When did you graduate teacher training?
Fall 2006, the last class to graduate from the Headquarters in LA.

Why do you like it hot?
I love the heat, I love the sweat, I love the discipline it takes to overcome the heat.

Do you remember your first class?
It was back in the fall of 2001 at Funky Door. I loved it so much that after I finished my intro I got a job working the front desk. Look at me now.

Why did you become a yoga teacher?
I’ve always wanted to serve people, and being a teacher has allowed me to help people heal themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Though I didn’t know it would take the form of yoga, my dream since my early college days was to own something like Mission Yoga. To get where I am now I had to become a yogi, then an instructor.

Any tips for new students?
Keep your heart open, your mind clear, your mouth closed, and remember to breathe.

Hey baby, what’s your sign?
Virgo.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Do I have to grow up?

Beatles or Elvis?
Without a doubt, The Beatles.

What was your first concert?
Morris Day & the News, The Timex Social Club, and New Edition at the Thomas Mack Center at UNLV with my cousin Denny.

Have you ever fasted?
Yes, I’ve done the Master Cleanser several times.

How long did it take you to learn to lock your knee?
My right knee, not so long. My left knee, I’ll get back to you.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
A sip of fine single malt scotch.

If you were an appliance what would you be?
A stove, ’cause I’m a burner and I make you hot.

Have you ever been to Burning Man?
I was Rookie of the Year in 2001, have been building The Man since ’04 and was elected Mayor of Black Rock City in 2008. Any questions?

What’s the first music you ever bought?
I’m clearly dating myself here. It was a bootleg album of Michael Jackson’s Thriller from a swap meet. The first legit bit of music was a cassette tape (remember those?) of The Art of Noise’s In Visible Silence from Tower Records (remember those?).

Besides yoga, what do you like to do for fun?
Go on dates to the movies with my wife, camp, create art, enjoy live music, hot springs or tubs, twittering, cooking, eating, building community,

Describe your first kiss.
Wet, messy, and a bit awkward. I was at Depeche Mode’s 101 tour at the Rose Bowl and made out with a girl that sat next to me. I think she was there with her mom.

Describe your ideal yoga shorts.
My Asana Bengal Tiger shorts from Michael Phillips.

What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever done in class?
While teaching balancing stick, I was trying to convey the idea of contracting every muscle in your body and I said, “Eyeballs popping out of your head!”

What do you want to gain from your yoga practice?
Years to my life and life to my years.

Why do you love SF?
The people, the geography, the history, the food, the joie de vivre. The sense that anything is possible.

Why do you love the Mission?
It’s the heart of the city! The Franciscans knew what they were doing when they put the Mission where they did.

Favorites:

• Color: Blue, specifically, azure or lapis. The color of crystal clean water.
• Animal: Boston Terrier
• Yoga Pose: The warrior series, especially Trikonasana and Ustrasana and…
• Neighborhood: The Mission
• Restaurants: Boulevard, Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack, Maverick
• Bread: Sourdough
• Bikram quote: “I’ve got balls the size of atom bombs, nobody fucks with me!”
• Books: Cosmic Trigger, Ishmael, Shantaram, Stranger in a Strange Land, Hyperion, Love in the Time of Cholera, Ecotopia, The Diamond Age,
• Lucky Number: 23, duh.
• Least favorite pose: Standing separate leg, forehead to knee.