A Brief History of Taylor’s Classical Yoga Training
Once upon a time, in a land far far away…who doesn’t love Star Wars?. All jokes aside, my hope for you is to gain insights into your own origin story. The point or place where something within you begins. Arises.
Much like beginning your yoga journey Maybe, like me, you are an athlete seeking to balance out overused muscles. Or perhaps, you have noticed you need a life change. I’ve been there and done that (more on that later).
And of course, I welcome all yogis at heart. Always seeking to learn more. To expand your sphere of understanding.
I’ll be writing more blogs about all things yoga and upcoming retreats, so stay tuned.
“Knowledge is like a sphere; the greater its volume, the larger its contact with the unknown.” - Origin Story by David Christian
(Before we continue, I need to make clear…would Luke Skywalker tell his story in first person?
No.
So on behalf of the storyteller in each of us, all things going forward will be in the third person. Ya dig?)
Taylor’s Yoga Emergence
The point at which yoga arouse in Taylor's life began after he finished playing hockey at BYU. As many athletes can relate, Taylor sought a sport that would continue to engage his body.
So why not join a rock climbing team?
The coach of said rock climbing team said, “Taylor, your balance is terrible. You should take the yoga class down at the community college.”
Taking no offense, Taylor signed up for a Yoga 101 class at Salt Lake Community College in Taylorsville, Utah.
Taylor bought and read the book required for the class: Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness by Erich Schiffmann. Before the yoga class even began.
Erich inspired Taylor with his own story. But, specifically about lines of energy in the body. How to move them. And play with them. To this day, it’s still something that profoundly speaks to Taylor.
“Stillness is not the absence or negation of energy, life, or movement. Stillness is dynamic. It is unconflicted movement, life in harmony with itself, skill in action. It can be experienced whenever there is total, uninhibited, unconflicted participation in the moment you are in—when you are wholeheartedly present with whatever you are doing.”
― Erich Schiffmann
Taylor went on to take the community college class and really enjoyed the experience.
At the end of the class, the yoga teacher had each attendant lead a 15-minute sequence. After the last class, the teacher said to Taylor, “Hey! You kinda have a knack for this. Would you be interested in teaching yoga?” At the time, Taylor scoffed. Laughing at the idea internally, he replied, “No I have a career. I’m not super interested in teaching yoga at this point.” This was in 2009.
Taylor’s O.G. Home Yoga Practice
Once the yoga class ended, Taylor dove into his own home practice. Today, Taylor describes his O.G. home practice as yin stretching.
Consisting of a lot of twists to help keep his body balanced after playing hockey. With Hockey as a contact sport, Taylor felt the ripple effects of beating up his loyal companion.
"I can say that yoga helped me not only be a better hockey player but also a better person." Liam O'Brien, Arizona Coyotes
Taylor moved to Washington state in 2015.
He moved away from his family. And any reference point OR support system. Because Taylor lived isolated, in a cabin out in the woods, he asked his friends to help him stay connected. One of the things they did (virtually) together was the May I Begin Yoga Challenge by Kino MacGregor. That was when Taylor joined Instagram. He felt inspired by admiring the aesthetics of yoga.
Seeing the beauty from various poses captured on Instagram reenergized him to keep going with yoga. (Wanna follow Taylor on IG? Click here and then select follow). After living in the woods, alone aside from his dog companion, V, Taylor noticed he was drinking too much. He needed to make a life change to continue to be alive and thrive.
The same day Taylor decided to move into Ellensburg, WA (where he was also working). On a whim, he bought a year of hot yoga.
He immediately fell in love with the heat, the sweating, and the group environment. Especially how the group brought out being challenged together. Working it out mentality, together. Moving as a cohesive group of people with each breath and pose.
As Bikram Yoga style encourages. (Don’t worry, I’ll get more into styles of yoga in a later blog post…)
“Yoga is the only exercise on this planet from which you gain energy instead of burning energy. You are never too old or too broken. It is never too late to begin, or to start all over again.” - Bikram Choudhury
Taylor’s Immersion into Yoga Teacher Training
The owner of the Bikram studio also offered teacher training to Taylor. Who once again, scoffed at the idea. And defaulted to his reply, “I have a job. I’m not really sure this is for me.” But shortly after, Taylor did decide to sign up for the Bikram Yoga Teacher 200 hr training.
The focus of this specific teacher training is to understand the Bikram sequence.
His training was broken down into four 50-hour modules. Each weekend would be a four-day immersion. Averaging 12 to 13 hour days. In a hot studio. Two to three classes per day.
Posture clinics on top of that.
Taylor traveled to Yakima, Vancouver, and Wenatchee to experience each four-day 50-hour immersion.
Seeing and practicing in different studios.
The experience was arduous.
Yet inspiring.
“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” -Marcus Aurelius
Taylor built on his Bikram teacher training with the same teacher, Stephanie Howard. This time focusing 100 hours on the Ashtanga style.
Shortly after this Taylor moved to Spokane, WA. He managed two Beyoutiful Hot Yoga studios for owner, Mimi Vimont.
Taylor taught close to 16 to 22 classes a week for two years. During this time Taylor was also practicing at The Ashtanga School under Shelly Enloe.
He attended workshops by Shelly’s teacher, David Garrigues. Gaining a couple more hundred hours in the Ashtanga yoga style (remember more blogs going in-depth into these styles to come).
“Life is a journey of either Fate or Destiny. Fate is the result of giving in to one’s wounds and heartaches. Your Destiny unfolds when you rise above the challenges of your life and use them as Divine opportunities to move forward to unlock your higher potential.” – Caroline Mys
Taylor’s Inception of Abide Yoga Studio
By 2018 Taylor established Abide Yoga Studio. Why the name Abide?
To understand that, you need to back up just a bit. Starting with, the Sanskrit word asana. It has various meanings.
Common definitions include pose.
Or posture.
The yoga sutras are a great reference to describe how you should do asana. Poses that balance steadiness (sthira) and ease (sukham).
To develop steadiness with the flavor of ease there needs to be some degree of establishment in place. This establishment comes from a period of time.
Over time. Beyond 5 seconds of holding a pose.
Further understanding of asana, it is positions you abide in through a duration of changes. When you do postures – collectively, over a period of time, doing challenging things, to ultimately facilitate changes in the body and come back to wellness – you are abiding by a greater force within you.
Through posture and comfortable breathing. You and the group all come together to process and move forward from where you are to where you would like to be. Ultimately the word Abide is Taylor’s synthesis of his yoga teaching style and personal practice focus.
“In the end, yoga has less to do with what you can do with your body and more to do with the happiness that unfolds from realizing your full potential.” - Rod Stryker
Taylor’s Yoga Education Today
Currently, Taylor just wrapped up his training and knowledge with Rod Stryker. A 300-hour advanced yoga teacher training. All of this knowledge and application focused on Tantric Hatha Yoga. So at the end of the day, what’s your origin story?
When did yoga come into your life?
Did you ever experience something coming back to you, several times (like Taylor being prompted by others to teach yoga) and you finally jumped in?
Speaking of jumping in…Taylor (and his partner Darby) offer online classes!
If you are interested in taking the online classes, you can try them, free for 3 days. After that, it's just $10 a month. No Contract. Cancel Anytime. These classes will encourage you to dive deeper into your yoga journey. Each video offers between 20 to 50 minutes of yoga. With a variety of styles to meet your energy levels.
And ultimately, these videos will become part of your origin story.
P.S. There’s some fun stuff Taylor has been practicing too. Like Acro yoga since 2017. Movement and blended modalities since 2018. Stay tuned for more blogs on that later.
P.P.S. If you haven’t already, follow Taylor on Instagram. Not into social media? No worries. Contact Taylor through his website. Like a DM (direct message) he’ll get back to you if this blog brought up some questions about your yoga journey.
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