Yoga International Magazine

Question & Answer with David Swenson, Richard Freeman, and Tim Miller

Yoga International gathered questions for three legendary Ashtanga voices, David Swenson, Richard Freeman, and Tim Miller. Their answers illuminate how teachers yoga carry tradition forward while keeping practice human and useful. This conversation also shows how teaching yoga extends beyond the mat into breath, ethics, and everyday choices.

David Swenson: Lineage, Loss, and Living the Practice

David reflects on K. Pattabhi Jois’s legacy with warmth and precision, pointing to the “unseen” threads that stitch practice together: breath, attention, and kindness. He reminds us that teaching yoga is service first: sharing tools that help students meet life with steadiness. Through stories of the Guruji era and its aftermath, David shows how grief can be transmuted into gratitude, and how teaching yoga becomes a way of honoring one’s teachers through action.

David Swenson's Q&A

Richard Freeman: Breath, Mind, and the Habits We Avoid

Richard explores the psychology of practice, how the mind dodges discomfort and how breath reveals those patterns. He invites students and teachers yoga alike to stay curious about avoidance, to soften around resistance, and to use breath as a lens into perception. In his view, mindfulness is not an add-on; it is the structure that makes method meaningful for teachers yoga and students together.

Richard Freeman's Q&A

Tim Miller: Philosophy in Motion, Practice in Modern Times

Tim ties daily sequences to the Yoga Sutra’s eight limbs, showing how the classics still govern modern rooms. His take on teaching yoga is refreshingly practical: align intention with action, keep the count honest, and let patience do its quiet work. He notes how yoga has evolved, and insists that teachers yoga must help yoga practice support the rest of life, not replace it.

Tim Miller's Q&A

Bringing It Off the Mat

Across all three perspectives runs a single thread: the goal is transformation that shows up in ordinary moments. When teaching yoga clarifies breath and conduct, practice becomes portable. And when teachers yoga model humility and care, the learning continues long after yoga class ends.

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