Clayton hails from Austin, Texas. He began daily practice in 2004 after he underwent a major surgery and turned to Yoga for healing. He began to study Ashtanga Vinyasa as taught by Sri K. Pattahbi Jois. and at once began to experience the immense physical, mental and spiritual benefits of Yoga. From that time on he devoted himself to full time study and practice.
Eager to learn about Classical Yoga Clayton joined Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers and undertook a formal course of study. He certified through the Sivananda Teachers Training program in Grass Valley, CA in 2007 and completed advanced training in 2008. While on staff at the Yoga Farm he studied directly under Swami Sitaramananda and made annual trips with her to teach Yoga in Vietnam, Cambodia and Taiwan. Clayton served as the main Hatha Yoga teacher at the ashram for 2 years and was an assistant teacher in Yoga Teachers Training Courses in California and in Vietnam.
Clayton’s love of travel also led him to Central America where he taught Sivananda and Ashtanga Vinyasa on Lago Atitlan in Guatemala. While there he joined SchoolYoga Institute, completed the Mystical Yoga Teacher Training at SYI 800 and assisted instructing a 200-hour level Teacher Training with Vedantin as an assistant facilitator (SYI 1000) in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua. He currently teaches Ashtanga Vinyasa at Yoga Yoga in Austin, Texas. Clayton has attended workshops with David Williams, Nancy Gilgoff, and most recently studied with Elena Figarola at the Ashtanga Yoga Shala Barcelona.
The classical teaching is that Yoga is a practice of quieting of the mind. When the breath is steady the mind will be still. Clayton guides classes by the rhythm of the inhalation and exhalation so that students experience this ancient wisdom. By integrating fluid movement and meditative awareness with breath, we move towards the Union of body, consciousness and Spirit that is the promise of Yoga.
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