Local Instructor Brings the Tranquility of Yoga to Twinsburg

Yoga guru Gopikumar Subarmoniam, commonly known as Gopi Kumar, brings his small but notable reputation in Northeast Ohio to the .

Kumar teaches four yoga classes, and on Wednesday evenings teaches the more advanced Kundalini yoga class. As students arrive they enter into an atmosphere of low lighting and tranquil classical music undercut with wildlife sounds.

He starts the class of with a series of breathing exercise, followed by a series of various stretching techniques, and then presents the various yoga poses: Downward dog, cobra, cat, warrior, and other poses. He introduces them one at a time, allowing students to feel the difference between the poses. Later, he speeds up the pace, having students move through the various poses almost seamlessly from one, to the next, without stopping in between. Kumar then ends his class with a low-intensity meditation, calling the students' attention to the relaxation of every part of their bodies starting at the toes and slowly moving toward their heads.

Kumar’s instruction and dedication to yoga has formed after several years of careful study and learning from his yoga master in India.

“My wife and I, would spend every Sunday at his house learning, and after a while he had said ‘Now you are good to go on your own, you can come back if you want but you are ready. Go,'" Kumar said. It was then he decided to get certified as an instructor at the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres (ISYVC).   

The ISYVC required Kumar and other students to participate in 45 days of a rigorous life regimen. The program compels students to get up at 4 a.m. and do three hours of yoga each morning and evening. Students will also meditate throughout the day. The program also teaches philosophy and religion.  Yoga is more than just stretching of the body; it’s a health program that focuses on both mind and body. There are no TVs, computers, or smart phones. Students are cut off from the modern world and are planted in the middle of the jungle for the duration of the program.

“It’s a wonderful experience” said Kumar. He said the school is usually overbooked and people come from all over the world to participate.

“The time when I went, we had people from over 40 countries,  about 300 people from all over the world, merging for this program, it was exciting," Kumar explained. You can read more about his instructor training program by clicking here.

In 2003, Kumar and his wife came over to the United States where he had landed a contract with the Cleveland Clinic and has been teaching ever since. He visits various hospitals and teaches his yoga for the staff as a health and wellness initiative. He also teaches two classes at Macedonia Recreation Center.

Kumar emphasizes that he teaches more than just yoga style-fitness; he teaches his students how to be present in life’s everyday moments. Kumar says, “Yoga will help you to be grounded in every moment, and life is a series of moments. It helps your mind to be focused from moment-to-moment and then life becomes easy. It helps you to accept things at face value. This kind of peace comes only through yoga, other sports teach you to build muscle and endurance but it tires the body and mind, but to internally calm the mind and body yoga is the only way. My students leave feeling relaxed, calm, and rejuvenated after my class. “

“Every day is a gift; death is just around the corner, you have to plan what you want," Kumar said. "Once you figure it out, life becomes so interesting and so exciting and you become more invested in what you are doing. It takes time to figure out what life is about there are so many sources influencing you. Everyone is going through an experiment here, there is no right or wrong, there are many different paths.”

To register for one of Gopi Kumar’s yoga classes, contact the Twinsburg Fitness Center at http://www.mytwinsburg.com/site.cfm/Parks-Recreation/Fitness-Center.cfm