1. You were born and raised in Rishikesh, the Yoga Capital of the World. How did your journey into yoga begin, and what first inspired you to dedicate your life to this path?

One path closed and another one opened. Around the age of 15, I received a failed mark in school. At that point, I experienced real sadness for the first time. There was a lot of mental churning, thinking, observing, considering what to do. It seemed the most likely option was to prepare for a job in the military. However around this same time, I met my teacher of hatha yoga. He invited me to start participating in classes with him. Soon this practice became my life. At that point, I was not aware that yoga could also be a career. For me it started as a way to move me through the state of uncertainty and tumult that had begun to plague me as a 15-year-old, and soon became my greatest passion.

I can say that yoga chose me, according to my wish. With the practice and teaching of yoga, I can be healthy and at the same time, help others to be healthy too. Around the age of 19, my teacher called me to come visit him, at which point he told me I had to leave Rishikesh without any other indications. “If you do not go, you can not come back to see me,” he said. I told him I did not have any money, so asked, “how can I leave?” He gave me a few hundred rupees (around five euro) and told me that I needed to travel around, staying at each place for only a few months, learning whatever there was to be learned at the place in which I was (yoga, or whatever else knowledgeable people of the area had to share) and if there was nothing else to learn, then to teach, and use whatever money I earned to support moving to the next destination.

Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga became the practice that inspired me most, possibly because of the challenge, discipline and precision it demanded.

2. Your Guru encouraged you to travel across India and study with different masters for several years. Looking back, what were the most important lessons that shaped you—not only as a yoga teacher but as a human being?

Yes, my teachers inspired me to travel around, sharing this knowledge with others. The most important lessons during that time period were about the natures of different people, discovering different ways of living and being. The question started arising in me: How can I work to make the lives of these people better?

Still, wherever I go, I learn, I do the things I have never done. Learning mode is always on.

3. You are known for your powerful yet safe adjustments in Ashtanga Yoga. What is the philosophy behind hands-on adjustments, and what do you hope students experience through them?

People enjoy it. Through the right touch, a person experiences physical and psychological expansion. This results in their desire to experience it again and again, and to be capable of accessing it alone. They realize they have a physical capacity that is beyond what they believed, and they enjoy this. They can believe they are feeling Samadhi. They can experience something they might not otherwise experience in the practice for 10 years in one touch.

It is also a method of teaching that can be more penetrating and effective than verbal or visual instruction. It is felt, which is the surest form of learning. It does not distract from the concentrative dimension of practice, but rather enhances this.

6. We live in a world of constant notifications, social media, artificial intelligence, and endless distractions. How can yoga help us stay present, focused, and connected with ourselves in these modern times?

We do not need to do anything. The world is changing so fast and people need different ways of practicing. Yoga will reach more people if there are more ways of practice, and those people will receive benefit somehow. Somewhere, the change will be there. 100 years before, the yogis would practice in ways we are not practicing now. They would go to the caves, to the jungle – who will be going there now? Now if we are practicing in the city, there is a chance that maybe 50 people come, maybe 100. People just need to practice regularly, and the yoga will find its own way to the samadhi.

7. Yoga has become increasingly popular around the world, but sometimes it is presented mainly as a physical workout. How do you think we can preserve the authenticity and spiritual essence of yoga while making it accessible to modern practitioners?

Yes, it does not matter what culture or background you are coming from, people are all looking for one thing: they want to be happy and healthy. And yoga can give that easily. In the first breath, in the first class, you can receive that easily. Of course, over time, yoga will take you to its aim. But first it will give you what YOU want. That is why more people are moving towards yoga. Then it will give you what yoga wants.

8. You have taught students from many different countries and cultures. Have you noticed that, despite our differences, people are searching for the same thing through yoga? What do you think that is?

For me it has given me three things: health, spiritual wealth and happiness. 

9. If someone is considering joining your training but feels they are “not ready” or “not good enough,” what would you like to say to them?

When someone believes they are not ready then they will never be ready. The time will pass, and no chance happens. This is the right time, and the right place and the right people. So no matter where you are, how you are, just find the right teacher and just practice. Just start.

10. Finally, if there is one message you would like everyone attending the training to take home—not just as yoga practitioners but as human beings—what would it be?

Breathe deeper and be happy. Eat well, sleep well, drink more water. 

Ultimately, it comes down to taking responsibility for your own health and wellbeing — nobody can do that for you. With the guidance and steady practice of this discipline, that path becomes clearer, and freedom becomes easier to find.

Thank you, Yogi Kamal, for your inspiring words and for reminding us that yoga is much more than a physical practice—it is a way of living with awareness, compassion, and presence.

We can’t wait to welcome you to Finca El Alma del Búho this September and to share this beautiful experience with our community. Thank you for being with us today.

Namaste.