An Excerpt from Dave's Blog

David Chatel came to Kula around December, if I recall correctly. A more accurate statement might be that Dave jumped into yoga via our community and has stayed immersed ever since. This is an excerpt from a blog he posted on July 2, 2011. You can read it in its entirety here. You can find Dave practicing in various Kula classes by day, being musical in various venues by night, and teaching Yoga 101 on Mondays at noon at Government Plaza.

Like music, Yoga cannot be an identity, but for me, it is serving as a catalyst for personal growth. In some ways, my Yoga practice is like a workshop for life. In Yoga I am challenged to be in the present moment… to sit in the now. I am challenged to find the leading edge of physical resistance and be in that moment… to feel what is happening and not resist the sensation… to breathe… to redefine those sensations as positive and helpful, and to recognize that I am separate from these things. What’s more, I’m challenged to lean in. With each breath in and out I am given a choice to stay with the sensations I’m experiencing. Within each moment of that process there are opportunities to make small movements… to deepen and extend, and to discover that I’ve come further than before. During my practice I can simply be aware of what is happening with each passing second. Everything that has to be done in the day can wait. In some strange way that I have yet to fully understand, Yoga shows me that there is potential in me for abundant life that is not defined by anything I do, but by who I am. Consequently, it helps me to rediscover that who I am can only truly be defined by my connection to the Essence of Life… the One who is beyond form and beyond time and geography.