GQ South Africa – September 2019

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