He enters the heated, dimly lit studio and his yoga students crawl out of their cocooned positions and poses to sit and listen to their teacher. Making his way into the middle of the room, he sits cross-legged on his mat and it's as if the entire class's energy focuses on the centre of the room where he begins his instruction.
Jeff Mah, 5'8 and 140 lbs., isn't the type of guy who commands attention with a large physical presence, but his smile is usually what captures his students.
He thanks the class for coming despite the frigid outdoor temperatures and begins to guide his students into a simple yoga pose.
Anyone going to one of Mah's classes could be forgiven for thinking he has taught yoga for most of his working life, however, until seven years ago, Mah was a mechanical engineer.
While he was working for Nortel Communications, Mah found himself unsatisfied with his life. Sitting eight hours a day in front of a computer monitor was far too sedentary for the outdoorsman Mah describes himself as.
Although it paid well, he says, engineering wasn't fulfilling him emotionally and it seemed there was little meaning attached to his work.
After careful contemplation, he decided it was time to make a change in his career.
"I'm a pretty methodical thinker so it was a process," Mah recollected.
"I remember there was this one time in the morning while I was in the shower and I realized this is not for me, this specific career path. But at the same time, it took me about a year to finally follow through with that first spark of a decision."
Throughout that year, the one thing he struggled with the most was "dealing with financial insecurities" that would become evident if he switched from being in a highly paid job to one that, monetarily speaking, wasn't comparable.
He knew he had to take a substantial pay-cut, but Mah says he became much happier once he stopped working as an engineer and began practicing and learning yoga.
Instead of sitting at an office desk he was now able to move freely and engage with his students to help them refine their skills and find deeper meaning in their own lives.
"I was a small cog in a big machine and my job was meaningless. Here (yoga) was a chance to make a difference," he says.
During a Journal interview in Mah's cozy home, the brisk air of winter streamed into the living room through a window that was cracked open.
Mah and his partner, Hilary Young foster cats. The two kittens had full reign of the kitchen and bathroom and unfortunately were ill with diarrhea. The stench of the house was ripe, but Mah, always levelheaded, accepted the situation without resentment.
Mah lives simply. He has what he needs to be comfortable: a nice couch, a desk filled with books, and a small kitchen where Young is making homemade granola while Mah is talking with the Journal.
As we chat, the one aspect of Mah that I notice most is the genuine nature of his very being. He lives in the moment, and doesn't seem to have insecurities and worries about the future as some of us do.
"I always try to live my life in a better way and that can be so encompassing. That can be being with my partner Hilary, traveling, being good with people around me, being out in the mountains...they all tie into trying to live better," Mah says.
He says he has found himself drawn to more than the health benefits of yoga. The spiritual effect on the mind that he achieved through consistent and honest practice attracted him as well.
Mah describes yoga as, "a process for change. If one practices yoga faithfully, they can have opportunities to change whatever it is they want to change about themselves."
"It's definitely more than what people would perceive in the mainstream.... Yoga is a process of better self-understanding of one's self and then applying that clarity to understand everything else."
As a yoga instructor at the Bodhi Tree, (821 14th St. NW), Mah says he feels much more fulfilled and says, "It's changed my life completely. It changes values and how I see the world."
"Often it doesn't feel like a job. It makes me feel great...usually when I think of the word [job], it's automatically tied with drudgery and having to be there, and doing things that one doesn't want to do."
He has quickly become one of the most popular yoga instructors at the studio, where he is also a co-owner.
One of his long-time students, Niki Heer, attributes her "higher energy, increased flexibility, and increased strength" to Mah's instruction.
"I was a lot weaker a couple months ago and now I just feel a sense of confidence because I've accomplished difficult tasks in his class and I've pushed myself to limits," says Heer.
"I would say every class you leave feeling awesome. I have friends that have come to the studio and they say, 'Jeff Mah is awesome, we're only coming back to his class,'" she pointed out.
The biggest difference she noted was, "He makes an effort to get to know his students so it's personal right? He's not just another yoga instructor, and I'm not just another yoga student. He's Jeff Mah, and I'm Niki Heer, so we have a repoire."
Mah has been practicing for 7 years and has done extensive training in Mysore, India and Boulder, Colorado. Yoga to him is a "process of seeking true clarity."
"The more one does yoga, the more they will be able to find a deeper sense of what truth is. And if you can have clarity in your life and a better understanding of truth, then you have the right things to change your life in a positive direction -but it's not easy," he notes.
Mah's colleague and fellow yoga instructor, Siobhan McGrenra says, "He has a very good way of connecting with all of his students."
McGrenra says: "I think it's just the way his classes flow. There's a nice flow, and his instructions are nice and detailed."
The one aspect of his teaching that stood out for McGrenra was his sense of humor.
"He's funny, his classes are enjoyable and they're not too serious."
Ultimately, for Mah, he hopes all of his students leave the studio feeling better about themselves.
Mah says: "The greatest thing is I would want them to get a greater trust within themselves. The fact that someone is willing to make changes, be here, and practice yoga, things are going to change."
He notes that you don't' have to be at a studio or at a class or even do classical yoga poses to be able to enjoy and practice yoga.
"It's almost like a mind state. If they can just find that state of mind that things can change, they'll be on their way."
His advice to those of us that get caught up in the chaos of city life is to, "Always try to move on a middle path."
"Life is about balance, that is the truth. The truth will not be found in extremes, it's found in the middle," Mah says.
Mah is also the ambassador for a successful yoga-based store, Lululemon. Photos of him can be seen at the Lululemon store on 4th St. SW.
It seems Mah is not only a yoga instructor, but an inspiration to others to live their lives to the best of their ability.
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