Biography
Pioneer of yoga in Latin America, Gustavo Ponce, Chilean, born in 1947. Yoga teacher but also ex-Ambassador of Chile in Japan, international entrepreneur, writer, columnist in various international yoga magazines.
He speaks 6 languages (including French!) And has trained the majority of yoga teachers in Chile.
When he was 11, he found in a second-hand book store a book that made him dream and gave a definitive direction to the few years he had: “Yoga and Sport” by the Indian Selvarajan Yesudian and Hungarian Elizabeth Haich, the couple that opened the first Hatha Yoga school in Europe.
In early 1968 he left his country, Chile, by bus. In Argentina he boarded a cargo boat that left him in Kobe, Japan, 4 months later.
Japan, no doubt, left an indelible mark on him. He ows to this country almost everything he became afterwards. The reason that made him travel to Japan, the farthest most country from Chile, was his love for Japanese martial arts, which he started practicing with Japanese friends almost at the same time he began with yoga. When he arrived in 1968 with little knowledge of the language, zero English, just a bit of French which was useless, and without contacts or money, he tried desperately to find a job.
After that he did many jobs from teaching Spanish, to being an interpreter and translator Spanish-Japanese-Spanish and working in television, where he had his own program, a sort of late-night show.
He lived in Japan for a total of 20 years. He left and came back to the country of the Rising Sun many times. In 1971 Ihewent for the first time to Europe by boat and train all the way from Yokohama to Helsinki passing through the cold steppes of Russia, and Moscow. After many adventures in the old continent he returned in 1972 by land and sea from Italy to Japan. In India he made a stopover of 6 months: he found a beautiful family who adopted him and introduced him to the Theosophical Society of Madras, (Chennai), founded by Madame Helena Blavatsky in 1878, where he took his firsts formal yoga lessons.
In his early days, in an Aikido class he met who would be his first yoga teacher in Japan, Per Winther, a Norwegian yogi who had lived 17 years at the foot of the Himalayas. They became friends. He advised him to travel to India to deepen his studies with Shri Yogendra, a legend in India. At that time, in 1985, he was already working as commercial attaché at the Embassy of Chile.
When he was at the Ashram of Shri Yogendra, he heard for the first time about B.K.S. Iyengar, the lion of Pune, as people used to call him because he was very strict. he became very curious, so during his holidays the next year, he went to see him and became his pupil until 2000. A few years earlier he had
opened his own yoga center in Chile, Yogashala, where he was the first person to teach the Iyengar method in Chile.
While he was a student of Mr. Iyengar, he heard about Pattabhi Jois and his method, Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. Of course, he went to see him and became also his student in 1992. Along with Iyengar Yoga, he taught a few years later, Ashtanga Vinyasa in his school in Chile, introducing this method in his country.
In 1987 he became Ambassador of Chile to Japan. His new position allowed him to travel more around the world, and of course to India. He held this position until March 1990, when he decided that he wanted to explore new horizons and returned to Europe to work as CEO of a multinational company in Belgium.
From Belgium it was rather easy to travel to India where the company had two offices and its personnel at his disposal. He continued attending the Iyengar and Jois schools, but also went to visit the Yoga Mandir, the school of T. Krishnamacharya and his son Desikachar in Chennai (Madras).
As the company had an office in Calcutta, every time he went, he paid a visit to Mother Theresa, a real Karma yogini.
Throughout the years he kept going to India and met many masters, unfortunately unknown in the west, and perhaps it is better they stay unknown, because fame can destabilize anyone.
While setting back in Chile and putting in motion both his school Yogashala (www.yogashala.cl) and Canal Om (www.canalom.cl), the retreat center, he was diagnosed with a Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, a very aggressive type of cancer to the immune system, in 2003. He was given just a few more years to live. During the 8 months that lasted the chemotherapy he began to put together a system of yoga to energize the body and mind, Prana Shakti, the original foundation of GPBALANCE.
From 2007 he began to develop and teach his own yoga methods based on the teachings of all my masters. First, he developed his own vision of Iyengar Yoga: Axis Yoga; then Dynamic, a softer version of Ashtanga Vinyasa, Sattva Yoga and original sequence of 60 postures done with the wall (Chikitsa) and the same 60 postures done in a flowing manner (Vinyasa). This method has become very popular in Brazil where he has formed many teachers.
He wrote in total 17 books so far, mostly on yoga.
Learn more about Gustavo PonceSpecialty
GPBalance Hormonal Yoga
GPBALANCE is a therapeutic method developed by Gustavo Ponce with the essential objective of reactivating and rebalancing the hormonal level of our body!
The main action consists of stimulating the immune system, thus participating in the resolution of the problems and side effects associated with menopause, andropause, stress and various physiological dysfunctions impacting the hormonal system.
The result is a stimulation of fertility, sexual activity, reduced stress; helping accordingly with other hormone-dependent disorders. The series is accessible to all, women and men, and easily adapts to your physical level. GPBalance offers techniques and tools to help you take charge of your body, mind, spirit, energy and health.
“Balance is the ultimate state of well-being, where everything is perfectly aligned and functioning perfectly. In our chaotic lives, balance can seem like a totally unattainable goal, or at least one that requires profound change. Once you learn to balance with GPBALANCE, it is a free, easy, complete, and definitive path to improving hormone health and lasting vitality. “
GPBALANCE acts on the whole body: From a physical point of view, exercise improves balance, posture, flexibility and mobility. It strengthens and tones muscles and bones. However, its most particular effectiveness is the extraordinary increase in energy levels and vitality due to the reactivation of the endocrine system and sex glands. Regular practice helps us protect ourselves against infections and illnesses caused by a weakened immune system. It helps women in difficulty conceive by freeing the mind: less stress, anxiety and depression. It provides better sleep and emotional stability. It gives us energy and mental clarity.
GPBALANCE is based on a proven scientific basis, but for it to work it is necessary to reduce stress levels as much as possible. In other words, the level of cortisol. GPBALANCE can be combined with other types of exercise such as swimming or weight training. Yoga is not about what you do, but how you do what you do. It is suggested that people who are serious about practicing GPBALANCE for, say three months, have the following blood tests before and after starting the practice. Men should normally take a full testosterone exam (ideally free and bioavailable) and a SHBG exam. For women, testing for estradiol and progesterone is recommended. For both men and women, 24-hour urine FSH, LH, ACTH, TSH, and cortisol tests are recommended. This is a clear way to show you the benefits of the method.