YDM: What brought you to Yoga Del Mar?
JG: I came to yoga for the exercise. I have been a long-time competitive cyclist. I often heard that yoga would be good to augment my cycling and increase general flexibility (which can facilitate increased strength). I had tried yoga a few times, but it never fit well – either the location, or the schedule, or something did not fit. Three years ago I looked for a local studio and saw Yoga Del Mar on the internet, and on a Friday afternoon, I mustered the courage to attend what I call my first real yoga class, with Josh Vincent. And the next day I went to Geri’s class, and thus started my yoga journey. I was struck by how accepting and even inviting yoga instructors are, from the first class I felt I was part of the group. Yoga was so different than the competitive world I was used to – it is not a competition, it is about what you are doing for yourself today, and how you are connecting with yourself. After miles and miles and hours and hours of cycling over the years, I thought I had the foundation for a connection to myself, but in just a short time, I found that connection to be much deeper through my yoga practice at Yoga Del Mar. That “connection” translates to self awareness, self confidence and contentment, and openness in relationships with others. Just few months later, I completed Anusara Immersion 1 with Geri, and that deepened my knowledge of Anusara yoga and my yoga practice far more than I expected.
YDM: How has practicing yoga changed your life?
JG: Shortly after completing the Anusara Immersion 1, I suffered a very serious cycling accident when on a ride in Palos Verdes; I rode off the road on a downhill stretch and into a tree with my face and chest. My helmet saved my life, and it was more than six months before I was able to get back to the mat and back on the bike. But most importantly, yoga never left me. In those months when almost every movement was painful and I was struggling to do simple things like walk, I could come home from work, sit, do some pranyama, some meditation, and allow the distractions of the day to fade away, and accept myself for what I was that day, pain and all. And, as corny as it might sound, I embraced the pain; it was part of me that day. Yoga gave me the tools to deal with a difficult challenge in a positive way. Yoga gave me a connection to myself, the self confidence and perseverance to endure and heal. Yoga taught me to open my heart, and allow people to help me along that path as I healed and got stronger. And the healing did come, albeit slowly. Now completely healed, the accident and recovery is just a memory. I am having fun with my yoga practice, with my cycling, and even with my work. I came to yoga for the exercise, a whole world unfolded and I became a better person.
YDM: What new beginnings/openings have you found through the practice of yoga?
JG: Anusara is often defined as “flowing with grace” or “following your heart”, and it’s also about opening your heart. I have no doubt that because of Anusara yoga and following its principles, I was able to open my heart more than I ever had and allow people to help me when I needed help and be grateful for that help. I have had an opportunity to experience a long recovery in a positive way. I got a rare chance to start over again after that recovery – to begin my yoga asana practice again, to start my cycling again, and by looking at many things with a fresh view, I am appreciating them more. More than just opening my heart, through a better connection with myself, yoga gave me a better awareness and appreciation of people with whom I interact. And yoga gave me a more conscience contact with my ego, engaging my awareness of my true nature as a being.
YDM: What would you say to someone thinking of trying yoga for the first time?
JG: Do it. Do something positive for yourself – set your attitude and take action (go to that class). Because I work regularly in Los Angeles, I have been able to attend yoga classes at several studios. I am fortunate to practice regularly with a number of skilled, generous, and compassionate instructors. I have found that all of the yoga instructors I know are accepting and have something worthwhile to offer – they truly want to help students get the most out of their practice. But it is far more than the instructors. The kind, compassionate, and very real people who attend yoga practice are wonderful people to share a community with. Sometimes after a long day at work it is hard to go to class and get on the mat, but every time I do, I’m glad I did – every single time. So (as the athletic shoe add says), just do it!
“The hand is not so well adorned by ornaments as by charitable offerings.” ~Chanakya
In the dark aliveness of the rainforest at night, were first greeted in the house of ritual, where after long conversations by candlelight we laid open our intentions and our hearts to Tzama, the community’s charismatic and powerful leader, who also did the same. After this we were welcomed into the family compound with burnt orange facepaint, made from the dye of furry seedpods, which signified we were now initiated and welcome as guests. Over the next four days, we began teaching and empowering the youth of the village through media arts: digital video, photography, recording, and mastering. We had a very simple objective: to inspire the youth to be record keepers of their own history, and in doing so teach them skills they could continue after our departure.
After a very short show and tell about the camera, computers, and their uses, the majority of the learning occurred through a process of discovery and learning in a need-based intuitive model: the youth learned about the media based on what they were trying to accomplish. In this way, the process of learning continued to be in a youth empowered, fresh and alive, as they discovered what they wanted and could be inquisitive and we could guide and teach based on those needs. In this way, learning happens in the body (a lot like yoga) and through the process of discovery it is more apt to be remembered for cultures that are orally and action based. 
We spent the next three days blessed with traditional rituals, songs, dances, stories, and sports. The verdant rainforest, with spiders hanging large as fists in the canopied trees, butterflies like floating palms of the hand in every color imaginable, and the daily song of children, birds, and neighboring families calling through the dense forest trails to once another in loud Shuar shouts. By the end of our stay, we had taught the eldest son how to record, edit, and master his own original music and music of his tribe. The youth took hundreds of photos documenting their sustainable way of life, video interviewing their elders on topics of climate change, teaching stories, and the medicinal plants of the land. The community then asked us to help them continue this cultural preservation and to return with compact digital technologies that could empower them for this end.
In this season of giving, we often forget how truly rich in resources we are amidst the hustle and bustle of shopping, gifting, feasting with family and friends. The Shuar of the Tawasap community are very clear that they too are rich in spiritual, natural, and sustainable knowledge and wisdoms. They are the custodians within the lungs of the earth: the Amazon rain forests that filter the earth’s atmosphere and bless all of us all over the planet. So I invite you to ask what resources we might provide for them, included in our holiday gift giving, that may empower them to preserve their cultural heritage. I will be returning the day after Christmas to Ecuador as an ambassador from our resource rich North America to their resource rich Southern lands. If it is in your heart to support this project, we are have all information regarding this continued project and a beautiful video of the people and land on the 
Our wish list includes: 
It is my dearest hope that as our yoga practice opens us to our own deepening compassion on the planet that in turn reminds us of our inclusion in the larger kula of all beings on the earth.
JL: Actually, It was late January or early February (can’t quite remember!) of 2009 when I came for my first class. I saw a coupon – I think in the Carmel Valley News – for a free class. I had been trying some yoga tapes at home for a month or so and quite a while ago tried a little ashtanga yoga for a few months. Also, my sister (she lives in Santa Fe, NM) had just started taking at an Anusara Yoga studio there was was telling me how great it was. I was definitely interested in yoga as a form of exercise, but I was also very interested in yoga as a spiritual path. I had read Stephen Cope’s book “Yoga and the Quest for the True Self” and was really at the beginning of trying to get away from just our “western” perception of yoga as exercise and discover yoga in its fullness. I went to the Anusara website, typed in my zip, and up came YDM! So, there I was, with a free class coupon, encouragement from my sister, a basic love of exercise, and a yearn for spiritual development. Everything just fell in to place. Bet you wished you hadn’t asked!!!