Yogendra (Richard) Marks
was lead to Bhagavad Gita 60 years ago and it set him on the Yoga path at age 13. The Gita has been his guide to truth and life ever since. He was led to Hatha Yoga 30 years ago when he saw a class in session at his club and decided to take it.
Yogendra was blessed with two fine teachers from the very beginning. When he started taking classes at the Sivananda Center in Los Angeles, he knew that this was the Yoga he wanted to study. At Sivananda they say that if you want to find water you dig one deep well rather than a dozen shallow ones. Yogendra knew that he would dig deep into the Sivananda tradition. It is still the well that sustains his practice.
Yogendra was certified with honors by the Sivananda Ashram in Quebec, Canada in 1991. He feels that the most important thing he learned and internalized is that "you" don't teach the class; it comes through you from your teachers and the tradition. This understanding takes the ego and insecurity from teaching, and allows you to serve with freedom and love.
Since 1991 he has traveled to India. It is there that he realized that he has always been a Bhakta: a practitioner of Bhakti Yoga, the path of universal love. By following love and devotion in our inner and outer lives we cultivate the realization of the universal Self as Ourselves.
While living in Los Angeles, he interned at the Sivananda Center. Shortly thereafter he started teaching at the YMCA in Hollywood and 24 Hour Fitness in West Hollywood. He retired from teaching history in 1997 and moved to Watsonville. He re-established yoga classes at the YMCA and in 2000 he started giving classes at the Body Zone gym, where he still teaches. His style emphasizes bringing depth to each posture for both contemplation and healing.
Yogendra will lead a workshop about Bhakti Yoga at WYDHA on January 20, 2019. There will be talk, chanting, asana practice, meditation, and music.
Yogendra is certified an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT) by the Yoga Alliance. With that designation he can teach and certify yoga teachers and can offer programs that count for the Yoga Alliance continuing education requirements for teachers.