Ommm, Love & the F*ck-it Button

Yoga. It’s been in my life for about 10 years, and thankfully is becoming a way of life, as I continually learn how to allow it to. My blog entries are an amalgam of interests, some that will come and go, but yoga is a lifer. Those who know me, know that I can preach and exalt all day long the joys and benefits of yoga. Because they’re true!! There’s a reason, after all, that yoga has become a billion-dollar business in the U.S. But like my yoga teacher unabashedly says: The funny thing about the business of yoga, is that we’re selling you something you already have: inner peace. You just forget about it. Or ignore it. Or fight it. Or block it. But it’s there, all the time, if you allow yourself to be aware of it. That’s what yoga teaches you.

It wasn’t always bliss and balance. It took years for me to really ‘get it,’ but there were definitely hints of it from the beginning, which is what kept me going back for more. I started at a studio with multiple teachers and multiple class types. Weeks went by. I felt something, but not quite what I expected or wanted. I tried everything from hour-long seated meditations to the rigorous, heat-induced Bikram.

Then came Fred Busch and his Astanga class. BINGO! Feeling more like boot camp than a spa day, I relished the discipline, physicality, and rawness of Fred’s style. This was for me. I left every class too exhausted and blissed out on the endorphin rush to remember the stresses of the workday, slept like a rock, and woke up refreshed. And progressively stronger, and healthier, and more balanced and focused and aware of my body and mind. When’s the last time you could say that about anything?! I know what you’re thinking, and yep, it’s better. Ask any yogi.

Seven years of Astanga with Fred. Mega good times. Then a brave step into a 10-week teacher training with Fred and then co-owner of the Miami Yoga Shala, Paul Toliuszis (“delicious” with a T). I didn’t want to teach, necessarily, but to learn more than a regular 1.5-hour class could bring. It was intense!! Not only what I learned and shared with my fellow trainees, but the time commitment. Every Saturday and Sunday 10-4, plus 5 classes a week. For 10 weeks. Missed time had to be made up. Now the certification requirements are even lengthier, but even then we all went through the “I don’t think I can realistically commit this much time, even though I think I want to” phase. It quickly passed. We missed classes due to life. We made up the time. When we couldn’t make it, we truly were sorry to have missed out.

Paul has a special approach to the philosophy of yoga (and life - not that there needs to be a difference between the two) that has become my own. His weekend class is my version of Sunday church. It lifts my spirit, fills my heart, puts everything back into perspective and reminds me of what’s really important and of value in this life. PLUS it has the added bonus of a knock-out physical workout that has put me in the best shape of my life – from muscle tone to strength training, from balance and flexibility to detoxing the organs and improving circulation. I’m sure I’m healthier in ways I don’t even realize.

I think Paul is a visionary. And his delivery can’t be beat. It’s a plain-speak, human, down-to-Earth kind of spirituality. He’s from Central Illinois and his practical, Midwestern sincerity and warmth permeate. Often his messages are things we all already know, but for some reason need to be reminded of over and over and over again. Like love. And compassion. We think we love people and say we love people but are we really loving them? Showing them real love? Or is love just sitting around somewhere in the back of our minds? What did you do today that demonstrated truly unconditional love for another human being? How different would your day have been if you had done it? Or if someone had shown you truly unconditional love? What if it happened overtly each and every day? You know what I’m talking about. He also says funny things that make us laugh (mostly at ourselves) in every class.

I could tell what kind of day he was having one Saturday, as we were all diligently moving through vinyasa #78, when he said very thoughtfully and slowly: “Ya know, sometimes you just have to let stuff go… Some things you just can’t change... And if it’s eating you up, ya just gotta hit the F*ck-it button… And the button is there for a reason... Use it. Let it go and move on. It helps.” Ok, I’m totally paraphrasing here and shouldn’t have put all that in quotes. It was a couple years ago that he said that but it has always stuck with me. What I wrote is what I got out of it. Thanks, Paul.

Namaste

Be the Change (Niraj Chags Swaraj Mix) - MC Yogi