The Aging Yogi - Prologue

   I'm beginning to admit (and it's hard) that I'm an aging yogi.  A little about myself to begin.  I started yoga about 30 years ago, at that time it was VERY hard to find yoga classes.  The only one was up at University of Utah.  I loved it, but it was a long long trip up there for me, and I couldn't keep up the commute after the class was over.  I kept practicing and picked up a couple of books to help.  

   A year or two later, I found a class that was a little closer, in a basement in central Salt Lake City.  I began there with a meditation class, which I had read helped a lot with stress.  It was phenomenal!  I felt peaceful for the first time in my whole life, and was immediately hooked.  I began meditating regularly.  My whole soul's response was "Where has this been all my life?"

I have always been a complete yoga nerd, studying everything I could get my hands on about anything yoga.

 I began practicing asana again, taking all the classes the basement center had to offer, not missing a class in something like 8 years.  I was up to 3 or 4 classes a week, and practicing faithfully 2 hrs. a day, with a half hour meditation afterwards. One day my teacher threw me out of classes, and told me to never come back.  She said "It's time YOU go teach.  I don't have the time to focus on you anymore, I have too many students that need me".  It was a bitch, it about killed me psychologically, but I went through a huge transformation because of it, and my Guru and I found each other after that.  I doubt if I ever would have had the opportunity to find a genuine Guru if I hadn't been thrown out.  

 A few people started asking me to teach them around that time. There still weren't many classes around then, and I began teaching private lessons. About 1995 I began to teach hatha yoga classes for Salt Lake Community College, and later several fitness centers and Community Education.   I also was asked to teach the seniors at Kearns Senior Center.  These classes  I have enjoyed immensely, the students are so grateful for small improvements!  Some of the students have made huge strides improving their strength, balance, and flexibility.  They are some of the most dedicated and enthusiastic students out there!   

  

 Eventually I requested and was granted initiation to become a Sanyasi from Osho's group, and took my vows as a Zen Buddhist.  I took courses from The Kriya Yoga Institute, was initiated, studied, and practiced Tantra under my Acharyajji and Guru.  I take all the yoga seminars I can afford, and go to many yoga retreats with world famous teachers.  I also became a Kriya Yoga Initiate early this year through Baba Gonesh, after many years of personal kriya yoga practice.  

  

Yoga practice has gradually become my life.  I currently teach eight classes a week and go to my teacher's classes when I have time off from teaching.  I practice Kriya, Kundalini, Hatha, and Tantra yoga. There is no conflict in practicing different disciplines that I can see.

  

  I am noticing in the last few months that it has been harder for me to do certain asanas, it takes more effort, and my bones seem to ache where they didn't before.  (Could this be aging)?  I have to be more careful not to push myself into the more difficult poses, and I've become softer about my approach to my own practice. I have been kinder to my Hatha Yoga students and more responsive to their needs as well.  I use yoga props a lot, both for myself and my students, because the props help us get the greatest benefit from whatever we're working on.

   The object of this blog is to document the process, changes, feelings, and insights of my personal aging process as a fully committed and practicing yogi and yoga instructor who is involved in several related yoga disciplines.