Luke Baugh
Teacher Bio
Professional Accreditation
Accreditation: Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher/ERYT-500, Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider/YACEP
Yoga Alliance ID: 34468
Total Registered Training Hours: 3034
Total Registered Teaching Hours: 5601
Background
Primary Discipline: Ashtanga Vinyasa
Other Disciplines: Soto Zen, Bikram Yoga, Yin Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Viniyoga
Primary Teacher: David Garrigues
Other Teachers: Robert Parker, Catherine Tisseront, James Butkevich, Noah Williams, Tim Miller, Rich McGowan, Anne Finstad, Govinda Kai
Luke Baugh grew up in Orofino, Idaho and was the son of a devout Christian mother. He became a father at a young age, and pursued spirituality as a means of personal development. In 2003 he began study at the San Francisco Zen Center and took up daily meditation and self guided asana practice. In 2005 Luke’s life would forever change, when, after returning from studying yoga in Hawaii, he met renowned Ashtanga Yoga master David Garrigues. Soon after meeting David he devoted himself to learning this traditional form of yoga. Luke learned at Ashtanga Yoga Los Angeles under Noah Williams and James Butkevich, in Encinitas, California at the the Ashtanga Yoga Center under Tim Miller and Rich McGowan, and in Portland, Oregon under Anne Finstad. Eventually Luke moved to Seattle specifically to take up devoted study of yoga at the Ashtanga Yoga School of Seattle and spent 2006 and 2007 studying intently under David Garrigues.
In 2007 Luke finished Yoga Teacher Training and in 2008 was given the blessing of David Garrigues to open his first yoga studio in Lewiston, Idaho. From 2008-2010 Luke began teaching full time to the public, as well as various institutional teaching engagements such as Regence Blue Shield, Multiple Sclerosis Association of America, and Gonzaga University. Luke vowed to teach yoga to people of all backgrounds and abilities, and sought for the deeper meaning of the practice through the study and analysis of yoga philosophy and sacred texts. This led Luke to pursue, under the guidance of his teacher, an academic path that provided answers to yogic inquiries. Through the fields of anthropology, psychology, and sociology, Luke was able to bridge the gap between academia and yoga study.
In 2011 Luke moved to Bellingham, Washington and began teaching yoga at Western Washington University and founded the Ashtanga Yoga School of Bellingham. In 2012, Luke became the director of the yoga teacher training program (RYS # 26861) that he graduated from in 2007. Once director of the program, he began leading yoga teacher training sessions and traditional Mysore classes at Ashtanga Yoga School of Bellingham. This marked a period of focus into the deeper aspects of yoga, and training students to become teachers. Starting in 2020, Luke began directing yoga teacher training sessions online, with students from around the world.
Luke is encouraged by students who pursue yoga as a part of a regimen of holistic health and well being practices, and incorporate its values and practices as a lifestyle. This integrated approach to yoga is consistent with his understanding of the founding principles of yoga philosophy, and the way of life practiced by the original practitioners of yoga. Luke recognizes his position of privilege by having the time, money, and resources to pursue yoga with dedication, and seeks to use this position of privilege to support others.
Luke is well versed in the history of yoga and teaches an understanding of the uniqueness of yoga beliefs and culture as being separate from any religion. Luke shares anthropological evidence that supports yoga being a non-religious part of an ancient Dravidian culture that predates and is distinct from Vedic ideologies. Above all, Luke teaches yoga as a way of life that is empowering for all humans who seek to overcome suffering, and live a better life.
Luke holds a bachelors degree in sociology, and a masters degree in business.