MOUNTAIN POSE VARIATIONIn the late 1990s, during the whole dot-com era, I
worked for an Internet start-up. I was making really
good money, and then the company went public,
and I went on that whole ride. The stock price shot
up, I had all these shares, and with this perceived
wealth, I felt like, “I’ve really gotten somewhere.
I’m really arriving.” A few months later the stock
tanked and it all totally dissolved. I would rather not
say specifically how much I lost, but let’s just say it
went from a lot to me cashing out at the end of it
all with a few thousand dollars.
That, and other painful losses around the
same time, catalyzed me. My overriding think-
ing was, “I have to make a change.” I decided to
pursue my love for yoga and become a teacher.
Not long after, I decided to go live in Thailand
and devote myself to deeper studies. I felt that
I needed to be far away and fully immersed in it
so I could get clear. I wanted to be breathing and
conscious and awake.
I was brought up in a system where the
expectations are that you go to college, get a
job, buy a house, and start a family. It turned out
that I wanted something totally different.
I’m back in the North American cultural par-
adigm now and still very much have pursuits in
which I want to be successful, but I live a more
holistic, fully engaged life. Now I work with
corporate executives to awaken them to the
idea that they don’t have to go all the way to
a remote mountaintop to find and live a life of
clarity, truth, and authenticity.