Hosting David Garrigues in Dublin: May 12-15 2022

David Garrigues: the Bad Man Bhakti.

There is great excitement surrounding hosting a teacher. Not just any teacher - YOUR teacher. And when you think of the event - the workshop, the small group Mysore classes, you think:


“Will my students learn something insightful and hidden about yoga from his teachings as much as I do?”


”Yes, yes they will!”


David has been my teacher since 2005. I met David while I was teaching yoga at the local YMCA in Boise, Idaho. When the Director of the Yoga programme Camille Thom told me that a Certified Ashtanga Yoga teacher named David Garrigues was coming to the YMCA, I was excited.

David’s calm nature and quiet chanting immediately had me contemplate myself and my actions - right from the start I was alarmed by my own presence and how I had not been listening to myself. This is a gift David has - he has this uncanny ability to bring out something inside you that has been hidden; either through chanting, through asana (posture) or through pranayama. Even listening to his voice telling you to “drop the navel and breathe behind it!” will bring you to a closer more mature understanding of yourself…and of course, uddiyana bandha.


The adventures I have had with David! The tears shed on the mat while practicing with him! These are healthy memories that support my regular daily practice, and let me share with you why:


I have a deep respect for David that keeps me returning to study with him year after year; the magnitude of śradda (faith) I have in him as a person and as a yogi and teacher; and the mutual respect I know he has in me - he has a confidence in me that is tireless.


There have been times where where I had filled my cup (finishing third series under his watchful eye) and needed a break just to digest all that he had taught me. I had to break it apart to understand it and embody it better.


It is a healthy act to step away from your teacher for a while and contemplate what they have been teaching you. I didn’t see David for four years from 2012-2016, and when I saw him in 2016 in London - it was magical. I took time breathing, practicing and integrating what he had taught me.


David shines his light on the practice that he has been cultivating for forty years! He recently turned 60 in December, and you wouldn’t know. His lively kid-nature, the trickster - always comes out in the Mysore room and even if you think you got what he is trying to teach you - he will smile and have you do it again.


A great story about Kapotasana with David goes like this:


It was 2016 during a Mysore intensive in London. That day in the Mysore room that day I caught my heels in the air in Kapotasana. I came up a little bit overwhelmed and prepared to take a vinyasa. David walked over to me. He said,


”Sarah, let’s do it again.”


I was stunned.


”No David, I really can’t I just can’t imagine doing this posture twice.”

“Do you want transformation, or not?”

So of course, we did it again together, the adjustment just what I needed - a little bit tighter, little more juicy.


And I am glad I did the posture again because I DO want transformation - we all do. Through our practices often we have to do them again to extract more from the posture. To this day I often DO do Kapotasana three times, mostly to extract the potency of the posture and to embody what David teaches me - don’t settle for anything - strive and seek your best potential.


David will be here for four days - offering two days of semi-private Mysore classes (morning of the 12th and 13th of May) and then a full weekend workshop consisting of Friday evening, Saturday from 9am-2 pm and Sunday from 9:30am-12. The full weekend workshop is €220. Don’t miss a wonderful chance to meet one of Ashtanga Yoga’s unique teachers out there.


To book your workshop - if you are in Dublin - pop over to Little Bird and leave a cash deposit of €70 in an envelope with your name on it or send it to seradee@sarahhatcheryoga.com via Paypal. Then the remaining fee of the workshop (€150) will be due during the first day of the evening class on Friday, 13th of May.

For more details about this event - click the button below:

Finally, a song that he taught me - the Guru Stotram - for you and for us all. To remind us to keep mining for the ultimate state of yoga while in asana - freedom and non attachment (kaivalya and vairagya) through mindful, practical effort. And always be grateful to the ones before us who guided us there.

Guru Stotram ॐ

brahmānandaṁ parama sukhadaṁ

kevalaṁ jñāna mūrtim |

dvan dvātītaṁ gagana sadṛśaṁ

tattvamasyādhi lakṣyam |

ekaṁ nityaṁ vimalam acalaṃ

sarvadhī sākṣibhūtam |

bhāvātītam tri guṇa rahitaṁ

sad guruṁ taṁ namāmi ||