Today we’d like to introduce you to Todd Roderick.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Todd. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
At the age of 23, I stumbled onto the path of yoga through a book I found by chance at a friends house. The very next day I started teaching myself from the book I borrowed called “The Sivananda Companion to Yoga”. It was pretty wimpy yoga for an energetic 23-year-old skateboarder. Regardless, something inside of me was hooked immediately.
A few months later, while working as a commercial photographer, a client handed me a “Details” magazine which happened to contain an article about traveling to Mysore, India, to study with one of the most renowned and intense yoga gurus in the world, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. From the moment I flipped to that article and saw the photos of twisted up sweaty yoga students with the gaze of raw focus in their eyes, I knew at that moment I’d be traveling to India to study with this master.
For the next year, I saved every penny I made. Meanwhile, I taught myself the Ashtanga practice from a book and video because the only teachers in the US were located on the west coast. At the time, yoga had not yet hit mainstream America. That wouldn’t come until years later. Back in the mid 90’s yoga was mostly an obscure practice and qualified teachers were very hard to come by.
There was no internet at the time. Finding information about Pattabhi Jois’s yoga shala in a small town in India, which was basically a room in his house, proved to be very difficult. It took me months but eventually, I tracked his address down, wrote him a letter and was off to India where I would spend the next 6 months. When I left for India in search or Pattabhi Jois, all I knew about where I was going was an address written on a scape piece of paper. I had never taken a yoga class before nor had I met anyone who had actually practiced yoga.
In January 1997, I arrived in India for my first extended trip to study with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Yoga practiced and taught in India is very different from the western/ contemporary yoga we see today. Studying with Pattabhi Jois, we would arrive at 4:30 AM, six days a week, to practice in a small room located at the back of our teacher’s house. Pattabhi Jois was a very stern teacher and demanded 100% of our effort and focus in every practice. He never led us as a group, but instead worked with us individually within a group setting. It’s what is known today as a Mysore class and the only true all levels formate of learning. This method of teaching is also called parampara in Sanskrit meaning direct transmission from teacher to student. This method is still how I teach today.
Durning our morning practice with Pattabhi Jois he would push us, pull us, and sometimes pick us up and move us through the incredibly challenging postures of the Ashtanga practice. We practiced six days a week with very few exceptions. While studying in India my body and mind quickly began to change and I developed a deep love and respect for the Ashtanga practice and my teacher.
I continued to return to India to study with Pattabhi Jois and in 1998 he gave me permission to return home to teach what he had taught me. Unlike other forms of yoga that only require a 200-hour course for certification, the practice of Ashtanga Yoga requires years of extended study and practice at the source in Mysore, India before you’re given permission to teach.
I open my first shala in Athens, GA, in 1999, and taught there for seven years before moving to Atlanta in 2007 and opening Ashtanga Yoga Atlanta. After all these years of dedicated practice, consistent study, and teaching, I am now the most experienced Ashtanga Yoga teacher in the Southeastern United States.
Ashtanga Yoga Atlanta is now a destination for Ashtanga students around the world to practice and visit. All of my teachers at Ashtanga Yoga Atlanta are current and active students of Sharath Jois (Pattabhi Jois’ grandson and head of the shala, KPJAYI, in India since Pattabhi Jois’ passing 2009). We are the only yoga shala in Atlanta to have all teachers that continue to study annually in India and who are given formal permission (aka, authorization) to teach.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Ashtanga Yoga is designed to challenge us to our core. Dealing with challenges on both a physical and mental level on a daily basis becomes the norm when you’re a dedicated Ashtanga practitioner. That’s the reason this yoga practice is so transformative. If yoga isn’t difficult then it won’t truly and deeply change you. Keeping up a 6 day a week practice is what’s expected of all Ashtanga teachers. Regardless of whether I feel like it or not, I discipline myself to practice, and in every practice, I put in 100% of what I have on that given day.
Over the course of many years of consistent teaching, I’ve had a few major injuries. I’m very hands-on with my students just like my teacher Pattabhi Jois. While teaching I assist students in backbend sequences as well as pushing, pulling and supporting them in postures. This is very physically demanding and puts wear and tear on my body. Most of my worst injuries have come from teaching and not from the practice itself.
Ashtanga Yoga Atlanta – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Ashtanga Yoga Atlanta was formed to offer something Atlanta was lacking at the time, traditional lineage-based Ashtanga Yoga. When I arrived in Atlanta there were only watered down versions of the practice being offered. So, I moved to Atlanta with the intention of changing this by bringing authentic Ashtanga Yoga to the city. I’m proud of the fact that after many years of hard work and determination so many have embraced this practice and way of life. It’s changed this city into a destination for authentic Ashtanga Yoga.
I’m known for my ability to keep my students engaged and focused on their practice. I can sometimes be a stern teacher but always with soft edges. I learned how to conduct a yoga room from my main teacher Pattabhi Jois. A man who was very stern but never lacking in compassion and humor. As a yoga teacher, first and foremost I offer a practice which eventually renders the ability to focus and control the mind. My intentions have always been to help my students find balance in their body and mind with the hope this translates into their life as well.
One of the dominant features which sets Ashtanga Yoga Atlanta apart is all of our teachers are all students of KPJAYI (K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute) in Mysore, India, and return every year to continue study at KPJAYI. My other teacher at AYA, Brice Elizabeth Watson and myself are both bonafide (authorized) teachers of this in-depth practice. As of now, Brice is also the only female authorized teacher in the state of GA. This is something held in high regard because it takes many years of dedicated practice and studies to reach this level of experience and knowledge.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
When I set out to change the way people looked at the practice of Ashtanga Yoga in Atlanta it was immediately clear it wasn’t going to be an easy journey. I find pride in the fact I was able to endure the challenges while patiently and slowly changing people’s perspective leading eventually to owning a thriving yoga shala with a vibrant community of dedicated practitioners.
Pricing:
- 6-week Beginner Course – $175 (includes free Mysore classes for the duration of the course)
- New student special (for those that complete the 6-week course) – $300 / 90 days of unlimited classes
- Monthly Unlimited – $160
- 8 class package – $125
- 16 class package – $270
- Private session $125 an hour
Contact Info:
- Address: 27 Waddell Street NE Atlanta, GA 30307
- Website: https://www.ashtangayogaatlanta.com
- Phone: (706) 338-4835
- Email: ashtangayogaatlanta@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashtangayogaatlanta/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AshtangaYogaAtlanta/
- Other: https://www.ashtangayogaatlanta.com/beginner-course/
Image Credit:
Alia Deburro
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