My Practice
Yoga has been part of my life for many years. I started by watching Lilias on television.
I loved it and kept at it over the years. In about 1985 I graduated from TV to actually taking lessons at Radiance Yoga in San Diego. I think about Leo and Aura often. Peggy, too.
One thing that I always struggled with was that I do not have a "yoga body". My arms are too short, Sun Salutations are always a struggle. I am muscular and big boned, and always above my ideal weight.
I came to the realization that there was no such thing as a yoga body. My body is just fine as it is. This is information I had in my head, and it finally reached my heart.
In 1990 my emphasis turned from the physical aspects of yoga to a more meditative and spiritual journey. At first I over-intellectualized. I studied history and technique. It was not meditative, it was work. Eventually, I learned that meditation is to be done, not figured out.
In 1994 I trained to become a yoga therapist with Joe LePage in Mill Valley. At the end of training I decided that since I didn't have to earn a living with teaching yoga, I would teach for fun and for free.
I teach anyone that God puts in front of me. They get eight lessons in beginning meditation. I go through all 8 limbs of yoga with them, but focus is on the third through sixth.
At first I had a little problem with accepting payment. I had to come to terms with the fact that many people are uncomfortable with the concept of accepting a gift. I settled on accepting whatever was offered, expecting nothing. It made no difference to what I taught them.
These lessons do a great deal for me. I review the beginning of the path toward a spiritual awakening. If the student continues his practice, fine. That is his business.
Now yoga is my life. I find meditation opportunities at red lights and grocery lines. I am becoming a kind and loving person.
