Collected by his students in remembrance — October 22, 2025

Javad (Jai) Khansalar was a teacher whose presence shaped many of our practices and lives. His humor, honesty, and insight carried the essence of yoga — meeting life as it is, breath by breath.

These sayings were gathered from his students as part of our remembrance gathering on October 22, 2025. Each phrase holds a memory of his voice — sometimes direct, sometimes teasing, always guiding us back to simplicity and awareness.

We share them here in gratitude, as a reflection of the parampara — the living lineage through which teaching continues, even beyond the form of the teacher.

You can also download the PDF version here to keep or print.

Sayings from Javad’s Students

• Come to your breath and pls join us in class. Stop loafing around the universe.

• What stands out most about Javed is his attention to each and every student in a class with different levels of proficiency and of course his bursting into a sardonic laugh joking about somebody!

• THE DAY WE ARE BORN WE START WALKING TO OUR DEATH .

• NEXT LIFE ..(when we were trying out a posture and not quite getting there ..he'd pass by and say 'Next life !' ...meaning perhaps we'll get the posture not in this life but our next . His humor was what made his classes so lively. Makes me wonder whether he believed in the next life too…

• One phrase I often hear as I try to perform certain asanas is “Knees down”! And we would laugh at the impossibility. Although it was an impossible outcome for me it was his encouragement and optimism that was such an important part of many aspects of my life.

• In terms of a very simple phrase that Jai often used in the context of worries or things that we cannot change or undo: “ Oh well, too bad!! (Jai laughed while saying it). This would just make me laugh and make things lighter for me

• One of the sayings of dear Javad that springs to mind is "WHO CARES?"..ANOTHER "IT'S ALL EGO".

• My saying is "nobody cares" - said in a joking way, for a small problem ( never a serious one) which basically I interpreted to mean "lots of other people's problems are much bigger than yours. Don't take yourself too seriously".

• All that matters is your breath. Control your breath to control your desires.

• Someone else's desire is NOT your destiny

• Don’t miss any more classes

• The first thing I have to teach new students is how to breathe

• When you would finally move into an asana you were working on for a while Jai would yell out, oh its Christmas time. Or he would say now we can party for 100 days

• If you were losing balance or unsteady or too talkative he would say "are you drunk"

• When you were off on your own doing what he was not saying he would say "Look at so and so, they are teaching their own class"

• Death is the flowering of life

• My mother would say I was born laughing

• His grandmother would say, if you don't like my face you turn around, I like it this way

• New mistake, do it. Old mistake, dont do it.

• Come back to the moment

• Thats for you to find out

• I can't quench your thirst by drinking water myself

• When the student is ready the master will appear, when the master is ready the student will appear

• Bright, just like your future

May these words continue to echo through our practice — grounding, guiding, and bringing us back to the simplicity, honesty, and humor that Javad shared so freely.