Jeremy Thies

Hello, my name is Jeremy Thies.  At the early age of 23 years, I feel already as if I have undergone major changes in my life.  The person that I was only 18 months ago is merely an apparition and god willing, the person that I am developing into each day is here to stay.  The fragility of my soul is like playing a game of “Jenga” and I have to be careful when dismantling not to pull too far from the bottom or center of the structure or I can lose my balance and fall to pieces.  Each day I have to abide by a set of rules or else I can slip back into the deceitful, manipulative, fearful, ugly person that I was for so many years.  Mind, body and spirit form a tripod of benevolence in my soul when all three are in balance and it is imperative that I find ways to massage them equally.

In October, I began practicing yoga when my buddy Milton suggested to me that it would be helpful for me to keep my sanity and would also be mildly enjoyable at the same time.  What an understatement that turned out to be!  My first class was a Saturday morning open session with Gail; I could not have picked a better person to introduce me to yoga.  As is typical when a beginner walks into Om Sweet Om, Gail did not recognize me and asked me what my name was.  I told her it was Jeremy.  She then proceeded to welcome me to the group and made me feel very comfortable knowing that in practicing yoga, it is essential to listen to my body and go at my own pace.  Now of course I didn’t do that; when I saw someone doing a headstand to my right, I thought “I can do that, no problem”, and my arrogance led me to do a bit of a tumble.  That first class I must have sweat more than my most strenuous day of football practice, despite wearing only a t-shirt and shorts and no pads.  I thought to myself, is this really yoga?  I had no conception of what I was getting myself into.  I honestly believed that I would be in a room with only women bending over and touching my toes and doing jumping jacks and such!

What I did not realize at the time was that through my practice, I could develop a deep connection with my soul and find that balance that I was looking for.  Each class begins and ends with a moment of silence for recognition of taking the time for our practice, at which point I like to connect with my higher power.  At the start of the class, I invite him into the room and ask for guidance and at the end of the class I thank him.  Yoga is incredibly spiritual for me.  At this point in my story, it is imperative that I explain that I struggle with addictions.  I am a recovering drug addict, alcoholic and gambler and practically anything I can become addicted to.  Since last January, I had been searching for some way to control my addictions so that I could only do them sparingly.  Well after relapsing in March and August, I came to my knees and was ready to admit that I was completely powerless over my addictions and that my life had become unmanageable.  I was ready to do or try anything to change myself completely and to get my soul back.

When I was brought to yoga, I was struggling to find a spiritual component in my life.  I had accepted that there was a higher power in the world, which was very new and weird for me, but a needed to find a way to give my spirituality legs.  I am a stubborn person and I need something to be tangible.  Well, I must say that after my first day of yoga, I really felt the presence of a higher power in that room.  I worked up a great sweat and banished many toxins from my body.  I felt as one with a group of complete strangers as we all went through a series of motions that brought us comfort and ease in our minds.  At the end of the class, I did not feel much of the tension that was pestering my mind and body when I woke up that morning.  I had had a spiritual awakening.  I understood that instead of lying in bed on a Saturday morning feeling sorry for myself, I could completely change the way I feel, both mentally and physically by practicing yoga.
What had once been a very scared little boy is now day by day becoming someone that I feel proud of when I look at him in the mirror.  I’m not trying to say that practicing yoga is a miracle and makes frogs fly from the sky.  I wish it did because I think frogs are pretty sweet, especially flying frogs.  All I know is that for me, yoga has really helped me to balance my life and to create peace in my soul.  I feel off when I go a few days without making it to a yoga class.  For me, there is just something special in the rooms and it takes more than one person to create it, so despite my best efforts to recreate the feeling I get after a yoga class by myself, it is just not the same.

I am so grateful for the practice of yoga and all of the amazing people who work at Om Sweet Om.  I am thankful for my higher power who helps me to get to my mat a few times a week, which in turn has helped me stay sober for 311 days now.  One of the instructors Kika, who is such an incredible person, once read a quote to her class.  It read simply “nothing changes when nothing changes.”  As I think about this, and I see that I am still in bed at 11:24 A.M., I think it’s about time to get up and move a muscle.

With Love,

Jeremy Thies