Richard Clark
Richard completed a 3x year Ashtanga Yoga Teaching Training Program under Iain Clark at Ashtanga Yoga Shala. He first undertook Yoga practices as a teenager through the Satyananda and Sivananda Yoga Schools. He studied a degree in Traditional Chinese Acupuncture (B.C.T.A) and continued with further studies in Herbal Medicine (with Kerry Bone), and Ayurveda (with Prof. Dr. Ajit B.A.M.S, P.C.A.S) and is a Past President of the Australasian Ayurvedic Practitioners Association.
Now having been teaching Ashtanga Yoga for 20 years and having taken up further study In India, in both Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and other methods of Hatha yoga, he has always determined to share Yoga in keeping with its roots and objectives.
‘I am not an esteemed nor highly acclaimed teacher of Yoga. Nevertheless, I have tried to constantly evaluate and re-evaluate my experience of, practice and instruction in Yoga over the years, in order to best align what I deliver with the authentic aims of yoga and with respect for the needs and capabilities of individuals who attend classes’.
Iain Clark
‘Improvements in the manner in which Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga has been taught in the past by its teachers, was already initiated and put in place by my teacher Iain Clark. I strive to continue in that direction.
Consideration of the views on health, energy, movement, bio-individuality and existence etc borne out of studies in Yoga Darshana, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, Herbal Medicine, Tantra Shastra, Buddha Dharma, Anatomy and Physiology and Nutrition have guided me in this regard’.
‘An ever-deep drive remains to impress the truly awe-inspiring philosophies of great Bharata – Mother India, which despite my limitations, I trust comes through in my classes’.
‘I don’t teach perfection of asana (but that’s no excuse for sloppy or misguided practice). I teach how to use asana etc in the yogic quest. I brought with me to yoga, more than a few serious injuries from my youth and would like to think that I can give hope to others who wish to make the best out of what they have been handed. In class I relate the words of the late, modern bard, Leonard Cohen, to an attitude most helpful in the quest’:
“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.”
– Leonard Cohen.
Yoga methods do not strive for physical perfection or a perfect work life balance. No perfect asana, no deep pranayama, no singing of kirtan, no positive thought/affirmation will in and of themselves, lead to the goal of yoga. We must take on the whole formula, which is why we have here the precious Aṣhṭāṅga or eight limbed model. This process requires care, awareness, direction, humility, open-ness and receptivity.
