curriculum vitae

Lex presenting at MD Anderson Cancer Hospital, 2015 - photo credit: Bob Levy

LEX GILLAN

The Yoga Institute 

HOUSTON - SANTA FE

800.524.6674

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

1974 - Present

The Yoga Institute, Founder and President

Established 1974

FORMAL EDUCATION

1969

Stephen F. Austin State University

Bachelor of Science, January 1969

YOGA EDUCATION 

(Hatha and Raja Yoga and Meditation) - Primary Teachers

1969-1971

Mentor Joseph M. (Josh) White, Jr. My first teacher. Introduced me to Jungian psychology and yoga.

1971.  Therafields Commune, Toronto. An experiential psychoanalytic hippie commune.

Introduction to psychoanalysis.

1971-1974

School of Yoga

Houston, Texas

Hatha and Raja Yoga 

1971 - Present

Monastery of Christ in the Desert

Abiquiu, New Mexico

Benedictine monastery/personal retreats

Summer Early 1970's

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Tibetan Lama 

Rocky Mountain Dharma Center

Fort Collins, Colorado

1973

Dhiravamsa

Houston, TX

Dharma and Vipassana (Insight) Meditation Teacher

Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Teacher

1973 - 1994  

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

1979 - 1982 

Stephen Levine, Spiritual Teacher and Author

Houston, Texas and Chappel Hill, Texas

Meditation, death and dying and grief work teacher

1980 - 1996 

Andy Gold, Sufi Master and Rabbinic Pastor 

New Mexico and Texas 

Sufi teacher 

Summer, Early 1980’s 

Father Thomas Keating, Trappist Monk

New Mexico

Contemplative prayer teacher

Summer 1982, 1983 

Lama Foundation, Ecumenical Retreat Center

San Cristobal, New Mexico

Christian, Buddhist, Sufi, and Hindu practices

Summer 1989 

St. Benedict’s Monastery

Snowmass, Colorado

Trappist monastery/ personal retreat 

2002 - 2006 

Stan Hafner, Yoga Master

New Mexico, Connecticut, and Texas

Ashtanga Yoga, Vinny Yoga and Vinyasa Krama yoga teacher 

July, 2010 

Roshi Joan Halifax

Upaya Zen Center

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Zen Teacher

2003 - 2013

James Ezelle, M.D. 

Houston, Texas

My Analyst 

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

HISTORY

BOARDS & APPOINTMENTS

Early 1980’s  

Lama Foundation

     San Cristobal, New Mexico

     Board of Trustees, 1 year appointment 

1986 - present

Rose Mountain Retreat Center

Las Vegas, New Mexico

              Co-founder, Board of Trustees    

2005 - present 

Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center 

Faculty   

2008 - present

Brazos Bookstore

Houston, Texas

Partner and Board of Directors

2012 - 2013

The Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center

Houston, Texas

Executive Committee 

2013 - present 

Margaret Austin Retreat Center, 

Chappell Hill, TX

Board of Directors

2013 - present

Hope and Healing Center and Hope and Healing Institute

Houston, TX

Advisory Director

2013  

YogaALLIANCE Standards Committee

YogaALLIANCE Compliance Committee

2013 - Present

National Association of Certified Yoga Teachers

     Founder and President

November 2019  - Present

Yoga Teacher Central

Board of Directors

NATIONAL YOGA CONFERENCE

Late 1990’s 

Presented two lectures on The Business of Yoga at a three day conference in Austin, Texas

BOOKS & ARTICLES

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).

Gillan, Lex. Oasis '80/'20 A CALENDAR FOR THE NEW YEAR. October, 2019. 

Saxena, Kirti, MD, Gillan, Lex, et al. "Hatha Yoga Improves Attention in High Schoolers." Baylor College of Medicine. 1 December, 2019.

FEATURE ARTICLES PUBLISHED ABOUT LEX

COURSES TAUGHT UNDER AUSPICES OF THE INSTITUTE FOR SPIRITUALITY AND HEALTH

M.D. Anderson Cancer Hospital, Houston.

Houston Independent School District. (Rose Haggerty, Manager, Health and Physical Education, contact). 

 Methodist Hospital Oncology Unit. (Bross, Ann, contact). 

Memorial-Hermann Hospital System, Katy. (Lempertz, Isabelle, contact). 

Memorial-Hermann Hospital System, Katy. (Lempertz, Isabelle, contact).  

Menninger Clinic, Houston.

The Institute for Spirituality and Health, Houston.

Rice University, Fall 2008.

2014 Presenter at the 23rd Annual Psychotherapy and Faith Conference sponsored by Institute for Spirituality and Health/Baylor College of Medicine/Menninger Clinic, Houston

January 2015 Presenter at:

February/March 2015

Specifically for the Psychiatrists of BCM and Menninger Clinic 

February, 2015

A Workshop on How to Navigate our Interior Landscape

Specifically for Psychiatrists and Psychoanalysts

March 2015

March 2015

 October 2015

January 2016

Collective Soul Conference

Palliative Care, MD Anderson Cancer Hospital

Houston, TX

March, 2016 and 2017

October 2016

November 2016

2017-2021/23 Academic Year 

Spring 2020 and Fall 2021

INTERESTS