SPIRITUAL GRAFFITI - Finding My True Path By MC YOGI
“Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Only love is real.”
By Deidre Norman
"Only love is real. Only love is real. Only love is real. I repeated it like a mantra. I could feel it slowly dissolving my fear, getting me below the chatter of my mind. The more I meditated on it, the more I could see how everything that had happened in the past had been driven by a desire for love.” MC YOGI writes in his inspiring memoir on finding his true path. SPIRITUAL GRAFFITI is raw, real, uplifting, relatable, humorous, filled with love and you can feel the devotion to yoga as you read through the pages. This book is a beautiful reminder to continue to follow our hearts and to really listen and pay attention to the powerful messages that arise in our meditations. It’s the path of a modern day yogi.
One of the messages that really stood out for me was the power of doing our practice. As MC YOGI writes, “ there are no shortcuts on this path. We have to do the work in order to experience all the blessings yoga has to offer.” And then he goes on to discuss the three keys to the door of yoga: discipline, discernment, and devotion.
“The first key, discipline, the physical practice, unlocks the body. The second key, discernment, unlocks the mind to reveal what is true. And the third key, devotion, unlocks the heart.”
MC YOGI bravely shares his past, his teenage years of growing up around gangs and violence, being arrested and his expulsion from school. He shares how through his father, he finds the path of yoga. His first yoga teacher and mentor was Larry Schultz in San Francisco. You join him on the beautiful journey during the first few years of his yogic path, as well as his travels, meeting his soul mate Amanda, opening a yoga studio together and you get to walk with him on stage for the first time as MC YOGI.
One of favorite stories is when MC YOGI goes to see an enlightened master who was visiting the US from India. It was his first experience seeing a guru, and his first experience with a group of people all chanting mantra together. A truly life-changing event for him.
“Everyone and everything was humming together, uttering the same syllables over and over again: 'Om Namo Narayana. Om Namo Narayana. Om Namo Narayana.’ The rhythm and the repetition of those words washed over me, agan and again. After several hours of chanting, a deep calm pervaded my body and my mind…when the program ended there was just silence. Pure, open, spacious silence.”
SPIRITUAL GRAFFITI is such a moving book and the remarkable power of transformation through yoga is extremely inspiring. Once I picked up the book, I could not put it down. It captivated me right from the beginning! I have seen MC YOGI on stage and taken a few of his classes, and I feel even more blessed after reading his memoir, to have had the amazing opportunity to be in his presence. As mentioned, a modern day yogi, and someone who has moved from darkness into light through the beautiful practice of yoga.
You can get your copy of SPIRITUAL GRAFFITI here.
ABOUT MC YOGI
MC YOGI is a graffiti artist, yoga instructor, and hip hop musician on a mission to bring good energy into the world. He and his wife, Amanda, have taught yoga and performed everywhere from headlining festivals, colleges, nightclubs, to the Forbidden City in China, and even at The White House. When they’re not on the road, MC YOGI and Amanda teach at their home studio, Point Reyes Yoga, in Northern California. More at www.mcyogi.com.
