads. And so, in truth, it does. So wish as if you were the wish. And so, in truth, you are. So live as if God Himself had need of you His life to live. And so, in truth, He does.”
People seem to tease me about the bandhas and how I emphasize them a lot, but the bandhas are simply the roots of yoga. I love learning how to interact with people, so I guess it’s about teaching myself “relationship to others”. You are my favorite teacher. If you don’t show up, I don’t get to do this. The student is the teacher, the teacher is the student and if I can do this, you can do it better.
Catch Jon teaching group classes at Buddhi Yoga on Mondays at 5:30pm, Tuesdays at 10am and Thursdays at 4pm. He is also one of our lead Teacher Training instructors. Join in on the next yoga teacher training from June 20th – July 9th.
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