Frankly, I always knew the world had more to offer beyond working and spending.

I remember sitting on top of my school desk when I was ten years old. My legs were crossed, eyes closed, and I was humming with a big grin on my face as I “pretended” to meditate while my classmates laughed. My teacher, softly, told me to keep going. I hopped down and rejoined my friends, but I still remember those words.

In high school, I was backstage at the community theater before a big dress rehearsal. A silver-haired cast member gathered the group and guided us through a Zen technique whereby one inhales deeply and visualizes exhaling energy through their palms and fingertips. I asked him to show me more, and he did. At the cast party, I asked him for advice and he told me to keep going. 

My aikido Sensei introduced me to the infinite and oftentimes comical ways to bring the ground closer using gravity. He also poured out instruction in meditation through static poses held for seemingly impossible durations, and then balanced the intense heat with soft T’ai Chi flows. When I came to say goodbye on my way to University, Sensei gave me the biggest hug and told me to keep going.

I spent my first career as a video editor. I was a young adult sitting hunched over a table in a darkened room staring at giant monitors, ears covered with tiny speakers for hours at a time. My mind learned to hush the internal cues begging for sunlight, water, and exercise. When I found myself overweight but also regularly consuming stimulants, I knew something had to change.

Master Workman at Shaolin Arts in Glendale, AZ took a pudgy version of myself and ironed me out. He would chuckle whenever I (respectfully!) barked at him “I AM relaxed!” while I was tense with frustration trying to perform certain movements. I became reacquainted with holding poses. I finally learned how to breathe. Seven years later, I understood that the colored sash around my waist was a symbol of my journey, not a receipt for my accomplishments.

I’ll never forget the long drive away from our family, friends and community in Phoenix when my wife accepted the job in Denver. Lonely and restless, I followed a “Yoga for Beginners” video online and couldn’t believe how challenging it was! Enthralled, I followed the video several times a week. When a copy of Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda was gifted to me, the wisdom contained propelled me to pursue yoga teacher training.

I earned my 200 hour Yoga Teacher certification from YogaRenew in March 2023. I immediately continued my education and earned certification in Yin yoga, the soft style that focuses on tendons, ligaments, fascia and the mind.

I’m the son of a mechanic and was raised in my father’s shop. I know the stiffness and negotiation with muscles that develop over the years of working with one’s most important tool – the body. I also know how one’s posture changes after years of frowning at a screen all day. The tightness that develops in the hips and lower back make it challenging to do anything but continue sitting.

My personal yoga practice is a combination of the ancient asanas mixed with some movements and breath work borrowed from my martial arts education. Every week I try to create a lesson plan that focuses on relief for real-world ailments. Yoga to me is not a mystical system of secrets revealed only to the most devoted. It’s a path to bringing one’s mind, body and spirit together. It’s a practice of process, not of attainment.