Director of Samjiva Nilayam, Ashtānga Yoga Orange County David discovered yoga in 1989 and was soon introduced to Ashtānga Yoga by the renowned master, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, who had traveled to teach in Santa Barbara, CA. This fortuitous experience began David’s relationship with both Ashtānga Yoga and the Jois family, and continues to this day. By the time David traveled to Mysore, India in 1999 to study again with Pattabhi Jois, he had studied with Richard Freeman in Boulder, CO. After his initial six-month stay in Mysore with Pattabhi Jois at the Ashtānga Yoga Research Institute, David was granted teaching authorization. Since then, David has traveled to Mysore numerous times. In 2009, he was among the first to receive the newly created Level 2 Authorization from Sharath Jois, director of Sharath Yoga Centre. 

As a teacher, David skillfully incorporates Pattabhi Jois’s belief that yoga belongs to “the entire human community.” In 2004, David founded and operated the Tapas Project, a program that brought yoga to at-risk teens in Santa Barbara County. David is the author of “Sanskrit and Chanting: a workbook for yoga practitioners.” He teaches weekly chanting and philosophy classes, and regularly hosts Satsaṅga of prānāyāma, chanting & philosophy. He travels throughout the U.S. teaching courses and workshops at yoga studios dedicated to preserving the Ashtanga tradition with its emphasis on parampara, the passing of knowledge through direct and practical experience from teacher to student. 

In 2014, David was listed among the top 100 most influential yoga teachers in the USA. ​