Wisconsin Life

Hi, hi. - Hi, hi.

Keith Borden

Thank you for being here. I love teaching. I love the conversation that is part of teaching. So that you can feel completely, so that you can see clearly, so that you can breathe freely.

Angela

Yoga is the ancient practice of moving your body to improve breathing and to relax your mind.

Keith Borden

Roll yourself slowly backward and let your head touch down. We don't end up in these situations by accident. I decided to become a teacher because something in me said this was the right time.

Angela

Today, Keith Borden has more than 20 years of experience. Start by taking your dominant hand and just holding it up, kind of like you're making a pledge. It's not easy to make yoga a profession. When I started, I just jumped in. Give yourself about five more breaths. Trained as a classical musician, and interfaith minister...

Keith Borden

You can join me.

chanting and harmonium

Angela

Keith takes those callings into the classroom. I played harmonium and we did some chanting as a class. How do I need to be in order to recalibrate myself, express myself in ways that support a better world around me? May all beings everywhere Be wild and free This restorative and calming approach guided him through the pandemic, and, in exchange, helped his students.

Keith Borden

I could still have something to offer, something to share that would help them get through the experience.

harmonious chanting

Keith Borden

It continues to get me through this experience.

Angela

At the same time, Keith sees yoga as a place of shelter and representation.

Keith Borden

This is a space where you can feel safe. It's a space where you can feel seen. It's important that people have teachers who are not like them, teachers who are men, in a place where there's mostly women. Spend just a little bit longer here. So, representation provides an opportunity for people to have those 'Aha!' moments in their lives. When someone who does look like me comes to my class, that they see themselves represented and they know that the space is also for them. If you like, you can bring your two palms together. And I think it gives me the permission, and the daily reminder, to be who I am no matter what the situation, to be as authentic as I can. To do as you need, to be as you are.

Angela

Being authentic also means being open and honest of his family, his entire family. My great-grandfather was a white man and he had been a slave owner. I think it's important for all of us to know where we came from. We don't get to pick and choose necessarily what part of our family history we acknowledge, who we consider to be an ancestor and who's not an ancestor. They're all our ancestors. I often like to think that living the life that I'm living, my ancestors couldn't have imagined that. Any message from your soul, any message from your ancestors that needs your attention, any burden that you can lay down, just drop that. I think the biggest message that I probably receive on a daily basis is keep going, and that's the message that I take from my ancestors. That you keep going so that the ones who follow you can also keep going.

birds chirping

Angela

Drawing on those experiences also allows Keith to inspire and be inspired from all directions. But I draw inspiration from my interactions with my four-year-old daughter. I draw inspiration from the nature around me. I want to think about the connections to the earth and the connections to the sky. There's an artistic quality to practicing yoga. The love of what I do is a huge part of it and I've also been really surprised by how much people who practice here in Madison are willing to grow in that experience. And then, bring those limbs back up to the sky. This might be different at first, but okay, crazy guy, I'll take this thing that you're bringing to the table and I'll see what happens with it, and then, I'll grow with it. And see if you can still breathe... or laugh, that's fine too. Through it all, Keith has also grown. Stretching far beyond the title of yogi. I'm a dad. I'm a husband. I'm a singer. I'm an interfaith minister. Peace be with you, and blessings upon you. I try to be a little bit of light in a world that has a lot of darkness. And I try to be better each day than I was the day before. I just try to be me. I can't be anything more than that.