The Los Angeles-based teacher and studio owner integrates Thai Yoga Therapy into his teaching.
By Vesela Simic
Saul David Raye is one of the leading teachers of Thai Yoga Therapy here in the United States. He is also an experienced recording engineer and producer, who produced Dave Stringer's CD Japa, and with business partner Max Strom, recently opened the Sacred Movement Center for Yoga and Healing in Venice, California.
Yoga Journal: How were you introduced to yoga?
Saul David Raye: My father. He was born in Burma and went to school in India. He wasn't a serious yoga practitioner, but he did some, and he was always interested in the mystical life. When I watched him do hatha yoga, I was intrigued. Then my first real yoga teacher came to me-a Buddhist monk named Yoga Vachara Rahula, who was a friend of my father's. I was struck by Rahula's presence; he was so different from anyone else I knew. When he was in town, instead of going off with my friends on a Friday night-I was in high school then-I would hang out with him. I asked Rahula questions about life and what it all meant. These were my first dharma talks. Later I went to live with him in a monastery for almost a year.
YJ: How old were you and where was that?
SDR: I was 23, and this was at the Bhavana Society in West Virginia. It's a Buddhist retreat center and monastery, but they also do yoga there. That was my introduction to a strong spiritual practice. I have had a lot of different teachers from different traditions since then: Swami Gitananda, Ganga White, Tracey Rich. I was very fortunate to be at Yoga Works for a long time, and many teachers passed through there: Aadil Palkhivala, Shandor Remete, and John Friend.
Continue reading "Talking Shop with Saul David Raye, my Yoga Instructor." »
