What is Yoga?
Background
I discovered Yoga in 2006 at the age of 42, and it immediately began to change my life in several profound ways. I had been super active all my life and involved in many sports, but I was becoming increasingly impaired due to severe low back pain. I was consuming a large amount of ibuprofen daily, and I was still having tremendous difficulty sleeping due to the pain. Also, due to chronic pain and insomnia, I was becoming quite depressed. I even had occasional thoughts of suicide, but something in me refused to give up hope. I tried chiropractic, medical doctors, massage therapists, acupuncture, but nothing helped until I discovered Yoga.
I had heard about how Yoga was a great all around exercise that increased overall strength and flexibility, and that it could be good for back pain, so I gave it a try. I took a lot of different classes, and I was impressed by the variety of classes that existed, and also how each teacher brought their uniqueness into the class. While styles and teachers may differ considerably, breathing is typically a main focus, and this also has a lot to do with why one feels so good after a Yoga class.
Long story short... Yoga did wonders for my back and much more! I developed better core strength, better posture, better breathing, I became healthier in general, and my energy and mood were improving. It was basically a miracle, and an even greater miracle is that I have continued to feel better every year! An important factor in this miracle transformation has to do with the growth in my understanding of Yoga, including teacher training in 2011. Another critical factor in my health improvement is the study and application of nutrition, which involved reading about 20 books and doing a lot of experimenting with food, but this is whole other subject which I go deeply into.
I learned a lot of amazing things after getting my Yoga teacher training in 2011, and I go into this in my book. A really key thing to mention is how Yoga can rewire the brain and transform the way one operates in the world in a really beautiful way. By restructuring my thought patterns and transforming my overall health, I've gained incredible energy and vastly improved my ability to focus and perform both mentally and physically. I've recently made incredible breakthroughs, which, again, I explain in my book.
After completing Yoga teacher training in 2011, I felt called to teach as a volunteer in the local county jail, and so I began as soon as I could. The feeling of teaching inmates this valuable life skill is really amazing. The look on their faces during and after class is one of profound peace and gratitude, and that tells me I'm doing something right, and that's why I keep going back. On 2/1/19, I celebrated 7 years of teaching Yoga in the Larimer County jail. During that time period, I discovered a much deeper aspect of what Yoga is really about. I am by no means done learning and understanding Yoga, but I do want to share key breakthrough concepts that are really important. I'm not sure how well I can communicate through writing, but I'll explain it as briefly but as good as I can. By practicing meditation along with the asanas (poses) and pranayama (breathing exercises), I learned the critical art of calming my mind enough in order to be present enough to listen closely to what the Universe is saying. And this is my understanding so far...
Yoga is...
The art of living this amazing Journey. The alignment of the self with the Divine. Movement, breath, faith, trust, surrender, and devotion to the Universe by aligning with the highest principles. The aliveness, flow, unity, alignment and congruence of energy within the mind, heart, body and Soul. The unity and congruence of the self with others, realizing the Divine in All. Appreciating what Life has done and is doing for you, realizing that pain and suffering has been showing you The Way to True Freedom all along. Learning how to Love yourself, realizing that All is One. Realizing your Innate Goodness beyond the veil of your persona or ego... that thing you created, or pretended to be, or even thought you were, in order to survive in the world of illusion that you created... in order to survive. Fearlessness, vulnerability, living in Absolute Truth, courageous, aided in the knowledge that nothing exists that can actually harm The One, The All, The Infinite, of which you are a Beloved Member. Discovering and expressing what is special about you in order to be most helpful to the other beings around you to aid in their realization of their true nature, thus contributing to the creation of an enlightened society where all beings are free.
Waking up to Love
Love is what it's really all about, and thus what I'm attempting to teach others. Body, movement, breath, mind, Spirit... it's all connected. We live in this amazing world, but so many people are trapped in fear based, limited thinking. Yoga meets people where they are at because it's a complete, holistic system that addresses the cause of our suffering on all levels.
When we wake up to who we truly are, we see things from totally different perspective. Once we assume responsibility for ourselves and take our lives into our own hands and stop blaming others for our problems, we can dive deeper into the amazing journey that is the Self. Following The Path, which is The Universe's Plan, which we are a part of, we can become free and empowered to do amazing things, even healing ourselves and others, and eventually fixing other things that are broken. So much separation exists in this world at this time, but it's because of the illusions we've created. By this, I mean that separation itself is an illusion, and all we need to do is wake up to The Truth.
Yoga literally translates as "to yoke" or "to join", thus one could see Yoga as the process of achieving unity, integration, overcoming separation, or achieving Oneness. Patanjali, considered one of the fathers of Yoga, in the Yoga Sutras, says that Yoga is the quieting of the mind to the point where it can't be disturbed. When the mind is this clear, it can perceive clearly, and at that point one ceases to be controlled by uncontrolled thoughts. This sounds a lot like the true liberation and freedom that the Buddhist monks refer to. Life is a journey. Let's choose our path wisely so we can avoid unnecessary suffering and enjoy as much freedom as possible.
I am here to assist you!
Namaste, Divine Beings!!!
Background
I discovered Yoga in 2006 at the age of 42, and it immediately began to change my life in several profound ways. I had been super active all my life and involved in many sports, but I was becoming increasingly impaired due to severe low back pain. I was consuming a large amount of ibuprofen daily, and I was still having tremendous difficulty sleeping due to the pain. Also, due to chronic pain and insomnia, I was becoming quite depressed. I even had occasional thoughts of suicide, but something in me refused to give up hope. I tried chiropractic, medical doctors, massage therapists, acupuncture, but nothing helped until I discovered Yoga.
I had heard about how Yoga was a great all around exercise that increased overall strength and flexibility, and that it could be good for back pain, so I gave it a try. I took a lot of different classes, and I was impressed by the variety of classes that existed, and also how each teacher brought their uniqueness into the class. While styles and teachers may differ considerably, breathing is typically a main focus, and this also has a lot to do with why one feels so good after a Yoga class.
Long story short... Yoga did wonders for my back and much more! I developed better core strength, better posture, better breathing, I became healthier in general, and my energy and mood were improving. It was basically a miracle, and an even greater miracle is that I have continued to feel better every year! An important factor in this miracle transformation has to do with the growth in my understanding of Yoga, including teacher training in 2011. Another critical factor in my health improvement is the study and application of nutrition, which involved reading about 20 books and doing a lot of experimenting with food, but this is whole other subject which I go deeply into.
I learned a lot of amazing things after getting my Yoga teacher training in 2011, and I go into this in my book. A really key thing to mention is how Yoga can rewire the brain and transform the way one operates in the world in a really beautiful way. By restructuring my thought patterns and transforming my overall health, I've gained incredible energy and vastly improved my ability to focus and perform both mentally and physically. I've recently made incredible breakthroughs, which, again, I explain in my book.
After completing Yoga teacher training in 2011, I felt called to teach as a volunteer in the local county jail, and so I began as soon as I could. The feeling of teaching inmates this valuable life skill is really amazing. The look on their faces during and after class is one of profound peace and gratitude, and that tells me I'm doing something right, and that's why I keep going back. On 2/1/19, I celebrated 7 years of teaching Yoga in the Larimer County jail. During that time period, I discovered a much deeper aspect of what Yoga is really about. I am by no means done learning and understanding Yoga, but I do want to share key breakthrough concepts that are really important. I'm not sure how well I can communicate through writing, but I'll explain it as briefly but as good as I can. By practicing meditation along with the asanas (poses) and pranayama (breathing exercises), I learned the critical art of calming my mind enough in order to be present enough to listen closely to what the Universe is saying. And this is my understanding so far...
Yoga is...
The art of living this amazing Journey. The alignment of the self with the Divine. Movement, breath, faith, trust, surrender, and devotion to the Universe by aligning with the highest principles. The aliveness, flow, unity, alignment and congruence of energy within the mind, heart, body and Soul. The unity and congruence of the self with others, realizing the Divine in All. Appreciating what Life has done and is doing for you, realizing that pain and suffering has been showing you The Way to True Freedom all along. Learning how to Love yourself, realizing that All is One. Realizing your Innate Goodness beyond the veil of your persona or ego... that thing you created, or pretended to be, or even thought you were, in order to survive in the world of illusion that you created... in order to survive. Fearlessness, vulnerability, living in Absolute Truth, courageous, aided in the knowledge that nothing exists that can actually harm The One, The All, The Infinite, of which you are a Beloved Member. Discovering and expressing what is special about you in order to be most helpful to the other beings around you to aid in their realization of their true nature, thus contributing to the creation of an enlightened society where all beings are free.
Waking up to Love
Love is what it's really all about, and thus what I'm attempting to teach others. Body, movement, breath, mind, Spirit... it's all connected. We live in this amazing world, but so many people are trapped in fear based, limited thinking. Yoga meets people where they are at because it's a complete, holistic system that addresses the cause of our suffering on all levels.
When we wake up to who we truly are, we see things from totally different perspective. Once we assume responsibility for ourselves and take our lives into our own hands and stop blaming others for our problems, we can dive deeper into the amazing journey that is the Self. Following The Path, which is The Universe's Plan, which we are a part of, we can become free and empowered to do amazing things, even healing ourselves and others, and eventually fixing other things that are broken. So much separation exists in this world at this time, but it's because of the illusions we've created. By this, I mean that separation itself is an illusion, and all we need to do is wake up to The Truth.
Yoga literally translates as "to yoke" or "to join", thus one could see Yoga as the process of achieving unity, integration, overcoming separation, or achieving Oneness. Patanjali, considered one of the fathers of Yoga, in the Yoga Sutras, says that Yoga is the quieting of the mind to the point where it can't be disturbed. When the mind is this clear, it can perceive clearly, and at that point one ceases to be controlled by uncontrolled thoughts. This sounds a lot like the true liberation and freedom that the Buddhist monks refer to. Life is a journey. Let's choose our path wisely so we can avoid unnecessary suffering and enjoy as much freedom as possible.
I am here to assist you!
Namaste, Divine Beings!!!
