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Profile

About Me:
Born around 1910 and abandoned to a band of roaming exiled bohemian intellectuals, opium addicts, Victorian harlots and other sordid hanger ons, YogaDawg began his Yoga journey by hearing drunken, debouched debates on the great Occult texts of the day. In the process of being immersed at an early age to these classics, along with the decadent literature and boogie-woogie of the time, YogaDawg became interested in and fascinated by the methods and practices of these occult people. These writers and musicians, with their out of their bodies experiences in which they claimed to transcend the physical body, put them in closer touch with the absolute.

In the mid-1920s, YogaDawg found a copy of the Kama Sutras that one of the flappers had left over one evening, which inspired YogaDawg to become a Yogi. Beginning in the early 1930s, upon hearing about the great Jnana Yogi, Krishnamurti, YogaDawg set off for India to meet this most enlightened Yogi. Unfortunately at the time, not many Americans knew were India was so YogaDawg ended up in Indiana as he was told that's where India was located.

Upon arriving in Indianapolis, YogaDawg inquired as to the whereabouts of Krisnamurti and the other Yogis. He was given blank looks and shakes of the head. Good fortune, though, would eventually shine on YogaDawg as he ran into a "carnie" that convinced him to join the circus. As YogaDawg explained, "That carnival barker told me of the wonders of the midway with their contortionists, magicians, fire eaters and others who were doing things more amazing then any Yogi.” Through those years, YogaDawg would acquire many of the skills and wisdom of his circus peeps. As the same time, YogaDawg would not lose his desire to become a true Yogi.

In 1947, YogaDawg went to India (finally consulting a world atlas) with the intention of studying with a real Indian Yogi. It was around this time that he began to pen his pivotal work, My Third Eye itches - A Yoga Guide. He would eventually become distracted upon discovery in 1950 of one of the first American Yoga stars of the time, Richard Hittleman. Having absorbed the truths of Indian Yoga while spending the last few years in Mysore, YogaDawg decided to go to New York City, where Hittleman was located. He would sadly abandon his Yoga Guide for the next several years.

On reaching the shores of New York, YogaDawg became involved with a group of abstract expressionist painters, jazz musicians and beatniks, eventually pioneering an early example of conceptual art. This period culminated in the work known as YogaDawg Howls. Unfortunately, this work was too avant garde and strange for art critics and the America public at the time and the piece was panned.

Sadly, by 1961, facing failure as an artist and never having met Mr. Hittleman, YogaDawg sunk into a deep morose, began doing drugs and alcohol, suffered a severe depression and had to eventually be committed to Bellevue Hospital for several years. YogaDawg began his slow recovery back to sanity after watching Lilias Folan do yoga in her PBS-TV series "Stretching with Lilias", on a daily basis. He would meet Born and Maiden America, at this time who would play a pivotal part in his later life.

In the late 60's, YogaDawg, renewed, refreshed and inspired to restart his yoga practice and vowing to complete his famous tome, My third Eye Itches - A Yoga Guide, traveled back to India, this time to join the Beatles and the famous Guru star, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and his Transcendental Meditation (TM).

As fate would have it, he never made it to Maharishi's ashram, for he had stopped to ask a wandering sadhu for directions to the ashram. This sadhu convinced YogaDawg that TM was wacked, just so much hooey and suggested that YogaDawg spend time alone in a cave in the Himalayas to search within himself for the eternal Yoga truth.

The next 30 or so years, considered the lost years by the two followers of YogaDawg, would find him in the cave. After reaching a state of enlightenment and perfecting a unique method of physical yoga, named the SuperDuperBlissInducer Super Bok Choy® method, YogaDawg was now honored by the neighboring hermits and sadhus by being given the name Sri Sri Swami Baba Guru YogaDawg. On July 4th, 2003, YogaDawg emerged from his cave with the purpose of spreading his Yoga method to the people of the world. Planning also to finish his now famous Yoga text book, My Third Eye Itches - A Yoga Guide, YogaDawg made off for Los Angeles at the suggestion of the wandering sadhus. Upon reaching LA, YogaDawg was stunned as he walked through the airport terminal as he spied a celebrity magazine with a woman doing a Yoga pose, who went by the name of Madonna. He was equally stunned to realized that many Yogis before him had already established schools of Yoga, some going by such exotic names Iyengar, Ashtanga, Anusara, Bickram, Jivamukti and countless others. In addition, he found that the Yoga world had become saturated with Yoga Stars, which left little room to introduce his Yoga method to the general public.

Disheartened that he would not be able to establish his own Yoga School, he consigned himself to completing his famous masterpiece, My Third Eye Itches - A Yoga Guide, while holed up in a flea bag, flop house in the skid row district of Portland, OR. Assisted by his two faithful disciples, MadDawg and his lovely wife HotDawg (formally Born and Maiden America), YogaDawg today leads a reclusive life living off his royalties from his book and t-shirt sales over the www.Yogadawg.com website.
Website:
http://www.yogadawg.com

Comment Wall (9 comments)

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At 2:17am on February 10th, 2008, Ruriko said…
Thank you for the ebook, YogaDawg! I'll bring to my US trip in March and enjoy it on a beach during the Guruji workshop. Thank you, again.
At 5:30am on December 23rd, 2007, YogaDawg said…
Thanks everyone for the great comments! You might inspire me to quit my day job and get 'on the road'. Here's a video version of the 'bio'. Some yogis have found it kind of funny:) www.yogadawg.com/video.htm

The best to all of you in Yoga and humor
At 5:51pm on December 22nd, 2007, Cristel said…
What a fascinating story you have YogaDawg. Nice to see you in the network!
'YogaDawg does YogaAmerica' : what a great idea! Hope you'll get the time to do it. I am already a fan;-)
At 12:39pm on December 22nd, 2007, Yogamum said…
Yes, YogaDawg (I just typed YodaDawg, which I also like!!) I will send you the lucky recipient's name! You're on my official "prize list!"
At 12:35pm on December 22nd, 2007, Gypsy Girl said…
Greetings and thanks for the great "about me" . I love it. It is so amazing that you have survived it all and lived to tell about it!!! And thanks for inviting me to be a friend.
At 9:55am on December 22nd, 2007, eeyore said…
YogaDawg, you're my hero! And did you ever get to see Hittleman? Is he still with us, or like U.G. is he now gone?
At 3:45am on December 22nd, 2007, YogaDawg said…
Yogamum: I'm glad I wandered over here also. I came through Linda's "Yoga is Life" network (she is way cool). You'll let me know who to send the eBook to?

Sarah, Thanks for seeing the Dharma Bums, Kerouak thing. I had always intented to do an 'On the Road" project; a kind of Kerouak/Ken Kesey 'YogaDawg does YogaAmerica' bit that I thought could be pretty funny...but alas, it is not to be at the present time. Would love to show your art on the YogaDawg.com site. I've been featuring Yogi artists on the site as I am on a quest to get Yogis to start seeing things outside the store bought Buddhas and corney 'yoga-inspired' images that show up in yoga studio. Let me know if you are interested.

Yogamum, you'll let me know who to send the eBook to?
At 10:08pm on December 21st, 2007, Yogamum said…
Yoga Dawg, I'm so glad you showed up over here!!
At 7:12pm on December 21st, 2007, Sare-Bear said…
What a crazy crazy story you claim as your own, Yogadawg. It reminds me so much of the KerouaK book I'm reading called The Dharma Bums. You write like Kerouak. Its lovely.
 
 

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