#67 – Keen on Yoga Podcast with Dr Yogi

In this Keen on Yoga Podcast Adam talks to Dr Yogi (Andrew
McGonigle)


Andrew attended Medical School at The University of Newcastle
Upon Tyne but struggled with the non-holistic approach often
adopted by western medicine.


He graduated in 2005 at the young age of 23 and worked for a
brief period as a junior doctor in Sunderland Royal
Infirmary. However, for many reasons he knew that this
career was not suited to him and he finally made the decision to
leave the medical world.


In 2004 he started to practise Transcendental Meditation as a
coping mechanism for stress and this had opened a gateway into
spirituality. He began a new life in Sydney in 2006 working for
the British fashion brand Paul Smith and regularly attended hatha
yoga classes. After a few years of dedicated practice I decided
to embark on an Ashtanga Yoga teacher training course at Yoga
Thailand with Paul Dallaghan.


Teaching is in his blood and is something that has always come
naturally to him. His parents were both keen teachers during
their working lives and early on in his life he set up an after
school homework club to help younger students with their
studies. 


Having moved to London in 2009 he started working at the Triyoga
headquarters where he remained in a Managerial role for almost 9
years. He began to set up my own small yoga classes in a local
church hall and completed a holistic massage diploma. While
assisting on a massage course someone asked why he wasn’t
teaching anatomy and he had had a true light bulb moment!


From that point onwards I focused all his attention on
establishing himself as an anatomy teacher. Having studied
anatomy in great detail during Medical School he now needed to
look at this incredibly vast subject from a completely different
angle and create ways to make it relevant to yoga. 


He enrolled in hands-on dissection classes that focused on fascia
(a word that he had never come across at Medical School!) and
spent all of his spare time re-reading anatomy books, listening
to podcasts and talking about anatomy to anyone who would listen.


In recent years he has become a keen writer contributing chapters
to the popular Yoga Teaching Handbook: A Practical Guide for Yoga
Teachers and Trainees and Yoga Student Handbook: Develop Your
Knowledge of Yoga Principles and Practice.


His new book, Supporting Yoga Students with Common Injuries and
Conditions, was published in March 2021. And his second book,
focusing on yoga physiology, will be published in early 2022


Above all, Andrew is one of the most humble yogi’s Adam has
interviewed and a really nice guy. 


Enjoy this Keen on Yoga Podcast with Dr Yogi.  If you would
like to support us please like, share and review the
podcast.  We gratefully accept donations in any amount you
choose on our website at Keen on Yoga.