#67 – Keen on Yoga Podcast with Dr Yogi

In this Keen on Yoga Podcast Adam talks to Dr Yogi (Andrew McGonigle) Andrew attended Medical School at The University of Newcastle Upon Tyne but struggled with the non-holistic approach often adopted by western medicine. He graduated in 2005 at the young age of 23 and worked for a brief period as a junior doctor in Sunderland Royal Infirmary. However, for many reasons he knew that this career was not suited to him and he finally made the decision to leave the medical world. In 2004 he started to practise Transcendental Meditation as a coping mechanism for stress and this had opened a gateway into spirituality. He began a new life in Sydney in 2006 working for the British fashion brand Paul Smith and regularly attended hatha yoga classes. After a few years of dedicated practice I decided to embark on an Ashtanga Yoga teacher training course at Yoga Thailand with Paul Dallaghan. Teaching is in his blood and is something that has always come naturally to him. His parents were both keen teachers during their working lives and early on in his life he set up an after school homework club to help younger students with their studies.  Having moved to London in 2009 he started working at the Triyoga headquarters where he remained in a Managerial role for almost 9 years. He began to set up my own small yoga classes in a local church hall and completed a holistic massage diploma. While assisting on a massage course someone asked why he wasn’t teaching anatomy and he had had a true light bulb moment! From that point onwards I focused all his attention on establishing himself as an anatomy teacher. Having studied anatomy in great detail during Medical School he now needed to look at this incredibly vast subject from a completely different angle and create ways to make it relevant to yoga.  He enrolled in hands-on dissection classes that focused on fascia (a word that he had never come across at Medical School!) and spent all of his spare time re-reading anatomy books, listening to podcasts and talking about anatomy to anyone who would listen. In recent years he has become a keen writer contributing chapters to the popular Yoga Teaching Handbook: A Practical Guide for Yoga Teachers and Trainees and Yoga Student Handbook: Develop Your Knowledge of Yoga Principles and Practice. His new book, Supporting Yoga Students with Common Injuries and Conditions, was published in March 2021. And his second book, focusing on yoga physiology, will be published in early 2022 Above all, Andrew is one of the most humble yogi’s Adam has interviewed and a really nice guy.  Enjoy this Keen on Yoga Podcast with Dr Yogi.  If you would like to support us please like, share and review the podcast.  We gratefully accept donations in any amount you choose on our website at Keen on Yoga.