Ken’s Story
Our yoga journeys are very personal experiences and frequently we come to it after exhausting other possibilities in trying to deal with challenges in our lives. While aware of yoga from a pretty young age because of my oldest sister, yoga became normalized in my young life. So I knew yoga existed, but I didn’t practice until I was in my late teens. I ran into a substitute teacher I had for a class who was also a military vet. He had spent time in Southeast Asia where he was introduced to Buddhism. On the day we crossed paths at the mall, he was handing out slips of paper with the mantra “Namu-myoho-renge-kyo”. I learned that this means "I take refuge in the Lotus of the Wonderful Law.” He explained how to use the mantra for meditation, and I took it home to begin what became my first real (authentic?) yoga practice I would truly embrace. Shortly after, I began studying meditation and Eastern philosophies and was instantly drawn to them.
My asana practice started in my mid-twenties in the basement of a local community house. I practiced a form of Bikram and I enjoyed the physical challenges it presented and the satisfaction of being able to perform the asanas to the teacher's approval. I fell into a predominantly physical practice for the next 10 years or so. Meditation was not readily available as a class at that time and was rarely if ever a part of an asana class. Eventually I gradually moved away from a physical practice and I spent a great deal of time continuing to study on my own. In my thirties, I began frequenting an esoteric bookstore in my area that brought a new dimension to my studies. I found an early translation of Patanjali's yoga sutras, which opened a deeper world of yoga and perspective of the practice. It was at this point that I began to realize how the yoga I had experienced was such a small part of the practice. I began to explore all of the philosophical texts of yoga, not just the yoga sutras but the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and to some extent the Vedas. My study was not limited to the Hindu texts. I delved into the Tao Te Ching, a lot of Buddhist texts, and a little in the Sikh and Jain texts as well. All of these philosophies use yoga to different degrees in an attempt to reach the same goal of learning to control the mind. I learned that moving beyond the physical practice of asana and pranayama (breath work) lets us develop a greater depth of concentration, which then opens the door to meditation.
Through education and practice, I have worked (and continue to work) to move beyond the overwhelmingly inaccessible perceptions of yoga in Western society. It is a challenge to always find the context to honor yogic philosophy in this environment. I am always trying to stay true to the teachings without the ego-driven need to disparage those who sell yoga as a product. Which must seem odd for someone with a yoga studio to say! I’ve always considered myself the custodian of the Namaste community rather than the owner and if anything, this role has reinforced my belief that none of us are the gurus of old with disciples hanging on our every word. We all must continue to learn to truly honor the past teaching of yoga. The more I practice a non-asana based yoga practice, the more I come to realize we are living in a modern society that pulls us all so far from our true nature. The best I can do as a yoga teacher is to help those finding their way to yoga create a personal context to practice that truly resonates with them at the deepest level, no matter their reason. In the US we have separated yoga and meditation and categorized them as separate practices, this is untrue and does a disservice to the practitioner as well as our ability to understand the context of yoga in our lives. I have come to believe that the Hatha asana gives a person the opportunity to listen to their bodies and adapt the asana to their needs at any given point depending on the day, injuries, or comorbidities they may be experiencing and by creating a space where vulnerability and inner strength can coexist can help to move beyond the physical strength and stability the asana practice brings.
Ken Aubuchon C-IAYT, E-RYT 500 is the owner of Namaste Yoga in Royal Oak, Michigan. He specializes in working with those who are recovering from injuries or surgeries.
