My yoga is personal, political, and spiritual.
I started practicing yoga in 1999
I was eleven. I had just gotten diagnosed with scoliosis, an s-shaped curvature of the spine.
One day, I was a bubbly gymnast working on my back-flip; the next, I was a pubescent ghoul wearing a back-brace. Mercifully, a friend of my family suggested yoga to my mother.
I went to my first class at Yoga Shanti in Sag Harbor, NY, taught by Colleen Saidman Yee, and it was love at first downward-facing dog.
I had gotten so caught up in feeling defective and deformed, I had forgotten how much I loved to move and play.
My yoga is simple these days. I’m not the one doing the most on the mat. I teach what I practice – do less, be more.
I don’t think capitalism is evil
I’m not vegan, and I don’t fuck with astrology. I have never fit in 100% with the culture of the “wellness industry.” But that’s why I became a yoga teacher in the first place.
I knew there had to be other people like me out there; New Yorkers, relentless analyzers, people who read, listen to podcasts, keep up with current events, and hold facts to the standard of truth.
I’m not for everyone but over 7 years of teaching, my vibe has attracted my tribe. I call my niche Skeptical Dads. (We’re not all actually dads, we’re just giving big skeptical dad energy.)
Skeptical Dads, more than anyone, need to get out of their heads and into their bodies. (I see you, Skeptical Dad.)
I am a spiritual person.
You are a spiritual person. Spirituality isn’t about belief – it’s about perspective. It’s being able to zoom out and see beyond what Einstein called the “optical delusion of consciousness.”
We all have access to a higher state of awareness – it’s hardwired in our brains and bodies to have direct experiences of transcendence, to have moments of clarity and awakening to the interconnectedness of everything.
Contemplative practice is all spiritual in nature. Meditation, mindful movement, prayer – all these modalities are ways to quiet your mind so you can be present with your direct experience of the universe unfolding.
See you in the unified field :)