The Training no one tells you about
After living in a Franciscan monastery for 2 years— I thought I was a saint…
When I arrived in India, my teacher knew who I really was, and knew the right buttons to push. No matter how much I tried to escape the training, wherever I looked, my anger, jealousy, and self-doubt was exposed… A mirror showing me where I held my baggage.
Very quickly I realized I wasn’t a saint in practice.
The mirror didn’t judge. What was reflected was loving… and sometimes a confrontational nudge in the right direction—"Look, see that? … face it."
I wasn’t at the Ashram to learn how to stand on my head. I didn’t meditate so I could be like a Buddha. Instead, I stayed there with my teacher so I could unload my mind from all the things I convinced myself I needed.
Adapt, adjust, accommodate... my teacher used to say, which he learned from his teacher Swami Sivananda.
He also taught me that Yoga is a sophisticated system of mindfulness. By inviting students to soften their bodies and minds, we help them experience their natural state.
It is a reminder to stop running and surrender our situations, people and fixed ideas— a few brief moments without attachment.
But remember, you're not creating this effect through techniques alone… Yoga isn't defined by how many hours someone can hold an asana pose.
Rather, measure yoga practice by how many hours are spent applying what we know… not in 100 or even 500-hour courses… but Yoga as a lifetime practice.
Whether life presents itself as a drama one minute, a comedy the next, an Alfred Hitchcock or a passionate romance...
At our core we remain the same— This is the secret to life. That is true freedom.
This was my training. And the best thing that ever happened to me.
