Today we’d like to introduce you to David Ibrahim.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I am born and raised in inner city Queens, NYC. I started practicing meditation and out of body journeys in my young teens. Was a big fan of Buddhism, Vedanta, and everything esoteric from Seth Speaks to Aldous Huxleys Doors of Perception to Emmanuel Swedenborg’s writings and Rogers Monroe and Edgar Cayces writing. Not most kids from the hood had that mentality so I went out to West 4th in the Village and used to hang out at Washington Square park to find some sense of spiritual world. A Dominan girl I was dating in my late teens turned me Integral Yoga down by 13th st. And it was off to space from there. That journey took me through a Kundalini practice for years, many out of body journeys and amazing experiences with creating my reality to finally growing out of street life into eventually after owning a Pizza shop in Washington Heights and managing Bank of Americas I sought Yoga. So, I trained in a form of Raja Yoga with Gyl Elliot and Rupa Dora. Rupa initiated me in the Shiva lineage and told me to help people live an awakened life. Gyl taught me Yoga Therapy and to help people heal through Yoga. Between the two of them I was inspired to teach Yoga as a form of mind power and spiritual healing. I do feel the ancient Yogis like Patanjali and the seers of the Upanishads were the first to actually teach human kind how to create their reality. Law of attraction was first brought forth by the Yogis. And I believe I’m the first to really make that connection point. So, after having a profound realization of that while meditating on the Upanishads I received the calling to teach Yoga and Gyl and Rupa were there to point the way. Eventually, I also graduated from Loyola Marymount University’s Yoga Therapy program. Additionally, I taught Yoga Therapy at Casa Colinas and was the first Yoga Therapist to teach there at the Brain and Spinal trauma unit, thanks to Dr. Tammie. Now I own my own Yoga school and teach in the Raja Yoga lineage of Patanjali and through a mix of a Hatha meditative flow approach.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Struggles have not been many. I did decide to simultaneously go for my Addiction credentials and my Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy with a specialty in Trauma. So, for the last few years I taught Yoga out of Substance Abuse facilities and have worked with thousands of recovering addicts and have been blessed to teach them the power of visualization, self-regulation through mind, body and breath control. So not so much struggles as seeking guidance from the Universe and allowing myself to receive that guidance without forcing my own will upon it. It’s pretty fascinating to learn how to work in par with the universe and channel a deeper guidance than one led by fear, insecurity or greed.
Please tell us about Divine Yoga LA.
I feel my 200-hour teacher training is the only one in LA that is based on a slide in scale. I would really like to make Yoga affordable and available to anyone that wants to become a teacher.
Yoga is free and traditionally taught at no cost and within the confines of monasteries. In America, we monetized it and have made it a gym workout and have watered down the immense spiritual connection that it was designed to channel.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.divineyogala.com
- Phone: 323-533-8805
- Email: [email protected]
