A dear friend of mine introduced me to Sri Dharma Mittra in 2007. I was living in New York at that time and was curious to meet a living Master in person. I was completely new to Yoga and didn’t really have any expectations; but somehow I knew. Perhaps “when the student is ready, the teacher arrives.”
I remember when I entered the Ashram (back then located on 3rd Avenue) for the first time, I immediately could feel, what is difficult to describe with words; let’s call it the “true spirit of Yoga”.
The love and devotion that emerged from everyone working in the Dharma Yoga Center, made it very easy for me to feel welcome and accepted. I got changed and ready for my first class with Sri Dharma. Then the Master himself arrived. As soon as he entered the Ashram, you could feel his Aura filling the space with love, peace and joy. In his humble and genuine way he welcomed everyone and then started his class. Hearing him speak and then to sing the holy OM, immediately put me at ease. There were some beginners like me, and a few much more advanced students, even a few other teachers taking his open level class.
As the Asanas were getting more challenging, I just fell more and more in love with this wonderful practice.
To watch, to listen and learn from Sri Dharma Mittra’s way of teaching was most inspiring. I even decided then to stay for the next lesson with him, which was Psychic Development.
There really are no words to describe the effect of my first experience in the Dharma Yoga Center. For all I knew, I had to come back and continue with the practice. And so I did.
Thanks to Sri Dharma’s inspiration, a few months later I also became a vegetarian and then few years later I applied for my first Dharma Yoga teacher training at the Center and got accepted. I remember each live changing day of the intensive immersion. All of the teachers and mentors in this process were extremely helpful and true inspirations. I’ve learned more than I can explain, much more than just the Asanas. And every moment being in the presence with Sri Dharma Mittra enriched my soul. I truly understood what it means to be a good teacher. I am for ever grateful to be able to share Sri Dharma Mittra’s teachings and spiritual knowledge.
After graduating as a Yoga Alliance registered Dharma Yoga teacher, I moved back to Germany, where I started teaching my own Dharma Yoga classes, and then again a few years later I moved to the UK, where I continue to share the wonderful teachings of Sri Dharma. I also just completed my next DY LOAY TT. Due to the pandemic I couldn’t travel, and so I took the training online instead. Despite of the distance, it was just as amazing, intense and impactful, as being in the same room with Sri Dharma Mittra and with his senior teachers and faculty at the centre. It’s wonderful that you can actually become a Dharma Yoga teacher, no matter where you are.
Dharma is the Sanskrit word for inner duty. As Sri Dharma says: Do it because it has to be done. The word Mittra means, a true friend that guides you and brings you happiness. A friend to all, like Sri Dharma, that you can trust. That is perhaps a good way to describe him and his teachings.
So if you feel ready and especially if you’re in New York, I highly recommend that you check out the Dharma Yoga Center.
Dharma Yoga is perfect for all of us in the fast paced world of today.
Maybe just try a class (even online), if you are looking for the “true spirit of Yoga”, wether you’re a beginner or advanced practitioner or a teacher; if you’d like to deepen your practice and perhaps feel ready to go beyond your fears and doubts; If you want to experience all facets of the “science to settle the mind into silence”, then Sri Dharma Mittra (also known as “the teacher’s teacher” and “the Rock of Yoga”, creator of the famous “908 Asanas” Yoga Chart ) and the Dharma Yoga Center is indeed what you’ve been looking for.