I truly believe that nothing beats practicing yoga in a natural setting. Nature provides me a substantially greater connection to myself and deepens my practice in a way that no indoor studio could. Challenging my body in new ways by finding balance on the uneven terrains of sand, mud, and ice. It pushes my mind to its limits as I overcome fear near a cliff’s edge or at a mountain’s highest point. While it has humbled me to feel small in the vastness of the oceans, valleys, and sky, in nature, I never feel alone. Somehow I always feel connected as if aligned within a mystical web that can be felt but not seen.
I started “Dirt Path Yoga” to share these experiences with others. Taking groups to hilltops, landmarks, and special places throughout San Francisco never ceased to amaze me. The original idea behind the Dirt Path Yoga class was a notion inspired by my favorite movie growing up as a child, The Secret Garden. In the movie, the young girl named Mary is forced to stay with a distant relative in an unfamiliar land. Her somber circumstances begin to change when she finds an overgrown garden that provides for her in ways she never thought possible. Just like Mary, we would now follow the unpaved roads looking for a wild, magical place perhaps long forgotten to claim as our own for a borrowed time.
The making of the video “Yoga Around The World “was inspired by my prior experiences teaching outdoor Dirt Path Yoga classes in San Francisco, CA. Through an exciting opportunity to practice my work as a newly-licensed acupuncturist aboard a trans-continental cruise ship, I would over the next 7 months visit 26 countries including The Netherlands, Spain, France, England, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Morocco, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Jordan, Oman, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Scotland, Greenland, Canada, and the USA. Even though setting sail on the cruise ship meant leaving my home, community, and business behind, I wanted somehow to continue my work with Dirt Path Yoga. The way I would do this was through film. Now I had the whole world as my personal yoga mat, and it quickly became my new obsession. Every time the ship docked, I might have the whole day, half-day, or just an hour to explore, but my mission was to find the most scenic adventurous spots possible to do yoga and film it! I found that, more often than not, the best sites were far away from the port, so I volunteered to escort tours, and at any opportunity, I would sneak off to strike a pose. Hiking up a mountain to do yoga over a cliffside, in front of a waterfall, or on some crazy beautiful beach, I’d always end up getting caught by patrons who would often applaud as if I was part of the ships’ entertainment act. Some of them half expected me to be dancing in the Showroom at Sea (the theatre on the ship) that very night. Still, also people would actually recognize me for my downward-facing dog, and it actually helped my acupuncture business grow.
Doing yoga in different countries was always an interesting experience. Although most of the time, I’d get curious looks and applause from spontaneously formed crowds, it didn’t go over so well a few times. In front of a beautiful mosque in Morocco, a guard ran over to stop me filming because they didn’t allow tripods on the holy site. In Greece, at the Acropolis of Athens, a security guard made me erase footage for being disrespectful of Greek people by “doing weird things” in front of the world heritage site. My favorite was in Canada a woman yelled at me for endangering myself by doing yoga near a cliff edge (that, by the way, was neither high nor unsafe). She might have had a heart attack if she saw me doing that very same series on Pulpit Rock in Norway.
By the end of my journey, I had over 75 GB worth of video data featuring a total of 21 countries (unfortunately, some of my footage was lost, and some could not be captured in every country I visited). Overall I found great joy in sharing yoga all around the world, and I’m so happy to have a documentary of my adventure. The greatest lesson I took from my trip was never to take for granted the present time because we never know when our situations will change. I learned I wanted to make the most out of my life and help others do the same.
Now that I’ve finished my cruise ship contract, I’m back in San Francisco and finding myself called to a new undertaking. While I have indeed acquired quite a taste for traveling, this time, I want to share it with others who want to take the journey with me. On this new venture, we will be taking groups of people to some of the most spiritual sites worldwide to do yoga and meditation for a magical 1-2 week journey.
Bringing all my skills together as an acupuncturist, yoga instructor, intuitive life coach, and skilled energy worker, participants will get personalized treatments of acupuncture, massage, reiki, and intuitive consulting. I’ve helped hundreds of people caught up in the 9 to 5 rat race of an excessive tech-bounded society get back in touch with their connection to themselves and their life’s purpose. Let me ask you this, do you ever feel stressed out by overworking, worn thin, or always tired? Do you have a goal in mind and need to make some changes? Now is the time to take ownership of your life to prove to yourself you’re worth it. By getting grounded, stopping patterns of unhelpful behavior, and moving out hang-ups that no longer serve us, we can connect ourselves with nature and let go of the personal baggage that gets in the way of living life to the fullest. While bonding with other beautiful humans, eating healthy and digging deep, we will adventure to such beautiful destinations as Mexico, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Norway, Iceland, Australia, Peru, and the USA.
Come back to real life refreshed and ready to take on the world.
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