I practice because yoga has become part of who I am – physically, spiritually, emotionally. I could no more easily stop being a yogi than I could stop having curly hair. I teach because it is a privilege to share this practice to others.
Describe your personality in three words.
Passionate, inquisitive, and loyal.
Where are you from and/or where do you live?
I am from Egypt and came to live in Brooklyn after sixteen years in California. All three places have been deeply influential.
How long have you been practicing yoga and why did you start practicing yoga?
I have been practicing yoga for almost 10 years and came to the practice after a serious car accident and multiple resulting knee surgeries sidelined me from my lifelong passion for contact sports and, particularly, soccer. I was drawn to the safe, sustainable practice of yoga as a means to repair my body, nourish my soul, and develop a practice that I could continue over the course of my lifetime. This experience has deeply informed my teaching style — I teach with a goal that each student practice with the precise, proper alignment that will prevent injury and ensure longevity of practice.
What is yoga to you?
As a practicing Muslim, I have been taught to always seek balance. Yoga is a practice and lifestyle that allows me to deepen my connection to my faith and find balance through challenging times.
How did you feel after your first yoga class and how do you want students to feel after they practice with you?
After my first class, I remember walking up to the teacher and asking, “Can I do this everyday?” I hope my students feel that too.
What impact has yoga had on your life? Who were you before you started practicing and how have you changed, evolved and transformed?
Yoga has given me the gift of integrating a deeply personal practice with a tremendously satisfying profession. While on the outside, my prior career as a wildlife biologist (I worked in the recovery of endangered species) may seem entirely different, in fact the drive to serve a greater good underlies my entire career trajectory. My own yoga practice gave me grounding, balance, and sustainability. The fact that I am able to have a career of bringing yoga and helping others in my community to find balance brings me more professional satisfaction than I ever dared to imagine I’d find.
Why did you decide to start teaching yoga and what makes a good yoga teacher?
I started teaching yoga because I wanted to teach in a way that encourages inclusivity. With proper alignment and technique, absolutely anyone can practice yoga. Delivering that message is what makes a good yoga teacher.
What style of yoga do you practice and what makes that style most effective? Do you have a teacher in your style of yoga?
I practice Vinyasa and Iyengar yoga styles. Iyengar allows yoga to be available for all, through mindful and proper alignment. Incorporating that knowledge into Vinyasa helps me shape an accessible flow.
What is yoga favorite yoga pose and why? And what’s your least favorite yoga pose and why?
My favorite yoga pose is downward facing dog. It is strengthening but calming and foundational to the practice. My least favorite is Kurmasana, tortoise pose
What has been the most inspirational moment you’ve experienced as a yoga student?
Learning that, with patience, awareness and practice, challenging asanas that I thought were impossible for me become possible and how I can apply that to other challenges in my life
And how about as a teacher?
After a few years practicing together, one of my private clients called me from his doctor’s office to tell me he had grown almost half an inch! I was so happy that our stretching, lengthening, and upright- shape enhancing movements gave him a tangible benefit.
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Why do you practice? Why do you teach?
I practice because yoga has become part of who I am – physically, spiritually, emotionally. I could no more easily stop being a yogi than I could stop having curly hair. I teach because it is a privilege to share this practice to others.
What’s your favorite yoga quote or mantra?
When I teach, I often say “as you are.” I typically say it when I ask my students to maintain the shape they have made, but to add on to it. A student who practices with me regularly told me that every time I said this, she almost cries. And I realized that “as you are” is really representative of the practice of yoga and even life, more generally. “As you are,” whatever you bring to this day, on or off the mat, that is just fine. Exactly who you are right now is exactly who you are supposed to be. When it comes to yoga, we are working with who we are at that moment. Not what we once were or what we will be.
What is the single most defining issue facing the global yoga community today?
I am a big believer in yoga as an inclusive practice and community. I hope that we continue to find ways to show people that you don’t have to look a certain way or believe in a certain thing to be a yogi. Yoga is for everybody.
What’s the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you as a student and as a teacher?
I am either so fortunate or so forgetful that I cannot think of an embarrassing yoga experience!
Do you have any recommended yoga reading?
Light on Life and Light on Yoga, both by B.K.S. Iyengar, are exceptional. Thoughtful, thought- provoking, and informative.
What is your dharma, your life mission?
I am constantly seeking balance and sustainability. Be it through my pre-yoga career as a wildlife biologist, my political activism, or my community outreach.
What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out on their yoga journey?
I teach yoga with exacting precision for alignment. I encourage a beginner to seek to practice with precision, but to be forgiving throughout the journey. Like an archer who directs the arrow and lets it go must accept the path the arrow takes, so too must a yogi seek precision, but accept the unexpected directions. So start on your path, direct, redirect, and let go.
Are there any current projects you’re working on that you can tell us about?
I am most excited about my upcoming retreat in Costa Rica! As a former wildlife biologist, I am excited to lead my students through yoga in a bio-diverse paradise where we will explore nature, hike, identify rare species, bird watch and, of course, practice yoga.
Aside from your fantastic course on Omstars, do you have a favorite class that you’d like to share?
I have lots of exciting things going on! It’s all on my website, yogisoli.com. And my weekly, online live class on Plankk Studio App and Omstars.com is Mondays 8:00-9:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
Get started with Ahmed’s Mindful Alignment course on Omstars
By Ahmed Soliman
