John Hawkins’ initial foray into Yoga a decade or so ago was the genesis of what would become a transformative personal and spiritual metamorphosis. Then in his early 40’s , John was a corporate executive, weekend athlete and avid country club golfer as well a married father of three . He was experiencing that phenomenon people call aging …. A bad back, some tendonitis and a loss of some distance on his golf swing were among common ailments. At the same time John was traveling frequently to India on business. The opportunity to practice in the “cradle” of yogic philosophy in India and the rapid emergence of the practice in the US at that time inevitably brought John to the “Mat”.
Johns’ entry into Yoga coalesced with significant challenges and changes in both his personal and professional life. John’s political and spiritual philosophy maintains a belief in the supremacy of the individual and personal freedom. He believes that given the opportunity and the means individuals can achieve anything. The transformative physical and spiritual benefits of yoga complemented his already optimistic, grateful and curious persona and serve as a conduit to express his life philosophy.
Within Yogic philosophy there is a concept called Santosa or contentment.For John this was just a paradigm shift….from letting external events define our happiness vs finding contentment with our own reality from the inside out. This happens when we embrace all events as opportunities to grow and encounter our own magnificence. John views Yoga as both a vehicle to achieve this contentment and a lens to understand it ……and aspires to facilitate this in others.
John started at Easton Yoga shortly after it opened. He studied Ashtanga under Micahael Lear for several years and now practices primarily under Alicia Rambo Wozniak in the vigorous Vinyasa flow series practiced there. He has practiced with, among many others, Sean Johnson, Jamie Elmer, Max Strom and Silver Kim locally and various studios nationally and in India.
