If somebody asks me if I do yoga, I’m going to have to say no, I play yoga! This seemed to be one-of-many emerging themes from my recent ten day, 100 hour, yoga teacher training course.

Eoin Finn, our teacher and mentor, had a mission to turn our group of fourteen students in to “the best freaking yoga teachers in the world.” I hope he gives us a lifetime to complete that task because as he himself states, “To be a good yoga teacher, you need to understand anatomy as well as an orthopedic surgeon, be able to grasp philosophy like a university professor and become aware of the human soul like a priest.” Good thing we have another 100 hours of training coming up in September!

So what’s this yoga thing all about for me, why would I want to teach and share the experience with others? By the time I was twenty-five, and after ten years of bodily abuse on the bike, my back, wrists and shoulders had chronic pains, five years of yoga practice later, my body feels more balanced and better than ever. But I have to acknowledge that yoga can be more dangerous than mountain biking depending on the style you choose and attitude you take. Some yoga postures can torque the joints, even if you’re an expert; Eoin shared stories of older yogis that have completely worn out joints. Not good!  So an important myth to understand is that just because you’re doing yoga doesn’t mean it’s good for you. A clear goal of our teacher training was to structure a class that promotes well-being and longevity.

My wife reminded a friend of ours today that yoga is not about flexibility, saying you’re too stiff to do yoga is like saying you’re too thirsty to have a glass of water. Another concern people have is that yoga is too much like a religion; now I have been to some yoga classes where it feels like you’re taking an oath with some strange chant, maybe those are the fundamentalist yogis; of course they have their place and that’s all good, but the kind of practice that Eoin Finn preaches is an ever-evolving style for the western lifestyle, inviting to all, no new age nonsense.

One of the guest speakers we had, Mark Finch, was an expert in structural integration, that tied in to our required reading of the book Somatics. He quite effectively helped us to visually spot problem areas in body alignment; for example, he said to look not at the over extended low back, but instead at the thorax and pelvis so as to give points of reference. He applied this knowledge to yoga postures giving us a better understanding of common alignment issues.

Over the last few years, I have been on a roller coaster ride trying to educate myself about climate change. My egoic emotions on the topic have stabilized, and I am cautiously optimistic. I was so glad to see that Eoin included a seminar with Bernie Clark (the Al Gore of the yoga world) as part of the curriculum. His presentation, titled “Yoga for Our Planet”, was very well done. He emphasized following the three Big Easy’s:

1. Mindful Consuming (diet, travel, buying)
2. Mindful Voting (incredibly important)
3. Communicating Mindfully (speak up!)

I was particularly glad he acknowledged the important role our democracy can play when we actually exercise its power.

One of Eoin Finn’s hero’s is Joseph Campbell; so he shared a documentary titled “The Power of Myth”. One of the statements Campbell said struck me, especially after listening to Bernie the night before, “What will happen when the buffalo are all slaughtered? The wild horses tamed? What will happen when the secret corners of the forest are heavy with the scent of many men and the view of the ripe hills is blotted with talking wires? Where will the thicket be? Gone! Where will the eagle be? Gone! And what is to say goodbye to the swift pony and then hunt? The end of living and the beginning of survival.” (my italics). But the one reflection I had after this documentary and Bernies speech was the importance of acknowledging all perspectives, and the integral ecology slogan sums that up nicely-”things are getting worse, things are getting better, and everything is already perfect.”

One of my favorite musicians, Xavier Rudd, attempts to describe the experience of playing live as a circular cycle of energy that comes out from the audience in to him and out through his music right back to the audience and out again, a positive feedback loop of sorts. Eoin expressed a similar feeling when teaching a good flow class, and I can relate to a degree during my trials shows. The offering of the musician, or yoga teacher, or bike performer has to be authentic in order to trigger the right kind of energy or state from the group of people involved, otherwise there is no magic.

A challenge our culture faces is that we have a hard time listening to feedback from our bodies. We would much sooner push past our limits to fuel our ego rather than listen to our bodies’ somatic wisdom. This mindset of focus on the external world goes well beyond the origin of yoga injuries, the major challenges our world faces is in part due to the ignorance of this first-person person guidance, this basic wisdom from within. Sure yoga brings incredible fitness, strength, and balance to the body, but those are just side benefits, the entire yoga practice of moving through poses is simply a preparation for savasana, corpse pose, the death of the practice, which is a rare opportunity in our fast lives to just simply be, breaking for just a moment, the identification and attachment to our thoughts, allowing a connection with our true selves to form.

Yoga isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and it is just one key of many toward that leads to a healthy lifestyle.  I’m glad Eoin emphasized that yes, yoga can bring your body in to alignment, but too much of it can make you look stiff, and stiff people are boring, right So yes, go rip it up on your mountain bike, play some yoga, and then go laugh a little with the friends you make along the way.

Big thanks to Eoin and his blissology crew, and all the friends I made during course!

Peace y’All

Many often miss a very important and joyous part of riding. Whether you’re racing your friends up or down the hill, annoyed at your bike because it’s not running smooth, maybe you’re stressed about something at work, or busy worrying about that stunt ahead and the one you biffed a few minutes ago, who knows, but it results in missing out on this gift, yes, that present moment when you can truly experience Nature. It’s the fleeting experience of being in Nature, not doing in nature.

 

This is similar to yoga, the most important part of the practice isn’t that crazy balance posture you pulled, it’s savasana, or corpse pose as it’s often called. So when you’re out on your next ride in the woods, take a second to feel the power of Nature, experience the presence of the trees or the desert rock, feel the wind or rain hitting your face, and just be, if only for a few moments. In the past I have been in some of the most incredible natural settings and not truly realized, recognized, or appreciated it; perhaps I took it for granted.

 

A large majority of the population takes the environment for granted, and it is because of this unfortunate view that most environmental degradation and exploitation occurs. We live as though the planet provides a never-ending supply of resources that can be manipulated for financial profit and enjoyment. That has to change. As David Suzuki once said “with six billion of us now shuffling up to nature’s buffet, the “all you can eat” sign will have to come down soon or those at the back of the line – the next generation – will be left with nothing but Jell-O salad.”

 

So the importance of these moments in Nature can be great, especially if riding is the only time you have that is free from the demands of the modern, fast-paced lifestyle. It’s in these moments of being that provide a certain perspective otherwise unavailable to the incessantly thinking mind; this following quote from Joseph Campbell is a great analogy of what I’m trying to say, “what if you worked your whole life climbing the ladder, and finally saw the view at the top and discovered you had leant it up against the wrong wall”. Why not let those mountain bike rides give you a glimpse of the view along the way; all you have to do is take a moment to look.

 

Just a few weeks ago, I was out practicing. I rode hard for about an hour, working on a few new moves, and jumping on everything in sight. It was a warm afternoon, the sun was out for the first time in a while; so I found some grass under a tree at the park, took my helmet off, sat down facing the sun, and just sat there soaking up the spring-like rays and letting my winter thoughts melt away. Not sure how long I was there, but I have to say it was the most important part of the ride. Conversely, I went on a night ride with a bike shop group last Fall, and they proceeded to race for two and half hours, trying to hit as many trails as possible; what I would have given for a few moments to stop, catch my breath, and gaze up at the night sky. For animals have the capacity to know, but it’s only humans that have the capacity to know they know; this is called consciousness, and it is something that we need to develop individually and then spread around.

 

Once a true relationship with Nature is realized it becomes very difficult to purposefully (or unconsciously) harm it. Now I don’t mean a kind of one-way relationship such as the “love” for nature because it provides you with endless powder snow and vertical, no. When you truly connect with Nature there is a certain respect, awe, and sense of responsibility that goes along with it. I can’t think of a better time and place to experience this connection than on a ride, how about you?