A Dedication Apart

Each of us has a reason for practicing yoga. Whether for physical or spiritual goals, we may not imagine that it is what it is actually saving our lives. However for many people who are challenged with a chronic illness that may very well be their answer.

For Michael McColly being HIV positive has been the catalyst to transform his daily life. For him this has not been a death sentence but rather an opportunity to enrich the lives of others by sharing his life-affirming benefits of a yoga practice.

Michael is a writer, speaker and educator who courageously confronted his illness by moving forward with his life. He has traveled throughout the world documenting and speaking about compromised health issues and the restorative effects of yoga. In an article about HIV he states “I’m not being overly dramatic when I say that I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for the yoga community in Chicago.”

Yoga Journal has acknowledged him along with four other individuals as someone whose practice has “ignited a passion to change the world.” From this article we learn of his dream to “…creatively take people inside communities where people are using spiritual practices to heal.”

For him yoga is a means to “learn about the body’s ability to heal itself and manage the stress that accompanies a chronic disease such as HIV/AIDS.” He continues with an active lecture and workshop schedule and has written about his work in “The After-Death Room.”

[tags] yoga and health,HIV and yoga, yoga practice,Yoga Journal[/tags]