Have Yoga - Will Travel

About David Roche

David Roche is available to teach Ashtanga yoga workshops or to work as a substitute teacher for Ashtanga yoga shalas around the world.

David Roche's workshops in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga comprise an introduction to Ashtanga Yoga in the tradition of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois as well as step by step progression through Primary and/or Intermediate series. The workshops include the use of specific imagery to aid focus, incorporating the imagination to guide the investigation of anti-gravity areas of lift within the human body, thereby assisting the student in finding an efficient use of breath and a higher level of awareness, rhythm, balance and flow in the execution of asanas.

David has studied and taught movement for forty four years. His teaching incorporates the lessons gleaned from his career as a dancer, choreographer, artist and yogin. Classes focus on rhythm and flow, on correct body alignment and use of breath, on the importance of maintaining a daily discipline and accepting the blessing of change, and on the extended effects of hatha yoga toward finding balance throughout the seasons of one's life. David uses materials gained from the study of human anatomy, Feldenkrais, Body-Mind Centering, Ideokinesis, Jikkyo Jutsu and modern dance in presenting workshops. Most recently he has taught in Australia, India, Bali, France, the U.S.A., Great Britain, Scotland, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Denmark, Turkey, Ireland, Portugal and Canada.

Major influences in his life's study include the tradition of Martha Graham in dance (as taught to him by 1st and 2nd generation disciples including Pearl Lang and Bertram Ross); the tradition of Masahiro Oki in yoga (as taught to him by Tatsumuro Sensei, Juzu Sensei, and Endoh Sensei); and the tradition of Sri T. Krishnamacharya in yoga (as taught to him by Sri Pattabhi Jois and grandson Sri Sharathchandra Rangaswamy, Tim Miller, Richard Freeman, and Eddie Stern, as well as 1st and 2nd generation disciples of Sri B.K.S. Iyengar, including Shandor Remete, Geeta and Prashant Iyengar, Ramanand Patel and Judith Lasater. It was Shandor, now known as Xander, who instilled in David the love and precision of asana as well as the need to remain open to the ineffable quality of Grace.

Now at age 69, David's own daily practice focuses on deepening his understanding of the concepts and principles he teaches. He continues to refine ways to marry the sentient experience of his own practice of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga; Yoga Chikitsa, Nadi Shodhana, and Sthira Bhaga, with the capabilities and experiences of his students. Although his beloved guru, Sri K Pattabhi Jois passed away in 2009, David continues to return to Mysore yearly to maintain his connection to the source. Guruji gave David his blessings to teach in 1997, and Certified him by the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute of Mysore in 2002.

For more information please email mahaga@hotmail.com