Share your passion!

The past two days, as I've been resting my right shin, I've had opportunities to share my passion for yoga with others as well as learn about their passions as well. When you live what you love, it's infectious and some of the best teachers and coaches I've had are those that truly love what they teach. That is the best inspiration for a student and always will make up for other shortcomings in a teacher.

On Sunday, I had an opportunity to visit a beautiful golf course to ride around 18 holes and watch play. Never having been on a golf course but loving everything about golf ( it's one of the most meditative sports around) I was really excited about the chance to see it played up close. I rode around on the cart for the first few holes, taking in all the sights and sounds of the course. The banter between the players is totally amusing; a mixture of trash talk and comradery. I have always known there is a strong connection between yoga and golf from a biomechanical perspective, as well as a meditative perspective. Both yoga and golf require balance, breathing and focus, as well as strength and flexibility. Yoga helps golfers develop their less dominant side, learn to stand firm in their foundation as well as developing the flexibility needed to rotate and twist ( not unlike what you'd need in baseball). I made a few comments and my excitement about the connection between the two was evident. My partners were starting to ask questions and wanted to see a few poses. Pretty soon, we had decided that every hole was going to be dedicated to a yoga pose as well as learning about golf. I picked poses that were at a level equal to the nature of the hole; easier poses for easier holes and more challenging postures kicked off other holes, with a tri-pod headstand at 14!

It was a real illustration of what happens when you get people together that are passionate about their sport. I even learned a little golf and hit my first 3 golf shots on a real course ( meaning, one that doesn't have a clown at the end where the biggest challenge is getting the ball in his mouth!) It was so much fun and I can honestly say I haven't had that much fun in a long time. One of the pros joined us about halfway through our round and come to find out, he'd done a little yoga before and was already sold on the value of yoga for golfers.

Last night, I had an opportunity to try another passion of mine: tennis. While I don't play regularly, I grew up playing a lot and can hit it around to some extent. I love watching it played, love many of the players and enjoy watching the grand slams every year. Running around the court on a summer night brings up a lot of good memories for me and you can always entice me to get out there.

We'll get back on the road tonight for a 5 miler.

Take some time to share your passions with other. Spread the love.