Yoga is a family affair for Avinash Kokate, who was born in Canada and raised in a transcendental meditation community in Iowa, where even Grandpa did Downward-Facing Dog. But as a teenager Avinash rebelled against his spiritual roots, refusing to meditate and eventually moving to Manhattan, where he worked three jobs, took premed classes, and dabbled in acting—the period he now lovingly refers to as his “jerk years.” Eventually, Avinash returned to the mat and studied many styles of yoga, trying to build his own context.

“No dogma” is how Avinash sums up his current approach to teaching. “I try to teach a range of principles rather than rules,” he says. From the many disciplines he has studied—Feldenkrais to Iyengar Yoga to Jivamukti, and more—he now feels equipped to use whatever method or tool he believes will best reach his students and help them on their path. He keeps classes playful by injecting quirky observations and jokes. “There’s humour in my classes so people can laugh at themselves,” he says. “It’s supposed to be ‘enlightenment,’ not ‘enslavement.'”

Today he and his wife, Lisa Bennett-Matkin, own Avinash Yoga in Garrison, New York, where they conduct teacher pieces of training and workshops. They’ve also created a teacher training program in therapeutic yoga and a video series called Healing Yoga—a result of their interest in integrative medicine. This year they plan to launch a new studio in Manhattan. “I feel that the teacher is inside of each of us; it is so easy for people to look outside for an answer,” Avinash says. “Challenge yourself to look inside.”