Rod Styker's Bio

rod stryker

Rod Stryker is the founder of ParaYoga and the author of The Four Desires: Creating a Life of Purpose, Happiness, Prosperity, and Freedom. He also blogs for The Huffington Post. 
 
Rod is widely considered to be one of the preeminent yoga, tantra, and meditation teachers in the United States. He is renowned for his depth of knowledge, practical wisdom, and unique ability to transmit the deepest aspect of the teachings and practices to modern audiences and students from all walks of life. Rod has taught for more than thirty years, training teachers and leading corporate seminars, yoga  retreats, and workshops throughout the world.
 
Stryker began his intensive study and practice of yoga, at the age eighteen. Two years later he began a nearly two-decade-long apprenticeship with internationally renowned Yoga master Kavi Yogiraj Mani Finger and his son, Yogiraj Alan Finger. Eventually, he would become his teachers' only American disciple to be given the title Yogiraj, master of Yoga. Rod met his current teacher, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait Ph.D., spiritual head of the Himalayan Institute, in 1999.
 
Acclaimed as a leading voice for the ancient traditions, accomplished Yogi, teacher, lecturer, and writer, Rod has a down-to-earth approach informed as much by his mastery of the sublime teachings, as it is by his love of life and devotion to his wife and four children. Rod lives with his family in Colorado. 
 

Rod Stryker: 15 Maxims to Create a Life of Purpose
(from an interview with 33 Voices)

1.  Yoga is about refining our perception; and perception is the key to taking full advantage of life.

2.  Every moment is a choice.

3.  Our birth right is happiness.  We don't find it by attaining things.

4.  Attachment is where our struggles begin. 

5.  To be clear about your purpose, it's not necessarily about profession; it's about WHAT YOU'RE MEANT TOCONTRIBUTE TO THE WORLD.

6.  Your contribution to the world expresses you in a unique way.  Find the words and live it.

7.  Andrew Carnegie's motto:  All is good and all grows better!  When he discovered that, he said "A light came rushing through me and changed my life forever."

8.  When you serve your highest purpose, you serve the wellbeing of everything.

9.  The Four Desires:  

     -Let your highest purpose be the driving force of your life

     -Discover the means – the tools – to fulfill your purpose.

     -Long for pleasure, delights and playfulness in life.  

     -Delight in the joy of freedom.  Be free from the burdens of the world.

10.  Detach from the results of your actions.

11.  Quiet the mind and you gain a sense that no matter what, you're 100% complete.

12. We're all seeking to find more happiness and suffer less.

13.  Bill Gates was once asked before a product launch, are you afraid? his response was, "absolutely, fear accompanies me with every step."

14.  "Yoga is life"

15.  "The important thing is this:  to be able, at any moment, to sacrifice what we are for what we could become."

Best Advice:  You're not the doer.  There's a creative force in each of us.  Just get out of the way.

Personal Motto:  "The fire of spirit is invincible.  It lights my way and empowers me to brighten the light of others.  I relentlessly stoke this fire through teaching, leadership, creativity, service, laughter, and by returning to stillness.  I am ceaselessly dedicated to glorifying both Creator and creation."

Excitement about the future:  People are hungrier about the truth more than ever. 


The Awakened Power of Spirit
Yogarupa American Tantric yoga teacher Rod Stryker led the weekend workshop, “Awakening ..
  • "Rod Stryker is one of the truly bright lights of modern yoga. He connects to the sincere seeker's heart, while his straight-forward scholarship emboldens the mind. The Four Desires is an outstanding book, advancing the integrity and luster of modern yoga."
    —John Friend, Founder of Anusara Yoga
  • "The Four Desires is a provocative, interactive workbook for living your best possible life. The end game here is to know your highest, most authentic self, and create a roadmap to live out your dreams. (Who wouldn't want that?) Stryker is a masterful guide, and the journey he creates is fun—and abundantly fruitful."
    —Kaitlin Quistgaard, Editor in Chief, Yoga Journal
  • "Rod Stryker brilliantly shares countless practices to empower and satisfy your inherent longing for happiness and success, worldly as well as spiritual. The Four Desires is a practical, powerful guide for all levels."
    —Lilias Folan, PBS host and author of Lilias! Yoga Gets Better with Age
  • "The Four Desires is a classic of transformational writing. Accessible to anyone looking for guidance on their journey, it is one of the most helpful books I’ve ever read on what it requires to live a fulfilled life amidst the complexities of today’s world. I’m recommending it to everyone I know!"
    —Sally Kempton, author Meditation for the Love of It
  • "For decades, Rod has led yoga practitioners on the path of inner and outer fulfillment. The Four Desires offers practical and profound teachings from which people of all backgrounds can benefit. It is a treasure that is destined to become a classic."
    —Shiva Rea, Creator, Prana Flow Yoga
  • "The Four Desires is a precious gem of a book. It offers us the “owner’s manual” of time-tested teachings we all should have had available to us early on, which we can now utilize for realizing and living a life filled with purpose and meaning. I will be recommending for years to come to all my students and teacher-in-training."
    —Richard Miller, PhD, author of Yoga Nidra: A Meditative Practice for Deep Relaxation and Healing
  • "Rod Stryker's teachings have given me a whole new lens with which to see the world and my own potential; his teachings are sparks in a powder keg. My life has exploded with beauty, mystery and depth under his tutelage"
    —Jennifer Nettles, Grammy award winning songwriter, lead singer, Sugarland
  • "I am thrilled to have at my fingertips the extraordinary genius of Rod’s teachings as offered in “The Four Desires.” Regardless of one’s yogic experience, Rod guides us to uncover the beauty, power and purpose of our lives. This book is an incredible gift to have both as a teacher and student, and I am excited to use it as a resource for my own continued growth and self-discovery."
    —Seane Corn, yoga instructor, co-founder Off the Mat, Into the World
  • "Read The Four Desires slowly, savor its wisdom, and then do the exercises to help embody the wisdom. It will help you live your best life."
    —Erich Schiffmann, author of YOGA: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness
  • "The Four Desires is firmly grounded in ancient wisdom. Anyone seeking inner healing and lasting happiness must read this book."
    —Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD, Chairman and Spiritual Head, Himalayan Institute
  • "Rod is a true Master and his book, The Four Desires is a rare accomplishment: a book of valuable, profound wisdom that is easy to learn from, live by, and love. I will be carrying a dog-eared copy of it for years."
    —Mark Bryan, author of The Artist’s Way at Work, former member of Oprah’s Change Your Life Team