Ben Seymour

Thanks to the moderate, yet consistent over time, practices of my Mother and Grandmother I have been aware of the concept and benefits of beginning the day with salutes to the sun since I was an infant. In my early twenties and thirties, I dabbled in a short course and a couple of classes. However, my hunch that there may be something for me in Yoga was not reflected in a regular practice for many years. I have studied Psychology, completing my Master of Arts 1st Class Honors in the year 2000. I was blessed with the birth of my Son in 2004 and the joys and challenges of parenting in a shared care situation over the following years.

In the years leading up to my 41st birthday I was very experienced in using many cigarettes each day and far more than my fair share of alcohol to ease my way through life. I left these pursuits behind in January 2014 (planned to take place before I turned 41 in February that year). Later in 2014 I was lucky to be introduced to Ashtanga Vinyasa and the lineage of the Auckland Yoga Academy when Graduate of the school Madeline Waldegrave started teaching a weekly class at my workplace. This soon led to practicing, and then teacher training with the Academy. My suspicion that a regular yoga practice would contribute to a happy and healthy present and future continue to be confirmed and exceeded. My personal practices include morning Mysore Style Ashtanga Vinyasa, daily seated meditation practice and once weekly led Hatha practice. In addition to Yoga I work in IT, taking particular pleasure in working with Audio Visual technology. Over the coming years I wish to continue developing these practices, my understanding of yoga philosophy and to bring more Pranayama into my practice. I am very lucky to be sharing this journey with my partner Hui Zhang who I met while doing teacher training.

Ben currently teaches at the Auckland Yoga Academy: