Amit Singh is everything you’d hope for in a yoga teacher—calm, peaceful and with no ego. I met him at a yin yoga class at Ethereal Yoga in Pine Tree Circle, where he has taught for three years. He also teaches vinyasa yoga there. Vinyasa is a bit much for me. I prefer the gentler yin, but still feel a physical benefit from it.
Amit says that yin and vinyasa are the yin and yang of yoga. “Vinyasa is a little more active and intense, more sequenced—the yang. Yin yoga gets into the fascia of the body, the connective tissue, by holding the poses for longer, sometimes using props like blocks, a strap and a bolster.” These are provided.
He thinks it’s important not to get hung up on the physical aspect of yoga, because every body is different. “The ultimate goal of yoga is to focus on the breath, go within and surrender to the divine—whatever that might mean to you—God, Self, Source, Universe,” says Amit.
Amit’s parents moved to America from India in the 1970s as Mr Singh’s engineering prowess and academic brilliance were welcomed here. Amit, the youngest of three brothers, was born in Chicago. When Amit was six months old, the family moved to South Korea after Mr Singh was offered a job there engineering nuclear power plants. The family stayed in South Korea until Amit was about to start grade school and moved back to Chicago. His first memories are of being in South Korea.
After Amit was born 38 years ago, his father, then aged 40, went through what Amit describes as his “existential mid-life crisis.” Mr Singh had spent his life studying and focusing on achieving success. “By the time I was born—I was the third child—Dad was wondering: Who am I? What am I doing here?” says Amit. “He started meditating and doing yoga.”
While the family was still in South Korea, Amit remembers being surrounded by Eastern philosophy. “Yoga and meditation was a way for my parents to connect with other South Asians and East Asians in Korea.”
Mr and Mrs Singh still continue their practices. Amit began practicing himself as a child. He started with breathing techniques before any kind of physical postures. What has meditation and yoga done for Amit? “It really made me look fully inwards, almost at all times. And that’s not always been easy.
“Modern society and all we’re taught in school emphasizes looking outwards—societal norms, materialism, the American dream—and when you maybe don’t live fully by that framework, you can feel isolated and alone. You may feel like maybe you’ve got it wrong so it takes a lot more inner clarity, inner work and inner practice to get little hints of validation that you’re on a proper path.”
After Amit finished his undergraduate studies, he lived and worked in a Buddhist institute where his practice deepened. He didn’t jump straight into teaching yoga, however. Amit worked in the investment industry. That’s when he moved to Los Angeles.
Just to step off the path to enlightenment for a second—any investment advice? “You don’t need crazy investment theory to make money. It comes down to an inward practice of self control. Live your life in a balanced way and you’re not going to have financial issues. Spend less than you earn.”
Amit recommends starting saving early. He worked in the community teaching high school children how to be smart with money and explaining the beauty of compounding interest. “It will blow your mind to see how interest gains on interest over time,” he said.
Amit says just because we get a pay rise or an influx of money, our standard of living doesn’t need to go up to match that every time. When you get to a point where your foundation is covered and you have your comforts, take the opportunity to save more and don’t stretch yourself.
After working in the investment industry, Amit spent eight years managing musicians and producers. Amit is also a bass player in a local band, D.R.E.A.M. Music plays a big part in his life. He started out as a drummer. I noticed that he makes good choices in the music he plays during his classes. While working in the music and investment industries, Amit continued a personal meditation and yoga practice.
Amit has a great sense of adventure. For his last birthday, he went on a boys’ trip into the desert with two friends. He rode his prized Royal Enfield motorcycle to Death Valley where the temperature was 118 degrees and never dropped below 100 degrees at night. The desert winds were often strong, especially passing big trucks on the Antelope Valley freeway.
“I like to do things that test me. I don’t do crazy stunts or anything like that, but when I’m riding my motorbike, it takes full focus. You’re not really thinking about anything else and go within. Especially when you’re in traffic and thinking about how many ways you can be killed. There’s a level of trying to predict other people’s movements, the attention or the inattention they’re paying when they’re driving. And then, of course, there’s the joy of riding and whatever that brings, which is a meditation to me.”
Amit believes that to really examine ourselves, we need to do a lot of work and introspection. “So whether you’re someone who’s mopping the floor or someone who has thousands of social media followers, others won’t know. I think the beauty of spirituality and this inward path is that you can’t tell from the outside. The most impactful and the most ‘enlightened’ person could be someone that’s just quietly in the background. And that’s usually the case.”
Amit is one of many excellent yoga teachers at Ethereal Yoga offering a variety of classes at all levels. Namaste.
