8 Limbs Yoga Centers is bringing Rolf Gates to their studio this March 2017. As a Seattleite, I am thankful to have a strong network of yoga teachers and studios that bring a wealth of yoga experiences to Seattle.
We had an opportunity to catch up with Rolf Gates to learn more about him and why he is coming to Seattle.
Rolf Gates lead a previous life as an athlete and a US Army Airborne Ranger. Both pursuits taught Rolf the value of training towards a goal. Achieving sobriety in a 12-step program taught Rolf how a spiritual discipline can transform a person’s life. Once Rolf understood what yoga was, he wanted to try it. Once he tried it, there was no looking back.
Rolf teaches a dynamic Vinyasa style that encompasses both an engaging physical experience and a meaningful spiritual one. It was not a style of yoga that attracted Rolf as much as the experience of community and devotion that he experienced in his early days at Kripalu Yoga Center in Lenox, Mass.
Currently Rolf has several projects that he is excited about. Rolf is a co-founder of the Yoga, Meditation and Recovery Conference in its eighth year now, and with annual conferences on both coasts. Rolf states that this project has been extremely rewarding. He is also very happy to have just finished his second book, Meditations on Intention and Being. He is also back on the road leading workshops open to the public once again after a number of years in which he focused on primarily training teachers. Rolf states that getting back into the classroom and working with the public again been really joyful.
We asked about his tenets in life. Rolf explained that he believes in the cultivation of mindfulness and compassion as part of a larger intention to root one’s actions in loving kindness. “It’s important that we focus on what we are for rather than what we are against. What we are for needs all of our energy,” states Rolf.
Rolf’s visit to Seattle, Wash. will be a dynamic weekend of Vinyasa, meditation, pranyama and lecture/discussion. Attendees will explore the practices that create a life that works. The yoga will be a synergy of the freedom of a powerful Vinyasa class and the structural integrity of yoga’s therapeutic alignment principles.
Rolf also added that students will explore the basic skills of mindfulness and compassion, how they can be brought into one’s yoga practice, and how they can be brought into your every day life.
[su_quote cite=”Rolf Gates”]The pose is what we are doing, the yoga is how we are being in the pose.[/su_quote]
Rolf adds that “I am very happy in my work, my family, and in my friendships. The only thing I want besides these forms of happiness is to continue contribute to the Yoga community in a meaningful way.”
Yoga is definitely Rolf’s passion!
We also wanted to inquire about his personal life. Mariam (Rolf’s life partner) and Rolf met working together as waiters for Legal Seafood Restaurant in Boston, Mass. The first time we went out for coffee it was surprising for her to see me without my bow tie. We have great kids who both love performing so right now the house is filled with the lyrics from High School Musical. This spring it will be Mary Poppins. We have one very kind dog and a daily request from my son for parakeets.
We can’t wait to have Rolf in Seattle! Sign-up for the weekend with Rolf Gates at 8 Limbs Yoga.
Rolf Gates Bio:
Rolf Gates, author of the bestselling book on yogic philosophy, Meditations from the Mat: Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga, and the newly released: Meditations on Intention and Being: Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga, Mindfulness and Compassion, conducts yoga workshops, retreats, teacher trainings, and coaching and mentorship programs throughout the U.S. and abroad–and online. Rolf and his work have been featured in numerous media, including Yoga Journal, ORGINS, Natural Health, People Magazine, and Travel and Leisure’s 25 Top Yoga Studios in the World. Rolf is the co-founder of the Yoga, Meditation and Recovery Conference at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California and the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Massachusetts and a teacher at Spirit Rock Insight Meditation Center in Northern CA. He is also on the Advisory Board for the Yoga Service Council and the Veterans Yoga Project. A former addictions counselor and U.S. Army Airborne Ranger who has practiced meditation for over twenty-five years, Rolf brings his eclectic background to his practice and his teachings. Rolf and his wife, Mariam Gates, author of Good Night Yoga: A Pose by Pose Bedtime Story, live in Santa Cruz, California with their two children.
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