Yoga and the Pursuit of Understanding with 1999 Alumnus

Class of 1999 alumnus Josh Soboslai continues to be on the pursuit of mindfulness and deeper understanding as he has opened Gandiva Yoga, a boutique yoga studio located in New Haven that focuses on different meditation practices.

“Gandiva offers vinyasa classes, hatha, yin, meditation, and also bhakti yoga, “ said Josh. “It's basically like the school of the lineage of yoga is bhakti yoga, and so it's a very spiritual place. We do a lot of physical stuff, and the physical stuff definitely matters. But people know that when they come to Gandiva, there's music and there's interpersonal as we talk about relationships, your relationship with yourself, and your relationship with other people.”

Following graduation from Hamden Hall, Josh enrolled at Hofstra University before transferring to Five Towns College in Dixhills, N.Y. He earned his associate degree as he studied jazz and commercial music and audio recording. In 2004, he auditioned for the Blue Man Group, where he was introduced to yoga. During the audition process, the casting directors guided him through a series of exercises and noticed that he was not relaxing. They advised him to learn how to do yoga and meditate as a way to center himself and become more focused. He returned home to attend a yoga class with an instructor named Ann Katz, who was practicing the style of Swarupa yoga.

“Once I found yoga, I really discovered this part of myself that I didn't know how much I needed and that there were so many other parts of me that I just didn't even know existed because I never spent any time really being myself,“ said Josh. “With yoga, we're really trying to reverse all of that to turn all the senses inward and to get to a place of finding the true self. It took a long time for me to really get to a point where I was having insights and meditation and not just doing that to get something else.”

In 2006, Josh moved to Los Angeles, Calif., to pursue music and other avenues. He worked as a touring musician and drummer. Throughout his time in Los Angeles, he continued his spiritual and meditation journey and completed a 40-hour transformative mediation training. He later connected with one of his parent’s friends and became an assistant teacher in a month-long workshop at a place called the Esalen Institute. Josh noted this was a highly transformative experience and shifted his perspective about personal relationships and understanding.

He moved back to Connecticut in 2014 and began working at Lululemon in Westport with the goal of pursuing yoga more seriously. Through his time there, Josh began meeting different yoga teachers around Fairfield County and New Haven. He established a relationship with Jennifer Buckman. The two started Pop-Up Yoga CT, where Jenn worked as a yoga instructor, and Josh played live music during the classes. It was during one of his performances that a studio needed a class sub and Josh stepped in. He noted that while it was difficult at first, he knew teaching and instructing yoga was his call.

He began teaching a few classes at different studios including CT Bowspring then Sama Yoga in New Canaan and Balanced Yoga in New Haven. He completed a 300-hour advanced Bhakti Yoga teacher training with Raghunath at Supersoul Yoga in Chatham, NY. In 2022, he opened Gandiva Yoga and said he wanted to create a space for people to look inward and focus on personal growth.

“I would like for this studio to be a place where people can experience world-class teachings from teachers around the world,” said Josh. “I think really what yoga does is it just shows you who you are, and I want to be able to provide a space for personal learning and the opportunity to learn from the greatest teachers.”

Josh noted that he is looking forward to growing the studio and cultivating more personal relationships. Most recently, Gandiva was ranked the number one yoga studio in New Haven by Distinguished Teaching.