The Art of Yoga
The Chinese have a curse “May you be blessed to live in interesting times.”
Today we spoke with Timothy Lynch, an artist, father, philosopher, husband, activist, and deeply connected human being. One thing we could all agree on was that these were certainly “interesting times!”
For the last 30 or so episodes of the Finding Harmony Podcast we have tried to sift through the history of our Ashtanga Yoga lineage. Along the way we have admired the costs involved and the sacrifices made to actually practice Ashtanga Yoga. Especially at the time in which it was coming into its zenith with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois at the helm. For the most part, our friends and loved ones gave up everything to reinvent themselves through this fringe practice called “Ashtanga yoga.” Many embarked on this path as a way to put the pieces back together after feeling a sense of loss within their lives.
Our newest interview is of a different sort and yet the same. “Same Same But Different” as they say in Thailand and India.
Timothy Lynch spoke to us about the personal sacrifice he made.
Like in a giant cyclical wheel, the bubble of energy expanded… Ashtanga Yoga was triumphant and golden at the turn of the millennium, and all things seemed to arise and live inside of her as within Krishna’s cosmic bosom.
Then, a decade after the death of Pattabhi Jois, the bubble exploded in the wake of #metoo. The chintzy shine was tarnished. The “now” big boss was humbled and, controversially, avoiding the proverbial elephant in the room. And, it was at this point that Timothy felt propelled to sacrifice his place within the lineage, walking away from the official “authorized list” of recognized teachers. A very sincere and conscious choice, a stance taken as a personal protest to authoritarianism.
“We were all punks first,” Timothy said. And so he reminded us of our punk ethos when he took his name away.
Throughout our conversation with Timothy, we were reminded of what Krishna says during his last teachings to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita:
sarva dharmaan parityajya maamekam sharanam vraja
aham twaa sarvapaapebhyo mokshayishyaami maa shuchah (BG 18.66)
“Completely relinquish all forms of dharma, come to me as your only shelter. I shall grant you freedom from all misfortune — do not despair!”
Timothy received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts in Painting in NY and quickly became a gallery assistant at the world renowned (actually) Pace Wildenstein Gallery. In the midst of this quite intense little job, which he describes as being akin to an emergency medical technician for paintings he came to Yoga.
We touched upon the ephemeral quality of the asana practice and how it can be seen as making art with your body, and like dance or music, it appears and then it’s gone.
“Love is being able to see the qualities in someone else that they can’t see in themselves, and as a Mysore teacher it’s our job to support individuals to grow into a space where they can see themselves for who they truly are. “
Timothy publicly renounced his Authorization and liberated his consciousness to continue practicing on his own terms.
We’re all in this together and love is what will get us through in the end.
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Opening and closing music compliments of my dear friend teaching Ashtanga yoga in Eindhoven, Nick Evans, with his band “dawnSong” from the album “for Morgan.” Listen to the entire album on Spotify - Simply Click Here.
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