How I Found My Mentor

After moving to Austin, I tried to find a home studio. I took classes across town for a few years trying to find the right fit. Many of the classes left me feeling like I had a good workout instead of the deep sense of peace and connection I was looking for on the mat. In the summer of 2015, three months after Kriyananda passed away, I took a leap of faith and enrolled in the Yoga Therapy program at Yoga Yoga. I was ready to take the next step on the yogic path and this felt like the right direction. 

In the Spring of 2016, while at Yoga Yoga, I took a course called Distilling the Teachings of Yoga: Lessons of the Sutras of Patanjali with Chase Bossart of the Yoga Well Institute. After those 5 hours, I knew I found what I had been looking for. Chase taught about yoga philosophy with the perfect balance of both humor and reverence. Chase was a longtime student of Mr. TKV Desikachar, son of Krishnamacharya, the father of modern yoga. This was the yoga I knew and loved. I had found my new teacher.

Listening to Chase teach, I had the same feeling I had when studying with Kriyananda- this is what I’m supposed to be doing with my life. In the summer of 2016, I enrolled in my first course at Yoga Well Institute, a deep dive into the ancient text, the Bhagavad Gita. According to the Times of India (2023), the ten important life lessons from the Bhagavad Gita are: 1) you become what you believe in yourself 2) stay calm 3) focus on your duty, not on the end result 4) develop the right perspective 5) change is the law of nature 6) mind is powerful 7) the body is temporary and the soul is permanent 8) living in the present 9) keep learning and 10) practice tolerance and forgiveness. Chase taught me to tune in, listen, and follow my internal knowing. This was life changing and I knew it, and it was only just beginning.

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