kim roberts

My grandmother Toppy was possibly my first yoga teacher. When I was a teenager and sat on the terrace with her late into the night listening to waves and talking about the great mystery, she often said this: relax and enjoy. Richard Freeman introduced me to Ashtanga yoga in 1992. I was pursuing a masters degree in Contemplative Psychology, and was so inspired by Richard's teaching that I ended up studying with him in Boulder for 10 years. Eventually it became clear that yoga was the more potent of the two paths, and I gave up a decent livelihood as a psychotherapist to live, breath, and eat yoga.

Teaching presented itself in 1995 at a 3 month long dharma retreat. Stiff people sitting still for 10 hours a day came to me begging for relief. I taught very badly, but luckily, nobody died and I rather enjoyed the experience. So I went to study in Mysore in 1997. Seven years and several teacher training programs later, I returned to Mysore and received authorization to teach the Ashtanga system. I have taught yoga and meditation in a strange variety of settings: jail, a psychiatric hospital, by correspondence with prison inmates, hotels, embassies, schools, studios and retreat centers in North America, Europe and Asia.

As a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism, I see the Ashtanga practice as an aid to prepare the body for meditation. People often seem to be in a hurry to move on. Being stuck at the beginning can be humbling. But humility can be a profound teaching, if we are brave enough to face it. Rather than seeing each posture as a stepping stone (or barrier) to the next posture, what if we viewed them simply as opportunities to wake up to the present moment? This approach makes the practice of Ashtanga available to all.

When push comes to shove, as it often does in the world of Ashtanga, what we all need is a little more compassion, and a little less pressure. Keeping our wits about us and our strength intact, most of us could afford to adopt a little more love and acceptance. The older I get, the less I know. I do know that practicing yoga keeps me sane; teaching yoga keeps me happy.