by Ella Alpina

About Flying Yoga Shala

In 2009, Laura Camp opened this quaint and quirky studio in the hip Temescal neighborhood of Oakland. Since then, the space has transformed into a community hub where people practice not just yoga, but also Zumba, Salsa and Hip-Hop dance classes, TRX circuit training, and of course their special off-the-mat flying yoga. Flying Yoga Studio also ensures everyone in the community can be a part of the flow by offering at least 5 donation-based classes per week.

Pradeep Teotia: Bhakti Flow & Revealing Our Passions

I had been hearing about Pradeep and his cult-like following for some time now. Pradeep has been in the Bay Area since 2005 and currently teaches at Flying Yoga, Yoga Tree (Castro studio) and Equinox.

I was warned that the class was challenging and taking Pradeep's class, one of the most popular at Flying Yoga, validated this for me. For two hours, I shared a hot and sweaty space with many others who had come there for similar reasons.

"Breathe. Breath is Life. Breath is the Connection to the Divine. Clear the Mind. Celebrate Movement. Find Humor."

Through the Physical, We Access the Mental & Spiritual

Pradeep leads classes in the style of Bhakti flow, a yoga of devotion, a Vinyasa/Ashtanga flow in a heated room.  Once people break a sweat, Pradeep introduces challenging and fast moving sequences that keep people on their toes. This is not your average yoga class. This is physically and mentally challenging. Looking around, I am amazed at the regular attendees’ form and endurance. Yes, a class this powerful on a regular basis is no joke.

“When we do the physical practice, incorporating breathing in our yoga poses, all the five sense are not running outside the mind. All your senses come into the one, and you pay attention more. Then you can sit down and meditate in an easy way.”

The ending meditation is a very welcoming closure to the hot, powerful yoga class.

On Safety and Injury Prevention in Yoga

Not everyone grows up in India, studying yoga from an early age. Pradeep carries responsibility for his students’ safety in class. He pays attention to who is new and shows them extra attention. And, he doesn’t practice with the class, but walks around adjusting and conducting the quick sequences with a bright voice.

Given how intense his class may be, he makes sure to state that it is not a competition, but about listening to your body and not pushing or straining. Child’s pose is always there for you if you need it.

“Focus on the breathing, it is the connection between body and mind.  Move through all of these poses with the breath, so there are less chances to get hurt. Breath makes that moment comfortable, makes the mind calm.”

Sharing Our Passions

Pradeep grew up Hindu and in the Shivananda tradition near New Delhi, India. The yoga he studied as a young boy is not the yoga that he teaches today.  He is witness to evolution of yoga and its migration to the West.

“Vinyasa is a dance, celebrating body movement and connecting through the breath. It evolved from many, many thousands of yoga poses. In the flow classes, sequences change all the time, you have to pay attention and be in the moment. Before and after don’t matter, it is about being in the now. We have less anxiety and fear when we just enjoy that moment.”

Pradeep shares his passion for yogic philosophy and movement far and wide. He travels around the world teaching at retreats, workshops and other schools. He never forgets his humor at home. It is part of the reason why his students keep coming back.

“Life is short, do what you love and do it often. And find your passion and share it. So everyone will be with you in your passion.  So this passion will become play." - Pradeep Teotia