At the heart of H3 Yoga lies Gabe, a masterful yoga teacher and visionary program developer. Gabe’s H3 Yoga program is a testament to his unwavering commitment to nurturing confidence, honing skills, and igniting transformation in yoga students, instructors, and Thai Yoga practitioners alike.
With Gabe at the helm, we embark on a holistic journey that encompasses a rich tapestry of experiences. Our approach includes unique opportunities to observe the astonishing diversity of physical capabilities among our students, expanding their lexicon of tactile experiences. We bridge the profound concepts of Eastern philosophy with Western anatomical knowledge, unlocking a deeper understanding of yoga’s influence on modern health research and practices.
Through Gabe’s guidance, you’ll learn the invaluable art of listening, elevating your communication skills, and paving the way for effective teaching. You’ll also discover the power of sensory perception, leading to success in your practice and a profound connection with yoga. Moreover, Gabe instills the essence of humility by teaching you how to share your knowledge effectively.
Learn more about this fascinating person in this MysticMag interview.
What inspired you to become a yoga and Thai massage instructor, and how has your journey evolved over time?
The two journeys were both by “divine mistake” I like to call it. By which I mean, I did not set out to teach when I “discovered” these approaches to living life moment by moment. I found, what most people associated with Yoga, which are the Asanas, and the poses, I found that side of Yoga 3 months after stumbling on the word Yoga.
Imagine that.
The word Yoga was unknown in the culture in 1994. I was familiar with the word ‘Meditation.’ When I finished reading ‘Still Life with Woodpecker’ by Tom Robbins, which incidentally also never mentions the word Yoga, yet the word Meditation appears 4 times, for a class about Rock and Roll, I became interested. I liked the author’s style, yet I could feel that he relied on deeper knowledge he gained from sources which I was determined to uncover.
Mind you this is 1994, no iPhone, no Google, no fast internet. I go to the library and I type “India” and “Meditation” and the computer provides a list of titles and a very brief synopsis that basically describes the author and year. Along with the unique identifier code which is how you would find the book in the vast shelves of a university library.
If my memory serves me right, I wrote down the first 10 unique identifier codes I saw and went on a hunt.
With 8 books, some small, some thick, I headed home.
I am a college student, so I also have my school reading and other assignments, I play rugby, and I like the social scene.
I also live at home, and have a job at the local yogurt shop, which means I can get away with reading a book at the front counter.
Ruffling through the books I brought home, I notice that one or two are very thick and detailed, more like university study books on India’s history. Some were small, guided meditation-style books, with written descriptions on how to do meditation.
Then there was a purple-looking book. The cover was purple. And when I opened the pages, some had only one sentence on the page.
Call it divine intervention, or lazy college choice, “Dreams of a Yogi: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali” was the first book I read about yoga.
And the first sentence, and I will never forget this, for the rest of my life, the first sentence, the way this book translated it was: ‘Yoga is to find God.’
Now, let’s just 11 years ahead in time to 2005, and I am on my way to India to practice with Sri K Pattabhi Jois. Ashtanga has been my main asana yoga practice since 2000, after meeting David Swenson and realizing that the principles of Patanjali are embedded within this breath-focused practice. I had the luck to study with Tim Miller for almost 2 years in Encinitas, CA. My trip to India was a culmination of 11 years of interest in Yoga, India, Ayurveda, Ancient history, Spirituality, Religion, and languages, as I was memorizing some of the Sutras in Sanskrit.
At the end of my first month in Gokulum, which is a neighborhood outside Mysore city, where The Ashtanga Yoga Research Center and home of Pattabhi Jois lies, Dr. Kumar, a famous Ayurvedic doctor in Mysore was having an open lecture with a buffet. The lecture will be about ‘Yoga and Ayurveda.’
My friend and I went only because it was Sunday and we had nothing else to do.
There were only 25 people.
It was held in Dr. Kumar’s lobby area, where 3 chairs were set in the small open area, and we found seats on the stairs or behind the floor.
In India, you sit on the floor.
My friend and I sat on the lowest rung on the stairs, at almost touching distance from the chairs.
Dr. Kumar apologized for the delay when a commotion at the door stole our attention. Lo and behold. Pattabhi Jois and his grandson Sharath were walking in together. Dr. Kumar went to guide his guests into his room, while we all watched in awe. Stunned at such a rare opportunity to be close to Pattabhi Jois, who at the age of 86 was teaching Mysore in the morning, yet had not given a public lecture in months. And the last time he did almost 500 people attended. Here we were, barely 25 of us.
After talking about Ayurveda and how there is no correlation between being a vegetarian and Yoga. Furthermore, how would Ayurvedic recipes know the effects of animal meat, if they did not eat it?
Dr. Kumar’s lecture made sense. It was refreshing, but when it was opened to Q&A, the first question was directed at Pattabhi Jois. “What is Yoga?” someone from behind me asked.
Pattabhi Jois, without hesitating said: “Yoga is to find God, Yoga Chitta Vritti Nirodha, Tada Drushtuhu Svarupe Vashthanam” which is the 2nd and 3rd sutras from Pada 1 of Patanjali Sutras – ‘Yoga is to quiet the mind and then you rest as who you are.’
Yoga is not “leg behind the head” and at that moment I was grateful that Pattabhi Jois was my teacher. Reminding practitioners that beyond the body, the poses, and the series, the reason for practice lies somewhere else completely. Much like the reason I became so enamored by Yoga.
It is less about the question: “Is there a God?” But rather “Have you experienced God?” which today, after almost 30 years of practice, I know is a moment-by-moment experience, and less like knowledge gained from studies. You either feel the sunshine on your skin, or you are more interested in the TikTok video you are watching.
Before I flew to India, I went to Thailand for the first time. I only went to study Thai Massage so I could be a better adjuster and possibly create a unique private Yoga class I could call Thai Yoga at a high-end resort that was willing to keep my spot as the Assistant General Manager of the Mindfulness department.
My friend told me about a man who was teaching from his home in north Thailand. Armed with directions that I wrote in my notebook (it is 2005, and iPhone and Google Maps have yet to enter the playing field), I flew to Chiang Mai. How I found Pichest from the makeshift directions I had written down, like ‘right before the big Buddha temple, there will be a rice field, take the road before the rice field until you get to Pichest’s house,’ I will save for a different time. But on Monday, the first day of classes, I felt like I was the only one who had never done Thai. I thought I was going to learn Thai Massage. Compared to refining my Thai Massage so I am better. When we spent almost 2 hours praying, it seemed completely normal to the other 24 participants. When he was done, Pichest sat crossed-legged facing us, and with his right arm made a circling motion around his chest and belly. “What does a Yogi do?” He asked.
I still remember thinking “Yogi? What about Thai Massage?”
Pichest asked again “What does a Yogi do?”
Then he answered “A Yogi sits. A Yogi Feels.”
Which was exactly what I was teaching in Yoga.
During my time in India, while working with Thai Massage, I would see the true value of my week with Pichest. How he corrected the postures of advanced students. He stressed the importance of feeling our own body and using our body efficiently while working with the other.
Teaching Yoga happened by accident.
I got a call from a lady who was running the athletic program at various corporate centers in Atlanta, Georgia.
She called and said she heard that I have been doing Yoga for a few years, and she was wondering if I could sub a yoga class last minute, the following day at noon.
This was October 2000. And yeah, I have been involved in Yoga for 6 years now. I had led my rugby teammates through sun salutations. I had shared things I learned with girlfriends, and as Yoga became more mainstream in 1997 and 1998, as a normal coffee table talk.
Yet I have never taught for money or strangers.
Nor did I have a certificate.
She assured me that was ok, and that while she does not have the time to meet me before I teach, she will meet me to pay me in person and discuss the feedback.
The class was held at the Coca-Cola building, and when she called me later that day, I was surprised to hear: “Do you have time to meet in two days? The students loved your class and I would like to have you as a regular sub teacher.”
When I came back from my first trip to Thailand and India, a lady invited me to work on her husband who was suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. I spent two weeks there and she invited me to partner with her and open a Thai Massage center with Yoga.
I was on my way to Thailand to build the first teacher training for Absolute Yoga, so that gave her a year to think and find a place.
I envisioned a small studio, where I could lead small classes and give sessions.
When I came back a year later, she had built a beautiful, modern spin on Thai Massage rooms in Thailand, that have a curtain rather than a door. 6 rooms, and an open area for yoga.
In 2010 it was the first Yoga and Thai Massage Center in Scottsdale, AZ. The first of that scale anywhere in the southeast USA (outside of CA).
With 6 rooms, I had to train therapists in the way I give Thai Massage, and it was the feedback of the students, especially those who have had Thai Massage training, that continues to inspire me to share this magic.
What styles of yoga and massage do you specialize in, and how do you tailor your approach to meet the unique needs of your clients or students?
Yoga in large classes, which is what I focus on, by its very nature is not focused on the individual, though if you come to me after class or workshop and talk to me about what is going on for you, then I can provide unique answers to your question. Does that make sense?
A class has many bodies, and the way I approach public classes is that the individual learns how to merge with the whole. The aim is to work together. Nor from memory. Not because they know. That means that the brand-new student is excluded. So now we have the second principle I work with in Yoga public classes – it is for the beginner first, and for all levels.
A great master once said – mastery is making each moment a new beginning.
Advanced students learn to let go of their need to control and allow the teacher to guide them. Like a conductor at a symphony. Yet with words. So I teach with words, Zero demonstration.
When it is 1-on-1, then we tailor it to the exact needs of that body. That’s also what makes massage different than Yoga. In massage, it is 1-on-1, so my focus is on the person I work with. From how far their joints move, how much pressure can they take, to where exactly they hold blockages and strain.
Massage I combine all I know – neuromuscular, sports, Swedish, deep tissue, lymphatic, and Thai. But I always work in Thai style – with clothes on and on the floor. The floor allows me to maintain the awareness that the practice is good for my body.
Yoga – I teach any style, as I started learning back in 1994, before so many of the “styles” even got their names.”
I focus my Yoga teaching on BikYasa – a hot flow style that combines the Hot 26 with Ashtanga-VinYasa principles to Modern Music and Silence. Created in 2012 BikYasa is practiced all over the world, and the term is slowly gaining traction in any kind of Hot Flow yoga class. Through the original sequence, with the Why and How it heals and connects the soul, part of what I built and shared in BikYasa training.
Yin Yoga – I first practiced Yin Yoga in Cardiff by the Sea in 2001. It changed my Ashtanga practice forever and I have been practicing and teaching Yon ever since. Wrote a book about Yin Yoga, as well as a Yoga book with stories from experiences students have had on the mat.
I also focus on Ashtanga. My main personal practice. I teach Mysore, write articles, make videos, and teach adjustments based on what Tim Miller taught and showed me in my 2 years with him. I have learned much since, yet I still value those 2 years above all. Receiving, communicating, and providing for my students, was the 2 years that truly expanded my yoga teaching.
How do you ensure the safety and well-being of your clients or students during yoga sessions and Thai massages?
By being very aware. Knowing that each body is unique in Yoga and thus teaching from the front of the room I can see the bodies and how they respond to my instructions.
Since I teach with my words only, and focus on the very beginner, I can worry less that something can happen in Yoga class.
In Massage, one should take the time to work on 50 bodies before they want to charge. It ensures you understand how ‘far’ different bodies can go. That’s how you ensure. However in massage, sometimes you push too far or press too much. It can happen. If you focus on good posture and correct positioning, that is minimized.
Can you provide an example of a challenging situation you’ve encountered during a class or session, and how you handled it?
Just the other month, for the first time in 25 years of teaching, I had a student bleed because of a yoga pose.
It was a crow.
She just face-planted and landed on her eye and nose.
The nose started bleeding right away.
I was giving the instructions for the flow of the class, and calmly walked over to the back and grabbed a towel.
Mind you, due to a motorbike accident I am walking with a peg leg, as my left foot is post-surgery and allows no weight.
I also tell the student she is ok. I tell the student to sit down.
This is all in a matter is seconds. the class is still flowing, and so is the blood.
I stand next to her with a towel, I put the class in a child pose and put my focus on the student.
She is ok.
She wants to stay.
No need for an ambulance.
She will head to the restroom.
And the class is back to downdog.
She returned 10 minutes later and enjoyed the rest of the practice.
I have taught crow for 25 years, and never had anything like this happen. But from now on I will make sure there is a pillow in front of them.
What strategies do you use to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for individuals of all backgrounds and abilities in your classes or sessions?
I smile. I say hi. I have my doors wide open. My social media representative is of various colors and cultures.
I talk about connection and openness. I practice what I preach.
How do you stay current with developments in the fields of yoga and Thai massage, and do you have any ongoing training or certifications?
Svadhyay is one of 3 elements of Yoga in Action. The other two are ‘enthusiasm’ and ‘faith.’
I stay up to date by reading, attending festivals, traveling, and listening. I also take courses and take public classes around the world, in various languages.
I run training and retreats, both in Thailand and all over the world. I am often invited to lead events or trainings, so if the reader knows of a studio or is a studio owner who wants to have BikYasa or Yin in their studio, or Thai Massage, I would love to collaborate. I also lead 200, 300, and 500 Yoga Alliance teacher trainings and am always open to working with a co-teacher.
I also help wellness and detox centers with consulting, lectures, and private and group coaching sessions.
