Introduction
Imagine for a moment that we’re all on a boat. Even though we’ve set a course for a particular destination, what would happen if we changed that course just one degree? How far from our original trajectory would we be in one year? Five years? Ten years? Twenty years? Thirty years? Fifty years? Well, you would end up in a totally different place.
What if I told you that you can shift the course of your life entirely by this same proverbial one degree—making a small course shift in one area of your life, or many? Over time, these small shifts will lead to big changes. The question is, where do you start? What do you need to investigate to find where you can make these small shifts?
This level of inquiry is the basis for what I call a one degree revolution; the starting point at which you can make small shifts to the way you are living that can lead to profound changes. I’m not asking you to do a complete transformation of every aspect of your life. Instead you’ll see that by looking at your actions and intentions, you may discover something new about yourself and how you function in this world.
So where do we begin? For me, the teachings of yoga, and its applications to the modern world, offer the most meaningful, powerful, and impactful lessons. And I’m not talking about the yoga you might be doing on the mat. That’s why this is not a yoga book, yet it is.
When people learn that I lead yoga workshops and train yoga teachers at some of the most established wellness centers, conferences, and festivals across the globe, most assume that means I’m leading downward-facing dog or some other asana, or posture, most of the day. I do believe the physical practice is a great doorway into this beautiful world of yoga, and the asanas can be beneficial to supporting and enhancing the way you feel about your entire being. Yet that’s not the version of yoga I’m offering you in this book. It is not what I mean to convey when I tell people I’m a contemporary yoga and meditation educator, or how my life has been profoundly influenced by yoga.
I didn’t realize the complexity and depth that yoga had to offer until I was badly injured in college. I had already been doing yoga for a few years. In fact, I took my first yoga class when I was seventeen. I have always been an athlete: in high school and college I was a marathon runner, triathlete, and a competitive swimmer. I defined myself by how my body performed. Yet I was also a thinker—often contemplating the meaning of life. To my seventeen-year-old brain, yoga sounded like the perfect mix.
I was intrigued by the mind-body connection, and fascinated by the physical practice. So I got on the mat, and much to my surprise I was truly disappointed: the first class just bored me. I didn’t feel relaxed, peaceful, or in tune with my body. I don’t know why I kept going, but I did. Eventually, my seventeen-year-old self learned to appreciate the strength, stability, fluidity, and introspection within the postures. I liked challenging myself both physically and mentally, whether it was the intensity of doing handstands and arm balances, learning to understand why postures that seemed easy were actually advanced, or fully letting go during relaxation and letting myself simply be.
One day, a few years after that first yoga class, my life changed in an instant. I was seriously injured in college playing Ultimate Frisbee. At the time I thought this was no big deal; I had taken a hard fall, and was supposed to have a routine ACL reconstruction on my knee. Yet for the next six years I was on and off crutches, and I ended up having nine surgeries. After the first surgery there were complications. I also had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia, which impacted both my healing and my vision. I ended up bedridden for three months: my life as I knew it was put on hold. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t see clearly, and I couldn’t do what most other twenty-year-olds were doing. Instead, I was back at my parents’ house, literally stuck in a bed in the middle of their living room.
Until then I had defined myself as both an athlete and a thinker. I was competitive, assertive, contemplative, and curious. I moved fast, I talked fast; I did just about everything fast. Now that I no longer could use my body in the same way, and with so much time on my hands, I began to go inward and think even more. I wondered a lot about who I was going to be if I couldn’t use my physical body in the same way. Who am I really? Why am I here? How do I want to live? What happens when I die?
Within a few months my eyesight returned to normal, yet I was still stuck recovering in bed. Ruminating on these thoughts steered me toward investigating the other aspects of yoga, the teachings beyond the physical practice. Yoga turned out to be so much more than what I could do with my body. In fact, the yoga I had been practicing on the mat was just the beginning. Understanding and exploring the philosophy opened up a completely new way to see the world and the relationship I could have with it. I was being initiated into a path of living yoga, not just doing yoga.
As I looked for new or different ways to heal my physical body, I continued to deepen my inquiry with all aspects of yoga. I began to study as many different perspectives of the tradition as well as our innate human potential. I started combining the ancient teachings of yoga with studies in Ayurveda—the traditional Indian system of medicine often known as the sister science to yoga. I also studied more “Western” ideas like coaching, transformative leadership, positive psychology, expressive arts, and dance. Each of these studies challenged me, encouraged me, and helped me evolve into a different version of myself.
Yoga has provided me insights and opened up new inquiries that I was insatiably curious to unravel, and you might be as well: How can I best be with life? How can the teachings direct me to see the most aligned choices, let go of past hurts, and make meaningful connections? How can I be with all of my feelings, from sadness, grief, and sorrow, to ecstasy, joy, and bliss, and everything in between? How can I learn to be with both the highs and the lows that are part of everyday living? And what are the most skillful ways I can savor—appreciate, cherish, and fully experience—the life that has been bestowed upon me before it’s over? As I came to a deeper understanding of these questions, I began to look at my habits, my wounds, my stories, and my beliefs, and saw that life was quietly offering me endless possibilities if only I could learn to let go and trust it. And once I embraced this way of living, I was able to feel a greater sense of ease and navigate the uncertainties of life more freely and lovingly.
Today, twenty-plus years into my journey, I consider myself a contemporary yoga and meditation educator, and I am passionate about sharing these concepts with others, like you. My hope is that you can use my present-day, practical perspective of yoga to find more meaning and authenticity in your own life.
Throughout this book, you will be introduced to ancient yoga philosophies that are adapted for our modern lives. These teachings have been selected to guide you to better know yourself and support you to be more adept in this world. I’m not taking you on a monk’s path, or showing you how to transcend the earthly experience. Instead, I’ll share what I’ve learned (up to this point, because there is always more to learn) and offer you ways to deeply engage with the life you have right now. Some of these lessons might feel like a big wake-up call to make a change, or a gentle reminder of what you already knew about yourself, or a quiet whisper that’s trying to get your attention.
So welcome to your journey into living yoga, which is my yoga offering to you. My aim is to support you to savor the gift of life more fully, and I’m honored you are here.
Become a Wave Rider
There are many different styles and philosophies of yoga, and what I offer in this book might be a little different than what you’ve heard about yoga, or even yoga philosophy. This is not a book on the history of yoga, and I’m not here to guarantee happiness or lifelong fulfillment. Instead, we’re going to take a journey together so that you can figure out, for yourself, how living yoga might support your ability to remember your truth, connect with what you deeply care about, and better ride life’s ups and downs, or what I call the waves of life.
We all know that life is brief, yet more often than not, we don’t treat it as a rare, precious, and beautiful experience. Instead, we can get swept away in the to-dos of life and lose sight of the power we inherently have to fully participate and engage. And consequently too many people feel dissatisfied with their lives. Some are questioning decisions they’ve made, or feel like they’ve been sucked into a riptide, swept away with the flow, and don’t know where to look for answers. Others are deeply disconnected, lonely, anxious, depressed, angry, and irritated. Some are longing to find their purpose, or a deep and intimate connection with life, yet feel that they only exist on the surface of their experience, jumping from one thing to the next without taking the time to see what is working for them and what isn’t.
I know so many people who feel like they are drowning because life seems too fast, too turbulent. The rapid pace of the world and its relentless stimulation can make it difficult to stop and listen to our inner wisdom, the quiet voice within. This is especially true because most of us haven’t been taught how to trust our intuition or inner knowing. Without this knowledge, we can feel adrift, tired, scattered, confused, and craving hope, direction, realness, and inspiration.
The truth is, we can’t predict how our lives will go, or how rough or calm the ocean will be. Yet imagine how differently you might feel if you could learn to approach what the world throws at you with grace? My hope is that the lessons in this book will help you to learn how to be with the waves, and how to ride them skillfully.
Let’s Get on the Boat: Small Shifts Lead to Big Changes
I’ve gone through big shifts, like changing careers or moving across the country. And then I’ve made other very small shifts, like finding the value in taking a deep breath so that I can pause before I speak. While the small shifts may not seem as dramatic as the big ones, they have actually had an equal and sometimes bigger impact on my life, because they create a habit that enriches and generates more ease in my daily life.
This one degree revolution is a path of self-discovery that is based on putting yourself into a series of personal inquiries within the philosophical framework of yoga. Some might offer you inspiration to make a one degree shift. Some offer the ability to reflect on your past, while others focus on the present. Others are meant to encourage you to take a particular action. Each one may provide a new way of challenging your beliefs or taking a skillful action step—more doing than learning from an “expert.” That’s intentional, because I know that I do not have the answers you may be seeking. Nobody can live your life for you or tell you what is the best way for you to act, feel, or think. However, I can provide questions, inquiries, and experiments that you can use to explore the ways you are currently riding the waves so that you can unveil your personal truths. When you put yourself in your own inquiries and experiments, welcome vulnerability, and gather new data, you open the door to possibility and change.
The skillful actions you choose can be reflected in every area of your life. If you’re continually checking in with yourself and noticing what makes you feel most alive, that will affect your habits around food, sleep, and exercise; your relationships and communication with others; the way you tend to the space you live in; really just about everything. Remember, yoga is a lifelong practice. With every action we’re coming home to the unique experience of being ourselves. We can move in that direction while staying open to the process of refinement and continual learning. However, in order to take that first step toward skillful action you must be willing first to show up and put yourself in the experiment.
Where do you want to thrive more? Maybe it’s your career, personal development, your finances, or your romantic life. What has been trying to get your attention—that maybe you have been ignoring? What small shift are you being called to make that could shift you in a new direction?
Each of the following chapters includes many one degree shift inquiries that are inspired by different yogic teachings. Think of them like rituals, or sacred ceremonies, rather than just something you’re supposed to do. Whatever you want to work through, or whatever aspect of your life is signaling for attention, will most likely show itself. Certain inquiries might make you feel more grounded, more clear, more connected. Others might point at the obstacles that are holding you back, which might show up as resistance, uncertainty, or confusion.
You do not have to do all of the inquiries at once, or in order, or at all. They are simply an offering or an invitation for you to dive into self-exploration. No one can do the work for you, and it’s up to you to accept or decline these invitations. My suggestion is to read the book from beginning to end, and see which inquiries resonate. I’ve found the ones that don’t are usually the ones you might want to look at first. Have you ever heard the saying, What you resist persists? Sometimes our blind spot, the thing about ourselves we can’t see, is actually the one thing that can help us the most, if we pay attention to it.
Living yoga is a path of transformation, because one of the few guarantees of life is that things will change. In order to thrive, you are invited to participate in the co-creation of the life you truly want. As you start working with these inquiries you will cultivate a stronger sense of resilience to ride the waves of life, so ultimately you can appreciate as many moments in life as possible.
In Chapter 1, Living Yoga, you’ll learn more about my philosophy of living yoga, and the traditional themes and teachings it is based on. While I have been in the yoga world for many years and have studied various streams of philosophy, I don’t claim to be a scholar of this ancient tradition. I recognize that many of these ideas and concepts originated from a culture outside of my own and my intent is not to appropriate or disrespect these origins. While these concepts will always have ties to the past, it is their iteration and evolution in the here and now that interests me most and motivates me to share my version of how to participate in the practice of yoga, and how it can influence the way we look at ourselves, and the world.
Chapter 2, Sitting in the Fire, offers specific inquiries and lessons that show how to better handle the discomfort that often comes with growth and change. When life gets challenging, learning to stay in the heat instead of jumping ship can lead to a powerful transformation. Yoga teaches us how to get comfortable being uncomfortable, and how discerning between sensation and pain can lead to growth.
In Chapter 3, Dare to Be Your Authentic Self, you will begin the process of discovering a new level of personal authenticity: what is real and true for you. One of the ways that we live yoga is learning to align the physical body with the breath body, the mental body, the witness, and the bliss body. When this happens, you are more likely to appreciate and live as your most aligned self, or what I call your authentic self.
Chapter 4, Accountability and Integrity explores the yoga of accountability: Patton Sarley, the former CEO of the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, also often known by his yoga name of Dinabandhu, defines yoga as the practice of tolerating the consequences of being ourselves. How do we learn to balance the fact that we’re always evolving, yet honor that there is a perfection just in being who we already are? Yoga teaches that we’re always evolving into a different perfection. The inquiries in this chapter will invite you to both trust where you’re at and where you’re going, and show why it’s helpful to clean up any messes you might have made along the way.
Chapter 5, Your Sacred Community, reminds us that we each are a part of a sacred community and that no matter how difficult life becomes, we’re never riding the waves alone. Finding community is a key to living our lives in the most fulfilling way possible.
Chapter 6, Instinctive Meditation, explores a different approach to meditation, a practice that is meant for a householder, the name of a yoga practitioner that lives in the world (as opposed to a monk). Instinctive meditation is the inward inquiry that will support you in embracing the movement of life so that you can have a more intimate relationship with it, and listen to your inner voice even more deeply.
Chapter 7, The Power of Pause, explains the value of taking a pause. This practice can empower us as we learn that even in the fullness of life we can step back for just a moment. It provides inquiries that focus on identifying the sweetness and beauty already present in our lives, and how our vital life force of breath can help identify and create the metaphorical space for consciously connecting our feelings, thoughts, and our actions.
Chapter 8, Rewriting Your Story, explores the many ways we can challenge long-held beliefs that may not be serving us. I like to refer to this as composting: how we can take the shit in our lives and turn it into something useful. When we can rewrite the unhelpful or misinformed beliefs that motivate so many of our decisions, we can create a more supportive reality for ourselves by crafting a new narrative.
Chapter 9, Trust Life, helps us learn to trust life so that we can let go of what we cannot control, and ultimately surrender by tapping into the intelligence of nature which weaves itself through every facet of life. These inquiries can help us trust our own resourcefulness and the abundance present at all levels of existence.
In chapter 10, Callings, you’ll begin to start listening for your calling—your life’s purpose. While every chapter offers potential one degree shifts, here you’ll be able to take the very first steps toward discovering what is trying to get your attention. And, you will explore how you can make small shifts for the sake of the greater collective, our global consciousness. You don’t need to save the world to save the world. By saying yes to your one degree shifts, you can help create positive change beyond your individual path.
Chapter 11, Begin Again, teaches that there’s always another chance for a fresh start, as long as we’re still in the game. Sometimes our small shifts lead to the changes we anticipate, and sometimes not. No matter what unfolds, or how the experiment goes, yoga reminds us that with each breath comes a new opportunity: we can always begin again.
Let’s begin together on this living yoga journey and start your one degree revolution.
Copyright © 2019 by Coby Kozlowski
