Unlock
your
mental
power
Bending over to touch your
toes on a yoga mat in a room
full of women may not be your
idea of fun – but it could be
the key to happiness
I have an Idea as to how my IntervIew wIth
movement and medItatIon facIlItator dave
Gardner wIll play out. But as soon as he
starts talking, there’s an unexpected shift. Suddenly,
I find myself a blank canvas and he an artist.
We engage in meaningful
conversation within
a matter of minutes,
which I suppose is fitting,
considering the thought-
provoking questions
I plan to ask him: why
do men tend to avoid
yoga, and what are they
missing out on by doing
so? Gardner starts with
the basics. ‘Yoga involves
self-inquiry, achieved by
observing yourself and
the world around you,’
he says. I ask him what
sparked his relationship
with yoga, to which he
replies: ‘I’ve always been
interested in being alive.’
Gardner was born and
raised in Joburg. He was
completing a photography
project that involved
travelling around South
Africa when he discovered
Ashtanga Yoga. ‘Keen
to explore the practice
further, I started training
with Cape Town-based
yoga teacher-trainer Jim
Harrington, and I later
travelled to India with
him.’ On another trip to
India, Gardner trained
with one of Jim’s teachers,
founder of Yoga Synergy
Simon Borg-Olivier.
‘I also studied
archaeology, inspired
by my interest in the
San way of life and their
connection with the
natural environment.’
When Gardner started
108 / September 2019 gq.co.za