I teach yoga. Not style, not an idea of it.

Any word that is put in front of the word “yoga” is just another idea we’re going to have to get over in our pursuit back to Self. That is, suffering “person”ified.

To me, the Self lives within and recognizes itself as existence itself. The side effect of not living in your head is joy. Why not pursue that? Whenever we don’t experience this taste of life, it simply means that right now, you are living in your head.

It’s hard enough staying focused on how to stay present and remain in the ocean of life without getting distracted, wanting to be an important drop. Why put a new word in front of yoga, the union between polarities, the force to bring you back? Look what happened to Anusara; all Anusara showed me is that people were looking for a way into their own hearts. How did that work, when the very teacher of the practice itself became the exact thing they needed to open up their hearts, as opposed to the idea of how to do it? It didn’t.

I like the short-cuts; you do all the work, I will teach and hold and live within my presence in the shared space. I’ll hold It, like a lion tamer, taming the only thing that gets in the way—the mInd. The mind is desperate, needing escape, always needing a better moment. Why not just stay on course? I see why it is not popular; at first it takes work, and a lot of yoga practice.

Yoga is not an evolution, it is a de-evolution back into uncovering what is right here. It is a way into the one thing that we’re all looking for.

“Be still… know thy Self.” You also don’t have to be doing postures either to be yoga. The class is less about the postures, and more about who may come into the class uninvited during the class and how you respond. It goes back to how much you want it. Spirituality is the search for oneself, and as far as I’m concerned in my class, the finding of you, being in your life. Not looking for it in your head, not seeking ”joy,” but recognizing where it lives.

This is what is “taught,” making friends with the unknown, where life lives and grows. There are no exceptions; how you do the class is how you do life out there. I love watching my students grow or fight themselves during class. Sometimes they fight me.

All tensions and pains are friends. They just push you back into loving yourself. So the dance is to find you; not what you already know, but you. No exceptions.If I hold a space of truth, then don’t come into the class expecting to run into anything other than your own truth in the room.

So, to answer your question, I teach yoga. The union between the polarities is you. Not the “you” you think you are. There is nothing original about your personality. Everything else about you is the most unique expression of life. Life is my favorite thing. The best things in life are four letter words.

Life. Love. Kind. Troy.

Til the next time, The evidence of God lies in that somebody may have the answer to life, but life waits for you to want it, and become it, before revealing itself whole and holy. Such a beautiful set-up and kindness.

Did I answer your question?

Troy Turi has taught yoga for over 12 years. He works Internationally as a yoga teacher, doing retreats, workshops and classes around the world. He worked for 7 years within prisons as a Gestalt Therapist and as an Interventionist (helping families work through addiction and treatment) throughout North America, incorporating yoga and breathing as the cornerstone for people finding their way into healing themselves. He also worked with the Squamish Nation, the largest band in Canada.

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Editor: Anne Clendening

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