How I Found Yoga -- Daniel Salerno

The word inspiration makes me think of a spark. It can ignite a flame, which can grow and grow into an enormous blaze, or simply be a small burst of energy that is here for a fractional moment in time, leaving a small amount of energy that drifts off in the wind as remnant heat or smoke. This is how I describe my first encounter with the practice of yoga. It was a small spark of inspiration inside that could have either died off as a fleeting emotion or grown into a life long practice that burns with a divine luster. For me it was the latter, and what an expansion of life it turned out to be.

It was an average day, sitting at my computer surfing the web. Grace led me to come across a beautiful album of photos. I’ll never forget it, a girl in a yoga pose on top of a cliff in Greece, one of the Greek islands, Crete. It was a beautiful time of day to take pictures. The sunset in the background with the sky in its bursting fall colors of reds, oranges, and yellows. The calm Mediterranean Sea glistened amongst the smaller islands and larger rocks of the area that protruded from the surface. This could be an inspiration in itself, but then there was her.

She was in a pose called Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana, this is a standing pose where you balance on one foot, while holding the other foot in one hand and both legs are straight. It was the variation with the lifted leg off to the side, not in front. The striking thing about it was how violent of a position she was in, yet she was soft in the face and illuminated her elegant unique expression. There was the spark, I got up from my chair and tried immediately to “do” the pose. Lets just say it was like trying to fit a square peg through a round hole. My teeth were clenched with a wicked amount of pressure and my eyes were squinting so much that I bet you could have blindfolded me with a piece of dental floss, you get the idea.

After many attempts I accepted the fact that there was no way I was going to “do” the pose on this particular day. Well, here is where the spark turned into a small flame within. I decided to stretch everyday so that one day I would “be” just like that girl in the photo. Little did I know what I was really asking from the universe. Here is the magical part, I was asking the universe to “be” like a yogi, not to “do” a pose, which is what I thought I was asking. Ask and you shall receive right?

A friend of mine in Los Angeles heard about what I was doing, teaching myself yoga in my own home with nothing more than a computer and a search engine, google. He invited me to come to Los Angeles to meet his private yoga instructor at his home so I could have a lesson from a real yoga teacher. I was thrilled and gladly said yes! Being in San Diego, Los Angeles is just a short car ride up the California coast. I got up at 5:30 AM so I could be at my friends house for the lesson at 8:00 AM. I walked in the door and there she was, a real yoga teacher. Her name was Tara Judelle, she had a big smile on her face and welcomed me with a hug and a hand motion pointing toward an empty mat next to my friend who was waiting to begin his, or should I say our, private lesson. I sat down and she said, “Daniel, I heard you have been teaching yourself yoga through the Internet, what a wonderful time we live in. The practice of yoga has been passed down from guru to student for many many years. Now, it seems that yoga is reaching people through other means, like the computer.” I smiled and simply replied with a yes, which then lead to the lesson. Throughout the lesson she would focus on me and tell me do different variations with detailed instruction of a pose. I had no idea what was going on, thinking to myself what in world does “melt the heart mean?” I must have impressed her with my level of studentship because she stopped in the middle of the lesson and said, “Where did you come from?” I just looked at her and replied San Diego. Excited to meet me she announced, without confirmation from me, that I was going with her after this lesson to two yoga classes that she was teaching. My jaw hit the floor, my stomach knotted up, and I said are you sure I am ready for something like that? This is only the first time I have met a yoga teacher and I have never ever been to an actual yoga class! Dismissing my sudden emotion of fear she said “you will be fine.” Well, that was exactly what I needed because the fear melted away and after her classes I fell in love with her particular style of yoga, Anusara. Afterward she told me its philosophy and honestly it was a lot of information. So much so that I could describe it like drinking from a fire hydrant. After the onslaught of philosophy I looked at her and said “Tara, there is no way I could articulate back to you or anyone else what you just told me, but I have always known that to be true in my heart.” Again, another moment I will never forget, she said “ah yes I am sure of it now, you were a yogi at least once in a past life.”

Looking back I think how beautiful and auspicious my path to yoga was. I am in so much gratitude to the one spirit for this gift of yoga. In particular to all my teachers that have so willingly and openly shared their wisdom with me; Tara Judelle my first teacher who first guided me and lead me toward this beautiful path, Michael Fukumura who I have spent many hours under and who has been a beacon of light that has illuminated the way, Sianna Sherman who has taught me how to teach from within with so much love, and finally John Friend for starting this style of Yoga and blowing my heart open every time. Much gratitude and Namaste!

- Daniel Salerno is available for private yoga classes in Southern California
858 405 5081 dsalerno83@gmail.com

Tell us your story of inspiration
Why do you do what you do? What inspires you to do art, yoga, dance, music....? We want to know. Send your story 500 words or less to
Info@theshimmysisters.com