Autobiography and Qualifications

A Brief Autobiography.  I was born in 1941 in Derbyshire, England. From a very early age (perhaps 2- 3 years old) I was aware of `something else` beyond usual conscious life. I always felt an affinity to nature, to solitude and peace.

I started my own `yoga sadhana` in or about 1952 when I came across Paul Brunton`s book `In Search of Secret India`, and soon after that `Naked They Pray` by Pearce Gervis. Yoga has been a central feature of my life ever since. Always there has been the balance between the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of yoga sanatan dharma.

I began yoga teaching in 1969, in Yorkshire, England, and since then have taught regular weekly classes, as well as workshops in many parts of England, and at the ashram I stay at in India. I have been interviewed on radio several times, appeared on TV teaching yoga, and had numerous articles published in the yoga press.

In the years since my first pilgrimage to India in 2000 I have been increasingly attracted to the spiritual aims of yoga and Hinduism. As a result of a vision following that pilgrimage to the source of the river Ganges I have realised an aim in life to plant enough trees in the world to green a mountain side before my samadhi. For this reason any fees paid to me for yoga workshops, anywhere in the world, are donated to tree planting charities. With your help I can do that.

Qualifications
I hold the British Wheel of Yoga: Teacher`s Diploma, ITEC Cert (Massage) and am included in the Register of Exercise Professionals (REP).
I have a University of London (Goldsmiths` Col) Teacher`s Cert., and a BSc in Botany and Zoology.
I also have a Birmingham University Master`s Degree in Social Science (Male Minority Groups and Leisure).
In 2000 I was initiated into the brotherhood of Naga Babas in Rishikesh, and given the new title of Swami Shiv Giri by my guru, Mahesh Giri.