Coming Up Yogi
Work vs. Studio
My journey from student to teacher—and back to my roots.
I didn’t set out to teach yoga. I just wanted to deepen my practice.
Back then, I was a stressed-out workaholic coming off 10 years living in LA, using movement to reconnect and reset. Yoga felt like a lifeline—but I pushed too hard and ended up injured. What I really needed was less striving, and more space for self-discovery.
So I signed up for teacher training—not to lead classes, but to prevent injury and learn how to calm my body and mind. To connect with my True Self. To find purpose beyond the hustle.
That was 2011. And while my path has evolved, the lessons from those early days still shape everything: how I move, how I teach, and how I come back to the foundations—again and again.
Reflections on Yoga and the Path of the Urban Mystic
During my 200-hour teacher training, I read Darren Main’s Yoga and the Path of the Urban Mystic, and it instantly resonated. Like Main, I felt torn between two worlds—one built around ambition and technology, the other quietly calling me toward meaning and connection.
Main defines an “Urban Mystic” as someone who seeks spiritual growth while fully engaged in the modern world. That idea anchored me. I didn’t want to escape my life—I wanted to transform how I lived it.
He reminds us that asana is only one small part of yoga. The physical practice prepares the body, but the deeper work is internal. Yoga is a path toward union—of body, mind, and Spirit. And that union starts with reconnecting to the True Self (Atman), the part of us that’s divine, unchanging, and whole beneath all the noise. The ego, by contrast, clings to illusion and separation—the root of suffering.
The book explores the seven chakras as a roadmap for inner transformation—from survival at the root to spiritual connection at the crown. When these energy centers are in balance, we experience more clarity, healing, and alignment in daily life.
Foundations That Still Guide Me
What stuck with me most, though, were the practical teachings—especially the yamas and niyamas, the ethical foundations of yoga:
Yamas (restraints):
Ahimsa — Nonviolence
Satya — Truthfulness
Asteya — Non-stealing
Brahmacharya — Moderation
Aparigraha — Non-attachment
Niyamas (observances):
Shauca — Purity
Samtosha — Contentment
Tapas — Discipline
Svadhyaya — Self-study
Ishvarapranidhana — Surrender
These aren’t just abstract ideas. They’re timeless guidelines for living with integrity, clarity, and purpose—on and off the mat.
Still Relevant, Always Evolving
Looking back now, more than a decade later, I’m reminded why foundations matter—and how essential it is to return to them. I didn’t become a teacher to tell people what to do. I did it to better understand myself. To reconnect with what feels true.
As a teacher, I aim to create space for self-discovery. To keep my students safe. To remind them that yoga isn’t a performance—it’s not about getting it “right” or nailing a pose. It’s about the journey inward.
And to guide others on that path, I know I have to stay on it myself.
To be a good teacher, I have to remain a lifelong student.