At h(om)e among the Flagstaff ponderosa, HP Yogini Of 2007; Leslie Hutchinson holds her champion agility dog; Kai with her stalwart other animal companion, Yoda, looking on below.
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DL: When was your first formal introduction to yoga?
LH: I was first “introduced” to yoga in the early 1980’s. My teachers were history professor Dr. John Nicholson, a scholar in Asian Studies and Dr. Vasant Merchant, a humanities professor who was also a devotee of Sri Aurobindo, a famous yogi in India. No asana practice yet – however a seed was planted deep within my psyche to search out this mysterious and marvelous “yoga” – a way to the heart of what it means to be truly human.
In the winter of 1990, I just happened into Michael Wolcott’s yoga class at Flagstaff Athletic Club. The feeling of sheer delight is with me still. I practiced Kripalu yoga with Michael for a couple of years. He and I used to fire up his wood stove and do a crazy version of Bikram’s yoga sequence and go out and roll in the snow. I have been practicing ever since!
DL: That's a pretty venerable introduction! So, what do you love most about yoga?
LH: Practicing yoga, for me, is an opportunity to move into stillness every day. Every day, no matter what happens out there in the world or in there in my own mind, the practice of yoga is nourishment and wisdom for my body and mind and heart.
Practicing and studying with a genuine Yogiraj is a rare and perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I feel truly blessed to have crossed paths with Coach right here in Flagstaff. Yogiraj Ilg embodies the perennial teachings of the great wisdom traditions. Students have the opportunity to learn both body practice (asana and athletic training) and wisdom practice (meditation and self-study). A true and gifted teacher, he has and continues to, immerse himself in all aspects of practice.
That said, on a more personal note, I appreciate Coach’s sense of humor, his dedication to what really matters, his kindness and compassion, his abiding love of the natural world – he is truly a person of good heart. And lastly, his willingness to take on this humble yogi - me – a difficult case if there ever was one!
DL: We understand that you and Coach ran in some similar Zen circles?
I was introduced to Zen Buddhism through an English professor, Arnold Johnson. His class included beat poets and writers. We read Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, Gary Snyder, Alan Ginsburg and Shunryu Suzuki. Mr. Johnson was a formal Zen student and invited anyone interested to come and sit zazen on Wednesday evenings. Arnold introduced me to Bodhi Mandala Zen Center in Jemez Springs, New Mexico (here is where Coach has studied as well). There I became a student of Joshu Sasaki Roshi. He is now 100 years old and continues to teach. I consider him my root teacher.
My Zen practice was a zig- zag for many years. I didn’t wake up one morning and say, “It’s a beautiful day. I think I’ll go practice Zen Buddhism.” Most of us, I think, come to practice after experiencing some life-changing events that call into question many of our personal beliefs. Perhaps, this will be a loss, a disappointment, or something we perceive as a personal failure. Zen and yoga practice give us the tools to look inward, to study ourselves, to awaken to and genuinely appreciate our life with all of its light and dark sides.
DL: Is this shared foundation in Zen training what makes Coach speak so highly of you? He truly Recognizes you as a Sister, in a Tibetan sense of the word...
LH: Coach and I share a deep love and appreciation for the natural world – our other family. I walk among the non-sentient with Kai and Yoda, my beloved canine companions, as many times a week as I am able to. I sit by rivers, creeks and potholes. I sing prayers to the moon. I meditate under trees. I feed birds and squirrels every day. Simple stuff, really. The non-human world nourishes me in ways that the human world does not. This is the family that Steve and I share. And my dog Kai, to my great delight, absolutely adores coach with all of her heart.
DL: So, how has your Zen training influenced your Yoga Practice?
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