Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Hello yogis and yoginis!

My name is Kirk. I am married with four great kiddos. I really don’t like talking about myself too much but here we go. I graduated high school and immediately went to college. After 9 years of study (the first 6 I majored in the art of partying) I graduated with a degree in Music. I taught for DISD for a while then worked at a church directing music ministries. I spent much of my life meandering about, not really sure what I wanted or how to get there. I listen to all kinds of music-from opera to metal. I have performed in operas, with the FT. Worth symphony, and in solo recitals. I’m also a composer of sorts. I love music scholarship and had pursued that path in graduate studies for a few years. I am a writer and have written some children’s books (which still need help) that I hope to publish someday. I also enjoy teaching private voice and piano lessons.

I was introduced to yoga at the YMCA while working there. I was hesitant at first but finally decided to try it. That class was the beginning of a new life! I was amazed. I had tried weight-lifting, swimming, and other aerobic exercises. Nothing gave me the physical energy and mental alertness that yoga gave. And those benefits lasted all day, not just 4-5 hours. I say yoga is one of my hobbies, but it really is a lifestyle for me. I balked at some of the claims that yoga made. But then began researching the science behind it. So far, yoga has passed with flying colors every test science has thrown at it. Not everything has been scientifically validated only because the tests are still not conclusive. ‘But if everything else has been proven to be true, why not trust that the rest, or at least most of it, is true as well? Why not try it and see if it can radically change me from the inside out?’ These are the questions I asked myself and have not regretted a minute of my yoga life.

Now I am going to really tell you about me on a much deeper level. Since my early teens I have been involved in drug addiction. It started like everyone else…peer pressure, curiosity, rebellion, just this once, etc. I had been “functional” until September 2011. Then things began to crumble. I dropped out of grad school, lost jobs, and then I lost my family. I was desperate, miserable, hopeless and insane. I couldn’t get ‘high’ anymore only more helpless, hopeless and worthless. I also couldn’t stop, no matter what I tried. I went to treatment and am now a recovering addict full of joy, peace, faith and hope! Life is beautiful and I am so grateful. In early recovery I clung to yoga and added meditation. I needed to get my racing thoughts and emotions (which were practically dead) under control. Yoga and meditation are as much a part of my recovery program as is meetings, the 12 steps, my sponsor and constant contact with God.

As a musician myself, I want to help other musicians learn how yoga can help with relaxation, concentration, breath control and increasing lung capacity. As an addict, I want to help those in recovery, or seeking recovery, to understand how yoga and meditation can detoxify the body, slow down the mind, see God in everything, gain internal peace and relax naturally. I know I can help, but not until you let me know. Please contact me for any reason.

Blessings,

Kirk

#yoga #addiction #music #meditation #recovery