INTERVIEW: January 2010, Niroga Yoga Berkeley, CA

NIROGA: What does yoga mean to you?

JONATHAN: Yoga for me is the movement from isolation to community; beginning with learning to befriend ourselves, and then learning to listen to each other, and finally recognizing that all seeming separation is mere appearance, or what Ramana Maharshi means when he says, "There are no others."  Yoga functions in the service of kindness on numerous levels.

NIROGA: How has yoga helped you?

JONATHAN: For myself the practice and process of yoga has been one of learning to live simply - by simply I mean most naturally, most in tune with my own nature.  As a direct result of aligning with what is 'simple', I have found that things complicated or forced are clearly revealed - this in turn allows for a natural letting go of unconscious habits that no longer serve myself and my world.  Yoga has helped me remember what has always been present.

NIROGA: What is unique/special/distinctive about your yoga teaching?

JONATHAN: For much of my early teaching years I had hoped to established myself as a distinct teacher; this is no longer my focus or interest.  My interest these days is to find a wheel that rolls, and to roll it - this is much different from wanting to develop a new or better wheel.  The wheels that I think roll quite well are vipassana meditation, yin yoga, inquiry, and embodied dialogue.  Innovation in my offerings occurs during their application to the real world situation in which they are found - their 'freedom' is found in how they engage relationship, or how each form expresses limitless potential, and vice versa.

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