International yoga instructor Copper Crow encourages his students to “explore” their practice, and reiterates that yoga – like swimming – is something we can grow with and continue well into our later years. He tells us about how his passion moved from Ninja Turtles, Mustang to Yoga.
By Copper Crow
My dad was my first real teacher and still serves as my soul guru. He practiced Hatha yoga, but was a Bhakti yogi (spiritual warrior) at heart. He signed me up for my first karate class when I was four years old, after I nagged him to move to China to become a Shaolin monk. Dad retired early due to a heart condition, which restricted him from working. Since he wasn’t tied to a job, we
ended up traveling a lot, never spending more than a few years in one place. I lived everywhere from Alaska to Louisiana on the west coast of the United States, with Texas and California being home. Since we moved so much, I learned to make friends easily, but never got into team sports.
My passion was always martial arts, and I’d seek out a school or dojo wherever we settled. I tried all different styles of practice from Taekwondo to Karate, but found my real passion in Kung-Fu and Muay Thai Kick-boxing. I loved anything and everything from Ninja Turtles to Bruce Lee, from Jean-Claude Van Damme to Sho Kosugi. It wasn’t the aggressive fighting that inspired my martial arts training, but the peaceful, controlled movements (kata), the emphasis on strength and flexibility conditioning, and later the breathing/ meditation practices. I was a dedicated to martial arts student all throughout my youth, from 4 to 16.
Then, at 16, two things happened that changed the course of my future—my father passed away, and I got my driver’s license. The latter also translated into a ’67 Ford Mustang! Fast forward to age 25, having spent my remaining youth in debauchery, I found myself working in finance—overweight and unfulfilled. I desperately wanted to get back in shape. When my friend suggested ‘hot yoga’, I initially laughed it off, but eventually caved in after he persisted. It killed me! At one level, I hated it because it was hot, exhausting and demoralizing to be a minority in a class full of fit and flexible women. A regular 2-pack-a-day smoking habit forced me to take breaks in the class to catch my breath. At another level, it
was everything I always loved from my martial arts training—strength, stretch, focus, concentration—just me, no excuses! It took me a while to adjust to the heat and get comfortable being over-weight and shirtless in a room full of attractive women, but once I got on the mat, I forgot about everything and everyone around me. I found myself methodically following the cadence of the instructor and balancing my physical, mental and emotional states. A year later, 20kgs lighter, I quit my job and dedicated my life to the study of yoga and sharing this amazing practice with others.
In some ways, I believe that I really did die in that first hot yoga class. The person who walked out of that room was not the same. I found purpose, and the will to change the course of my life. I resigned from finance in 2003 and did an in-depth 9-week hot yoga teacher training in California. In 2004, I followed my teacher to Bangkok, Seoul and Hong Kong. I joined Pure Yoga in Hong Kong in 2006, and moved to Singapore in 2008. Now, after more than a decade teaching on the mat, I love and practice all yoga, and teach many different yoga styles—continuing to dedicate my time and sweat to sharing the practice that changed my life.
I wish for yoga to be a catalyst that will change the lives of others. Today, I am a practitioner, teacher, husband to an amazing Singaporean yogini, and proud father to a beautiful little girl. Yoga is my life, but I still love kick-ass kung-fu movies!
Copper Crow, who was on the cover of Yoga Journal Singapore, owns CrowYoga in Singapore. He can be reached at copper@crowyoga.com. This article was first published in the 2017 edition of Yoga Journal Singapore, which is now Yogahood Online.
