A Chapter From My Memoir

Glen Ellen, California 

I've been working somewhat diligently on my book, likely named Land & Sea A Memoir. I was spurred to write by a senior project I must complete for my graduation from Dominican University in May. Once I learned how easy it is to publish, I thought, why not? I've got a story to tell. Below is a little sample of what I've been up to.

Photo Credit Jim Patterson Photography

 

Chapter XX It’s Turn Key

Boats are a funny thing. Men especially become neurotically attached to these floating affairs. Many become enamored with the dream of sailing around the world. Stroll the docks of any marina and you will see beautiful sailing boats, tricked out with every offshore amenity known to mankind. This is why sailors are fond of saying “You know what boat stands for? Break Out Another Thousand.” Everyone gets a good belly roll out of that well trammeled joke. Like all popular jokes and stereotypes they have a modicum of truth. Once the intention is set to head offshore for a long world-wide sojourn, a low-grade mental illness can set it. The lure of the sea is indeed powerful, and may be imbedded in the male human DNA.

Yoga Independent Study Paper

Glen Ellen, CA


 I used my yoga teacher training I attended in October 2011 as an independent study for one credit hour at Dominican University of California. Because I am a philosophy major, I was able to parlay a little bit with the school. I was required to write a research paper on the experience, and the result is below! I hope you enjoy reading. To reveal the entire post, please click on the "read more" button at the bottom.

Photo Credit yogaschoolofindia.com

 

            In October of 2011, I took a significant leap forward in personal transformation by attending a yoga teacher training in Austin, Texas. I’ve subsequently started teaching classes at a local yoga studio. This step, the training and teaching, was the culmination of an incremental swallowing up of my life, and a new way of being, by a consistent yoga practice I’d taken up a couple of year prior. This paper details my yoga journey, some historical research about Indian philosophy, the origins of yoga, the nature of charisma, and a powerful yoga master named Baron Baptiste.

            During my inquiry of self via the ancient practice of yoga, and in concert with my academic pursuits at the Dominican University of California, I’ve come to a deeper understanding of the crossroads of philosophic thought. Including, Indian and Greek philosophy, Hinduism, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, modern day yoga masters such as B.K.S. Iyengar, and one of his famous students, Baron Baptiste whom I recently trained under. I was transformed during my week of Level 1 Teaching Training in Austin, and an honor to learn from Baron. Baron Baptiste is world renown, successful yoga teacher, and it’s no stretch to claim he has created a yoga empire via his Baptiste Power Vinyasa Flow yoga. I say empire in a respectful yogic way, as I found Baron to be impressive, charismatic, and possessing leadership qualities I admire. I find the development of personal magnetism to the degree that Baptiste has achieved to be fascinating, and worth a serious inquiry. In this essay, I will lay out the evolution of Baron Baptiste, his style of yoga, and to whom he takes his philosophic cues. A “cult of personality” somewhat surrounds him, much to his chagrin I surmise. I discuss some scholarly research in the field of charisma that feeds such cults.