Michael
R. Smith
Director, Chief Instructor
Morningside School of Yoga and Physical Culture
Education
Bachelor of Arts Degree
With dual major in Music and Philosophy; SUNY Binghamton, 1980
Master of Public Administration Degree;
Syracuse University, 1989
Why Yoga as a profession?
At the age of ten I found myself to be a born philosopher, and had my
first insight experience sitting on the couch in my livingroom in Saratoga
Springs, NY. It is probably
no accident that I was raised by educated egalitarian parents, and a
father who taught political philosophy and quoted Plato to me from an
early age. I continued to have mystical experiences through high
school and began to realize I had a spiritual destiny in this life.
An experience at age nineteen was notable. As usual, a kind of bolt
of energy came in from the upper right, and I was told that I had a
mission to recover the ancient knowledge. It would take twenty years
of struggle to realize my mission, but I remained faithful to my purpose
even in the darkest of times.
As a freshman at SUNY Binghamton in 1976, I was drawn to dance and Martial Art. I was fortunate to train with a samurai, Hidy Ochiai, and with master musicians, notably Albert Markov, and developed a passion to become a master myself. Although I was an aspiring violinist, something drew me into the dance studio at SUNY to develop a personal yoga practice, although I didn't call it "yoga" at that time. You could say that I never left that studio, having spent countless thousands of hours alone in front of the mirror perfecting my craft. Inevitably, I would give up the violin to give my all to the physical and meditative arts; and recently had to let go of my Karate classes because of the demands of running a full time yoga school. I continue to train as if my very survival depends on it, and am much happier and healthier today than I was in my twenties and thirties.
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Resume of Important Events in Mr. Smith's History
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1976:
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Competitive Cyclist USCF Cat II. |
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1979
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Section violin player with Binghamton Symphony |
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1981:
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First place sparring, Washin-Ryu Invitational
Tournament (Green Belt Level) First place, Binghamton Challenge Bicycle Race (cat III) |
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1985
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Offered Yoga classes in Saratoga Springs, NY |
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1987:
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Married Gina Amelia Odell |
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1989:
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US Senate Internship, Washington DC. |
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1992:
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Received Black-Belt (First Dan) Finally! |
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1993:
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Built environmentally safe home with attached Yoga studio. |
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1994:
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Established Morningside Yoga |
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1995:
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Became Certified Personal Trainer through American Council on Exercise. |
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1996:
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Attended Astanga teacher training
with Beryl Bender Birch Received Dharma name, Fu Shiki, in Rinzai Zen lineage. |
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1997:
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More teacher training with Beryl Birch Produced video, Yoga As A Movement Art with three students. |
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1998:
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Hosted Kundalini teacher Ravi Singh in Syracuse. |
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1999:
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Became founding member, New York Yoga Teachers' Association. |
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2000:
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Began Publishing series of monthly
articles on Yoga through The New England Holistic Resource. Attended class with Patabbhi Jois, son and grandson, NYC Performed Marriage Ceremony as Interfaith Minister. |
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2001:
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Became 500 hour registered teacher
through the Yoga Alliance October: Morningside Yoga featured on WIXT News Channel 9 "Family Health Cast." |
| 2002: | April 9th: Morningside becomes Yoga
Alliance Registered School for yoga teachers. December 3rd: Morningside becomes registered service mark through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. |
| 1998-2004 | Instructor of yoga Syracuse University School of Education |
| 2005 | Hosted Doug Swenson October 25th @ Morningside. |
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