I met Kish in Phuket when he attended my yoga classes as a student while he was on his health vacation in 2018. Not long after, I found out that he had not only been practising yoga for decades but also published and marketed a yoga magazine.

My pranayama class on the beach with Kish, Leigh and Nicholas. (left to right)

The roles have now changed and I am his student. I have learnt a lot from his wealth of knowledge and passion for yoga, life and business. Many interesting aspects arose from our beautiful conversations with our sharing to maintain equilibrium - in yoga practice, in life and in yoga business. The table had also turned as Kish, who is normally the one asking a lot of questions has now became my interviewee.

My question burst into the warm-humid tropical air. ‘What is the good success on making money from yoga?’ Kish grabbed it and gently replied, “It’s important that good yoga students progress to become yoga teachers. If you are starting your own yoga studio you need to be confident of the financials so that you can make sufficient money in order to live comfortably. We need to develop ‘a prosperity consciousness’ so we can attract the abundance of the Universe to us. There is nothing wrong from earning money out of teaching yoga. It’s an economic necessity for teachers. A good teacher will always attract many students”.

Our conversation reminded me of the great epic ancient Indian, Mahābhārata. It mentions ‘Puruṣārtha’ (object of human pursuit), which defines four teleological goals of human life.

1. Dharma (righteousness, moral duty)
2. Artha (economic prosperity)
3. Kama (pleasure, love, psychological values)
4. Moksha (the ultimate goal - spiritual liberation)

We see that financial prosperity (Artha), which leads to a sense of stability, has been mentioned as one of the human approaches to life. Finding the balance is not only challenging on the yoga mat, but also in life. Selfless, inner happiness, desire, greed, material wealth and fame can many times be mixed up and therefore frustrates us. Awareness and mindfulness will ensure we stay in balance and develop what Kish called “prosperity consciousness” - the key of success both in personal and business purposes.

*Portraits of Kish and Pascha. *

As an editorial director of a recognisable yoga magazine, Kish has met and known many yoga teachers and yoga celebrities so I asked him, “What do you consider makes a good yoga teacher? What constitutes a good story for readers? Are these two related to each other?"

“These are two separate subjects. For me, a good teacher is someone who has the correct teaching skills and can inspire every student to do their best at all times. The worst kind of teacher is the one who just demonstrates the poses and says ‘do this’ and nothing more. Teaching correctly means you can connect with all the students in your class regardless of individual limitations. You, Pascha, have very good teaching skills that naturally encourage students to excel. I enjoyed the tough yoga classes with you. Now, a good story for readers - before I answer that, let me explain that my magazine ‘YogaLife’ is actually a mind, body and spirit magazine that has a core focus on yoga matters. A good story needs to be interesting, engaging, educational and ideally, should benefit personally the reader. For example, if we write an article on ‘self-hypnosis’ I would like some of the readers to join a self- hypnosis class or workshop. That is success. When we print articles on healthy cooking our readers write us saying how much they enjoyed the various recipes. That is success”.

Kish's comments assist me in realising that a ‘good teacher’ and a ‘good representing teacher’ are not necessarily the same thing. A good article does not depend on social likes and shares but how it leads to a positive impacts on people’s lives. If your yoga class/product becomes a tangible experience and a part of an individual’s journey, that is real magic. You feel it, people feel it and this feeling cannot be purchased.