Pyramid Yoga was originally started by David after years of teaching. He started his teacher training modelled on the program which he had learned in India.
Beginning with a two month course in Mexico in 1997, he carried on in Victoria Canada but found the teachings and practices to be less effective in a cooler indoor climate and so came to find a more tropical setting in Thailand.
In 2001 he came to Koh Phangan and loved it, scouted around and found property above Haad Salad and Haad Yao beaches. The following year he cleared the land and began teaching, there was no yoga on the island at that time.
In 2003 the first Yoga Teacher Training was given on this island, followed by every other year since then.
David studied yoga in ancient India in 1971-72. The practice and teaching of the science has been his lifestyle since then.
The story of the Pyramid
In his studies of energy, chakras and kundalini, David was taught sacred geometry and found that a pyramid was used as a symbol for kundalini in the first chakra. In 1976 he built his first pyramid and spent a lot of time practicing meditation techniques in his small 12 foot pyramid.
In 1986, ten years later he went to Egypt for a month to research what the ancient Egyptians knew about yoga and kundalini. He discovered that they have a vast amount of yoga postures and breathing techniques carved in stone, a very well known example of this is the kundalini serpent on King Tut’s forehead. From the postures carved in stone, to breathing techniques, and the obvious kundalini serpent that is coming out of King Tut’s forehead.
Consulting his teacher in India he was told “of course they knew these things”.
Sacred geometry takes into consideration the structure of everything from chakra energies in the form of mandalas, to temple structures and the very important design of pyramids. The main pyramid at the centre is built in the same mathematical proportions as the Giza pyramid in Egypt because it is architecturally designed to conduct energy in an awakening uplifting manner.
What makes you unique on an island full of yoga schools?
Pyramid Yoga Center was the first yoga school on the island. The school is connected to a lineage in India, going back through Swami Gitananda and Ram Gopal in the last two centuries, and many before that.
It offers an education in the Science of Yoga that is very comprehensive and in-depth. The location and setting are very special, being nestled in the jungle on a plateau with ocean views, and the peacefulness of crickets. Pyramid center also has a specially designed Sound Temple with acoustic properties which draws in students and teachers from other schools.
What types of yoga do you offer?
This center offers 9 different forms of yoga, including Yantra yoga and Raja yoga – forms of yoga that deal with the mind and its development, as well as the usual physical postures offered in styles that range from the stillness of Yin yoga and hatha, to more flowing vinyasa routines and especially the Egyptian flows which are done as dance with music.
Beyond the physical, we teach pranayama yoga in conjunction with the asana flows – a combination which is both very awakening to higher consciousness and healing.
What do you specialise in?
Although we have been focused on Teacher Training for many years, there is a special focus on the healing aspects of yoga which has been developed with programs for healing chronic and degenerative diseases. Swami Gitananda, who had spent years in the medical profession stated that “there was no such thing as an incurable disease”, and this reality is taught with the appropriate cures.
In harmony with this healing David has developed Quantum Sound Therapy (1989), a therapy based on the sound frequencies of the chakras, and is used in sync with pranayama practices, creating a profound ‘tune-up’ and the cellular level.
What other events do you have?
We offer daily classes as well as two and three month long teacher training, weekend workshops, retreats for breathing and higher consciousness, healing programs for those suffering from ill health.
Ecstatic dances, and Yogadance are offered weekly. The pyramid center is also an available space for other teachers to offer workshops in related fields of Tantra and healing, Chi Gong or Capoeira etc.
Why do you think Koh Phangan is good to practice yoga?
The environment, climate and unpolluted atmosphere are requirements of yoga practice, and Koh Phangan as an non-industrial island provides the best.
Originally all of our students came from overseas for the 2 and 3 month teacher training, but now the population of yoga minded people has made it possible to offer many other shorter events
How has yoga changed over the years?
Traditional yoga has not changed though now it is being explained in the light of modern quantum physics. The westernization of yoga has however brought it down to a more physical level dealing more meticulously with the body while leaving most of the mental development out of it.
From what I learned in ancient India (before people had motorcycles), to modern yoga studios, is a big step downward. The empowerment of the mind and consciousness needs to be re-inserted. Yoga was the oldest health care system on the planet and it has become a fitness program.
What are your hopes for pyramid for the future?
Pyramid Yoga would like to remain one of the cutting edge yoga schools, providing the latest in scientific research on energy to the realm of chakra energy. We would like to give people peak performance health and higher states of consciousness for a lifetime.
Leave us with the Pyramid Yoga philosophy
Teaching people to understand the philosophy of Samkhya upon which yoga is based, is our bottom line. In the view of western science everything is now seen as energy, so Chakra Yoga as taught at the Pyramid Yoga Center is an experiential way of discovering this fundamental Samkhya philosophy, and working creatively with energy.
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