I first met David Mramor in the fall of 2014. A friend mentioned one day that he was working with a drag artist who also taught yoga, and there seemed no reason we shouldn’t meet, drag-adjacent yogis being a rare find within yoga communities that often seem specifically geared towards as heteronormative bodies and practices as can be found. At the time, I was seriously studying under teachers at Kundalini Yoga East (and wearing a white kufi-style head covering full time at their recommendation), while David taught – and still teaches – at Golden Bridge in NYC. We are both post-alcohol, but David braved a quiet Tuesday night to come sit at the cocktail bar I was bartending at then and we connected. I was immediately struck by his energy and eyes – he has the knowing look I’ve come to recognize of someone who has seen and done a lot, maybe not all of which they’re proud of, and has found a room-warming compassion from that. We found that we both grew up in the Midwest, he in Ohio, me in Kansas, both have drag “alter-egos” (that seem more like “ultras,” as a drag mentor of mine once called it: intensifications or a focusing of our personas for performance and artistic effect), and we both also have spiritual names from the tradition of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan. Later, I performed at one of David’s gallery openings in the Lower East Side, where he had a series of paintings: photo-realistic reproductions of what looked like childhood photos streaked with beautiful abstractions of light and color that struck me as deeply spiritual reflections on life and memory and gay childhood. He also presented musical and performance work as Enid Ellen, accompanied by a pianist, stalking the gallery in huge platform heels held together with electrical tape, gyrating and channeling Tori Amos via Diamanda Galas in true Western punk drag mystic tradition, with vocals reminiscent of the knowing purr and sly camp of Justin Vivian Bond. While my tenure with our yoga tradition in common has more recently changed and my practice has led us in different directions, I reconnected with David via email from Berlin. Alexis Penney: So tell me about how you got into yoga and Kundalini in the first place? Were there any particular life experiences you feel led you to where you are? David Mramor: This friend of mine who I had a big crush on took me to my first Kundalini yoga class at Golden Bridge in NYC. When I bought my class they had a really good deal: like 5 classes for some really cheap price, so I just did it to kind of let the man crush know I would be back. I can commit. (Laughs.) That first class with Hari Kaur was amazing! I remember it being totally psychedelic. The “Longtime Sun” song brought up visions of unicorns and I really felt overwhelmed but so good. So high! (Laughs.) At the time, I was really into getting high from drugs and alcohol, so this felt very good and familiar but less sloppy. After that class I didn’t go back right away. I actually had some really dark drug and alcohol experiences shortly after that class and decided I needed to clean myself up. It got to the point where I had to sober up. During this time, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I felt really bored: like I had all this time inside my head now that I wasn’t filling it up with substances, so one day I remembered that I still had that 5-class pass and they were going to expire so I decided to go back. Being an addict, I started going everyday. I lived on Lorimer Street in Williamsburg and would walk over the bridge every day to go to class. It worked so fast to clean my body out and reminded me so much of who I really was. So many of the movements were familiar to me, I think, because they are things that I did as a child to feel good. Outtake from “Sensual Angel. #3 . Ptown” AP: That’s so beautiful and I can totally relate. I’ve always been interested in the overlap between our practices – as queer gender non-conforming artists and performers and yogis – and also the differences. Can you describe what defines your art and yoga practice for you? Do you feel there are hurdles sometimes when connecting with other yogis because so many practices are so personal and unique to each individual? DM: Connecting to my inner yogi really has changed my art practice. In many ways I think the chanting and breathing exercises has definitely improved my singing. I also think it has helped my physicality and strength for performing. I have really tried to incorporate my yoga practice into my art making. Trying not to appropriate too much, but rather find a natural space that may also bring up questions of both practices. If anything, I think my art has allowed a space to question my spiritual practice. There are many pieces of the teachings that bother me and I feel like I can look at those things more clearly in my art. Misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia shows up in many yoga teachings and these are real issues for me. “…[On homosexuality] Yogi Bhajan at first was shocked by the phenomenon. Through the 1970s and early 1980s, Yogi Bhajan taught that the condition could be cured through intensive yoga and self-analysis. By the late 1980s, however, Yogi Bhajan resigned himself to the conclusion that “sometimes God goofs” and puts men into women’s bodies and vice versa.” — Yogi Bhajan, Comparative, Comprehensive Communication, Eugene, OR, 3HO Transcripts, 1980, pp. 102-3, 221 How can I align myself with these teachings? In lots of ways I have had to interpret the teachings to work for me and I feel like I have had to do the same for art making. How can I contribute? At times I felt like my yoga practice stifled my art making. I felt that it dumbed it down or made it more conservative and I think those have been real tests for me to figure out my actual art. What content is important for me? Where does my thinking work into my neutral mind? How can I be a part of these communities? Meditating everyday has allowed for amazing ideas to enter into my being. I think this time to connect to another energy has benefited my art making. Lyrics or images for paintings have come into my mind’s eye during this time of sitting and breathing. There are lots of artists that practice Kundalini yoga, so it’s been great to connect to these people. It’s also been super important for me to realize this is a sacred space and, sometimes, less said is best. Let’s get subtle together. Let’s connect on a spiritual level. Because my art practice can be pretty big and loud, I realize not everyone is ready for it and if they are they will be lead to it and we can also connect on another level. Does that make sense? AP: Totally makes sense. I’m also curious about your names. We both have several overlapping names that we use for different purposes. Can you illuminate yours a little more for us? DM: I use my spiritual name on Facebook and at Golden Bridge. I do love that reminder Jai meaning victory and Raj meaning royal. I tend to mix my names David Enid or David Jai Raj or Enid David. I’m really not set on any one name. Lately Enid E feels nice. (Channeling Mother Nature, David Mramor is Enid Ellen.) Each name has a story. Enid came from the character on Sweet Valley High. She was the redhead curly-haired girl that always wore green. When my sister and her friends would let me play the Sweet Valley High game with them, they would always make me be Enid. I felt like I was given that name. I chose Ellen because of Ellen DeGenerous. She was the first out person on TV I remember, and that was so strong and amazingly big. I have lots of respect for her. I try to feel out where people are and meet them at that point: how I can make someone comfortable. Right Photo credit: Alexis Penny AP: What would you describe as the trends you’ve seen since you began teaching Kundalini? How has that culture changed and how would you describe yoga culture in general in America? Well, I have definitely seen people try more and more to make money off of yoga. So many Kundalini yoga mantra singers making music or making foods. I think it is really fantastic. The more consciousness being inserted in diet and music the better, but at times it seems exhausting. There is an energy that money holds and to bring that energy so closely to spirituality can feel dirty, but it’s necessary. I also see so many workshops designed on finding love or money. I think these things have always existed, but at times they look like traps. I think it’s just funny to take a look at it. My full-time job is not teaching yoga, so I guess it’s easy for me to examine it. Teaching yoga is a tough full-time job. That said, I think America is picking up on yoga more and more and that makes me happy. Whatever it takes. All these new forms of yoga people are branding are fine with me. Whatever it takes. I have tried many different forms of yoga at many different times in my life and different ones fit at different times. “My art practice is political. My spiritual practice is political. Being a citizen of the Earth, I am political. Being a gay body, I am political.” AP: What challenges you the most about Kundalini culture or yoga culture in general? DM: I think the fanaticism bothers me the most. The obsession with certain teachers or certain diets or certain clothing. All of these things serve a purpose and, believe me, I have been obsessed before but co-dependency is dangerous. I really try to disconnect from that behavior but I understand it. A lot of the appropriation bothers me as well. I have to really watch my judgement of this because I borrow a lot myself, but a lot of these teachings are connected to Sikhism and it feels wrong for me to borrow from sacred religious practices that I don’t completely understand. The other thing that I have a strong problem with is the gender and sexuality wording in a lot of the manuals and teachings. Homosexuality and trans identity is not addressed in a way that feels inclusive. I think it stems from old teachings that are homophobic, transphobic, and misogynistic. I believe so much of the discrimination of homosexuality came from the religious aspects connected to Kundalini yoga. Everything is very polarity based meaning yin and yang, male and female and when one is missing it’s off. One thing off of the top of my head that always bothered me was Venus lock. “Men” are supposed to lock the right thumb over the left and “Women” left over right. This is because of an invisible spiraling energy that we are all born with even if we don’t identify with that gender we are always stuck with a specific gendered spiraling energy. I don’t agree with this and have never seen proof of these things. Once I was really connecting with a senior teacher about life experience and I made the comment “we are sisters”. She looked at me very seriously and said no maybe we are brother and sister. This took me by surprise. I’m not sure what she was trying to show me but it felt very gender queer phobic. “It’s also been super important for me to realize this is a sacred space and, sometimes, less said is best. Let’s get subtle together.” AP: Totally. With so many changes and so much stress afoot globally, have you noticed a difference in your interactions with people? Do politics affect your personal practice? DM: My art practice is political. My spiritual practice is political. Being a citizen of the Earth, I am political. Being a gay body, I am political. Lately I feel very disconnected from spiritual people that are not being involved politically. It’s a spiritual responsibility to vote so that Mother Nature is protected and people are fed and human rights are honored. Marianne Williamson has been a huge inspiration since the election. Every Tuesday she speaks in NYC and I try to go listen. She is trying to empower people spiritually and politically so we can bring these worlds together more. Ignoring the issues is just irresponsible. Being an adult is really great and being conscious is part of that. This new administration is not spiritual. They make decisions based on money and fear. That’s not who I want to represent me across the world and therefore I need to participate. I must meditate every morning before I pick up the news or my phone. I need to come at these issues with a clear mind. Or else I will get sucked into anger and that gets me nowhere. I really think people are waking up. Left Photo credit: Alexis Penny AP: I feel like Kundalini as taught by Yogi Bhajan especially puts a lot of value in the color schemes and music and vibes, but every studio and teacher are so unique. How important are aesthetics to your teaching style and practice? And are there boundaries between your art and spiritual practices or do they overlap? DM: Yes, Yogi Bhajan was super creative with his wardrobe and his music and it definitely feeds into today’s practice. Different people are drawn to different aspects and I think Yogi Bhajan realized this. I am drawn to the vibe at Golden Bridge but I also love Kundalini Yoga East. They both have two very different vibes for different moments in my practice. White is a huge deal with Kundalini yoga. The idea that it makes your radiance and aura bigger. I try to play with this a lot in my art-making practice as well. The power of color has always worked its way into painting and art-making, and yoga has definitely shifted my perspective on these things. Color theory was enhanced by yoga for me. The music is also so amazing. I listened to the music all the time. So much of it is made with the Gurmukhi language which is an old healing language. It actually has you move your tongue inside of your mouth to hit certain points that stimulate different chemicals in your body. It’s amazing! I also think it really allows for so much creativity in the practice. Clothing and music become vehicles of expression and I really appreciate that. I don’t appreciate people telling others they have to dress a certain way. These are tools to enhance looks not to conform people. AP: What are your plans for the future? What do you predict for the future of yoga and Kundalini in America and beyond? DM: I think more and more people will connect to yoga, especially during this intense political time. I think we all could use more deep breathing before we speak or before we get emotional. I am looking forward to that. I have old friends from Ohio that email me to ask yoga advice. That’s so cool. I love it and I think it’s just going to grow more and more, but I think it’s important to connect to people where they are. Know that we are aren’t all the same and everyone has some form of yoga in there life. My grandpa smoked cigarettes and trust me he breathed really deep breaths of that tobacco. I’m going to keep performing and making art, as well as practicing yoga and meditation. I’m going to keep asking questions. I am going to keep making music and I’m always going to try to connect everyone to yoga. Even if we don’t call it yoga. Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1984, David Mramor’s art practice is rooted in painting and theater. He uses video stills to create paintings that become props, embodying theatrical settings for performances. Collaborating with Greg Potter on the keyboard, Mramor writes original songs under the guise of Enid Ellen, a post-gender feminist singer-songwriter. Performances utilize singing, movement, improv, and Mramor’s training in Kundalini yoga. Mramor has just released a 6-track EP as Enid Ellen called Beyond Reality Part 1, available on iTunes, Spotify, and CD Baby, with both parts to follow as a Beyond Reality vinyl EP later this year. He has also recently released Orlando and Pretty on the Sea as Enid Ellen.
