Our job with our digestion is to absorb nutrients and eliminate waste, and to not dwell on the waste - which is my issue with some of the pop American psychology masquerading as Yoga, by the way.
Gary KraftsowMy life hasn't been static - I spent a lot of time in Europe, a lot of time in India. So I traveled around a lot, and I kept moving.
Gary KraftsowI studied Sanskrit for many years, and I've got all the coursework for my Ph.D. And a lot of what's going on in American Yoga is just made-up stuff. Smart people, even good people, Western therapists, Yoga therapists and other things, Western healthcare practitioners who love Asana and say, "Let's make up yoga therapy."
Gary KraftsowI just think that the reality of life is impermanence. That's the foundation of understanding what Yoga is, and we're here for however long we're here, and then it's over. And I've known this since I was a kid.
Gary KraftsowYou're working yourself till late at night, and sleeping crazy with deadlines - you're doing it for a reason.
Gary KraftsowThere's the kind of people like me, who spent years in India, have learned Sanskrit, have done this work deeply - they probably say for lifetimes - now interfacing [with the mainstream].
Gary KraftsowThere must be something here for me to get or to share or to do. So I have the duty that I do, the dharma that I do - which I love - with my teaching, with my family, my son, my students, my girlfriend.
Gary KraftsowWe all have a dark side, and we have to confront our dark side. That's pop American psychology.
Gary KraftsowThe thing that I do in my day-to-day is teach Yoga, and train teachers, and train therapists, and now my life has gone to a whole other level because I became involved with people at the very top of American healthcare.
Gary KraftsowI'm in a body, and when my sleep ends, I'm awake. I don't really understand the... that's not really a choice. I mean unless I chose to stay in bed, but I'd still be awake.
Gary KraftsowFor me, life has been interesting and entertaining, and I'm interested and curious about what's going to happen each day.
Gary KraftsowWhy I wake up in the morning is that I'm still alive, and I want to figure out whatever I can before it's over.
Gary KraftsowI know what the teaching is, but to realize the teaching in a life experience, the sh*t really is an opportunity to find out who we truly are. To really learn and to awaken to our potential.
Gary KraftsowMy degree was in Depth Psychology and Religion, so I can really speak directly about pop American psychology masquerading as Yoga.
Gary KraftsowI think I've always had a pretty good time in life. I mean, I've had major trouble, and major brain surgeries, and challenges in relationships - like anyone else - but overall, when I wake up in the morning, and I'm aware, I'm like, "Ok. What's happening today? What's next?"
Gary KraftsowWhen I was twenty, and my family were business people, and I had disappeared to India and they were like, "What are you doing?" I had a good relationship with them, and it wasn't like a rejection or anything, but they couldn't understand why I was going to India.
Gary KraftsowI have projects in life that I'm engaged in, I have things that stimulate me in my life, that make me happy. But more interesting for me is: I'm still trying to figure it out.
Gary KraftsowYoga teaching is that you're not your dark side or your woo-woo, you're pure awareness. Our job is to begin to gain that discrimination and insight so we can separate from our identification.
Gary KraftsowI like waking up in the morning when I don't have to get up and think about the next thing, and I can just be present with the feeling of being alive, I guess.
Gary Kraftsow