Graham Parsons is an incredibly kind and devoted teacher, and we are proud to have him teaching alongside Caitlin Varrin on our Smitten with Life Yoga Retreat this Nov.13-23 in Nicaragua in partnership with Yogalife Studios! Graham is a curious wanderer and you can often find him on the road teaching workshops at conscious music festivals and/or backpacking abroad with his mat, teaching at lovely retreat spaces most recently in Guatemala and Hawaii. Seldom not smiling, he is passionate about anything that lets people re-acquaint and connect into the contentment and simple joy at the very center of ourselves.
Learn more here about Graham, his path and perception as a teacher.
How did you find yoga?
My mom. Yet another reason amongst many to be deeply thankful toward her.
What to you is the most essential quality in a teacher?
The ability to mindfully but gently create a space, a container in which each individual can feel into their own medicine, their own amrita (nectar). My favorite teachers are ones that set students in motion in a direction of healing & clarity, without imposing or lecturing. So perhaps a better term than Teacher would be ‘Yoga Suggester’ but that wouldn’t look great on business cards.
As a teacher, what is the core of your message?
To lovingly but firmly shift oneself internally, to arrange one’s tissue, organs, and neurochemistry toward a perspective of seeing out into the world around us each day from a state of steady, quiet wonderment. This is my yoga.
What are the biggest challenges yoga has brought you?
Having been so deeply & exquisitely inspired by the teachings I’ve been lucky enough to immerse in, the challenge of trying to unpack it and gift it outward, both from the seat of a teacher and in my daily life is one I struggled with for a long while and still do from time to time. That experience of sometimes feeling hampered by language & not being able to convey the full richness of the yoga(s) we practice. But through this struggle I’m constantly reminded of how beautiful it is that we’re all constantly sharing these little glimpses with one another.
Where is your favorite place on earth?
Halfway up an banyan tree at the top of the waterfall looking out over the hidden valley on Hale Akua Organic Farm, Paia, Maui, Hawaii. In my travels thus far it’s my favorite place in the world to just Listen. Mahalo.
Other than people, what has taught you the most on your path?
My breath, plant medicines, and music .
What is your favorite style to teach?
Yin Yoga. It was my first love on my mat, and no matter how many other styles or trainings I pick up, this always feels most like home.
