My Journey...

I began my yoga practice over ten years ago. I have been lifting weights since my high school years but lacked professional direction on how to make my workouts the most efficient they could be. I got stronger in my extremities but I neglected my core work. This was mainly because I was not aware of the importance at the time and was seduced by many myths regarding sit-ups and crunches as the path to achieve the appearance of a six pack. Needless to say, without adjusting my diet I did not experience significant results. I was involved in two car accidents within a 2 year period out of high school. I began to see a chiropractor regularly because I was experiencing low back and neck pain. I continued to work out at my gym and work a desk job which placed me in front of a computer for many hours at a time. I also began to experience digestive issues which resulted in stomach ulcers and was later diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. The surgeon found it necessary to remove ½ of my stomach and 1/3 of my intestines to extract the defected areas. The recovery process was long and frustrating. I was not able to jump back to the weight room for 8-12 weeks which took a toll on my mental well being. I begin to explore yoga as a healing method. After I healed I began to practice Ashtanga yoga regularly and became an advocate for the practice.

I experienced a profound realization when reading Baron’s book; Journey into Power Yoga.  I could identify with the physical benefits of an asana practice already. When reading about Baron’s trip to Venice Beach to work out at the world famous gym that Arnold Schwarzenegger trained during his Mr. Universe days, Baron spoke about using his yoga in the gym and in everything he does. A light went off for me when reading this. He spoke about engaging the abdominal lock when lifting and the emphasis on prana during his workouts. I could also envision the weight training like a vinyasa flow. Each movement coincides with the breath and each movement is done with precision and intention. I had been taking yoga classes for years and have heard many yogis’ talk about taking your yoga practice off the mat. I didn’t really understand what this meant until I began to learn more about the 8 limbs of yoga philosophy.  I have since changed my physical exercise routine to place yoga asana’s and core work as the foundation of my training and use cardio and strength training to complement. Since doing this, I feel stronger, experience less pain, and have a sharper mental clarity by practicing daily self awareness.

Baron also speaks about the need to rewire the mind, the total life transformation. The yogic philosophy of learning to remold ones reactions and perceptions of life’s stressors as opposed to eliminate them makes perfect sense to me know. I once googled “High paying, low stress jobs”, one afternoon at work because I was under so much pressure at work  and a failing marriage that I began to develop problems coping with anxiety. I thought Google could find anything, buy my query returned zero results. Coincidently Google offered up an ad about changing careers into Yoga. I didn’t think much of it then but now I laugh. Life will continue to have conflicts which I have no control over, but I do have the control over I how react and perceive these situations. I believe this technique is extremely useful in changing old habits that produce negative energy, such as responding in anger, self-pity, putting toxins in the body or dwelling on worrisome thoughts. Once an individual is able to maintain a sense of self-awareness of these old habits, the path to a higher consciousness begins to become clearer. The ego can be our own enemy by allowing oneself to question their own self worth or compare oneself to others. The yoga path is non-competitive and is tailored for the individual, this manifests positive energy and growth. As I am going through this teacher training I am experiencing this benefit of rewiring my mind. I have carefully decided to remove those in my life that take my energy away and am committed to surrounding myself with like-minded individuals who also seek physical/spiritual/mental growth. I love yoga! ;-)