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Compassion, patience, humour, integrity, an open mind and respect for others are all qualities of a good teacher, according to David Swenson.He should know:David is one of the world’s best known and most respected ashtanga yoga teachers, and author of Ashtanga Yoga:The Practice Manual. David first became interested in yoga in 1969, at the age of thirteen. "My older brother,Doug,introduced me to yoga and was my first teacher," he says. "We mostly practiced from books since there really weren't many teachers around at that time." Since then, David has steadfastly continued his yoga practice. His yoga of choice is ashtanga, which he first discovered in 1973. "I moved from Texas to Southern California when I was 16 years old. My friend brought me to an ashtanga yoga class and the teachers were David Williams and Nancy Gilgoff," he says.David had no idea what to expect at first,but from the moment he entered the room, he immediately felt at home. He admits that the practice was very hard at first, and he only managed to do the sun salutations, "but", he says, "I felt an energy within that I had not experienced before and I couldn't wait to come back the next day." It was during this time that David first met K Pattabhi Jois,the founder and Director of the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India.They were introduced in 1975,when David Williams and Nancy Gilgoff played hosts to Jois during his first trip to America. "I have studied many times with him since then," says David. "The main thing I have gained from him is that the most important thing is to practice.That is his main credo - ‘ninety-nine percent practice and one percent theory’." Some thirty years later,David’s practice continues to evolve. He prefers to practice six days a week for ninety minutes, but occasionally misses a practice when travelling or teaching. Meditation plays a large part for him too and he believes that the practice of the asanas may be done as a meditation. "The real measure of a meditative practice is the focus and intent of the practitioner and not merely the act of practising," he says. The most inspiring aspect of David’s personality is that although he has achieved international fame and respect, he is the first to admit that he has much more to learn. "I have never mastered an asana", he says. "It is truly impossible to do.The attempt is to control the mind while practising; that is the greatest difficulty.The physical ability to place one's body into a yoga posture is truly not so important. It is watching the mind during the practice.The real yoga is what is happening deep inside beyond any external view." David tries to approach each posture equally, but admits that there are some that bring greater fear or challenge than others. He finds the postures that challenge his mind’s balance particularly testing. "I believe that we all store emotions and feelings within our muscles and within the energy channels of the body. Some asanas tend to confront or release these emotions", he says. "Those are the ones that are generally the least favourite." However, David finds it hard to identify the asanas that release the most emotions."The asanas that create this release or challenge tend to change over time so it is not so easy to pinpoint any particular ones", he says. "Sometimes the asanas that we hate become the ones that we love and other times the reverse is true." Although David never thought of yoga as a career, he now travels the world, teaching and inspiring others.He loves his work; his classes are joyful and fun and this is reflected in the popular reputation he has experienced over the years. It is also echoed in the 1999 book,Ashtanga Yoga: The Practice Manual, which has been reprinted eight times since its first publication. More than anything, David believes that yoga should be fun. "Yes it is difficult and challenging", he admits, "but we may also find pleasure and fun within it. If you keep it light and pleasurable you are more likely to stand on your mat the next day." |