Teacher Spotlight: Meet Ryan

Tell us a little about you.

Hello my name is Ryan Andersen. I am loving awareness and you are too. I am a husband father, son, brother, uncle and friend. I am 38 years old. I love my wife; she's honestly the best surfer of life you could ever watch. She is my person and a great mother to the world. My son max has a dynamite personality, anything he does, he does it TO THE MAX! He is 15 and has the world by the balls, anything he wants to do he has the potential, I love watching his light shine.
Now on to me, I suppose. Other than my Spirituality, family and friends, I love baseball and yoga. Baseball and yoga are so beautiful and braided within each other. You go to the field or mat with the body you have today, give it your all and love the moment. As baseball and yogis say, any day you practice or play ball is a great day, no matter what happens. Being in the moment is so important in yoga, as it is in baseball. You'll never hit a pitch if you're really thinking about it; you must just breathe in and out and be in the moment as if you were deep in triangle pose. You must let go, but be fully in the moment all at once. For me, my practice is the silence among the screams, the peace among the chaos.

What is the biggest impact that yoga has had on your life?

Yoga has help me dive deeper into myself. My asana practice has developed in me a deeper sense of calm & peace. My practice has a sense of yoga chitta vritti niroda (sutra 1.2) which says: yoga is calming of the mind. My practice helps me sit with a problem, see it from many angles, perspectives and natures of reality. Through many years of practice I have realized life is just one big yoga pose.

When do you apply the lessons of yoga in your daily life?

A practice is a practice, so when I become mindful I'm practicing yoga. If I'm in a line I can control my breathing I can find happiness in the moment of my being. I can find peace in the person next to me when I am kind to them. If I see them are impatient, maybe letting them go ahead of me. Life is really one big yoga pose, we can choose to be flexible or ridged, we can explore life and experience other perceptions of life. We are the compassion of breath as well as the fire of tight hamstrings; it's all where the veil of reality begins and ends. Asana or yoking to breath in order to experience the universe. Yoga never begins or ends, it always is, that is the practice.

What are your 3 go-to poses if you need a quick practice?

I love savasana, It's pretty much one of my mainstays. It's the beginning, middle and end of my practice. For me, as the world turns, the chaos grows and as the chaos grows, we have the option to give into the chaos or to be in right now. Sava really helps me be with all this chaos.
The next pose I really dig is triangle pose. I love triangle pose because it really builds a lot of fire. I love practicing different versions of triangle pose as well. I find it fun to toggle between the strengthening components as well as the stretching components of the pose. Triangle really can be a total body workout with loads of intensity.
And my third pose is handstand. I really love this pose, because it changes your perception when you flip upside down, and almost immediately gives you a different meaning. We're literally flipping life upside down, and seeing how we deal with the nature of life upside down. It can be a lot and you can also be a little but it always is what it is and that's why I love it.

What is your favorite style of yoga right now and why?

My favorite style of yoga right now is Hatha. For daily practicing, I find that hatha is the most sustainable practice for my body. It allows for strength and stability that my body craves over and over.
One Tree Yoga has the best people in the world to practice with. We have such a diverse tribe. It really has become my support system. We come to the mat with whatever body we have and just give so much energy. It's a tremendous feeling. I have met some of my best friends at One Tree Yoga. It feel like we are family.

What is unique about your classes and your style of teaching?

My classes are FUN. I have a big energy and spirit when I just let my light shine (I can only be me, right?). I want people to discover the same calming, peaceful and life changing effects yoga has and offers. Yoga asana can be hard, so we learn to breathe. Yoga can also be gentle and light. In this, we also learn to breathe. When we discover the joy of breath in and out, in any moment, we become more mindful, loving and compassionate. When we walk through life more mindful, we can give love and compassion to the hard parts of society, and with these tools we can start to make the world a better place.
Namaste.