[vc_row full_width=”stretch_row”][vc_column][vc_column_text]Seattle Yoga News is on a mission to find and highlight all of the hidden, and maybe not so hidden, gems in our yoga community and beyond. We want you to learn about their experiences and perspectives, but also a bit more about their personalities, so we have a few fun questions for them. This week’s spotlight is turned towards Douglas Ridings.

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WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME A YOGA TEACHER?

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Douglas Ridings:

I was finishing up school for classical singing and was definitely not feeling inspired about a career in Opera. I met Anne Phyfe and Melina on the street. They suggested I become a yoga teacher and offered me a job if I did my training with Kathleen. Since I started yoga and dancing at the same time, they have always been intertwined for me, 2 aspects of the same practice. It was a chance to share with people the awakening of awareness, body knowledge, spontaneity and imagination I had experienced with these physical art forms. It is also a job where I can be barefoot.

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WHAT IS ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU ALWAYS GIVE YOUR STUDENTS?

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Douglas Ridings:

I prefer to ask questions rather than give advice (if I can help it). But that questioning itself is something I encourage in students; asking themselves why they practice, asking teachers what their objectives are with what they’re teaching, asking themselves about their experiences with yoga.

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DESCRIBE YOUR YOGA PHILOSOPHY?

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Douglas Ridings:

While I find Patanjali’s beautiful and literary Yoga Sutras an excellent practical guide meditation, I feel much more personal philosophical kinship with less dualistic perspectives like Tantra, Shaivism , Advaita Vedanta and the Bhakti tradition of the Gita Govinda. This philosophical distinction is reflected in painting as well. The dualistic schools would portray Radha (Prakrti- Nature) and Krisna (Purusha- Consciousness) as close but never touching, while the non-dualistic schools would show them touching or embracing. The latter perspective is in harmony with the intention to utilize the physical body as an instrument to experience freedom of spirit rather than view it as an impediment to it.

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IF YOU COULD PRACTICE WITH ANYONE DEAD OR ALIVE, WHO WOULD THAT BE AND WHY?

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Douglas Ridings:

Matangi, the 9th Mahavidya. I like her style, and her message of inclusivity and detachment from obsessions with purity.

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HOW LUCKY ARE YOU AND WHY?

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Douglas Ridings:

I don’t think anyone is any more or less Lucky than anyone else.

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IF YOU COULD BE AN ANIMAL OR A PLANT, WHICH ONE WOULD YOU BE AND WHY?

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Douglas Ridings:

A crow. I admire their intelligence and adaptability. Would love to fly like that.

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WHAT IS YOUR LATEST FAVORITE THING ABOUT HUMANITY?

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Douglas Ridings:

I have great admiration for my friend who is doing medical emergency relief with refugees in Greece.

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ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE THE LOCAL YOGA COMMUNITY TO KNOW ABOUT YOU?

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Douglas Ridings:

I love teaching flow classes …but I REALLY love teaching the practices I’ll be sharing this Friday at Om Culture.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Douglas Ridings’ Bio: Douglas is an actor, dancer, performance artist and yoga teacher based in Seattle WA. Douglas started his practice with Kathleen Hunt in 1993 when he was part of the dance group “dappin’ butoh. He started teaching in 1999 at the request of Anne Phyfe Palmer and Melina Meza who were other early teachers. Douglas currently teaches private sessions, at 8 Limbs Yoga Centers, Yoga on Beacon, Velocity Dance Center (assisting Dr. Ratna Roy in Odissi dance) and Culture Shakti (where he teaches both Yoga and Odissi). When visiting India to perform Odissi, Douglas teaches yoga at 2 dance schools; Rudrakshya Foundation and Srijan. For more info about Douglas’ teaching and performance work please visit his website.

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