My Yoga Journey
with Michelle Maryk
Published 3rd May 2020
Flexy Michelle is a yoga teacher based in East St. Paul, Manitoba, Canada. In this interview, she shares her yoga journey and motivation for practicing yoga.
What does yoga mean to you?
To me, yoga means being true to yourself. While yoga is a very traditional and ancient practice, I think it is meant to be made our own. After all, it is YOUR yoga practice, nobody else’s. It is practice and every practice is unique. If you’re a tennis player, are you supposed to play like Serena Williams or another tennis player? No, we all have a different game! Synonymously, we all have a different practice. I teach yoga the way I practice it, different every time, that’s why I love flow and power classes!
Some people may argue that it is no longer yoga; that I’ve Westernized it, or even “bastardized” it. However, why do something if it is not right for you? Yoga belongs to the individual and every practice is its own. It is called a 'practice' because it is practice! You own your yoga practice and you make it better with practice. As far as meditation goes, some may say that you have to sit still in silence. However, my mediation is a moving meditation where I can silence the mind and be present. Yoga is being true to you.
Some people may argue that it is no longer yoga; that I’ve Westernized it, or even “bastardized” it. However, why do something if it is not right for you? Yoga belongs to the individual and every practice is its own. It is called a 'practice' because it is practice! You own your yoga practice and you make it better with practice. As far as meditation goes, some may say that you have to sit still in silence. However, my mediation is a moving meditation where I can silence the mind and be present. Yoga is being true to you.
When did you first start practicing yoga and why?The “when” and “why” I started practicing yoga is not an easy or short answer! I discovered yoga about 20 years ago and certain events in my life caused me to discover and rediscover it!
I started practicing yoga around the age of 12 and I will be 32 next week. Yoga has come in and out of my life for the last 20 years, but has been a prominent part of my life for about the last 10 years. Yoga was not a thing 20 years ago, nor was it cool. In fact, it was perceived as weird. I sort of practiced it secretly on video cassettes (VHS format) — yes, I said VHSs — which must have belonged to my mother, although I never saw her use them. I didn’t really know what yoga was, but the cover on these tapes fascinated me. I was always very active and I was a gymnast, only until the age of eight. The cover images on the two VHSs reminded me a bit of gymnastics, so I tried them out and continued to do them throughout my teen years. After a catastrophic car accident in Mexico when I was 18, yoga became my rehabilitative exercise. I was wheel-chaired home after staying another week in Mexico to heal up and be transported back home to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I was found without a pulse, and I was in a coma for three days. My left ear was torn off and reattached and my language was affected when I awoke. It was life changing. |
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At age 21, I developed epilepsy, a delayed response to the brain damage/head trauma from my car accident. I was well on my way to starting law school, but when the seizures started, my life changed, again! I could not stay home alone, I could not drive for 4 years and I lived outside of the city. The nearest bus was about a 40 minute walk from my home and we have long, cold winters in Winnipeg! It can get as low as -50 degrees Celsius (-58 degrees Fahrenheit).
Around this time, I discovered Bikram Yoga (a type of hot yoga) in Vancouver, British Columbia with my sister and I was hooked, not specifically on Bikram, but the heat! There is something about practicing yoga in 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Upon my return to Winnipeg, I found Modo Yoga (Moksha at the time) and that became my new practise.
By age 24, yoga had become my religion. I knew I wanted to do a teacher training, not to teach, but to develop a more profound understanding of yoga. At this time I began taking pre-requisite courses at university for speech pathology, mostly to fill time productively as we were trying to control my seizures. My jobs let me go because I was having seizures at work and unable to perform the tasks at hand. Everything was a struggle until my seizures were controlled. What I craved most was my autonomy and having the same capacities to attack life the way I had before I developed epilepsy. Some medications gave me more seizures, some completely sedated me. It was a long and frustrating process. I eventually started volunteering/interning at a speech pathology clinic while filling time until my seizures were controlled. There, I worked with children with communication disorders and adults with aphasia, i.e. communication disorders that can affect language production and interpretation, often related to strokes or other head traumas, even seizures (which I could relate to), hence my interest in speech pathology.
Around this time, I discovered Bikram Yoga (a type of hot yoga) in Vancouver, British Columbia with my sister and I was hooked, not specifically on Bikram, but the heat! There is something about practicing yoga in 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Upon my return to Winnipeg, I found Modo Yoga (Moksha at the time) and that became my new practise.
By age 24, yoga had become my religion. I knew I wanted to do a teacher training, not to teach, but to develop a more profound understanding of yoga. At this time I began taking pre-requisite courses at university for speech pathology, mostly to fill time productively as we were trying to control my seizures. My jobs let me go because I was having seizures at work and unable to perform the tasks at hand. Everything was a struggle until my seizures were controlled. What I craved most was my autonomy and having the same capacities to attack life the way I had before I developed epilepsy. Some medications gave me more seizures, some completely sedated me. It was a long and frustrating process. I eventually started volunteering/interning at a speech pathology clinic while filling time until my seizures were controlled. There, I worked with children with communication disorders and adults with aphasia, i.e. communication disorders that can affect language production and interpretation, often related to strokes or other head traumas, even seizures (which I could relate to), hence my interest in speech pathology.
That same summer I decided to do my yoga teacher training. I could still not do the one of my choice because it was out of town and I still could not live alone, but there was a local training that interested me, so I figured it was time!
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After I was certified, I began volunteering, teaching yoga to children with autism and Asperger 's Syndrome (AS) as well as adults with aphasia at the speech pathology clinic. I continued pursuing speech pathology in school, still with the option of law and I continued teaching yoga on a voluntary basis. Then I started doing small events for free without realizing I was getting exposure. Then on social media, individuals began contacting me for private classes. Eventually, I started getting jobs, just from social media without even looking for work. I did most of this on a voluntary basis and because it was a passion. It was a bonus when I was offered money. My intention was never really to be a yoga instructor, just to learn and do what I loved while waiting for my health to improve. Midway through the year, I made the decision to abandon my studies in university and decided to pursue yoga full time.
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My family thought I was insane and that I was wasting my “book smarts” by becoming “just a yoga teacher.” However, my life had changed and I had changed due to the events in it. The car accident and epilepsy are what caused me to discover and re-discover yoga. I have now been teaching for only three short years, but I registered my business, Flexy Michelle, a couple years ago and I have not looked back. Sure, I wonder what would have been or could have been had I not been in that car accident, but I have no regrets with the choices I have made. Yes, of course challenges have arisen. In fact, there have been many challenges! However, EVERYTHING comes with challenges, especially anything worth pursuing!
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Were you ever resistant to learn yoga?Nope!
How has yoga impacted your life?Yoga has become my life and my career. It rehabilitated me and kept me sane during times of struggle. It provided me with strength and purpose when I did not have independence, health, or control of my life.
Why should someone practice yoga? Someone should practice yoga because the benefits are endless! I would like to suggest why someone who is new to yoga should try it and why someone who has tried it (but did not like it) should try again. Firstly, there are so many different kinds yoga! If you have tried it and did not like it, maybe it wasn’t the right kind of yoga for you. When you go into a store and try on jackets, do you like every single one? Probably not or maybe you do; the same goes for yoga! There is something for everyone!
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If someone has never practiced yoga before and they have stereotypes in their mind or preconceived notions, they are limiting themselves from the benefits that they could reap. If you are an athletic type-A personality (like me!) and you think you don’t have time for yoga or that it is too slow/boring, then, guess what? There are power yoga classes, joga (jock-yoga) classes, and core classes.
Even if you are not interested in the mind-soul connection, you may discover that you need that connection or it may manifest organically. Maybe Yin or Hatha Yoga is more your pace? If it works for you, do it! Don’t ever let someone tell you that YOUR yoga should be a certain way! It is YOUR practice, nobody else’s.
Even if you are not interested in the mind-soul connection, you may discover that you need that connection or it may manifest organically. Maybe Yin or Hatha Yoga is more your pace? If it works for you, do it! Don’t ever let someone tell you that YOUR yoga should be a certain way! It is YOUR practice, nobody else’s.
What are your favourite asanas and why?Favourite Foundational Asanas
Urdhva Dhanurasana (wheel pose or Upward Bow Pose, Chakrasana in Sanskrit) is one of my favourite asanas because I love heart openers and backbends. There are many variations and it is a fun entry point into other asanas that I love! Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-limbed Staff Pose) is another favourite of mine because chaturangas are a major component of Ashtanga Yoga, Vinyasa, and power yoga classes, my favorite types of classes! When this asana is done correctly, one builds strength and fluidity, especially in Suryanamaskar A and B (Sun Salutations A and B). A chaturanga is VERY often done incorrectly and is not corrected because they are very difficult and it is likely that the majority of the class is not doing them properly! |
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I always tell my students this story:
In that moment, I worked so hard to do just 1 modified, then 3, then 5. Then I tried 1 chaturanga not modified, then 3, then 5, and then I built my strength up to 10 chaturangas not modified. I focus so much on chaturangas in my classes because why should we be practicing something incorrectly? If you do a chaturanga properly, you can master a full Sun Salutation, a foundational yoga sequence! When you build the strength to do a chaturanga properly, you are engaging the whole body, in particular the triceps, forearms, wrists, abdominals, glutes, and hamstrings! It is a powerful and foundational asana of yoga
- When I was religiously practicing for four years, one day one of my favourite instructors said to me, “You know you’re not doing a chaturanga properly?” I was astounded because I thought I was!
- My next questions was, “Why haven’t you corrected me in four years?”
- Her response was, “If I had to correct everyone who wasn’t doing it properly, then I’d be correcting the whole class!”
In that moment, I worked so hard to do just 1 modified, then 3, then 5. Then I tried 1 chaturanga not modified, then 3, then 5, and then I built my strength up to 10 chaturangas not modified. I focus so much on chaturangas in my classes because why should we be practicing something incorrectly? If you do a chaturanga properly, you can master a full Sun Salutation, a foundational yoga sequence! When you build the strength to do a chaturanga properly, you are engaging the whole body, in particular the triceps, forearms, wrists, abdominals, glutes, and hamstrings! It is a powerful and foundational asana of yoga
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My Favourite Advanced Asanas
Pincha Mayurasana Vrschikasana (Scorpion Arm Stand) is a favourite asana of mine because the strength, flexibility, and power of the pose derives from within and creates the outer, physical asana. I also love heart openers! Salamba Sirasana: I love headstand pose because there are so many variations! I like when I can combine strength, flexibility, and power into an asana (all of which are essential for all asanas to be executed correctly) but the versatility and complexities that come with Sirasana are endless. |
Flexy Michelle's yoga journey teaches us that yoga is not just a form of exercise, but also a path to physical and mental rehabilitation after a life-altering injury or tragedy. Her philosophy of yoga also underlines the idea that yoga is an individual personal practice, which does not need to conform to someone else's idea of yoga, tradition or right way of doing things. Yoga must become your own practice: personalized, individualized, true to yourself.
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