Meeting Mark

Often when you hear about people meeting teachers, they describe the experience as one of life changing proportions. Light shoots down from above, everything moves in slow mode...perhaps the student is reduced to tears for no apparent reason other than being in the presence of this special person, or they are filled with a deep sense of knowing of having met this person before. I can't say I had the same experience when I first met Mark Breadner, in fact it was almost the complete opposite. I was petrified. The man to put it bluntly scared the shit out of me. I will never forget the day though, it is etched in my mind as most moments that turn out to be life changing are, but at the time, you think they are ordinary moments, you are completely unaware of what is about to unfold. You are oblivious to the sheer magnitude of a seemingly simple interaction between two people. And to be honest, the interaction was nothing really to write home about.

I first met Mark on my Yoga Teacher Training Level 1 -Mark was part of the teaching team and he arrived for the welcome dinner in his beanie, his unshaven face and his fake eye. I have to say I was perhaps more intimidated that impressed. He carried himself in a slightly aloof way, what I thought to be an air of arrogance and distance that I found to be almost scarey. I found my stomach turning in knots, and his sheer presence made me nervous - was it the fake eye ? Perhaps the beanie and unshaven look? Or was it the energy of his presence that unnerved me? I could not figure it out. But I knew he was making me feel incredibly uncomfortable and he had not even opened his mouth. How was I going to learn from this guy? I was used to the learning environment at IKEA where we hugged each other hello for crying out loud, this guy looked like if I hugged him he would punch me.

Day 1 of my teacher training and as soon as Mark opened his mouth and started talking about yoga - the meaning and essence of the ancient science (not the sticking-your-leg-behind-your-head parts) I was transfixed. I hung off every word, this guy clearly knew his stuff. He still scared the shit out of me, but I figured that his information was pretty amazing, I would deal with it. It was only later in the first week of training with Mark, that I recalled a familiarity in the feelings that arose whenever I was around him - the churning in the stomach, the wanting to only say smart things, the not wanting to look him in the eye (and not because he was missing one) - I have had those feelings before. Each and every time, it is when I am about to learn something about myself, when I am around someone who "see's" me - not my shiny business card I present out to the world, but me, the inside of me. His vision went right to my very core. No wonder I felt a little edgy, with this guy, I could not hide a thing.

I then began to see behind the beanie and the rough beard, the eye you get used to after awhile and to get to know the person.  Over the course of my first training with Mark, I got to see a surfer guy from Cronulla who had his fair share of ups and downs in life, who showed up (most of the time) and faced his stuff, and took it into relationship with us. He cared for us his students and took interest in our learning, and deep down he really is a big teddy bear who loves cuddles and lets us nap in class. As a teacher, he keeps you in your experience while gently and carefully getting you to expand and grow. The transformation of people in his trainings is evidence of the ability of Mark as a coach, a teacher, a mentor and most importantly as a friend.

Wind the clock forward 3 years and I am still hanging off every word he says. Mark is able to present yoga in a simple and uncomplicated way that allows you to live it from the inside out, and it has nothing to do with a yoga mat. He still sees me for who I am, and I have to admit there are times when I still feel that sensation of nerves arise in body and the temptation to run and hide - but I sit with it, and allow the experience to simply unfold as I trust that Mark only has my interests at heart and whatever is going on, even with those feelings of vulnerability or fear, they are simply, as Mark so aptly put its it, that transformation and change are just around the corner. So how can you run from that. Pretty amazing really.