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Lex
Gillan
3830 Villanova Street
Houston, TX 77005-3640
Telephone: 800.524.6674
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Employment
History
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| 1974 - Present |
The
Yoga Institute, Founder and President |
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Established 1974 |
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Formal
education
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| 1969 |
Stephen F. Austin State University |
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Bachelor of Science, January 1969 |
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Yoga
education
(Hatha and Raja Yoga and Meditation) – Primary Teachers
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| 1969-1971 |
Self
Study |
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| 1971-1974 |
School of Yoga
Houston, Texas
Hatha and Raja Yoga |
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| 1971 – Present |
Monastery of Christ in the Desert
Abiquiu, New Mexico
Benedictine monastery/personal retreats |
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Summer
Early 1970's |
Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Tibetan Lama
Rocky Mountain Dharma Center
Fort Collins, Colorado
Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Teacher |
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1973 – 1994
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Ram Dass, Spiritual Icon
New Mexico and Texas
A long connection first as a chela (student), then as a yoga instructor on staff at several retreats and finally as a host and promoter of his lectures and retreats in Houston and Chappel Hill, Texas |
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| 1979 – 1982 |
Stephen Levine, Spiritual Teacher and Author
Houston, Texas and Chappel Hill, Texas
Meditation, death and dying and grief work teacher |
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| 1980 – 1996 |
Andy Gold, Sufi Master and Rabbinic Pastor
New Mexico and Texas
Sufi teacher |
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Summer
Early 1980’s |
Father Thomas Keating, Trappist Monk
New Mexico
Contemplative prayer teacher |
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Summer
1982, 1983 |
Lama Foundation, Ecumenical Retreat Center
San Cristobal, New Mexico
Christian, Buddhist, Sufi, and Hindu practices |
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| Summer 1989 |
St. Benedict’s Monastery
Snowmass, Colorado
Trappist monastery/ personal retreat |
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| 2002 – 2006 |
Stan Hafner, Yoga Master
New Mexico, Connecticut, and Texas
Ashtanga Yoga, Vinny Yoga and Vinyasa Krama yoga teacher |
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| 2003 – Present |
James Ezelle, M.D.
Houston, Texas
My Analyst |
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PROFESSIONAL
QUALIFICATIONS
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| ERYT
(Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher), License number 20588 |
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Certified Yoga Teacher through Yoga Alliance, the national governing body of yoga teachers. 500 hour level (highest possible) |
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| Owner and teacher: |
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Yoga Teacher Training and National Certification Course
and Advanced Yoga Studies Course Licensed through Yoga Alliance
500 hour level (highest possible)
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| On a more esoteric level: |
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Thrown to the masses by the grace of the guru.
1 April, 1975 |
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History
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Pioneered full-time yoga instruction as a profession in stand-alone studios. Founded The Yoga Institute, one of the oldest independent yoga studios in the country, in 1974. Built business to four studios (Houston, Clear Lake, Sugar Land, Bryan College Station) and minority ownership in the bookshops of ten other studios around the country. Each of the four original studios had a bookstore with 2,000 volumes of classic yogic texts.
Personally taught more than 25,000 yoga classes and 300 two-day weekend meditation workshops to more than 100,000 students out of the original Houston studio. Sold the studio piece of the business in 1997 to concentrate on teaching Yoga Teacher Training & National Certification Course (started in 1993) and The Advanced Yoga Studies Course. These courses are ten day and five day courses respectfully which are taught at retreat centers around the country. More than 140 ten day courses have been taught certifying more than 1,600 yoga teachers. These courses pioneered yoga teacher certification in the United States.
Co-founder of Rose Mountain Retreat Center (not-for-profit established 1986) located outside Las Vegas, New Mexico. Seed money of $50,000 was obtained through a grant from Charles Miller of Houston. The center offers a potpourri of spiritual retreats with world-class teachers June through October each year.
Hosted and promoted myriad lectures, workshops, and retreats (one-night stands to weeklong retreats) including:
Swami Kriyananda (Paramahansa Yogananda lineage)
Stephen Levine (numerous visits)
Ram Dass (numerous visits)
Judith S. (Emmanuel medium)
Lilias Folan (of PBS TV fame)
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (death and dying)
Dhiravamsa (Vipassana meditation teacher)
Andy Gold (many visits)
David Swenson (Ashtanga yoga teacher)
Eloise Gold (Tai Chi teacher – many visits)
Residents of Lama Foundation (A medicine chest of spiritual practices taught in a three day course at Rothko Chapel)
Deepak Chopra |
Boards
and
appointments
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| Early 1980’s |
Lama Foundation
San Cristobal, New Mexico
Board of Trustees, 1 year appointment |
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| 1986 – Current |
Rose Mountain Retreat Center
Las Vegas, New Mexico
Co-founder, Board of Trustees |
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| 2005 - Current |
The Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center
Houston, Texas
Faculty and Director of Development
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| 2008 |
Brazos Bookstore
Houston, Texas
Part Owner and Board of Directors |
National
Yoga Conference
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| Late 1990’s |
Presented two lectures on The Business of Yoga at a three day conference in Austin, Texas. |
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Books and
articles
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Gillan, Lex. "Oasis 80 A CALENDAR FOR THE NEW YEAR."
Bayland Publishing, 1979.
Gillan, Lex. "Conscious Eating." Tele-Scope Magazine.
Volume 3 Number 1 (April, 1976). |
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FEATURE
ARTICLES
PUBLISHED
ABOUT
The Yoga Institute and Lex Gillan’s Career
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"Leisure Classes Feature." The Houston Post (4 January, 1976).
"Leisure Classes Feature." The Houston Post (8 January, 1978).
"The Yoga Institute Teaches Classical Indian Yoga." Houston Chronicle (29 April, 1978).
McFarland, Gary Elliott. "Christmas Survival – Head to Toe Tension May Be Gift of the Season." Houston Chronicle (14 December, 1978).
"Seekers in the City – Everything You Wanted to Know About Sects But Were Afraid to Ask." Houston City Magazine (February, 1979).
"Oasis 80 The Most Beautiful Calendar You Have Ever Seen." Houston Home and Garden Magazine (November, 1979).
"Yoga Works Mind and Body Totally." The Houston Post (14 September, 1980).
Serrano, E. Jeff. "Enjoy Yoga This Holiday." Houston Chronicle (December, 1980).
Kane, Karen. "The Fittest Bodies in Town – Lex Gillan." Houston Chronicle (6 January, 1982).
"How to Survive The Holiday Flabs." Houston City Magazine (November, 1983).
"Is Relaxing Taxing?" Houston Chronicle (5 November, 1983).
Sowers, Leslie. "The Yogi and the Realtor." Houston Chronicle (29 January, 1984).
"How to Relax." Houston Post (22 April, 1984).
DeSoto, Ben and Kane, Karen. "Heavy handed." Houston Chronicle Texas Magazine (16 September, 1984).
Smith, Michelle. "Bailey, Gillan Trim Fat Through Aerobic Fitness." Houston Chronicle (8 January, 1985).
"Fit or Fat Program Works." Houston Health and Fitness Magazine (November, 1985).
"Gift of the Yogi." Houston Home and Garden Magazine (December, 1985).
"Houstonians Turn to Yoga For Stress Reduction, Increased Flexibility." Houston Health and Fitness Magazine (June, 1987).
"H H & F Spotlights January’s Fit Physiques." Houston Health and Fitness Magazine
(January, 1988).
Charlene. "Mastering the Art of Snoring and Candle-Staring." The Houston Post (20 March, 1988).
Allendar, Ann. "the Search For Inner Peace." The Texan Newspaper (2 April, 1989).
Baird, Jane. "Being Fired a Blessing for Yoga Buff." The Houston Post (31 July, 1989).
Selby, Holly. "Mainstream Meditation – America’s Outlook Changing." Houston Chronicle (1 May, 1990)
"Tips for a Better Life." Houston Health and Fitness Magazine (January, 1991).
Lewis, Gwen. "Moonlit Runs, Yoga Bring Gillan Peace." Houston Chronicle (24 January, 1991).
"Turning, Twisting, Stretching Movements." Houston Health and Fitness Magazine (February, 1991).
Baird, Jane. "Leave Your Troubles at the Yoga Institute." The Houston Post (19 May, 1991).
"Lex Gillan – Profile." Houston Press (31 October, 1991).
Paris, Wendy. "Yoga Classes Teach Relaxation." Houston Chronicle (13 April, 1994).
Morgan, Barbara. "The Art of Prayer." Houston Life Magazine (17 April, 1994).
Fleming, Chris. "Yoga, The Missing Link." Houston Health and Fitness Magazine (January, 1995).
"Art of Yoga." The Gazzette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa newspaper) (9 March, 1998).
Jordan, Becky and Rath, Raye Lynn. "The Yoga Institute, A Gem in the Heart of the City." Small Change Newspaper (March/April, 2004).
Neporent, Liz. "What Can Yoga Really Do For You?" Shape Magazine Volume 25 Number 10 (June 2006).
Waldman, Dorothy. "Mastery of Yoga Worth Stretching For." Greater Houston Weekly (27 December, 2006).
Zotomayor, Alexie."Less Is More." Island Locator Magazine-Island of Saipan (July/August, 2008 cover story).
Dunne, Diane. "The Institute for Spirituality and Health." Change Magazine (May 2009). |
COURSES
TAUGHT
UNDER
AUSPICES
OF THE
INSTITUTE FOR
SPIRITUALITY
and
HEALTH at the Texas Medical Center, Houston, Texas
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| M.D. Anderson Cancer Hospital, Houston. |
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Weekly meditation for faculty and staff (ongoing). |
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| Houston Independent School District. (Rose Haggerty, Manager, Health and Physical Education, contact). |
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Three one-hour classes in hatha yoga for HISD teachers for winter in-service program (January, 2006). |
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| Methodist Hospital Oncology Unit. (Bross, Ann, contact). |
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One hour instruction and practice in five different meditation techniques on how to deal with stress, pain and uncertainty while undergoing cancer treatment. For patients, staff and faculty (March, 2006). |
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| Memorial-Hermann Hospital System, Katy. (Lempertz, Isabelle, contact). |
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A five hour mediation workshop entitled Taking The One Seat. Introduced, educated and practiced ten meditation techniques drawn from many of the world’s wisdom traditions. For hospital staff only (April, 2006). |
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| Memorial-Hermann Hospital System, Katy. (Lempertz, Isabelle, contact). |
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Four 25-minute meditations practiced over a four week period (each meditation is different) done in the hospital chapel. For staff and faculty. |
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| Menninger Clinic, Houston. |
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One hour instruction in four meditation practices for faculty for their personal use and also to pass the practices on to their patients at this psychiatric hospital (October 2006). |
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| The Institute for Spirituality and Health, Houston.
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Ongoing Faculty responsibilities which include annual Art of Yoga workshops, the annual Nurses Retreat for the Texas Medical Center staff and ongoing workshops for Baylor and University of Texas third year medical students. For upcoming classes at The Institute for Spirituality and Health click here. |
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| Rice University, Fall 2008.
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Two six week courses: The Art and Science of Meditation and Basic Techniques of Beginner Meditation |
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Interests
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| An avid reader and book collector having amassed a very deep collection of yoga, philosophy and spiritual books. Number of books in home library – 5,000. |
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For complete brochure and tuition information, please call
800.524.6674
or
click here to
receive information by mail.
Photos: C.Bryan Jones, Saipan
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