Do you remember the morning when you woke up and slapped yourselves on the forehead saying: “Man, I really need to …, I think I will start learning yoga”? What was it for you?
To maintain fitness. Just for the hell of it lol…
Well, also to have a regular exercise routine. I used to do a lot of cardio in my local gym, but I haven’t been there in a while as the atmosphere there wasn’t the same.
Like every notion in human consciousness it’s a spontaneous happening, tracing backwards; the karmic action is a result of a desire that arise from a thought that bubbles into consciousness…spontaneously…these notions pop into consciousness so quickly most claim ownership for them.
Being born in India in 1950s, one had to grow up a liberal, an atheist and live in a perpetual “creative/seeking” mode. Otherwise you would be a non-intellectual (even emotional), god-fearing, ritualistic and hence, religious and hence spiritual. We became liberal defined as rebelling against rituals and traditions; became atheist because there was no apparent proof for god either way and a vague stare in oblivion was good enough to become a seeker. Lot of that steam was lost, however as nobody argued or clashed with us. Hindus (our relatives, neighbors and all alike) still considered us amongst them and we would sheepishly join the traditional chores not to break their hearts.
Then it happened, a revolution. Autobiography of a Yogi of Yogananda and Raja Yoga by Vivekanand inspired my whole generation. It dawned on us that ‘Hinduism’ is a word coined for the convenience of the Western authors who were compelled to define it in the popular framework of a religion. They had to see “fact-based” science as completely divorced from “faith-based” religion in whose domain they put spirituality. Hinduism, as a confluence of many complementary as well as divergent thoughts and its secular, evolving state was too “advanced” to handle, especially coming from a ‘poor’ nation that was supposed to be still ‘developing’.
Yoga changed my life. Thanks to these wonderful books, I realized a new ‘spirituality’ free from religious bondage that was accessible to the modern people on their own terms. Thus, yoga came to me offering a key to the mysteries of the unknown world around me. For long I had suspected that the purpose of life couldn’t simply be to live materially in repetitive, reactive, predictable & pre-disposed behavior. Now I could see spirituality not as a territory of the recluse, but as consistent with living. It appears true that we, the humans, are born spiritual but remain in a state of pathetic denial.
One must remember that in the West, you are fortunate that Yoga is to be ‘brought’ in your life. You can be fresh, clean slate and learn at your own pace and passion. In India, it is to be ‘discovered’, for it is so integrated with the daily life and so distorted by rituals and traditions that it is considered a heritage that is ours by birth requiring no efforts to learn.
After studying Yoga Sutra intensely, I have realized that yoga is not based on faith at all. It offers us a step-by-step path of taking a hypothesis, testing it in one’s inner domain, making it one’s realized truth (if validated) to discover the ultimate truth in the end. Science, as always, gives us a ‘new’ truth every day without telling us that it will be superseded by a ‘newer’ truth the day after. Far from being antique and arcane, Yoga philosophy and practice belong to such substantial research and insight that they lead the quest for truth from the front, teaching science a thing or two.
This is how from being absolutely ‘un-yogic’, I started yoga and now yoga is my life.
…used to bunk yoga classes in school saying Miss, I?m sick
…in my college, I came across Pt. Gopi Krishna
…after my crash hata yoga/pranayama came in as my air & food, I Crave
…one fine evening I bumped into a group meditation led by, H.H. Nirmala Devi. She gave me her blessings, I?m sure. Aum. Couple of months later I felt, I don?t fit in for the regularity in Group meditation, my mat in my room misses I, guessed.
I had a bad run with guys. After the last blow to the ego, I decided to do something against my nature: Instead of partying more and numbing the pain and boredom away with alcohol and more meaningless dates, I decided to go “spiritual”. I started by reading books on Buddhism, something that i had been interested in for a long time. At the very same time, I went to a yoga class in my neighborhood. I had tried yoga before back in college, but I saw it as a fancy stretching class back then.
Somehow, that yoga teacher’s voice was so soothing and I was able to really stew on my Buddhist readings during yoga class. It became ‘church’ to me. And I’ve stuck with it ever since…
I was prodded, plodded, and dragged to yoga classes by my wife. 10 years later we have our own studio rocking the yoga for the community.
Somebody dragged me to class, and I fell in love with the [I]breathing[/I]! Because I am an ex-dancer I think I had to be older to appreciate the slow and simple nature of the flow of poses. If I had been younger, and still quite the dancer, I think I would have been bored with the earth-bound nature of the practice and would not have appreciated the breathing, nor the inner work involved with the growth necessary to progress. Now I am ALL About breath and intention.
After a surprise separation from my husband (20 year marriage- found out about his long-term affair with his best friend’s wife) my studio and my practice has become my refuge and spiritual center. It is so good to release bundled up energy and take my edge as far as I can, just so I can achieve sweet exhaustion and quieting of my mind. I live for class right now. I go 6-7 days a week.
I didn’t wake up and slap anything nor did I have an internal dialogue of “I really need to …”.
There was an Ashram in the Florida city I was living in. I had a very physical background and was working for an NBA franchise. Though against odds, I met some very cool folks who were taking classes at the Ashram and I was an open-minded chap willing to give it a go when invited.
Basketball and weight training had fractured, sprained, and broken many things. Yoga did not. There was no icing required after my class and I felt alive and ready for my day, not exhausted and needing recovery. So I stuck.
Fortunately I stumbled upon one of the world’s best teachers and I’ve not looked back.
I had a heart attack while training for a half marathon. After recovery running didn’t seem to have the same appeal.
Then I got hooked and went through the P90X workout program several times straight.Got quite fit.But for me the intensity of all the pull-ups, chin-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, made me very sore and tired all the time.
One of the workouts was a 90 minute Vinyasa Flow. After awhile I began to appreciate how I felt after this workout.
One day I saw on Gilt City a deal- $35 for a month of unlimited yoga.
So at age 62 I sucked it up and started at a real studio practicing 5 days a week.
So far I can report the following:
My physical state is very good after a year and a half
My mental state is very contemplative and accepting. Not perfect by any means
I have a great relationship with colleagues half my age now who also practice and I would say that most people in my classes are half my age or younger. It is invigorating to hang out with young people and very helpful on my line of work,
Shoe design.
Most friends in my age group either think I am bats or going through a phase when they hear of me doing head stands or anything yoga. I try not to judge.
I recognize that it’s all a process.