What Is A Yogi?
In February I traveled to San Francisco for a weekend workshop with my teacher David Swenson. I’ve participated in many workshops like this with him over the years, however, there are always things I learn or hear for the first time.
Everything David says seems to be a gem of wisdom. During one of his talks he told the story of how he left the Ashtanga scene for almost 12 years (1977-1989) - 5 of which he went on to be a Hari Krishna devotee. He was on a serious spiritual quest. He was searching for answers about the meaning of life, God, and his purpose on this planet. He felt that if he lived a renunciant life he would be a more spiritual being-a true yogi. Ultimately he discovered that despite the most spiritual settings, there are many who are not spiritual at all. He went on to explain that you can do an advanced asana practice, chant and meditate all day, eat vegetarian, drink green juice, abstain from sex, and it does not necessarily make you a yogi.
After a lifetime of yoga practice, his definition of a yogi is “one who leaves a place a little better than how they found it.” I love that definition!
After listening to this talk from David, I started to think about all the people I know, students, teachers, friends, family who are actively living this definition. There are a number of people, however, my sister Michelle came to mind instantly.
In a text exchange with my sister the other day I asked her,
Me: "Do you consider yourself to be a yogi?”
Michelle: “Maybe in an alternate universe”
Me: What does that mean?
Michelle: “It means no”
Me: “But you do like to do yoga sometimes?”
Michelle: “Yes!”
Me: What is your favorite pose?
Michelle:
Sends photo of herself in savasana at Canyon Ranch in 2013 when I told her to do her favorite yoga pose in front of the background.
Me: LOL!
After the brief exchange fishing for an answer as to whether or not Michelle considers herself a yogi, I can assure you she does not. Despite her humble opinion, I wholeheartedly disagree. She is a great yogi.
If you don’t know Michelle, she’s one of the most talented architects around. Her vocation inherently has her making everything better than how it was found, but she fits the definition of a yogi for many other reasons.
Michelle and her husband Mike live in a townhouse in Brooklyn that has a separate garden level apartment. They rent the apartment as a vacation rental. In February and March of 2023, they volunteered with a program to donate their 2 bedroom apartment to a lovely family of Ukrainian refugees the Deniushkins for 6 weeks between other bookings.
The Deniushkins - Dima, Yasha, Sergey, and Svetlana
Michelle and Mike’s obligation in this program was only to provide housing for the time period agreed, however, they went above and beyond. Upon meeting the family, they quickly learned their needs were tremendous. Sadly, the Deniushkin’s first experiences in NYC left them traumatized. They were taken advantage of by a landlord in Coney Island who accepted half of their savings for an apartment with no heat or lock in the middle of the winter.
Immediately Michelle spearheaded a GoFundMe and raised over $25,000 that helped the family to recoup the money lost and provide enough funds for another apartment over the next 6 months. These funds would help them establish a foothold in the United States.
Svetlana 38, and Sergey 44, are parents to boys Dima 12 and Yasha 3. Dima has autism. His language in Ukranian is limited due to his disability and only knows a few words of English. Getting Dima into the public school system in NYC was the utmost priority and a gigantic task for which Michelle networked and helped navigate. The family chose the United States, specifically New York because they believed this would be the best place to get Dima an education. Anyone with a disabled child in NYC schools understands the bureaucratic obstacles at hand. Fortunately, weeks later, Dima is attending a school, however, he is without mandatory in class language support.
New York City is notoriously a tough place to call home even if you have adequate means such as an America credit history, full time employment, and speak the language. Svetlana speaks English, but Sergey does not. Sergey was a master electrician in Odessa, running a crew of 20, however, in the United States he is limited because of language. Michelle, being an architect, utilized her network of contractors to help Sergey find work.
Michelle drove Svetlana to Brighton Beach, a Russian immigrant community in Brooklyn, for weekly shopping so she could be surrounded by the familiarity of language and food. Michelle also called on a friend who is a feeding specialist to help Yasha, because at almost 3 he wasn’t properly chewing.
When it came time to find another place to live (as the Deniushkin’s were limited to 6 weeks), they faced insurmountable problems. Despite not having full time work, a US credit history, and limited savings, they didn’t qualify the 40x monthly rent annual income requirements, nor did they have anyone who would cosign and met those qualifications. My sister helped them search for an apartment, went with them to apartment viewings, but ultimately nobody would rent to them.
Michelle exhausted every avenue by connecting with church organizations, refugee organizations, realtors, Facebook groups, to get the Deniushkins assistance with work, school, and housing. She fielded every call, email, text, Facebook message, and communication on their behalf. While everyone wanted to help, nobody could solve the housing problem.
Six weeks passes quickly, and at the four week mark, they did not have a place they could rent or sublet. Michelle was panicked about where they would land after leaving. Luckily, Mike is a journalist with a podcast “The Gist” which has a large national reach, so he leaned on his audience to solicit for help. He appealed to them about the Deniushkin’s housing dilemma, and by the grace of God, someone who listens to the podcast, manages a property in Sunnyside, Queens. This man was was willing to rent to the Deniushkins despite their inability to meet standard NYC rental requirements.
Within days of securing housing, their time with Michelle and Mike was ending. Michelle appealed to her network and all of the generous people who donated through the GoFundMe to organize more donations of furniture and basic household items to make the Deniuskin’s new apartment habitable. She drove throughout the city to coordinate picking up donations and took Svetlana to Ikea to fill in the rest. Her level of involvement and advocation was endless.
Michelle not only opened her home, but her heart to the Deniushkins. I describe only a fraction of the amount of time, energy, generosity, and effort that she selflessly gave while devoting herself to this family. Her goal was to make sure the Deniushkins were leaving her home in a better place than how they started. I’m certain the family would agree to how lucky they were to have met Michelle - not only for all of her support, but who she is as a person.
So despite Michelle feeling as though she is not a yogi, she most definitely is according to David Swenson’s definition- all of us who are lucky enough to have her in our life are better for it.
Yasha's 3rd Birthday Celebration at the Deniushkin's new apartment on 4.18.23
Michelle and Yasha
Yasha, Michelle, Dima, and Svetlana
Life for the Deniushkin's in the United States continues to be a struggle although they are in a better place now. If you would like to help and contribute to the Deniushkin's resettlement fund, you can donate here.
