Mild technical issues during this interview. Please accept my apologies that I wasn't able to smooth out all the rough edges; however, the lessons that Mark gives are worth the minor inconveniences.
Mark Stevens started practising Yoga at art school in 1986 after a career in motorcycle road racing, which left him with a body badly in need of rehabilitation! After leaving art school, he worked as an artist for many years, sustaining a regular yoga practice and studying in the Sivananda and Iyengar traditions. Gradually, the medium shifted from painting to yoga. Mark has an MA in Fine Art.In 2003, he undertook Sivananda teacher training in Kerala, southern India, and met his teacher, Swami Govindananda; it was a life-changing experience, and on his return, he converted part of his home into a Yoga studio and has been teaching there ever since. Mark qualified in Yogic Meditation with Swami Saradananda in London in 2006.Back to India for advanced teacher training with Swami Govindananda in the Himalayan Ashram on the banks of the Ganges in 2007.By this time, Mark had also discovered Jivamukti Yoga and new inspiration in the form of modern-day Yoga masters David Life and Sharon Gannon. He undertook teacher training with them in New York in 2009, discovering a new Yoga family.The teachings of Tirumali Krishnamacharya also inspired Mark, who undertook a short Vinyasa Krama Teacher Training andhis long- workshops with term student Srivatsa Ramaswami in 2014. The teaching and books of Gregor Maehle also inform Mark's practice and teaching, especially the systems of Pranayama and Yogic Kundalini Meditation that he has codified for us from the traditional scriptures. Mark offers love, gratitude, and all his efforts to the teachers and students who have guided him on the path of yoga, Swami Sivananda. Swami Vishnu Devananada. David Life. Sharon Gannon. Yogeshwari. Swami Govindananda. Ruth Lauer-Manenti. Prahlada. Swami Kailasananda. Swami Tattvarupananda. Swami Saradananda. Srivatsa Ramaswami and Gregor Maehle.
Emergence of Yoga. T. K. Sribashyam. (English Edition)
Nathamuni's Yoga Rahasya. T.K.V. Desikachar.
Yoganjalisaram. T. Krishnamacharya.
Yoga Yajnavalkya. A.G. Mohan & Ganesh Mohan
S. Ramaswami. Samkhya Karika.
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