My yoga teacher Kevin

**Yoga is not about twisting the body into a pretzel, but about raising self awareness and compassion.

Kevin is my favorite yoga teacher.  He teaches only once a week on our work site.  Without his inspiration I am not completely sure that I will be such a fervent yoga fan.

I have a lot of good things to say about his teaching.  He has a tremendous repertoire of poses and he picks a coherent set to teacher in one class.  And he adjusts combination of poses based on the class size too.  He then compiles them into a fluid sequence and mandates it at a comfortable pace.  This sounds like routine, but if one has experience with different classes, one will not take it for granted.

But what motivates me to write a post about him is not his capability of presenting a good sequences of yoga poses and governing it well, but his spirituality, his amazing characteristics, and his charity.

Practicing yoga without spirituality, to me, is like a pretty face without content in the brain.  And one can sense it right away without the help of x-ray.  Kevin has the aura of energy that all of us student benefit.  His class never fails to energize me up, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

The prevalent form of yoga classes in the western society is mostly physical.  Our classes too.  So he rarely gets any chance in class to talk much beyond the name of poses and instructions.  The spirituality is embodied in minor details in the instructions.  For example, at the final relaxation pr meditation, he would ask us to only watch our thoughts coming and going without judging, "you are not this body, you are not these thoughts, you are not this ego.  There is something mysterious, inexplainable, unfathomable, that is at some corner of you, waiting to be unfolded, filling you in with courage - no fear, compassion - to give somebody this indulgence, gratitude - how can we not be grateful for such abundance, and love - fearless love";  in Samasthiti (equal standing) he would say "be humble" when we need to have chin to chest; "stay in  the present, not the past, nor the future" when he corrects the warrior two pose when somebody either leans forward or backward; when it's a demanding pose, he'd guide us by saying "breathe your way through, with patience, rather than muscle your way through.  Send your breath to any tight spot, physical and mental"...  These simple philosophies work for me on the yoga mat and beyond.

His spirituality does not come in a stoic manner, in stead, he is quite a humorous teacher.  Somebody might step the left foot forward in a high lunge when his instruction demands the right foot, then he would playfully cup his hands around his mouth and broadcast the kind reminder"the other right foot, the other right foot";  when he introduced nagasana (serpent asana) to us, he suggested us to imagine how a serpent slithers, and because "serpent practice nagasana everyday so they do not have low back pain or tight hips"...

Before a class begins, he often asks what we want to focus on that day.  At the end of a class, we usually have 3-5 minutes to practice our favorite poses.  My favorite pose is Hanumanasana (sort of a front split, named after Hanuman, a divine entity in Indian epic Ramayana).  He once told me that my interest in that pose inspired him so he decided to practice it everyday for a few months.  A couple of months ago when he returned from a trip to India, he brought me a gift, Hanuman with Himalaya held on one hand and his club on another, painted on a piece of ceramic tile.  He encouraged me to keep up practicing.

Kevin has been involved in helping Indian kids to go to school.  He and his wife, together with another couple, have been not only offering financial aid, but also visiting the kids a couple of times a year.  He said they have to "bribe" kids' parents first so that the parents will release kids from labor work.  During the most recent visit in Indian, they successfully sent some girls to the school, first time in that area, in fact, to have girls in school.  He told me that it was by accident that he watched a documentary in MoMa then he decided to help.  As he himself mentioned, they are not rich.  The whole program costs them about 6,000 USD every year.  I guess that does not include flight tickets and other travel expenses.  I was quite touched by such amazing things that they have been doing for Indian kids.  I am personally extremely passionate about kids' education.  Such deeds have definitely inspired me great deal.

He organizes a group of yoga practitioners to go on that trip, couple of times per year.  Besides helping kids, they practice yoga.  He told me after his Feb trip that he was already booking tickets for his Nov trip, and he could not wait to go again.  He said he felt super charged each time from the trip.  His passion and optimism, as well as his big smile, are quite contagious.

I enjoy having a few minutes' of brief conversation with him after class, which could go all directions.  I guess he must be at his 50s, but I find that he is glowing youth and energy and hope every inch of his skin.  Compared to the option of spending my life with somebody at a young age but with a blank mind or a polluted mind, I'd prefer companionship from somebody like Kevin.