When I was in my mid-twenties, I blew out my lung, and needed to go through surgery to close and repair the hole. It happened again about ten years later. Doctors could never explain to me exactly why it happened. They did say it was more likely to occur in young, thin males, and I was in the category.
Although I received good care, I was never given physical therapy, and thus, as my body leaned over to my right, favoring my injury, I knew I needed to straighten out my body again, and rebuild it, perhaps even better than it had originally been.
This began a long learning and exploration period, as I experimented with a number of body disciplines, including yoga, Callanetics, Egoscue, calisthenics, and various martial arts. As Bruce Lee was fond of saying, “Absorb what is useful.” And so I did.
Years later, after experiencing a number of nagging injuries while lifting heavy weights primarily, and also while playing sports, I began to reach a frustration point. I had been active all my life, and really enjoyed being so. I did not want to stop, just because I was getting older. One night I had something of a “wrestling with God” experience where I expressed my frustration and asked what I could do.
I believe He answered me.
By morning, I began to put together many of my past exercise experiences into one overall program, which I began to call Greek Yoga™. The reason I called it that was because I was creating an exercise routine that was heavily yoga influenced, but wasn’t quite yoga. It included a strong calisthenics element in it, which was associated with the ancient Greek Spartan warriors. Plus, it sounded like Greek Yogurt, which I thought was kind of funny. 🙂
I began to practice and teach Greek Yoga™.
HERE is a sample of what it looks like
So what are the key benefits of Greek Yoga™?
*It’s a COMPLETE, all-in-one exercise, encompassing stretch, mobility, strengthening, balance, and even cardio
*It can be done as a warmup for other activities, or as a full workout on its own
*There are no complicated or moves that can only be performed by a yoga expert or human pretzel!
*You can do it anywhere!
*No equipment is needed other than a mat
*It is time efficient! The whole workout can be done in 30 minutes (much less if you break it into it’s parts (standing / all fours / on belly / sitting / on back).
*It’s FUN and keeps you YOUNG!
I’m in my mid-Sixties now, still practice Greek Yoga™ regularly even as I have become busy in many activities. Thankfully, I have been able to stay pretty young for my age. Believe me, through my experiences I understand what it is like to “lose your mojo.” I’ve been asked when I will be teaching Greek Yoga™ in the future. I am considering carving out some time to begin offering IN-PERSON classes in the Grants Pass, (Southern) Oregon area, and classes via Zoom for those in other areas. If you’d like to join the WAITING LIST for these classes, just CLICK THIS LINK and send me a note, with a little information about what you want to accomplish through these classes.
As always, I wish you health, success, and freedom!
Patrick
Patrick Rooney is the Founder of OldSchoolUs.com. He promotes natural health, success, and freedom during chaotic times. To reach Patrick, email him at [email protected].
