From Artist to Yogi | TJ’s Little Journey
>> TJ began piecing together YUJMU around 2014 and he has slowly evolved it ever since. Learn more about him in his own words below. >>
"Relaxing People Is Relaxing"
I grew up as an artist, fully and completely that was my lifestyle for the first half of my life.
The thing about Art for me was always self exploration. One of the directions you could go as a contemporary artist was the more commercial-product-creation mode but I was a romantic at heart (still am) and so I needed my art to be about personal evolution and expansion.
I created things that would challenge my understanding of myself; whether it was painting, digital design, performance, video it was always about breaking through to something new undiscovered space within me.
This course of inquiry put me on a freight train directly to Buddhism. This I discovered before finishing my B.F.A. and quickly immersed myself in while still pursuing Art.
It didn’t take long to realize my personal self discovery wasn’t a product that was going to make me a living (nor did I want to make it that). So, having always taught local art classes to kids, I went fully into becoming a Middle School Art Teacher right after completing my M.F.A.
“I find the spirit of learning to be a profound and rejuvenating energy to be a part of.”
By this point I had done a lot of study in pursuit of Buddhism, Taoism, Zen, Yoga, etc. Teaching full-time actually stirred a deeper need for calming practices found in these traditions. If you’ve ever been or known a school teacher you’ll know why chilling out at the end of the day is a high priority for teachers.
I loved teaching but I felt the school systems weren’t where I needed to be and one summer after reading Bernie Clark’s The Complete Guide To Yin Yoga I took three Yin Trainings (Summer’s off for school teachers was pretty sweet))). Soon after that I quit school teaching to pursue becoming a full on Yogi of some kind, not fully even knowing what that meant.
And in a nutshell here I am, I have never felt something so organically develop and fit into place as much as this YUJMU adventure has. All I have learned and loved over my lifetime feels like it’s working together to provide something very special and useful to myself & others. Thats really the crux of it too, being able to actually thrive running a business selling something requires a belief in it.
My Art I had passion for and belief in how it benefitted me but I never felt other’s needed my Art which were just the residuals of my personal inner journeys.
