I remember the first time my cousin, a dedicated yoga practitioner, brought me to her yoga class.
I was still in my teens.
She had previously given me an introduction to some basic yoga moves, so I felt relatively prepared.
Of course, I would very quickly realize that I could hold almost none of the subsequent positions well.
Anyway, that is not the point of this post.
The point is, this was my first time seeing a yoga instructor in action.
I very vividly remember how I felt when he walked into the class.
He carried with him a silent, subtle but immense energy.
And this energy seemed to fill up the entire class, resonating with all the other practitioners around.
I focused on the session, and went to have lunch with my cousin shortly after.
We bumped into the instructor, who happened to be dining there as well.
My cousin briefly introduced me, explaining “it’s his first time here!”
“Not bad, his movement looks good!”
“He’s a badminton player,” my cousin explained.
“Ah, no wonder…”
And that was it.
I saw what he ate — it was nothing but greens, clean meat and all healthy food.
His movements seemed casual, but I couldn’t help but feel that his cultivation and practice of yoga had somehow integrated deeply with his being.
His aura just felt so powerful, yet so immensely peaceful at the same time.
From this point on, my practice with yoga became relatively intermittent.
I used the exercises mostly as compensatory training for my high impact lifestyle, to relief tension and strengthen my core.
But I always remembered this instructor’s energy, even till this day.
I asked myself — assuming this person really achieved the levels and depth of congruence that I seemingly observed and felt, as an instructor myself, how should my process be?
It was clear to me that I would not be able to merely practice Jeet Kune Do as only a physical process going forward.
Someway, somehow I had to instill that same congruence within myself.
I told myself that if I were to teach my students about Simplicity, Directness and Freedom, how would I express that in my own life?
How can I preach about Simplicity, if my own life is a mess?
How can I instruct others to be Direct, if I am not directly honest with myself?
How can I even talk about Freedom, if I don’t feel that way?
From that point on, I always made it a point to remain conscious of my own thoughts, actions and being.
Basically if I did not feel that congruence within myself, I would reflect and not proceed with action.
I feel that every Jeet Kune Do practitioner has a responsibility to represent the art to their best of abilities and not take this lightly.
How we treat the Art, is how it will treat us.
Treat your practice as a Meditation.
Peace,
Sean
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