FEATURE: YOGA AND ADDICTION RECOVERY
become an Army Ranger, soldiers have to perform advanced
physical feats of speed and strength, survive twenty days in the
mountains on near-starvation diets and sleep deprivation, pass
water combat tests, and learn jungle survival skills. It’s no small
feat, but Gates doesn’t take credit for his success. “I was able to
successfully complete Ranger School not because of my personal ability but because of my ability to find enjoyment working as part of a team.”
it through the felt experience of their bodies. For example, balance is achieved moment to moment, both in life and in a balancing pose, and what balance feels like changes from pose to
pose and day to day.”
Although he was “not a good student in a traditional classroom,” Gates excelled at physical activities as a young man. He
channeled the education he received on the wrestling mat and
in the gym and turned it into a lifelong love of learning that
inspired him to become a teacher.
“I was taught to put first things first and I have. I think of my
life in terms of honoring the relationships in my life… to myself, my family, my community, my students, my profession--to
name a few. To honor these relationships requires me to have
a practice that amounts to a way of life, which in turn is what I
teach my students and write my books about. It’s actually quite
workable as long as we are willing to put first things first.”
“I loved the learning involved in sports passionately in a way
I never did sitting in a classroom and this made me sensitive
to the many ways people learn. I believe yoga and meditation
are extremely advanced learning settings that offer students
the opportunity to take what is being taught and understand
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Balance is important to Gates. It would have to be, because he
juggles being an author and teacher with a busy, world-traveling schedule and the daily life of being a husband and father.
INDIANA & YOGA MAGAZINE ISSUE I