From the Back Corner: By Matt Converse
About six years ago, while on vacation in Northern California, I attended my first yoga class. I was fortunate to have my wife there with me, following her lead, I knew where to put my mat, what blocks were for, what a down dog was. After class I was sweatier than I had expected, and my body was shaking, but I had a new feeling in my spirit that I could not describe. Yoga was much more challenging than I had thought.
The second class that I attended was four years ago in our home town. That class led to another and another – a Saturday morning date with my wife who guided me through the poses and environment of warm yoga. After a few weeks, we each bought a punch card and made yoga a regular Saturday morning date. It wasn’t long after this that my wife was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. While not a terminal condition, it certainly was life changing. She wasn’t able to handle the hot/warm environment, but I didn’t want my punch card to go to waste, so I continued attending hot yoga practices, alone. Then I bought another punch card; this regular yoga practice caught on with me. I even moved my mat closer to the front of the room.
I was nervous at the beginning of every class, for at least a year. I worried about the heat, about attending by myself, about not knowing any yoga, about being in a room where men typically make up only 20% of a class – there were plenty of things there to keep my monkey mind running at full speed. I positioned my mat in the back corner and hoped I wouldn’t draw any special attention from the instructor. I kept attending. Something was changing in me. My body felt different and my spirit was changing as well. Yoga was no longer just a physical fitness program for me.
I remember the first blast of heat that I initially felt as I would enter the yoga studio. Heat was not something that I sought out, being 310 pounds, having high blood pressure and high blood sugar. But I kept going: My body was responding to yoga. My knees and back no longer ached from sitting or standing too long. Over time, I lost 65 pounds, and all of my blood tests markers improved to normal levels. At around 18 months of regular practice, I had increased my attendance from 1 to 2 classes each week to 2 to 3 classes each week. I was making better choices about diet, because it improved my yoga practice. I also realized something bigger and more valuable – my stress level was much lower. Yoga was rewriting my DNA on how I manage stress.
As the owner (and partner) of three small businesses, I carry a lot of responsibility for the success of those businesses. Before developing a regular practice of yoga, my personal stress management was terrible; stress eating, stress drinking, comfort food, eating when not hungry, poor diet choices. I was a hard person to be around; My family noticed it, my employees noticed it, my friends noticed it. Before yoga, I tried to use golf as a means to relax, which proved to be a bad idea, golf simply added stress to my life. My regular yoga practice provided me with the tools to better manage my stress and increase my confidence. I found I could focus better at work when things were both going well and when business conditions were more challenging.
I believe that hard-charging, over-achieving, driven leaders are simply killing themselves. Heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, drinking, smoking, not sleeping enough, not staying hydrated and no real self-care are all adding to the stress levels of their lives. Especially in men who think that this level of drive and hard work will improve their lives and the lives of their families. I’ve always believed in hard work and the drive to succeed but then I realized I wouldn’t be any good to my family if I were dead. I needed yoga and I believe all men need yoga.
In November of 2018, I began thinking about becoming a yoga instructor. I checked out a couple of programs in Des Moines and they did not feel right. In visiting with the owner of the studio that I regularly attend, I decided to check out the program where she had trained – Hothouse Yoga in Iowa City, Iowa and Coralville, Iowa. The first time I attended a class at Hothouse I was so nervous, I had no idea what to expect. However, walking through the doors on that Saturday morning in February, I immediately felt a sense of familiarity, a very welcoming environment. It felt like the studio that I regularly attend. After class I visited with the owner of Hothouse, Maureen Mondanaro, for about thirty minutes. After that meeting, I knew that I wanted to train at Hothouse to become a yoga instructor.
I started YTT-200, Hothouse Yoga’s 200-hour Yoga Teacher program in October 2019. Once again, I was nervous; I didn’t know anyone; I questioned whether I had trained enough and how my body would respond to the regiment of each weekend training session. What I found was an amazing and diverse group of people who were as nervous as I was. I found that I was well prepared, both physically and as a Yogi. I also found that I was well conditioned for the training. While this was important to me, I later realized that it was unnecessary.
I became friends with all of my classmates as we trained, learned, studied, and made ourselves vulnerable. Our class had a session cut short due to a blizzard and our final session was put on hold due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Our final session was held the weekend of June 21, 2020. We had completed our YTT-200 training.
As a future yoga teacher, I hope to develop a faster paced class that focuses on strength and balance with poses that men, who are beginners, can relate to and pick up quickly.
