Image by Monty Stilson
There’s a subtlety to Riji’s power and conduction of class. I remember leaving her class and knowing that my butt was kicked but very calm at the same time.
Through her posture, her voice, her sincerity and her capability, she is most certainly inspiring.
1. How long have you been teaching?
I have been teaching yoga since November 2006. 11 years.
2. What motivated you to start teaching? And, what have you learnt from teaching?
Inspiring teachers who generously shared with me their wisdom and passion, on and off the mat, are who motivated me to go to training. I learn from every class and client I teach.The more I teach, the more I humbly learn, that may be the biggest lesson of all.
3. What is something that you have learnt from a fellow yoga teacher?
Emmy Cleaves is a master teacher/ yogini who stands alone in a yoga universe where she is queen, so the words “fellow teacher” fall far too short. However, she has taught many of us, myself thankfully included, the essential principles for an evolving expansive practice. Precision. Intensity. Frequency.
4. How many times a week do you practice?
I practice in classes a few times a week, when I lead or practice as a student. I practice solo on my mat daily, even if it is for 15 minutes.
5. Who inspires your practice?
My students. My teachers before me. My best friend, who is one of the best teachers and students I know. All the little kids I see running free, so alive, so happy, without a clue that that becomes more rare as we spend more days on this planet. My yoga is a constant journey to remember that sweet place, made easier and lighter with each practice- less doing and more being.
6. Where are you currently teaching?
I teach in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at YOBK and Lighthouse Yoga School. In the city, I teach for Bode NYC. I teach in Long Beach (Bikram Yoga Long Beach NY)a couple of times a week. The rest of the time, I work with clients all over NYC, and I teach seminars and workshops internationally and nationally.
7. How has yoga helped you develop your character?
My approach to and experience within asana is a mirror for my life away from the mat. How I choose to “live” in my asana is the same. Everyday I am developing more or stripping away “development”- depends on what I feel is truly needed or desired to be happy.
8. What has kept you practicing all these years?
Answer in 5:). As well as a voice that whispers, sometimes gently, sometimes fiercely, “Practice.”
9. How can we find you on social media?
My FB is Riji Suh, my Instagram is @rijifiji.