
Jai Desai: From Small Town Boy to Yoga Teacher
How one man learned the true value of authentic yoga and was inspired to dedicate his life to sharing its benefits with his community.
Growing up in a little town in Western India, Jai Desai dreamed about learning yoga and meditation but did not have access to resources or teachers.
Later, as a young man, he traveled to big cities to learn yoga’s practices and philosophy and met a teacher who influenced his life profoundly. Committing to a daily practice, he delved deeper into the ancient Vedic texts and scriptures.
In 2015, Desai took a 200-hour yoga teacher training course and received certification to teach classes for kids, adults, and corporations. Not long after, a family emergency forced him to rely on all that he had learned, as he cared for his loved ones and worked to resolve the situation. Since then, he has been tirelessly working to bring yoga to those who need it most.
I met with this inspirational young yoga teacher to learn more.
Tell us about where you grew up.
Famous for its beach and temples, Valsad is a town in western India that has become a popular tourist destination. Notable personalities that hail from this town include Bollywood actresses Nirupa Roy and Bindu, military leader Sam Manekshaw, and Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury.

I used to dream about learning yoga, meditation, and other spiritual practices that India is home to. But, at that time, reliable resources and teachers were not available in my small town — or if they were, I was not aware of how to find them.
Of course, a lot of young people were into going to the gym to workout or doing other forms of fitness exercises, but I was curious if I could achieve the same results with yoga.

Tell us about your formal yoga training.
In 2012, acting on a friend’s recommendation, I traveled to an Ashram (spiritual center) in Bangalore. While it is indeed known as the Silicon Valley of India, the city is also home to The Art of Living International Center.
I signed up for their Youth Empowerment and Skills (YES!+) program. It gave me wings. I learned powerful breathing techniques such as the Sudarshan Kriya, which blew my mind. I had never felt such peace, and it got me probing about the flavors that Indian spirituality had to offer.
What was the next step in your yoga journey?
Unfortunately, like many young people, I soon got distracted and let my practice lapse for a year. Having been through this, I can empathize with people who have fallen into this trap.
In 2013, I was determined to give it another try. While working in Pune, another large city well-known for IT, I took an Art of Living Yoga program with a teacher by the name of Dinesh Kashikar. This was the point when destiny took me in its arms, as far as my yoga dreams were concerned.
What were some of the key concepts he taught you?

I cannot emphasize enough how crucial the role of a teacher is on the path of yoga. Kashi-ji (our name for him) convinced everybody, including me, of-deep studies and practice. I made the commitment and, in the process, learned some life-altering lessons about yoga from this great teacher.
- Sincerity and lightness of practice can co-exist. Yoga is an expression of the lightness of your being. He made it so enjoyable that everybody in the room fell in love with yoga that day. Also, that having an intention for perfection will eventually manifest in perfection in yoga.
- Yoga is not just a physical exercise. It has several layers of existence; the body, breath, emotions, thoughts, and the self.
- The ancient yogis figured out the laws of life many millennia ago. Their observations have such precision that they hold true even to this day. There is a vast ocean of knowledge in the Vedic texts and scriptures. One lifetime is not enough to fathom the applications and value of their wisdom.
How did your practice and study deepen from that point on?
Once I came to know that it is not just the body which benefits from yoga, but that my mind was settling down too, that was pretty much the point when I decided to dive in fully. I was twenty-six years old.
I haven’t missed a single day since. I wake up every day at 5:30 to do my practice; asana, Sudarshan Kriya, and meditation. Once you are committed, it happens effortlessly. You simply just don’t miss a single day.
Not many people realize there is a formula to it. As you commit in your mind to something, the practice helps to keep you on track. It becomes effortless for the yogi to intend something and manifest it into existence because of the razor-sharp focus developed.
On any spiritual path, it is natural that doubts come into the mind. Often practice is the answer. It was no different for me. One day after the practice, I wondered, “If the peace I experience a result of being on the path of yoga or is it just my nature to be peaceful? Isn’t peace everybody’s nature?”

What inspired you to look into taking a yoga teacher training course?
During my life, I observed that this stress found unhealthy outlets as people grew into adults. This happened due to a lack of knowledge of how the ancient wisdom of yoga could help them relieve their stress through practice and spiritual knowledge.
My guru, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, was one day asked to define stress. He answered:
“When you have too much to do, very little time to do it, and very little energy or life force left to do it, then what you experience is stress. Since in this modern day and age you cannot control the amount of work and the time you have to do it, you need yoga all the more, so that you at least control the amount of energy or Prana you have, to do it.”
Nowadays, people are aware of yoga’s physical benefits and relaxation prowess. What they do not know is that if they get the right guidance from those on the path of yoga, it could bring much more profound healing. It could also help them understand the shifting paradigms of existence — world, family, relationships, and work — and how yoga can make this act of balancing a sheer dance of joy.
I speak from experience. I am also a digital marketing consultant. Balancing this with teaching yoga and other commitments isn’t easy.
Tell us about your becoming a teacher.
In 2015, after an intensive 200-hour training course, I became a certified Sri Sri Yoga teacher for kids and corporates.

Over the past few years, I have been introducing the art of yoga to those worn down by work, ambition, and stress. Many people are constantly having to chew more than they can bite because if they don’t, someone else will — especially in the big cities of India where pollution and stress have been going through the roof with increased anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and burnouts being reported.
There have been reports of mid-level executives suffering mild to severe heart attacks at early ages, due to mounting work pressure. The high number of suicide attempts signal the dire need for re-balancing programs like yoga. This is where my role as a yoga teacher becomes so much more important.
There are various fruits on the planet, and each is unique in its qualities and benefits. What a peach can give you, a banana cannot. Similarly, no two yoga teachers will ever be the same. They differ in their techniques and priorities. If you are a good student, you will have the knack to learn and improve your practice with any instructor.
I don’t compare myself with other yoga teachers. All I know is that in each session, I must give my best to make people fall in love with yoga. I should be able to help you broaden your understanding of what real yoga is beyond the standard wellness benefits.
I was not always a people person, but yoga seems to have changed that. Earlier, I used to get irritated by people or noise around me. Now that is not the case. Now, I really feel happy when there are people around. When I go to talk to someone, I enjoy our conversation. I can communicate with people whether they are new to me or they are celebrities.

What has been the proudest moment in your yoga journey thus far?
In June 2015, I got a call from home and had to rush back to Valsad. My father had been put behind bars due to a grave misunderstanding. He stayed in jail for fifty-five days before being released with full honors.
During that time, I was running around trying to resolve the situation. It fell upon me to calm people’s nerves at home, making sure everybody was eating and taking care of themselves amidst the crisis. I did not miss my practice even for a single day. And as these days progressed, I realized I could not afford to miss my practice because it gave me solace and unwavering strength to deal with the situation at hand.
During one random moment in the day during my stay there, I observed my state of mind. It was so calm, stable, and untouched by the hectic and emotionally charged events around me. This, I found, was the gift of yoga.

Learn more about Jai Desai and his yoga classes at Facebook.com/YogaWithJD.
