Sangha (Community)
Each season we are going to feature one of the wonderful teachers at Wake Up Yoga, to give you the chance to get to know them better.

Mike Kaszuba
Mike teaches the Sringara Rasa Flow class Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. at our Fairmount studio.

I was in Corina’s first teacher training class that started in September, 2002. We taught our final classes in Spring of 2003.

I first got interested in Yoga way back in 1981. I was in Elizabeth City, NC, and was a placekicker for a Coast Guard football team. I used the book to learn different ways to open or stretch the hamstrings and leg muscles. After that season and my departure for Kodiak, Alaska, well, I sorta lost interest until 2002.

In 2002 and the years prior I used to run a lot. I participated in a few marathons, numerous half
marathons and other short distance runs. In 2001 my goal was to run the Philly Marathon and then the NYC marathon, both runs were approximately two weeks apart. In the process of training I tore the cartilage in my left knee. After almost three months of physical therapy and visits to doctors offices, I slowly started to ride and run at a local gym. There I watched a yoga class from a stationary bike and decided to take the class the next day. After taking my first class I ended up
feeling that same euphoric feeling classed as a runners high; this peaked my curiosity and I needed
more information as to why I was feeling like this. So my first real experience of yoga was more physical—that combined with my curiosity drew me into the practice of yoga and the rest, well that is a story in itself.

What made me interested in teaching is a desire to share what yoga has done for me and my children with others. I also wanted to share the fact that there is more to yoga than just putting your foot behind your head.

I started teaching in December of 2002 just before I did my final at Wake Up Yoga. So I guess that outs me at around four years.

To place a label on the teachers that most inspire me is a tough decision. I believe that everyone and everything that I come across has something to teach me. I tend to be quiet sometimes and just observe people and the world and how they interact with each other. I then try to figure out why things may happen the way they happen. This in turn makes life and its experiences a continual learning process for me.

Right now I am reading Light on Life by B.K.S. Iyengar. I am also reading passages from The Living Gita by Sri Swami Satchidanada and I just finished the book T.O., the story of Terrell Owens (ask Mike, he knows).

My favorite sutra must be the sutra 1.14: “Sa tu dirghakala nairantarya satkara asevitah drdhabhumih.” The translation of the Yoga sutras by Sri Swami Satchidananda states: “Practice becomes firmly grounded when well attended for a long time, without break and in all earnestness.” Which tells me that what I am searching for with the practice of yoga is
not something that is going to come to me overnight. As opposed to today’s hurry up world and our desire for instant gratification, the practice of yoga and its results are the exact opposite, and may take a lifetime and then some. Which comes down to practice, practice, practice. I guess good things come to those that wait.

My favorite movie must be John Boormans Excalibur (1981). Merlin (Nicol Williamson) was great.

The flavor of my class—let me say Neapolitan. Something for everyone. I try to feed off of the
energy of the class. Sometimes energy may start low and may change during the class. I try to stay aware of this and move with the current. My classes are fun, challenging and never repetitious. One day we may focus on hips, the next class might be inversions, the class may change due to the state of the moon or the ayurvedic season (seasons being more Vatta, Pitta or Kapha). I guess you could say the classes are dynamic as I try to bring in different aspects of yoga and to let the people experience different things and how the environment can influence their practice and attitude. So different flavors for different people.

My biggest struggle with yoga is finding time for my own practice. Being a single dad with another full time job, plus teaching yoga, I find the only time for me to practice is early in the morning. Right now I get up around 4:30 a.m. to practice.

To me, yoga is a new beginning for myself and my family. About 9 years ago my family and I were going through some rather difficult and stressful times. The difficulties and stress peaked in October of 1999 when the children’s mother passed away. I was using running as a means of stress relief and dealing with life itself, but after injuring my knee, the tension and stress were beginning to build again. I then turned to the practice of yoga as a substitute for running and possibly to recondition my knee to start running again. But as I started to practice and to breathe I noticed my stress level started to decrease, and I wasn’t as angry with the world (as much) as before. I then noticed a change in my kids. I realized that they were previously feeding off my anger and stress and when I changed, they changed. The stress and the anger moved to an all-time low, which is where it is still. That is why I considered my practice of yoga as a new beginning or “lease on life.”