Multimedia and story by Katie Tschopp

After practicing karate for fifteen years Kevin Bogle’s body had taken a beating. He’d led a life of broken bones and strained muscles and was ready for a break. He turned to Ashtanga Yoga to help strengthen and stretch his body.

“I was getting to the point where I was really struggling to make it through the day because I was in so much pain,” Bogle said. No longer able to practice karate frequently, as a favor Bogle signed up to take a yoga class taught by a friend. He became attached to this calming and strengthening form of yoga. Within just a few weeks of starting the Ashtanga Yoga, Bogle says his body drastically improved shape. He also credits the synchronized breathing and succession of postures for helping alleviate some of his allergies.

Bogle decided to begin a yoga practice once he’d discovered a passion for yoga. He wasn’t overly surprised with his new endeavor since he had been interested in eastern spirituality since college.

Today he teaches several classes a week at the Unified Training Center in Gainesville. His students’ ages range from middle-school children to men and women in their 60s.

“Almost anyone can do this,” Bogle said. He mentioned a woman in one of his classes who could barely make it though a lesson when she first began. “But now, she’s coming in here and doing stuff she never thought she’d be able to do.” Bogle continues his love of teaching via guitar lessons throughout Gainesville. He plays classical guitar and piano. Bogle has played in bands but he admits they never go too far. His primary focus now is helping others to play.

“I get more pleasure out of helping others than I do from doing it myself,” he said. “I always seem to end up in positions where I am teaching. I feel like I’m a natural teacher.” And Bogle says he is content with this.

“I’ve hung in there, I’ve paid my dues, but it’s working out for me now,” he said. “I’ve reached a point where I’m finally living a life I’ve tried to create. I feel like when I can teach, I can help give other people a gift that can help them with their lives, he said. “I feel like it’s like my gift I can give to people.”