11/04/2023
Hi. I’m a yoga teacher. Yeah. There are a lot of those these days. Though I am Indo-European decent in part, my journey with yoga beginning at 19 became a devotional path of mindfulness. Colonialism destroyed so much of the world, culture, divine natural connection to heaven and earth. And yoga when brought to America to aid westerners with their grasping to greed and power has become a service of industry. I have rejected this and simultaneously must embrace it due to the nature of our lives and my need to feed myself. I am not a self promoter and I struggle living authentically in a capitalist society. That being said, yoga is most of my daily life. It has been the practice and discipline that has helped me move more and more away from attachments, grasping paths, and addictions.
I read continually and learn as much as possible from teachers native to Jambudvīpa (the ancient name before India or Bharata). I still struggle pronouncing Sanskrit, but my heart is centered by nourishing truth of yoga, the importance of holistic cultural understanding of this ancient practice.
So I want to invite you to practice yoga, maybe with me? But most of all I am calling to action a mindfulness in our practices. Non-stealing is a Yama (a part of the limbs of yoga) I have struggled with in many ways in life as I practice yoga and mindfulness I come to terms with the fact that we are here to serve compassionately, with these truths in mind moment to moment. So if you do practice, dive into the practice with mindfulness, appreciation, and respect. Yoga is more than exercises, positions, and chanting Om. It is a rich history, an active practice of devotion, and it is our responsibility to honor its roots, the ancient and present teachers, and the philosophy of discipline meant to work with us inside and out.