— In 1999, at a local gym in his hometown of Amherst, Seth tried his first yoga class. He was coerced by a roommate who was trying to keep the class from being cancelled due to low-enrolment, and he did not enjoy himself. “I hated it. It was hard, and I couldn’t do most of the things that the people around me seemed to find easy. I had signed up for three months though, so I kept going.” After the three months, Seth was in the best shape of his life—and was hooked. He had started with a Power Yoga class, but after finding an Ashtanga yoga book by David Swenson, he quickly discovered where his passion lay. After practicing the system in the book, Seth was struck by the fact that it ‘made sense’— more so than any other he had encountered. This experience made him want to learn and study the practice further.
By 2001 Seth was teaching the occasional class at the gym in Amherst, and at nearby Mount Allison University. He continued teaching part time when he moved to Halifax to attend massage therapy school. After graduation, Seth set up a massage practice in Halifax, and began to expand his teaching schedule. Over the next 5 years, he slowly switched from massage to teaching yoga full-time, and established the only traditional daily Mysore program east of Montréal.
Seth has participated in several Yoga Teacher Training programs, and most recently completed level two YTT with his principle teacher, John Scott, based in New Zealand. Seth is one of approximately 40 others in the world who have achieved this designation. Seth has also been blessed to have travelled to India to study with many great teachers, including his late Guru Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and his family: Saraswati, Sharath Rangaswamy and Manju Jois. In India, Seth also studied Sanskrit, chanting and Indian cooking along with his Ashtanga practice. Outside of India he has worked with Mark & Joanne Darby, Allison Ulan, Swami Nityamuktananda Saraswati, David Swenson and Tim Miller.
Seth is very excited to be opening the first large Yoga centre dedicated to the study of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in the Maritimes, and to be working with so many talented teachers. Ashtanga resonated with Seth upon discovering the practice ten years ago, and a studio dedicated to its practice is the ideal environment for nurturing and developing the discipline. “I enjoy the idea of being on the journey of sharing Ashtanga with people in Halifax. For me Ashtanga is a complete and whole practice, so why do anything else? It’s what I know and love, so it’s therefore what I teach.”
