Former Yoga Journal Singapore Editor caught up with Baron Baptiste over breakfast when he visited Singapore
I had never attended a Baptiste Yoga Class, and so was curious when I heard that Baron Baptiste would be visiting Singapore. I signed up for a class by Sola Fawehinmi, one of the few Baptiste yoga teachers in Singapore, to see what it’s all about.
By Kavita Chandran, 2016
It was basically what I would term Hatha with Vinyasa. But the word that came to mind (as sweat poured off me and one pose followed another in quick succession) was “vigorous”! At the end of it, I was tired, but also invigorated and ready to make the most of what had started off as just another lazy Sunday.
Unfortunately, I missed Baron’s session in Singapore, which was very well-attended by about 500 people. But I did meet him the day after at the Fairmont hotel’s Antidote restaurant for breakfast. Baron was dressed casually in slacks and a navy blue long-sleeved t-shirt, and was wearing a grey baseball cap. He ordered himself a green tea and a croissant, and took the time to browse through Yoga Journal SG’s August edition (and even took a copy home!).
Baron, the son of Baptiste yoga founder Walt Baptiste, was born and raised in San Francisco. He left for Los Angeles in his early 20s, and was trained there by two renowned Indian yoga masters, BKS Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois.
Baptiste incorporates both the Iyengar and Ashtanga styles in his classes. He also believes that meditation is central to Baptiste classes, and self-awareness the ultimate goal of asana practice.
We soon got chatting, and here are some excerpts
KC: How has Baptiste yoga evolved over the years?
BARON BAPTISTE: What I teach now is not so different from what my parents did—given that it is still about mind-body fitness—but it’s more modern and relevant to the times. In Baptiste yoga, the physical becomes the doorway to a bigger inquiry. We have three primary practices: meditation, asana and then inquiry.
KC: How do you think yoga is linked to the environment?
BB: Baptiste yogis typically do asanas indoors in a room, because it is a protected environment and allows us to focus. Asanas awaken something in the body and senses, and the experience comes back to nature. There is a connectivity, an alliance with the earth and oneself. When we walk out of the room, the body is more sensitive to nature, the ecology, and the harmony of plants and minerals, animals and humans.
KC: What’s your favorite asana, and why?
BB: I don’t have a favorite asana as such, but there are some I favor as they are a little more invigorating to me. For instance, the Nataraj asana (dancer pose) is just such a nice pose. It makes me feel like my body and being are integrated in the moment, all coming together into a true alignment.
KC: What would you say is your most difficult asana?
BB: The headstand. For a long time that was a struggle. While I had the physical ability for a headstand, there was a mental block. I remember an incident with a senior Iyengar teacher, Aadil Palkhivala, who had studied with BKS Iyengar since he was seven years old. Aadil once called out, “Headstand”, in the classroom. Most of the practitioners pulled their mats up to go to the wall. So I did the same too. He called me back to ask me where I was going, and I replied, “To the wall”. He then wanted to know why I was going to the wall when I was perfectly capable of doing it where I was. And I said something like, “I don’t know, my mother always said I could.” And he retorted, “I am not your mother. Do the headstand, do it here.” And I just did it.
KC: Are your kids following your family’s yoga steps too?
BB: I have three sons, the oldest is 23 and the youngest is 17. Two of them engage with yoga in their lives as a daily practice. All three kids are very much into the inquiry of life, where we create a ‘satsang’ environment and then take a question such as, ‘Who am I?’—first understanding who I am not. So if I didn’t have a name, title, degree or a yoga practice, would I still be my essential self? We dig deeper and deeper underneath, and it helps us reach some sense of being.
KC: What’s your favorite food?
BB: I love Indian food—my favorite! So does my youngest son, who likes it extra, extra spicy. I just do extra spicy.
(Singapore sources tell us that Baron was doubling up on chilies the night after his event!)
This article was first published in the print edition of Yoga Journal Singapore, which is now Yogahood Online.
