Trapped: The Way Out Is Within: A Yogic Guide Toward Healing

Preface

Years ago, I found myself in the center of a yoga studio surrounded by about 30-40 people, mostly white and definitely only women. Downward Dog, is the pose the class patiently waited for me to get into, but I had no clue what a Down Dog was. My cover was blown. I confessed.

Hey, I’m gonna be honest with y’all. I lied about being experienced in yoga. I just wanted to get accepted into the training.

My teacher smiled at me.

Jamel, we smelled your bullshit weeks ago. I’m glad you finally came out of your shell and told us the truth. The practice is much greater than the physical postures. So the only thing you need to be accepted in the training is who you are today. Remember, no level of improvement can outweigh self-acceptance.

Those words would churn me down the road of self-discovery. A journey of freeing myself through self acceptance.

One of the most polarizing reference points throughout my training was the yoga sutras written by the sage Patanjali Jois. Living in the inner city of Detroit, my story sounds different, but the perspective still had great relevance. The scripture contains the famous eight limbs of yoga. These limbs reflect the natural capabilities within us, and the means toward unfolding these limbs lead to overall enlightenment.

Enlightenment that can lead to remarkable personal growth, regardless of culture or religious background. This book is an endeavor intended to present an effective and relatable perspective on yoga philosophy and mindset in an easy-to-read book anyone can use along their journey towards self-enlightenment.

The center of all progress lies within the core of each human’s personal desires. When time-tested methods for stimulating the process of transformation are applied intentionally, remarkable progress can occur within any cultural or religious setting. Anyone who has the desire can build a daily practice routine for the long term, leading to the steady cultivation of enlightenment in everyday life.

In this book, we go from a centuries-old philosophy and translate it into a modern city perspective. It’s amazing how far apart culture, age, race, and other circumstances can be while still having a denominator of commonality.

The stories I tell throughout this book are my humble attempt to shine a light on how the lessons and practice of yoga helped me find liberation when I was at my darkest.

Yoga guided me through an extremely rough patch of life, and I’ve found a purpose in sharing this light. I’ve shared my story with thousands, and I’ve listened to the stories of many. There’s power within opening yourself up to experience life in its totality, not just the comfortable parts.

In fact, a major part of my healing journey is being vulnerable enough to write this book. There is an extreme discomfort in placing words to pages and leaving it for others to process. My comfort zone is being able to convince you to see what I am saying from my point of view. Yet I understand that the joy of books is the many perspectives that come from reading.

The stories that I share within these pages unveil the steps toward living a life free from hesitation and doubt. So many allow their fears and doubts to prevent them from even attempting to live out their greatest dreams. This method is a clear and direct guide to just begin. I call it the TRAP method:

Trusting in your today. Trusting that life happens for you, instead of against you.

Revealing your story to relinquish your attachment to the past. This not only frees you, but it also inspires others. Think of the generations of secrets kept by our ancestors who were looking to protect us by withholding the truth. The embarrassment of exposing weak abusers leaves a generation feeling they are all alone. The fact is, none of us are alone. Yes, abuse is a gruesome level of withholding the truth, but as you read along, you discover that this relates to all levels of life. I can’t keep count of the many students who come into my yoga studio who fear being seen as inflexible or unstable. Essentially afraid to expose their truth. We will discover how being vulnerable on your yoga mat will open you up to being vulnerable and standing powerfully in your truth off the mat.

Acceptance in who you are now because no level of improvement can ever outweigh self-acceptance. Still, setting your Aim as growth is the key toward continued happiness. We must set an aim within everything we do in life, or else we will go through the motions, unaware of where we have come and where we are going.

Practice over Perfection. The motto that was cemented into my brain as a child was "practice makes perfect.’’ Well, after years of trying this out, I’ve witnessed that perfection is not attainable—and even if it were, the pressure and sacrifices of precious moments in life make it not worth it. I want to encourage you to take the mindset of practice over perfection. The yoga lessons that you will learn in this book will tie into the way you approach everything in life.

People have widely seen yoga as a practice of stretching and breathing. Some may naturally tie deeper meaning to it, such as it is a way to find peace and clarity. These are both accurate statements; however, the more transformative perspective of yoga is this: Yoga provides a lens to see within. Through the postures and breath, you can observe everything that defines who you are currently.

The way you respond to what you see determines your peace. The aim is for you to develop the mindset of acceptance and detachment from both the good and bad things that come up in life.

I would be remiss if I hadn’t cut a space to acknowledge the contributors to my life’s perspective, beginning with my football coaches. Although they coached me as a child, it wasn’t until I came back out to coach the Detroit Broncos as a 19-year-old adult that I appreciated and understood the gems they’ve always implanted into not just me but the entire community.

Next would be my yoga teacher, Jonny Kest. Never did I expect a white guy from Birmingham, Michigan to be one of the greatest influences in my life, but boy, you are that. Your light and perspective on life is a gift to the world, and I am forever grateful that you viewed me as a vessel to continue to spread the practice of yoga to my community. Last but not least, my parents. The silent lessons you taught me continue to expose themselves with each passing year since your death. It was a traumatic time in my life to have both parents pass in consecutive years, but as life continues to unfold, I realize the resilience that I have gained by being a witness to the unavoidable cycle of life.

This book is merely a hello for the readers. This series of books, titled Trapped, should make life more digestible. The mindful practices that have allowed me to find liberation and peace within gloomy times of life. A voice to a community that isn’t always reached. A perspective on life that isn’t told in this light.

We all have a story. It’s our perspective that will determine how we tell it. Make sure when it’s your time to share, it is a true, raw and unafraid authentic truth. I’m looking forward to being your tour guide along the way.

Part 1: Mindful Visions Framework

As you will learn in this book, the aim in a yoga practice is to use the postures to see within. The way you respond to discomfort in a posture. How do you sit with the thoughts and agitations of the body while meditating? How do you accept what you see so that you are no longer agitated by your feelings and thoughts?

See, the saying is the practice begins when you meet that first level of resistance, meaning the push back of either mental or physical discomfort. This may mean you can’t reach your toes in a forward fold or clasp your hands in a bind. Handstands and inversions seem morbidly impossible. So instead of going through with it step by step, you allow the big picture to discourage you.

Think of all the things in life that we in our highly judgmental, result-driven world shy away from just because we mentally can’t see ourselves doing something. The desire is there, but logic overshadows the desire.

It’s not the handstand or clasping the hands that we want to obsess over. Those will be our aims. The thing you shoot for to ensure direction as you grow. We want to fall in love with the willingness to kick up and attempt a handstand even though you’re scared to death of falling on your head. We want to fall in love with not reaching our toes in a forward fold.

The lessons of yoga will shine light into every aspect of your life and give you a cool-ass yoga practice.

I’ll be using the character Rory throughout this book to tell the stories that will unveil the layers that you peel back by following this method. Rory is a character created in my image, and things that have transpired in my life inspire a lot of his stories. His battles with death, purposelessness, relationships and physical pain all have one thing in common. He must learn to Trust, Reveal, Accept, and Practice in order to reach liberation.

Chapter 1: ME and My Soil

If there is water dripping on the floor, you search for the leak before you clean the water up.In order to understand the struggle, you must first learn the source.

It’s a very tough task to find the light in certain situations, but if you train your mind to spin the narrative, you will find it easier and easier to discover the good in every situation. The way to do this is to look at your roots.

This is your foundation. Your comfort zone. The space where you identify yourself is here. This is where your fear, doubt, and judgment lives. This is also where your confidence, strength, and integrity lives.

Many people try to keep the faulty memories buried tucked deep within, creating a new image for themselves that no one can see through. Oftentimes, people use their success as a new shield. Some use their bodies and sex appeal to hide from their past battles.

Bullied kids are the adults toting guns. The current version of themselves is not being protected. There is a child inside,that they are protecting.They fear someone revealing them as weak or afraid, so they grab a weapon to look bold. They want power and respect because they lacked it as children.

These are all examples of unhealed wounds. They are the seeds planted in your soil that have yet to be nourished in a way that allows your story to blossom. If you fail to tend to the seeds in your soil, unpredictable weeds will grow at stages and points in your life when you least expect it.

The great thing is that it’s never too late. You observe the seeds and nourish them. Notice I did not say you have to dig up the seeds. Our mission is not to uproot anything; our aim is simply to become aware and nourish that which comes up.

Understanding the seeds in your soil is a vital way to discover how and why you approach obstacles in life. The way you do anything is the way you do everything. Inversions are a monumental part of a yoga student’s practice. It’s a badge of honor to finally stick the handstand, hold the headstand, or get your butt up on a shoulder stand. It’s a proud moment with good reason. However, the satisfaction that I want you to observe is not at the end. I want you to see the flowers that bloom from you just beginning. Yes, sure, the person with years of gymnastics training looks amazing as her toes point perfectly to the skies. Her backbends are pronounced in a shape straight out of the books. That person has the aesthetic but has to do more to reach her level of