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Vipasai Niyamabha

The Nation

 Clayton Horton seems to enjoy the delicious perks of being a yoga teacher. Travelling in Asia is one thing he loves as it gives him the opportunity to meet with students hungry for yoga practice and study.

 "I'm treasuring my time in Asia this year. Yoga is booming here, and I want to be a part of the growing number of yoga communities", he says.

An Ashtanga yoga teacher, Horton is currently in Bangkok preparing his first "Greenpath -  Dharma Yoga Teacher Training Course" here, which runs from tomorrow to March 31 at the branch of Dharma Yoga by Sareerarom on Sukhumvit Soi 23. Although it will be attended by a small group, Horton is happy to be passing on his knowledge and passion for yoga to a new generation of teachers.

 Now the director of the famed Greenpath Yoga in San Francisco and with 13 years teaching yoga under his belt, Horton surprises many with his belief that he still has more to learn.

 He began his annual tours of Asia in 2003 with a trip to the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India, where Sri K Pattabhi Jois granted him the authority to teach. Fewer than 200 yogis in the world have earned this distinction. Horton's other mentor is a man called the Greensufi who brings a Middle-Eastern flavour to his practice.

To tune up for his Bangkok teacher training, Horton went back to Mysore for two months to study with Jois.

 "I still enjoy my role as a yoga student in Mysore -- being with my guru and fellow Ashtanga practitioners."

 His time leading retreats in Chiang Mai and the Philippines and teaching in Tokyo and Hong Kong has given him a taste for new cultural encounters and meeting students from a wealth of different backgrounds. Practitioners meeting him for the first time in Bangkok will find an experienced yoga teacher but can also draw creative inspiration from his talents as a harmonium player and singer.

 Contact Dharma Yoga by Sareerarom, Asok Studio at (02) 258 3575.