Name: John Smrtic
Year Started Practicing Yoga: 2006
Location: Albany and Saratoga Springs, NY
Style/School: Jivamukti Yoga
Why do you teach yoga?
I teach yoga to share the freedom and belief in infinite possibilities that it has given me. Yoga didnât save my life, but when the time was ripe, it damn sure revolutionized my entire existence. This was my initial impetus for teaching â to share this awakening. I suppose feeling that calling, that pull to teach, is also my dharma. As I have become immersed in the Jivamukti Yoga tradition, I also teach to share my teachersâ (Sharon Gannon and David Life) vision, message and method. Jivamukti Yoga is brilliant, integral and effective. Last but not least, teaching yoga encourages me to continue to be a student - to study, explore, expand and continue on the path - so that I may better serve.
What makes you a teacher?
My teachersâ blessings and grace.
Whatâs your biggest hope for mankind, for your students?
Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu â May all beings everywhere be happy and free and may the thoughts words and actions of my own life, contribute in some way to that happiness and freedom for all.
Do you have any pre-class rituals before you teach?
I truly believe in my heart of hearts, and I have experienced it, that when we, as the ego principle, step out of the way, magic can happen.  We can be a conduit. The best I can do is to prepare for a class and then clear out so that the wisdom of my teachers and the ancients comes through. To facilitate that, I like to chant invocations, salutations to the spiritual masters, mantras and a prayer that my teacher Sharon Gannon wrote: Make me an instrument for Thy will. Not mine but Thine be done. Free me from anger, jealousy and fear. Fill my heart with joy and compassion.Â
Who are your favorite teachers?
Sharon Gannon and David Life. Radhanath Swami. Sadhu Maharaja. My family.
What type of person pisses you off?
Not to say I donât get pissed off, but I donât think there is a specific type of person that âpushes my buttonsâ so to speak. So the project I try to engage in is figuring out what my buttons are and understanding where they come from in me, so I donât put them out there to be pushed.Â
Who or what has been your best teacher?
Most certainly my beloved teachers Sharon Gannon and David Life have affected me at a level I didnât know was possible. As I dive deeper into the bhakti path, I feel the same about Radhanath Swami and Sadhu Maharaja. Being in the presence of the masters, alone, removes doubt and makes the bliss of the soul palpable. That is not ânew ageâ mumbo jumbo â but rather the reality â and potency of masters. But perhaps the best teachers I have had to show me the soulâs nature and capacity to love and serve are my father and my immediate family (mother, sister, niece and nephew). Presently, my mom and I are caring for my 64 year old father who is in end-stage Alzheimerâs. He has been on end of life Hospice care since January 2013 and we have kept him home through the process. He is 100% incapacitated: he has no use of his limbs, he is immobile, he doesnât speak, he canât chew, he doesnât respond, he is incontinent. Though he acknowledges us relatively infrequent, I have never been more aware of our connection and love. In some very real way, at times unspeakable, this connection is palpable and apparent. He has become my best friend and has taught me the true nature of selfless love and selfless service. A few months back, in an experience beyond words and beyond mind, I looked at him and the word âGuruâ came.  The experience with my family and father has taken me, and continues to take me, through the entire gauntlet of human emotion and experience: death, life, selfishness, selfless-ness, love, compassion, kindness, faith, refuge, sadness, grief, pain. At the same time it is fueling my spiritual quest and bringing realization and abiding contentment. I count my blessings and give thanks and praises for all of my teachers, and for the One, constantly.
Whatâs the most important thing for you in maintaining integrity?
Connection to my teachers and remembering that the goal is yoga are critical to maintaining integrity. Humility is also essential, not just for integrity, but for yoga practice and spiritual life.Â
Whatâs your biggest fear?
I have a healthy fear of drugs and alcohol. They brought me to yoga and will take me away from it â from my Beloved â quicker and faster than anyone or anything. Both the Bible and Bhagavad Gita teach on the subject of fear. When there is refuge in God, there is no fear: âGod is my strength and refuge⊠therefore we shall not fear.â (Psalms 46); âAbandoning all other duties, seek refuge in Me alone. Do not fear. I will deliver you from all sinful reactions.â (Gita 18.66). I canât say I live in a state of divine refuge all the time â it is more of an aspiration and practice as much as and as important, if not more so, than any other yoga practice in my life.
What was your first experience of yoga and what is your experience now?
Haha â I chuckle as I reflect on the first class I took when I was in high school â early 90âs. These two dear high school teachers (who became my first yoga teachers) would bring someone from Kripalu in Massachusetts to teach weekly in my hometown of Amsterdam, NY. I remember really digginâ the class but the only thing I actually recall was a reference to what I now know as mula bandha. The teacher said something to the effect of, âImagine squeezing a walnut between your buttocks.â I remember thinking then, âOh my Sweet Jesus.â My experience of yoga now is, quite simply (and most profoundly), âSweet Krishnaâ.
Any secret or special talents?
I thoroughly enjoy putting together music playlists for class. I try to approach it like a DJ as far as matching beats, transitions, vibes and themes of the songs to the class structure, energetic arch and class focus. I called the mix I made for my first class ever âBhakti Groove.â It stuck. To date, I have over 300 Bhakti Groove mixes that span many life and yogic topics and music genres â though I must admit, they have gotten reggae and kirtan heavy as of late.
What is your favorite four-letter word?
LOVE â it is the end and means.
If you weren't a yoga teacher, what would you be?
A lawyer. I was practicing law and teaching until the summer of 2013. Right now I am just teaching yoga.
What is your favorite thing about living yoga?
When I am able to truly live in a yogic way, my life becomes authentic, connected, joyful, meaningful, compassionate, magical, service oriented and deeply rewarding. It doesnât mean that challenges, trials, tribulations and pain disappear however.   Every thing, circumstance, situation or relationship gives the potential opportunity to grow and gain clarity and perspective.  It becomes possible to stay in a state of gratitude and spiritual connection even amidst the ups and downs of life and to actually become receptive to the continual flow of grace that we are normally closed off from perceiving. If we stray from the path or revert to old ways that no longer serve us, we hopefully are quicker to become aware of it and return to the path. To me, living yoga is about being connected to the Source, devoted, present, trying to be a good person and minimizing harm to all beings. Living yoga is oh so much more than asana (though it is an integral part). Gratitude, kindness, veganism, japa, satsang, kirtan, seva and surrender are all important aspects of my life and practice (sounds a lot like yama and niyama!).   Â
What are some obstacles to living yoga youâve experienced?
I think forgetfulness is the greatest obstacle to yoga (or living yoga). Suffering comes when we forget our true identity, our eternal, soul nature, and when we forget the Source. I think Master Patanjali in Yoga Sutra perfectly spells out the obstacles (kleshas) to truly living as a yogi, a free one: avidya (ignorance â forgetting our true identity), asmita (excessive ego attachment), raga (attraction/attachment), dvesha (aversion/repulsion), abhinivesha (clinging to life).Â
What is the most significant thing yoga has taught you about yourself?
I am not who I think I am!
What specific part of your practice is influencing your personal life right now?
Bhakti Yoga in all forms â chanting the Holy Names, keeping company with saints, sadhus,and those on the path, reading the Srimad Bhagavatam and other devotional texts, keeping an altar, prayer and making offerings.Â
If you were to cheat what would you do?
Who, me? Cheat?
How do you stay inspired?
I continue to study with my teachers at every possible opportunity. As Shyamdas once told me, we must âseek ignited company,â and then as he humorously but earnestly said â get good at hanging out. Seeking, steeping and saturating in the company of masters, realized beings and elevated souls is where it is at. Last summer, I was sitting with my beloved teacher Padma ji (Sharon Gannon) at her Woodstock home after the last day of classes. With tears in my eyes, I said to her, âI donât understand why this is happening to meâ â referring to intimate moments at their sanctuary with her, Davidji and Radhanath Swami. She looked me in the eye and with an angelic glance, nodded her head and said, âKeep showing up.â She repeated it, âKeep showing up.â As in life, as in bhakti yoga, as in all yogic pursuits, the transmission happens in relationship. Luckily, we donât have to understand.
What does yoga mean to you?
Yoga to me is about remembering and reawakening our bliss-filled, vast, expansive nature that is love, and its eternal connection to the One â the Source. One Love.
What is the future of yoga?
I believe that yoga simply is. It is the natural state. However, in the age we are in now, Kali Yuga, it is said that the Holy Names are the life raft, and then even these will fade as the age moves on. We have some work to do and Now is the time. With that said, I believe that as âyogaâ proliferates in the West, it is also incumbent upon us to keep it pure, purposeful, clear and connected to scriptures and masters, and that is part of our joyful work too.
What makes a good teacher?
Having good teachers makes a good teacher!  Being a good student is so important.  Humility. Sincerity. Enthusiasm. Respect. Curiosity. Passion. Dedication. Compassion. Courage.
Learn more about John at www.bhaktigrooveyoga.com
