Why I Was All In for 10 years.
Why I took an extended, immersive dive into Yoga.
To become great at any skill I was taught it would take years of devoted application.
There is a breadth and depth of technique that must be experienced before one can artfully apply.
We need those 10,000 hours.
Reading about the life of Buddha I saw how consciousness is not given by human command, but, the way we choose to live is. The daily practice seemed to be the key.
In highschool I heard Deepak Chopra say,
“Base your life in yoga and build everything from there.”
That sealed the deal for me. Let’s go.
I figured, I should claim that Bramacharya phase (focused student) as fully as I could while I was young.
As I delved, my diet, connection to sun/moonlight, daily movements and meditation became specific and even more consistent.
I wanted to see how little I could live off of. I only wore natural fiber clothes. On two occasions I got rid of most items I owned, save for the essentials and necessary technology.
I allowed the practice to touch every aspect of my life.
I didn’t care if it made me different than other people.
I wanted the practice and repetition to modify me.
So dramatic. But, I figured, to feel the interconnected benefits, I needed to go all in.
Implementing this lifestyle direction while living in the midwest of USA was… an undertaking. It took me years to find some sort of comfortable footing- but I stuck it out.
My practice was a patchwork of gym & studio classes, DVD videos, online videos, excerpts from books, yoga festivals and camps, and eventually training in California then ashram living in India.
I participated and earned over 1,000 hours of professional yoga trainings, camped at sacred sites, rose before the sun and slept by the moon and fasted accordingly. I took detailed notes on everything. I met incredible people all over the world.
I visualized this as foundational self learning, and, due to this being my area of work, I felt it was important to explore a variety of depths so that I could speak from experience when a student suggested interest.
In the USA we don’t have a Doctorate of Yoga like exists in India- so I figured I would do my best to gain a well rounded study and experience so I could share well.
I did not think I would live in this exact state forever. I knew that I wanted relationships, family and style. I approached it like I was getting my doctorate- an intense, durational immersion with visions of vitality on the other side.
I was always told that before I move into relationship with another- It was important that I fully learn to live and love as myself. I felt that this great journey within was apart of my love story.
The great progression of Hatha Yoga moves from:
personal inner yoga > to personal lived yoga > to shared relational yoga with another > relational yoga with the world and universe.
We all come to awareness from one of these stages not necessarily in a linear order.
And it is a lifetime practice to sustain them.
I wanted my body to thoroughly know the feeling of yoga-
More than stress or boredom, I wanted my body to have clear memories of flow, peace and ease.
I wanted a relationship with an intentional breath-
a deep sense of my physical breath capacity and the effects of moderating the pace of the breath on my physical, mental and emotional states.
I wanted my awareness to know the zero point of my mind-
beyond the concept of meditation- what was it like to continuously dip into my into a space of rich nothingness?
I wanted to go there- so that I would know where to go when I would inevitably forget.
It became clear to me that balancing my self with nature was a reasonable pursuit- but that I would never be the perfect yogi.