When I say my yoga classes are spaces to meet yourself, I’m speaking from experience. For years, I knew how to read a room and become the version of myself that would be safest in it. It took me much longer to notice what I wanted, what I felt, and how much energy it took to keep parts of myself hidden.
I sat down with my friend and retreat co-creator Dee Gibson, founder of Kalukanda House, for her podcast Sri Lanka – Modern Perspectives from an Ancient Melting Pot. We spoke about growing up queer and creative in Colombo during Sri Lanka’s war, the lives we learn to perform, and what it takes to feel at home in ourselves.
Listen on Apple Podcasts · Listen on the episode page
Leaving Colombo and finding my way to practice
I went into advertising in my late teens and eventually managed major accounts. After losing both my parents, I kept myself working and used alcohol and drugs to get through grief I didn’t know how to sit with. I moved south, ran a beach bar and restaurant, and became a father. So much of my life was changing at once, and I was still learning how to be present for it.
A last-minute yoga teacher training gave me a place to begin. During the COVID shutdowns, I had time to go deeper into practice. That became part of how I found my footing in sobriety and started to listen to myself again.
What it means to meet yourself in a yoga class
Dee and I talk about yoga as an eight-limbed practice and what breath, attention and self-inquiry can open up alongside movement. We also talk about gender, about seeing more men come to yoga, and about what becomes possible when we let ourselves explore beyond the roles we’ve been taught to play.
That inquiry shapes what I’m growing at Salasbananas, from queer community gatherings and Ayurveda workshops to retreats and collaborations on Sri Lanka’s south coast. Dee and I share a curiosity about how welcoming people to this island can create more opportunities for exchange between those who live here and those who visit.
If you listen, here’s a question to take into your own practice. Where in your life do you feel most free to be yourself, and what makes that possible?
Explore gatherings at Salasbananas
At Kalukanda House
Morning yoga and a talk circle from Journey to the Heart, our women’s wellness retreat at Kalukanda House in Weligama. Explore Kalukanda House’s gallery.
