{"id":152,"date":"2023-07-25T03:05:58","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T08:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/12yogaquestions.com\/?p=152"},"modified":"2023-07-25T03:05:58","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T08:05:58","slug":"michael-mark-poet-walker-hospice-volunteer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/12yqcville.com\/?p=152","title":{"rendered":"Michael Mark \u2014 poet, walker, hospice volunteer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yoga is a holistic experience for many \u2014 mind, body, spirit \u2014 but did one element or another first draw you to the practice?<\/p>\n

I believe I had the thirst for all three \u2014 they are so interdependent I couldn\u2019t point to one over the others, though, moment by moment I do draw on different sources for sustenance<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"How about as your practice evolved: did yoga feed your mind or your body or your spirit more; were those elements more in balance than when you started?<\/p>\n

yoga fed all three and yes, again, yoga helped to balance me<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

How long have you been practicing yoga?<\/p>\n

I have been away from my mat for three years now \u2014 I was a five to six day a week practitioner for five years<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

How frequently do you practice yoga?<\/p>\n

these days my practice is focused on the breath \u2014 which I work on almost constantly \u2014 and walking meditation<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

What do you miss most about yoga in the studio?<\/p>\n

the community \u2014 the satisfaction of dedicated effort \u2014 the teachers\u2019 insightful spiritual offerings even as we moved through rapid flows<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

What’s the greatest obstacle to you having a regular yoga habit?<\/p>\n

I am my biggest obstacle when it comes to my practice, as I am in most of my life \u2014 but this questioning, I believe, is giving me a tender push towards my mat \u2014 deep bow<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

When you were starting out, what came easiest and what was more challenging?<\/p>\n

inversions were always tough for me \u2014 balance poses, I\u2019d say, came more naturally<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

What have been the greatest benefits of yoga for you?<\/p>\n

patience \u2014 when practicing I was less tight in all ways, more roomy, and that allowed me to flow with all more healthily and gracefully<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Apart from yoga, do you practice other techniques of mindfulness or meditation?<\/p>\n

Vipassana and most consistently offer and recite Metta<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Do you regularly do other forms of exercise?<\/p>\n

I am a long distance walker and have walked the Camino De Santiago three times, Offa Dyke in Wales and trekked the Himalayas \u2014 I was regularly walking 6-10 miles a day \u2014 then came pickleball \u2014 obsessed!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Outside of a yoga session, do you ever just strike a pose and stretch?<\/p>\n

yes \u2014 are you watching me?! \u2014 I\u2019ll spontaneously strike a Warrior 2 pose or a Tree pose<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

If I gave you an expenses-paid yoga retreat, where would you go?<\/p>\n

Chiang Mai, Thailand \u2014 I\u2019ll just need a moment to pack<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014interview \u00a9 Marshal Zeringue<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yoga is a holistic experience for many \u2014 mind, body, spirit \u2014 but did one element or another first draw you to the practice? I believe I had the thirst for all three \u2014 they are so interdependent I couldn\u2019t point to one over the others, though, moment by moment I do draw on different […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/12yqcville.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/12yqcville.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/12yqcville.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/12yqcville.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/12yqcville.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/12yqcville.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/12yqcville.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/12yqcville.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/12yqcville.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}