FM
and honesty about my background and life experiences.
“I want to inspire young people and mentor them to use yoga as
a tool to help them in wider life. I understand how they feel - I made
bad choices in life when I was young and had those feelings of chaos
and anxiety. I want to help ease those feelings inside their minds.
“My Men Who Stretch class is about bringing men together in an
environment where they can experience the transformational itness
and health beneits of yoga and show them the calming efects of
‘long breath, long life’.”
Covered in tattoos, Maclachlan, by his own admission, does not
look or sound like a stereotypical yoga instructor. He has turned his
life around thanks to the power of yoga and is a positive role model
for any young person who has experienced a troubled life.
Bullying from older children throughout his youth left teenage
Kyle with anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, anger and a lack
of conidence. He began hanging around with an older crowd and
started using recreational drugs and alcohol as a way to escape his
thoughts and feelings.
He explains: “I was badly bullied and just wanted to be liked and
by doing this I thought I was. I skipped school and stayed out all
weekend partying. It felt normal, but I was still young. I didn’t have a
great relationship with my family at that time and I looked up to the
guys I hung around with.”
Life changing
Maclachlan left home aged 20 and became interested in health and
itness, doing boxing, the self-defence practice Krav Maga and going
to the gym regularly.
He adds: “The training made me feel I could protect myself. I felt
good and was in great shape, but they were both very tough and
aggressive environments that put a heavy stress on my body. I saw a
yoga class advert and went along hoping it would calm my anger.”
With his life in need of focus, Maclachlan and his new partner
decided to go travelling.
In Africa, he saw how happy people were despite living
in basic conditions without material belongings. For the irst
time, he realised “there was so much more to life – that
money isn’t everything. I felt humbled.”
The couple then travelled to Nepal where Maclachlan underwent a
yogi cleanse.
He adds: “I didn’t realise what was going to happen. After
treatment was inished, I looked at the mountains and lake and
meditated and began having visions about yoga and teaching. My
life now, I visualised in Nepal. It was an incredible experience.”
The couple went to Purna Yoga Retreat where Maclachlan received
daily yoga sessions with teacher Kushvendra Singh. He began to
understand the passion and spiritual awareness the yoga teachers
around him had, which up to that point he had believed to just be
about the physical.
A year later he returned to Pokhara in Nepal for a month, where
Kushvendra introduced him to Yogacharya Anil Kumar from Rishikesh- widely regarded as the birthplace of yoga in India.
He adds: “Anil shared his knowledge of yoga with me, we practiced
almost every day. I learned a huge amount from him. Kush and Anil
have had a massive impact on my life.”
He later continued his journey to Swami Sivananda Yoga Ashram
in Kerala, south India, where he did his intermediate yoga course,
which he found a “shock to the system”.
“I had come from a material lifestyle with designer clothing and
top cars. Here I was sharing a dorm with 50 other guys – no air
conditioning, no windows, in the jungle, sitting on the loor eating
with my hands from a banana leaf or Thali tray. It was really out
of my comfort zone. Sufocating heat, bugs and insects crawling
everywhere. I didn’t think I could do it.
“I had to clean the bathrooms as part of karma yoga. I didn’t enjoy it
at irst and then I met an inspirational guy called Dom Ananda, he told
me to turn the chore into something beautiful – to change my mind-set.
When I started to think about it less negatively it became easier.”
By the third day, he had acclimatised and was on a strict yogi
diet, rising at 5am for yoga practice. He started to feel the positive
efects. “I began to discover what yoga really is and the beneits
from it. I felt like I was loating, like I was as light as a feather.”
He then travelled to the Himalayan Iyengar Yoga, where he took
part in further training and a transformational breathing workshop
where he experienced “incredible clarity”.
Maclachlan then travelled to Rishikesh next to the river
Ganges, where he carried out his 200 hour yoga teacher training
and philosophy.
Coming home
After seven weeks in Rishikesh he travelled to Dharamshala,
surrounded by the Himalayas, where he had an “inspirational”
chance to sit in the presence of the Dalai Lama. He returned to
Scotland a changed man with a clear vision.
In 2018, he established Shambhala Yoga Scotland with his life
partner, also a qualiied yoga instructor, and they opened their own
dedicated studio in Stirling city centre in February 2019.
“Yoga has changed me massively. I am on the happiest but
loneliest path I have ever been on and now have purpose. Before, I
was constantly looking for things from the external world to make
me happy, now I know true happiness comes from within.
“One guy in my class said he wants to bring his football team back
to try yoga as he loved it so much. Another tried my classes and
now plans to go to Nepal to train as an instructor. It feels good to
know I have inspired someone and they want to go on and inspire
others – to be part of that ripple efect.”Shambhala Yoga Scotland Studio opened in February 2019. For
information and classes, visit: facebook.com/Shambhalayoga13