Life & Work with Brian Hyman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Hyman.

Hi Brian, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I began teaching yoga and meditation in 2011 in Los Angeles. My intention to teach yoga was — and still is — to bring its healing benefits to people in places that do not know about it or cannot get to it. For me personally, this means to offer yoga to people in recovery from addictions and to others who are working on transforming similar issues. Having personally recovered from addiction in 2009 and experiencing how beneficial yoga and meditation were to my personal program of action and within my life, I knew that sharing what I learned would become my purpose.

Over the last 12 years, my offerings have included leading yoga classes at a prominent treatment center for addiction recovery in Malibu, CA; teaching community classes for people in recovery around Los Angeles; recording audio courses about recovery, yogic philosophy, gratitude, happiness, Buddhism, and Zen for the meditation app/site Insight Timer; and writing a book about the synthesis of recovery and yoga for Shambhala Publications, which is currently scheduled to be released in the summer of 2024.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I am truly grateful that I have been able to build a career upon the principles of passion and purpose. I teach what I personally practice or know to be true through the subjectivity and intimacy of my experiences and actions. If something works for me, I will share it, whether it is spiritual, religious, or secular. I use whatever means possible to communicate what feels to be the next right thing that needs to be shared, even if that is silence. For example, in regard to silence as a challenge and teaching tool, most recently, I refrained from using social media for two years. I felt that this was the next obstacle for my personal self-development and spiritual unfoldment if I was to deepen my awareness of egoism, attachment, and craving. This proved to be a very fruitful time; I learned quite a lot about myself. I also wrote my manuscript for Shambhala during this time without any unnecessary mental, emotional, or social distractions. I highly recommend this type of withdrawal to anyone who feels overwhelmed by life or personal responsibility; simply step away from extraneous cultural influences or inessential societal demands and prioritize your life according to what resides within your heart. For me, I ultimately learned three very important things during this timeframe: 1) be the best parent I can be; 2) be the best teacher I can be; 3) be the best writer I can be. Everything that does not fit into these categories has now been appropriately ordered within my life.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I teach yoga and meditation classes each week as part of the therapeutic team for a prominent addiction treatment center in Malibu, CA. I also create content for Insight Timer — audio courses, guided meditations, and other recordings. My most recent courses focus on Buddhist philosophy and psychology: “The Dharma of a Rope: Seeing Things Clearly,” exemplifies how we perceive reality based on personal experiences, expectations, and attachments; “The Dharma of a Flower: Awakening in the Here and Now,” examines the moment when the Buddha held up a flower and one of his students became enlightened, and how this experience is available to anyone; and “Dharma of Recovery: The 5 Powers,” utilizes key Buddhist concepts to help enrich the lives of those in recovery from addictions.

I recently completed the first draft of a book under contract with Shambhala Publications. It is based on my Insight Timer course “Recovery: Principles for a Purposeful Life.” The book expands upon the original course lessons and details the extensive and transformative work I have been doing with yoga and recovery for more than a decade now. The book offers meditations, self-inquiry questions, and yogic practices to help people do the inner work that is necessary to live a purposeful and peaceful life in recovery.

I am currently creating more audio courses and preparing to create video courses. I also have a couple of ideas for other books I would like to write next. I am truly grateful that I get to do the work that I do. I am also deeply grateful that I get to be a parent. My daughter is my best teacher. I have learned more about love, patience, and understanding and so much more from our daily interactions. She is my heart — I am so proud of her ability to speak her truth and to be curious, courageous, and creative. Ultimately, I feel that my work as a teacher, writer, and parent are what I am here to offer the world.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Be grateful. Be humble. Be kind. Be compassionate. Be gracious. Be silent. Be of service. Take the next right action.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.brianhymanyoga.com
• Other: https://insighttimer.com/brianhyman

Image Credits
All photos: Cecily Breeding