Featured Teacher: Mitch Hipp

The more I know, the less I know.

I feel like I was born again. No, I don’t mean religiously, but I do mean spiritually and philosophically.

Socrates was quoted as saying something similar to “When I was young, I believe I knew everything. Now, as I lie on my deathbed, I realize, I know nothing.

Every time I step on the mat, I take a leap towards learning: how to push through struggles, how to adapt to changes in situations, how to let go of expectation and attempt to accept things as they are – to seek peace in power, and subsequently, power in peace. Every time I step off the mat, I take with me the information I’ve received. It’s an education that’s free, and it lasts forever.

Within this truth lies another – the more I learn, the less I understand. Here within is the plurality and duality of my experiences on the mat. I thrive on information, I yearn for more understanding, I study with desire – yet I’m left with more questions than ever. And the more questions, the more my passion for learning ignites. The cycle repeats, over and over.

Getting on the mat is simple, the experience is complicated. A pure bath of contradictions and juxtapositions of what you know, and what you don’t know.

Sure, it’s a workout, or is it? Is this what working out is? Maybe. I used to think so, not so much anymore. I stopped coming to the mat to stretch and strengthen my body a long time ago.

Now I stay glued to my mat to stretch and strengthen my knowledge. So I can learn more, so I can understand less. My mentor told me “Don’t talk about yoga to people who don’t do yoga. They’ll think you’re crazy.”

Is what I’m saying make you think I’m crazy, the rambling juxtapositions and platitudes with no real message, or is it crystal clear, simple and straightforward? Both can exist at the same time. Both are true. We’re a match!

Come flow with me. Learn more and understand less and be thrilled about it.

Mitch Hipp
ERYT500 YACEP