Juan Sierra: If you sit on a sofa, spill a smoothie, but not being attached, that is an insight of a Jivamukhta

Juan Sierra was born in Peru, raised in NYC and now is an Advanced Certified Jivamukti Yoga teacher and a Mentor for new professionals of this method.  He was introduced to Yoga by a friend, and that was the turning point in his life. Thanks to yoga Juan freed from the layers of avidya (illusion, ignorance) and got acquainted with compassion. We’ve interviewed Juan and got known with how yoga influenced on his life vision and perception.

How did you start yoga and what led you to that practice?

I first heard of Yoga around 2004-2005. I took a class at the gym, having no idea what it was. Some years later, one of my friends was concerned about how overworked and stressed I was in NYC.  “You look very stressed out, maybe you should practice yoga. Have you practiced before?”. I told her that I tried Yoga at the gym.  She laughed and said “no, I mean real yoga”. I had no idea what she meant by that. Then, I had the opportunity to take an Ashtanga workshop with David Swenson. And that was my introduction into Yoga.

Starting with Ashtanga, how did you find the Jivamukti method, and why did you choose it as yours?

The Ashtanga method was too rigid for me. Nonetheless I felt connected to the practice and to David Swenson, his sense of humor and humility. The words he said were profound to me at the time. I wanted to know how I can achieve that state of mind, feel that peace and be more content. I was looking for that peace outside of me and didn’t realize that it was within me. So I practiced Ashtanga for a while until I found the Jivamukti Yoga School in NYC. I still remember when I took my first Jivamukti Yoga Class. There were 60-70 people all practicing in the same room and I said to myself “Wow! this is amazing!”. People began chanting and after the Dharma talk, the teacher led the participants through well thought out  asana sequences. All of this was new to me and I was very intrigued. I fell in love with the practice, its philosophy and structure and started going regularly to the Jivamukti School in NYC. After 4 years of regular practice I did my teacher training and eventually became an advanced certified Jivamukti Yoga teacher. 

The Jivamukti method is special and has a unique flavor. And it is new for Ukraine. What types of people according to your experience, usually fall in love with this method? 

Curious beings who are looking for something more than just a physical practice.  This is what I feel the Jivamukti Yoga method offers.   

Tell us please a little about your non-yogic or before-yogic life. 

Besides teaching Yoga, I run an antique furniture business for over 20 years and I have worked with many interior designers and architects. In comparison to yoga, it is on the other spectrum of life.  There, it’s all external pleasures.  There is nothing wrong with any of those things.  Yoga is all going inward, the work starts from within, experiencing peace from within.

Discovering new perspectives, and not feeling attached to a materialistic way of thinking, you still are a modern person, a popular teacher, you live in a big city. How do you manage to keep the inner peace and practice yogic life, within this world, not escaping from it? 

Many people take the interpretation that if you practice yoga you must not be angry, must always be happy, or you should not enjoy materialistic things. Feeling that anything in life must have a balance.  It is important to surround yourself with things that make you content.  But life is so much more fulfilling knowing that true happiness starts within, everything else is an added bonus.

We all live in the modern world, as you mention, and if you can take the ancient yogic scriptures and apply them in your daily life — they are valuable teachings. If you sit on a sofa and you spill a smoothie it’s not the end of the world.  You know that nothing stays the same, accept change, even the stain. You are free from the attachment, knowing that all around you is changing.  Even the materialistic things.  That is an insight of a Jivanmukhta — a being living in liberation.