Russell Brand to Teach Yoga, Open Yoga Studio

We all know celebrities love their yoga (who wouldn’t?), but this may be the start of a new trend: celebrities not only doing yoga, but also teaching it—and in this case, opening studios of their own.

A source told the UK Mirror that British actor and comic Russell Brand has plans to take his Kundalini yoga practice to the next level by becoming a yoga instructor and opening his own Los Angeles studio.

It’s rumored that Brand is currently enrolled in yoga teacher training with his instructor Tej Kaur of L.A.’s Goldenbridge Yoga and that he has plans to open a studio next spring upon completion of his training.

Brand is known to be a recovering addict and has told the media in the past that he finds relief in Kundalini Yoga and Transcendental Meditation. Now he wants to share his precious antidote with the masses by opening up his own oasis and teaching to those in need.

Brand’s yoga studio vision is an idealistic one. “He has this idea of an all-giving studio where teachers work for their own fulfillment and those in need such as the homeless and addicts in need of finding their spiritual soul,” the source told the British tabloid. “He wants to create his own mantra and take his teachings around the world like other renowned teachers he’s learned from in the past.”

The source went on to say that the vision is all part of Brand’s dream of building his own community that would include lectures and free classes on yoga, cooking, and aromatherapy.

Brand is certainly not the first celebrity to find yoga to be a well-suited complement to the hectic and chaotic Hollywood lifestyle, as well as to the stress, addiction, depression, and anxiety that many deal with—both inside Hollywood and out.

Other celebrities known to have fallen head over heels for yoga include Jennifer Anniston, Brad Pitt, Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Russell Simmons, Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe, Lady Gaga, Jon Bon Jovi, Michelle Williams, Matthew McConaughey, Heather Graham, Dennis Quaid and more.

Williams has told Marie Claire, “yoga gave me relief like nothing else,” She is also a co-founder of the Yoga for Single Moms project in Boston. Their stories are not the first of their kind, nor will they be the last. Yoga, it seems, is here to stay in the celebrity community.

If actions speak louder than words, Brand’s slap stick persona may well hide a sincere spiritual seeker. Here he is with the Dalai Lama: Listen in particular around the five minute mark, in which the Dalai Lama discusses his own way of dealing with the stress and challenges of life.

“Challenges are the best opportunity to carry your weight, your wisdom. Then there’s no challenge! . . . . I never feel self-pity. My daily prayer every morning is to set my mind in such a way that my body, mind and speech will be dedicated to the welfare of others. Then difficulties, responsibilities are just a good opportunity to serve something.”

Russell Brand to open yoga studio in Los Angeles – Examiner.com