I will miss you, my brother...

Thom Birch lived his life as a gift to others. Intense, sometimes moody, always passionate about running, yoga, and music, and especially devoted to the love of his life, Beryl.

At teacher training he would tell us stories about his early life, his running career, the injury that ended it, and the yoga practice that gave it new life. He would speak of Beryl, who taught him that yoga practice, with tears of gratitude pouring down his face and had us all in tears ourselves. Then he would tell us about her weakness for dogs (Siberian Huskies in particular) that would have us in stitches...

I shared a SouthWest Air flight to Texas one year on the way to a yoga conference at which they were presenting. The flight attendants had a reputation for rambunctious readings of the safety rules and other shenanigans, and Thom was primed and ready. When they tossed the peanuts down the aisle, he caught 'em and threw them back! He matched them wisecrack for wisecrack, keeping everyone around his seat rolling on the floor (and Beryl pretending to hide in her seat, muttering "I do NOT know this man!" while giggling). And the closer we got to the Lone Star State, the thicker his drawl got....

Thom's approach to teaching yoga was "If it ain't fun, it ain't yoga!"; while so many take themselves so seriously and treat their practice like they're in church, he would break into show tunes, crack jokes, whatever it took to make practice enjoyable - if you don't love what you do, how will you do it for a lifetime? Look for beauty, look for humor, sacredness can be found in the smallest details usually overlooked.

Ultimately, yoga is music made manifest by the physical body. Many yogis find additional benefit through music - nada yoga. Thom lived his dream of making wonderful music (you can find his album on CD Baby) and while we missed his skillful asana teaching, it was worth it to see the look on Beryl's face when she watched Thom sing. His cover of Redemption Song was awesome, his original takes on kirtan chants inspiring.

I will miss you, my brother.